Sara nodded and left the room.
Twelve minutes later, my cell rang.
“Allen?”
“Luukas.” The way he said my name made my skin prickle. “There’s been an accident.”
I felt myself slip into autopilot. “Tell me.”
“They called his sister in Ireland because she’s next of kin and she called me immediately. He got hit by a car and they took him to the closest hospital that was just around the corner.”
“Okay, okay….” I got to my feet and gathered my stuff. “Where are you?”
“I’m almost at the shop to pick you up.”
I ended the call and marched to the front. Before Sara could ask, I said, “Accident. Don’t know more yet.”
They nodded and I felt Zain materialize behind me.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, no, I’ll, I have Allen. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I know anything, okay?”
Georgia listened from the break room doorway and nodded. “Anything we can do. You know we love him too.”
I saw Allen’s car in front and dashed out without saying bye.
It took us five minutes to get to the hospital. During that time, I tried not to think of anything, but still my brain went through a cycle of “not again” and “it’s not the same” and “hold your horses.”
“I was the first person in the community he made contact with for some reason,” Allen said right before we reached the turn to the parking. “That’s why she called me. I guess Bear hadn’t gotten to giving your info to her yet.”
It didn’t matter, but somehow I was glad he told me anyway. It was one less thing to think about when I needed to concentrate on what was paramount right now: Bear.
Trying not to fall apart, I followed Allen’s lead. It seemed to be the only thing keeping me together.
“I’m Allen Neal, I’m here for Bear Barlow. His sister Dove Barlow-Connelly should’ve let you know I’m on my way.” He presented her with his driver’s license.
The nurse did her magic on the computer while I half-zoned out, and finally nodded.
“Right, it says here that you’re one of the two people who are allowed all Mr. Barlow’s information in her absence. The other one is Luukas Virta?”
She pronounced my name so badly I didn’t realize what she’d said at first.
Allen nudged me. “Show her your ID, Luukas.”
I fumbled with my wallet and Allen took it from me, then showed her the ID. “Luukas is Bear’s partner.”
She gave my ID a cursory glance and nodded with clear sympathy in her eyes. Then she told us where to go wait.
I followed Allen like a lost puppy, trying to hold myself together.
The moment I’d gotten the call from Florida pushed itself into my brain. The voice of the sheriff who had to call me that there’d been an accident and that they were trying to figure out how to recover the—“This is Luukas Virta, Bear’s partner. What can you tell us?”
My gaze snapped into that of a cop who looked understanding, if harried in the same way the nurse had been.
“From the witness statements, Mr. Barlow was walking on the crosswalk when a car ignored the red light and hit him. Luckily the speed wasn’t high, but it was enough to send Mr. Barlow off his feet.”
We were in some kind of a smaller waiting room near the ER. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not.
