Prim and Eli stood in the hallway in an awkward silence till she said, “I want to go see Grandma.”

He looked at her, and said nothing.

She resumed walking downstairs to the private ward the old lady was in. She gently opened the door as she heard the beep of the monitoring machines.

Grandma Alexakis was lying still, a tiny oxygen tube running into her nose.

She seemed much older lying there than Prim had ever noticed. The grays in her hair stood out, and her skin appeared worn ...