Detective Leila Jasmine Potter was working at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab as the Trace and Impressions expert. She was exhausted because she still wasn't welcomed at the lab since her late fiance, Detective Timothy James Speedle, had been shot and killed in the line of duty six months ago. Leila was pregnant with Tim's child, a little girl that she was going to name Lily Christine Speedle. The expectant mother didn't know that her fiance was still alive and the only people that knew were her boss, Miami-Dade CSI Lieutenant Horatio Caine, and Dr. Alexx Woods, the Miami-Dade medical examiner. Tim had gone undercover since someone had put a hit out on him and he didn't want Leila to get caught in the crossfire. Horatio and Alexx had welcomed her warmly and made sure that she was comfortable most of the time. Leila was starting to feel dizzy, faint, and her chest was tightening up, so she leaned against the station that she was working on and rested her head on the cool surface. In a matter of seconds, Leila Jasmine Potter fell unconscious to the ground and her deep red, back-length, wavy hair was splayed around her head as her labored breathing grew intensely.
Horatio had just walked from seeing Alexx down in the morgue when he saw Leila lying on the floor of the Trace lab unconscious. "Leila!" Horatio exclaimed and threw the doors to the lab open quickly. He rushed over to her quickly and knelt down beside the unconscious mother-to-be. He knew that Leila had stress-induced asthma because she had informed about it when she first started working for the lab. Horatio pulled his phone from his waist and started dialing 911 since he was worried about Leila and her baby. He promised Tim that he would take care of Leila while he was undercover with the FBI for the time being. It was hard for the couple to be separated, but Tim was almost done with the undercover work and he would be able to return to his normal life once the people that wanted him dead were gone.
"This is Lieutenant Horatio Caine from the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. I'm requesting a bus because one of my CSIs is unconscious, having trouble breathing, and she's pregnant as well," he spoke and the dispatcher said that the paramedics would be there in ten minutes. Horatio thanked the woman and ended the call. A couple minutes later, Leila regained consciousness and noticed that she was lying on the floor. Horatio looked down and saw that Leila's eyes were slightly opened halfway. "Hey sweetheart, you collapsed in the lab and I saw you lying on the floor. An ambulance is coming to the lab and taking you to Miami General since you need to get checked out by your doctor," Horatio explained softly and the expectant mother smiled tiredly as she closed her eyes once more. The redhead saw the paramedics walking into the lab and picked Leila up into his arms to carry her out towards them.
Leila managed to wrap her arms around Horatio's neck as she was being carried towards the paramedics. She knew that she was getting sick, but she couldn't afford to miss a day of work since she had to pay her twin brother's medical bills. Harrison James Potter, Harry for short, was suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia and she was taking care of him because their parents didn't want to spend money on the chemotherapy treatments he needed. "Lieutenant Caine, we're going to make sure that Detective Potter gets treated as soon as we get her to the hospital," Miami-Dade EMT Peter Montero said and Horatio nodded as he laid Leila down on the stretcher. Fellow EMT Sean Kellerman covered the expectant mother with a blanket that was underneath the stretcher to keep her warm and placed an oxygen mask on her face to start supplying some fresh oxygen to her.
Miami General Hospital
Horatio was pacing back and forth in the waiting room hoping to hear some news on Leila. He was worried about the expectant mother because she was a dedicated CSI and wanted to make sure that the families who lost their loved ones received closure. He told Alexx that Leila passed out in the Trace lab and the medical examiner told him to let her know if anything changed with her baby. Alexx had adopted Leila as soon as Tim introduced her and she was concerned about the expectant mother not getting any rest because her fiance wasn't around to make sure that she slowed down. "Lieutenant Caine?" Horatio looked up and saw Leila's doctor standing in the doorway. He approached the man and shook hands with him. "Leila is relaxing in one of the recovery rooms. She is severely anemic and is suffering from the flu, so we have her receiving some antibiotics and liquid iron intravenously. She suffered from a stress-induced asthma attack, so that was another factor of her loss of consciousness. I recommend her staying here at the hospital for a few days because she showed some signs of heavy exhaustion from her latest attack," Dr. Alejandro Medina explained to Horatio.
Horatio nodded his head in agreement and replied, "I understand about Leila staying here for a few days from the stress she's endured. Her fiance, Detective Timothy James Speedle, was one of my CSIs and he was killed in the line of duty six months ago. Timothy and Leila were supposed to get married, but he died two weeks short of their wedding date. Leila had come into the lab since she promised her fiance that she would become a CSI and continue his work as well as making a name for herself. The only people who knew about Leila's relationship with Timothy was Dr. Alexx Woods and myself. Timothy had brought Leila to the lab and introduced her since he wanted to make sure that at least a few people would take care of her if something happened to him, which it did." Dr. Medina smiled sympathetically and said that he could go sit with the expectant mother for a while. Horatio smiled faintly and walked out of the waiting room to go see how Leila was feeling after she collapsed earlier.
