Kalinda awoke with her heart pounding. She had had to force herself awake from the nightmare. She hadn't been sleeping well, and by staying with Cary she had hoped that would help. It had helped her fall asleep but, alas, it had not helped her sleep through the night. Her dreams were punctuated by gunshots, blood and Will's lifeless face. Only tonight, the nightmare had morphed the gunshots from the courthouse with the gunshots from the night she and Cary had been shot at by a murder suspect. There had been plenty of blood on the sidewalk, and it hadn't been hers.
Silently Kalinda slipped out of bed, gathering her phone and clothing. She slipped out into the living room to dress, to avoid waking Cary. She didn't bother to turn on a light - she didn't need one, and anyway the light filtering under the bedroom door might be enough to rouse its occupant, a situation she was desperate to avoid.
Kalinda had just finished zipping up one boot when she heard the door open. Shit. As quickly as she could, she shoved her foot into the remaining boot, as Cary switched on the light next to her. "Kalinda," he said gently, "you have the wrong phone."
Kalinda swallowed and reached into her pocket to pull out the phone stored there. Sure enough, it was Cary's. Not looking at him, she quickly swapped phones with him and bent to zip up her boot. Cary sat next to her on the couch, but left some room between them.
"Go back in the bedroom, I'll sleep out here."
Kalinda froze. What? she thought. Her mind couldn't process what he had just said.
"You're upset and disoriented. It's two o'clock in the morning. I understand you want your privacy, but you don't need to go wandering around Chicago in the middle of the night to find it. You can have the bedroom, I'll stay out here."
Kalinda remained frozen, considering what he had just told her. She could barely think through what he had said, the thought process behind it was so foreign to her. If she stayed, would he truly leave her alone? She got up from the couch, still not looking at him, and quickly headed back to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. He didn't seem to be following her.
She sat down on the bed and reversed her earlier process with her clothes, taking her time, trying to calm down. She reached up to wipe away some tears and realized she was shaking. Finally undressed, she slipped beneath the covers and slowly began to warm up and calm down. Still confused but not quite as upset, she eventually fell asleep.
Kalinda silently made her way out of the bedroom. There was just enough dawn light for her to see by. She had managed a few more hours of sleep, which wasn't much but still more than she was used to. And there hadn't been a nightmare to wake her up, for which she was grateful. She was glad for the opportunity to slip out of Cary's apartment unseen.
She tried not to look his way and just head straight for the door, but she ended up catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, sprawled out on the couch. Kalinda paused, and turned to look at him. The blanket he kept in the living room apparently wasn't enough to keep him warm, as he had added his coat over top of it and was wearing a knit hat. Kalinda knew he kept additional blankets in his bedroom closet, but it was apparent he meant to keep his word and not disturb her, even if he wasn't as warm as he wanted to be.
Kalinda sighed. Cary didn't even have to be awake to keep her here. She set her phone down on his kitchen table and slowly undressed. She pulled up the blanket and laid down on top of him, gently kissing him awake.
"Hey," he greeted her between kisses. She pulled back and gave him a small smile. After a few more kisses, he added, "in the future, just ask."
"Okay," she responded, continuing to kiss him.