Makena's Nana

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“I love you Nana.” Makena sobbed.
“I love you too Cookie.” Nana responded, as her eyes were slowly drifting shut.
“You won’t…. ever leave me right?” Makena said, her voice trembling with tears.
“Never baby.” Nana said with a shaky nod. “Never.”

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Makena smiled as she saw a couple kissing in the hallway. She usually had those kind of reactions when she saw kids her age promise undying love to each other. Please, She usually scoffed. I bet they don’t know a single thing about love. To Makena Williams, love was all about sacrifice. One she was acutely aware wasn’t easy to make.

Makena wasn’t a cynic. She had the love of her life. The one person she could give her life for. Her nana. She loved that woman with every fiber of her being. She was her best friend, her confidant, her teacher. Her whole world.

She knew it couldn’t have been easy to take care of her. Her parents died in an air crash a year after she was born, according to Nana. And as a vibrant woman, Nana could have simply given her out. Or at the very least blame her for everything. But for the sixteen years Makena had lived, her nana stayed with her, taught her everything she knew, and protected her.

It was Nana who taught her her very first steps, her first words, taught her how to ride a bike, listened to her when she talked about her fears, comforted her when she cried about something mean that was said to her, and rejoiced with her when she’d first seen her period. A proof that you’re now a woman, she had said with tears brimming her eyes.

Nana was her everything. So full of life was she, always cracking jokes. Makena always laughed at all of them, even if she had heard each of them a billion times. Her Nana wasn’t like other grandmothers. She didn’t sit in the house and knit, or do something homely. She could have very well afforded to if she wanted because Makena’s parents' life insurance, as well as the trust fund they had set up for the both of them, ensured that they would be comfortable for life. But Nana usually went out, on hikes, to the library, to fancy new restaurants, literally everywhere and anywhere that caught her fancy. Makena usually joked that Nana had a more active social life than she did.

“Well Cookie, you can have that kind of life if you want to,” she said.

Makena had always replied that she was comfortable with how her life was.
“You need people.” She would say, before kissing her forehead and going out.

Which was why when on a bright, sunny, school day, and the principal called her to her office to tell her that Nana had been admitted to the hospital, she nearly collapsed in shock.

“Why? What happened?? Did she get into an accident??!” Makena gasped, suddenly not being able to breathe.
“No Miss Williams. Please calm down. I will take you to see her shortly.” The Principal said, her face awash with sympathy. She knew that Nana was the only family Makena had which was why she took it upon herself to take her to the hospital personally.

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Makena looked at her grandmother, crying noiselessly. Each time she saw all the tubes and drips attached to her body, she remembered the words of the doctor. Stage IV Ovarian Cancer. But how could that be. Nana was the fittest person she knew. She always went on walks, she ate healthy. Why did it have to be her? She realized then that Nana had known about her condition. All those wistful looks she gave her when she thought she wasn’t looking now made sense to her.

She heard her cough and slowly opened her eyes, rushing to her. “Nana? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine Cookie.” Nana replied with a smile. “These meddling doctors, I told them that I’m alright.”
“No Nana, you don’t need to pretend for my sake.” Makena said. “I know everything already.”
“If you know everything then, you should know that I’m fine. Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily.” She joked, with laughter glinting in her eye.
“Oh Nana......” Makena chuckled, hugging her.
“I’m fine Cookie. Everything will be fine.” She said with finality.
“I love you Nana.” Makena sobbed.
“I love you too Cookie.” Nana responded, as her eyes were slowly drifting shut.
“You won’t…. ever leave me right?” Makena said, her voice trembling with tears.
“Never Cookie.” Nana said with a shaky nod. “Never.”
Makena spent the night at the hospital. She didn’t leave her Nana’s side. Every sharp intake of breath by Nana made her skip a heartbeat. She didn’t think she slept more than a couple hours the whole night.

The next morning, it was with great reluctance that she went to school. Nana had insisted that she went, and so she did, after making her promise that she would still be there when she got back to visit her.

But all through, her classes, Makena couldn’t concentrate. Her mind kept drifting to Nana in the hospital. When the bell for the close of the last period rang, she grabbed her bag, and raced out of school like someone being pursued.

When she got to the hospital, and saw Nana bickering with one of the nurses, she laughed, tears rolling down her face, and rushed to hug her.
“What will I do without you Nana?” She whispered.

Later that day, as she laid down beside Nana, Nana begin to talk. She told her stories of her mother and father. Told her stories of her granddad, who she said was the love of her life. Told her of her friends, her does, her achievements, and her regrets. Nana had never talked like this, and Makena realized that she was going to be gone very soon. She started crying.

“Listen Cookie.” She shushed her. “You’ll never go far if you don’t have people. You may achieve a lot on your own, but with friends, you’ll achieve greater. I am who I am today because of people.”

They talked far into the night, and when Nana kissed her once again, her hand softening from Makena’s embrace, Makena held her tighter and sobbed.
“You’re not alone baby.” Nana said her, her voice barely audible. “You’ll never be alone.” And with that, she breath her last.