The Last Key by yaxxsu

 - You could have called me sooner.

- I did call you. Three days ago.

- You said it wasn't urgent.

- I said it was serious. It's you who decided that didn't mean urgent. 

...

- How is he?

- He asked for you this morning. Said your name when he woke up. Which was something. He hasn't said much else.

- What did the doctor–

- Days, Eirini. They said days.

...

Eirini: I had a conference. It was-.. There were contracts, it wasn't something I could-...

- I know.

Eirini: You don't have to say it like that.

- Like what? I said I know.

Eirini: You said it the way you always say it. Like you've already written me off.

- This is not the time.

Eirini: You're right. It isn't. So why are you starting it?

- I'm not – I'm just standing here, Eirini. You're the one who came in swinging.

...

Eirini: Is he in pain?

- They've got him on something. He sleeps a lot. When he's awake he's-.. he's more himself than I expected, honestly.

Eirini: What does that mean?

- It means he's sharp. Funny. Yesterday he told the nurse her watch was ugly.

Eirini: (almost a laugh) That sounds about right.

- He also told her to give him a pen and paper. Wrote something out, folded it up. Gave it to me and said don't open it until-.. until after.

Eirini: What was it?

- I told you. I haven't opened it.

Eirini: You're carrying it around and you haven't-.. give it here!

- He said after.

Eirini: He's not dead yet, Ermis.

Ermis: No.. He's not.

...

Eirini: Did he-.. has he said anything? About the house? About what he wants done?

Ermis: There it is.

Eirini: Don't.

Ermis: It's been forty minutes, Eirini. He is through that door and you're asking about the house.

Eirini: Someone has to be practical. Someone always has to be, and it's always-..

Ermis: Me. It's always me. I know. I was here. Every weekend for four months. I rescheduled my life.

Eirini: I sent money.

Ermis: (quietly) He didn't need money.

...

Eirini: I know.

Ermis: What?

Eirini: I know he didn't. I know what he needed.

Ermis: Rini-..

Eirini: I don't know how to be in there with him. I don't know what to say. I never have. You two always-.. you had some language I didn't have. Some frequency I couldn't find.

Ermis: That's not-.. that's not true.

Eirini: It is. When mom died, he talked to you. Not me. At the reception, he stood with you the whole time and I was standing there with a plate of food I didn't even-..

Ermis: You were the one who left the room.

Eirini: Because I was going to cry and I didn't want-..

Ermis: He thought you didn't care. He told me. He said: "Eirini walked out and I thought, is she even upset?"

...

Eirini: He said that?

Ermis: He didn't mean it cruelly. He was just-.. he didn't understand you. Neither did I, for a long time.

Eirini: You could have told me.

Ermis: I thought you knew. I thought you all had some other-.. I didn't know you felt left out. I thought you were choosing it.

...

Eirini: Open the letter.

Ermis: He said-..

Eirini: Please. Open it now. While he's still-.. while there's still time to go in there and say something back.

...

Eirini: What. What does it say.

Ermis: (hushed) It's a key.

Eirini: What?

Ermis: He taped a key to the paper. The one which opens the shed at the back of the garden. And he wrote-.. he wrote: "For Eirini. She always wanted it. I should have said so."

...

Ermis: Go in.

Eirini: I don't know what to say.

Ermis: You don't have to say anything. Just go in.

...

Eirini: Stay out here.

Ermis: I know.