The moment Nana stepped through the front door, Evelyn rushed forward and threw her arms around her neck, burying her face in her grandmother's shoulder. The tears she had been holding back finally broke free.
"How could you just leave me here?" she cried, voice muffled and raw. "Do you know how much I've been suffering because of this?"
Nana's arms wrapped around her instantly, one hand gently stroking her hair while the other patted her back. "Shh, sweetheart… What's wrong? Why are you crying like this? I've never seen you like this before."
Evelyn only sobbed harder, hiccuping between words. "I don't know… I don't know what's wrong with me. For the past two nights I've felt like I'm dying. I can't eat, I can't sleep. There's this horrible emptiness in my chest and I don't know why. Even the dog is gone… and I can't find that guy from the office. Everything feels wrong. I just—" She broke off into ugly, choking sobs, body trembling.
