Part II

Jessica stared at her phone with tears in her eyes as she snuggled into her blanket. Her grandma had been worried sick about her ever since she got home, and the fact she had skipped work for the first time in a while marked the old lady with uneasiness.

She hadn't stepped out of her room for almost two days, no food or water, she'd just been in there, quiet. 

There was something definitely troubling Jessica, and her grandma wished she'd open up to her about it, but Jessica didn't know how her grandma would react to her obsession with Lijuan for so many years, especially when she thought she was interested in men. Anything that happens, Jessica decided to handle it alone.

On her bed, she glanced through old photographs of herself and Lijuan growing up, and it made her tears flood. The timelines of all the events in her life left a mark somewhere deep in her, and her memories were her valuable fortune. Every memory she had of Lijuan was worth more than gold, but maybe Lijuan could barely remember half of them. She never asked, but she had a feeling Lijuan won't be able to recall most of them, important or not.

She grabbed her airpods and put them both in her ears. She scrolled through some sad soundtracks that wouldn't help curb her depression, but she still played it on max volume, then continued to sulk into her pillow.

"Jess!!!" Her grandma let out a strangled scream for the tenth time that night, hoping she'd be heard. Something was wrong. She couldn't sleep properly the whole night because of the pain throbbing in her chest. It felt like someone had their hand in there and was squeezing her heart, causing an uncomfortable pressure with the pain radiating to her neck and arm.

Wincing In pain she forced herself up and grabbed the corners of the desk beside her for support. With each step the pain amplified, her weak muscles quivered, and her consciousness ebbed, leaving mists at the corner of her eyes.

"Jess!!!" she called again, barely able to continue. The chest pain was unbearable, the squeezing sensation was having a bad toll on her, and she didn't know how long her heart could keep a stable heartbeat.

Down the hallway, she knocked on Jessica's door, but no answer. She turned towards the course she saw light, and as she moved, she noticed the source was from the kitchen's lightbulb. 'Jessica might be downstairs with her airpods on' She said to herself, a smile on her face as her hope was restored.

The old lady navigated her way through the dark hall, hands on the walls as she made way for the stairs. She reached out for the black iron rail when a sharp pain lanced through her chest, causing her body to shiver, and an inevitable chance to slump. Jessica's grandma thought she could compose herself before she gets down there, but she stumbled forward with her foot beneath where she expected it to stop. She fell in the darkness, hitting the inner edge of painted antique cream staircase, and hurtling to the dark polished floor. 

She laid on the ground; her face closed in a grimace as her chest rose quickly like that of a pigeon. The old lady in pain heaved like there wasn't enough air in the room. She no longer had the strength to move. It felt as if the fall from the high staircase left many of her bones broken. Her mind circled through many things, but the most important of all was where was Jessica? 

Her grandmother needed her. She was close to the kitchen door. She gave it all a little push, one more time.

Her breath came in ragged, shallow gasps, as she huffed, trying to move, but her body failed, and the pain in her chest splintered her even more. "Jessica!!! Jessica!!! Jess!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping she'd come out, one way or another. 

"Please!" Her eyesight blurred, not because tears were welling up, but because she was losing consciousness fast. 

Everything became fuzzy; then she saw nothing at all. Her heartbeat pounded loudly, echoing in her ears, alongside her fading pleas for help. That was it.

***

"Is it morning already?" Jessica wondered, before stretching her hand out to pick up her phone on the bed-side table. She yawned as she looked through her notifications and they were the usuals, miss calls from Lijuan and the office. She knew that if she kept things going, she'd probably be fired, but she didn't care anymore. Wu was there. He'd make a perfect substitute. Oh, wait, he already was one.

"It's almost noon. I have to get out of the room even if I don't want to. Nana must've been worried sick for the past days. I wish I came up with a lie earlier to stop her from worrying too much," She swung her legs off the bed and slid her feet into the slippers on the rug. 

"Nana!!!" She called out, as she moved towards her grandmother's room. "Nana?" She looked inside the room that was left opened, but she didn't find any trace of the elder in there. 

"Maybe she's gotten used to the staircase and didn't need my help anymore" She assumed there was a chance she'd be down at the living room, watching her favorite soap opera seasons. 

"Nana?" Jessica called out again. As she approached the stairs, the fake smile on her face switched to a frown. She rushed down the stairs to find out what was wrong with her grandma. 

"Hey...morning Nana...Nana, did you fall asleep by accident again?" Upon contact, Jessica recoiled her fingers as quickly as a child from a hot stove. But instead of heat, it was the coldness that shocked her. 

"Nana? Nana please...Nana...please...Nana? Nana!" She cried as she shook the body on the floor, hoping for a response, a miracle. She picked up the wrinkled hand, so cold and livid, touching it to her newly wet cheek. "Why? Nana? Nana…" 

She bounced to her feet and ran back to her room. She tripped, but that didn't stop her from getting her phone to dial the emergency number. "Maybe...maybe there might still be a chance." She said to herself. Without her Grandma, there'd be nothing left, she'd be lonely forever, and she'd be trapped in the walls of her past.

After reporting the emergency in her home, the personnel over the phone urged her to not panic, but to remain calm while the parademic team was on their way. 

Nothing she was told helped calm her in any way. It only added to her misery. The wall clock ticked forward, and knowing there was no hope left for grandma, she placed her hand by her side, and laid with her, tears soaking into her nightgown. A night gown, she bought for her recently when they both went shopping. 

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry…" the muscles of her chin trembled and her tears burst forth like water from a dam. Her grandma and Lijuan were the walls keeping her state of mind stable, and with them both gone, her fall was assured.