All Hours ch 3

A refresher for your memories...
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“Olives, dear. Oh my! Can you help me? I fell down the stairs and I don’t know if I can get up on my own!” my grandmother sounded desperate.
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Right, so on with the next chapter...
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“Sure, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” My location indicated that. I was at a stoplight outside my grandmother’s neighborhood. As I turned into the neighborhood, I looked at Chris. He looked confused, but concern was evident when he realized that I had made the wrong turn on purpose. He caught my gaze questioningly. “Gran fell.” He nodded. He was still frustrated with me, so he didn’t speak. But I could tell that I could easily change that. I went into Gran’s house, Christopher being towed behind me. I knew Gran didn’t like Chris but she disliked him more when he wasn’t with me… and sober. I didn’t feel comfortable moving my grandmother so I called an ambulance. Chris and I waited by her side until the paramedics showed up and kept her company. My grandmother could easily see Christopher’s frustration and knew me well enough to know I was more than slightly annoyed myself. She continued to talk amicably as if she didn’t notice until Chris left to let the paramedics in the house.
“You were letting him work you, weren’t you?” she said harshly the second Chris was out of sight.
“Gran!”
“I can’t believe you two! You’re not even married!” she started to ramble and her voice got higher and higher until I could no longer hear it, not that I wanted to. I was grateful when the para’s got my grandmother into the truck and back to the hospital. As I watched the cab drive away, I glanced at my cell phone clock. It was 2:56.

I was five minutes from home, so I drove Chris and myself there. When we arrived outside my apartment, Chris grabbed my hand and pulled me urgently toward the door. I couldn’t help but laugh at his impatience. We reached the door rather quickly, and when we got there, the sight to behold was kind of scary. The door was hanging on one hinge, the other two being quite broken. The door jamb had been smashed. I turned around and dragged Christopher back to the car, where I called the police. They were at my house soon enough, investigating and asking questions. They determined that the break in occurred only half an hour before my arrival. My computer, television, and bank statements had been taken. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have probably been hysterical. As it was, I could hardly process the situation. An hour had passed unnoticed. It wasn’t until I got another phone call that I realized any time had passed at all. Christopher had been very nice, just sitting next to me holding my hand and rubbing my back. I looked at Chris’s watch. It was 4:04. I opened my phone once again, this time without checking the caller ID.
“Olivia?” a voice asked, panicked before I even greeted them.
“Yes?” I said in a resigned voice. I knew this couldn’t be good.
“This is Jess. My dad had a heart attack a few minutes ago.” Jess, my only cousin said.
“Knew it.” I muttered. No good.
“He’s fine, I swear. I just thought I should tell you.” The line went dead. I stepped out of my car and sat down on the front lawn. Shock, sleep deprivation, sheer coincidence and pure annoyance all piled up onto me and I started to cry into my hands. This was ridiculous. In four hours I had parents in the ICU, a grandmother who probably had a broken hip, a smashed boyfriend, a broken-into apartment, and an uncle with heart problems. It was still freaking dark outside! Chris came to sit next to me while he made some phone calls. I laid my head in his lap and cried onto the knees of his jeans. They smelled like stale beer. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to wallow just a bit. I could still hear people talking, I could feel Chris’s hand moving through my hair, I could hear car doors slam and police men stomp around my now destroyed apartment.
At one point I became aware that my younger brother, Gabriel was sitting next to me. He was talking to me, I heard him say my name. I tried to listen. It was slow going, everything was moving in slow motion again. I registered that Gabe had indicated that this discussion was indeed very important. He was waving his arms grandiosely, like he was controlling a great symphony. I sat up and looked at him, trying to focus on his words. I froze at his confession.
“Oli, I’m gay.” At the last word all of my senses became ultra sensitive. I could see, hear, and even feel each gesture that Gabe made as he shifted uncomfortably waiting for my answer. My response made no sense to me or anyone else, and clearly was a sign that my subconscious was just mocking me.
“What time is it?” Gabe’s look of stunned confusion matched my own.
“Erm, around five.” He said quietly.
“Well then okay.” I said. Then I started to laugh. Really hard. Five hours, six things. This was just gluttonous of me… quite the eventful all nighter.
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A couple more hours, a couple more things. You think Olivia can take it? I'm not so sure myself! Read and review my squirrels!