Chapter 14: He died and nobody told him.
Pepper felt the room get smaller and smaller until it was about to crush her. She was breathing hard and for some reason everything wasn't still anymore. Everything was going haywire.
She felt her lips tremble as she stared at the floor that seemed to be going round and round and round. She was breathing out of her mouth now.
"Gramps! God, no! Please, no"
She kept saying it like they were magical words that would revise death or make it stand steady.
She vaguely remembered Asher saying something to her. Then everything and everyone was in slow motion.
"Oh God…this is not happening again"
Pepper tried to take off the jacket she was wearing but Asher won't let her.
"It's hot here!" She screamed at him.
"No, it's freezing and you are not wearing anything inside"
Asher's voice called her to the reality of things, she wasn't wearing a jacket. She was wearing a shirt.
Asher hugged her. He half expected her to push him away but instead, she held him tighter and buried her face in his chest.
"Callie?"
The voice made Pepper pause. She knew that voice, she would know it even in her sleep. It was Gigi's.
"Don't let her see me like this. I have to be strong when I face her. She needs me now that Gramps is dead" Pepper said out loud and refused to let him go.
"I died and nobody told me?"
Pepper stopped everything that she was doing. She knew that voice too. She would know it anywhere. She pulled away from Asher and stared at the ghost in front of her.
"Gramps!"
"Yes, Callie. Why are you crying? I just went to get ice cream"
"I told you not to" The nurse said to Gramps which made Pepper turn and face her.
"Why the hell did you tell me that he died?!" Pepper yelled at her.
"I didn't. I told you that he is gone…as in he checked out. He finally passed the kidney stone and was free to go"
Something in Pepper's head cracked, she turned and stared at her grandfather.
"You are not dying?" She asked him.
"It's a miracle, I am as healthy as a horse!" Gramps said and took a scoop of the ice cream.
Pepper blinked as bouts of rage went through her.
"Who is this lovely young man?" Gigi asked her granddaughter.
"Hello, I am Asher. I am Callie's husband and I am in construction" Asher brought out his hand for a shake but Pepper grabbed him.
"Shut up, we are going!" She dragged Asher with her.
"But I didn't get a chance to say hello to my in-laws" Asher complained.
"Don't bother, we are getting a divorce" Pepper said and walked away without him.
Asher blinked. He knew he couldn't break his daughter's heart by getting a divorce. He had to find a way for them to keep living in the same house.
"I told you that that blood capsule that made you bleed from your mouth was too much" Gigi slapped Gramps arm softly.
"But it worked didn't it?" Gramps asked her.
"Oh my God, our grandbaby got married" Gigi said with a big smile.
Asher moved closer to them.
"You were faking! Bad grandpa!" Asher said with an impressionable face.
"I am going to storm off in anger in a few seconds but I have a question for both of you"
Asher saw the look on their faces like they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Can I call you Gramps and Gigi?" Asher said as his face lit up with a big smile.
"Of course" they both answered him.
Pepper walked back into the hospital.
"Asher, let's go home"
"Bad grandpa!" Asher stormed off towards Pepper and they went home.
****
Pepper took off her shoes. She took a stool by her bed and she climbed on top of it and pulled out an old box on top of her wardrobe.
She opened it and took out a photo album.
After she dusted it, she climbed into bed and started flipping the pages.
She lingered on one of the pages, it was an old photograph of a girl and an older couple.
A bitter smile spread across her face, she must have been six then. A knock on the door made Pepper look up.
"Who is it?"
"It's me. It's Starr. May I come inside?"
"Can I say no?" Pepper answered but the door opened and the girl came inside.
"Why aren't you in school, little girl?"
"It's 5pm, I came back a while ago" Starr saw the picture she was holding.
"Who is that? She is pretty"
At first, Pepper thought that Starr was talking about her six year old self but she wasn't. She was pointing at the older girl.
"My mom…yeah, she was beautiful right?" Pepper ran her fingers on the photograph.
"Tell me about her" Starr asked Pepper and she climbed into bed to lie on her hand.
Strangely, Pepper didn't object. She hated talking about her parents but somehow, she was comfortable telling it to Starr.
"That's my Mom, Aera and my Dad, Jeremy….and that's me at six" Pepper pointed to each image on the photograph as she talked.
"Was she a good Mom?" Starr's question surprised her but Pepper answered it.
"I think so…yes. I remember this park she used to take me to and we would buy cotton candy and blow bubbles in the air" Pepper exhaled "I miss that park. I stopped going after she died"
"Sorry" Starr murmured "At least, she was a good Mom. My mother, she chose to be a movie star and left me behind with Dad"
Pepper dimmed her eyes. Was the girl delusional?
"Which movie star do you think your mother is?" Pepper sat upright.
"Scarlett Hemming" Starr said sadly.
"You think that the two time Grammy award nominee is your mother?"
It was decided, Asher had a delusional daughter.