The next morning...
When Calleigh woke up she was so sore. The events of the night before were a blur to her. She forced herself to get up off the couch. She winced in pain and lifted up her shirt and saw a huge black and blue bruise. She walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She had a black eye, a busted lip, and a bruise on her cheek. She remembered that Jake had hit her, but after that everything was a blur. She couldn't believe he had thought she was cheating on him. She realized Jake must have already left for work. She didn't know how she would explain this to her coworkers, she didn't even know if she should go to work. All she knew was that she had to come up with something. She got in the shower, and when the hot water hit her skin it felt so good. She showered for about ten minutes and then got out and went to find something to wear and to think about what she should do about the work situation. But before she could find anything to wear there was a knock on the door. She wrapped herself up in a towel , and without thinking about the way her face looked , went to answer it. She opened the door and their stood Eric Delko. " Wow Calleigh" he said childishly. "Yeah lap it up Delko, cause this is the most you'll ever see" she said trying to sound cheerful. then Eric noticed her face. "Oh my god Calleigh, what happened to your face" he said touching her cheek. " It's nothing , don't worry about it" She lied. "I think it is something, if somebody hit you I swear I'll hunt them down" he said with anger boiling up inside of him. " Eric I'm okay, Jake and I just had a little disagreement. " I'm going to kill him " he yelled. " No, I'm fine, besides , I don't need you to mother me Eric" she said turning to go into the bedroom. " Is that what you think I'm trying to do" he said grabbing her arm. " Eric let go" she yelled. " Calleigh stop being so stubborn" he yelled and pulled her close to him. She screamed out in pain. " Oh my god Cal are you okay, what did I do" he asked worriedly. "Nothing, I'm okay" she said. He wouldn't take that for an answer because he knew that she was not okay. " Calleigh I want the truth" said Eric staring her in the eyes. " You want the truth Eric" she said. "Well the truth is, I got home a little later than usual, Jake was drunk, and that message you left on the answering machine made him think I was cheating on him and he got furious", "I tried to leave but he grabbed me and slammed me against the wall and hit me and that's all I remember, he must have kicked me too" she said. " Cal I'm so sorry" said Eric. She started to sob and Eric embraced her and let her cry against him. "I can't believe he would do this to me" she sobbed. Eric started rubbing her back trying to calm her down. " Calleigh you shouldn't come to work today, I'll explain the situation to Horatio, he'll understand" said Eric. " No Eric Please, don't tell him, I don't want anybody to know" Calleigh sobbed. " But he can help and we can arrest Jake for battery" said Eric. " No Eric please, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone" she said. " Calleigh, my main priority is to keep you safe, and as long as there's something I can do about the situation, I'm not just going to sit around and do nothing " he said. "Please Eric" she started sobbing again. " Okay but your not going home tonight" said Eric. " But..." started Calleigh. " That's an order, Mrs. Duquesne" said Eric. "Okay fine" she agreed. "And Eric' she started. " Yeah cal" said Eric. " Thanks " she finished and gave him a peck on the cheek. " No problem" he said smiling and then Calleigh went to get dressed for work.
