She Lives!

Hey guys! I just had to write an alternative ending for CSI: Miami when I found out that Marisol died. I feel soooooooo bad for Horatio. I wrote this story for all those who think that Marisol and Horatio should live happily ever after…until something else happens, of course. Happy Reading!!

What if Marisol didn't die from the bullet wound in her stomach? What would happen then?

Lieutenant Horatio Caine quietly slipped into his wife's hospital room unnoticed. After shutting the door as quickly as he could, he turned around and saw his sleeping wife. He shook his head as his gaze swept over all the medical tubes that were attached to her petite body. Wordlessly, Horatio walked over to the left side of the bed and pulled up a white chair. After being seated comfortably, he fixed his eyes on his wife's frail appearance.Her face was very pale; her eyes had dark bags underneath them; and her slender hands were gently resting on the upper part of her stomach. She had a white sheet pulled up to her chest and she was breathing normally for the moment. He decided to stay and just watch her.

Being partly awake, Marisol Delko Caine had a feeling that she was being watched. She slowly opened her eyes and focused them on the handsome stranger sitting on her left, smiling at her. She smiled back when she saw that it was Horatio. "Thanks for coming," she whispered softly.

Horatio affectionately squeezed her hand and answered by asking lovingly, "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

Marisol closed her eyes for a second before replying, "I feel a little better…now that you're here." She opened her eyes again and Horatio saw the tears starting to form.

He brushed back a stray hair from her face and murmured gently, "Hey now, don't cry. You'll be okay. Guess what?"

She looked up into his eyes. "What?"

Horatio took a deep breath before responding with, "I had…I had dinner plans tonight."

Marisol managed a small grin. "Casa Tua?"

Horatio nodded his head. "Casa Tua."

"8:30?"

Horatio kissed her forehead tenderly. "8:30."

"You got the good table?"

Horatio chuckled lightly. "I got the good table."

Silence followed; only the beeping of her sound recorder could be heard in the background. Finally, Horatio said, his voice a little hoarse with emotion, "You're not planning…to uh…you're not planning to stand me up, are you?" He pressed her hand against his cheek.

Marisol shook her head and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Never," she whispered weakly.

At that moment, Horatio stood up from his chair and before leaving; he bent down over her and carefully placed a loving kiss on her lips. After pulling back, he said, "Remember that I love you very much, sweetheart."

Marisol got all teary-eyed again. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and answered, "I love you very much, too."

Horatio straightened out his body. After he pulled out his sunglasses and put them on, he looked down at her; his hands on his hips doing his famous 'Caine stance.' "Now it's time for me to find your shooter. Rest here and I'll come by later with Eric, ok?"

Marisol nodded and added, "Please be careful."

It was Horatio's turn to nod. "I always am." And without another word, he left the room.

She sighed and stared hard at the door, wishing Horatio would come back inside and stay with her instead of working on the case. But after a few minutes, her eyelids began to droop. Deciding to close them for just a bit, she soon fell asleep…

Eric Delko-the younger brother of Marisol-was having a little discussion with Calleigh Duquesne-a fellow CSI-when Horatio's black hummer pulled up beside them. They both stopped talking and watched as Horatio came out the driver's side. He walked over to them and said briskly, "So what have we got? Any ideas on where the location of the shooter was?"

Calleigh filled him in. "We have evidence that the shooter shot the gun from that building over there. (She points at a tall building to her right) Eric had gotten some information from one of our suspects and we were able to find the exact location."

"Good, good," Horatio said grimly and glanced around.

Fear evident in his face and voice, Eric broke in, "H, how-how is she?"

Calleigh became silent and simply waited for Horatio's answer.

Horatio removed his sunglasses and massaged his temple in soothing circular motions. "She's doing fine, Eric. Don't worry, she's a strong girl. She'll make it."

Eric let out a deep breath. "Thank God!"

Calleigh turned to Horatio. "So when do you think she'll be able to get out of the hospital?"

"Hopefully soon. The doctor said she needed to take it easy for now, so we'll just have to wait and see." After saying that, Horatio was back to business. "Alright, so what have got on where the shooter is now?" He glanced at Calleigh and Eric.

Calleigh looked expectedly at Eric and he bit his lip.

Horatio waited, tapping his foot impatiently.

