Chapter 36
“He can’t make decisions for her.”
“George?” I said. He turned to me, eyes red.
“Mara,” he said, relief flooding through him. “Maybe you can explain.”
“Anything I can do to help,” I said. I read the employee’s name badge. Emily Lansing. She was a social worker.
“I’m just trying to clear up who Ms. Luke’s patient advocate is,” she says. “Her husband is listed as next of kin.”
“Her husband is in prison for killing my other daughter,” George said, exasperated. “There’s me. I’m her father. Anything you need me to sign, I’ll sign.”
“I’m Mara Brent,” I said. “I’m an assistant prosecutor.”
“Sheriff Cruz,” Sam said.
“Oh dear,” poor Emily Lansing said. “You didn’t happen to bring the probate judge with you, did you?”
“No,” I said. “But if you need some sort of court order, I can help Mr. Luke get that going.”
“No,” Emily said. “Of course not. We’ll go with what we have. I’m sorry. Please let me know if you need anything.”
Emily left to deal with another patient. George looked ready to fall over. I grabbed his elbow and led him to a row of chairs further down the hallway. Sam and I flanked him in the adjoining chairs.
“What happened?” I asked. “How is she?”
George shook his head. “She swallowed pills. Antidepressants, we think. A whole mess of them. She won’t wake up. My God. I’m going to lose her. I’m going to lose my other baby.”
“What are the doctors saying?” Sam asked.
“They don’t know. They pumped her stomach.
She was unresponsive when Claudia found her.
Erin’s next-door neighbor’s an EMT. Thank God he’d just got home from work.
Claudia got him in there right away. He started CPR.
But they don’t know anything. Something about lack of oxygen to the brain.
They don’t know how long she was deprived of it yet. ”
“Where’s Claudia now?” I asked.
“They had to sedate her. She was out of her mind. Took a swing at one of the deputies when they showed up. Hayden’s here with her. On another floor. She’s coming back up here as soon as she gets Claudia sorted out. One of Claudia’s cousins is on the way.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Sam asked. “I’ll talk to the deputies. Don’t worry about Claudia as long as nobody was hurt. Let me go see what I can find out.”
I clutched Sam’s hand for a second as he got up. He gave an unspoken reassurance with his eyes as he headed back down the hall.
“He did this,” George said. “Jamie’s responsible for this, too.
I tried to reason with them. Erin and Claudia have shut me out.
That monster has jammed himself too far into her head.
Erin lost her mind. I don’t know how we get past all of this.
Maybe we never can. And if they let him out? God. I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re doing it,” I said. “You’re here for Erin. For your wife. And Hayden.”
As soon as I said it, the elevator doors opened. Hayden walked through. Her face fell when she saw her grandfather slumped forward as he was in his chair.
“Is she dead?” Hayden asked.
“No,” George reassured her. “She’s still alive, honey. We just don’t know how much damage she did to her brain yet.”
“How’s your grandmother?” I asked.
“They’re not admitting her. They calmed her down.”
“Did her cousin Carol get here?” George asked.
“She’s with her now,” Hayden said. “Let me text her. Let her know Mom’s stable for the time being.”
Hayden pulled out her phone and shot off her text. Then she sat in the chair Sam vacated and put her arms around her grandfather.
“You can’t leave me now, baby,” George said. “Promise me you’ll stay for a while.”
“I’m here now,” Hayden said. “We’re just gonna do this one minute at a time, okay? Grandma’s better. She actually let me hug her. She thinks this is all her fault.”
“Why?” I asked.
“She said she told my mom she was going to cook her dinner. She was running late. She thinks if she’d gotten there a half an hour earlier like she was planning, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Lord, I thought, trying to wrap my head around it all. Erin took a bottle of pills, knowing her mother would be the one to find her. The wounds of this family grew ever deeper.
“It’s not her fault,” George said. “It’s Jamie’s fault. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“I never will,” Hayden said, with an edge to her voice.
Of all of them, Hayden had been the only one who’d seen her father with clear eyes the moment she understood what he’d done.
George Luke had been right next to Claudia and Erin against Hayden until only recently.
But to her credit, Hayden seemed to have forgiven all of them.
She was here today. She was holding them all together.
I hoped she made good on her plans to leave.
Get a fresh start. Her best hope at surviving any of this with her mental health intact would be to set hard boundaries with each one of them.
