The Rings....Chapter 3

As we got closer to Grandfather's little town, I began to feel apprehensive for no reason other than the fact that I knew my grandfather was getting older. I wondered if this was going to be one of my last visits with him. Then as we entered the town, I could hear sirens and noticed a lot of commotion in the streets. The bus slowed to nearly a stop as police officers were barricading Main Street, where my grandfather's jewelry store and home was.

It was then that I saw the thick black smoke in the distance. A fire truck roared past us, screaming the alarm to make way and another one followed. An ambulance wasn't far behind. I jumped out of my seat and rushed to the front of the bus.

"Can you let me out here?"No. I knew the driver never stopped unless it was a designated bus stop along the prescribed route. We still had another two blocks until the official stop. "Please?" I begged, telling him my grandfather lives on Main Street. Definitely no. There were no deviations. I stayed standing near the door next to the bus driver, practically jumping up and down waiting for the bus to stop so that I could get off. I kept glancing at the smoke and trying to figure out how far down the street it was coming from. That can't be Grandfather's house. It just can't be. Main Street was lined with stores and row homes, and the odds were in favor that it was someplace other than Grandfather's shop and home.

Once the bus finally came to a stop, I sprinted towards Main Street and to my grandfather. He would be outside, walking down the street away from the smoke and hopefully in my direction. I searched for him in the crowd of people who were gathered on the sidewalk and in the street. Police were trying to keep everyone back. The crowd, heading in the opposite direction as I was, and the smoke were getting thicker with each step closer to my grandfather's shop and home. I kept looking at the many faces for the familiar one that I knew so well. As I got closer, I counted four fire trucks and two ambulances, and then I saw it. The smoke was covering the entire block where my grandfather's shop was located. It was difficult to see what side the fire was burning on, so I kept trying to push my way through the crowd to get closer. There was a clear line where no one was crossing at the beginning of the block. There were only rescue workers there, and the police were urging folks to move back as fear, screaming, and eventual pandemonium broke out. The smoke was choking us now. People were in a panic.

"My mother was shopping down there!" someone yelled.

"Has anyone seen my son?"

The noise became deafening. Soon I couldn't make out any words, just noise. My legs felt like I had just run a marathon and they were quickly giving out. There was no place to go. No place to move. No place to sit and rest.

After two more fire trucks and several more ambulances reached the scene, the police were somehow able to move people back another block away from the fire. I watched as if I was looking from above and not part of the crowd. Somehow I was detached in my mind but physically present. As the smoke began to clear, I felt a weight pressing on my chest when I saw clearly that the fire was on my grandfather's side of the street. I found the strength to reach a police officer. "You have to let me pass; that's where my grandfather lives!" I yelled in despair. The police asked his name and then said, "The owner of the jewelry shop?" I wasn't prepared to hear what he told me next. "The fire started next door to the shop, and I'm sorry, but three shops and homes are totally destroyed, including the jewelry shop." The sidewalk I was standing on began spinning out of control as I tried to get my bearings.

"What about the owner? Is my grandfather ok?" I blurted out simultaneously with tears, as my stomach started doing weird things and the weight on my chest got heavier. The police officer was out of focus and seemed to be swaying.

"He was taken to the hospital in pretty bad shape. I'm sorry."

I stumbled backwards and valiantly pushed my way back through the crowd, asking people where the hospital was. Since it was a small town, everyone seemed to know everyone and they all knew my grandfather. They also knew why I was asking where the hospital was, and surprisingly one of them offered to take me there.

The ER was very busy and the waiting area was standing room only. I made my way to the desk and asked about my grandfather. The nurse started going through a pile of papers, and then suddenly stopped.She was staring at one of the papers and wasn't saying anything. She slowly raised her eyes and said, "I'm sorry. Can you follow me?" The floor I was walking on felt spongy and everything was getting blurry. Is this really happening? What is going on? Where is Grandfather?

The nurse took me into a small room and started talking about my grandfather. She began explaining the paramedics said firemen had pulled him from the smoked-filled second floor and he was not breathing. "They did CPR and got a pulse in the ambulance. He was brought here in really bad shape and they did everything they could to save him, but due to his age and the amount of smoke inhalation, they just couldn't..."

I buried my head in my hands and tried not to listen to the rest of what she told me. This couldn't be. Something wasn't right. As she continued to talk in a hushed tone, I lifted my head from my hands and blurted out "How do you know it was Grandfather? There are so many people here and it would be easy to get things mixed up. You were shuffling a lot of papers earlier...how do you know it was him?"

She kept saying she was sorry and then asked if I wanted to see him. She said it may help if I saw him and got some closure. At first I couldn't imagine seeing Grandfather dead, so I shook my head no. But as the nurse was about to leave, I shouted, "Yes! I do want to see. I'm sure this is a mistake and Grandfather is still alive someplace."

Her eyes looked sad and she led me down the hall and into a room where there was a gurney with a lifeless body under a sheet. There were a lot of machines and wires in the room, but they had all been turned off and the room was very quiet. There was trash from syringes and other medical supplies scattered on the floor. The nurse quietly went to the head of the gurney and slowly pulled down the sheet. As soon as I saw the white hair I closed my eyes and turned away. It was Grandfather.

I suddenly felt like someone was kicking me repeatedly in my stomach. My head hurt. The weight on my chest was so heavy that I found it hard to breathe. I felt suddenly alone, like there was no one in that entire hospital but me. Then I heard the words, "Take as long as you need."

I have no recollection of how long it was before I was able to leave that room and call home to tell my parents. They found plane tickets and were there in less than four hours. Even their presence and hugs didn't take away the loneliness I felt. We stayed overnight and once we received permission to go to the scene of the fire, we went to see what we could salvage from Grandfather's shop and home. The police officer was right: it was totally destroyed.I wondered if we were on the right street, because nothing looked the same. My parents were kicking around at charred piles of debris when suddenly it hit me. The rings! My eyes went to where the back room used to be and I gingerly walked through what was left of Grandfather's shop. Nothing was recognizable; everything was blackened and destroyed. The rings were all gone. I thought of the rings I had at home and realized how much more precious they had instantaneously become. They were now my only link to Grandfather. I thought of the one I had lost; the one that was green and orange. I wish I had that one at home as well, but I was so thankful for the six that remained.