Rula always had a bad feeling about these visits, even though she was grateful that she was finally allowed to see him. She tried to ignore the way her stomach twisted into knots whenever she set foot in St. Mungo's - focusing on the positives and the determined thought that he would eventually get better was much more preferable than the alternative. But that uneasy, sinking feeling wouldn't go away no matter how much she ignored it.

She paused in the doorway for a brief moment, watching the way he looked out the window, able to, for a fraction of a second, imagine him sitting in his chair at home, healthy and happy and always there to listen to their stories and tell his own and help and teach and laugh and...

She blinked away the memories, forcing herself to focus again. This wasn't the time for daydreaming or reminiscing.

Glancing back to see if the others were ready to enter now too, she knocked gently on the doorframe before stepping into the room, greeting him in Arabic, "Hi, Grandpa." He always seemed to like talking about Egypt and things he did remember from living there, so she thought he might prefer being greeted in that language.

They got to visit their grandpa! Alanna always liked getting to because he was never in Egypt anymore and he was never a floo away. Now he lived in the big Hospital mummy said people went to when they wanted to get better.

In her mind, he'd been getting better for a long time now and he didn't REALLY seem like he was getting better on account of how he...just wasn't quite...himself. Like sometimes it didn't look like he remembered she was his little 'Lanna he was meant to give rides to and tell lovely stories of when he wasn't so old.

Alanna's grip on her brother tightened as she got to the door, pausing when Rula did. Before she could ask why they were stopping, her sister had already made her way inside, causing the 7 year old to tug lightly at her brother for them to do the same.

"Jaddi I missed you." She chirped, skipping a step or two forward into the room but the little girl dared not release her brother's hand. "Is there something out there?" The communication thing was so much easier in a room of only family members. She didn't like it nearly as much when Jaddi's Healers stuck around, and spoke significantly less.

Junia found herself glued to the door frame, unable to bring herself to go into the room. Rula had gone first because she was brave and Alanna and Aaron, they were optimistic and maybe too young to understand but Junia, Junia was very aware of her grandfather's situation. He didn't seem to be getting better and it was him there in the chair with his same eyes and smile but sometimes his eyes seemed sad now and his smile not as bright as it used to be and she noticed because she noticed lots of things she wasn't supposed to. Her parents were always saying that.

Looking down, the younger Botros girl considered the drawing in her hand. She'd made a picture of the family, each member labeled so he would know who was who and each person with something unique, like Hassan with his beater's bat or her with her crown. She'd even hidden runic symbols in there for him to find. Positive ones like jera and sowilo. Ones she hoped he'd recognize and smile about. It was a good picture. She couldn't very well let it go to waste.

Steeling herself, the eleven year old pushed off the door frame and approached quietly, her smile a bit tentative as she took a place by her siblings.

"Hello." Hi. She was here, too. She missed him, did he know?

Abraham's ears caught the shuffling and whispers before the three small figures made it to the doorway. It was incredible how his ears and basically all his senses seemed to sharpen when they were so worn out for a couple of years. He didn't look away from the window, though, he didn't find a reason to. It wasn't like he was waiting for someone, they must be visitors for Mignon next door. She had such a crowd every day ever since she moved from upstairs weeks ago. Botros couldn't forget her name even if he tried to, every day someone would knock on his door asking for Mignon.

Arabic words confirmed that it was not for Mignon, though. He looked away from the sky to the girls and boy who were shyly walking in. His reflex made him smile softly at them, they must be his grandchildren because they were calling him Jaddi. "Hello," he shifted in his lounge chair to sit up properly, his feet untangled from each other as he did so. Their faces were not familiar, except for the one who brought him a drawing, he remembered her face because that was her thing; drawings. The twins were not familiar, they were so little but he couldn't fetch the memory of them, neither could he for the other girl.

Now on for names. Definitely a challenging task. Maybe they would come to him after a moment? Yes? He was frustrated now, and nervous. Maybe it should on his pale, old cheeks.

