Chapter 5

The ride wasn't all that long and the traffic was in it's normal late afternoon lull before the mania of nighttime clubbing began. The seniors had already had their early bird specials and the club kids hadn't come out to play yet. Calleigh had leaned back against the soft upholstery and closed her eyes, dozing lightly, only the dull throbbing of her injury keeping her from falling completely asleep. She opened her eyes as the car stopped in her driveway. Alexx was already waiting by the front door.

Eric got out and jogged over to the passenger side where Calleigh was struggling to get out. "Whoa, wait for me," he said, picking her up in his arms.

She squirmed. "Hey, put me down. I'm filthy and sweat stained. My uniform is gonna ruin your shirt!" she protested.

"I know how to wash clothes," he replied, tightening his grip on her and carrying her to her door. Alexx took the keys, opening the door and stepping inside. Eric carried Calleigh to the bathroom and sat her down on the edge of the tub.

After gathering what supplies she needed from Calleigh's medicine cabinet, and clucking about its inadequacy, Alexx squat down and removed the elastic bandage, revealing a bloodied gauze pad in need of changing. She removed that and frowned at the mess beneath it. She really needed stitches. "Eric, I need you to go to the store for me. I need more than Calleigh has if I want to do this properly."

"Sorry, Alexx. If I knew you were coming, I'd have had a better kit," Calleigh quipped then hissed as Alexx pulled the first butterfly closure away.

"I still think you should get a couple of stitches, but don't listen to me. I'm just a doctor," Alexx grumbled then gave Eric a list of things she'd need.

"Alexx, can you do it here? I don't want to go...I mean after-"

"Baby, it's alright. Eric add some suturing supplies. I'll need some needles and suturing material. They'll know what to give you," Alexx said, quieting Calleigh.

"Alexx, I'm sorry I'm giving you such a hard time but you know how much I hate hospitals, especially after last year. I just want to avoid being a patient right now at all costs," Calleigh said softly, glad that Eric had gone for supplies.

Alexx looked up at her friend, full understanding dawning on her. Of course she wouldn't want to go to the Emergency Room... "Are you still having some side effects?" she asked gently.

Calleigh shook her head. "Not really; just a bad dream or two and the last time it rained my shoulder hurt like hell. Really, I'm sound mentally, emotionally and physically. It's just that it's coming up to a year now and-"

"I get it; no hospital." Alexx stood. "Why don't I give you a hand getting yourself washed up and changed before Eric gets back? He has to go to a medical supply and it'll take him a while."

Calleigh smiled at her, glad that she changed the subject. It didn't bother her to talk about it. It just wasn't one of her favorite subjects for conversation. "Alright, um, if you can help me to my bedroom I can-"

"You're going to stay put. Tell me what you want and where it is and I'll get it for you. You just get yourself ready for a bath," Alexx said sternly with one eyebrow raised. "You could out stubborn a mule."

Calleigh took the gentle reprimand with good grace and pulled her grimy rugby shirt over her head. She tossed it into the laundry basket. "Sorry. I just don't like being catered to."

"I'm not catering. I don't want to have to make you go to the ER when you make it worse." Alexx said from the bedroom. She rummaged until she found exactly what Calleigh asked for, returning to the bathroom to assist Calleigh in washing the ground in dirt and grime from her body.

Alexx was just toweling Calleigh's hair dry when Eric returned. "We're still in the bathroom," she called over the sound of Calleigh's laugh.

Eric leaned in the doorway taking in the scene. Devoid of every vestige of make-up and hair damp and slightly wavy, Calleigh never looked more beautiful to him. He handed Alexx the supplies she asked for. "Well don't you clean up nicely."

"Thank you. I try," she replied with a saucy eyelash bat.

"Mm-hmn,"Alexx muttered, beginning to disinfect Calleigh's wound thoroughly. She quickly set the needed sutures in place, ignoring the slight whimpers of discomfort.

