Nightmare

Calleigh and Horatio, with their guns drawn, approached the house where a serial killer was supposedly hiding; as always, at his insistence, she was a couple of steps behind her Lieutenant. Then Horatio turned and motioned for the two uniform officers along with them to make their way around the house to be at the back in case their suspect decided to bolt.

As she and Horatio carefully eased onto the front porch, careful to stay away from the windows, they each positioned themselves on either side of the door, with Horatio taking the side allowing him to reach the doorknob to open it when they made their surprise entrance. He glanced over at Calleigh and gave her his boyish smile that he was famous for giving to those close to him. Then he held up three fingers, meaning on the count of three, he would kick the door open and enter.

Horatio raised a finger for each number and then when he brought up the third finger, he kicked the door open and entered yelling, "MIAMI-DADE POLICE—HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" Without warning there was a loud pop and as Calleigh entered after Horatio, she almost fainted when she saw him lying off to the right sprawled out on the floor clutching his chest, but tremendous resolve rose up in her to kill the man that shot the only man she'd ever truly loved. She saw him attempting to fire, but his weapon had jammed and his eyes locked on hers as she pulled the trigger of her Colt .45 and watched as the man was slammed back against the wall with an immediate, large red stain appearing on the front of his white T-shirt.

She collapsed on the floor beside Horatio screaming, "Horatio, Handsome can you hear me?"

Horatio looked up with blank eyes at her. "Cal…what…happened?"

"Don't try to talk Horatio," she begged as tears were flowing readily down her cheeks. Blood was pouring out of his chest and she quickly took off the short jacket she was wearing, balling it up and then pressing it against the wound in his chest, doing what she could to slow his blood loss.

The two officers ran into the room from the back of the house and she turned and shouted, "Call 911 now…officer down…grave injury…tell them we need immediate assistance!"

She turned back to Horatio sobbing as she said, "Hold on Horatio…please…hold on. Help is coming."

He saw her terrified expression and the tears flowing down her cheeks and he rasped between the coughs that had started, "Sweetheart…don't…be…scared…it will…be…alright."

Calleigh noticed blood now coming out of the corner of his mouth as every cough made the amount increase. She shakily rubbed the side of his face; he did not seem to be in much pain, he just seemed confused as to what had happened. Knowing he might die from this injury, a battle waged inside her wondering if she should admit to him that she loved him. They had been side-stepping the issue of their feelings for each other over many years…it was time she thought, I might not have another chance. It broke her heart to think he might be dying in her arms.

Gathering all her strength as she looked into his beautiful blue eyes she started to speak, "Horatio…" but was interrupted by Horatio's raspy voice…

"Calleigh…I…love…you…" then his head rolled to the side.

"NO HORATIO…COME BACK…PLEASE…COME BACK…YOU CAN'T DIE…I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU HORATIO," screaming as she held his lifeless body in her arms up against her chest. "NOOOOO…THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! HORATIO….YOU CAN'T BE GONE…YOU CAN'T…." She sat there, sobbing, holding him tight as she rocked back a forth.

BREAK -

Horatio was holding her hand, "CALLEIGH…CALLEIGH…SWEETHEART…PLEASE…DON'T LEAVE ME…CAL…," he begged as tears rolled down his cheeks. Alarms were screaming everywhere around him, he barely heard the shouting voices , but felt two strong hands literally pick him up from the bed and pull him back.

Doctors and nurses were working swiftly all around the woman he loved as they were attempting to bring her back. Then he heard a man's voice shout the ampere level he wanted on the paddles and his heart felt like it stopped beating.

Horatio collapsed down into a nearby chair, his head hanging over his knees as he repeated over and over, "Dear God don't take her from me…I love her…she doesn't know how much…she means to me, please give me a chance to tell her…please" he begged through his tears.

Having come by to check on Calleigh before their shift began all of the team was standing in the hallway watching through the glass as the drama unfolded. Eric swallowed hard and looked down at the floor, unable to watch. Frank turned away and felt sick at his stomach, while Natalia gasped, throwing her hand to cover her mouth and cried out,

"Oh no…Calleigh, fight…fight."

The other team members just stood, frozen with shock at what they were seeing.

Each day, they had watched their Lieutenant as he had been unmovable from Calleigh's bed for the two days and nights since she was shot. Everyone always suspicioned Horatio had feelings for his second in command during the years they had worked together, but his actions these last couple of days now confirmed it, and they were glad. If two people belonged together it was Horatio and Calleigh. Now that union was in grave jeopardy of never becoming a reality.

After a few minutes, a familiar voice broke through his fog, "Horatio…Sugar…" he looked up and through his tears, he saw that Alexx was squatting down in front of him, with her fingers beneath his chin, raising his head so she could make eye contact.

