Help Me Heal

Chapter 11

When Hank arrived home, he found Erin at the dining table with a large pizza that she was about half way through eating. There was a large glass of cola in front of her, as well as her phone, on which she was watching a Youtube video or some kind of TV show. The sight worried him. The way she was obviously not taking care of herself had been on the back of his mind ever since she had shown up. Demolishing a large pizza was not going to help matters.

"Hey," Erin said, stopping the video on her phone. "Before you saying anything, yes, I'm stuffing my face with the dirtiest pizza I could get my hands on. But it's for a good reason. Tomorrow I'm dieting and hitting a gym. Already registered earlier. Tonight, I'm enjoying one last binge."

"Well, good for you," Hank said pleasantly, standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. "How was your day?"

"It was good. I tried calling Jay and I got him. Turns out he still has the same number. He didn't answer, but he did call me back. It was tough at first, but we both said some things that needed to be said. In the end we talked for nearly an hour. Tears were shed, on my end. Grievances were vented, on his end. I was mortified to learn he intended to propose to me before I booked it to New York."

Hank grimaced, unsure what to say. "How did your conversation end?"

"I told him I plan to stay in Chicago. He told me he'd get in touch when he returns, but he doesn't know when that will be."

"And his marriage?" Hank asked, picking up something between the lines of what she was saying. There was still romantic interest there, at least on her part.

"Sounds like that's all but over."

"Not sure Hailey knows that. If Jay does come back here, he needs to deal with that before you... you know."

"Being the third party in a marriage doesn't interest me," Erin assured him, returning her attention to the pizza. "So, how was your day? Was Kalinda okay with you after I spoiled your evening?"

"Yes, fine. She didn't hold it against me. In fact I'm only here to get changed, then I'm going to meet her at a hotel."

"Where you can hook up without me cramping your style," Erin said, grinning. "Don't worry, I'll find myself a place as soon as I can."

"No rush. Kalinda's on the apartment hunt herself. It would be nice to have you stick around to be honest. The house not being empty when I come home is a nice change."

Erin eyed him suspiciously. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Hank?"

"I've, uh... Things have happened that seem to have changed me, Erin. We'll talk about it all tomorrow night. We'll have dinner or something. Right now, I need to get ready to go see Kalinda."

"No judgement this time. But, Hank, you're hooking up with one of your detectives? You don't need me to tell you how much of a shit storm that will kick up if the higher ups find out."

"I know," Hank admitted. It was a very real problem that he knew he had to think about. But not tonight. "I've really got to go. All that pepperoni has tempted me though. Can I get a slice?"

"Help yourself," Erin said with her mouth full.

-----

As promised, Hank had received a text from Kalinda with the name of the hotel she had checked into, along with her room number. She had also told him that the door would be unlocked when he arrived, and he should go straight in.

The sense of youthful excitement had returned once more by the time he approached room 331. That feeling was so good that it had an addictive quality to it. He didn't want to stop feeling it, which meant he didn't want to cool things off with Kalinda. In fact it was quite the opposite, regardless of the fact that she was his subordinate at Intelligence. He intend to go full speed ahead with whatever was developing between them. At some point there was going to have to be a serious conversation about what exactly it was that was developing. Now though, talking was not what was on his agenda.