Disclaimer: This unauthorized work of fanfiction is not meant to replace traditional CSI: Miami watching.

Spoiler: 7.14: "Smoke Gets in Your CSIs."

Wakening

The first thing Calleigh became aware of was something unpleasant stuck in her throat. She felt like she was choking, but couldn't gag. Then the sounds: the sounds of machinery, beeping, a regular whoosh of air. The smell: disinfectant, sweat. Her eyes fluttered open. Hospital room.

She tried to swallow, tried to remember how she'd gotten here. The fire. Coughing. Coughing while interviewing a suspect. She couldn't breath. She'd said that to Eric.

Eric...

She remembered hearing his soothing voice, floating hazily through her darkness. "You're going to get through this. 'Kay? I know you will. You have to." There was more. "I can't imagine going to work without you." There was a jocularity in his voice that had not been able to cover his worry. Then, more quietly, so quietly she wasn't sure if she heard it or imagined it, "I can't imagine living my life without you."

She'd wished Eric would say something like that to her for years. But she knew him better than that: he wasn't a one-woman man, and even if he thought he was in love with her now, he would just break her heart if she let him. Except...lately she was beginning to wonder if that was still true.

No. It must have been a dream. Eric wasn't even here. No one was.

She realized there was something on her wrist. Was she strapped down? She looked.

A watch. Eric's watch. Her thumb caressed its face. It wasn't a dream, then: he had been there. He had said those things.

He did love her.

She awoke again at the sound of the curtain being pulled back. She opened her eyes enough to see it was Eric. She smiled. "Hey."

Her voice was weak, but stronger than Eric had been expecting. "Hey." He grinned brightly and moved to her side, taking her hand. "Yeah, I...um...I put my watch on you so you would know I was here, in case you woke up while I was out on the investigation."

She kept smiling, gazing at him. Gazing. "I knew you were here."

"How did you know I was here? You could..." For the first time, the possibility occurred to him that she'd been aware earlier. "Could you hear me? You heard what I said?"

"Yeah." Her eyes drifted closed.

Eric's smile had fallen. He swallowed nervously, awaiting her verdict.

Her eyes opened. "It was like a dream."

Did she, he wondered, mean she thought she'd been dreaming when she heard it, or that hearing him say those words to her was like a dream come true? He wished it was the latter. Either way, there was one answer he could give. "It was real." He'd really said it. He really meant it.

She was quiet for a moment, still watching him, her luminous eyes full of fondness. "Will you stay with me?"

Did she mean just for today? Or did he dare hope she was asking...if she gave him a chance, would he stay with her forever, never leave her? Of course he would never leave her. But that wasn't what she was asking. He pushed the hope away.

"No." He quickly laughed to show her he was joking. She rewarded him with a single chuckle. "As long as you want me to," he said, sitting down in the chair beside her bed without letting go of her hand. A moment later a doubt marred his happiness: what if she just asked him to stay because she knew how worried he was about her, and how much it meant to him to be with her? He added quietly and uncertainly, "Only if you want me to."

She looked up, then returned her eyes to his face, and he knew that she did want him to stay. For her.

And he couldn't remember ever being happier than he was at that moment.