Heavenly Creatures

Tara had only met her grandmother a few times. Her mother didn’t seem to be too close to her, but she had always liked the old woman. She had a no-nonsense way about her that was very businesslike. But she could see why her mother might have had problems with her grandmother. She wasn’t exactly the warm, cuddly type.

“Welcome home, dear,” the old woman said, hugging her tightly but briefly. “I’ve taken you out of school until the end of the year.”

“What? What day is it?” Tara asked.

“It’s April 25,” grandmother said. “I’ve gotten all the material and books from your teacher.”

“I’ll miss prom,” Tara said, but even as she said it, she felt relieved. She didn’t have the energy to pretend to be fine, and this ensured that she didn’t have to.

“Did you really want to go?” grandmother asked, looking at Tara’s red eyes and chapped lips shrewdly.

Tara shook her head. “Thank you,” she said.

Grandmother nodded. “I’ll give you until the end of the month to wallow, but I expect you to be done with schoolwork for the year by June.”

Tara nodded mutely, cowed by the woman’s strength of mind. She seemed unfazed by the fact that her own daughter was in a coma. Grandmother seemed to sense what Tara was thinking.

“I’ve been through hell and back, my dear. People come and go on God’s time, and we’ve just got to learn to accept that.”

Tara nodded again.

“You can go to your room,” grandmother said.

Tara nodded in relief and only let out the breath she’d been holding when she collapsed on her bed. She was asleep in minutes.

* * *

Tara woke up at midnight to the sound of muffled cries. She tiptoed out quietly to see her grandmother sitting at the dining room table, a glass of milk and a box of tissues in front of her. Feeling as though she had intruded on something private, Tara quietly went back down the hallway to her room.