“Mara,” she said. “There were a couple of deputies down there with my grandma. She assaulted one of them when they tried to ask her questions. I mean, she didn’t hurt him. But …”
“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “Sheriff Cruz is already taking care of it.”
“Thank you. I don’t condone what she did. It’s just … it’s all just a mess.”
“Mr. Luke?” A young doctor appeared. He held a tablet. “You’re George Luke?”
George shot to his feet. Hayden rose with him and they linked hands.
“Is she okay? Is Erin going to be okay?” George asked.
“I’m her daughter,” Hayden said. “Please. Whatever you can tell us.”
“Erin’s starting to come around. She’s still got a tube down her throat so she isn’t going to be able to talk yet.
But she’s starting to respond to simple commands.
That’s good. That’s very encouraging. It’ll be a little while before we know exactly how much …
or if any … damage was done. We just don’t know how long her brain was deprived of oxygen.
But I’m optimistic. She’s going to need time. ”
“Can we see her?” Hayden asked.
“One at a time,” the doctor said. “And just for a few minutes. If she seems upset, I’m going to ask you to leave.”
“Of course,” Hayden said.
“You go,” George said to Hayden. “Then if you think she’d be okay with seeing me, I’ll go.”
“I’ll take you in,” the doctor said.
Hayden kissed her grandfather on the cheek and followed the doctor back down the hall.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” George said to me. “I didn’t know you would.”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” I said. “That you had someone with you.”
“I’m okay.” He smiled. “I’ll be even more okay if you can tell me I don’t have to worry about Jamie ever getting near us again.”
“As soon as I know something about that, I’ll tell you. I promise.”
My phone buzzed with a text. I checked the screen. It was Sam.
“Can you meet me on the first floor? Claudia’s heading back up. She wants to see Erin.”
I showed the text to George. “I think maybe I shouldn’t be here when she gets here,” I said. “I don’t want to further upset her. I know I’m not Claudia’s favorite person.”
George nodded. “I’m sorry. Maybe that would be best. I’m not her favorite person right now either, but she’s not going to keep me from seeing Erin.”
“Okay,” I said. “You have my number. You let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
“That goes both ways,” he said.
I leaned in and hugged George Luke. He felt so fragile. Like if I’d squeezed too hard, he would shatter. He would need to be stronger than ever now.
“We’ll be in touch,” I said.
I left him and took the stairs, hoping to avoid running into Claudia. Sam waited for me in the first-floor lobby. He was talking to one of his deputies. As I approached, he left Sam’s side so we could talk in private.
“How is she?” Sam asked. I explained what the doctor said.
“That sounds good,” he said. “Let’s hope this is the tail end of the drama. Claudia really walloped Deputy Jaffee. I hope I won’t regret it, but we’re not going to press charges.”
“I don’t even know what to think,” I said. “Hayden says Erin knew Claudia was on her way over. She knew her mother would be the one to find her. I can’t even fathom it.”
“Something happened,” Sam said. “Jaffee told me Erin’s house was torn up. Like at first, they thought there’d been a burglary. All the dishes in the kitchen were thrown on the floor and smashed. The couch cushions in the living room were slashed and the stuffing covered the ground like snow.”
Sam took his phone and opened a picture text he’d received. Three images popped up. Two of a kitchen like he’d described. Plates, glassware, and a coffee pot were shattered all over the place. The living room had been ransacked.
“What in God’s name?” I asked.
“She had some kind of psychotic break, maybe,” Sam said. “The whole thing just finally got to her. I don’t know. But you said the doc thinks she’ll pull through?”
“Probably. But it’s going to be a long road to recovery. And if Jamie gets acquitted … Sam … I just don’t even know what to think.”
“Is there anything else you need to do here?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. George has my number. So does Hayden. They know to reach out if I can help.”
“Yeah. Same here. Come on. Let’s head back. Will’s got to be wondering what’s taking us so long.”
My stomach answered for me. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “I’m looking forward to that chili,” I said.
“Me too,” Sam agreed. “The kid might have a knack in the kitchen. I was watching him. I mean, until he kicked me out.”
I laughed. Sam looped his arm around me and we headed out to the parking lot.
I got as far as the ambulance bay before my phone went off again. I pulled it out, then froze mid step.
“Mara?”
“We have to call Will,” I said. “The chili will have to wait.”
“What?”
I turned my phone screen so Sam could see it. It was from Judge Saul’s clerk. The jury was in. She wanted us assembled within the hour.