Living with a gunshot wound was not fun. At all. The pain was manageable with medicine, but the gruesome scar in her shoulder would forever remind her, and anyone who chanced to see the marred skin, of her injury.

Though it had been three weeks since that fateful day, Jada sometimes dreamed of the moment the black SUV slowed down beside the sidewalk. The pop of the guns and the cries of the wounded would upset her sleep and unsettle her completely.

It didn’t help that Chelsea was as on edge as she. Her cousin seemed drained of energy lately. She disappeared to her job early in the morning and didn’t return home until late in the evening, often shutting her bedroom door so that Jada knew not to disturb her.

The mood in the apartment was as tense as the atmosphere on the streets outside. Jada left the investigation of the alleged gang retaliation shooting to the police, but the mystery of her cousin’s moodiness was a mission all her own.

On Friday, Jada finally made her move.

“Hey, Chelsea!” Jada knocked on the locked bedroom door.

“What?” her cousin yelled.

“I’m going to the hospital now.”  Adam had insisted she go for a checkup and with him bothering her about it, she didn’t have any choice but to go for one last visit. “After that I might visit Papi. Want to come with me?”

“No.”

“Please?” When there was no response, she added. “I’ll buy lunch.”

“I’m coming!” A few minutes later, the door opened and Chelsea stood before her. She was dressed in jeans and a yellow shirt. “You should have led with that.”

Jada chuckled. “I’m glad you’re coming. How did you manage to get a day off from the bakery?”

Chelsea’s smile turned brittle. “I begged the manager. I had a feeling you’d want to go to the hospital today. Adam was whining about it.”

“He was not whining,” Jada said with a big grin. “He was just… insistent.”

“It’s like you’re the only thought in that man’s head,” Chelsea grumbled.

“I know right.”

The two cousins shared smiles and headed to the public hospital. Jada couldn’t afford the fees at the Medical Center and had insisted on taking care of her own medical bills instead of attending somewhere above her means.

Chelsea was quiet the entire ride and stared unblinkingly at the posters on the walls during the checkup.

 Jada glanced at her cousin before speaking to the doctor. “Excuse me, would it be possible to take a look at her?”

Chelsea tensed. “What are you doing, Jada?”

Ignoring her obvious disinterest in a checkup, but feeling a sense of urgency anyway, Jada insisted. “Please?”

“No problem,” the doctor said. “Ma’am, could you list your symptoms?”

“She’s been exhausted lately. She just comes home and goes to bed,” Jada said.

“Jada!” Chelsea hissed.

The doctor adjusted her glasses and tucked a tendril of hair back into the bun she wore at the nape of her neck. “Have you been feeling nauseous or tender in the chest area?”

“Tender?” Jada scrunched her nose. “Chels, have you experienced any of those?”

Chelsea kissed her teeth and looked away. The doctor frowned and Jada nudged her cousin in the shoulder.

“She can help.”

“Ma’am,” the doctor looked squarely at Chelsea, “would you agree to a blood test?”

“What for?” Chelsea asked, leaning back.

“Just do it,” Jada said.

Chelsea gave her consent and Jada waited for her until they had completed the procedure. When at last her cousin emerged from the back room, Jada smiled in reply to the glare that Chelsea sent her.

“I don’t know why you’re making this into such a big deal,” Chelsea mumbled.

“You haven’t been yourself lately. I’m sure the doctor will tell us what’s wrong and then you’ll be as good as new”

“Whatever.” Chelsea headed for the stairs. “Let’s just go and see Papi.”

In the three weeks since her ‘incident’, Jada had been chipping away at Papi’s medical bills. She was still far from being debt-free, but at least the administration wasn’t threatening to pull the plug on her grandfather anymore.

“Hey, Papi,” Jada said as soon as she set her bag by Papi’s bedside. “I brought Chelsea.”

“Papi, when are you going to wake up and chase Jada from my apartment? She’s too nosey.”

“Very funny,” Jada said. Taking Papi’s hand in hers, Jada gently cleaned his fingers with a wet towel. “I miss you, Papi. Do you think you could come back soon?  I have so much to tell you.”

Chelsea looked at Jada with compassion. “How long has he been like this?”

“A few months,” Jada said. “They say the longer he stays unconscious the more his brain activity will decrease, but I can’t give up on him. Papi is the strongest person I—”

 “Is something wrong?” Chelsea asked.

Jada glanced at her hand that was enclosed around her grandfather’s. His dark, gnarled fingers closed around hers, nearly lifeless. But what had she felt just a moment before?

“What? Jada, you’re freaking me out,” Chelsea said.

“I felt it.”

“What?”

“He squeezed my hand.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not,” Jada said, her voice rising with excitement. “Chels, go for the doctor. Quick!”

Her cousin left and soon returned with the doctor on call. Jada explained what had happened, but the frazzled doctor seemed less than sympathetic.

“It could be possible that he’s waking up,” he said, scratching his head. “But it could simply by a muscle spasm.”

“No,” Jada whispered. “It was warm. It wasn’t a spasm.”

“We’ll keep a check on him to see if he responds to stimuli again.”

“Alright,” Jada said, glancing at her grandfather. “That’s right, Papi. Just come back and I’ll take care of everything.”

Chelsea waved, and Jada placed a kiss on his cheek before leading her cousin out of the hospital and into the warm Belizean air.

“Wow, it feels like we’ve lived twenty days in a few hours.”

“Do you really think Papi will wake up?” Chelsea asked.