Eric then answered resentfully, "He's here in Miami. He's still alive and breathing," he took a deep breath and added bitterly, "While my sister's in the hospital fighting for her life."

Horatio growled and began walking towards his vehicle, "He won't be for long once I'm through with him."

Calleigh and Eric both raced after him and they all got into the black hummer and sped off for the lab.

A few weeks later-two to be exact-Marisol was finally discharged from the hospital. During her two-week stay at the hospital, she was able to press Horatio for details on how the case for her shooter went. Horatio only told her that they had found him somewhere in Miami, arrested him, and put him in jail for the rest of his life. At this point, Marisol teased her husband about "not having a creative imagination." She had asked, "That's it? Nothing else exciting happened?"

Horatio had chortled and said nothing.

Marisol laughed good-naturedly and hugged him. She was very glad that all of that was over and done with.

Now, getting back to the present, Marisol noticed as they were driving that they weren't headed for home. Instead, Horatio had turned left at the stop sign rather right to the direction of their house. "Where are we going, honey? Do you have to pick something up or...something?"

Horatio didn't answer. He just shot her a secret grin as he continued driving. Only when he finally pulled up and parked in an empty parking space in front of a classy building with the words "Casa Tua" in big fancy bold letters, did he say something to his puzzled wife. "Sweetheart, you remember two weeks ago when I said I'd take you out for dinner but we couldn't because you weren't allowed out of the hospital at that time?"

Marisol titled her head to stare at Horatio. "Yeah…why?"

"Well, I've decided to take you out for an early dinner tonight at your favorite restaurant-Casa Tua."

Marisol squealed loudly and practically crushed Horatio in a bear hug. "That's wonderful!"

Horatio chuckled and hugged his wife back. "I'm so glad you're better now."

She slowly lifted her face for a kiss. "So am I."

Their lips met in a gentle kiss. They broke apart a few minutes later when they heard a little boy make "smooching" sounds at them. They grinned at each other.

Then Horatio got out of the hummer. He closed his door and then walked over to the other side to open the door for Marisol.

She thanked him when he helped her down.

He carefully guided her up the stairs to the doors.

As soon as they made it passed the glass doors that led to the inside of the fancy restaurant, shouts of enthusiastic "Surprise!" echoed across the large room.

Marisol was so surprised to see Calleigh, Ryan, Alexx, Frank, Eric, Maxine, and Natalia all beaming at her that her eyes began to water. She looked at Horatio and he winked at her.

"They all wanted to see how you were doing, sweetheart." Horatio's arm snaked around his wife's slender waist as he directed her to a large oak table.

Everyone else soon followed.

Once everyone was seated, Marisol took time to talk to each person and thanked them personally. When she got to Eric, tears were already streaming down her cheeks. She stretched her arms out to him and he jumped up right away and hugged his sister fiercely.

"Thank God you're alive, Mari," he kept whispering over and over again.

Everybody started clapping and even Horatio was getting a little teary-eyed.

"Thanks so much for being there for me, Eric," Marisol murmured against his shoulder.

"You know I'll always be here for you, Mari, and so will everyone else here, especially Horatio. He loves you so much, did you know that?"

Marisol dabbed a hanky at her eyes and nodded, sending Horatio an affectionate glance. "Yes, I've known it all along. I knew I made the right choice when I married him." After Eric gave her one last hug, he went back to his seat.

When she finished thanking all her guests for their thoughtfulness, a waiter came to the table to take their orders. When the waiter left, everyone started conversations with one another. Alexx was talking animatedly to Frank and Maxine about some lab case she had worked on before, making them laugh loudly; Eric was chatting away with Ryan and Natalia; and Horatio was just sitting there, content on listening to everybody. But Calleigh had her eye on Marisol.

"So...when are you and H plannin' on goin' on your honeymoon, Marisol?" Calleigh asked in her southern drawl, her eyes twinkling with amusement. That got hold of everyone's attention. They all looked at Marisol, waiting for her answer.

Marisol blushed and caught a glimpse of Horatio's face.

He only took a sip of his iced tea and tried to act normal, although she did see the small wink he gave her out of the corner of her eye.

"Hm…we haven't decided yet, Cal, but we're thinking about going to Europe for two weeks."

Ryan butted in, his eyes wide, "Wow! Two weeks in Europe! That's some honeymoon…"

Eric laughed, "Well, it is supposed to be memorable, right?"

