Here's the second to last chapter. Got it out a little quicker this time. If you've been reading this story. . . please make sure to review. I have the guest reviews open, as well as you can review from twitter, facebook, etc., if you don't have a fanfiction account. Well, enjoy! The last chapter will hopefully be out soon. I'll be taking a little bit of a break-so I most likely won't be starting the sequel soon after I finish this story. Instead, I'll try to take that time to work on some of my other stories that I've put on hiatus to focus on this story. Enjoy!
And I made this chapter shorter so that I can hopefully focus the remaining subjects in the last chapter.
In the attic. He would have to thank Emily for that suggestion later, but for now he watched his business partner and friend—the woman that he loved—sobbing quietly, in the old rocking chair that he had bought just before Emily had been born.
The floorboard squeaked under his weight, which caused her to take in a deep breath and wipe furiously at the tears that were falling down her cheeks.
"Never in a million years did I think I'd find you sitting in my attic." He joked, sitting down on an old storage container. Gillian sniffled; the corner of her lips formed a weak smile. "You've got me baffled on this one, Love. That or it's the medicine that I'm on—and that is some pretty strong liquid that the doctor prescribed." She sighed in response, but didn't even try to smile this time. He brushed his fingers across her cheek, to wipe away a stray tear running down her left cheek. "C'mere."
At one point, he had to practically pull her out of the chair so she was squished beside him on the storage box. She covered her eyes as he wrapped his arm around her, until her head was leaning into his shoulder. Cal ignored the protest in his body, rather holding her close until she had quieted down again.
She sat up slowly, wiping the tear streaks from her cheeks. When he looked back at her, the purple bags underneath her eyes seemed more prominent; she looked exhausted, like she was going to fall over. "I needed that."
"Look me in the eye and tell them that you're okay."
She couldn't meet his eyes, but a moment. "I'm okay."
"Liar." Both of their expressions brightened a little, and she nudged him back for his smart aleck response. "Does your daughter know that you beat people up for a living?"
"She's almost two." She reminded him; her breath shuddering from the previous crying spell, while her tone held hope that Sophie wouldn't know the true meaning of many things in life for years to come.
Stretching a little too much to expel the growing pain in his body, he winced. She seemed to notice, but didn't point it out just yet, so he continued. "I hate to tell you. . . they grow up too fast. If I had my way—Emily wouldn't be driving until she was thirty."
Nodding, he felt her silent stare; her words were uttered numbly. "How long have you been in pain?"
"Since I sat down on this container." He offered directly, cutting to the chase. "Are you going to tell me why you're sitting in my attic?"
"It was the quietest place in the house." She offered simply, like that was enough information for the time being. "You were sleeping and Sophie and Emily are downstairs."
He took in a sharp breath, as if he understood what he had just walked into. Yet, no matter how much pain he was in, he didn't move a bit. "I seemed to ruin the moment, didn't I love?"
She shook her head, suddenly revealing what really was on her mind. "I'm seeing Elena tomorrow." Her shoulders lowered as if the weight had been temporarily lifted from her.
"The girl who survived the car accident."
Nodding in his direction, she got up and sat back in the rocking chair so she could face him. "According to her grandfather, she refused to go to therapy and has stopped talking all together."
"And he thinks that you can fix her."
Sighing, she leaned back in the chair so her head was resting against the wood. "It's been years since I've practiced family therapy."
"I don't believe you need that, love." Her eyes flickered to him with a deep look of confusion. "Look at the way you are with Sophie...a natural is what you are." He stood up, carefully stretching and working the kinks out. "Even though we're both devoted to our lives to psychiatry and medicine, sometimes we break the rules for the ones that we care for."
It had been the first time in awhile that she had slept that long, or that soundly. After her talk with Cal, she seemed more satisfied—a little more calm—that was until she realized that Sophie wasn't still sleeping next to her. Flipping the covers back, she stepped out of bed and looked around. When she realized that her daughter was nowhere in the room, she walked down the steps and into the kitchen.
Cal was sitting at the table, a bowl of cereal in front of him; Sophie was standing on the chair next to him, pushing cereal around on the table with her finger—occasionally taking one or two of them and stuffing them into her mouth. "Momma." Sophie pointed in her direction after seeing her leaning against the door frame.
"Hi." Gillian waved at her, and couldn't help but smiling brightly. Sophie gave a cheeky smile back and went back to eating the remaining cheerios scattered in front of her.
"Now that's a smile I haven't seen in awhile. Feeling better, love?"
Walking across the room, she sat down at the end of the table; her chin resting on the palm of her hand. "I don't think I've slept that long in awhile." She admitted, watching her daughter, devour the last of food. "Is Emily already at school?" Her eyebrows drew up in surprise, after finding that it was already a quarter past nine.
"About an hour ago, but after school she's going straight to mum's house for the week." Walking further into the kitchen, he dug into the cabinet and pulled out a white mug. "Coffee?"
"Please."
He poured the hot liquid into the mug, casually inquiring to her plans for the day. "What time are you thinking about stopping by the office?" Then he poured and stirred in all the necessary things she included into her coffee—already knowing it all by heart.
"I set the meeting up for around eleven." Gillian offered, keeping an eye on Sophie.
He walked back to the table and handed her the mug. "Thanks." Taking a sip, the thought occurred that he knew it by heart as she took a sip.
"How would you feel about trying the whole dinner thing again?" Her eyes widened slightly as she took another sip. "Sooner or later, you know that we're going to have to get back out there...to our company that is. So we might as well enjoy it while we have the time."
She nodded with interest. "Maybe then I can find out what lies you told our employees."
"About our whereabouts? I told them you were on extended leave-"
"We're talking about two individuals who were trained to read lies. Both have seen me way too many times to believe that I'm just on extended leave."
"A fair point. However, we are talking about Loker and Torres here." She gave him a look that equaled to "Are you out of your mind, Cal?" as she set her cup back down on the table.
