A/N: So apart from the haters... I'll keep this going :) Haters gonna hate and potatoes gonna potate. Tehe.
Gillian stood by Emily nervously, watching as Cal cringed as he was placed on the stretcher.
Emily hopped into the ambulance beside him and Gillian reluctantly went back to her car. It was an awkward ride to the hospital with Loker in the passenger seat. He didn't try to make conversation but he continued to tap his fingers on his knees and the dashboard and where ever else he so pleased.
She sighed in annoyance and he took the hint.
"So... You think he'll need surgery?" Eli asked.
She bit her lip, hoping for the best. "Hopefully not."
"What do you think happened?"
"I think you ran into Cal and hurt him."
"You think this is my fault?"
"No. I just think that's what happened. He ran into you. He fell. That's what happened."
"Oh." He pursed his lips and turned his body toward Gillian. "Is he mad at me?"
"Most likely."
"Why?"
"Eli... He's always mad at you." She smiled slightly and glanced over at him.
He shrugged and nodded. "I guess."
"We're here." She turned the car off and looked at him. "Shall we go inside?"
"We shall." He smiled and jumped out.
.:.
"We're here for Cal Lightman."
The woman behind the desk looked over the rim of her glasses towards Gillian. "Lightman... Cal... Here it is. The doctors are examining his knee now. Are you Mrs. Lightman?"
"No... Just a friend."
"Would he want you present?"
"Um... Probably?" Gillian guessed.
She woman seemed like she wanted to stop talking, so she nodded Gillian through two closed doors.
"Thank you," Gilllian said with a smile.
.:.
"Gill," Cal observed when she walked in.
She smiled and placed her purse on a chair. "What's up?" she asked.
"Well, for starters, I'm Dr. Ron Tucker. You can call me whatever."
"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Ron." Gillian smiled again and shook his hand. "So what are our findings?"
"Well, in easy terms, he dislodged his knee in a way. Popped it out of place."
"Can it just be... pushed back in?"
"Not quite. Usually surgery wouldn't be necessary, but with his age, we wouldn't want to cause further problems or arthritis."
"Are you calling me old?" Cal accused.
"Well..." Dr. Ron started.
"I don't want to hear it," he mumbled.
"So... surgery?" Gillian asked.
"I believe so."
"That sucks," Emily whispered.
Gillian hadn't even noticed her presense and Cal and the doctor seemed surprised by her addition to the conversation.
"It'll be completely routine. With the amount of pain he's having... we believe something else might be going on that we can't see from the simple X-Rays." Dr. Ron waved them over to the x-ray and pointed to Cal's knee. "Right here..." He pointed with a pen. "You can see a small... what looks like a flake... It's a possibility that he has chipped the bone, because he felt immense pain when it happened... so the two bones were pushed together." He used his hands as a demonstration. "And one may have been chipped... and it's definitely dangerous to have something like that just floating around in his body."
"So you'll go in and... check it all out?"
"Correct. We'll make a couple incisions... Take out the chip and put something in for the sharp edges... All that good stuff. If you'd like more information, I'd be willing to give it to you."
She shook her head and looked at Cal. "Any thoughts?"
"Make the pain go away."
"We'll definitely do that," Dr. Ron promised.
"Good."
"Are you scared?" Emily whispered to him.
"No. They're cutting open my knee, darling. It's not like open heart surgery or something."
She smiled and nodded. "Good point. Even if something did go wrong... It wouldn't threaten your life."
"Exactly. So when can we do this?"
"As soon as possible, actually." Gillian watched the doctor walk back over to Cal and smiled. "Would you like this explained...?"
"That'd be great," Gillian answered for him.
He nodded towards her and looked at Dr. Ron with curious eyes.
"We'll cut it open right from about here." He pointed to the top of Cal's shin and traced his finger up over Cal's knee and a couple inches into his thigh. "To here."
"That's a little close, mate," Cal said, uncomfortable with the doctor's finger.
Ron chuckled and pulled his hand away. "You'll have stitches... you'll need the dressings to be changed often... We'll give you some medications to keep the pain away until it's healed. I hate to say it... but it's possible you'll need therapy."
Cal had a look of pure disgust on his face and made Gillian laugh. "Cal, it'll be fine."
"Are you okay?"
Everyone turned to see Zoe walking into the room with a concerned look.
"I'm fine, darling."
Gillian felt a slight twinge of pain when he added 'darling' to that.
"What happened?"
"Soccer."
"Are you going to need surgery?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"My knee... and now I will have to walk around apologizing because I 'have a bad knee.'" He said angrily.
All the women in the room smiled and he frowned. "I don't find that funny in anyway."
A/N: Hehe, I have a surprise.