Marisol giggled. "And it will be…it will be…"

Ryan then turned to Calleigh and asked slyly, "Hey Cal, baby, when do you want to go on our honeymoon?"

Calleigh shot him a dirty look. "In your dreams, Mr. Wolfe."

Everyone laughed heartily as Ryan pressed on, "Do you want to go to Spain? Or what about Ontario, Canada? I heard they have some nice scenery there. Or maybe even Australia!"

Calleigh rolled her eyes at Ryan and affectionately punched him in the arm. "You only wish you could…"

Ignoring the laughter and happy chatter going on around her, Maxine turned her attention to Marisol. "That sounds like a lot of fun. Where exactly are you guys going to go in Europe?"

"Well, um, we're not really that sure yet, but I would love to go to Switzerland, and maybe even Rome. I mean, you know, if we had enough time to tour Europe…"

Maxine grinned mischievously. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll have plenty of time…"

Alexx spoke up from across Marisol, "How are you feeling right now, honey? You're looking a little pale."

Marisol reassured her. "I'm fine, Alexx. Thanks."

"No problem, baby. You just tell me if you feel a little woozy and I'll fix you right up, ok?" Alexx flashed her a smile.

"Thanks so much, Alexx. You don't know how much that means to me…"

As soon as those words were spoken, the food and drinks were brought to the table and everyone was served. Then they were all back to making conversation as they started eating.

Frank was telling jokes to Horatio, Marisol, and Natalia while Ryan, Calleigh, Eric, and Maxine were talking about a previous case they had just recently worked on and how bizarre it was. Everyone dug into their meals, often complimenting on how good the food was.

Suddenly, Horatio's cellphone rang. He immediately got up, excused himself, and answered it. "Horatio here."

Marisol watched him and dreaded what he was going to say when he finished. "Why of all time does Horatio have to get called for a case now?" she asked herself, putting a juicy slice of steak in her mouth.

Horatio hung up and walked back over to the table to join them.

They all looked expectantly up at him.

"What's up, H?" Eric asked curiously, putting his fork down.

"There's been a murder just a few blocks north of here. A teenage girl had just entered her house this afternoon coming home from work and found her boyfriend dead, lying in his own pool of blood. There are no physical signs of struggle on the boy although the girl did find the gun that was used to kill her boyfriend," Horatio responded, scrubbing a hand over his mouth. He quickly glanced at Marisol and saw that her lips were drawn into a thin line and she was absent-mindedly ripping a tissue paper into little shreds. He eyed Calleigh and Ryan and nodded at them. Then Horatio got down to his wife's level and spoke softly to her. "You know what this means, don't you, sweetheart?"

She shook her head stubbornly. She hadn't seen the nod he sent to Ryan and Calleigh.

Horatio chuckled inwardly. "It means that I-"

Marisol cut him off. Her voice quivered as she said, "You're not planning…you're not planning on leaving me, are you?"

Horatio smiled at her choice of words. Almost the same words he asked her two weeks ago. He kissed her forehead and bent down to whisper in her ear the one word he knew she longed to hear, "Never."

She pulled away from him and stared. "What do you mean, "'Never?"' Don't you have to work on the case?"

Horatio didn't reply but instead stood up abruptly and saluted to his fellow workers.

They all understood his meaning and saluted back at him.

He then assisted his puzzled wife in standing up and then announced, "Come on, sweetheart, I'm taking you to Europe!"

Calleigh and Ryan ended up working on the case. But they were so glad to let Horatio take Marisol to Europe for two weeks that it didn't even matter to them that it meant extra work for them.

All Calleigh could comment about it was, "Well, when we go on our honeymoon, I bet Horatio would do the same thing for us, wouldn't you think so, babe? And no, Ryan, we will not be going to Spain, Canada, or Australia. I thought New Zealand was a pretty cool place. They say that there are some gorgeous mountains there. What do you think?"

Ryan just smiled.

Finished! I hope you liked it. Does anyone know what the color of Horatio's hummer is? I just chose black cuz that's the only color I could think of that would suit him perfectly. Pls R&R and if you know the color of H's hummer, pls tell me! Thanks so much for taking the time to read it! Adios, amigos!

Stay sweet,

Jade Ocean