"I know I've been neglectful but I'm not completely oblivious," Gillian leaned forward to rest her arms on her desk. She gave the man opposite her desk a firm gaze. She meant business. "What's going on with you and Paul?"

Eli looked away to his left, towards her office door and gave a slight sigh. "I don't know. You should ask him."

"I'll ask him later. Right now, I'm asking you, so you have the chance to tell me your side of it."

Eli turned his gaze to look at her and Gillian pointedly studied him in return. She was giving him the benefit of the doubt, the chance to tell his side of the story before Paul could. He got to go first. She was essentially telling Eli that she trusted him over and above her other employee. And she did. Paul had made errors in judgement. She could see he was struggling with something personal and no matter how many times she took him aside and tried to be reasonable, and then firm, he didn't seem to respond. And with Cal being in the hospital she hadn't had the chance to investigate further.

"I'm listening Eli. Whatever it is, big or small. I'm here. I'm sorry you've been bearing the brunt of yet another family emergency..."

Eli raised his hand to wave her off. "It's ok. This is family too."

And to be fair, Gillian had covered for Eli when his mother's marriage had fallen apart and he'd had to go and be with her. When Ria's husband had gone overseas with work for two months and she'd been distracted they had all held her hand and taken some of her case load. They were a family and looked out for each other accordingly. It was something Cal had stressed from the beginning; they had to be loyal to each other above and beyond. It was a concept Paul was having a hard time upholding and accepting. The Lightman Group was not like other places of employment. They knew his business, they knew his problems but they also had his back fiercely. He just didn't have theirs. And now it was becoming an issue. For everyone.

"I guess it's just a difference of opinion," Eli finally answered her. "I just feel like he's not pulling his weight around here as much as he used to and when I mention that to him, he goes off at me."

Gillian nodded. "Any idea why?"

"He's two-faced."

Gillian raised an eyebrow in question only.

"He's riding on the coat tails of others, putting in a minimum effort," Eli sighed again and raised his hand this time to stop himself. "Things have been tough with Cal in the hospital and we really all needed to band together, instead, he went off to do his own thing."

"Has he said anything to you about his life away from here?" Meaning his personal life. Which is what she had been asking before, when she had asked if Eli knew anything about why Paul was behaving the way he was.

Eli shook his head.

Gillian nodded, hating that she didn't have time to look in to this properly. As much as she would like to get to the bottom of Paul's problems, at the end of the day, she had her own. And as selfish as it may sound, she was more worried about herself at the moment. He'd had chances to talk. He'd had chances to come to her. He'd had chances to change this, to fix it, and he hadn't. "Ok. Thank you," she told Eli, leaning back in her chair to show he was dismissed.

"Yep," he leaned forward in his chair to get up. "Just a question. Are you going to do anything about it?"

Gillian gave him a blank stare.

"None of my business," Eli answered himself with a slight mouth frown.

When it came down to it, if it was a choice between Eli and Paul, the preference would have been Eli. He had been with them a long time and was very good at his job. Gillian had misevaluated Doctor Paul Roberts and if he didn't sort himself out, she was going to show him the door.

"Thank you for talking to me Eli," Gillian told him as he got to his feet.

"Hey Cal's going home today right?" He turned back from the door.

"Yeah," Gillian nodded with a smile.

"Good," Eli responded with a firm nod. He reached for the door handle and pushed the obstacle out of his way.

Gillian sighed. She didn't need this today. She opened a new post it on her desktop. It was already covered with things she needed to do. She added a new one and simply typed on it: PR. Then she checked the time. She had to go. She hoped Eli would hold out just a few more days, so she could get Cal settled at home and implement a new routine, then she would deal with the problems in the office. Such normalcy! How exciting!

PJ

Cal sat and kicked his feet. Next to him on the bed was his bag already packed. He was ready to go home. He had said his goodbyes. Most of the staff he was going to see again the next day. He still had occupational therapy and physical therapy to attend. His estimated time of recovery, based on a formula of one month of rehab for every day he was unconscious, put him in the forty month category. He hoped it wouldn't come to that at all. He hoped it might be six months to a year tops. He would continue to have regular checkups with Doctor Rockwell and he was still under instruction to speak with a therapist. He hadn't found a number in his phone under 'doctor' of anything. Just first names or last names, sometimes both. And he didn't exactly want to start ringing around. That could be a little awkward. Gillian's intervention meant he could leave now.

He spotted Gillian coming down the corridor and gave her a smile. She grinned back. "Ready to go huh?" She asked as she reached his doorway.

"Yep," Cal pushed off the bed to his feet. "Let's get out of here."

