"Doesn't matter."
My reply seemed to sting him. He called immediately.
"Are you mad?"
"No."
"Your tone says otherwise."
"My tone's always like this."
He went quiet for a few seconds, then sighed.
"Virginia, Vivian is all alone. No family, no friends. She's in the hospital and there's nobody to even sign the forms. I can't just leave her."
"Mm."
"Can you just bear with me on this? Please?"
"I am bearing with you."
"Then why are you—"
"I've been bearing with you for ten years, Robert. What's one more time."
Silence on the other end.
Finally, all he managed was one line.
"When you get here, I'll make it up to you. I promise."
I hung up and leaned back in my seat, letting out a long, slow breath.
Ten years. It was all about to end.
At last, the boarding announcement came.
I grabbed my backpack and walked toward the gate.
Fifteen hours later, I saw the coastline. Familiar and foreign at the same time.
My eyes blurred with tears instantly.
The elderly man in the seat beside me patted my hand.
"We're here, young lady. You're home."
"Yeah. I'm home."
I turned on my phone.
The second the signal kicked in, messages flooded the screen like a tidal wave.
Robert's voice messages sounded increasingly frantic.