started with a lie ➳ raura revised

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Home."

"Let's go," she says in a frantic manner I've never seen her in.

The car ride to my house is fast and reckless and Madam Jong presses her driver to hurry up even though we've ran over at least three red lights. Even though it's spring and the ice has melted, it feels as if at any second the car will flip over and skid into a tree. Nonetheless, we get to my house in one piece. Both of us rush inside, greeted by Ross.

"What's going on?" he says. "I just got your text. I was about to come to the hospital."

Madam Jong rushes by him too, driven by a force to find those photo albums. She rushes to the bookcase in the living room where all the albums are stacked in perfect order from year to year. She slides a random one out and flips through it.

Sweat appears on her usually flawless face.

"I don't know what's going on, Ross," I tell him, holding onto his forearms as he holds me. I didn't realize I was leaning onto him.

"What happened?" His face is worried and confused just like mine. His eyes dart to Madam Jong and then back to mine.

"I—We were at my mom's room at the hospital. Suddenly, she just cracked or something because she started crying and I had to take her out of the room. She kept calling my mom 'Grace' and then she called her security team to watch my mom,"

I explain. "Now she said she wanted to see the photo albums."

"What is happening?" Zac says, walking into the room. "Grandma Jong?"

Ross calls him over and starts speaking to him in hushed tones and I go kneel down next to Madam Jong. She's on the floor next to scattered albums, all open. Flipping through each one slowly, she starts crying. There's a picture of my mom when she was younger and Madam Jong runs her finger over it. "This is... This is Grace."

"Grace? Who is this Grace?" I ask gently.

"Grace...Grace...she's alive," she whispers quietly. She closes the album and holds it to her chest, clutching it as if she lets go, this Grace person will disappear with it.

Zac brings over a cup of tea and places it next to Madam Jong. "I don't know what's wrong, but drink this, Grams." He puts his arms on Madam Jong's shoulders. "Let's get you on the couch, okay?"

She nods and gets up. I help Zac support her over to the couch where she sits, still clutching the album with her dear life. Ross brings over the tea and leaves it on the coffee table nearby. We all take a seat on one of the surrounding seats, me sitting right next to her to make sure she doesn't faint or something.

"Can you explain what's going on, Madam Jong?" Ross asks, staring firmly at her.

Her wobbly and aging hands reach for the tea. Some tea swishes out of the cup and onto her lap as she brings it to her mouth but she doesn't flinch. She closes her eyes as she sips her tea as if telling herself to get it together.

"Grace," Madam Jong repeats, "she's alive." Why does she keep repeating Grace?

Zac's eyes flick back and forth. "Wait a minute... you mean aunt Grace?"

"Yes!" Madam Jong's eyes twinkle, happy at least someone knows what in the world she's talking about. "Yes, Aunt Grace. Do you remember her?"

"I-I don't know. She kind of disappeared when I was around four or five."

"Yes, that Aunt Grace!" Madam Jong says. It takes a while for me to register that Zac and Madam Jong are basically family— not biologically, but close enough to be one.