“He has to,” Jada said. “I need him.”

“You know… I can’t help but envy you.”

“Envy me?” Jada pointed to her chest and led the way to the bus stop. The wind blew against her cheeks and the sun sparkled in her eyes. “Why?”

“I know your parents passed away and Papi’s… not well, but they all loved you so much and you got to have that, even if it was only for a short time.”

“What’s this about?” Jada crinkled her nose. “Are you getting sentimental on me?”

“I’m serious. Even with Adam. You found someone so in love with you he can barely see in front of him. It’s unfair.”

Jada hooked her arm around Chelsea’s shoulder. “Do you know what this is? This is your hunger talking. What do you want to eat? It’s my treat.”

“Jada…”

“Alright,” Jada sighed and got serious. “I know you don’t have the best relationship with your mom, but think about it. What she did was full of love too. She was nineteen, lived at home, and didn’t have a job. She could have given up on you and refused to have you, but she didn’t.”

“There you go. Trying to pretty up my ugly past.”

“Believe me, your mom loved you in her own way.”

“Whatever,” Chelsea said, readjusting her ponytail. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

Happy to oblige and still riding the excitement of Papi’s hand squeeze, Jada skipped beside her cousin to the nearest restaurant. They took their seats and ordered, chatting about meaningless things.

“Oh,” Jada said, “I went to visit you at the bakery the other day.”

Chelsea stiffened. “You did?”

“Yeah, but it was weird. The girl at the counter said she’d never heard of you.”

“Really?”

Jada smiled, recalling the bumbling encounter. “She said she was a new hire so that could explain it.”

“How… how funny is that,” Chelsea barked out a hollow laugh and drank her water down in one gulp. When she was done, she wiped her mouth. “Are you meeting Adam tonight?”

Jada brightened. “Yes. He’s taking me to the movies. Would you like to come? Ethan might tag along too.”

“I’m good.”

“Again?” Jada frowned. “You’ve been staying home for the past three weekends. It’s really not like you.”

“Why do you sound so disappointed. You’re always harping on me to stop going out so much. You’re complaining now that you have someone to go out with?”

“That’s not true. What’s up with you?”

“Nothing.” Chelsea glanced up and said quietly. “Look, the food is coming.”

The two cousins ate, but the air between them was strained and Jada wondered why. She had always been close to Chelsea, always believed she was the only person who understood her cousin better than anyone else.

The fabric of their friendship was beginning to tear and Jada didn’t know how to put it back together. Could it be that her developing relationship with Adam was weighing her and Chelsea’s down? Would she have to choose between them?

As they paid and left the building, Jada’s cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

Another ringing sound blasted from Chelsea’s cell and her cousin walked away to answer it.

“Ms. Penner?”

“This is she.”

“This is the Saint Royce Clinic.”

Jada’s heard leapt in her chest. The sun came out from behind a cloud and bathed her in a warm glow. She felt hopeful, buoyed by the memory of Papi’s response to her hand earlier that day.

“Is it about Papi?”

“Yes,” the woman said and then she hesitated.

Jada gripped the phone tighter and grinned. “Did he wake up? Is Papi asking for me?”

“That’s not it,” she said. “I really don’t want to tell you this over the phone. Can you come in?”

“What?” Jada’s heart dropped to her toes. The sunshine that had seemed so warm and welcoming a moment before was mocking now. She shaded her eyes and hissed into the phone.

“What’s wrong? What happened to Papi? Please tell me.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Hamilton Penner passed away five minutes ago.”

Jada sank to her knees on the sidewalk.

“Jada!” she heard Chelsea’s call as if it came from a faraway place.

The cell phone in her hand trembled as she whispered. “No…”

“I’m so sorry. How quickly can you arrive?”

The phone slipped from her hand and clacked against the sidewalk. Her knees weakened and she fell. Pedestrians sent her strange looks and stepped around her, but all Jada could do was hold her head down and cover her face.

This didn’t make sense. Papi couldn’t be dead. He had just squeezed her hand that morning. It had to be a joke. She’d sue them. Sue them all!

“Jada,” Chelsea stooped by her side and tried to haul her up, “what are you doing? You’re embarrassing me.”

“Papi,” Jada whispered.

At her words, Chelsea stopped tugging on her arm and grew serious. “What? What happened to Papi?”

“The hospital!” Jada shot to her feet. “We have to get to the hospital right now!”

They hadn’t strolled far from the clinic and Jada took off at high speed. Chelsea tried to keep up with her, but when Jada dashed through the doors of the hospital, she found that she was alone.

Without stopping to check on Chelsea or to talk to anyone, Jada flew to Papi’s room and found his bed empty.

“Where is he?” she asked a nearby nurse. “Where is my grandfather?”

“Ma’am,” an orderly grabbed her arm and steered her down the hallway, “this way please.”

It wasn’t until they stopped in front of the large double doors did Jada realize that they stood in front of the morgue.

“We’re sorry,” the orderly said. “He was moved here just a few seconds before you arrived. If we had known you were coming…”

“No,” Jada moaned, tears falling down her face. Her heart felt like it was being shredded. “Please. Please, don’t tell me grandfather’s in there.”

“I’ll give you a minute,” the orderly said.

Jada closed her eyes and clutched her chest as the pain overwhelmed her. She’d never get over this in a minute. She’d never get over this for years.

“Papi,” she groaned. “Please don’t leave.”

It was a hollow plea.  Papi was gone.