"N-nothing. Just the sky." He answered the twin girl. Brenda? No. "Is this yours? Can I see it?" He addressed the older girl with the drawing in her hand.Anything to hide the little confused thoughts in his head, like whose children are those? How old are they? Why did they visit today? Why do they look scared? Were they his grandchildren or did they mix up rooms? Why wasn't the nurse here to help him out as usual? Or one of his children-- the ones he remembered.

See it? Oh, the picture. Her picture. "Sure you can. It's for you." Junia went a bit pink and shuffled closer, handing the drawing she'd made to her grandfather. She smiled nervously, looking to Rula for reassurance as she waited for a reaction, especially to the runes she'd so carefully incorporated.

"That's me with the crown. I think I look like mama there." Really, she was trying to get him to look at the names of each person she'd drawn before he accidentally called her by the wrong one because that-well, she didn't know if she'd be able to stop the tears if that happened.

The runes were the frist thing his eyes caught of the drawing. His old hands gently held the material in his lap as if it were made of glass. It held great value to him, look at the child who gave it to him-- she obviously put effort into this artwork. He noticed, yes. If only his observation served him better in other aspects.

... oh look, names. "Aw, you're always a princess in your drawings." Botros chuckled, eyes tearing up from relief at the names written under each person. "Junia." See?? He remembered now. Junia, the one who liked playing princess and who had a Cleopatra costume when she was a toddler. He remembered that. "Well, I don't think I know your mom when she was your age, but your father..." His fingers passed over the figure on the drawing, his younger son. "I knew him very well." He beamed at all four children. "Who do you think you look like most here, Rula?" He addressed the older girl next, to emphasize that he knew their names now.

As for the twins, he let them gather their courage to approach him closer now. They looked very nervous.

Rula offered Junia a small encouraging smile when Grandpa Botros asked to see her picture, but otherwise decided to stay quiet for now. It seemed like a good plan to let the younger ones do the talk for now while she tried to rein in her emotions. That little bit of hope that maybe this would be the day he instantly recognized them and was his old self - that hope had been dashed again. She knew it would be, but she still couldn't stop it from hurting every single time.

Once he had seen Junia's drawing with the names, she felt a tiny bit better from hearing him finally use their names, but not by much.

She peered over at the drawing. "I think I look kind of like Mamá too." What she wouldn't give in that moment to look more like her dad though. Then maybe Jaddi would remember her.

Ab leaned in a little to see what the kid meant. "Hmm," he feigned thinking although to be honest he could not remember the shape of their mother's face for the life of his. "Yeah, definitely." The words were automatic now. When someone obviously gave him little details to help him remember, he would oblige even though it didn't always help. In fact, he could easily remember the short-term memories, and the very long-term ones but there are things that continued to be a fuss. Like what his sons' wives looked like, and whether they looked like their daughters or not.

"You're all very beautiful, anyway." It was a conclusion to him and them, an honest one and he gave them an adoring look. Oh to think of the age gap between him and those kids, it was ages. "Are you here by yourselves?" Where were the adults? Maybe one of his sons? He didn't need to remember those, those he could not forget. Although they looked way older than he remembered...

West made a point of coming as regularly as he was able. He also made a point of taking advantage of his fame (or infamy) in order to do so. He'd been volunteering at St Mungos for a few years now, entertaining sick kids and the like, or even just signing autographs, so it was easy enough to spin it as him coming to entertain an old man.

An old man who West was very very fond of. An old man who had not only literally saved his life once upon a time, but who had become the only grandparent-type figure West Odessa had ever had in his life.

The tall 24 year old knocked and popped his head in, a big smile on his face.

"Professor Botros? Its me, West, I've come to visit."

See, Botros liked those who came in and introduced themselves to him without forcing him to go through that painful memory lane. The old man was sitting at his rocking chair by the window, with items and presents from his grandchildren scattered on the table next to him... and pretty much anywhere that has a surface in this room. He could not hide anything away because he always forgot where it went and he had to go through those photos for the first time all over again.