Inside the recovery room, Leila was slowly eating her dinner since it was after 6PM. She knew that Horatio had picked her up from the ground when the paramedics came and she was grateful for the older man taking care of her. The door opened a few minutes later and Horatio stepped inside with a soft smile on his face as he walked over to the bed where his friend was lying in. Leila smiled tiredly and replied, "Hey Horatio, I wanted to thank you for staying here at the hospital when you didn't have to. I wanted to tell you why I've been working overtime and stressing myself out so much." The older man nodded his head and took a seat next to Leila's bed as held the young woman's hand softly in his. "The reason for me working overtime is because my twin brother, Harry, has leukemia and I'm paying for his chemotherapy treatments. Our parents won't spend the money, so I'm paying for his treatments and having a nurse live with him to make sure that he's resting," Leila explained and Horatio was shocked at what the expectant mother was doing most of the time.
Horatio ran a hand up and down the young woman's arm as he thought about what Tim told him before he had to go undercover. "Your parents disowned you and your brother, didn't they?" Horatio asked and the expectant mother nodded her head lightly. The older redhead sighed softly and replied, "I wish you would have told me and Alexx sooner, sweetheart. We would have been more than happy to help out with the payments for Harry's chemotherapy treatments. Tim told me about what happened between your parents and I know that they're going to come to regret everything that they had done to you and your twin brother. You need as much help as you can get since you're pregnant and trying to keep Harry alive." Leila smiled and rested against her pillow as she listened to Horatio speak. "Alexx will be coming in later since I have to go back to the lab, but I'll make sure that everyone knows what happened to you. Get some rest," the redhead replied and kissed the expectant mother on the forehead before walking out of the room.
A few hours later, Leila woke up from her nap and saw Alexx coming into the room with flowers and balloons in her arms. The medical examiner smiled at the mother-to-be lying in the hospital bed and placed the get-well-soon gifts on the tray. "You scared me earlier today, baby, and I wished that you would have told me about your asthma. I told you to go home and get some rest beforehand, but you insisted on working as bad as you felt. Timmy wouldn't want you stressing yourself out since you are due in a few more months and you need to have your strength for the birth. You have the flu and it grew worse since you didn't get it treated it right away. I'm going to be checking up on you periodically once you're released from here," Alexx replied as she fluffed Leila's pillow and then ran her fingers through the expectant mother's hair softly. The young woman was grateful that she had a few people that cared about her ever since Tim died in the line of duty.
Back at the lab, Horatio was waiting for Tim to come since the younger man called him. Tim was finally done with the undercover work for the FBI and the gang that wanted him snuffed out were dead. Horatio told Tim that Leila collapsed in the Trace lab and Tim had started shooting off questions about his fiancee and their baby girl since he didn't want them to get hurt. The Trace and Impressions expert was very protective of his fiancee since she had gone through a lot of pain, heartache, depression, and a few emotional breakdowns because of her family. Horatio spotted Tim and walked outside of the lab to greet the man that was like a son to him. "Welcome back to Miami, Tim," Horatio said and wrapped his arms around the younger man's body. Tim smiled brightly and returned the older man's hug before pulling away from him. "Alexx is with Leila at the hospital and she's alright for the time being. She is severely anemic, had an asthma attack, and caught the flu, so her body couldn't deal with everything at the same time. Leila's temperature was too high for my liking, so she is receiving antibiotics and iron intravenously to bring her fever down and iron levels up," Horatio explained.
Tim nodded his head and replied, "I want to go see my fiancee and our baby girl. After six months of playing dead, I want to go see my family and make sure that they are alright." Horatio knew that Tim would want to see his fiancee first and foremost, so the two men walked over to the Hummer and climbed in. "I didn't think that Leila would be so stressed out and exhausted, but I know that she's probably working overtime because of Harry. I was helping her out with payments for the chemotherapy treatments that her brother needs, but she insisted that she pay for it since it's her brother and the only immediate family that she has right now. Harry was glad that Leila and I were getting married because he knew that we were soul mates. He even told me that he was thinking about discontinuing his chemotherapy treatments. It was ravaging his body and he wanted to give his sister away on her wedding day," Tim explained and rested his head against the cool window. He hoped that his fiancee would be alright.
