The Great Escape: Flight--Pt I

The Great Escape: Favor

May I: Sleep

May I: New and Old

May I: Gratitude

May I: A Long Story

Gillian had made it as far as the couch, where she put everything. The ride home was barely remembered as she walked up the stairs and collapsed on the bed. As soon she closed her eyes, she was out.

When she finally woke, it was hours later and she felt dazed for the longest time. It took her awhile to remember what had happened at the hospital, but she was so tired that the kiss that Cal gave didn’t even faze her—now she was thinking about it.

May I: Body Language

“Gillian.” Angelica stopped filing some papers in the cabinet as she approached the pediatric desk. “I heard what happened. How are you doing?”

“I’m tired, but good. I thought I would check up on Sophie before I left.”

May I: Crash Pt II

Feeling a cold chill move through her entire body, she watched in horror at the car engulfed in flames and then exploded. All she could think about was how she had left him there, trapped in his seat.

Instinctively, she kept her body over the little girl’s in protection, as a part of Cal’s car flew up in the air, landing on the hood of the car. She could feel the little girl shaking, grasping to her teddy bear and blanket.

May I: Crash Pt I

The ride back over to the hospital was pretty quiet; the light reflecting over his face as he drove. At one point, he looked over at her. “Is there something on my face that you’re not telling me about?”

“No.” Gillian went to glancing back out the window, before changing her mind to stay quiet. “Platonic love, Cal?”

“It’s what you would have wanted me to say, isn’t it?”

“We both know that it isn’t true.”

“So now you’re admitting it—that we’re in love?”

“I didn’t say that I admitted it.” The light turned green and he stepped on the gas pedal to continue through the intersection, but as he was getting ready to say something else—there was a shattering of glass as the car landed on its side.

May I: Little Lies

She was lying. He was lying. What were their lives becoming, other than a life full of lies? His thoughts and apparently hers were interrupted by a ringing phone—Gillian’s. She slipped away from the table, with that look that she knew he was lying.

Cal took a sip of water as he looked around the restaurant—anything to take his mind of who was calling her this late in the evening. He had pried into the video feed and scrutinized every detail of her leaving that day she slept into her office. 

May I: Thoughts

Walking into the kitchen, he watched as she nursed a hot cup of tea and looked out the window—choosing to sit beside her at the table. He gave her a look as if he were saying: I’d rather that you stayed.

“It was a private conversation.” Gillian took another sip of tea, clearly knowing what he was thinking. Cal looked rather uncomfortable, although he was trying not to show it. Her thoughts went back to her conversation with Emily, and she couldn’t help notice that her thoughts were reflecting his own.

May I: Stay

As far as she knew, she had slept almost all the way home—until he had picked her up. It felt a little like déjà vu, as he carried up to the house. ”I’ve brought you home. Think you can manage to stand for a few minutes? You’re going to need your keys to get in.”

She nodded, and he put her down slowly. He watched as she swayed slightly; leaned against the house as she went through her purse and produced the key. It was an odd feeling, as she felt partially drunk—even though she hadn’t a drop since earlier in the week.

The door clicked open and he helped her in. She stopped when she saw the blanket on the couch; Sophie’s bag and blanket and doll were still lying on the floor. Gillian had to blink back some tears as she started up the stairs, with Cal close behind.

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.

May I: Shut Down

Cal walked through the building doors, having wanted to turn around over a dozen times and head back to the hospital. His thoughts had been on how he could get her to open up—having just reached the first week mark since the attack, then Sophie.

They had hardly spoken—and when they had talked, it was all small talk. Yesterday morning, after she had told him about her abusive her boyfriend that happened almost fifteen years ago, he could feel the anger burning in her words. However, the look on her face was expressionless.

May I: Drying Off

Cal was sitting on the couch, reading a book when he heard a door slam. Looking up from his place, he felt differently about that slam; recognized it as being the same sound Gillian produced when she was frustrated or worried.

So when he heard another slam—identical to the last—he had already placed his book on the coffee table and was looking out the window as she crossed the sidewalk and he was already at the door when she trailed up the stairs.

May I: You Okay?

As they were driving back to the office, Ben tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to see if Cal was paying attention, or if he was zoned out in his own thoughts. Ben quickly concluded the latter, and focused his eyes back on the road.

Pretty soon, Cal was fiddling with tuning the radio, and Ben scowled impatiently. “Would you not touch the radio while I’m driving?” Grasping the steering wheel tightly, he exhaled. “Look—whatever is going on with you and Gillian is none of my business—”

May I: Hand In My Pocket

As Cal walked into the scene about fifteen minutes later, Ben Reynolds looked a little confused to why he was the only one there, when he clearly asked for Foster as well. In fact, Cal was prepared for the question, before the question registered to Reynolds.

“Where’s Foster?” It was like an ‘ah-ha moment’ as Ben peered around to make sure that Gillian hadn’t stopped somewhere—or he hadn’t missed her coming in.

May I: Distracted

Contemplating going to see Ava at the hospital, with Sophie in the back seat—Gillian had been preparing all morning to see her. That is until she heard the news of the bus explosion coming over the car radio.

Thinking about what Cal had said last night—something about this case, tugged at her. She turned around in a shopping parking lot and had gotten to the office within an hour. It hadn’t occurred to what she was going to do with Sophie as she picked her up and went through the back entrance of the building.

Luckily, the little girl had fallen asleep just before they had arrived. Gillian had frowned at the little girl. It could have just been that the last little while had been rough for both Ava and Sophie, but she was starting to get concerned that she was sleeping so much.

May I: About Existence

Sitting out of a deep sleep, Gillian sat up in the dark and let out a dry cough. After the spell of coughing, she looked over at the clock and groaned. The neon green numbers flashed 5:13 AM. She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. 

She could hear Sophie beside her, breathing heavily and stirring in her sleep. There was no way that she was going to be able to back to sleep now being wide awake. So she left the door cracked open and went into the bathroom and closed the door.

May I: Involvement

Usually Gillian would have sat down next to Cal when they all had dinner together. Tonight however, she had seated herself on the other side of Emily. Sophie had climbed into Gillian’s lap, refusing to get off—but that could have something to do with the fact that she had a banana in her hand.

Before she could get it cut up, Sophie had stuffed most of it into her mouth. Emily was the first to notice. “Somebody was hungry.” Gillian peered around and Sophie looked over at her, eyes sparkling with a devious smile.