Jen's Legacy.

When he was far enough away to be either seen or overheard from their room, Royce turned Claire's phone on, and looked at the listed numbers.

‘Gran’ was an obvious one. He pressed, to phone that number.

It was answered within a few seconds despite it being a strange time to be calling; so early in the morning. She would see that it came from Claire's phone and there would be no hesitation.

“Claire? Where are you? Are you in Culver?” The voice was that of her grandmother, of course.

“Is Royce with you?”

Royce could hear a flurry of activity as others came into the conversation, and whispering voices in the background as others awoke, suddenly aroused by this unexpected call.

He spoke. “This is Royce, Ma’am.”

“Thank god it's you. I would have called you if I’d known where I could reach you. You heard them too? You are needed.”

“Yes. I heard them, and I do have to go, I know that, but I can’t leave Claire alone at a time like this, the way she is, so fragile, and with us having such a brief time together.”

Brief, hectic, and explosive! His head was still spinning and he could still feel the warmth and softness of her body and where he had just been with her; in her.

Mrs. Prescott sniffed. Royce didn’t know Claire so well if he thought that she was fragile. He’d just caught her at a vulnerable time and well out of her usual society; her comfort zone, and her depth, but that hadn’t been a bad thing. It was time she discovered a man worth having, and Royce would be that man. He was already that man.

“Is she able to speak with me?”

“No, Ma’am. She is still sleeping. I'm calling you from outside our room. I don’t want to wake her up and upset her by trying to explain any of this to her, about why I have to go, and especially I don't want to explain this emergency.”

She seemed to understand.

“You never told her who you were?” But why would he need to?

“It never came up. We always had too much on our plates to deal with."

She'd already learned that much.

“She knows who I am and some things about me and about my past, but not what I really am, or anything like that. It just wasn’t important, considering where we were and what we needed to do to get out. We never seemed to have time for the more social exchanges, and with the… other, more important things happening between us from day one, (he remembered that he should be careful what he said. Others, not just her grandmother, were listening), and it never seemed pertinent until the last few minutes. I thought we had more time…and that you would be able to help smooth the way once we got out, but we didn’t have time, and certainly not now.”

“No, we don’t.”

“I have to leave her and go, but I will not leave until you arrive. She must not wake up to find herself alone, and me not there.”

It made sense. “Tell me where she is and I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

“We are about ten minutes’ drive from your estate ma’am. We got in late last night, and decided not to call until this morning, but other things… this sudden emergency... as you well know, intruded, and I need to go.

“Yes, you do. You are needed. Tell us where you are.”

“There is a small motel on the eastern edge of the city. The Thistle-down Motel. Claire is in room ten at the left end.”

She knew that particular place. Who didn’t? It was said that the beds were always warm.

“The key will be in the door when you arrive, so you don’t need to approach the office. I’ll wait outside at the corner of the building until you arrive. I won’t leave until then. Claire’s phone will be just in front of that door on the floor.”

He needed some information of his own to know what he was dealing with.

“What can you tell me of this accident, ma'am?” He knew it was a major one, whatever it had been.

She brought her mind back to cover what she knew. “We don’t have all of the details yet. Two buses collided on the interstate about an hour ago and went over into a ravine; a few cars too, after a rock slide across the road. A hundred casualties at least. Some dead, many injured. No fire, thank god. That’s all I know, and it's a very fluid situation.”

Impact injuries, severe fractures, blood loss, internal bleeding, general trauma… He worked down the list, knowing now what he was walking into, though it was all still very uncertain. Still, mental preparation was half the battle.

“They are bringing them all through Culver General. We are the only large hospital capable of dealing with all of that, and closest to the accident site. We will be the triage unit and send them on to outlying hospitals when they are stabilized enough and can direct them to where other specialists can best help them.

“They are emptying beds now for them, and we are trying to get other doctors in from much farther afield, but no one has your background or experience or is so close. We are rushing supplies in from the other hospitals.”

“Ma’am?” He was calmer now.

She waited for what he had to say.

“Claire needs a complete change of clothes. Those that she had on have suffered over the last few days. Flat heeled shoes. Her feet suffered.”

"One other thing." He needed to warn her of another difficulty for whoever walked into that room first and saw what he had left, and Claire where, and as relaxed as she was. It would be a shock for a mother or her grandmother to see the devastation that a man had wrought upon her.

“You should be the only one to go into that room to wake her up and speak with her. No one else. Only you. You understand her and she has great affection for you and will need a sympathetic ear.”

She understood what he was saying and not saying.

“Her father and mother will be with me, I suspect." They were nodding. "They landed late last night, so they are aware that she is alright, but I will be the only one to go into that room.”

She’d repeated those words to make sure her son and daughter-in-law, listening to all of the conversation, understood, even though they were Claire’s parents.

“Thank you. This is not how I planned on us meeting again, ma’am.” She was well aware of that.

“I know. Me neither. We’ll be out of here in a couple of minutes and where you are in ten, at a guess.”

“You know him?” He heard a whispered voice, a man. Her father.

They both ignored it, knowing how much her parents would want to question him. There would be time for all of that later.

“I'll watch for you to arrive and then I'll leave. Please make my apologies to Claire and explain this to her. Tell her I love her, and that I’ll be back to claim her just as soon as I can.”

There was more whispering in the background. He sensed the bristling from her father, with him speaking of loving their daughter; coming to claim her (?) and them knowing not even the first thing about him. Not a good start.

“I’ll expect you in ten minutes.”