“They won’t tell you anything, will they?” asked Claire, her eyes wide with smallest glimmer of hope.
“Probably,” he said, reaching for her hand. It felt good to be able to touch her. The simple connection of her hand in his floored him. Despite the horror of what they were dealing with, her hand in his was a point of sweet calm amid the chaos.
“But you’re not family. I thought they only gave that kind of information to immediate family.”
“I’m a large donor,” he said, choosing not to elaborate. The truth was it was entirely possible Claire’s Pete was in the wing of the hospital his donations built. He was fairly certain that’s where the ICU was, but calling attention to his money hadn’t worked very well for them in the past. There was no reason to do it now.
He was turning into the parking garage at the hospital when his phone dinged and Colin’s voice came out of the speaker.
“We’re here,” said Luke. “Tell me where I’m going.”
“I’m afraid I have some bad news, sir.”
“Hold on.” Luke started to pull his hand from Claire’s so he could take Colin off speaker, but she refused to let go.
“No,” she said, taking his hand in both of hers. “I need to hear this.”
“Okay,” he agreed, knowing she was right and hating it. He slid the car into a parking space, and Claire let go of his hand long enough for him to put it into park. “Go ahead, Colin. I have Ms. English with me. We can both hear you.”
“I’m so sorry, sir, miss, but Mr. Lester passed away shortly after he arrived at the hospital.”
Claire let out a sob so full of heartache and pain it tore at Luke’s chest. He murmured a quick thanks to Colin and disconnected the call, reaching across the seat for her.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”
She was stiff in his arms to start, but as he held her, he felt her shoulders heave. In moments she’d melted against him, and his shirt was wet with her tears. He didn’t lie to her and tell her everything would be okay. She wouldn’t believe him anyway. He couldn’t make this right, but he’d do everything he could to make things as easy as he could for her, including taking care of Pete’s family.
He held her, rubbing circles on her back until he felt her crying start to slow. “Let me take you home,” he said, his lips pressed to the top of her head.
“His family isn’t here anymore are they?”
“I doubt it. There would be no reason for them to stay. I imagine the family would want to leave as soon as possible.”
Claire nodded, swallowing hard. “Could you take me to their house? I feel like I need to see Maria tonight.”
“Are you sure? You’ve got to be exhausted.” Even in the dim light of the parking garage he could see the dark smudges under her eyes.
“Pete was more like my uncle than an employee.” Fresh tears started to fall and she swiped at them, shaking her head a little before regaining her control. “I need to make sure Maria knows I’ll take care of her and that she doesn’t have to worry. I owe it to Pete. I owe it to my dad.”
“Okay,” he said, starting the car and slipping it into gear. “Give me the address.
