He heard Kate coughing in the other room, a reminder that he had somewhere to be before too long. A meeting with the task force. He couldn't ask Kate to come with him, not when she was unwell. Matt thought briefly of asking Peter, but another part of him said that to really drive the point home, he had to see to matters himself tonight. He'd go visit his mother at the hospital, then he'd give them the win that they all so desperately needed.

He kept an ear out for Kate and Claire in the living room, not to spy so much as out of worry, while the rest of his attention focused on Eleanor.

A small nod was his answer that he did understand. "I don't have children of my own, Mrs. Bishop - Ms. Bishop?" He didn't know how she preferred being addressed. Some widowers always kept the married honorifics, others let them go. "I can imagine though that seeing them as an adult can be complicated." He hoped to one day experience that conflict personally, though with less interpersonal wounds involved as he had with his mother and Kate had with hers. "Kate is a very important friend to me, and I'll always do my best to look out for her. I can promise you that."