July 19, 2006

Ding-dong.

She ran to the door to answer it, skidding as she tried to come to a halt in front of the entrance.

"Holy shit!" she cried, as she lost footing and nearly fell over.

"Aria! Watch your language!" her grandmother yelled from the kitchen.

"Sorry!" she called back, yanking open the door.

"Such a potty mouth," he said, grinning when he saw her. She smirked back.

"Oh, like you haven't ever cursed yourself before," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, are you going to invite me in or am I going to have to force entry?" he asked. She laughed and bounced aside to let him step inside. He grinned and looked her over.

"You look beautiful," he said. She smiled shyly, running her hands over the floral print summer dress she was wearing.

"You look pretty nice yourself," she complimented, taking in his dark wash jeans and black V-neck sweater with a blue collared shirt underneath. He smirked, his eyes sparkling.

"I had to dress up. I'm meeting a very important person today," he said.

"I hope you're talking about me," they heard a voice say. Her grandmother walked in, wiping her hands dry on a dish towel.

"Yes, ma'am, indeed I am," he said, sticking his hand out and smiling brilliantly. Her grandmother took his hand in hers and smiled back.

"Grammy, this is Carter. Carter, this is Grammy," she introduced.

"Well, I sure have heard a lot about you," Grammy said.

"And I about you," he replied.

"I hope you live up to expectations, son, because Aria is like my very own daughter," Grammy threatened.

"I promise to be nothing short of perfect," he replied. "Or at least as close to perfect as anyone can get," he added. Her grandmother laughed and looked at her.

"Oh, he's a keeper, this one," Grammy said.

She smiled and looked at him.

"Oh, don't I know it," she replied.

                                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~

"Carter," I breathed after staring at the man in front of me for a few moments.

"Aria," he replied, his jaw stiffening.

"I--what--how--" I stammered, struggling to find the right words to say to the boy whose heart I broke so many years ago.

"Is your hand all right?" he asked, ignoring my bumbling mouth. I blinked at him, momentarily confused by his question. Then I remembered the dull throbbing in my hand from the coffee I had spilled just a few minutes before.

"My hand? It's..." I trailed off. "It's fine. I think," I said.

"You didn't burn it?" he asked. He seemed hesitant at first, but then he walked closer to me, taking my hand in his to examine the skin. I couldn't ignore the slight tingling that erupted in my stomach at his touch.

"I don't think so. It was just hot coffee," I replied.

"Searing hot coffee," he corrected, not looking at me. His eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at my skin. He pressed down on my hand and I hissed as pain shot up through my arm.

"Did that hurt?" he asked, looking up now.

"Yes!" I cried, yanking my hand away from his grasp.

"Sorry," he muttered. "You should probably put some anti-inflammatory cream on that. I'll let the nurses know," he said. He started to walk away towards the entrance of the emergency room.

"Carter!" I called, turning around. He stopped and looked at me.

"What?" he asked.

"I just..." I trailed off, shifting on my feet, still struggling to find the right words to say. "Will you meet me for breakfast or lunch tomorrow? At the usual?" I asked. I winced, wondering if he still knew what that meant.

Carter looked at me, his eyes darkening slightly. I realized in that moment how much he had grown up in the past six years.

"I'll tell the nurses about your hand," he said.

Then he turned around and walked away, leaving me alone outside the hall in front of the emergency room. I leaned against the wall next to the coffee machine and closed my eyes. I should have expected that reaction from him. He would never want to meet me for lunch. Not after all this time. Not after what I had done to him.

Sighing, I heaved myself up from the wall. Abandoning the lethal coffee at the machine, I went back into the emergency room. I looked around to see if Carter was still there, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had probably left from the back exit.

Jennifer came up to me, a pity smile on her face.

"Let's see that hand of your's," she said.

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Miss Hansen...Miss Hansen, wake up..." I heard a woman's voice say. "Miss--Aria, Aria, wake up!"

Jerking awake, I blinked, looking around at my surroundings. Where was I? This didn't look like the firm or my apartment...

Slowly, the events of the day came back to me and I realized where I was.

I was the Saranac Hospital, waiting for my grandmother to come out of surgery.

I looked up to see Jennifer, the nurse, standing over me. As she came into focus, I sat up, wiping my eyes groggily. I must have fallen asleep while I was waiting. I looked up at the clock, which now read 10:20 pm.

"You fell asleep so we didn't want to wake you. Your grandmother is out of surgery and you can go in to see her now," Jennifer told me.

"I can?" I asked, still a little out of it. I shook my head to clear the hazy thoughts from my mind. "Is she all right?" I questioned.

"Yes, the surgery was successful, just like I told you. She's perfectly fine now," she said. I nodded and got up.

"Good. I want to see her," I said.

