Authors's Note: Thanks again from all the great reviews. I very much appreciate the effort. There has been some concern expressed whether the worst in "The Worst that Can Happen" has already happened. Without giving away too much, I can say that Cal's recovery will not be quick or without setbacks. As some of you might have guessed a lot of this story is based on personal experience, but I'm also a sucker for a happily-ever-after. I hope you'll take the trip with me and find the ending satisfying.

Since most seem to like my Gillian and Emily, here is some more with them. Eli, Ria and Ben Reynolds will make an appearance also.

Part 4

Gillian sank down onto the couch as soon as they entered Cal's house. Even though she'd done nothing all day, she'd never felt more exhausted. She smoothed back her normally immaculate hair back away from her face, leaving her hand gripping a knot at the top of her head. She hadn't felt this dirty and achy since the day they'd spent at the collapsed construction site.

"Here." A mug extended across her vision.

Grasping the steaming mug, Gillian brought it to her nose. "Umm, honey lemon. Thanks, sweetheart."

Emily tried a smile that stopped short of her eyes. "I like it sometimes when I can't sleep."

A cell phone buzzed and both Gillian and Emily patted themselves looking for the culprit.

"It's mine," Emily dug her phone out of her pocket. "Mom."

Gillian nodded and closed her eyes, just breathing in the sweet tart scent of the tea. She needed to keep her nose out of anything between Emily and her mom. Not that she didn't have distinct opinions about Zoe. Oh, did she ever. Some of them she'd been brave enough to face Cal with. Things she thought he'd needed to hear. But she'd never say any of those things to Emily. She'd never put the teen in a position where she'd either have to defend or bad mouth some one she loved.

"Mom!" came a distraught teenage wail. "No way!"

Gillian cracked an eye open to find Emily, fear and more than a little anger flashing across her expressive features, pacing across the living room floor.

Emily stopped dead, her chin up in sudden defiance. "No way am I going to school tomorrow. You may think there something more important than dad but I don't." The girl listened in silence for a moment, her upper lip baring her teeth. "Fine. Do what you want. Like you always do. When have you ever considered what dad or I needed above what you wanted?"

The cell snapping shut sounded loud in the gaping silence. Rigid and shaking, Emily looked ready to explode or collapse. Gillian reached out a hand, hoping the teen would come to her. "Em?"

With a deep sigh, Emily hung her head backwards then gave her hair a wild shake. "Arrrghhh!" came a soul deep cry of anger and frustration. "Why are they always like this?"

Gillian was grateful when Emily reached back, settling herself on the couch. "You know I love my mom, but sometimes…I don't like her very much. Is that a really awful thing to say?"

Gillian knew she had to say something, something that would do no damage to either Emily's relationship to her mother, or her own friendship with the teen. "Not so awful. No matter how much you love some one, they'll still do things that you don't like."

"It's not…" Emily's lower lip trembled. "She says she can't get away until Thursday or Friday. Dad's critical, he may be…what trial could be more important than that?"

"She had other people depending on her too," Gillian replied half-heartedly.

"Don't, Gillian, just don't. She's not just leaving dad alone here for two days, she's leaving me too. How the hell would I deal with this alone?" Her voice broke. "What would I have done if you weren't here?"

"But I am here." Gillian reassured her, fighting down her own hot fury. "Your mom knew we wouldn't leave you alone."

"Yeah, sure," Emily answered in a deadened tone. "She wanted me to go to school tomorrow, but I told her I wouldn't."

Gillian knew she could never go into the office tomorrow and act like nothing had happened. There was no way she could ask Emily to try. "I understand, sweetheart. Listen, why don't you go up and take a shower? Then I'll take one and we'll both get ready for bed. I know sleeping isn't going to be easy, but we've got to try."

Emily nodded in reluctant agreement and followed her up the stairs.

Later, after some discussion on sleep wear and what bed Gillian would occupy, she found herself wearing Cal's t-shirt, lying on Cal's bed, clutching Cal's pillow against her chest. Tired beyond measure, she couldn't slow her thought down enough to sleep. She had told Emily they couldn't think about 'maybes' and 'what-if' but that was all her over-active brain threw at her. She turned restless to her side to find a small shadowed figure at the edge of the doorway.

"C'mon in, Em. I'm not sleeping," Gillian whispered.

Emily crept into the room and crawled up onto the king sized bed. Even in the dim light, Gillian could see she was wearing one of Cal's shirt, probably the polo shirt he'd worn the day before judging by the color.

With no more words, the two cuddled up together, finding enough comfort from the terror of the day in each other's arms for exhausted mind to relax and sleep.

"Reynold!" The moment Ben Reynolds set foot into the Lightman Group office, he found himself surrounded by a frantic Loker. "Just the man we need."

"Oh, oh," Ben frowned at the early morning commotion. "What is this about?" He had turned down Lightman's offer of deception training. He didn't need it in this situation, there were no micro-expressions to read and interpret. Loker emitted deep distress from every pore. "What happened?"

"Lightman was in a car accident last night." Loker steered him down the hall.

"How bad?"

Wiping a shaking hand across his face, Loker whispered, "Critical."

Reynolds' breath left him at the impact. He couldn't believe it. He'd always thought of Lightman as indestructible.

"Thank god you're here," Ria swept up to them. "We're trying to take care of some things so Gillian and Emily won't have to worry about them. Having an FBI agent asking will get the ball rolling faster than either of us."

"Sure," Ben agreed, still feeling dazed. "What do you need?"

Ria consulted the clipboard in her hand. "A copy of the police report and to find out where Lightman's car was towed. Once we find it, Loker and I will go and make sure there isn't anything personal or business in it. Dr. Foster will be staying with Emily at Lightman's house for the duration. It wouldn't be a bad idea, if you dropped over at both the houses, you know, make sure everything's locked up and safe."

Ben nodded quickly, "I can do that. Do you know where the accident occurred?"

"They took him to North Memorial. That's all we know."

"That's okay. I'll track it down." He swiveled, heading for the nearest phone.

"Oh, Ben. This afternoon, we're all heading down to the hospital to donate blood. Join us?"

Ben widened his eyes then grinned. The agency had been his home for a long time, but it touched him to be included in this dysfunctional little family. "Count on it."