Chapter 11
It was a few hours into the night, and they had already watched the third harry potter, Heidi's favorite. Now it was Audrey's turn to pick a movie. She scrolled through her On Demand menu, and was debating with herself if she should make them all watch the notebook or not.
"Guys, The Notebook. Were watching it." She said, pressing ok. Joe groaned, and Heidi slapped him. "Hey! That happens to be our favorite movie. How can you not love a romantic movie about a first true love that disappears and comes back just proving how strong love really is." Heidi said to Joe. "Very easily; just don't watch it." he said to her. She playfully slapped him. "Maybe you'll learn something from Noah. You'll see how every girl wants her boyfriend to be like." She said to him, joking of course. Joe was surprisingly quiet. "So don't laugh at me when I cry, because I always do. What can I say, I guess I have a soft side." She said to Nick, before she sat down right next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulders, pushing her closer to him. "I wont laugh, I'll just make you smile." He said. She grinned up at him, watching the beginning of the movie.
Whenever a cute part would come up during the movie, Audrey and Heidi would just sigh, or squeal at how cute it was or even call out, 'thats so cute!' But, as promised the sad parts did come. When old Noah finally gets old Ali to remember in the nursing home, and then forgets ten minutes later, and Noah crys, Audrey stared crying too. They were silent tears at first, nothing noticeable. The only reason Nick knew was because she stared wiping away a couple tears. He squeezed her tighter in his arms. Then the part at the end came, when Ali was in the car on the way back to the hotel to meet up with her fiancé and she was reading Noah's letters. Audrey started balling uncontrollably, even when the scene was over. Nick gently brushed away her tears, and smiled down at her, thinking how cute she was to be so sensitive. She dug her head in closer with Nick, and he held her tighter. At the end, when Ali and Noah are lying in bed, about to die together, she started to cry once again, but this time not as bad, just a few stray tears. But before the whole movie was over, her phone rang, it was her mother.
"Hello?" She asked, her voice still a bit croaky after the crying.
"Audrey? Sweetie? Something, um, something has happened with Grandma honey." Her mother said, sounding like she was about to cry.
"No, no, no. What happened?" She asked, getting up and walking out of the room. Audrey no longer cared about the movie anymore, or about any of it. She just needed to know what happened to her father's mother, her grandmother.
"I don't know how to tell you this sweetheart. She, oh god, she had a stroke. She's at the hospital now, but the, the, they don't think she's going to make it to tomorrow." her mother said, now starting to cry. Audrey didn't know what to say. All she managed was a little noise before she started balling.
"Baby, I wish I could come down there but I'm on business and so is your father. But we'll be down as soon as possible." She said. Audrey hung up the phone, and laid in the middle of the hallway, crying, until everyone heard her, and bolted out the door. Heidi was the first to get to her, she sprinted up to her, and picked her up into her arms. Audrey quickly threw her arms around her best friend, and cried even harder. Heidi played with her hair while she held her, and quietly asked her, "Audrey, sweetie, whats wrong?" She rubbed her back trying to comfort her, as Nick sat down next to them, Joe following. Audrey let go of Heidi, and wiped away the tears. "My grandma, she, she..she had a stroke and she's going to die by the morning. I need a ride to the hospital, now." She said, starting to stand up. Nick stood up in unison, grabbing her into a tight hug. "Sure no problem." Joe said, starting to walk down the stairs towards his car. Audrey started to cry again in Nick's arms, and he carried her out to the car. Once they were in the car, she didn't let go of him, she stayed in his arms the entire ride there, lying on his lap. She felt safe. She wasn't about to let the only other thing she loved slip away from her to.
Once they arrived at the hospital, Audrey jumped out of the car even before it was stopped all the way. Nick tried to catch up with her, but by the time he did, she was already at the desk asking what room he grandmother was in. "Room 207 honey." The receptionist at the front desk said. Audrey nodded a thanks to her, and walked down the long hallway, holding Nick's hand. He squeezed it right before they walked into the room.
Audrey stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her pale, sick, deathly looking grandmother sleeping soundly in her bed. There was a doctor in there already, checking her blood pressure. "Hello, are you family?" he asked turning around. Just then, Joe and Heidi slowly crept in. "Um, yes, we all are. Were the grand kids." Audrey answered quickly. The doctor nodded and started to explain her condition. "Well, she had a severe stroke. She is in a deep sleep for now, and should come out of it within the next hour. The stroke has damaged some major organs, and her blood pressure is dangerously decreasing. We are sorry to say that she may not make it by the morning. I am truly sorry, we are trying everything we can to keep her with us." he said in a concerned tone. Audrey slowly nodded, afraid that if she spoke, tears would start pouring out. Joe and Heidi felt kind of out of place, so they crossed the room, and sat quietly in the corner of the room.
