He wouldn't do this. You don't know him.
I'm sorry, do you know him? You can't cross this line. I won't watch you do it.
Over and over those words played in his head and the pain in his body was nothing compared to the pain in his heart at her loss of faith in him. At the underlying ultimatum in her voice when she had said it. They had argued before but nothing like the two they had that very day. Her words had hurt and while he would admit that he had brought some of it on himself, he hadn't been prepared at just how much her distrust had caught him off guard. He had never exercised so much restraint over himself so that he wouldn't lash out and hit back with words every bit as hurtful as hers. Now he was only God knows where with no idea of when or if he would be found. If the pain in his body was any indication, he was seriously hurt and he didn't even know if he was going to make it out of this alive. That thought didn't scare him but it did cause him deep regret. Regret that he might never see Calleigh again, never get the chance to explain why he had done all of this.
Calleigh. Her name was a constant refrain in his head. His eyes were tightly closed and all he could see was the shocked look on her face when he had met her eyes from the getaway car he had been driving from the scene of the crime. God, would she ever forgive him? Had he lost everything because he had been trying to do the right thing? He didn't know the answer and that thought made him groan aloud as his injuries began to send radiating pain throughout his entire body. If he kept his thoughts centered on her then it made the pain seem a little more distant.
He could hear voices, agitated voices if his ears were picking the sounds up correctly. He had been awake for a few minutes and he figured he could continue to play possum for at least another hour. Maybe by then they would figure out what to do with him. He had no idea where he was and if he were honest he didn't want to know. Everything had gone to hell in a hand basket the minute he had found out his father had gotten another call from the mob to go to that warehouse. He had made it there first and after talking his father out of doing what he was about to do, he had convinced him to turn himself in. It's what he had been working towards all day…ever since Calleigh had shown him that picture. He had made up his mind that if his father hadn't done the right thing he would bring him in himself. The choice had been taken out of his hands when the mob had shown up. It was then that Eric knew the whole thing had been a trap.
He was already in the car with his father getting ready to drive off but they were stopped and held at gunpoint before he could get out of there. Fortunately for them MDPD had shown up and an all out gunfight had ensued. He had used the distraction to step on the accelerator and get as far away from the mob as he could. Several bullets hit the car and one had hit him in the side. He had barely felt it with the adrenaline rush coursing through him as he focused on getting them out of there in one piece. The last thing he had expected was to end up driving towards Calleigh and seeing her shooting at him.
The shocked look in her eyes and her total stillness as he made eye contact when he drove in front of her had struck him if when her bullet had missed. It had whizzed by his head as he had ducked. She had barely missed him and knowing that she was a dead shot he was thankful her aim had been off. Unfortunately he had only had a minute to think about that when he realized that they had been followed. The car behind him wasn't a county vehicle and he knew the mob had sent insurance to make sure their plan was carried out.
His intent had been to drive straight to the lab and walk his father in. He had to change his plans when he saw he was being tailed. Looking over at his father he saw the look on his face and he thought that once again he had been had.
"Was this part of your plan?" He snapped.
"Eric, it's not what you think." Sharova told him. "I promised I would turn myself in, but they told me if I didn't want you dead I would do what they said. When you showed up at the warehouse I knew they meant to kill us both."
At the time Calleigh's words had been playing in his head and he had started to doubt that his instincts about Sharova were right. He knew that Sharova had been a bad man, but he had also felt that the man had wanted to get out. His regrets at the life he had lead seemed genuine. While Eric was no fool he had felt that Sharova's about-face was sudden, he had held onto the fact that the man had at least risked his life to help him. He had told Calleigh as much but she hadn't understood.
In light of everything that had been going on with him, he really couldn't expect her to because he had never explained. He hadn't been able to bring himself to explain. How could he tell her that he had been responsible for single handedly ripping his family apart? How could he explain to her the utter shame he felt at being practically abandoned by those he had thought would love him no matter what? It was at times like these that he missed Mari so much it hurt.