Now, he smiled back at the young man. West rang a familiar, distant bell in his head. "Hello, West." He replied, giving himself a moment to collects pieces of memories. West had a distinctive eye color which always helped Ab in remembering him after the name thing was out of the way. His student, at Hogwarts, ambitious and passionate about certain things and people. Yep, he remembered him. "Come sit here by my side and watch the view."

Abey's parents were always soooooooo difficult to get any information out of when it came to the topic of his grandfather. He wasn't allowed to visit nearly as much as he wanted to, though actually he was allowed to send plenty of paintings. Hundreds and hundreds a day, actually. Definitely. Really, actually.

But, though Abey wasn't often able to come visit, and definitely not at the same time as ALL his cousins AND his brother and sister (because actually they were all too many and too loud and too confusing), perhaps it wasn't so bad because... well... sometimes the visits made him sad.

BUT he DID like to see his grandpa no matter what actually, and didn't mind getting sad at all, and didn't even tell anyone when he was sad about it which WASN'T like Abey at ALL because he liked to let EVERYONE know how he was feeling. So, when the day of his next visit arrived, Abey was in relatively good spirits.

So good, in fact, that he had maybe accidentally sort of PROBABLY perhaps actually broken away from his siblings while they were momentarily distracted, and ran through the corridors of St. Mungo's as fast as his little legs could carry him to get to Grandpa Botros' hospital room.

When he reached the room, however, Abey slowed right the way down. There was a moment's pause before he pushed the door open the tiniest amount, and poked his head through to peek into the room, just half of his face and one of his big brown eyes visible in the gap between door and doorframe.

What she particularly liked was that, as much as Hassan put on a bravado about his feelings, she knew when he was lying. Her instinct mixed with his bad ability to lie didn't fare well for her older brother and she knew that. No level of 'I'm fine' was going to convince her, which was why she found herself hugging the Quidditch star in the middle of the hospital. Hufflepuffs were known to like that, after all.

And then Abey disappeared.

Boys. Honestly.

Shooting Hassan a frantic look, Lilian hurried down corridor after corridor, occasionally calling out every nickname she knew of Abey's, ranging from the most ridiculous to the most serious. It was a stressful time, after all, and if something, even the tiniest thing, happened to her baby Ab as well........ she didn't have enough parchment to make origami lilies to deal with that level of emotional upheaval.

It was only when she reached the corridor to Grandpa's room that she saw him, peering into the room that, on second thought, she should've expected him to go to. Relieved, the twenty-three year old hurried the last few steps until she was close to the young boy. One hand was holding onto a bunch of parchment origami lilies that she'd charmed to smell like real lilies but the other hand was free and found itself on Abey's shoulder. "It's okay, Ab, you're welcome to go inside."

And where was Hassan? They should really do this together.

Sounded good to him. West grinned at the old man, one of his favourite people and role models in the world, and went over to sit with him, putting his guitar down next to him. He folded his long frame into the chair and looked out for a moment before looking at Botros.

Its a really nice view, sir." He paused. "Alice sends her love. You remember her don't you? Sherman's granddaughter? Hassan's friend? She used to be Alice Fischer.... now she's Alice Odessa. My wife." Just to remind him. As he had to do seemingly every visit. But West didn't mind. In fact every time he said the words 'Alice Odessa' and 'My wife', a huge grin split his face.

He remembered as a young teen dealing with all the strange new feelings and angst and heartbreak and love and everything else, it had been Botros that he would talk to and confide in. Very much about Alice too. And now it had all worked out and he couldn't be happier. At least about that.

West looked toward the view again.

It was nice, it was nice and easy to look at. Botros was looking out the window as West continued with his conversation, offering explanations when needed. Alice? Who-- oh, yeah! Little Alice! Well, not so little anymore as it turned out because she was now a wife. Abraham's head turned towards the boy young man quickly at that, beaming. "Oh congratulations! Although you need to be very careful with her, she's a gem. Bless her, she used to play with my gandrs when she was little." He chuckled heartily, "Wouldn't let go of one even with her grandma's threats!" The chuckle turned into a real laugh...

