Lessons Learned

By

NV Oracle

Chapter 2

Later, Horatio made his way down the mostly empty halls of the hospital, until he saw Stevie's Mom sitting in the hall, with her eyes closed and her head back. "Excuse me? Mrs Douglas?"

The woman's head came up and she turned to him in surprise. "Lt? What brings you? Shouldn't you be heading towards home and a bed?"

He chuckled. "I will, in awhile. I wanted to check on Stevie, as well as to let you know that we are working on the case."

She arched her eyebrows at him. "You mean the robbery?" She asks.

"That's fair." He remarked. "The robbery is important, yes, but you and Stevie are just as important, at least to me."

She looked at him in surprise. "We don't want you to get into trouble, though, Lt. Please, do not jeopardize your position because of us. It's not worth it."

He turned towards her, matching her pose. "My definition of value is a bit different from that, Mrs Douglas. You let me worry about that, ok?" When she doesn't respond, he continued. "I do have one question, though."

"Ok?" She replied.

"I don't suppose the van had a GPS unit, did it?"

She nodded. "Actually, yes it does. The Insurance wouldn't help us get the van, unless it was equipped with it. Why do you ask, Lt?"

"It's an avenue to explore during the investigation, that's all, Mrs Douglas."

"Oh, ok." She leaned back with her head against the wall.He matched her pose. "How's Stevie? Any word yet?"

"They're in with him, now. Dr Fitzgerald was saying that above his threshold that he will need to be given a local anesthetic, but below that, where he doesn't feel anything, of course, they don't have to worry about it."

"I'm going to need the glass when they're done." He told her.

"Ok. I'll tell them." She explained.A blonde man in green scrubs came out of one of the rooms. She stood to meet him. "Ron?"

The man smiled. "He's fine, Jessica. We've removed all of the glass, and it was all relatively superficial anyway. No vital organs were damaged, or even in any danger. He's resting off the local we've given him. At this point, we're only going to monitor him for infection and pain. Once we're sure that he won't develop an infection, and we have the pain and discomfort under control, we'll let you take him home." The doctor explained.

"Very good." She responded. "How long is that likely to be?"

He thought on that for just a minute. "Well, with no infection, and control of the pain, about a week. If he develops one, only once it's cleared up."

"Fair enough. Can I see him?" She asked.

"Just for a bit. I want you to go home, and get some sleep."

She chuckled. "Yes, Doctor."

He turned back the way he had come, and she followed him into the room, with Horatio behind her. She noticed that the boy's eyes are closed. "Stevie?"

The boy's eyes slowly blinked open. After awhile, his eyes focused on her. "Hey, Mom."

She smiled at him. "Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"

"About like I look, I imagine, but I'm doing ok, considering."

She smiled down gently at her son. "Dr Fitzgerald says you're going to be fine in a few days."

"Well, he should know." The boy replied. "Mom, has that Lt caught up with us, yet?"

"I'm right here, Stevie. What's up?" H asked.

"I'm glad you were able to come back by, Lt, even though it's probably time for you to be heading on home to your own family isn't it?"

Horatio's head ducked, with a shy grin. "It's not that late, Stevie, but I am heading home in a little while. I just wanted to make sure the doctors were treating you ok."

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Lt. Speaking of Doctors, are you still here, Doctor Fitz?"

"I'm right here, Stevie. What's up?"

"Well, could you do me a favor and check the Lt out?"

"Sure." The doctor replied. "Can I ask why?"

The boy looked a bit sheepish. "It's actually kind of embarrassing, Doctor Fitz, but at the robbery site, one of the robbers dropped me out of the van, which is how I got all the glass in me. When I landed, I must have hit my head. When I came back, I felt someone checking me out and I guess I freaked. I must have though he was one of the robbers and that he was coming back to finish me off…….and I……well, I hit him, with everything I had. I'll grant you that it's not all that much, but I would still feel better if he got checked out. Please?"

"Sure, Stevie. We can do that." The doctor looked over at the red head with an 'after you' tilt to his head.

"Stevie, wait a minute." Horatio backed up, putting his hand up, stopping the Doctor's advance. "What makes you think you got me?"

"Well……….." The boy paused for just a minute. "Even though you answered my Mom and your friend, Eric, that you were ok, your voice was different."

"It was?" He looked at Stevie's Mom, with his eyebrow climbing into his hair. She cracked a grin at him and nodded.