About an hour later, her grandmother started waking up. Audrey was sitting on Nick's lap, her arms around his neck, their fingers intertwined. Her grandmother smiled to herself seeing her grand daughter truly happy. "Hey kid." Her grandmother said quietly, and sleepily. Audrey's eyes brightened at her voice. She jumped off of Nick and ran over to her grandmother to give her a huge hug, and a kiss. "Hey grandma." She smiled back at her. "How are you feeling?" She asked her. Her grandmother slightly closed her eyes, then opened them again. Audrey sat next to her on the bed, taking her hand. "Well, obviously I've had better days, duh." She said sarcastically. This is what Audrey loved about her grandma, she was absolutely the coolest, most hip grandma you could ever imagine. Audrey quietly laughed. Her grandmother squeezed her hand. "So come on, introduce me to your new friends, girl!" she said a tad to loudly. "Well those two over there are Joe Jonas And Heidi Clark, two of my best friends." She said smiling at them, they were both asleep on the chairs. "Oh my god! The Joe Jonas! From the Jonas Brothers! Well, he's just almost as cute as Elvis Presley was, and he was one fine boy." She said winking. Audrey laughed, and so did Nick from behind her. Audrey slightly moved over so that her grandma could get a look at Nick. "And I'm sure you know who he is." She said pointing at him with the other hand that was not holding her grandmother's. "Mr. Nicholas Jonas, am I right?" She said smiling up at him. "Yes ma'am." He said smiling down at her. "And your Audrey's friend to?" She asked. Nick looked at Audrey for an answer. "He's my boyfriend grandma." Audrey said winking at her. "Oh, my, well that's nice, I approve." She said. Then she whispered to Audrey, "He's quite the cutie ain't he?" she said. Audrey nodded in return, squeezing her hand.
"So this is love, I assume?" She asked raising her eyebrows.
Nick and Audrey just stared at each other for a few seconds, scanning each other's faces for any signs of what to say. They had never told each other they loved each other, well, not fully anyway. Audrey took a deep breath and said, "Yes Grandma, we are in love." Nick looked at her brightly, and grinned. At that instant he wanted to kiss her, but he didn't want it to be awkward in front of her grandma. "Ah, I see. Well I got to tell you kids something about love, and you better keep it with you forever." They both nodded. Audrey took Nick's hand with her other one.
"Young love is the best kind of love there is. You feel free, invincible, and alive. There will never again be something as pure and beautiful in your life as young love, because yong love is the truest there is. And no matter what happens to you two, never let anything kill the flame of love, never let anything tear you apart, because once you let it, you can never get it back again." Nick and Audrey squeezed each other's hand. Audrey had never heard her grandmother say something so beautiful before. Audrey smiled in return, not really sure of what to say. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She really did love that boy. Period. "Oh, come on, I didn't mean to get all mushy on ya. I just had to say it before I left this earth.."
"No, don't say that, your not going anywhere." Audrey said in return. "But baby, that's just it, I am. I really am." She said smiling down at her. Her grandmother made a painful expression, and her grip got looser. "I-I.. I'm dying Drey! Right now. Oh, god, I can't... i...I can't barely breath anymore." She said, clutching her chest with her other hand. "NO! No, your fine, your fine!" Audrey said, trying to reassure her. "SOMEONE! PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!" Right after Audrey screamed, Joe was on his feet, followed by Heidi, running out the door. Audrey let go of Nick's hand, and hugged her Grandmother tightly. "I won't let you go anywhere." She said. "I cant breath. AUDREY! Audrey, don't... don't give up on love. Don't ever. It's everything. It's everything... it's everythi-." But before she could finish, he Grandmother's grip loosened. "NO! No. Grandma! I wont give up on love, I wont! Please, no, don't leave me!" Audrey screamed. She still hugged her Grandmother, and buried her head into her Grandmother's dead stomach. "No, please God, no." She whispered. The Doctors came running in, and Audrey didn't bother moving. "Miss, you have to move, Please!" One of the doctors yelled. But she didn't even flinch. She just kept kneeling down with her grandmother, her face hidden in her Grandmother's stomach, her hand still grasping her grandma's. Then, one of the Doctor's picked her up, and lifter her away from her grandmother's side. "NO!" She screamed. "NO! GRANDMA! NOO!" She scream cried, almost unable to scream at all because of the tears. Once she was carried away far enough, she had to let go of her grandmother's hand. Then they turned the corner of the room, and she got one last look at her grandmother's body before whispering to herself, "I'll never give up."