... what were they talking about, again? Botros' laugh died out while he remembered. Oh yeah! Marriage, young couple getting married. He definitely remembered something like this being brought up recently. Definitely. Was it them? It must be. "You're a good boy, I am happy she has you. And you her." He placed a weak hand on the boy's back. "Makes me happy." Did he mention that? Then the guitar caught his attention. "Play for us a little, will you?" He couldn't remember if he heard him play but he was sure it would ring a bell once he started.

West chuckled too. That sounded about right. It sounded about right every time Botros said it....

"Yeahhh Alice does what Alice wants." He said affectionately. He liked that about her most of the time. Maybe 99 percent of the time. That was good odds.

West beamed at his old mentor's words. His approval still had a really strong effect on the former Slytherin, and he couldn't help but straighten up with pride. "Thanks, Professor."

Yeah he'd always be professor to him. It was a respect thing.

"Oh, sure. I can play you something special actually. I bet you know it." He was sure of it, in fact, because it had been Botros who had shared it with him once upon a time on an Easter holiday trip to Egypt.

"Of course a guitar is probably the wrong instrument but I'll do my best." He picked his guitar up and launched into a practiced and passionate rendition of an old Egyptian love song. Hassan had helped him with pronunciation and to really understand the meaning, so West did his best, hoping he might spark some long-ago memory for the old man, for just a moment.

Text Cut: Botros kids

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Abey's parents were always soooooooo difficult to get any information out of when it came to the topic of his grandfather. He wasn't allowed to visit nearly as much as he wanted to, though actually he was allowed to send plenty of paintings. Hundreds and hundreds a day, actually. Definitely. Really, actually.

But, though Abey wasn't often able to come visit, and definitely not at the same time as ALL his cousins AND his brother and sister (because actually they were all too many and too loud and too confusing), perhaps it wasn't so bad because... well... sometimes the visits made him sad.

BUT he DID like to see his grandpa no matter what actually, and didn't mind getting sad at all, and didn't even tell anyone when he was sad about it which WASN'T like Abey at ALL because he liked to let EVERYONE know how he was feeling. So, when the day of his next visit arrived, Abey was in relatively good spirits.

So good, in fact, that he had maybe accidentally sort of PROBABLY perhaps actually broken away from his siblings while they were momentarily distracted, and ran through the corridors of St. Mungo's as fast as his little legs could carry him to get to Grandpa Botros' hospital room.

When he reached the room, however, Abey slowed right the way down. There was a moment's pause before he pushed the door open the tiniest amount, and poked his head through to peek into the room, just half of his face and one of his big brown eyes visible in the gap between door and doorframe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

What she particularly liked was that, as much as Hassan put on a bravado about his feelings, she knew when he was lying. Her instinct mixed with his bad ability to lie didn't fare well for her older brother and she knew that. No level of 'I'm fine' was going to convince her, which was why she found herself hugging the Quidditch star in the middle of the hospital. Hufflepuffs were known to like that, after all.

And then Abey disappeared.

Boys. Honestly.

Shooting Hassan a frantic look, Lilian hurried down corridor after corridor, occasionally calling out every nickname she knew of Abey's, ranging from the most ridiculous to the most serious. It was a stressful time, after all, and if something, even the tiniest thing, happened to her baby Ab as well........ she didn't have enough parchment to make origami lilies to deal with that level of emotional upheaval.

It was only when she reached the corridor to Grandpa's room that she saw him, peering into the room that, on second thought, she should've expected him to go to. Relieved, the twenty-three year old hurried the last few steps until she was close to the young boy. One hand was holding onto a bunch of parchment origami lilies that she'd charmed to smell like real lilies but the other hand was free and found itself on Abey's shoulder. "It's okay, Ab, you're welcome to go inside."

