Set during 8.20 "Backfire"
"Eric?"
Eric was sitting at Calleigh's side in the hospital. They were able to revive her when her heart stopped beating, her body giving out from the smoke inhalation. He'd almost lost her, again, and it was becoming too much for Eric to handle. His hands were laced with hers as she slept in the hospital bed. He refused to leave her side, not now, not after they needed to revive her. He understood completely what she must have been feeling when he was shot, when the electric paddles weren't enough and the only thing that could keep her here was a shot of adrenalin straight to his heart.
He heard someone say his name but he was so lost in thought that it took Eric a moment to realize that he was no longer alone, and when he looked up he saw Alexx standing at the threshold. Her arms were crossed over her chest and the vibe he was picking up from her was not a reassuring one
"Can we speak in the hall?" she asked him. He nodded but paused for a moment to look at Calleigh asleep, hesitant to leave her. Alexx knew he would be.
"Baby, it's important," she told him, and he felt the breathless feeling of dread sit on his chest with anticipation, not heavy enough to suffocate him, but enough to make him feel like he couldn't breathe.
He nodded in response, looking at Calleigh then back to Alexx, standing up and following her into the hall. He'd never been one of those people to find hospitals eerie, the morgue sure, but hospitals usually unphased him. Now was different, now he understood that uncanny feeling so many people talked about, and it was unsettling.
"Alexx..?" He felt his nerves start to take over, this wasn't good.
She gave him a sad smile and reached out to him, "Eric, I don't know how to tell you this...," she paused, and the broken way she looked at him made Erics stomach flip.
"Calleigh miscarried."
"What?" everything around him paused. She miscarried? He didn't even know she...,"she was pregnant?"
"Yea baby," she said to him, holding his hands tight, "I'm so sorry."
"How long?"
"10 weeks."
She watched as his heart fell, watched as all the blood drained from his face, "she didn't tell me," he said, shaking his head, confused, "why didn't she..?"
"Eric it's Calleigh," she reasoned with him, "she was probably trying to figure out how."
He nodded and glaced at her through the door window, asleep, "Yea."
"She needs you now more than ever," Alexx said, "she's lucky to have you."
"Alexx, I'd uh, appreciate if this just stayed between us."
"Of course baby," she said, "I need to go make my rounds but I'll be back in awhile okay?"
"Okay."
She patted his shoulder and walked off as he opened the door to her room and took the seat beside her bed, holding her hand.
"God Calleigh," he whispered, his other hand reaching to rest on her belly. She was pregnant, they were gonna have a baby, how could she not have told him? She knew that this was all he'd ever really wanted, a family with her. Settling down. And she knew he wanted that with her for years now but maybe she was waiting for the right time, maybe she just found out... maybe she didn't know.
His mind was racing, his heart was breaking, and then he saw her eyes flutter open.
"Eric." Even barely conscious he was the first thing on her mind.
"Hey," he said to her, squeezing her hand and brushing a kiss on her forehead. She could tell that there was something wrong, something more than her almost dying. The look he had was different than when she'd previously been in the hospital. The look he'd worn before was one of worry but relief, now she all she saw was heartbreak and disappointment. And then she realized.
"No," the way her eyes went wide with devastation caused him to feel a new form of pain he'd never experienced before, and he watched as she instinctively reached down for her belly, mother's instinct. His hand covered hers, "I'm so sorry," he told her, he didn't have the words. He didn't know what to tell her because he was still processing it himself. They were going to have a baby, they were going to start a family, something he'd wanted for so long with her, something she knew he wanted.
"Our baby..." she whispered to him, the shock setting in.
"It's not your fault," he promised, "I love you."
"Our baby... I shouldn't," she was shaking her head, "I shouldn't have gone into the-"
"Calleigh, baby, you can't talk like that. Look, you need to rest."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she coughed and he told her to not talk but she just shook her head, "no," she insisted, "I was going to... I just found out on last week..."
"Calleigh shh," he said, moving to brush his lips over hers, "Shh, I love you. We can talk about it later, you need to rest."
She nodded, her hand still on her belly, his hand on top of hers, "Please don't leave," she said quietly.
"Never," he promised her. He watched as her eyes slid shut, watched as a tear fell down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb and brushed his lips over her forehead, he watched as a few more tears fell and the painful ache deep in Erics chest only grew. But, like Alexx said, she needed him now more than ever, they needed each other now more than ever.
"I'll always be here," he promised her, brushing his fingers through her hair, "always."