The Woman Who Refused to Wake Up

Emma Hart withdrew her hand from her grandmother's grip and leaned aside, her grandmother's feigned kindness only intensifying Emma's annoyance. It would be better, more honest, and easier for Emma to accept if her grandmother just admitted that keeping her around was convenient for her own care in old age.

"Grandma, I don't need you to worry about my affairs," Emma said. Has it not always been this way? When had her grandmother truly cared about her?

Unlike her grandmother, Emma's mother had quietly retrieved the deed from the room. After a quick glance at the grandmother, she slipped it beneath her own shirt and walked directly to Emma, placing the deed into her hands, "Emma, take this and solve your problems."