As promised... Chapter: 3. I hope you enjoy it so far, I would love if the show ended this way! But I know it won't, but thats ok, thats why I'm writing this. XD Some SPOILERS are in this. The name of one of the chary's I'm not too sure on though, but thats ok. I cant know every detail of whats to happen tonight! lol
Chapter: 3
I need you;
One thing Calleigh was certain of was that she heard every last word Eric said, every sigh and chuckle. If she could have opened her eye she knew she would have seen the pain on his face too. The gentle feel of his lips pressed against the top of her hand and forehead were something she cherished beyond belief. Eric meant everything to her. Sure she didn't let it be known all that well, she was woman that kept to herself and with her known history with men it was probably for the best that she never told Eric how she felt. She knew that apart of Eric was hurt that she never took the next step in their friendly relationship and told him exactly how she felt.
But every time she looked at him apart of her was tongue tied, she was like a school girl or something. She knew that sometimes if she didn't compose herself the right way and move out of one of their many, sometimes, uncomfortable discussions, mostly brought on by him, that she would slip up and confess something to him that she may have been waiting for. Actually she knew for a fact that she would, Eric somehow had this hold on her. She hid it very well, but his laugh, his smile, just one glance at him made her melt inside.
And now he was there confessing his love to her and how he felt. She remembered a few days back she somewhat scolded him for not telling her what he wanted to say. He kept dancing around the subject of them, but deep down inside she understood why it was so hard for him to say anything to her. She felt like a fool for ever pressing the issue knowing that he was having a hard time with all the emotions and feelings he was feeling. Now she knew for a fact that the thought of losing her scared him to death, just as much, she was sure, as she was when he was shot in the head. She thought it would be too late to tell him how she felt and then he pulled through it alright.
Now more then ever she wished she would have taken the next step and told him a little more on how she felt about them. It probably would have made things easier for Eric now and her as well.
X/X/X/
Eric stayed with Calleigh for a little while longer after he confessed to her that he was in love with her. But Alexx convinced him to go back to the lab and finish up whatever he had to do and let the other CSI's have some time with her. He was weary about leaving her, "what if she wakes up and I'm not here?" he remembered asking her. The smile on Alexx's face was priceless; Eric wasn't hiding his emotions all that well right now. But that was ok. He just wanted to be there for her when she opened her eyes; she was there for him when he was in the hospital. She was the first person he saw, the first voice he heard and now he wanted to be all that for her.
Eric opened up his locker door and sighed, he kept meaning to talk to Ryan to ask him what really happened and of course to ask him if he was ok. Eric sometimes didn't have his head screwed on right when it came to people he cared about. Especially Calleigh. Ryan was there for him when he was hurt and now Eric had to do the same. Before he closed his locker door he saw something silver shining against the light that came through the holes of the locker. A silver cross. It was Calleigh's cross; she had given it to him when he was in the hospital. Eric hung it up inside as a daily reminder of what she meant to him. It wasn't even that he really needed to be reminded, because it was just natural feelings for him, but still he liked the extra warn.
He reached in and pulled it out to look at it. The image of her face was burned in his mind at that moment; he took in a deep breath and closed his locker door taking his bag with him. He held the cross tightly in his hand as he walked out of the locker rooms and down the hall. On his way out he saw Ryan standing at the front desks talking to the receptionist. "Wolfe," Eric said nodding towards him.
Ryan coughed a little and nodded back to Eric. "What's up?"
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ryan said softly putting his hands in his pockets. "I was lucky," he started to say looking around the lab then back at Eric, "unfortunately for Calleigh -," he started before hearing Eric chime in.
"I know," he said closing his eyes and swallowing hard. "Alexx said she has smoke inhalation." Eric could feel that tight feeling again, he hated it, he hated this whole damn situation. "What happened in there?"
"I –I don't know? We –we found the body in the attic, and Calleigh called for backup then the next thing you know, the whole place was on fire," he said all in one breath wishing he hadn't. He coughed a little more covering his mouth with his hand then rubbed his forehead, "this wasn't an accident, Eric," he said firmly.
"What do you mean?" Eric asked quickly.
"He means that someone started the fire."
Ryan and Eric both looked to their left seeing Horatio walked up to them. "We need to go back to the scene and see what we can find," he continued putting his glasses on and walking towards the lab doors.
X/X/X/
On the way back to the crime scene Eric called Alexx and asked how Calleigh was doing. He was happy in a way to hear that she hadn't woken up yet, because he really wanted to be there, but the other part of him wished she had, that would have meant that she was progressing further to getting better. Eric grabbed his kit and got out of the hummer as he walked up towards the house he looked around for any sign of arsine. Whoever did this better have prayed to the gods that they wouldn't get caught, because as soon as Eric got his hands on whoever it was, they were going to be in some serious pain. Eric pushed aside the front door and walked under the tape with Horatio.
"Who was the guy they found in the attic?" Eric asked turning his flashlight on to look around better in the now dark and burnt down house.
"Keith Serrano," Horatio said softly walking towards the kitchen following a line with his flashlight. "Eric come take a look at this."
Eric looked up from the area he was searching and headed towards the kitchen. Pots and pans were scattered everywhere burnt, the table was barely standing, all the countertops were black as well as the refrigerator. "What is it?" Eric asked shining his flashlight on the line that ran all along the kitchen floor and stopped at an exploded bottle.