Eric sat down on the closed toilet seat and inspected the damage. It was red, deep and angry looking; swollen and painful. He didn't like the look of it at all. "Maybe Alexx is right, Cal. You should go to the Emergency Room."

"No, Eric, I don't think that'll be necessary,"Alexx said smoothly, continuing her work with her skilled, gentle hands. "It looks worse than it really is. I think all she really needs to do is rest it and she'll be fine, won't you, baby?"

"That's what I've been saying all along," Calleigh replied, grateful for Alexx's understanding. She winced as Alexx began to wrap the elastic bandage around her knee.

"Although," Alexx said, "I'd prefer it if she wasn't by herself tonight. The wound is fresh and I'd feel better if one of us camped out on the couch just in case she needs anything. I really don't want her walking around too much. I don't want her to pop a stitch. You saw how it looked when I took the dressing off earlier."

"I don't need a baby-sitter."

"I'll stay," Eric offered. "You go home to your family, Alexx. I was just going to watch University of Miami game anyway. I'd rather keep Calleigh company."

"I don't get a say in this, do I?" Calleigh complained good naturedly. In truth, she wouldn't mind Eric staying over. They had really lost touch after Eric had been shot and it might be a good opportunity for them to reconnect and regain their old closeness.

"No," Alexx and Eric said simultaneously.

"I give," Calleigh laughed.

"You, Cal, have a date with a soft couch cushion for the evening," Eric said, lifting her in his arms. This time she didn't squirm or struggle as he carried her effortlessly to the living room, placing her gently on the couch, building a pillowed platform for her to rest her injured leg on. He let Alexx out after getting instructions on changing the dressing and to call her if anything didn't look right.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They spent the evening in quiet conversation, getting reacquainted with each other for the first time in a long time. Eric hadn't realized that she and Jake had actually broken it off weeks ago and she admitted to him how shaken she had been when she thought she had killed that innocent woman in the sporting goods store. She had wept slightly on his shoulder, but he hadn't realised how badly it had affected her. He should have known. Alexx had saved her sanity by discovering that she had already been dead when the car crashed through the front of the store. She told him of how, as she sat in the PD interrogation room, tempting it was to rip her shield from her waist and fling it at Stetler and walk out and how she stopped herself from doing precisely that at the memory of all those she had helped over the years and of future victims and their families that she hoped to help and bring closure to in the future. She was reminded, as she gazed out at the impassive faces passing by, of being told once that she was the last voice of the victim and to never forget that.

Eric began to talk about losing Marisol and how that really impacted him and then what a struggle it had been since being shot and that he was actually glad that Jake and Calleigh had broken up because Jake just gave him a bad feeling and that someone that's been undercover for so long could have negative consequences for anyone involved with him. Calleigh didn't need nor deserve that.

For the first time he talked to her about Rio and everything that he and Horatio had gone through; about Horatio finding Ray again only to witness his final moments. He talked about the terror that went through him when he knew her Hummer had careened into the canal and the real possibility that he could lose yet another person he loved to a violent end.

That was when Calleigh shifted on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder, intending on conveying comfort because speaking was impossible around the lump in her throat. She threaded one arm through his and drew it across herself. She felt him rest his cheek on her head and she leaned back into him. He drew her in more securely and she closed her eyes, content and comfortable in his embrace. She didn't know when she drifted off.

Eric looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms and counted himself fortunate for her presence in his life. He realized just how much he had missed her in the last months; remembered how close they had been before he had been shot and he turned inward on himself, shutting the world out. He ached to let her sleep in her arms all night, but knew that it was wiser to put her in her own bed. Her body hurt enough as it was. He didn't want to add a sore back to it as well. Gently, carefully, so as not to wake her, Eric shifted so he could lift her and carry her to her room. Alexx had already wisely turned down the bed for the night. He eased Calleigh into bed, sliding the light covers over her before placing a kiss on her cheek and returning to the couch for the night, content that he and Calleigh had rediscovered their old closeness and all the promise that just might bring.