The formal introduction may be a little over the top, but they might as well do it. She felt more comfortable with him by her side anyway. Alice was fine on her own, but it was nice that Noah was here. Noah was so relieved to see that his grandfather was doing better than the dread that they had expected, and that was all that Alice could ask for.
She was asking for a little less these days, and a lot of it seemed to be pertaining to Noah these days. It could be a good thing or bad thing, and the kicker was that she didn't even care anymore. Alice was changing a lot. The change was good for sure. She must seem like a broken record, but it was true. It was all Noah's fault.
"This is Alice Marozi," Noah started.
Alice bowed her head making Noah do the same since they were right next to each other. It was a shame that she didn't bring Henry a gift to commemorate their first meeting in good spirits, but she would be sure to do it another day. As Alice straightened, Noah continued. "She's a classmate."
Alice nodded vigorously to agree only until Noah said, "She's a great friend of mine."
Henry laughed since it was clear that Alice was surprised, and it made her turn her face away since Henry was clearly laughing at them. Alice fluffed out her hair and sighed. "Well, what can I say? I picked up a stray."
His grandfather wiped the tears from his eyes from the good laugh that he had. "It is great that Noah has friends."
Alice covered her slight giggle with another cough that she usually did which made Noah give her a side long glance. His grandfather literally implied that Noah had no friends. She guessed that the little comment was supposed to mean something good since he wasn't alone anymore, but it was still funny all the same.
Noah didn't let his grandfather's comment slide. "Thanks for that, grandfather."
Henry laughed. "Don't mind him, Alice. He's a little prickly."
Alice waved him off. "I'm already all too familiar."
"What do you mean?" Noah asked as he turned him.
Alice rolled her eyes. "You already know."
"In what way?"
"When we first met, you ignored me. When I saw you at work, you told me to leave. When you—"
Noah lifted his hand to get her to stop. "What? When was that?"
"You don't know? I swear that I was trying to get your attention a couple of years ago... what for again? I'm not quite sure, but you were..."
Noah laughed. "Since when? I swear that I was only trying to get sleep..."
His grandfather was looking between them, his eyes bouncing back and forth between their banter. Alice didn't get riled up easily, because she would rather not waste her time bothering with that and accidently saying something wrong. However, with Noah, one word out of his mouth got her wanting to raise her hackles.
She needed to break that habit soon, because she could already see it leading to problems in the future considering that Noah was able to get her angry faster than anyone she had ever met. It would be a random day where everything would go haywire after chasing after Noah to let him know that he was wrong.
"We need to get the nurses back in here," Noah suddenly said which broke her train of thought.
Henry shook his head. "Do not bother, Noah."
Noah huffed out a breath. "You were clearly not fine earlier. But you woke up well, so we should at least get the nurses back in here to check on you."
"A dictator I tell you," Henry said chucking a hand to the side aimed at Noah.
Alice laughed. "Please always have good health, sir."
She was closer to the bed than she thought when Henry grabbed her hand to lightly pat on the top of it. His grandfather's hand was slightly shaking, only another small testament to his frail body that was doing its best.
Alice didn't know what he wanted, but the light taps on her hand were him silently confirming her to do as he said.
Alice gave Henry a slight nod along with a smile to let him know that she would take Noah out of his hands. She would try to do her best on his grandfather's behalf. Noah was watching them having no idea as to what had transpired before him, but he was happy to see that Alice and his grandfather were getting along.
The night grew into the late hours as they talked about the littlest moments of everything and anything. Alice loved hearing stories and being on the listening side, and Noah was just content that his grandfather was in a good mood. Noah had decided to ping the nurses just before they left instead to have a longer time to spend together.
Eventually, they needed to take their leave before it got too late for the trains to start running, and Alice bowed deeply to his grandfather, grateful for the visit. Right before walking out the door, the elder man yelled in good spirits, "Come again!" Alice grinned with Noah by her side and responded with a hearty, "Yes!"