I miss Nell

Chap 2

The next day, before he left for work, Eric decided to leave Nell a message.

'Hey Nell, it's me, again. Just once again wondering how you're doing. I'll uh. This'll be my last message for awhile. Hetty says I should give you more time, and she's really smart for someone who probably hasn't been on a dat since the 80's! Not that that's offensive, just saying she has a lot of great relationship advice. And this short message is now a long rambling one, nice job Eric! Well, I miss you, and I hope you call me back sometime. Bye.'

Somewhere

Nell had heard all of his and Hetty's messages. Including Hetty's new recent one:

'Miss Jones, it's Hetty, again. Just once again wondering how you're doing, because it's my job to worry about my team members. Sigh. Eric really misses you, Everyone misses you. I'm not trying to pressure you into staying if you don't want to, I'm just reminding you that you are very special and you matter to this team, and if anyone had noticed you were depressed and never gave you real advice, then I blame myself for not being around to help you. Sigh. Please call me back soon.'

Hetty was right. No one had given her real advice on how to deal with her mom, maybe because no one knew what it was like to deal with this kind of situation. Callen's mom was killed when he was 5, Deeks's disappeared and reappeared in his life, Kensi ran away from hers when her dad was killed, Hetty never knew hers, she was alone in this.

'Maybe it WAS a bit hasty and dramatic to just decide to quit', Nell thought. 'Maybe it would be a good idea to call Nate, but first, I better call Eric and Hetty.'

Beep beep beep.

'Hey Hetty, it's Nell. Sorry it's been awhile. I've gotten your messages, and, sigh. I'm sorry for being dramatic and hasty, I, felt so hopeless! No one on the team really understands what I'm going through because they either ran away from their moms or never knew them. It was very smart of you to tell me to take vacation. I'll be with my mom until she eventually dies, and in between, I'll be seeing Nate about my depression. I hope the team and you are doing okay. Good bye.'

She was going to call Eric when the caregiver said her mom was asking for her. 'I'll call him later,' she said.

Later that day

'I heard from Nell today', Hetty said to Eric.

'Really? How did she sound?' He asked.

'She's doing fine, and she says not to worry.'

'If she called you, Then why didn't she call me?'

'I really don't know, Mr. Beale'. Hetty answered.

'Can I listen to the message?'

'Yes, I still have it.'

Eric listened to the messages

'Nice to know she's doing fine.' Eric thought. 'Still, why would she call Hetty and not me?'