He opened his eyes and there she was. His angel, concern all over her beautiful features. He was so happy to see her. Everything would be alright now that Gillian was here. He was glad Emily had her to rely on at moments like this. Cal had never actually discussed naming Gillian as his emergency contact but he figured Emily was too young. Besides, other than his daughter there was no other face in the whole world he would want to open his eyes to after an accident.
Sending Ilene away was survival, sending Emily to get tea was common sense. He needed to be alone with Gillian so she could see he was ok and his normal grouchy self and to include her in his plan to figure what the hell was going on. She knew he was fine the moment he began bossing her and Emily around. Any hopes she had of him leaving this alone were dashed so she resigned herself to helping, though she would rather he take it easy.
"Wish you'd hit your head harder."
"I heard that!"
After he had discharged himself Cal tried to call Gillian. He wanted her to sit with him. A brush with death had made him feel vulnerable and he needed her arms to feel alright again. He wanted to feel her hands stroking his head, be held by her, open his eyes to her face instead of the woman he was convinced was trying to hurt him. Emily was right of course. Cal being Cal, he would have eventually turned the talk to work or possibly more dangerously tried to make love to Gillian. A cheque he knew at the moment his body couldn't cash, so it was probably best that Emily had taken charge. He was so happy in the morning to find her there, even if the first person he had seen was Loker. It was slightly strange too. The usual freedom they had in his home wasn't there because he knew she would never be that unprofessional in front of Loker and Torres. Still it took all of his effort not to chase her around his kitchen island, pin her against the refrigerator, as he had so many times before, and kiss her until she melted into his arms.
Emily spent that night with a friend after Cal convinced Gillian to stay.
"I have a serious head injury luv. You wouldn't want that on your conscience now would ya?"
She was there the following night when he broke into the Clarke's apartment keeping her eye on him, hoping to keep him out of trouble. That's where she always was. By his side, more and more each passing day. At Cal's request and Emily's insistence Gillian had brought some of her things into their home so she could stay easily. Usually Cal went over to Gillian's so they could be free to touch each other and hold each other without making Emily uncomfortable but the last few weeks they had grown even closer. After opening up to Gillian following his stay in the mental hospital Cal had found it much easier to lean on her after his accident. She had been welcomed into their family with open arms and it had surprised all of them how easy the transition had been. Gillian had a calming influence on the Lightmans acting as a sounding board for both father and daughter. Emily had shown Gillian the photo album before her father and Gillian had convinced her to talk again to her Dad about Mexico. When Emily hadn't gotten a straight answer from him she went to upstairs to find Gillian to beg her to 'talk some sense into him!'
"Oi!" Cal yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "Don't go running to Gill because I said no!"
As the words left his mouth his annoyance dissipated replaced by a smile. This was an everyday family situation. Dad said no, so daughter would try the other family members. It made him happy to think they were that close, even if they were ganging up on him. He longed for this to be a permanent situation but was afraid if he pushed things he would ruin them. Maybe he should wait just a little while longer….