And where was Hassan? They should really do this together.

Botros was sitting at his rocking chair by the window, a blanket draped over his legs and he looked clearly jaded. His small eyes remained hung on the sky stretched out in front of him.

He heard noise outside his door, there must be visitors coming in. He remained where he was, looking out the window, not in the bit excited to meet people he was supposed to know but forgot who they were. Debby would scold him for this, but right now he wanted to be near her where he could touch her hand and have her arms around his shoulders. There was a time where he forgot how that felt, but recently it was coming back to him vividly.

Text Cut: West tl

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

West chuckled too. That sounded about right. It sounded about right every time Botros said it....

"Yeahhh Alice does what Alice wants." He said affectionately. He liked that about her most of the time. Maybe 99 percent of the time. That was good odds.

West beamed at his old mentor's words. His approval still had a really strong effect on the former Slytherin, and he couldn't help but straighten up with pride. "Thanks, Professor."

Yeah he'd always be professor to him. It was a respect thing.

"Oh, sure. I can play you something special actually. I bet you know it." He was sure of it, in fact, because it had been Botros who had shared it with him once upon a time on an Easter holiday trip to Egypt.

"Of course a guitar is probably the wrong instrument but I'll do my best." He picked his guitar up and launched into a practiced and passionate rendition of an old Egyptian love song. Hassan had helped him with pronunciation and to really understand the meaning, so West did his best, hoping he might spark some long-ago memory for the old man, for just a moment.

Professor. Oh he liked being called that, he missed it. Botros agreed with the Alice thing with a wide smile and a nod. Yes, she sounded like Lucia. Why hadn't Sherman visited recently? Hmm? Ab missed him. Or wait, had he? Botros tried to remember when the last time he saw his friend in his signature wheelchair and failed.

That ruined the mood.

... huh? The melody West started playing on the guitar did all sorts of things so quickly. Ab's face brightened and he shifted away from the window towards the young man. "Oh that song!" He knew this song well, it made Debby's beautiful face materialize in his head. They danced to this songs countless times, on the old balcony where the floor creaked with their moving feet. Botros smelled the humid stuffy air from those evenings in lovely Alexandria... which he missed, too.

His bright face dimmed a little as the confusion over why he was cooped up in this room dawned on him. Why was he in here? He should be at home, with his furniture and Debby's choice of drapes and china and rugs. This place was foreign to him and he hated it.

The song was beautiful, and it made him determined that he needed to go back home. Botros gently closed his eyes and smiled.

Hassan was fine. Or that was the lie he liked to tell his siblings and younger cousins. As the oldest of the bunch, it was his job to slap a smile on his brave face, and be strong for his family. Sometimes he did actually believe that he was fine, and that this didn't have an effect on him, but when he walked into that room and saw the vacant looks masked by a matching smile he would be reminded of how 'not fine' he was. And it hurt. It hurt like hell.

Having his siblings around for this visit, especially Abey, didn't make wearing the brave face any easier but all the more necessary. So that was cause for hugs. And of course his little brother would run off. And of course he would get caught up by fans while trying to find him. Not that he didn't know where he was running to, but it was a small inconvenience for the day that he didn't need.

When he managed to catch up to them at the entrance, he took in the sight, and then took a moment. Had to fix an encouraging smile on his face as he placed a hand on both their backs, gently guiding them further inside the room.

"You're favorite grandchildren are here, Jaddi." For a second his smile eased into the genuine jovial one he always sported. "Well. Technically I'm the favorite, but Lilian and Abey come in for a close second."

As he stood there, peering through the doorway, Abey began to chew ever so gently at the tip of his pointy pointing finger, suddenly too nervous and shy to push his way through the door and into the room. He found himself wishing that he had not run on ahead from Lilian and Hassan - though REALLY he was only just really only getting a HEADSTART was all - because he tended to be much braver when they were around.

