By the time he woke up from the anesthesia she'd had everything arranged. She'd taken advantage of his unconsciousness to avoid an argument and take charge. She was sitting in a chair by his bed when he woke up. His ears both bandaged he could hear her muffled words, but he read her lips perfectly.
"The doctor said everything went fine. You'll be as good as new in a couple of weeks. I went by the lab and took care of the paper work so you can take some much overdue time off." She continued as he opened his mouth to protest. "It's a done deal Gil. They're going to spring you in the morning. I just wanted to be here when you woke up. Lindsey and I have to get the guest room ready." She crossed to him, gave his hand a squeeze, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Get some rest." He watched her go, slightly dumbfounded, "Who's the guestroom for?" She turned over her shoulder and gave him a trademark smile, "You" and then she was gone.
She'd laid down the ground rules in the car on the way to her house. "I know you're uncomfortable letting someone take care of you, but tough it out. You need a break and if I let you go to your townhouse you won't let yourself have one. You are staying at least two weeks." She silenced him with a glare that softened into a smile. "You're stuck with us." He shook his head and smiled as he looked out the window.
Now it had been a week since she'd picked him up, straight off work, she'd already gotten his things from the townhouse, and everything was waiting for him when they got there. He'd slept a lot in the first days, from the combination of painkillers and sheer exhaustion. She was right in knowing he'd never give himself a break, he'd be at home doing paperwork if she'd let him go. He was on his way to recovery, the pain in his ears lessened with each day and he could hear perfectly.
He knew he was probably well enough to go home, but he knew better than to argue with her. They'd already fallen into a comfortable pattern. Catherine would leave him with Lindsey at night, the little girl promising not to bather 'Uncle' Gil and when she got home he'd be in the kitchen cooking for her.
"You know I didn't bring you here just to cook for me." She said as they sat at the table eating one morning. He smiled at her, "I know, it's my way of thanking you." She smiled as they finished their breakfast. Lindsey was at a friend's house and wouldn't be home for hours. Leaving them alone on the quiet morning. "You know Cath, you can go to sleep if you want. You don't need to stay up for me. She pulled him into the living room and they settled on the couch. "I'm not tired yet, believe me you'll know when I'm ready for sleep. Talk to me."
He looked at her strangely, "about?" She shrugged "Anything, I need more conversation than ballistics reports and lab results." He nodded his head, "not enjoying being the boss?" She smirked, "I'd like being boss if we had a full crew. Not that you need to rush back to work." She added quickly as he opened his mouth. "You know me too well Cath. It's weird; I don't really know what to do if I'm not working. Speaking of, what did you tell the team?" She shrugged her shoulders "You're on vacation, it's not my place to tell them anything. They were all a little surprised, Nicky asked if you went to Disneyland." He smiled, "I may as well have, I've seen enough Disney movies this week." She laughed, "Welcome to my world. I haven't seen a real movie in months, but I did see "Finding Nemo." He laughed, "If you ever spring me we'll go to a 'real' movie, one with lots of gratuitous violence and vulgarity." She gave him another smile, "You're on. I do think you should tell them about the surgery." He nodded and rubbed his bearded face, Catherine had forgotten his razor, "Yeah, you could always tell them. I'm sure you could do a better job then me anyway." She studied his face as he looked into space. "They'll want to come by and see you." He shook his head. "I'll be back soon. She nodded her head. "I think I will head up to sleep, you okay?" " I'm fine, some crazy lady bought me 10 crossword puzzle books." She playfully swatted his arm, "Yeah, I looked for genius level but they didn't seem to have any." He smiled as he watched her walk up the stairs leaving him on the couch.
Days passed and the idea of leaving never entered his mind. Between Lindsey and Catherine he was too busy and he loved it. When Catherine came home one morning she found him at the table with breakfast as usual. "This is something a girl could get used to." She smirked as she pulled the chair across from him out. "What's on you agenda for the day?" She asked as they ate. He shrugged his shoulders, "Since Lindsey is at Eddie's mother's I thought you and I could go see a 'real' movie. That is if you think I'm well enough Doctor." She rolled her eyes. "Deal, let me get a nap first." He agreed and after breakfast she went upstairs as he cleaned up the kitchen.
Hours later, after the movie, they sat in a café as the sun set. It was her night off and they had been sitting talking quietly since the movie let out. "Why'd you do this?" He asked her. She shrugged her shoulders, "I knew you would take off two days and go right back to work and you needed a break. No one can work like you and not need time off." He rolled his eyes, "but you have your own stuff to deal with, you didn't need to take on my problems too." She rolled her eyes, "Gil, that's what you do when you care about someone. You do your best to help them and make things seem better. Lord knows you've done it enough for me in the past." He looked down, "Thank you." She rolled her eyes again, "You don't have to do that everyday. Let's go for a walk." He smiled as she pulled him up and they took off down the road.
"This is nice Catherine." He said as she linked her arm in his as they continued down the road. "I feel like I've been slacking my responsibilities to you the past few months. With Eddie and the explosion." She squeezed his arm, "You're here now, that's all that matters to me. Remember, never look back, what's done is done and we have to focus on now." He stopped. "What if I want to look back? I have regrets." She looked up into his earnest blue eyes. "Gil…" He shook his head, "No, I want to do this. When I look back at the last fifteen years I have one big regret and I think you know what it is." He looked into her eyes. "I wasted an opportunity once and I can't do it again." He took her face in his hand and pulled her lips to his, her arms wrapping around his neck as his encircled her waist.
"What does this mean?" she asked as they pulled apart, he looked around, thinking, "Marry me." She laughed, "You're kidding right? One kiss and you want to get married?" She looked at him incredulously. He nodded his head, "One kiss and nearly twenty years of friendship, Cath, do you honestly think we need to date? We've been doing this so long, take a chance, how often do I say things like that?" Their eyes danced as she studied his face, "You're serious?" He nodded in affirmation, "Okay let's do it now."
That was weeks ago, after a short ceremony in a chapel on the strip they'd returned to her house and fallen into their patterns, although the guest room stayed empty, and more things from his townhouse made their way to her house. They didn't bother to tell anyone except Lindsey, Catherine kept working like nothing had happened and he continued cooking for her until it was finally time for him to go back to work. True to her word Catherine never looked back, and she definitely had no regrets.