chapter twenty

The video call connected and Howard's face filled the screen looking older and more tired than she remembered but his eyes lit up the moment he saw Adrian.

"There's my brilliant boy." Howard's voice was warm and full of love and it made Claire's chest ache with how much she'd missed having family.

"Great Grandpa! Look what I made!" Adrian climbed onto Claire's lap and held up a complex origami structure that he'd folded himself with his small fingers. "It's a tessellation pattern. I learned it from a video."

"That's incredible, Adrian." Howard leaned closer to the camera and his face filled with pride. "You're getting smarter every day. Just like your mother."

Claire smiled and felt warmth spread through her chest watching them interact. She had kept in touch with Howard all these years and true to his word, he didn't tell Jeff that she was still alive.

He had been the only family she had and he adores Adrian so much.

"Can you teach me about stocks next time?" Adrian asked with his grey eyes bright with curiosity and intelligence that made him seem older than his five years. "I want to understand how the market works."

Howard laughed and the sound was rich and genuine. "You're five years old and you want to learn about the stock market?"

"I'm almost six." Adrian corrected with complete seriousness. "And my teacher says I should learn as much as I can about everything."

"Your teacher is very wise." Howard's smile was genuine and full of affection. "Next time I'll bring some books and we can..."

He stopped mid-sentence and his hand flew to his chest and his face twisted in pain.

Claire frowned in concern and leaned forward and her heart skipped a beat. "Howard, Are you okay?"

His face had gone deathly pale and his breathing was coming in short labored gasps and his hand clutched at his chest like he was trying to rip something out.

"Howard!" Claire's voice rose with panic that made her throat tight.

Howard tried to speak but no words came out and his mouth opened and closed and his eyes were wide with fear and pain and then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed forward and the camera angle shifted crazily as his phone hit the desk with a loud crack.

"Howard! HOWARD!" Claire was screaming now and her whole body was shaking.

The screen showed the ceiling of his office at a strange angle and she could hear him gasping for air and making terrible choking sounds that made her stomach turn.

Claire grabbed her phone with hands that were shaking so badly she could barely hold it and dialed emergency services while keeping her eyes locked on the laptop screen.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I need an ambulance." Her voice came out high and panicked and breathless. "My…my friend is having a heart attack. He's at..." She rattled off Howard's office address that she'd memorized years ago and prayed she was remembering it correctly.

She could still hear Howard struggling to breathe through the laptop speakers and the wet rasping sound was going to haunt her forever and her chest felt like it was being crushed.

"Adrian, go to your room." She tried to keep her voice steady but it came out shaking and broken.

"But mom..."

"Now, baby. Please." Tears were streaming down her face. "I need you to go now."

Adrian's face crumpled but he ran to his room.

It felt like hours but was probably only minutes before she heard voices and footsteps and paramedics appeared on screen moving quickly.

"Sir, can you hear me?"

They loaded him onto a stretcher and the video call stayed connected and she could hear fragments of conversation that made her blood run cold.

"Severe myocardial infarction..."

"Blood pressure dropping..."

"Get him to St. Mary's now..."

Then the call disconnected and Claire was left staring at a black screen and the silence was deafening.

Claire paced in agitation and prayed that Howard was fine.

Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold her phone when she called the hospital.

"St. Mary's Hospital, how may I direct your call?"

"Howard Anderson was just brought in by ambulance. Heart attack. I need to know if he's okay." The words tumbled out fast and desperate.

"Are you family?"

"I'm..." She paused because she couldn't say she was his granddaughter-in-law when she was supposed to be dead and buried. "I'm a close friend. Please, I just need to know if he's alive."

"I'm sorry, I can only give information to immediate family."

The line went dead.

Claire sat there for a long moment staring at nothing and her chest felt like it was caving in and she couldn't get enough air into her lungs.

She knew she wouldn't be able to bear not knowing what happened to Howard, so she made a decision.

She was going to the hospital, back to the city that she was buried years ago.