Luckily, it was not long before Lilian was there too. Abey half expected to at least get told not to run off again - which was funny because he had been told that like a million and four and thousand and fifty eight times, but also not funny to a lot of other people because he had been told that like a million and four and thousand and fifty eight times - but instead heard reassurances from her.

Abey glanced up at Lilian very briefly, before reaching up so he could hold onto her hand instead, even though he was ten(!) now and didn't NEED hand-holding except sometimes he secretly and not-so-secretly did.

And then Hassan was there too, and Abey was back to being properly brave like properly proper, because he had both his brother and sister and everything was right. But... he was still maybe a little bit tiny bit MAYBE sort of too shy to go in. And maybe... possibly... he was suddenly scared because... he wasn't sure he wanted to see Jaddi forget who he was again.

But even Abey knew that he shouldn't say any of what he was thinking. He just hitched a shy little smile onto his features and finally let himself be guided inside.

"...... Hi," he managed to say, his voice coming out much smaller than he had intended.

At the move of his hand, Lilian found herself holding onto her baby brother's hand. As unspoken of a gesture as it was, there was something comforting about this and she found that it helped more than the intense mental preparation for this visit had. So thank you, Abey. Thank you.

She let Hassan guide her into the room, wishing she could hold his hand too. But Hassan was grown and no level of logic could help her deduce whether he needed it or not. Instead, she found herself glancing around the room, taking everything in: the view, the drawings and the man lounging in the chair. In fact, it was the sight of this elderly man that made her heart tug more than the hospital setting did. The woman, as strong and capable as she claimed to be, wanted nothing more than to break down at this very minute.

But it was Hassan's words that brought her back down to earth and it was Hassan that made her lips tug upwards with his words. The favourite child? He did hold a high regard for himself, didn't he? Be that as it may, but everyone knew that Abey was the cutest child, no competition. As for her, well...... there were a lot of words to describe her. We'll just leave it at that.

When Abey piped up, she gave his hand a small, gentle squeeze before moving away towards the elderly man. A heavy heart and an urge to run weren't going to stop her now. "Hi, Grandpa," she said in as cheerful of a voice she can muster. Swooping down, she planted a small kiss on his wrinkled cheek before holding out the small gift she'd brought along for this visit. "I've brought you some flowers. Lilies, see? Lilies for Lilian."

Botros still showed no interest when the kids pushed the door and walked in. Not at first, anyway. His mind was far off, plotting and thinking and making connections at things. It was very confusing in there because the past and present got mushed together, he felt like he was with Debby almost every minute of every day now and people coming to visit would just make her go away and he didn't want that.

He heard Hassan's voice, a little late but he heard it finally and his eyes went to scan the so-called Abey and Lilian. Oh yeah, he remembered them now. He smiled weakly. "Hey." The cheek kiss was nice. It made him remember which one of his grandkids this Lilian was. "Hullo." He reached out and messed Abey's hair.

As for Hassan, he looked up at him all serious and a little alarmed. "We're going to go home together today. I'm not staying in here. I packed. I think. If I remember correctly." Ab looked around his room to find that he did not pack. "Well, we can pack together. It's quicker this way. Come," he pushed the blanket off his legs and made to stand up, very carefully.

Hassan stopped in his tracks and looked at his grandfather confused at the words that had come out of his mouth. "Jaddi I don't think you should do that." He rushed over to his side and tried to help him back into his bed instead of out of it. "The nurses didn't say anything to me about you leaving." The same nurses he'd been in constant communication with for, how long had his grandfather been in here? Since then. Hassan had made it his responsibility to stay on top of his grandfather's care while he was here. He wanted more than anything for him to come home, but not like this.

"Do you want to see the flowers that Lilian got you? They're lovely."

... hmm? Botros did lean a little on Hassan but only to untangle his legs from his blankets. "I'll be fine. I've been fine for a long time now. What flowers?" He looked around and remembered the lilies. Oh yeah. "Aw, they're beautiful. We have some in our garden in Alexandria. I'm not sure if they died or not. Debby would be furious if someone forgot to take care of the plants." He was moving without help now.