Eric knelt down and pushed some of the debris away, "whoever started the fire, they covered their tracks," he said softly standing up looking around the kitchen for more evidence.
"Not very well," Horatio said leaning down to pick up apart of a busted vodka bottle. "Seems whoever started the fire left a little piece of themselves behind," he said thoughtfully as Eric walked over to take the piece of glass from his hand.
"It's burnt skin," Eric said softly looking up at Horatio with a bit of shock. The skin was burnt onto the glass. The print wasn't that great but the skin was all they needed to catch the person who did this.
"Lets get this back to the lab, Eric." Horatio said looking around once more, "let find out who did this."
X/X/X/
Eric took the skin sample back to the lab, he was going to ask one of the night shift people to run it for him and call him as soon as they got a hit but Horatio insisted that he'd do it for him instead. He was happy because that meant he could get back to Calleigh knowing that the evidence was in good hands. It wasn't that he didn't trust the night shift CSI's it was just he trusted his own crew more because he was friends with them and worked with them everyday.
Once Eric got to the hospital he saw Tara and Natalia walking out of Calleigh's room. Was she awake? Eric walked quickly towards them, "hey," he said softly peaking into her room. "She wake up yet?" Eric asked hopeful.
Natalia shook her head with a frown, "not yet, I'm afraid." She could see right through him, she and Eric had a history together and she knew him pretty well, but she saw the look in his eye when he talked about Calleigh. Or even when he was around her, there was no denying that he had feelings for her. She reached out and squeezed his upper arm, "Calleigh's tough, Eric." She gave him a reassuring smile, "she'll pull through this."
"I know, Talia," he said softly nodding to both women before walking past them and into Calleigh's room. He stayed quite as he pulled the chair up next to her bed and pulled something from his pocket. He took her hand softly in his own, clasping their fingers together as the cross laid between them. His mind was racing so fast right now, all these thoughts of losing her were really starting to get to him. What if she doesn't pull through this? What if I lose her? he thought to himself. What if she's permanently damaged and has to give up her job?
So many thoughts raced in his mind, all negative and he knew that he shouldn't be thinking that way, but what else was he to do? She hadn't woken up yet and there was no sign that she was truly ok. Even if she squeezed his hand to let him know that she was there somehow, that's all he wanted.
But he didn't get it.
Hours past and dawn was slowly approaching, Eric had fallen asleep in the chair, his fingers still intertwined with hers and the cross still between them. All night he prayed and talked to her, it was hard for him not to get a response. Her soft southern voice always put him at ease, but being there with her, knowing she was safe because he was there was all he could have hoped for, for now.
Eric whimpered in his sleep, yesterday's events haunted his dreams. He couldn't save her, he couldn't save Calleigh, she was gone, lost completely in the fire. He was reaching out for her, she was saying his name, it was so soft and shaky, then when she grabbed his hand, the touch was warm and silk like, just how he remembered her skin to be.
"Eric?"
"Calleigh, y –you can't die on me," Eric mumbled incoherently.
Calleigh swallowed hard and painfully as she coughed a little, the monitors she was hooked up to were picking up their beeping pace slightly. She squeezed Eric's hand again as hard as she could before she watched his head shoot up, his sleepy and worried eyes staring directly at her. "Cal?" he whispered squeezing her hand softly. He could see her eyes slowly rolling under her lids as she moaned. His heart raced, his blood pumped hard through his veins, he wanted to jump out of his seat and scream in happiness. But he contained himself.
She slowly let her eyes flutter open and closed, she heard that soft sweet voice. Eric's voice. "Eric," she whispered licking her dry lips as she looked up at the ceiling. She felt something soft and warm touch the side of her face. Eric moved his finger tips to her cheek and turned her head slowly against the pillow so she would look at him.
"I'm right here," he whispered with a smile. His eyes filled with tears at that moment as his eyes wavered between her beautiful green eyes he loved so much. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it softly while squeezing it again. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"In some – some," she swallowed hard, "pain," she whispered with a raspy voice. The look on his face made her want to cry, she squeezed his hand softly, "I'm fine though… E –Eric, I p –promise," she said softly giving him her best smile right now. She wanted to tell him that she heard everything he said to her yesterday, that she didn't forget one syllable, but her mind was working faster then her mouth and when she opened it again to say something, nothing but a cry of pain came out.
"Let me get the nurse," Eric said standing quickly but his fingers were still clasped against hers, the cross dangling between their fingers.
"Eric?"
"Yeah?" Eric said quickly leaning back down on the edge of the chair.
"I need you too," she whispered with tears in her eyes. She could see through her blurry vision that his jaw dropped slightly as he looked at her. Happiness and some slight confusion pressed against his features. That was all she could get out for now, her throat hurt her too much to talk. She only hoped that Eric understood that she heard every word he said and that she took it all in and took it all to heart.
Sorry if its not what you all expected, but I didnt want to jump the gun too far, and still wanted to stay in character, I plan on making this a long EC story. XD So no worries! So tell me what you think? Love me? Hate me? Commenty goodness is greatly apperciated! Thanks to those who have so far, you are the ones that keep me going on here!! You have no idea how much it means to me to read all your great comments! Chapter: 4 is coming soon! XD
