Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(49)
Claire pulled Jason’s pillow against her chest and wept. She cried for herself for probably the first time ever. She cried for the years of torment and abuse at the hands of a man who should have never been a husband or a father. She cried for the loss of her sister who never had a chance to spread her wings and for her mother who stayed as if she deserved no better. Lastly, she cried for the broken hopes and dreams she’d allowed herself to have about Jason.
He seemed so different. In the time she worked for him he praised her work and rarely questioned anything she’d done for him. He always treated everyone with respect, even when there was a problem. She was blindsided by the side of him she’d discovered yesterday. She almost felt like she’d imagined the whole thing; so great was her trust in him.
Maybe she could even find some way to deal with the loan he had engineered on her behalf, since she’d applied for it of her own free will. Contacting Pam and dangling a wealthy new client over her if she terminated Claire was something that she could find no way around. This reeked of something her father would have done. Had her second occupation so embarrassed him that he couldn’t imagine himself sleeping with someone who jumped out of a cake? Yet Claire had never found him to be arrogant nor snobbish; quite the opposite actually.
Chapter Twenty
She jerked as she felt a hand on her back. As she pulled herself up, she kept the pillow in front of her for coverage and attempted to wipe the tears from her face. Jason looked at her with concern in his blue eyes.
“Claire, baby, I’ve some news for you, and I need you to stay calm,” began Jason. Claire wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting him to say, but this was not it. Her eyes flew to his face, alarm starting to take over.
“What… What’s wrong?”
He took both of her hands in his as if to brace her, “Baby; it’s your mother; she’s been taken to the hospital.”
“Wha…What? No, that can’t be right, she’s at home with Louise.”
“I just talked to Suzy; Louise called her. When she couldn’t reach you on your cell phone she had Suzy’s number that you’d programmed in for her for emergencies and she called her.” As her hands started to shake, Jason gripped them tighter and said, “The car is being brought around now, if you can throw some clothes on, we will be out of here within five minutes, and I’ll get you to her.”
Still stunned, Claire looked at him almost in shock and asked, “What happened to her?”
“From what Suzy could gather, she passed out and Louise couldn’t get her to wake up. Suzy is on her way there now and will give us an update when she knows something. Baby, let me help you get dressed; you’re in shock.”
Claire let him lead her around like a child. For one time in her life she was grateful to have someone take care of her. Jason pulled a top and pants from her bag as well as undergarments and began putting the fresh clothes on her. By the time he was finished, a valet had arrived and the room was quickly packed up. Their suitcases were taken down and packed away in the car. Before Claire could even catch her breath, they were on the road leaving Charleston and headed for the hospital. Jason reached over and curled his fingers around hers, shooting her worried glances from time to time.
“Are you alright?” He asked with concern.
“I wish I knew what happened, she’s been good lately, better than usual. I would have never left if I’d believed anything could possibly happen to her. Louise must be so scared; I have to get to them Jason; I have to.”
“We’re going as fast as I dare; I promise we will be there soon." Jason pulled his cell phone from his pocket and passed it over to her. “Why don’t you try to call Suzy? Maybe she’s found out something by now? If she’s with Louise, you could speak to her as well.”
With an audible breath, Claire dialed Suzy and prayed she would answer. “Hello?”
“Suz, it’s me, are you at the hospital yet? Do you know what’s going on?” asked Claire urgently.
“I just had to threaten that old witch at the nurse’s station, but I finally got a few answers. They’re still doing tests but sweetie, they think she might have had a stroke. They’re also trying to rule out other things, but that seems to be the strong contender at this point. She’s awake but much sedated. That’s all I know.”
“A stroke… How could that happen? She just had a checkup, and they said everything was fine.”
“Sweetie sometimes they just happen; I don’t think they can predict them. Louise is here beside me now; I’m going to pass you to her. I’ll hold down the fort, be careful.”
The sound of Louise’s voice brought Claire to tears once again. “Honey I’m so sorry; I don’t know what happened to Evelyn. We were walking to the kitchen to have some breakfast, and she seemed just fine. Suddenly, she stopped and I looked back to see what was keeping her. She had a funny look on her face and when I reached out to take her arm, she just crumbled to the floor. I didn’t even have time to break her fall, it was so sudden. I tried to wake her up for a few minutes, and then I got my wits together and called 911. She never woke up Claire, why didn’t she wake up? I rode in the ambulance with her, and they said she still had a strong heartbeat, and that I should relax and let them do their job. I just want to see her to know she’s ok.”