Heading for his closet in the wall, Abraham opened it and looked at the clothes hung on there. "That's a lot of packing." He murmured, slowly getting angry at the overwhelming feeling of it all. "Forget the clothes. Abraham?" He called the little kid, the one who got his name. "Can you please get me my wand?" It was on the nightstand next to him. To Hassan, he said, "Listen, son. I know what they think. They think if they keep me here longer, everything will be alright. Well they're wrong! We'll go home together. It's over here. I remember better when I'm home." He added the last bit a little bitterly.

This trip to St. Mungo's was going to be a bit difficult for Sherman, but he had no choice but to comply with Ab's wishes. The owl he'd received the night before was an obvious testament to how miserable Botros was trapped in his wretched room, and this Minister was a realist. Lucia had convinced him that now was as good of a time as ever to make sure his lifelong companion was happy. After visiting with a few other patients and posing for a couple pictures, he finally made it to the room he'd so often frequented, Lucia and Alice in tow.

And... Merlin, what a scene that was by which to be greeted. Lucia moved forward and passed her husband's wheelchair, resting a hand on Hassan's shoulder in order to stop him from getting his grandfather back into bed. "We've gotten permission for him to be discharged, love. We're going to take him home." If that was where he wanted to be, that was where he'd go. "I arranged for more care in Alexandria, and we let Owen know. He'll be okay."

As okay as he was in this room, anyway... which wasn't all that okay, in Alice's opinion. She was the quietest of their family for once, stealing the hand of Abey's that wasn't in Lilian's and giving his hair a ruffle, but not much else. She'd accompanied Hassan on one two many visits to this place, chatting Ammu's ear off, but she knew which times to be silent.

This was one of them.

Sherman slipped the cane from the holster in the back of his wheelchair, rising on two hobbly feet so that he and his wife could help Abraham into it. No rickety equipment for Ab— he'd have the best there was.

The fingers that weren't holding himself up moved to take his friend's. "All right there, mate?"

There were a lot of different things going on, a lot of things being said, and though Abey tried to keep up with everyone and what they were talking about and everything and also tried to look as though he understood just as well as everyone else... he wasn't really very good at it actually.

But there was ONE thing that WAS for sure. Jaddi - his grandfather - he was coming home! This was the most fantastic-est news to Abey, and he was really actually very super confused at why Hassan was trying to STOP this. Grandpa was in hospital because he wasn't very well, so if he was leaving hospital, that meant he was BETTER. Abey was trying very hard to be quiet while the grown-ups were talking, but on the inside he was practically beside himself with excitement. When he was asked to fetch his grandfather's wand, Abey did just that, and straight away as well, eager to be helpful, and to be ASKED to help. DIRECTLY. With his NAME and everything... eeeeeven though he was only really called Abraham by old people and also by normal adults when he was in trouble, but grandpa was an old people and his name was Abraham too (which was why Abey liked it so much), so it was okay.

It took Abey only a second to locate the wand, and take it to Jaddi as requested. He lingered there for a moment after handing it over too, but then quickly decided to get back out of grandpa and Hassan's way again, and returned to Lilian's side, taking hold of her hand again at once.

Because... Jaddi didn't look like he was better, or sound like it either. But he HAD to be, right? But... everyone was acting funny, and not the funny kind of funny, but the weird kind of funny. And he sounded funny too, like a mix of angry and sad, if that was possible, and Abey thought that maybe it might be. Grown-ups were strange like that.

For the time-being, Abey stayed stood beside Lilian, and only watched events unfold. He barely even batted an eyelid when Mr. Sherman and his family arrived, but was glad when Alice came along and took hold of his other hand as well, because Alice was one of his favourites.

Almost everyone was still acting weird, but Abey knew for surely sure that everything would be okay, because his grandpa was coming home.