Lauren Speedle sat staring out into the ocean's horizon at the pier. She would come here with her husband, Tim 'Speed' Speedle, after work to talk and think about anything and everything. She began to run her fingers through his silver wedding band. She couldn't believe he was gone.
Lauren turned her attention to an all too familiar noise coming from behind her. For a brief moment she thought the person on the motorcycle was Speed. Lauren thought maybe this was all just a horrible nightmare, and Speed hadn't been shot and killed.
As she turned around, reality hit her like a ton of bricks. The man on the bike was not Speed, and there was a woman sitting on the second seat of the man's Harley Davidson motorcycle. Realizing that the two people behind her hadn't been her husband, she turned her attention back to the water and the setting sun. "I'm crazy. Tim's gone. He's gone, Lauren. He's gone," Lauren said as tears began to fall from her hazel-green eyes.
Speed had only been gone a day; she had just come from the funeral. As the couple walked by Lauren, they smiled at her. She managed to give a watery smile back; the couple kept on walking.
Flashbacks of yesterday ran through her mind: the horrible site of Speed lying on the floor of the jewelry store dead; Horatio kneeling next to him hoping, and praying that he was somehow alive. "Speed, what am I supposed to do without you?"
Hearing footsteps behind her, Lauren figured it had been the couple making their way back to the bike, but was surprised when she heard the voice of Internal Affairs Officer, Rick Stetler. "Lauren," was all he said. He had no idea what to say to her, and he had no idea what she was going through.
Horatio had arrived, and was sitting in his hummer watching them. He too wondered what Rick was doing. If need be he would step in. Lauren was like a daughter to him, and he would protect her no matter what.
"What do you want, Rick?" Lauren asked wiping the tears away from her eyes as she stood up, and started walking back to the parking lot. Grabbing her arm Rick stopped her. "Get your hand off me, Stetler. What are you even doing here?"
"I came to see how you were," said calmly as he put his hands in his pants pocket.
Lauren gave him the evil side-eye look. "Please! Rick, coming to see if I'm okay. There has to be something more to it than that."
"I'm worried about you, and I just came to see if you were all right, really." Lauren just stared back at him.
Lauren sighed, and said, "I just lost my husband, Rick. I'm lost my best friend. Tim was my life. How do you think I feel? I'm confused. I don't know what to do. I'm lost, Rick. My husband is gone, and he's not coming back."
Rick placed a hand on Lauren's arm. He said, "Maybe you should go get some counseling, it will help."
Lauren snickered. "So there is another reason. I knew there was a hidden agenda. I don't need help. I just want my husband back!" Lauren said as she started to make her way back to her car. Rick grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. "Rick let me go! Let me go!" Lauren yelled as she tried to push him away. Ignoring her commands, Rick pulled her closer to him as he embraced her in a hug. After fight him for a few moments, Lauren gave in and hugged him back as she began to sob. "I just want Tim back, Rick, I want him back."
Over in his silver hummer, Horatio heard the sound of someone walking toward his vehicle. "H, Speed's parents want to talk to you," Eric Delko said standing next the driver's side door. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. Speed and Eric had become close friends over the years. They'd become best friends.
Horatio sighed and said, "All right, are they still at the cemetery?"
"Yeah. I saw you left. I figured you came out to the pier." Eric paused for a moment before he continued. "I'll stay here with Lauren. If Rick gets out of hand, I'll be the first one there."
Horatio nodded. "The funny thing, Eric, is I think he's actually being nice for a change."
"Maybe. Rick always has a hidden agenda," Eric said.
"I'll see you at Auntie Belham's Diner. Eric and hang in there." With that Horatio drove off in his hummer. Eric decided he didn't want to wait anymore.
Rick heard footsteps behind him and broke away from Lauren. "CSI Delko, how are you holding up?" Rick asked. Eric put his hands in the pockets of his dress pants.
"Our team just lost a family member, and one of the best CSIs we had, Rick. How do you think I feel?" he said his voice solemn. Lauren said nothing.
"Delko, why don't we just put our differences aside, for one day? Like you said we lost one of our own."
Lauren decided to step in before Eric did something he would regret later. "Eric, let it go. He was just asking how you were doing." Lauren paused and then turned back to Rick. "I know you meant well and I thank you, but I think it's be best if you left." Rick said nothing as he left the pier and headed to the parking lot.
