Page 12 of Shattered

“Don’t call me that, Alek.You forfeited your right to call me such things.”

My face fell.What she’d said wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it hurt nonetheless.

“I’ll start from the beginning, from when I first saw you.”Her face took on an expression of relief mixed with reservation.I didn’t blame her.

She looked away from me and shifted in her seat, tucking her long hair behind her ear before turning her stare back onto me.

I drew a deep breath and continued.“It was about eight years ago when I first laid eyes on you.Well, to be exact, it was a picture of you.

"Where did you see—?”

“Sara, I’m asking for you to please allow me to tell you the whole story, from start to finish.Then you can ask me as many questions as you like.But please…let me get through this.It’s hard for me, and I don’t want you to be any more upset with me than you already are.Although, I know I can’t control what you feel, I can at least give you all the facts and prove to you I was only ever looking out for you.”

“Fine.” She sighed, motioning for me to start talking again.

“As I was saying, the first time I saw you was in a picture—your high school picture, to be exact.You see, my grandfather was away on business when he’d taken ill.I’d dropped everything and flew right out to visit him.He had checked into a local hospital, not wanting to risk his health further by flying back home first.It was a smart decision on his part because as it turned out, he had a bad case of pneumonia.They kept him for almost two weeks.At Belford Memorial Hospital.In Florida.”

I waited for something to dawn on her.Some part of my story should’ve been familiar.Maybe she was too wrapped up in my tale to recognize it.But before I spoke again, it was there, recognition lighting her eyes like a fire in the night.Her mouth fell open and her breath quickened.

“Belford Memorial?That was the name of the hospital my grandmother was in.She was there because of a hip replacement.”Her lips snapped shut immediately after offering the information.

I continued.“When I walked into the hospital to visit him, they told me he’d been moved.To Room 312.”Again, I stopped and waited for her to catch on.

“Room 312?” she whispered, her hand slightly covering her mouth in disbelief.

“Yes.Well, actually he was in Room 321.The nurse gave me the wrong number.But I didn’t realize it until after I entered.So instead of finding my grandfather, there was an elderly woman.It wasn’t until I advanced closer that I was able to see her.She’d been covered up with blankets.When I realized my mistake and started walking back toward the door, that’s when she called out to me.She called me Robert and told me she had been waiting for me to show up.She said she had something important to talk to me about.Completely ignoring me when I tried to tell her I wasn’t this Robert, she laughed and told me to stop messing around, and that she needed my help.

“Seeing as how she wasn’t going to give up, I decided to indulge her and listen to what she wanted to tell me.I mean, if she was looking right at me, talking to me, still thinking I was this Robert, then I knew no amount of reasoning was going to convince her otherwise.So I listened to her.That’s when she asked me to watch over you, her granddaughter.She pointed to a picture of you in your cap and gown she kept on the bedside table.When I was able to take a better look, I had to admit I was drawn to you on some weird level.There was something in your eyes which called to me.”

I stopped talking for a brief moment, assessing how she was handling all of the information.One hand was still covering her mouth, her other resting over her heart.A single tear escaped her eye, and it took everything in me to sit still and finish my story.

“Your grandmother saw me holding your picture and pleaded with me again to help keep you safe.She told me you’d been through a terrible ordeal and she was worried for you.Of course, at the time, I had no idea what she was talking about.But because of my inexplicable draw toward you, and the pleading in the old woman’s voice, I simply had to help her.I had to let her know I would watch over you and keep you safe.And it’s exactly what I did, from then on.”

Knowing she was having a hard time dealing with everything I’d just told her, I tried to deflect some of her confusion by asking her a simple question.Maybe it would help.

“Who was Robert?”

It worked.Some of the disbelief washed away, distracted by a simple question.

“Robert was her younger brother.He passed away in a tragic fire when he was a young man, probably more than fifty years ago now.”

I knew the old woman was confused, but I had no idea to what extent.Not until that very moment.

“How did you know where to find me?How did you even get my name?” she asked, curious to find out all the sordid details.

“I was able to obtain your name from one of the nurses who was working that evening.It really didn’t take much since she was flirting with me nonstop.So I decided to use it to my advantage and acquire the information I needed.”

“But it doesn’t explain how you were able to find me, merely based on my grandmother’s name.”

“You were listed as her emergency contact and next of kin.Plus, they had your address listed, so it really wasn’t all that hard.”

The look of realization crept over her face.I felt bad spewing all of it at her so quickly, but she needed to know.Ineeded her to know after all these years. Even though I knew I was doing a good thing by keeping my promise and making sure she was safe, I’d still felt a little guilty, watching someone who didn’t know I was keeping tabs on them.I actually felt a weight lifted as I revealed the whole story.

“But why didn’t you tell her yes then forget about it once you left her room?Why did you feel the need to follow up and start watching me?”

“I don’t have an answer that will satisfy you, Sara, because I don’t really know myself.Normally, I would’ve done just that, walked out of her room and chalked it up to a senile old woman.But I couldn’t do it, not after looking into her eyes, witnessing how worried and fearful she was for you.I had to keep my promise to her, and keep it I did…for eight years.Actually, I’m still keeping my promise to your grandmother, and I’ll continue to keep it for the rest of my life.”

After my last statement, she suddenly rose from the couch and made her way over to where I kept the liquor.She poured herself a small glass and drank it quickly, making a face as I’m sure it burned on the way down.

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