CHAPTER 19

For a second he just stood there, frozen in place, while he was trying to comprehend the scene in front of him.

"Grammy?"

Mike said, his voice sounding way too weak.

"Grammy?"

He repeated a little louder as if this was just a messed up attempt at scaring him but when his grandma didn't answer him the panic set in.
Mike lounged towards her and practically threw himself on his knees next to her body.
He shook her while calling out for her again but yet again he received no answer.

"Please"

He mumbled to himself as he placed two fingers on his grammy's neck, feeling for a pulse and letting out a sigh of relief as he felt it, the pulse was very weak but at least it was there.
With shaking hands he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and dialled 911 while he turned off the oven.
The 911-operator didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence before Mike interrupted her.

"My grandma is on the floor unconscious and she won't wake up. Her pulse is really weak, I need an ambulance."

His voice broke several times and he kept stumbling over the words but at least she understood him and asked for his location and he provided he with the address.
She asked him to stay on the line and even if he agreed he didn't really listen to her anymore, his main focus was on his grandmother's face which looked way too pale.
He was so focused on her that he didn't even register that the paramedics had arrived until one of them had to physically remove him from her side so that they could have the space to do their job.
Mike still sat on his knees and stared at the scene in front of him, he had yet again entered a state of shock.
The paramedics were just putting her on a stretcher when Rose appeared in the kitchen, dropping the bag of groceries in pure shock.

"What happened?"

She asked but Mike could only shrug his shoulders, he really had no idea.
When the paramedics left the kitchen, he got up on shaky legs and followed them.
They let him ride in the ambulance, while Rose got into her car to follow them, and he held his grandmother's hand the entire ride to the hospital.
He tried to follow her all the way but a nurse stopped him in the waiting room.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you'll have to wait here."
She told him and Rose put her hand on his arm and gently guide him to the nearest chair.

Rose sat down in the chair next to him and looked at him with that sympathetic look that he hated.
"I think it's going to be okay, honey. Your grandmother is a fighter."
She put her hand on his shoulder but he recoiled from her touch.
It wasn't that he didn't want comfort right now, he just didn't want her comfort.
Rose was a nice woman and he liked her but he didn't know her that well and he didn't want to go through this with her, he wanted someone else her.
Mike wanted his parents here with him, he wanted to hear his dad's comforting words and feel his mother's gentle touch just like the first time his grandmother had ended up in the hospital several years before.
He couldn't have them here though and the thought of them made him even more upset.

"Do you want me to call your father?"

Rose asked him and reminded him of the fact that Harvey existed and suddenly his wish to have his parents here was replaced by the wish to have Harvey here.
He didn't answer her, instead he got his phone out of his pocket and made the call himself.
Mike waited anxiously while the phone rang and for a moment he thought that Harvey wouldn't pick up but then he finally heard his voice.

"Hey Mike, I'm on my way to a meeting, can this wait?"

Oh right, Harvey had that important meeting today, the one he had been talking about for the past week.
A part of him wanted to just say "sure" and hang up in order to not be a burden and force Harvey away from his important meeting but the other part really wanted, no needed, to have him here.
He sniffled as he glanced over at Rose, he didn't want to be with just her.

"H-Harvey."

Mike stuttered, failing to not sound like an emotional wreck.

"I need you, dad."

The last part had just slipped out and he regretted saying it when he was met by a silence on the other end.

"What's wrong, kid?"

Harvey finally asked after a short pause, he no longer sounding stressed instead he sounded worried.

"I'm at the hospital."
"Are you okay?"

Mike heard shuffling on the other end, which was probably Harvey putting his suit jacket on.

"Yes, I'm okay, it's grammy she's-"

He interrupted himself, he wasn't sure what exactly was wrong with her, they hadn't told him anything and he had been too shocked to pay attention to what the paramedics had been saying.
He didn't even know if it was something serious or if it was just something minor, all he really knew was that his grammy was in the hospital and that he was absolutely terrified.

"Please Harvey, can you come?"
"I'm on my way."

Harvey answered and he could hear him talking to Donna in the background before he asked Mike what hospital they were at.
After Mike told him, Harvey promised that he would be there as soon as possible and then he hung up, but not before making sure that Rose was with him so that he wasn't all alone.

It felt like forever before Harvey showed up, even if it ha probably only been around fifteen minutes since the phone call.
The man walked over to him and sat down on the chair next to him, gently putting an arm around his shoulders and Mike leaned into the touch.

"What happened?"

He asked and Mike's lower lip wobbled, revealing how close he was to losing the fight against the tears that had been threatening to fall ever since he had found his grandmother.

"I walked into the house, calling out for her but she didn't answer me so I went into the kitchen-"

Mike paused and took a deep breath as he pushed back the tears, he wanted to be stoic and strong.

"S-she was just lying there on the floor, not moving, and there were burnt cookies in the oven a-and-"

He paused again and swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat.
"A-and-"
It was suddenly extremely difficult to get the words out and Harvey squeezed his shoulder, silently telling him that he didn't have to continue.

A tall man with greying hair and a serious look on his face came out and called out for Edith Ross' family.
Mike got up from his chair and walked over to the doctor who asked them to follow him to a smaller, empty waiting room where they could talk undisturbed.
The doctor started to ramble about medical stuff that Mike could barely understand and he just wished that the man could cut to the chase.

"Is grammy okay?"

He asked, interrupting the doctor's ramblings and the serious look on the man's face was replaced with a sympathetic look.

"I'm so sorry, kid. We did everything we could but-"

Whatever the doctor said after that went unheard by Mike.
His head was spinning and he was torn between throwing up and passing out.
This had to be a joke, a very very sick joke.
His grandmother couldn't be gone, she just couldn't.

"I am really sorry for your loss."

The doctor said and placed his hand on Mike's shoulder but he pulled back as if he had been burned.
The initial shock was suddenly replaced by anger.
It was just like when his grandmother had told him about his parents, one second he had been shocked and in the next he had shouted all kinds of things at her before he had locked himself in his room.
This time the anger was directed as Rose.
She had lived in the house so that he could check in on her, to take care of her but where was she when his grandmother had collapsed to he floor?
His grammy had died on her watch.

"It's your fault."

He growled, glaring daggers at the old woman who looked shocked at the sudden accusation.

"You were supposed to take care of her but instead you left her alone. You just let her die!"

Rose opened her mouth but didn't seem to be able to form an answer.
Without even thinking Mike launched at the woman in pure rage.
He didn't even know if his plan was to actually attack the old lady or not, but he never reached her because a couple of strong arms grabbed him and held him back.
Mike tried to break free but he wasn't strong enough.

"My grandmother died because of you!"

He yelled while Rose started to cry, hurt by the accusations thrown at her.

"You weren't there when she needed you."

He said, his voice breaking mid-sentence.
Rose excused herself and left the room and once she had left the anger disappeared as quickly as it had come and the realization that no matter who's fault it was, his grammy was sill gone, never to be seen again, hit him like a ton of bricks.
Mike fell to the floor while a pained sob escaped him.
The arms around him didn't disappear, instead whoever had been holding him back followed him down to the ground.
When he turned around, he saw that it was Harvey who was now on his knees, holding him tightly.
He threw his arms around the lawyer's neck and the man started to rub his back while he sobbed.
This man was the only family he had left now, everyone else was gone forever.