Sorry it's taken so long to update truth is I started this chapter in August when I got back off holiday but then never finished it until last night. So hopefully, this is as good as what you've all been expecting.

Physical therapy can be a real bitch if you are convinced that you don't need it and are perfectly healthy, which is exactly what Calleigh thought. She honestly couldn't remember when she had ever received this much medical attention and she didn't like it.

Her saving grace however, seemed to be Eric, who would spontaneously appear at the end of each session, even if she hadn't told him when she was going, with a cup of coffee and a cookie as a reward for all her hard work and endurance. And Calleigh loved it. It reminded her of being five or six and she fell off her bike or off the pavement, anything that caused her pain, and when her dad wasn't too drunk he would reward her with sweets or cookies if she was a 'big girl' and didn't cry. Maybe that was where she got her strength from.

Calleigh was counting down the days, in anticipation, until she returned to work. She could hardly wait to be back, even though she knew some people would think she was crazy for actually wanting to go back. However, Calleigh Duquesne loved her job and the family her team had created. She also loved helping others find closure and helping them move on after an incident like a homicide.

So all this led to Calleigh sitting on the bench outside the physio clinic waiting for Eric and getting very anxious. He was never more than a couple of minutes late and even then he would call to apologise, which only made her laugh and say that he was being silly calling if he was only round the corner. But now she wished he would. She had already called him almost twenty times – once for every minute he was late.

All sorts of thoughts were running through her head. Some like; 'what if he had just forgotten?'

'But then again Eric doesn't 'just' forget so maybe something bad has happened. Maybe he got shot or Stetler is holding him in the lab for something or he was being held up by something else.'

Calleigh just wish he would return her calls, the satisfaction of hearing his voice would be enough to set her mind to rest.

She was just about to go flag down a taxi when her emerald eyes caught sight of the department issued Hummer coming down the street. She was about to give Eric a lecture about making her worry, but then realised it wasn't Eric driving...it was Ryan.

"Where's Eric?" Calleigh said quickly, not wanting to waste time with small talk, as Ryan hopped out of the Hummer to help her with the passenger door since she was on crutches.

"Had to take a floater in Biscayne Bay and he says sorry you're not getting your cookie," Ryan said turning out of the clinic car park. Calleigh breathed a sigh of relief, at least Eric was safe.

"So where am I taking you?" Ryan asked. Calleigh looked out of the window, thinking.

"Erm, could you drop me off at the hospital, please?" Calleigh answered politely

"You sure?" Calleigh nodded, but Ryan was a little anxious. He knew of the canyon sized rift between Calleigh and her mother, and he wasn't sure leaving her alone with her was the best idea.

"I'll be fine. I just need to see my dad," Calleigh said quietly. Ryan took a moment to glance at his friend and for the first time he saw how vulnerable she was.

Calleigh hesitated outside the ICU trying to find the strength to go in. She knew it wouldn't be long before her mother would stop by and she was forced to leave.

'It's now or never,' Calleigh thought, pushing the ICU doors open and hobbling in with her crutches.

She quietly took her seat at her father's bedside, placing her crutches so that they were propped up against the side of the and immediately grasped her father's hand and using it almost like a lifeline to make sure he knew she was there.

"Hey Daddy, it's me," Calleigh whispered feeling that if she spoke any louder she would break the calm. "I'm sorry I've not been able to visit as often as I should but Mama's been guarding you like a bull dog guards its bone."

Calleigh looked up from the sight of her small hand in his big one, to her ailing father's pale, lifeless face then to the numerous machines surrounding them. She felt the tears start to prick at the back of her eyes and a lump form in her throat.

"I'm not going to say 'I told you so' however, I am disappointed." Her attention went back to their hands, "Disappointed in myself that I wasn't able to provide you the help you needed, and disappointed in you that you didn't pay enough attention to notice that you are seriously ill."

Behind her, Calleigh heard the ICU doors 'swoosh' open, giving someone access to the room. At that moment though, Calleigh didn't really care who it was. For all she knew, it was her mother coming to yell and scream at her before forcing her to leave. Calleigh waited for the onslaught to start but she was just grateful for the moment of solitude and clarity she had had with her father. What caused Calleigh to finally turn around was a gentle hand placed on her shoulder. She instantly knew the onslaught wasn't going to come.

"How is he doing?" a gentle voice asked.

Calleigh reached with her free hand and grasped the one on her shoulder, drawing strength from it, and almost instinctively the body pressed against her back.

"Not good...I don't think he'll make it," Calleigh whispered, not wanting her father to hear her give up on him.

"Calleigh...don't..."

"Don't what Eric?" Calleigh replied, "Don't say it, because I just did. I can't try and be optimistic any more...I just can't...it's just too hard," her voice faltered and her free hand came up to cover her face.

Eric didn't know what to say to make Calleigh feel any better, so instead of saying something, Eric pulled a chair up beside Calleigh's rested a hand on her knee.

The silence however, didn't last long. Calleigh's mother turned up and she was furious. Calleigh though, saw that her mother was reluctant to disrupt the peace in the ICU so instead Calleigh got up, grabbed her crutches and ventured outside the plexi-glass doors, with Eric right behind her.

But Calleigh hadn't even taken more than two steps out of the ICU before her mother's right hand connected with her left cheek causing a resounding slap and her to falter on her crutches leaving Eric to stop her from falling.

"You! Keep away from him!" Sandra yelled as Calleigh regained her balance only to hold her cheek in shock.

"Why should I? It's not like you ever cared for him, you divorced him for christ's sake!" Calleigh yelled back with just as much venom.

"How dare you! I still care deeply for your father, the same doesn't apply to you and your brothers."

"Oh so this is what this is about. You're not here for dad, you're here because you want to argue with me over Joshua," Calleigh yelled to her mother's back as she entered the ICU.

Hm...so what did you all think? and who's Joshua?

Please review, they are afterall which made me update again! x