Eric and Lauren came together in a tight hug. "We'll get through this Eric… I hope," Lauren said as she began sobbing into Eric's shoulder.
"I hope so," was all Eric could say.
Eric left go of Lauren. "You ready to go?" he asked as he took her hand in his.
"Yeah," was all she said as she wrapped her arm around his waist.
After a couple hours at the diner, everyone decided it was time to head home. They all thanked the waitress, and headed to their cars. Lauren walked over to her car and inserted her key into the lock of her Pontiac Grand Am. She got in and drove off to the empty apartment that now felt like a place to stay rather than a home.
Arriving home, Lauren made her way up the stairs, and to apartment number 624. She set her purse and keys on the kitchen table and walked to the fridge. She wanted a drink badly, but thought better of it, and walked into the bathroom to take a hot shower.
After she had finished, Lauren found some pajama pants and a shirt Speed had worn a couple days before and put it on. She leaned against the closet doors and sank to the floor. She pulled her knees close to her chest and began to cry until she fell asleep.
*Somewhere in the USA *
He felt listless, like he was floating or that he no longer had a body. He remembered, vaguely the shootout and then the ride to the hospital, but what he was feeling now and vaguely sensing wasn't right. This place didn't feel like Miami, it didn't smell like a hospital.
There was no calming presence of Horatio or Alexx. There was no Lauren. Where was she? This wasn't right. He tried to move, but couldn't. Something was holding him down or was it up? Either way, it was also added to the 'It wasn't right' pile. "Lauren?" He rasped. He heard a chair scraping against the floor. He felt a prick and pressure in his arm then nothing. The lights above him faded into darkness.
Lauren awoke the next morning to the sound of someone knocking loudly on her door. "What the hell?" She said as she looked around the room. She noticed she had fallen asleep on the floor.
Getting up she groaned not wanting to answer the door. The knocking continued to come. "I'm coming, I'm coming," Lauren said. Looking out of the peep-hole she saw the familiar face of her sister; she opened the door. "Hi, Calleigh."
"How are you doing?" Calleigh Duquesne asked.
Lauren shrugged her shoulders. "Okay I guess."
"Have you eaten breakfast?" Lauren shook her head no. "Okay, get dressed. I'm taking you out to eat. We'll go to our favorite bistro. Horatio said I could come in later."
"Okay." Lauren headed into the bedroom to get changed. Five minutes later she came back out fully dressed in her favorite stretchy blue jeans, a navy blue tank top, and one of Speed's white work shirts; her hair was pulled back into a loose messy bun. In her right hand she had a pair of black flip flops and a pair of sunglasses.
"You ready?"
"Yeah. As ready as I'll ever be." The two sisters made their way down to Calleigh's car, got in, and drove off to the restaurant.
Calleigh and Lauren arrived at the bistro not too long after leaving the apartment. The hostess recognized them, and took them to their table outside. "Here's your menus ladies," the waitress said.
To Lauren's surprise, Alexx Woods was waiting for them. Alexx was Miami-Dade's number one Medical Examiner. They ordered some food, and talked small talk; it was mostly between Calleigh and Alexx.
When their waitress brought out their food, Lauren didn't eat much. "Lauren you need to eat, you'll feel better," Calleigh said.
"I'm not really that hungry, Calleigh."
"Sugah, you are going to eat your food. I'm not about to watch you waste away. Timmy wouldn't want that. He'd want you to be happy," Alexx said putting her hand on top of Lauren's shoulder. Lauren quickly wiped the tears that started to fall from her eyes.
"I know..." Lauren said softly, and began to eat.
The three finished their breakfast. Alexx headed back to work while Calleigh took Lauren back to her apartment. "You going to be all right?" Calleigh asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. The food helped. I think I'm going to go to the beach and maybe do a little shopping," Lauren said standing in between her sister's car and her own car.
"Okay, well I'll be at work if you need anything. I'm just a phone call away."
"I know, thanks Cal."
"Just one more thing, Lauren, please don't start drinking."
"I won't. I promise."
The two sisters embraced in a hug before Calleigh got in her car and drove off. Lauren and Calleigh had seen what alcohol had done to their father. Both of them promised they would never let themselves follow in his footsteps.