#caleigh.

                   When Weston caught wind of the accident that took place on Highway 765 and all of those effected, it easily was a pang to the gut. It seemed as though his beloved home was under fire and in turn, nearly all of his loved ones were at risk. It didn’t get lost on Weston that safety was unattainable for some. Hell, he knew that well with that wound in his gut still ever so painful, but never in his wildest dreams had he pictured something like this would happen. He thought the worse was over, but it seemed as though it had only been the beginning. “Hey,” Weston, with his fist gripping onto the cane that he was forced to carry with him, still finding trouble with his balance since the surgery but refusing to stick to a wheelchair, slipped into Caleigh’s assigned room when he spotted a free moment. “Damn, darlin’. You’re still lookin’ as beautiful as ever. I heard you were in a wreck. Definitely ain’t showin’ it.” He murmured, leaning against the cane for support with a brief signature Taylor half smile approaching his lips. “How ya holdin’ up?” 

                    With Cal’s recent promotion and Caleigh’s upgrade to shop owner, the couple’s free time was few and far between. Most of it was reserved for when the cop had a day off and had been able to come in and bug the brunette while she slaved away over a cake, or had a break in between case reviews to steal a coffee from her... or visa versa, where she would show up or bring them out to a date with their friends. But in his eyes, it hadn’t been enough, so that day he sprung lunch on her when he was gifted two hours free and prompted her to meet him at King Neptune. “So, what’s the verdict?” He asked with a little grin on his face, stepping from his Mustang to the outdoor seating where Caleigh had also been approaching to meet him. “You hate me or love me for stealing you away from that gender reveal cake?” 

                    It's Caleigh... and it's bad...

                    Calvin McCoy had been through plenty. Broken bones at the hands of his father, burns at the hands of his mother, multiple shoot outs and a drive by in his own damn squad car. A hurricane didn’t scare him, even when he looked at the root of the sinister storm dead in the eye just a few days prior. It didn’t shake him, he didn’t quiver in his boots when it was his turn to rise to the occasion and take command of his squad. He had been through worse, but he hadn’t been foolish enough to think that everyone that he wished he could cradle close at once would remain safe from the havoc it was bound to create. He couldn’t leave quite yet, but he sure as hell would make sure they did. It had been the first thing he had instructed and bargained with before he finally got that little baker and their dog in the car to follow the train straight for Charlotte. It had taken her days to finally agree, and for once, Calvin wondered who the hell he pissed off to make her timing all that more often. Because maybe if he had pushed her harder, she would have left hours... days... sooner... she might not have been ridden to that bed looking like she had just been to hell and back. 

                    He couldn’t be there any sooner. It was Friday evening. A whole goddamn day wasted with the inability to hitch a ride out of the hell that was swirling around Wilmington, all while breaking free his own sister in efforts to make sure she remained safe and sound. Not to mention the third scene he had been forced to respond to, where he drew his gun and shied free looters attempting to raid a single woman’s car with her locked inside. The blond hadn’t even slept, he was still strapped with the armed vest and windbreaker draped over his upper half that read task force on the chest and police on the back when he finally stepped foot inside the hospital, wasting no time in shoving his badge in the face of a nurse to barge through the back doors to locate her room. When he reached her threshold, he was gobsmacked with what to even say, let alone how to even pull in a breath.

                    There had been a handful of moments in her life that Naomi Owens could never forget. All of them listed, all of them embedded in her brain to recall further on down the line...The very first moment she had fallen in love, she could feel the way her heart hammered in her chest and she swore there had been nothing that could ever compare. Next would come that very first heart break that felt as though she was on the break of death, that she had nearly given her soul over to the devil because her body physically ached that bad. What about the fleeting feeling of getting her degree or singing for the first time in front of a crowd? Insatiable. Falling in love not once more, but twice, with the same man on different occasions and knowing what it was like to have her heart stolen in a week was a memory she wanted to relive. Then, there came the grappling grief of losing her Daddy, her most prized person in her world. Of course, there had been nothing comparable to the memory and feeling of growing her daughter and feeling her soft skin in her arms for the first time. But the sudden panic, the rush of seeing a shot of raven hair and broken bones limp on a gurney rushed past her? Well, have mercy on her soul, it was tossed in the bucket with the rest.

                    She prayed... she prayed... When would this end?

                    “I um──I got you some water. Can you eat normal foods yet? I wasn’t sure──” Naomi scratched at the side of her neck then placed her palm over the bruising on her neck, hand prints pretty apparent on her delicate skin, but something she easily would cover up with her messy hair and sweatshirt she was gifted. It had been two days, but really only a few hours since Naomi actually had gotten some time with her. Caleigh was safe, so Naomi hadn’t been so sure why she was fighting back the tears just standing there in her hospital room.     

                   "Judging by the amount of boxes that are outside of my front door right now...” Calvin began to holler out as he stepped through the threshold and came into the foyer part of his loft, where the once spacious area was littered with suitcases, boxes half unpacked and the rest still taped tight. “I’m going to need a bigger closet space?” He hollered out to finish, laughing while gripping their lunch in his hand and their drinks in the other. Sadie was going insane, quite literally, while she weaved through every single box in search of someone to pay attention to her, before Cal ultimately spotted the brunette beauty at the top of the stairs with her hair tied up in a knot. He chuckled at the frazzled sight, surely catching her in the middle of moving something heavy, before he held up the take out sack as a peace offering. “Quit lifting the heavy stuff and come eat. I’ll take care of that for you.”