"No preamble?" Gillian queried as he reached for his bag. She wondered if she should intervene and carry it for him. She waited to see if he was going to struggle. There can't have been much in it aside from clothes, toiletries and a book or two. He seemed ok with it so Gillian headed slowly for the door. Cal had a cane to help him walk. He had bitched about not needing it and yet he used it happily now as they headed down corridors. Cal signed paper work to discharge himself and then they really were on their way. Once they were outside Cal stopped for a moment. Gillian took a few steps until she realised he had halted. She turned back to find him staring up at the bright blue sky.

His gaze suddenly fell on hers. "This is what freedom feels like," he gave her a grin.

Gillian laughed. Freshly shaven, tidy hair cut, slightly underweight, Cal looked the best she had seen him in months. He seemed happy, carefree and so was Gillian; the most she had felt in months. She headed towards him again her hand outstretched. She took Cal's bag, transferred it to her other hand and then gripped his. "Let's go," she suggested.

"Yep," Cal agreed stepping down off the sidewalk carefully. Like he needed to fall flat on his face today of all days. He looked over at his wife as she walked slowly alongside him. He wanted to lunge towards her and kiss her neck. A few months ago, before all this happened, he would have. Every opportunity he got. He was sure of it.

Cal was disorientated when Gillian unlocked a car he didn't recognise. It was black, a sedan, a model he didn't know. She told him it was his car. In the back there was a child restraint for Lewis and an assortment of toys and books strewn across the floor and seating. Gillian put Cal's bag behind his seat, then went around to the driver's side. Cal took his time lowering himself down; Adam had warned him if he didn't take it easy he would revoke his home pass and that threat alone was enough to make Cal promise to be a good boy (and actually use the cane like he had been instructed). He didn't want to stay at the rehabilitation facility a day longer than he had to, let alone have to go back.

Gillian headed across the city through neighbourhoods that had changed so much Cal didn't recognise them and some that had not changed at all. Road layouts had new routes. Shops had disappeared and been replaced. There were new models of cars on the streets he still couldn't place. There was even a new shade of blue he had never seen on a vehicle before. He didn't know what he was expecting but it was certainly not the house Gillian pulled into the driveway of. She waited for the garage door to go up, then pulled inside and pressed the remote to close it again.

The house was two stories. The lower half was sand coloured bricks, the top half white painted weather boards. The garage was cluttered with shelves of boxes, bicycles, gumboots, a wheelbarrow, rakes and other assorted gardening equipment. In the back Cal could see a washing machine and dryer separated off into their own space by the back door. There was a cat flap and he wondered if they had pets. They were parked next to a silver car which looked remarkably similar to Cal's. He didn't recognise that one either but figured it must be Gillian's. As he walked around it he could see another car seat in the back and the same, although tidier, assortment of children's toys and books. Gillian had a figurine stuck to the back window of her car. It looked like an orange dinosaur.

Gillian was waiting for Cal at the internal access door. There were steps up to the medium grey carpeted hallway. Cal wanted to look at everything all at once. There were photos in this short cream-painted hallway, a series he could see, of him, Gillian and Lewis at a park in winter. Lewis looked like he was perhaps a year old. His smile was the same as Gillian's; his eye colour the same as Cal's. Their cheeks were ruddy from the cold despite being wrapped up warmly. They looked happy, from what Cal could tell, but he would be back checking eye wrinkling to make sure.

Gillian silently waited patiently for him at the end of the short hallway. She started away to Gillian silently waited patiently for him at the end of the short hallway. She started away to the right once he had finished looking at the photos and caught up to her. Right in the front of the house was a guest room, clearly. There was generic art on the walls and neutral coloured covers on the bed. "I set you up down here," Gillian spoke. She placed his bag on the end of the bed. She turned to him. "I wasn't sure if you would be ok with the stairs," she offered and Cal nodded. "I didn't want to just assume," she added and finished 'you would sleep with me' in her head.

Cal nodded. "Thanks." He was overwhelmed right now and having his own space seemed quite welcoming. He was grateful she had thought of that without him having to reject her. At the start of the week he had already blown it, he didn't want to make it worse now. And then he realised something. "I recognise this bed," he smiled at the mattress. "This is my bed."

"Yeah," Gillian gave him a relieved smile.

"Do we sleep in your bed?" Cal asked her with a slight smirk.

She smirked right on back. "No. We used to sleep in your bed. We got a new one for ourselves when we moved."

Cal's mind immediately went to 'I bet we had fun breaking that in' but he kept his tongue. In light of his first abysmal attempt in the sack with her he was not in a position of confidence. But he was pretty sure they would have. Especially when she looked at him like that. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

After a moment she changed the subject. "I brought some of your clothes down, socks and underwear but if you want anything just let me know or come up and get it," she added with a flip of her hand, as if it were a solution she hadn't thought of yet but was much better than what she had planned.

"All right," Cal agreed.

