A Most Graceful Life Ch. 09

She just giggled, before sitting down beside him. "I figured you would like that. It was one way we could have a threesome where nobody would end up jealous or hurt."

"That was perfect," he replied, leaning in to kiss her shoulder.

They both began to put their swim suits back on, and once they were fully decent again, another large party of teens showed up to use the pool. Dipping in the pool to wash off the smell of sex and sweat, they didn't last very long in the water. Soon enough, Grace was already pointing out how pruney her fingers looked, and they decided to head back home for the day.

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The next month was a particularly hard one to bear for the Willow family. Despite Grandpa seemingly getting better during the first week in the hospital, events quickly started to take a downward turn.

Due to all his time in the hospital, and because of his already frail state, it was hard for the staff to justify letting him go home, since the risk of further broken bones was already greater than normal. However, all the bed rest that he was getting was not helping him recover, and even leading to further muscular atrophy, which tended to have its own vicious cycle of events.

It was during the second week of bed rest that the first clot appeared, this one in his right leg. The doctors immediately put him on blood thinners, since the risk of it hitting his lungs could have severely complicated matters. Yet it was during the third week, that Grandpa had his first pulmonary embolism, when a clot did succeed in getting to his lungs. It was the pain in his chest that gave the first warning sign. The second was when he started to cough up blood.

Stephen was particularly distraught when Grandpa started getting worse instead of better. He found himself continually having to put on a brave face, despite the jokes his grandfather always cracked to get through tough situations.

"They're just making sure they get their money's worth out of me," he joked, before couching heavily into a tissue. Stephen grabbed a second one to offer to him, which he took in a hurry, continuing a particularly nasty cough. By the time he was done, Stephen could see flecks of blood in the rolled up tissue.

Yet, the entire family gathered around to support him. It wasn't uncommon for two or three of them to be there at any one time, whether it was Theresa Willow dropping in on her breaks, or Aunt Linda bringing in coffees in the morning. Grandma barely left his side, and Stephen would have swore she spent the nights in the hospital as well, sleeping in the nearby chair just to attend to her husband.

Despite all the family support, the well wishes, and the positive thoughts, the family began to accept the inevitable when the stroke hit during the fourth week. Quickly paralyzing most of his body, it was clear he was beginning to suffer. To make matters even worse, his organs were starting to show serious distress, almost to the point of shutting down. It was almost to the point that his body was accepting that its time was up, and beginning to throw in the towel.

A month from the day of his surgery, the doctor assembled the family outside the hospital room and told us it was highly likely he wouldn't last throughout the night. Glancing between red and teary eyes, he explained it was probably best to get in any goodbyes while they still had time.

Stephen tried his hardest to fight the tears, but the thought of the closest father figure he'd ever had passing away overwhelmed his defenses, causing a flood to flow down his cheeks. It was all any of them could have done to just remain upright at such distressing news, yet the need to be strong for Grandpa prevailed.

After some time composing their thoughts, each family member was able to have their time alone with him to say goodbye. Stephen was able to go second to last, the final spot being saved for his grandfather's lifetime partner and wife. Going in alone, he had Grace wait outside the room. This was something he had to do on his own.

Slipping into the darkened hospital room, he pulled up a chair next to the most important man he'd ever known. It was terrible to see him like this, hooked up to every IV imaginable. Grandpa wasn't even conscious, having drifted off to some in-between world on the other side of sleep.

"It's so hard to see you like this," Stephen whispered, taking his weathered hand in his own. His limb was cool to the touch, a subtle reminder of the life that was slowly draining from him. He remembered all those times when these hands had shaped and guided him growing up. From helping him learn to walk, to teaching him the proper way to toss a line out during fishing, to handing him the first pocket watch of his collection, these hands had shaped his life almost as much as his mother's had.

"I'm really going to miss you," Stephen said in a near whisper, barely able to get the words out before feeling the pain in the back of his throat, and the tears falling anew. Suddenly, all the words and things he wanted to say to him seemed too small. The enormity of eternity hit him like freight train, and he found himself choking through the words.

"You taught me so much, Grandpa. How to drive, how to play baseball, and how to score free coffees from McDonald's," Stephen chuckled at that last one, such a thing was so quintessential to who his grandfather was. Wiping away the tears, he continued, "In the end, you taught me how to be a man, and I'm always going to be thankful that you were such a large role in my life. You have no idea what that meant to me."

Stephen squeezed his hand, trying to get out every word while it still counted, "I promise to you I'll watch over our family. Take care of Grandma, and mom, and Aunt Linda. Be a good role model for the twins. And be the man I'm supposed to be for Grace. It's because of you, and seeing your relationship with Grandma, that I know what a good relationship looks like. And I try so hard every day to live up to that standard with Grace. I promise you, I'm going to make you proud, Grandpa."

"Most important of all, I love you, Grandpa. I always want you to know that. And if what the doctor says is true, and this is the last night you have with us, then you needed to know that before you go." He grabbed a tissue, wiping away the excess tears.

Despite Grandpa being unconscious, Stephen could have sworn he saw his lips curve upwards, just giving the faintest hint of smile. It was all he needed to see, the knowledge that Grandpa had heard the words he had needed to say.

Taking one last moment to say goodbye, he emerged from the room shortly after, almost collapsing into Grace and hugging her tightly. A short while later, Grandma went into to spend the final moments with her husband. Nobody from the family left that night, but they weren't waiting for very long.

Shortly after midnight, Grandpa took his last breath. The best man that Stephen had ever known now belonged to the heavens.