Thanks to those few who reviewed the last chapter! Thanks to Jenny who did a great job beta-ing this! Hope you like it.
This could be the last update for a while as I go back to school and will have to dig myself out of a mountain of impending homework because teachers are mean and love it give me it! So if you have a problem please take it up with them. Also I have no idea what Calleigh's family member, apart from her dad are called, all I know is that she has brothers and uses her mother's maiden name which, brings me to the point why is her dad called Kenwall Duquesne if Duquesne is her mother's maiden name??
Normally, when Calleigh returned home, she just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep. However, when she returned from her coffee with Eric, she was still angry, but surprisingly not at Eric, he was just trying to help. Calleigh was angry at herself. She was angry because she felt so weak and so ashamed that she couldn't even tell her best friend what was troubling her.
As Calleigh placed her keys on the kitchen counter, she noticed the red light on her answering machine flashing, indicating that she had new messages. Three to be exact. She couldn't decide whether or not to push the button, however, her logic prevailed. Two moments of weakness in under an hour this was not a good day.
As she flicked through her mail, Calleigh heard Eric's voice apologising for pushing her earlier and hoping she wasn't pissed at him. As she listened, Calleigh made a mental note to call him back and apologise herself. The second voice was what shook Calleigh's foundations.
"Miss Duquesne, this is Dr. Edwards from Dade Memorial. I would like to inform you that your father has been admitted to ICU with severe cirrhosis. I would like you to come in tomorrow to discuss his treatment and the consequences."
Calleigh couldn't believe it. She had always thought that her father's drinking was going to be the death of him; she just never thought that it would happen or this soon. However, the answering machine didn't stop - it carried over to the third voice, which rattled her again.
"Calleigh? Hey it's Hannah; I was just calling to give you a heads up: Johnny and Andrew are coming to see your papa. They are catching the morning flight. Talk to you soon Cal."
As if things weren't complicated enough, now her brothers were coming down! She could only thank god that she was friends with Johnny's wife Hannah or she would've gotten a nasty surprise in the morning when they turned up. Then it dawned on her that she still had to ring Eric back, so she did.
"Delko." Eric yawned down the phone. Hearing Eric's voice brought tears to her eyes. She didn't know why though, maybe it was because the information from thelast five minutes had just caught up to her.
"Calleigh? Is that you?" Eric asked, causing Calleigh to realise that she hadn't yet spoken.
"Yeah...Eric...I just wanted to apologise for earlier," Calleigh said struggling to find her voice, "You were right."
"You wanna talk about it?" Eric asked.
"You know what Eric? I don't really want to talk at the moment, take a rain check?" Calleigh asked, glad that she was on the phone or Eric would've been able to see the tears that had now formed in her eyes.
"Okay, I...urm...will see you tomorrow, hopefully we'll get a break," Eric replied,
"Yeah me too. I'm sorry Eric." Calleigh said before hanging up and allowing the tears she had kept at bay to cascade down her pale cheeks.
It was times like these that she wished that she wasn't alone, that she wished that she had focused less of her life on her job and her career and more on her relationships and trying to find the right man. Her life was seemingly empty, she had no husband, no children and no great accomplishment. It was times like these that Calleigh poured herself a glass of red wine before clambering into the safe haven that was her bed.
It was the early morning when Calleigh finally decided to give up chasing sleep and get dressed for work, even though she had no intention of going in at this hour; it was four am after all. Instead, Calleigh grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter and coat of the back of the door and left her apartment.
Calleigh arrived at the hospital a little after 5, and she walked the silent corridors leading to the ICU where the doctor had said her dad was staying. She stood there watching through the glass window - in all her life she had never seen him look so vulnerable or helpless.
Her father had been an alcoholic for almost as long as she could remember, but never in his drunken glory had he been this fragile and it scared the hell out of Calleigh. All the tubes and machines around him did nothing to quell the lump that had formed in her throat and sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Miss Duquesne?" She heard and a hand was placed on her shoulder. Calleigh turned to see a man dressed in a white coat.
"I'm Dr. Edwards. I'm in charge of your father's care."
"How bad is it?" Calleigh asked, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to draw comfort.
"Your father has serious cirrhosis. It wouldn't have been diagnosed if he hadn't collapsed yesterday. It was due to lack of oxygen caused by the blood by-passing his lungs, unfortunately a complication of the cirrhosis. However, we won't know the true extent of the cirrhosis until more tests are done..." Dr. Edwards explained, pausing to allow the information to sink in. "...which I need consent for," he continued, handing Calleigh a clipboard with a form to sign.
"Okay...do you mind if I sit with him?" Calleigh asked quietly, signing the form, careful to read the information before handing the clipboard back to Dr. Edwards.
"Sure, go ahead." Calleigh nodded her thanks and went to go sit at her ailing father's bedside.
Eric looked at his watch...Calleigh was over an hour late and Eric was starting to wonder where his partner had got to. It was unlike her to be late.
"Eric, have you seen Calleigh?" Natalia asked as she passed him in the hallway,
"No, sorry if I see her I'll get her to call you," Eric replied. Natalia walked off and he headed towards the elevators where he noticed Calleigh was just stepping off, looking very sombre.
"Hey, Natalia was just looking for you," he said walking up to her, "I said you'd ring her,"
"Okay, I just need to go find Horatio first. If you see her can you tell her that her evidence has been processed and waiting in ballistics?" Calleigh asked
"Sure," Eric replied giving Calleigh a quick squeeze on the arm, just to let her know he was there if she wanted to talk.
Calleigh knocked on Horatio's office door, making Horatio look up and wave her in. Calleigh pushed the door open and crossed the threshold into the office.
"Ma'am what can I do for you?" Horatio asked signalling for her to sit down.
"I need to take some personal time but I don't know for how long," Calleigh replied sitting down with a sigh.
"Is everything alright?" Horatio asked leaning forward in his chair, his face showing his concern. Calleigh had never taken any personal time before and had never voluntarily taken any sick leave either.
"My dad's drinking has finally caught up to him." Was all Calleigh could say, knowing Horatio would understand.
"Ma'am if there's anything I can do..."
"I won't hesitate to call," Calleigh said finishing his sentence for him as she stood up and left, leaving Horatio wondering if everything was as simple as she was trying pretending it was.
Leaving the confines of Horatio's office with the knowledge that she had been granted some time off made her feel slightly happier. However the figure that was standing at the reception was not about to make her day any better - in fact she might find herself going home early.
Please, please, please review!! You don't know how much I need them!!