The last words she spoke to him were still fresh in her mind. She hated that they had argued. She hated even more that he had gotten himself in the middle of all this mess. She had told him that she couldn't watch him cross that fine line, yet she had crossed it by not telling Horatio what she had found. It took everything in her not to point her gun at Alexander's head and demand to know where Eric was. As she walked away from his father she broke, the pain of nearly losing him two years earlier came back ten fold. She did what she could to regain her composure, but her emotions took over. She fell to the ground in agony. She thought for a moment it was Eric holding her as she cried, but quickly realized that it wasn't him. She just kept repeating over and over that she couldn't lose him. Ryan reassured her that they would find him and he would be back in her arms in no time.
For the first time in three months Calleigh walked into her condo alone. There was no sound of Eric welcoming her home after a long day, no message on her machine telling her that he would pick dinner up, no tulips on her table from him. Instead she was greeted with emptiness and heartache.
She shot at him. He left no clues as to where he could have possibly gone. He simply vanished into thin air. She was half-expecting him to show up at her place with a bullet wound in the arm. She would have shot him a death glare for making her worry and then with a sense of relief taken him to the hospital. But he wasn't there and it tore her apart inside.
Walking into her bathroom to wash her tear-stained face she spotted his cologne sitting on the vanity. She picks it up and holds it up to her nose to take a wiff of Eric. She places it back down on the vanity and falls against the bathroom wall. Tears flood her eyes as she quickly realizes just how much she enjoys his scent, but knows how much more she enjoys it radiating from his body. She walks back into her bedroom and picks up his pillow, takes it to the couch and curls up in a ball, clutching his pillow as if it is the most precious thing on this Earth. He left his scent on her pillow. She can't remember a time without it. Her tears begin once again as she sees a picture they had taken the weekend before. How quickly things change. He's not there to hold her and tell her that everything is going to be ok.
She can't apologize to him for their argument earlier. Everything has been left up in the air. She loves him and she didn't have the chance to tell him. She didn't want to even think of the possibility of never telling him. She was sure the first time that he kissed her lips that she would spend the rest of her life with him. They had fought so hard for this relationship, she needed him. She couldn't see her life without him, not anymore.
She hadn't moved for hours. The pain she was feeling too intense. She hadn't eaten all day, but she probably wouldn't have kept it down anyway. She didn't pick up the phone when it rang. Natalia and Ryan had both called her at least 4 times a piece in the span of 20 minutes. The only person she wanted to hear from was Eric. She needed to know he was ok; she just needed to know he was alive.
As night turned into day she couldn't bring herself to get up. She looked at her phone and noticed the 15 missed calls from both Ryan and Natalia. She really appreciated their concern, but it just wasn't enough. She needed him, she needed his arms around her, and she needed his scent.
For the first time in 10 years she called into work. She spoke to Horatio who had no news to tell her about as to Eric's whereabouts. He promised to call her the minute he heard anything about Eric. The ringing of her doorbell startled her. She dropped the phone and sprung up from the couch to open the door. Sitting on her doorstep were a dozen yellow tulips. She blinked back the tears as she picked up the card that was placed with the flowers.
I'm sorry.
I love you, Eric.