Dr. Wahl encouraged him to finish the word, but he was done writing. He didn't want to do it yesterday, and he didn't want to do it today. He did it yesterday justto prove to himself that he wasn't completely lost. He had a little something in him if it came down to it.

Emily came in right after school, but she didn't say anything. She just climbed onto the bed and laid her head on Cal's shoulder while they both watched the news. Something about some devastating tornadoes in Alabama. Emily gave the occasional pout - Cal picked up - but she didn't talk for his sake.

Gillian came in earlier in the day, talked to Dr. Wahl for a bit and tried to get him to write something herself. He noticed that she was pushing more than Emily. She really wanted him to stop being so unopen. Emily just wanted him to take his time and be okay.

He'd been asked a question today. A question that seemed to dig right into his soul and has been nagging at him. He wanted to find an answer to that question, but he was scared to find it. It was a harsh question, that a doctor had no right asking, but it really got to him. And Cal was sure that was what Dr. Wahl had intended.

"You haven't talked in three days." Dr. Wahl stared at Cal.

Cal didn't reply, as he hadn't for the past three days.

Dr. Wahl wrote something down and curiously looked at Cal. "Do you love your friend? What's her name... uh Gillian?"

Yes. Yes he loved her. But he couldn't talk! Didn't Dr. Wahl understand that? Why was that so hard for him to get? He was a doctor, for Heaven's sake! He should know this stuff. He just couldn't talk. Not yet.

"Are you going to talk? You can't go forever without speaking."

Cal had just tuned him out. Picking up the occasional words, but he truly didn't care what Dr. Wahl had to say. Until that question. That dreadful question that was eating away at him.

"How does it feel to be broken? Torn apart and had everything good torn right out of you? How does that feel?"

Cal looked at Dr. Wahl and his mouth fell open.

Dr. Wahl rose his eyebrows at Cal's reaction and said, "You think about that."

And Cal had been all day.

.:.

Gillian was sitting in her office, her legs pulled to her chest, trying to find a way to get comfortable on her cold couch, knowing that Cal hadn't spoken a word in 72 hours.

She was thinking about how good he had been doing before they ran into Theresa. They had fought yes, but the road to happiness was always bumpy.

She was also thinking about when she found out about Cal. That had been a dreadful day.

Loker laughed and stared at Gillian. "Question."

"What?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and spinning a pen between her fingers.

"Are you single?"

"Why the hell would you ask me that?"

Ria laughed and he shrugged. "I'm just wondering what your relationship status is because, if your free-"

"She's taken." Torres raised her eyesbrows as she said this.

"I am not!" Gillian argued. "Who am I taken by?"

Eli and Ria exchanged looks and then laughed slightly.

"What? I have no clue what you are talking about."

Loker chuckled and asked, "Are you serious? You don't know?"

Gillian sighed loudly and insisted, "Tell me!"

"Lightman! No guy here could even get CLOSE to you because they all know that Lightman would kill them."

She frowned and shook her head. "That's not true," she whispered.

"Whatever. Where is Lightman?" asked Eli.

"Out. I don't know. He never tells me," Gillian said with a shrug.

Ria smiled and stood up. "We're serious. Lightman has you all to himself, and it's funny because he doesn't really. He just does to other men, but he won't even tell you."

"That is ridiculous." Gillian shook her head and pulled out her buzzing phone. "Hello?" The smile on her face disappeared and was replaced with a look of pure terror.

"Foster?" Loker asked worriedly.

"Gillian?" Ria echoed.

"Oh, God, no. That's not even possible... H-How? When? Was it a long time ago?" she asked desperately.

"What happened?" Ria took a step towards Gill.

Gillian hung up and stared at them both with wide eyes. "We need to go. Now. Come on." She ran outside to her car.

.:.

When she arrived it was just Ben, but apparently there were ambulances on the way. He was kneeling beside an unconscious and bloody Cal.

She fell beside him and her eyes got wider than what seemed possible. "How could this have happened?"

"Shaughn Stanley." Ben clenche his jaw.

"No." She refused to believe that.

"Yeah." Ben handed her a note that on it said, 'The Work of Shaughn Stanley'.

.:.

She later stood next to Emily and Zoe in the hospital. Zoe hadn't been mean or snide like usual. She just stood their holding Emily's hand, while Gillian held the other.

"It's going to be okay," Zoe continued to whisper.

Gillian would nod and then walk around the waiting room.

"He won't die." Loker said. "Shaughn Stanley doesn't kill people. He just ruins their lives by ripping away all the innocence that they may have had at one time. He just changes their life drastically. He doesn't end it."

"Shut up, Loker," Ben hissed.

.:.

Then Cal didn't move and just stared at the wall. He didn't talk. He didn't smile. He didn't react to anything.

They were back to the beginning.

.:.

Dr. Wahl got the brilliant idea to have Emily ask Cal to write another letter. He heard Emily arguing with him, not wanting to do it. But she did. And Cal obeyed. She was his daughter. She had to know what was best for him, right? He loved her. He had to listen to her.

He wrote an 'm', having some trouble with the humps. It wasn't his normal handwritng, but he didn't care. She could read it and it earned him a kiss on the cheek and a 'thank you so much, dad, good job' and that always made him happy.

A/N: Sorry about the late post. Lotsa stuff going on. I'm gonna post on Baby Brother tonight and I'm starting another story. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Oh and as a side project I'm writing a funny story about Tim Roth and Lindsay Lohan with a friend... lemme know if you want to read it ^.^