The funeral
The following day Albert woke up really early, he still didn't know how had he done it to fall asleep, but he had and he had had a dreamless sleep luckily. Before attending his grandmother's funeral he asked John to drive him to the hospital to see his sister. They didn't allow him in the room but he could see Mayra through the glass. She was lying in the bed, connected to several machines that were making sure that she stayed alive and breathing. Asha was sitting on a chair next to her, on her face, Albert could see the suffering. He waved at her and she got outside the room.
-Oh, Albert!- she said hugging him.
-Are you okay mom?
She shook her head.
-It all just reminds me so much of when your father died, the machines beeping, the fire injuries... at least that time there was a fire! What I am going to do if she dies, Albert? Why does this all happen to me?- she held him tight- Don't ever leave me, please, you're all that remains to me now.
He just hugged her back feeling her warmth and sharing her tears. He felt extremely guilty in that moment. Maybe he should have accepted Marla's proposal, maybe that way the people he loved wouldn't suffer so much. He was being selfish, he knew that, if he accepted, thousands of people were bound to suffer just because Marla wanted to, did he have the right to decide the fate of all those people just to see the people he loved happy, would they be safe anyway?
-We should get going.- said John interrupting them.- We are going to be late otherwise.
-Aren't you coming mom?- asked Albert after breaking their embrace.
-I don't dare to leave your sister alone, I know I can't do anything, but I want her to know that I'm here, that I won't let her go.
Albert kissed her mother on the cheek and glanced once more through the glass to Mayra. Then he went with John to the ceremony. It was going to be held it in the cemetery, which was overlooking the sea because Lara had never been religious. When they arrived there, Albert asked to see her one last time, although everyone advised him against it, but he had already seen her. He knew it would be bad, still he was impressed by how severely burned she was. He kissed her on the forehead and closed the coffin again. Then the ceremony started. Lots of people had gathered to bid her farewell, and Albert didn't know any apart from his own family, he had never known that his grandmother had had so many friends. During the funeral, several people talked about their relationship with Lara and how her death would affect them. Albert came last.
-Thanks to everyone who came here today. Most of you might not know me, but I am Lara's grandson.- he could see how some people in the crowd commented it to each other as if they had been expecting him to show up.- My grandmother wasn't a normal grandmother, but you already know that. Even if she wasn't much around she was always there when I needed her, which is the most important thing she could have ever done, and the one that showed better how much did she love me. We had bound together especially well lately, she understood me and she helped me with my problems. And now, she has left us, and I don't know what will I do without her. I will miss you, grandma.
Most of the assistants were teary eyed by the end of his speech. Some approached him to offer their comforts, he accepted them politely before finally burying his grandmother. Seeing the casket go down the hole made him finally realize that he would never ever see her again, that she was gone and she would not come back. He had to repress his impulses of jumping in the hole and hold her in his arms for a final time. He stayed there staring at how the soft earth covered her remains, he didn't move for a while listening to the waves crashing on the distant shore.
-Excuse me, Albert?- it was an old man.- Could we talk to you for a second?
-Yes, why not?- he said walking away from his grandmother's grave.
The man was with a group of three more people, all of them of his grandmother's age, two men and a woman. They were all dressed in black, and Albert recognized them as the ones who talked to each other when he had introduced himself. They introduced themselves as old friends of his grandmother.
-We know what you are.- said David, the old man who had approached him.-We are that too, or rather we were.
-We are here to give you support, we are not as good as Lara was, but we will try to be the best next thing.- added George.
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