This chapter's a bit shorter than the others, but it seemed like a good place to break for the moment.
Disclaimer's the same. Thanks to those who are reading and reviewing! :)
After ending the call from his daughter, Cal made plans to meet up with an officer in the morning at the police station before he left for the hospital. When he arrived, he took the elevator up to the third floor and walked into room 302 to find Emily reading a book in a chair by Ria's bedside, who was still asleep. He looked around, noticing the emptiness of the room.
"Where is everybody then?"
"Dad." Emily looked up in surprise, not having noticed him come in. She got up to hug him, explaining, "Gillian went for a short walk and everyone else went home to rest. Loker's coming back in a bit, though."
"It's awfully late, luv. Why don't you head on home and I'll be right behind ya?" He kissed her on the forehead, keeping an arm around her shoulders.
"Yea okay. You gonna stay with her til Gill gets back?"
"Sure thing. Drive safely, okay?" Emily nodded, gathered her things and left, leaving her dad standing in the middle of the room, staring at Ria, taking in all her injuries. He walked over to her, stood there for a minute and then turned to leave. At the door, he turned to look back, and whispered "Sorry, Torres," barely audible even to himself, and then walked out.
He had just started down the hall when he heard the elevator ding and Loker walked out.
"Lightman. Hey." He nodded his greeting upon seeing his boss in the hall, and stopped in front of him.
"You gonna stay with her?" Cal asked, getting a nod in reply, followed by a short awkward silence. "Well get on with it then." He stated in his usual brisk manner and then continued walking down the hall. "I'll let Foster know." He said, without turning back to look at Loker who was staring at his back as he walked away.
Even though Emily didn't mention where Gillian had taken a walk to, Cal had a hunch on where he could find her. He pressed the up arrow for the elevator, and when it stopped on his floor he got in and pressed the number 5. When it stopped, he stepped out and turned to the right. Looking down the hall, he found Gillian exactly where he thought he might: standing in front of a glass window watching the newborns sleep in the maternity ward, arms wrapped around her middle.
He approached her silently, but could tell that she noticed his arrival even though she didn't say anything or even look his way. He came to stand behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, massaging them lightly before stopping and resting his chin on top of his hand on her left shoulder. They stood there like this for a while, watching the babies and the night nurse tending to them.
"I'll distract the nurse and you grab one, okay?" He whispered in her ear in a quiet, but joking tone.
"Mmm. Don't tempt me." She whispered back with a smile on her face.
He turned her around to face him, his hands still on her shoulders, invading her personal space like he always did. "How you doin', love?" He asked her, catching her gaze and noticing the look of exhaustion on her face.
"I'm okay."
"Yea?" She nodded in response. "Well, I've sent Emily home and Loker's here now, so why don't you head on home too?"
"Yea, I think I will."
"You need a ride?"
"Well, my car's still at the office, so if you could just drop me at home, I'll take a cab there in the morning and get it."
"No need. I'll pick you up."
She nodded her acceptance of his offer and they walked out of the hospital together, one of his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. Just feeling her close to him, feeling a warm body near his, made him feel better, more relaxed for some reason.
The first few minutes in the car were spent filling her in on what he had discovered at police headquarters and his plans for tomorrow. After that, they lapsed into a comfortable silence that lasted until he reached her home. Putting the car in park, he looked over at her to discover that she had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. He watched her sleep for a moment, loving the peaceful expression on her face and hating the thought of waking her. He debated on attempting to carry her in, wondering if he could pull it off without waking her up, but as he switched off the engine she woke up.
"Home, luv." He stated as she looked around to get her bearings.
"Thanks, Cal." She stated in a groggy voice, before opening the door and getting out. He watched until she was safely inside before restarting the car and heading home.