Chapter 9:
Ria couldn't believe what she heard. She had a strange sensation as if something was triggered inside of her body. "Miss Torres? Are you with us?" Dr. Coleman asked her with a concerned look on his face. Ria only managed to blink at the doctor, then she looked at the monitor. "Congratulations Miss Torres. You are pregnant!" Ria stared at the screen in shock. paused the picture and pointed one finger at a little blur. "Do you see this, Miss Torres? This is your baby," he smiled at the monitor, always happy to see a new life. He moved his finger a bit more to the right and continued "and this blur is your second baby. Both seem very healthy."
Ria slumped back into the chair, trying to catch her breath. She looked over to Gillian who was more than excited about the news. "Ria, I know that this is hard on you now. But when time comes you will realize how wonderful this is!" Gillian grabbed Rias hand and pressed it tight. In this moment Ria saw her life flash by her. All the things she would miss out if she had the babies.
Ria felt numb when she changed back into her clothes. She did not know what to feel or think. She had no words that she could say to either Eli or Carl. As she went back to the car with Gillian she did not dare look her superior in the eye. As she put on her seatbelt she asked "Gillian, would you keep my whole situation a secret? I don't want Carl or Lightman or even Eli to know. Not yet." Gillian looked at her young friend. She could not understand why Ria was so sad about such a gift of life. Rationally she did but not emotionally. "Well I can. For some time. But you know Cal he will know at one point so you should be sure what to do and say to them. All of them." Gillian stressed the "all", because she knew that Eli would be the last to know. "Do you want me to drive you home?"Gillian asked. Ria shook her head and answered "No. I need some distraction until I can wrap my head around all of this. I think I will come to work." Gillian nodded and they spend the ride to the Lightman Group in silence, both women following their own string of thoughts.
Gillian entered the building and went straight to her office. She did not want to see Cal. She knew he would question her where she was and what they were doing and what kind of illness Ria has. It is a fact that Gillian can almost never keep a secret in front of Cal and she just wanted to keep her promise to Ria.
Ria entered the research room to see the usual mop of hair sitting at his desk. He was slurping his slushy so loud that he did not hear the door opening and closing. She let herself sink into her own chair and let out a sigh. That was that Eli noticed that she has entered the room. He pondered for a moment how he should react. What he should say. "Are you feeling better today?" he asked slowly. She did not even look at him as she answered "Yes and no." "Well if that isn't a conclusive answer" Eli reached into his drawer and took out the pill box. He popped the lid and took some. As Ria watched the whole thing she found the courage to take a good look at Eli. "Oh God Eli you look horrible. You should be at the hospital or at least at home resting". She felt her body move against her will closing the space between her and the father of her babies. She gently stroked a hand over his head, removing a strand of hair that was covering his swollen black eye. Taken by surprise by her actions Eli rolled back a bit in his chair looking her in the eyes.
Ria took in the full extent of the fight he must have been in with Carl yesterday. His face was swollen and showed some bruises. His hand was bandaged up and she notices his shallow breathing. She remembered how Carl looked and he seemed as nothing has ever happened.
"I'm sorry. I should not have done that." She turned and went back to her chair. They worked in silence for an hour or so until she said "It is your own fault. Why were you so stupid and picked a fight with a guy like Carl? You knew you would not stand a chance against him in a fist fight" The moment she saw his face she regretted what she said. Maybe it came out harsher than she intended to but she was right.
Eli was very upset about her comment on his fight. She described it as stupid. She did not mention that he only did it to protect her. She probably did not even know that. Of course the FBI Agent would tell the story in his favor. After all he was an FBI Agent. But that the concern she had for him was now gone completely made him rage inside. He wanted to throw something or smash something but his current state made that more than difficult.
"Well. Sometimes men do things that can't be explained rationally. Like women." After that there was silence for the rest of the day.
Gillian meanwhile managed to hide from Cal almost the whole day. She went out to get herself a bagel at about 5 pm, when she reentered her office and saw her desk occupied. There sat the man the master of telling if people lied or told the truth.
"So Love, have you been avoiding me the whole day?" Cal asked, already knowing the answer. Gillian bit in her bagel and preceded to her desk "No" she just said. "So how was Torres's doctor's appointment?" he continued. "How do you want to know if we went to the doctors?" Gillian asked not giving him a look as she scanned through her files. "Well, I have my ways of finding things out. So tell me, how serious is it?"
Gillian knew she could not get by Cal that easily. She was torn between telling the truth and keeping her promise to Ria. As she was deciding what to do Cal already answered for her. "She's pregnant isn't she?" Now Gillian was just surprised how good he actually was. "But the question is, is it Locker's or is it Dupree's?" Gillian looked at her friend. "Well after you know all anyway. It should be Locker's she is along 6 Weeks and 3 days. But Cal you can't tell or show her that you know that she is pregnant! And you can't tell either Loker nor Dupree nor anybody, not even Emily, about this" Gillian stressed out how important this was. "Gil, you know me. I am the best one in keeping secrets" he told her as he left her office.