"Yeah right," Ria grinned.
"Why is everyone pickin' on me?" Cal asked good-naturedly and turned to Gillian, as if she were the ringleader, when really, she was just sitting in the back laughing. Which wasn't really helping...
"Because you're the oldest," Eli responded, rocking his chair back and forth, left to right, with his ankles crossed next to his computer keyboard.
"Oi. Cheekiness from you," he pointed to Ria with his pen. "And you," he jabbed it at Eli. "Just rememba who signs your paycheques."
"That would be me," Gillian finally spoke up.
"Oh so you're on their side?" Cal turned to her again, waving the pen in a slight circle around her face, as Ria's phone rang. Still laughing, she put her paperwork down and answered it.
"Aw, it's tough when everyone's ganging up on you huh?" Gillian teased.
"It's bad enough at home," Cal went on with a whine.
"What!" Ria's soft exclamation cut through the air swiftly even though she didn't raise her voice. Cal and Gillian fell silent abruptly, turning their heads to look at her; Eli straightened up in his chair, putting both feet back on the ground. Ria looked stone-still shocked. She stood and the phone fell from her hands and she crumpled.
Cal was across the room before any of them, catching her, lowering her to the floor gently. He had started moving as soon as she had uttered the word, sensing something was very wrong. "What happened darlin'?" He asked gently. Eli approached with a bottle of water while Gillian reached for the woman's phone. There was someone still on the line.
"Hello?" Gillian answered.
"Mrs Dupree?"
"No this is Gillian Lightman a colleague of Ria's. What's going on?"
"He's gone, he's gone, he's gone," Ria suddenly wailed, rocking back and forth against Cal's chest where they were sitting awkwardly on the floor. She stared blankly at the carpet. Eli looked up at Gillian, scared and confused; Cal pulled her against him.
"Tell me what's happened," Gillian demanded into the phone.
PJ
"How is she?" Cal started as he met Gillian in the hallway just outside of her office. "I mean she's not. But..."
"She's resting for now," Gillian finished for him. "And she's calmed down."
"I can't believe he's gone."
"Me either," Gillian sighed. It felt unreal. But then every phone call like that, out of the blue, did. It would take a few days to really come to terms with the fact that Ria's husband had died.
"Has she said anythin'?" Cal lowered his voice as if Ria could hear them. But she was lying down on Gillian's couch, holding a wad of tissues, staring vacantly across the room; calm for now after a veritable meltdown.
"Not much. She asked me if it was real."
"Geeze," Cal ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath between his lips. Gillian could see a damp patch under his arm and knew he was stressed. But she also knew he was big enough to take care of himself and for once this disaster didn't involve them. She suddenly wanted to hold him, to feel him solid and tangible against her. "I got hold of Ajay. He went to get Owen and Lew. Had to field two phone calls from day care and the school to get them to release the boys to his custody. He's gonna take them home."
"Good," Gillian felt a small pocket of tension release. That was one less thing to worry about. At least for now. "I called Karl's sister."
"Oh?"
"I didn't know who else... I'm not entirely sure of Ria's family situation."
"Changes around," Cal muttered.
"Chondra's going to come in and..." Well, Gillian hadn't got that far. She'd had to break the news of Karl's death to his sister on the phone and while she had been shocked, she held up better than Ria had on receiving the information. Not that Gillian blamed her. Not one bit. That was her husband. Gillian knew exactly what it was like to get that kind of information. Not the same, but similar.
"All right so..." Cal looked to his wife again, the question silent. So was the building. While Gillian had been in crises control with Ria, Cal and Eli had been dealing with everyone and everything else. Their staff with their questions about what happened and the few open cases they had been working on as a team; all of a sudden they weren't as important. Gillian looked back to Cal. She wasn't actually really sure what to do but she knew she had to be there for her friend.
"Hello?"
Cal turned and Gillian looked over his shoulder. An African-American woman in her late thirties to early forties was hesitant. Cal stepped towards her, Gillian falling in just slightly behind him. "Come in. You're Chondra?" Cal greeted gently. She nodded.
"I'm Gillian," she stepped forward and the woman looked relieved.
"Terribly sorry for you loss," Cal offered on a mumble.
"Thank you," the woman offered shakily, not sure which of them she should look at. "It was such a shock. How is Ria holding up?"
Gillian took Chondra by the shoulder, gently leading. "She's resting in my office. I'll take you to her."
"I just don't know," Chondra went on. Gillian shot Cal a look behind over the other woman's shoulder. "How she's going to get through this."
Cal raised an eyebrow.
"Can Ria stay with you for a while?" Gillian asked politely.
"Oh yes of course. She's family. We're all worried about her. Mama is of course, so upset."
Well that was something, Cal thought to himself. At least there was someone close to Ria that would take care of her. He knew Gillian would take her in if they had to but he also knew she was thinking about their children. The boys were compassionate but it was still an imposition. They had to put their family first. Ria would understand that. Not that Gillian would like palming her friend off on to someone else, Cal could see that too.
PJ
Gillian came back into the building and Cal was waiting, just where she had left him. "She's in shock," Gillian informed him, striding past. "I'm going to go around there."
Cal jogged a few quick steps to keep up with her. "Do you even know where Chondra lives?"
Gillian waved a piece of paper in answer. Cal snatched it out of her hand. She protested lightly and kept walking, entering her office. Cal checked the address. It was in Maryland. Deep into Maryland. He followed his wife into her office. She was gathering her purse together, reaching for her coat. "Gill," he started, putting the paper in his pocket. "Darlin'," he approached. "I know you wanna be there for Ria."
"I have to," Gillian countered.
"No you don't," Cal started.
"Yes I do. You don't understand. What it's like to get one of those phone calls?" She stopped to look him in the eye, to make her point. Cal felt something close around his throat, making it harder to breathe. "It's, you can't even," Gillian stuttered. She looked away again. "I won't leave her to deal with this alone."
"I undastand that," Cal tried again, his throat still feeling tight with guilt. "But she's in shock. She just needs... You can't say anythin' that will get through to her right now." He stepped towards her and she put up a hand by her hip to absently stop him, which hurt, but he ignored it. She wasn't rejecting him, she just didn't want to be dissuaded. "Come home with me. The boys need to know where we are." Emily had finally called her father back and he had quickly explained that her husband was actually babysitting. So she had gone around to support him. Or take over.
Gillian hesitated and looked to the side, not quite at him. He had struck a nerve. This was the second death in their orbit and now would be the right time to have both parents at home. Especially because Cal wasn't entirely sure they'd dealt with the first one very well. "Just come and spend some time with our kids. We'll have dinna togetha. And then you can call Chondra and check up on Ria," Cal told her gently, pushing in closer. "Start ova tomorrow." He dared to put his arms around her. This close he could see she was shaken up. This was probably pushing all her buttons about now. He wanted to tell her that he was right there, but the hug should suffice, if he let it sink in. She relaxed against him suddenly, resting her chin on his shoulder. There it was. She realised what he was saying. He was reminding her that this time, it wasn't her.
"Ok," she agreed on a murmur.