Claire's voice from the other room stirred Lindsay from her sleep. "Just a minute" she called out as Cindy turned in her arms and looked up at her. "I forgot Claire and Jill were coming over this morning. Give me a few minutes with them before you come out."
Lindsay made her way into the living room where Jill and Claire were waiting.
Claire frowned slightly when she noticed Lindsay was still dressed from yesterday. She assumed her friend came home the night before and simply went to bed to hide from her emotions. However she didn't appear hung over, so that was a plus. "How are you holding up?"
"Actually..." Lindsay smiled and motioned for them to sit down on the couch.
Once they were settled Lindsay sat on the coffee table in front of them. "I should have called you last night, but honestly I wasn't thinking clearly."
Concerned Claire reached out and rested her hand on Lindsay's knee, "what is it sweetie?"
Lindsay took a deep breath, "Cindy wasn't in the car." She stated firmly.
"What?" Two voices came at once as both women stared at their friend disbelievingly.
"Okay." Lindsay called out.
Cindy had barely stepped into the room before Claire was off the couch and had her in a tight embrace.
Jill sat frozen, unable to believe who she was seeing. She finally tore her eyes away and looked to Lindsay, unable to ask the questions running through her head.
"Sit down and I'll tell you what happened." Cindy whispered to Claire, who had yet to loosen her grip.
Reluctantly she let go and moved back to her spot beside Jill. When Cindy joined Lindsay on the coffee table Jill reached out and took her hand, needing tactile proof that she was real. Cindy smiled and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"The girl in my car was Teri, she's a photography intern at the paper," Cindy began. "When I left the paper yesterday to work on my story she bugged me to let her come along, I wasn't in a mood to fight her so I gave in. Honestly my mind wasn't on what I was doing, I was going over the argument that Lindsay and I had that morning." Lindsay took a breath and placed her arm around Cindy's waist. "Once we got outside I decided to call and apologize. While I was on the phone Teri got impatient, so I tossed her my keys and told her to wait in the car." Cindy paused when the tears began to push forward. "I didn't mean for her to actually start the car."
Lindsay tightened her grip and whispered in her ear, "it wasn't your fault."
Jill squeezed the hand the she was still clinging to, feeling somewhat guilty that she wasn't more upset about the girl in the car. If she had simply waited for Cindy then they would both be dead and she couldn't be sorry that Cindy was alive.
"Why didn't your boss say something about her being with you?" Claire asked. "Had I know there was a chance I would have done the exam."
"He didn't know."
"Why didn't you come to us yesterday?" Jill asked, finally finding her voice.
"I didn't know what to do. I figured this was tied to my story and Mills and Reynolds. After the way I screwed this up I figured I better talk to Lindsay."
Lindsay shook her head, "we both made mistakes," she admitted. "We just need to figure out what our next move is," she said as she stood up.
"Okay. What do you want us to do?" Cindy asked.
"No." Three voices answered at once.
"I am going to talk to Tom, fill him in on what's happening. You," she said with a pointed glare at Cindy, "are staying put."
Cindy stood up shaking her head, "Linz, that's not fair to Teri's family."
"We already know the guilty parties in this case, all we have to do is tie them together." She moved over and placed her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "I'm not going to let Mills know he missed, I will get this done quickly."
"Look at it this way," Jill began. "You can use this time to write an exclusive for when you come back to life."
"Sure, Lindsay's attic would make a good place to write and hide at the same time." Claire suggested.
Cindy glanced over uncomfortably. "Why don't I go make some coffee," she said as she made her way to the kitchen.
Lindsay glared at Claire, "now is really not the time."
"After yesterday, I think now is the perfect time." The 'wise one' reasoned.
"Is this about Cindy moving in?" Jill whispered conspiratorially.
Lindsay threw her hands up, "oh my God. I think we have more important things to deal with."
Cindy stepped back into the living room. "You guys want something to eat? We've got eggs and some bacon." Lindsay spun around and gaped at her while Claire and Jill grinned uncontrollably. "What?" she asked, uncomfortable with the sudden scrutiny. "I'm hungry and it's not like I can go out." Still no one answered. "I can make something else."
Finally Claire took pity on the poor girl, "eggs sound fine. Why don't I come help you."
After the two disappeared back into the kitchen Lindsay looked at a still beaming Jill, "so, you've got eggs."
Lindsay smiled at the thought of Cindy in their kitchen making breakfast, "yeah. I guess we do."
A/N: I know this was a short chapter, but there are only a few left.