"And there are clean towels in the bathroom upstairs. You can use either one. There's a toilet down here."

"Minibar?" Cal quipped. "What time does the kitchen close?"

Gillian gave him a slight smile. She took a deep breath but let it out quietly. She looked around. "Your wallet is there." She pointed to it. She had made sure she put his credit card back too. She turned back to face him expectantly. "Can I do anything else for you? Do you want to lie down for a bit?"

"I've just spent the last month lyin' down," Cal answered.

"Sure," she agreed easily.

At least she didn't patronise the shit out of him, Cal thought to himself. She could have told him he should lie down and rest or any other manner of annoying and condescending things.

"Have you eaten? I haven't had lunch yet."

"Yeah they fed me before they set me free. But I could murda a cup of tea. Murda one," Cal repeated for emphasis.

Gillian smiled her amusement and headed out of the room. Cal turned and followed after her slowly. She headed right down the corridor. She took Cal past a small room that was set up as a study, another that was a toilet and another closed door that was very likely to be a closet of some sort. At the end of the hallway it opened wider into a charcoal grey slate tile foyer. On the left was the carpeted living room and a couch Cal actually recognised as his; the chocolate brown one. He could see photos on the mantle above an open fire place that was probably more decorative than anything else. To the right was the kitchen, where the slate tiles continued. Directly ahead were stairs.

Gillian headed into the kitchen, filled the kettle from the tap and set it on the gas. Cal took stock of the room from just inside the door way. The kitchen was on the right, a large island with double sink in front, the stove/oven, fridge, benches and pantry behind. On the other side of the island was a large breakfast bar. It was cluttered with the base for a phone that was missing, mail, phone books, pot plants, a fruit bowl, crayons, car keys, one of Gillian's bags, a shoe that must belong to Lewis and a dirty bowl. Gillian reached over the bench for the bowl and rinsed it, clearly giving Cal time to inspect. Two shallow steps down led to an open space that was probably meant to be a formal dining area but was actually used as another living room, or a den. There was a large screen TV in the corner, beaten up couches arranged around a wooden coffee table and a book case beside the wall that was loaded up with DVD's, CD's and children's books. There were a few more photos on the shelf. Opposite the TV corner was a sliding door leading out to a patio. Cal could see outdoor furniture and a large sun umbrella. To the right of the kitchen area was a conservatory. It was floor to ceiling (including the ceiling) tinted glass. Cal could see there were rolled blinds to be able to close the sun out if they wanted to and a cushioned window seat ran the length and around the corner. This was where Gillian would live. In this wide open space that was the kitchen/living room/dining room; full of light and life.

The dining table was in the space of the conservatory, pushed up against the other wall so it would not clutter the window seats too much. There were woven mats stacked in the centre but one place was still set and there were little pellets of cereal where Lewis had clearly had his breakfast that morning. The kettle started to sing and it brought Cal's attention back to Gillian, who had made herself a sandwich. She turned to shut it off and poured water into two mugs. She poured milk as well and went to the fridge to put it back. "Where do you want to sit?" She asked him grabbing a plate for her lunch.

"Uh," Cal thought. Where should he sit in a house that was his but wasn't home? "Couch sounds good right about now." How long had it been since he had parked his ass on a couch? Far too freaking long. He hoped they were comfortable. Gillian balanced her plate on her wrist as she carefully carried the two cups over to the couches. She sat on the two-seater, leaving Cal the length of the three-seater to stretch out. She kicked her shoes off and tucked her feet under her butt as she sat.

"So what do you think?" She asked, focussing on picking up her sandwich.

"It's lovely Gill," Cal told her in a murmur. He could see into the yard from here. There was a tricycle on the lawn, a swing and slide set and a sandpit against the fence. There were assorted trees and bushes, and flowers in the front of the beds. He reached for his tea and wrapped his fingers around the mug. The heat hadn't soaked through the ceramic yet.

Gillian gave him a pleased smile as she looked up, sandwich in hand. "This whole side of the house is orientated to get all day sunshine. It's the same for our bedroom upstairs."

Cal nodded that he understood. They sat in silence for a moment while she ate. "What happened to my old place?" He asked tentatively.

"It's still there. It's rented out to a family."

"Oh so I didn't sell it?"

"No."

"Oh good," Cal sipped his team. "Mmm," he made a noise of appreciation. "Perfect." He didn't know why he was impressed by that. Gillian had been making him tea for years. Perhaps it was just because he had missed it so much.

"I'll have to go and get Lewis soon," Gillian noted lightly. It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable silence but it wasn't entirely easy either. She could see Cal's gaze wandering over everything, absorbing and scrutinising and probably wondering. "Do you want to stay here?"

"I'll come for the ride," Cal volunteered quickly.