"Horatio…Calleigh's back…she's back." Horatio quickly reached out and pulled his dear friend close as he looked over at Calleigh while relief flooded over him and he cried,

"Thank God. I…love…her…so…much Alexx," attempting to control his tears.

"I know you do Horatio…and you're going to get the opportunity to tell her…I suggest you do that as soon as she wakes up."

"I…will. I promise…no more time will pass without me telling her."

He slowly got to his feet and with a heavy heart walked back to her bed and sat down heavily in the chair, reaching out and taking her small hand in his, raising it to his cheek and softly telling her everything was going to be alright.

The team turned to Alexx as she walked out of Calleigh's room, anxious to hear of their friend's condition. After hearing that Calleigh was stabilized, they turned one by one and looked at their two friends together before walking away, heading back to the lab. They had some loose ends to tie up with this case as well as another one and knew that being busy would take their minds off of what was going on. Horatio had shot and killed the scum that had shot Calleigh, after taking a bullet himself in his right side; refusing to heed Alexx's advice of complete bed rest, he stayed beside Calleigh.

After some time had passed, Horatio felt exhaustion wash over him and then his own injury begin to throb where the bullet had pierced his side. He gave in; leaning over her bed with her hand still in his, he rested his head on her bed. He felt the heat from his face as his cheek came into contact with the coolness of the sheets. Then his blue eyes closed at last.

Later in the day, Alexx walked up to her friend, with his head down on Calleigh's bed and began checking his vitals. Just as she suspected, elevated blood pressure and heart rate along with a 101 temp.

"Horatio…" she softly called as she gently shook his shoulder. "Wake up Sugar, you need a bed and I'm not going to let you talk me out of it this time."

He could hear Alexx's voice calling to him from far away as he felt himself drifting closer to her. Slowly he opened his eyes and the pain he felt made him grimace as he slammed his eyes back closed tightly.

"Sugar….you need to get up. The nurses need to tend to Calleigh."

Calleigh, I need to see about her…got to wake up. He made another attempt of moving by lifting his head. Bad mistake, he thought to himself. After Horatio fell back down on the bed, Alexx realized she was going to need help. She walked out to the nurse's station and enlisted the help of two large male nurses follow her back to the room and have them place Horatio in the bed she'd had moved into Calleigh's room.

As the two men carried him to the bed, Horatio began protesting, mumbling almost incoherently, "No…can't…leave…Calleigh. Got…to…tell…her…"

"Horatio," Alexx admonished, "You will not be any good to her when she wakes up if you don't take care of yourself!"

Then they all heard a weak voice call, "Horatio…."

Alexx spun around to see Calleigh's eyes fluttering, trying to open. Quickly she raced to the side of the bed and began softly caressing Calleigh's forehead.

"Calleigh, Honey….it's Alexx, you're in the hospital. You're going to be ok."

Calleigh wrinkled her brow and then began sobbing softly, "No…Horatio's gone…."

Horatio pushed himself out of the bed when he heard Calleigh's sweet voice and staggered over to her on the opposite side of her bed from Alexx.

"Sweetheart," he rasped as he leaned over and hovered just above her face, "I'm here…I'm here with you. Open your eyes….Calleigh."

Even though he sounded rough, there was no mistaking the deep, velvety voice she knew to be Horatio's. She began thrashing slightly in the bed, confused as her mind kept telling her Horatio was dead.

"Calleigh please…look at me…" Horatio begged softly.

Alexx watched both of them and she thought Horatio might literally pass out before Calleigh woke up. His face was pale, and she could see a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, but he was determined to help Calleigh come around to consciousness.

Finally, Calleigh's eyes half-way opened and the first person she saw was Horatio. She weakly raised her hand up and touched his cheek as she whispered,

"You're here. I can…feel…you. You…didn't…die."

"I'm here Sweetheart…I'll always be here." Tears bean flowing down his cheeks as he turned into her hand and sweetly kissed her palm. "I love you…Calleigh. I…love…you so much Sweetheart."

"I…love…you Horatio. I thought…I'd…never…get the chance…to tell you."

Calleigh began explaining in short, choppy sentences about the shoot-out and Horatio being shot in the chest and about his dying in her arms.

"Calleigh," he said before leaning over and tenderly kissing her lips, "you had a nightmare, Sweetheart. I won't…ever leave you…unless, unless you…tell…me…to go."

"Never Handsome," she said as she smiled weakly and gripped his hand.

Alexx turned and walked to the door as she quietly told the nurses to give the couple a few minutes. Alexx looked back at her friends and smiled thinking, it took both of you a long time and a lot of suffering to make you come to your senses, but the love I see couldn't have been kept hidden much longer.

"Now, I've got to go make a very important phone call to the crime lab," she mumbled to herself as her smile grew larger and she closed the door behind her.

THE END