"All right. Follow me, then," she said. I did as she told and followed her as she led me out of the emergency room and to the recovery unit. She led me down the hall, past open and closed doors that were occupied by other sickly patients. She stopped at the end of the hall and pointed to the room.

"This is your grandmother's room," she told me. I nodded and followed her inside.

"Hi, Martha! You've got someone here to see you!" Jennifer exclaimed when she was inside. I stepped into the view of my grandmother and I felt my heart drop.

She looked so old and sick.

I mean, granted, she had just come out of surgery. But the image of strength and protection that my grandmother had always served for me was completely shattered in that instant. She looked so pale and weak. Her skin hung loosely on her face, there were dark circles under her eyes, her hair was wispier than ever, and she was ever so thin. It took all the effort I had in my exhausted body to not break down into tears.

"Grammy," I croaked. Her faded green eyes found my lively ones.

"Oh, Aria. You're here," she said. I smiled and nodded, biting my lip and fighting back the tears that were threatening to trickle down my cheeks.

"Well, I'll leave you two to talk," Jennifer said, beaming unnaturally at us both. She bounced out of the room and I found myself wondering once again how it was possible for someone to be so bubbly and friendly, especially in an atmosphere like this one.

I stood staring at my grandmother for another long moment. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to believe that this was actually happening; that she was in the hospital and sick; that she had just come out of surgery.

"Come here, Aria. Why are you standing so far away? I know I probably look like death, but I'm not dead yet. You look like you've just seen a ghost," Grammy said.

I let out the breath I had been holding and laughed hollowly. I went up to her slowly and once I was close enough to her, my grandmother pulled me into a close embrace with a strength I couldn't see she had.  In her arms, though, I felt myself break, and the tears began falling freely.

"It's been so long since I've seen you, Aria," she whispered as I sobbed into her hospital gown.

"I-I know. It's just that I've been so b-b-busy with the new job and a-a-all," I hiccupped.

"Stop crying, silly girl. I am completely fine now," she said, pulling me away at arm's length to look at me sternly. I started blubbering again and she sighed. "Stop it right now, young lady, or I'm going to tell the doctor that I don't want any visitors," she said.

I forced myself to stop because I knew she was serious. She never liked seeing me cry. It was one of the reasons I had stayed away from her for so long after what happened with Carter. I knew she didn't like it when I was upset, because it made her sad, too. And my grandmother didn't deserve to be sad.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, wiping my eyes. I looked at her after I composed myself. "God, Grammy. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her.

"Tell you what?" she retorted. "Strokes, as I'm sure you are aware, tend to come unannounced," she said. I gave her a look. I had inherited more than just my grandmother's green eyes; I had also inherited her sense of sarcasm.

"Yes, but strokes are caused by heart problems. And heart problems are typically obvious. How many times a week do I talk to you on the phone?" I said back to her.

"Are you trying to lecture me?" she asked.

"Are you trying to avoid the question?" I responded. She smiled at me and patted my cheek.

"You'll make a great lawyer one day," she said. I smiled at her before frowning again.

"Grammy, you're changing the subject!" I exclaimed. She sighed.

"All right, all right!" she said. "My doctor did say that my heart was getting weaker and that I needed to start watching what I ate and do certain exercises to keep it healthy," she told me.

"And?" I asked.

"And, well, it gets difficult when you're on your own," she answered. I frowned and then took her hands in mine.

"Well, it's settled then. I'm going to move back in," I said.

"Oh, don't be silly! You have a life in Manhattan! I will not allow you to leave it behind and come back to this old town just because of me," she said.

"Grammy, Manhattan can wait. The firm can wait. Your health, though, can't," I said. "I'm moving back and there's nothing you can say or do that will change my mind," I said.

"I'm sure there is, but I'm too tired right now to think of anything," she replied. I chuckled and leaned forward, kissing her forehead.

"I should probably let you sleep, then. I'll be back to check on you in the morning," I said, getting up.

"Where will you stay?" Grammy asked when I got to the door to leave.

"What do you mean? At your house. You still have it, right?" I responded.

"How will you get in?" she questioned. I blinked and realized that I didn't have a key. Smiling sheepishly, I went forward to her purse. "It's in the pocket on the inside," she told me. "Honestly, you work at the biggest law firm in New York City and you forgot that you don't have a key," she said.

"Hey! I'm tired! Give me a break!" I exclaimed, extracting the key from her bag.

"That makes two of us," she said. I smiled at her.

"Good night, Grammy," I said to her.

"Good night, sweetie," she replied with a warm smile.

I turned the light off for her and closed the door behind me. I looked down at the key in my hand and sighed.

It was time to go back to the house that held all the memories I wanted to forget.

_____________________________________________________________________

 A/N: You think Carter will meet her? You think there's something more to Grammy's heart problem that she's not letting on about?

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XOXO