May I: First Explanation

The ride was a little more awkward than usual. Torres was sitting next to her, while Cal drove and Reynolds sat in the passenger seat. Cal was trying not to glance in the rearview mirror; with two extra sets of prying eyes, it was harder than it looked to not notice the elephant in the car.

Despite looking out the window as much as possible, Gillian could sense the air was filling up with questionable thoughts—quite possibly her own. What possessed you to ride in a car with two people you’ve been avoiding since your attack? She had promised to call when she had any answers about Sophie. She could see the spark in Cal’s eyes, and hear the pain in his voice when she left her emotions unguarded about her—she owed him that—just like she owed the other two people in the car an explanation as well, but not now.

Her eyes flickered to the rearview mirror, his eyes holding a questionable concern when their eyes connected, once or twice. It’s just going to be ten times harder to tell him that you might lose Sophie, the longer you wait. Breaking off the warning thought, Gillian kept extra focus on the passing scenery until they had arrived.

It took a minute to notice that they were at the mosque, not her house when they had come to a complete stop. It was faint, but Gillian remembered Cal saying something about going to talk to someone about the case.

Cal unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. Reynolds and Torres followed along, with confusion written all over their faces. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on? Like how you were going to see a “friend” at the hospital, but just happened to meet Gillian while you were there? You said that Gillian was taking a few days off. So what’s she doing at a hospital?”

“That part I did kind of leave out, didn’t I?” Cal cocked his head to the side, as if he were bluntly unaware of the situation he had just caused. “Well that and it’s not really my story to tell, is it? I’ll let her tell you about it when she feels good and ready. Otherwise, we have a case to solve, and I’m sure it’s not going to solve itself.” Reynolds stood there momentarily, then nodded and walked away so it was just him and Torres.

“If you really expect him to believe that crap, then you really are crazy. Whatever it is that’s going on between you and Foster, then that’s your business—but don’t expect us to play along with it.” And with those words, she started to walk away, which allowed Cal to walk back to the car where Gillian stayed put. What he didn’t realize was that Torres had stopped and was watching them closely.

Cal opened the door to the car, took one look at her had a second thought. He walked over to where Torres was still standing, and handed her a twenty dollar bill. “I think this should cover a taxi to take you both back to the office.”

“You’re not coming in?”

“I’m not. Besides, it was you that caught what might lead us to the person who is responsible for the bombings. I take it that you and Reynolds can handle this on your own.”

“You seem to think that you’ve got it all figured out.” Cal offered vaguely, backtracking towards the car. “Don’t you have a case to work on? Since when have I ever paid you to just stand around and question something other than it be case related?” Torres raised her brow in confusion and went off towards the mosque.

When he reached the car, he opened the door to find Gillian staring out the window. She had barely flinched, only moving her head slightly to the side. His eyes fell to her lap where her phone was. It didn’t take him long to put together; two possible situations that could be considered under the category of bad news.

He lifted her chin, so their eyes finally met. He reflected the worry in his own eyes at her answer--she was desperately trying to guard herself again. “Tell me. Ava or Sophie?”

“Ava.” Her voice was barely a rasp, but more of a whisper. “She’s gone.” The look in her eyes, turned fearful as a tear escaped down her cheek. “I was just there, Cal. What if Sophie’s next?”

Cal tilted his head, disclosing the information to her. “I looked up Dr. Jacobzi when I got back to the office. He has a good reputation and a high success rate. I got the vibe that he was genuine and had the best interest of his patients.” Wiping away her tear with his thumb, he had expected at least a smile—but all he got was a crestfallen look on his behalf.

His stomach knotted slightly, as she looked up at him with unshed tears in her eyes. “Sophie has a Ventricular Septal Defect.”Gillian choked out, like each word was poisonous.

“Something to do with her heart.” Cal stated bluntly, sitting on the edge of the car as it started to sink in. “More technically . . . a heart problem.”

“Yeah.”

“So what are we talking about here? Medication? Surgery?”

“They’re going to keep her overnight and monitor her with medication. And if it fails—” Gillian wiped away a tear from her cheek—her voice shaking on the word fails. “There’s a procedure that they would try, and then there’s possible surgery.” The air turned tense, as well as a sharp intake of breath that followed.

“We don’t know that surgery is even going to happen.” He tried to soothe her fears, but not even he felt confident in those words. “I’d actually like to think that Sophie is stronger than we think.”

Gillian nodded, letting her head rest against the seat. He saw her eyes growing heavy, and he moved to get up, but she caught his arm. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something—then let her arm fall back to her side.

“Whatever it is that you’re thinking about—I’m here.” He climbed in next to her, the door wide open. “But I really wish that you would talk to someone. I know you—and this is not it. You’re an incredible person and my best friend. I really need that best friend back, because I feel like I’m falling apart here.” He confessed, but when he looked back, her eyes were closed. The day had officially caught up with her, and he wasn’t sure that she had heard what he had said. “Let’s get you home then.” As he carefully got out and shut the door behind him, a tear rolled down her cheek.