HURRICANE ANTHONY REMAKE – DUCAINE
CHAPTER ONE.
'Hurricane Anthony is wreaking havoc on south beach and its residents. About 5 miles off shore, Anthony has been upgraded from a category one to a category two….. The authorities are urging everyone in the vicinity to evacuate immediately….'
The windows rattled and weatherboards creaked in an almost haunting methodical rhythm around Calleigh Duquesne's home around a mile from south beach. She never used to like hurricanes or any type of storms for that matter. Just like she never liked ants. Pulling her arms tighter around her knees, Calleigh huddled into a small corner of her bathroom. Her car was in the shop getting repaired and the phone lines were down, as with all other available sources of electricity…. So she was left stranded in her own home, waiting for a hurricane which was heading her way.
Rubbing her arms up and down her legs, Calleigh rocked her body to try and stay warm. Something about hurricanes always managed to spook her, no matter what. She wasn't sure why, though because she had never seen many inway back when she was in her hometown…..
Deciding on getting up, Calleigh pushed herself up and took a look around the unlit bathroom. Grabbing her flashlight from the counter, she cautiously walked from the bathroom, down the hall and into the living room…..
Having already had the windows boarded up, Calleigh could only just see out through the tiny cracks left in between the board and window frame, and what she saw terrified her….
Palm trees blowing furiously in the wind, sign posts bent every which way, and insulation from weakened buildings and structures flung around the place like someone had just thrown chalk into a fan….. it was everywhere.
Suddenly, all went dark outside but only for a very brief moment. Before she had the chance to react, Calleighs mouth opened and released a blood curdling scream as a large tree was upturned and fell through the window, smacking into her head and knocking her onto the ground in a dead faint.
Her form remained unconscious on the ground, the wind and rain pouring through the unboarded window furiously, mercilessly attacking her body and soaking her to the core, washing away the blood from her many profusely bleeding wounds caused by the window glass cutting into her skin as she lay motionless on the cold floor.
"Calleigh! Sweetheart!"
Horatio roared at the top of his lungs as he rammed down the front door of her two-story white brick home. Even if Calleigh was fully conscious, and not on the teetering on the edge of going into shock and passing into a world far beyond his reach, she wouldn't hear more than a small 'thump' or 'click' somewhere far in the background, Anthony was so close now it was virtually knocking on her door.
"Calleigh!"
Horatio called out again, the worry increasing in his voice as he got no response. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that something had gone terribly wrong and Calleigh was badly hurt or worse….
The thought of Calleigh being gone from this world almost made Horatio lose his lunch, it was so absurd. There was no way in hell that she could be gone. She was a like a holy angel, sent down from heaven to rescue his lonely soul... Lift him up into that special place and shield him from the pain of the world, and help heal the wounds he had suffered long ago as a result of him holding in damn near everything, including his true feelings about her.
He knew work relationships were usually frowned upon, and that was one of the reasons why he never asked her out on a date. But that, however was not one of the main reasons why. Horatio had never seen her go out with anything other than young, strong and incredibly cute and sexy men. Being a little bit older himself, he found that unnerving. He didn't want to go and ask her only to be shot down in flames or told he was 'too old' for her and 'not her type'.
Then he heard it. The sound of glass shattering rapidly like a round of bullets firing from a rifle. What had happened was as a result of the windows not being boarded properly. The pressure from the wind swirling around n the room had proved to strong for the windows to hold, so they all shattered in quick procession.
Deciding not to waste another second, he headed off up the stairs hoping to find Calleigh safe and sound. But today was not his lucky day. Or Calleighs for that matter.
"CALLEIGH!" he bellowed upon seeing her broken and bleeding form laying crumpled on the ground next to her window. A branch from the tree that had smashed through the window had pinned Calleighs right leg to the ground. He couldn't just pick her up and haul her to safety, he had to work carefully, to avoid her anymore injury that could potentially lead to something much more serious than a possible fracture or break.
"C'mon, Cal……." He mumbled as he knelt down beside her. Looking at the branch on her leg, he realized it wasn't that big and that he could successfully lift it off her himself. Wrapping both of his arms around it, Horatio used all his might, pulling it off her with relative ease.
"Calleigh… Calleigh… please, wake up, beautiful…"
Again, he got no reply from her. He quickly realized she was going into extreme hypothermia and there was really only one way to stop it completely….. Slowly and Carefully, Horatio bunched her limp body up into his arms and stood up straight. If he was going to do this, he had to do it fast.
Remembering Calleigh was one of the lucky few in Miami who had a basement, he turned towards the stairs and trotted down them cautiously, holding Calleigh as close to him as his clothes and hers would allow.
Before he knew it, he had found her basement and was kicking the door shut as he shuffled down the stairs with her still in his arms. Half of the relatively large room had the floor covered in carpet as if it was made as an extra guest room. So he laid her down on the surface and pulled a blanket from the washing basket on the washing machine, then placed it next to her.
He took a second to look at her. She was in one hell of a state, with cuts and bruises up and down her arms and legs, and even some on her face as a result of the shattered glass window falling on her. Sighing, Horatio knew what he had to do next. The only way of heating her body to a temperature high enough to save her was to strip off his and her own clothes, then lay on top of her to allow for his heat to transfer directly into her body. Of course as an alternative, he could have just used the blanket on its lonesome, but this was Calleigh he was trying to save here. He wasn't going to put her life in the clutches of some lousy blanket, No way.
Quickly getting frustrated with her t-shirt and its stupid little buttons, he grabbed at it and ripped it from her body, sending buttons and tiny black sequins everywhere. He couldn't deny that the sight of Calleigh's perfect breasts covered in her black lacy bra didn't arouse some 'feelings' in him….. or rather 'little H'.
'This is Calleigh you're thinking about, Horatio!' His mind screamed. 'Don't let some stupid feelings rule your mind just because your dick said so'
He knew that voice in his head was telling him the truth. He didn't want to lose Calleigh. He would be lost without her, because she was his rock. The glue that held his world together, and his significant other. Pulling his mind together, his shaking hands unzipped the skirt she was wearing and lifted her legs up to slip it off her frame. Again, he looked over her before doing the same with her panties.
Swallowing harshly, he unclasped the last piece of clothing remaining on her body and tossed it aside……
Placing the blanket over her, he started to undress himself to allow for maximum heat transference. Slipping off his jacket, her rolled it up and gently placed it underneath her head, allowing her some sort of support. Unbuttoning his shirt, he was sure he popped a few buttons, but couldn't really care. Someone's life was at stake, and that life was irreplaceable. Unlike his t-shirt which could easily be replaced.
Now in nothing but his boxers, a chill ran up his spine. Closing his eyes, he took the last step and removed the offending piece of clothing.
'It's only Calleigh, stop worrying…'
"Yeah, stop worrying…" he said to himself. This was Calleigh. It's not like she was going to kill him for trying to save her life. Slipping under the blanket, Horatio carefully placed himself on top of her. This contact was driving him crazy, a delicious torture of sorts…..