"Mm, hmmm." The boy replied. "I could tell I surprised you, just like you said, but you were uncomfortable, too."

The older man leaned into him. "Stevie, I'm fine. You did not hurt me, but if it will make you feel better, I'll let the Doctor check me out." When the boy nodded, Horatio turned to the doctor. "Lead the way, Doctor."

The blonde pulled back a curtain. "Get rid of both the shirt and the jacket and hop up here, for me, please, Lt?"

At first, the red head shed his jacket with no problems, then he opened the shirt cuffs. As his hands moved to the fabric, he asked. "Is this really necessary, Doctor?"

When the doctor looked over at him questioningly, Horatio explained. "When Stevie hit me, yes, he caught me by surprise, although, yes, I should have been more prepared for it. I didn't though, I was more concerned with making sure that he was ok. He hit me in the center of my chest, right over my sternum. He did not hurt me, though. I'm fine."

Doctor Fitzgerald noticed that the red head's hands have stopped halfway down the front of his shirt. "How about you let me see for myself, ok?"

Horatio tilted an eyebrow at the doctor, but continued to unbutton his shirt the rest of the way, pulling the tails out of his slacks. He purposely left the garment on, but opened it completely, as the doctor had requested. As he sat on the gurney next to him, he told the Doctor. "Oh, yeah, Doctor, by the way, I'm going to need the glass that you pulled out of Stevie, please?"

"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor arched his eyebrows at the man.

The red head cracked a grin. "Perhaps some introductions are in order." He held his hand out to the Doctor. "Lt Horatio Caine, with MDPD's Crime Scene Investigations unit, Doctor. We're going to need the glass for evidence, please?"

"That's not a problem, Lt. I'll get it for you before you leave." Doctor Fitzgerald replied, shaking the man's hand.

The red head then laid down on the gurney.

Both Stevie's Mom and Doctor Fitzgerald noticed the scaring around both of the red head's sides and over the man's shoulders. They shared a quick look over the red head that mutually agreed to not say anything, for the time being.

"Well, you are right about one thing, Lt." The doctor began.

"What's that, doctor?" He asked."You've already got the start of a humdinger bruise, right here on the center of your chest." Doctor Fitzgerald slowly began to press down on it. "Does that hurt?"

"No." At least the red head waited a minute before giving the standard answer.

The doctor continued with the exam, palpitating the red head's abdomen. "That?"

"No. I've told you, Doctor. I'm fine." He replied.

The doctor pulled off his stethoscope and puts the earpieces into his ears. "Bare with me for just a few minutes longer, please, Lt?" He leaned in and put the flat metal disk against the red heads chest. He moved the disk several times, then pulled the plugs from his ears, then draped the 'scope around his neck.

"Alright, Lt. I guess you are ok, as you say, but if that bruise gets any bigger or if it causes you any more pain than it is now, please come back, or at least see your own doctor."

"I will, Doctor. Thank you." The CSI replied as he sat up, and began to button his shirt.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to get the glass for you that we pulled out of Stevie." The Doctor headed for the door.

"Thank you, Doctor." The red head stood to tuck his shirt back in. As he turned to grab his jacket, he saw Stevie's Mom looking back at him with a strange expression on her face. "Is something wrong, Mrs Douglas?" He asked, tilting his head at her.

She blinked back to the here and now. "No. I'm sorry, Lt. Nothing's wrong. My mind was on another planet, I guess."

Suspecting where her mind truly was, he cracked a shy grin her direction as he walked over toward her. "How about we go check on Stevie?"

They walked back over and noticed that the boy was asleep. Doctor Fitzgerald came back in with a canister full of small glass pieces. "Here you go, Lt."

"Thank you, Doctor." He took the canister. Turning to Stevie's Mom, he added. "Do you need a ride somewhere, Mrs Douglas?"

Just as she's about to answer 'no', Doctor Fitzgerald responded for her. "Actually, yes, Lt, if you don't mind? Would you please give her a ride back to their temporary apartment? I really don't want her wandering around alone."

"That's not a problem, Doctor." He replied, turning to her. "In fact, whenever you're ready, Mrs Douglas."She wrote a short note for her son, then turned to the red head. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's go." As they began to move towards the door, she told the doctor. "I'll see you in the morning, Ron."

"Not too early, Jessica, please?"She chuckled. "I promise." As they walked out.