Indelible Lapse
Chapter 1
A warm Thursday morning drifted around and both Horatio and Zoë had just pulled up for work. It wasn't long before Eric and Walter arrived and found Zoë in the break room having a cup of tea. They sat down with her and engaged in a conversation, bringing a smile to each of their faces. Their shift had started 45 minutes ago but no-one had seen Ryan.
"Where is Ryan?" Zoë questioned, looking to Eric then glanced down at her phone to see the 3 messages she'd sent him, but no response had been sent back, which was very unusual.
"I'm not sure, probably nursing a hangover if he's this late though." Eric replied with a smile.
"Ryan doesn't get hangovers…" Zoë replied back.
"Maybe he drank so much that he did get a hangover?" Eric questioned.
"I suppose." Zoë said, not sounding convinced.
Horatio walked in to notify them of a case they were being called out on. They all got up and walked out.
"Horatio, could I ride with you, please?" Zoë questioned.
"Of course" he said with a small smile, a little concerned. Eric and Walter walked out first and Horatio placed his hand on her lower back as they walked out.
"Is everything okay?" He asked quietly. She gave him a small smile and a nod, but was beginning to get quite stressed as Ryan hadn't turned up for work. They jumped into the hummer and put their seatbelts on.
"Where's Mr Wolfe?" Horatio questioned, realising that he wasn't there. Zoë shrugged her shoulders.
"I've not seen him this morning." She said softly and Horatio looked round to her.
"Is that why you're riding with me?" He questioned softly.
"Does there have to be a reason to ride with you?" She asked softly, looking round to him.
"Not at all" Horatio said softly with a smile, but he knew that it was the reason and he was grateful that she'd been sensible and chosen to ride with him. He could see that she was a little stressed.
"He's probably just running late, sweetheart." Horatio said softly and she gave him a quick nod as she looked back out of the side window.
"You're always telling me not to worry… there's no need to worry, sweetheart." He said softly as he placed his hand on her leg. She looked round to him and then pulled her phone out and dialled for him.
"If he's running late, he'll answer his phone." Zoë said softly and Horatio gave her a nod and then placed his hand back on the wheel. Zoë waited for the ringing tone to stop ringing before hanging up before the voicemail message sounded.
"He's not answering." She said softly.
"He could be driving, or his phone could be on silent." Horatio said softly.
"If he was driving, he would have answered on the speakers. He has it on vibrate if it's not on loud." Zoë said softly as she dialled for him again.
"Still no answer" she said looking over to him.
"Don't worry about it sweetheart, he probably overslept." Horatio said, trying to reassure her but he knew it wasn't working.
"Eric and Walter don't seem bothered either." She mumbled as she looked at him.
"Well then, there should be no reason for you to worry, he'll probably stumble out of his car at the scene and apologise for oversleeping." Horatio said softly. She gave him a smile and nodded.
"Yeah, hopefully" she said softly as she looked out of the side window.
They arrived at the scene and got on with the job in hand and eventually got back to the lab to begin looking at the evidence. They found the evidence led them to a man, but Zoë sent out Eric and Walter to get him as she could no longer focus on much. She walked over to Horatio's office and walked in. He looked up and saw her rather stressed, partially from her body language, but mainly because she didn't knock. She sat down in the seat in front of him and ran a hand through her hair.
"He's still not answering his phone." She mumbled as she brought her other hand up and rubbed her face.
"Take a deep breath sweetheart." Horatio said softly as he put his pen down and then got up. He walked around the desk and sat in the other seat and pulled it closer.
"I need you to relax sweetheart." Horatio said softly as he placed his hands on her knees.
"I can't, Ryan's not here and he's not answering his phone. What if something has happened?" She asked him as she dropped her hands from her face.
"That's unlikely sweetheart." Horatio said softly and she looked at him.
"Really? Because the unlikely seems to favour us." She said looking up at him. Horatio exhaled and sat forwards on the seat and took her hands in his.
"Sweetheart, you're going to make yourself ill if you worry about him this much." Horatio said softly.
"I can't help it, what if he fell down his stairs and is lying unconscious in a pool of blood? What if he crashed his car? What if–"
"Zoë, don't think like that beautiful, look, we'll go over to his after work if it'll make you feel better, he's probably in bed nursing a hangover." Horatio said softly.
"He would have rung in, or at least texted me!" She panicked and Horatio could feel her hands beginning to tremble.
"Beautiful, calm down please. You always think of the worst situations, please just try and calm down or I'm going to have to take you home." Horatio said softly as he looked into her eyes.
"You're worrying yourself too much." Horatio said softly and she knew he was right.
"I know I am, but I can't stop myself!" She said loudly as her jaw tightened, he could see her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"Take a deep breath, come on, with me." Horatio said softly as he took a deep breath with her and then exhaled with her. He did it a few times with her and held her hands. He saw her relaxing a little.
"Alright?" Horatio asked softly as he rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs. She gave him a small, quick nod and then tightened her grip on Horatio's hands.
"We've only got an hour and a half left of shift, do you think you're able to concentrate?" Horatio questioned.
"Yes, I'll be fine." She said softly as she gave him a small smile.
"Okay sweetheart, just try and keep yourself calm. I'm sure he's fine." Horatio said softly and she nodded.
"Thank you, Horatio." She said softly and he gave her a smile. They stood and she put her arms around him. Horatio embraced her and placed a kiss on her temple.
"If you're feeling too stressed, let me know and we can go home." He said softly.
"Thank you" she said back as she pulled from the hug and then placed a kiss on his lips. She gave him a small smile and then turned around. He watched her walk out and then looked down at the floor after she closed the door. 'Why has Mr Wolfe not called?' Horatio thought to himself. 'At least I managed to keep her from getting too worked up.' Horatio thought to himself as he walked back around his desk and sat down. Zoë got on with work in the lab and then watched Walter and Eric walk the suspect over to the interrogation room. She looked back down at what she was doing and concentrated on that. She looked up again when she heard the suspect shouting. He was being walked out by some officers, she then glanced at her watch and realised that her shift was over. She then saw Horatio making his way over to her.
"Everything okay?" Horatio questioned softly.
"Yeah" she said softly as she put the evidence away and then snapped her gloves off. She threw them in the bin and then turned to walk over to her jacket that was hanging up. Horatio gave her a smile as she walked towards her jacket and then saw her disappear down behind the desk as she fell.
"Zoë!" Horatio raised his voice as he rushed around the desk and saw her on the floor, laughing.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see the box there. One of the boys must have put it here." She chuckled as she sat up and began to laugh a little more. Horatio couldn't help but smile a little as he helped her up.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly once he brushed her down as she brushed herself down.
"Yeah, I'll be having words with them." She chuckled as she picked the box up and placed it on the desk. Horatio gave her a smile as she took her lab coat off and pulled her jacket on.
"Ryan's?" She asked softly as she pulled her hair out of the back of her jacket and Horatio gave her a small nod. They walked out after Zoë had picked up her handbag and drove over to Ryan's. She knocked on his door and waited for his response.