To Sum It All Up

In the months after her grandfather's funeral, Emily was a mess to put it plainly. She didn't sleep for weeks at a time, she was falling behind on her studies, and most of her apartment bills overdue.

She didn't manage to get a job, with all of her sleep deprivation and anxiety, so her grandmother had been paying for her living space. And so because of this, Emily lives with her grandma.

It took Emily four months of this before she realized what was wrong with her new lifestyle:

"Morning Gram." Emily said with an obnoxious yawn and an overly dramatic stretch.

There was no response.

"Gram?" She stood on top of her cot, and kneeled on the bed where her grandmother lay. "Grandma? Wake up...It's morning."

Still nothing.

"Gram, wake up this isn't funny!" She was now leaning over her grandmother, attempting to shake her awake.

"E-Emily?", her grandmother said groggily. "What are you doing, trying to kill me?" She chuckled slightly as she rubbed her eyes.

"Oh thank God..." Emily said as she breathed a sigh of relief. "I kind of thought that you weren't going to wake up."

"Aw honey." Her grandma said in a lowered voice.

"But you did. That-that's what's important.*chuckle* You're good." She sat on her knees and brushed her frizzy morning hair out of her face.

"Em?" Her grandmother asked.

"Hm?"

"Maybe...Maybe you should go see someone. You know, to talk to?"She looked at Emily with a familiar expression on her face. It was the one she wore when she wanted Emily to listen to her. The one that was plastered on her face for most of Emily's early childhood.

"You-you're serious. You think I need a therapist?" She paused for a moment after she said this. She turned her head to the left and gazed out the large floor-to-ceiling window beside her. Then, she began shaking her head back and forth. "How would we even afford- How would we even begin to afford that? Even if I got a job now, there's still the bills, and food, and school." At this point she had already jumped out of the bed and was now pacing back and forth next to her cot.

"Well," Her grandma started. "I... Could always get a job. I'm sure there are plenty of things that I could do here."

"Really?" Emily stopped pacing and was now facing her grandmother. Her hands were draped down her sides as she slouched tiredly. "You would do that?"

"Why not? You are my granddaughter, and I love you. Plus, I am getting bored sitting around here all of the time." She flashed Emily a smile.

"Thank you." She walked back over to the bed and hugged her grandma as hard as she could.

"Well," Emily began. "we'd better start looking for jobs now."