I don’t waste another minute as I run out of the locker room.
“Keep us posted!” Noah shouts.
By the time I get to my SUV, my hands are shaking. They’re okay. The nurse said they were okay.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get over this feeling…when someone from a hospital calls and you don’t know what to expect on the other end of the line.
Deep breaths, Marcus. Deep breaths.
Steadying my hands, I throw the SUV in drive and head toward the medical center. Once I get there, I can figure out what is going on.
Fuck. I’m going to have to call my mom. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her about this thing with Harper. And finding out while we’re at the hospital?
It’s going to go over about as well as a lead balloon.
Cursing late afternoon traffic, I try to get there as fast as I can. Safely, because the last thing I need is to get into another accident on the way there.
I can’t imagine how Sam and Sadie are feeling right now. All they know is that their mom and dad died in an accident. That’s it.
Hell, I can’t imagine what Harper is going through. She loves them, so it has to be eating her up inside. This is not what any of us expected to happen today.
Pulling up to the hospital, I follow signs to the ER and find an empty parking spot. I’m rushing inside, but before I can make it to the desk, a familiar voice is calling out to me.
“Marcus!” Mom’s short brown hair is pulled back into a haphazard ponytail. She’s wearing a sweatshirt covered with paint. It’s like she dropped everything to get here.
“Mom? What are you doing here?”
“The hospital called.”
Of course. She’s on the girls’ emergency contact list. I’m sure they got it from the school if Harper was calling the main switchboard when she couldn’t get in touch with me.
“What happened?” I ask, wondering if she knows more.
“I don’t know. They’re in room four. How’s Emma?”
“Emma?”
Mom nods as we follow the signs back toward the room in question. “Wasn’t she with the girls? She’s usually more careful than this.”
“Mom, it was an accident.”
“Still. You think she’d take more care.”
“Look, Mom. It wasn’t Emma.”
“Then who’s with Sam and Sadie?” Panic is written all over her face. Like I left them with some random stranger off the street.
“Harper.”
“Harper? Why does that name sound familiar?” I know the moment it dawns on her who she is. “That Harper? The woman that left you when Jamie and Dan died?”
“Yes.”
Her face morphs into anger and rage. “You mean to tell me that’s who my granddaughters are with?”
“Look, Mom?—”
She holds out a hand to cut me off. “Not now. I need to make sure my grandbabies are okay.”