He had been so close to Mari and when she died he felt as if a part of him were missing. All that time he spent preparing for her death he thought he had been ready to face it. It was doubly hard to realize that he hadn't been ready to lose her at all. Her loss had caused him to start spending more time with his family and he would listen to his mother tell stories about the births of him and his siblings. She would talk about the antics and the mischief that he and Mari used to get into. Every time the family got together those topics came up. It was then that he realized that his mom told the story the same every time except when it came to his birth. There were only nuances and minor changes to the story so that he was the only one that noticed. He was a cop after all and he was trained to notice the slight changes in people's stories as time passed. Those changes had made him start to question their family history. He never really knew what he had expected to find, but finding out that the man he had thought all of his life was his father turned out not to be his father at all had never crossed his mind. He still hadn't believed it until he had gotten his real birth certificate. When his mom had confirmed it he had been devastated.
Devestated enough not to want to face it all. All that changed when someone tried to kill him. Then he had no choice but to face the ramifications of his digging. H had called him out and he had no choice but to tell him what was going on. Even after he had revealed to H about his true citizenship status H had told him not to talk to anyone until they could figure a way out of the situation. As much as he had wanted to talk to Calleigh about it, he knew H was right and the less people that knew the truth about him the better. He had no idea that Derek Powell was intending to use that information as evidence against him in a trial to get his client off for committing murder. He had told H that he was only looking for answers but he soon realized then that even if he hadn't done the research he would have found out one way or the other that his father wasn't his father.
Unfortunately, Derek Powell's investigation had done a lot of damage and that's when Eric found out just how deep his mother's deception had gone. His own father, the man that had raised him, the one he had called Papi since he could talk had no idea that he wasn't his son. When his parents had found out that he was going to be deported and why the entire secret had come out and now the entire family knew. He had never expected the reaction from his father that he had gotten from him. It had taken only one weekend with his family for him to realize things would never be the same. His father wouldn't look him in the eye. He tried to hide it but his withdrawal from him had been a tangible thing and Eric had felt his own heart ripped apart. Just like that the man hadn't wanted anything to do with him. The pride in his son was no longer there…after all it wasn't really his son. Suddenly family gatherings weren't the same. He could hear the laughter and the fun inside until he walked through the door then an uncomfortable silence would descend as all eyes turned towards his father. Eric knew then that things would never be the same. His mother was doing everything she could to make up to his father so Eric was the one left out in the cold. He understood. There was no Mari to turn to so he had done the next best thing and stopped forcing his presence on his family.
When Sharova had begun to contact him he figured the least he could do was to get to know the man since the one he had known as his father had all but abandoned him.
It was then that Eric realized that Sharova was trying to make up for past mistakes. Apparently H had gotten to him. Horatio had that effect on people and so Sharova had not only come and confirmed who he was to INS he had decided he would reach out and try to get to know his son. Eric figured the least he could do was give him a chance. Unfortunately, he had never been able to tell Calleigh why he had been so adamant to spend time with the man.
To Calleigh none of his actions with Sharova made sense. She even told him once that he was risking the family he had for a man who never wanted to know him and had said didn't owe him anything. It was the perfect opening to tell her everything but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The pain had been so raw that he didn't trust himself to tell her without bawling like a baby. Now his refusal to face the facts had landed him in the worst mess of his life. Here he was on a cold, concrete floor with a bullet wound, a concussion from being run off the road, and several broken ribs. His breath was coming in short painful gasps and he wondered if he had punctured a lung on top of it. He didn't know how long he would last without medical attention but he hoped it was long enough to see Calleigh and apologize for doing the one thing he had never wanted to do. She had been hurt by every man in her life and he had added himself to the list. No matter his reasons she didn't deserve that and he needed to tell her so.
He couldn't blame her for doubting him and he chastised himself now for not letting her in. She meant everything to him. She was the one constant in his life and he had let her down by not being completely honest with her. His shame and his pride had led him here and Calleigh was deeply hurt because of it. All of this was his fault and while he wasn't sure how he would undue all the damage he had done to Calleigh, he swore to himself he would live long enough to at least try. He had to. He couldn't lose her.