Thanks again for all of the great reviews, here's the next part for you...
It was daylight when Calleigh woke; she opened her eyes slowly, allowing them to adjust to the light in the room naturally. She turned her head and found Horatio still lying in her arms, seemingly asleep. She smiled softly as she thought about how much younger he looked when the weight of the world was no longer resting on his shoulders. It also occurred to her that he had not had any nightmares whilst resting in her embrace; he had slept peacefully anchored to the safe harbour of her presence. She raised her free arm to look at her watch and was alarmed to find it was nearly 9am, Alex had said that Jeff would be coming to visit at 10, as much as she hated to disturb him she knew that they would both have to be up and ready for when he arrived.
She rubbed her free arm up and down his back as she spoke softly into his ear, "Horatio, sweetie. We have to get up, Jeff will be here soon" He groaned and lifted a hand to his head; he opened his eyes a fraction and realised that he had been sleeping in his subordinate's arms. He was embarrassed that she had seen him like that but was more alarmed by the fact that he had no idea how he had ended up in such a position.
"Calleigh?" he said as he rubbed at his face, clearly confused. "What's going on?"
She debated whether to tell him the truth or not, "I guess we both fell asleep in here last night" she replied evasively, hoping that he wouldn't question her further. She moved off the bed and started fiddling with the hem of her blouse, trying to avoid the questioning stare Horatio was giving her. "Why don't you take a shower? I'm going to put some coffee on" With that she darted from the room and quickly made her way downstairs.
He looked down at his rumpled clothes and ran a bandaged hand over his face, feeling three days-worth of stubble on his cheeks he decided that Calleigh probably had a point and that a shower would be a good idea. He made his way to the en-suite bathroom and slowly went about the task of unbuttoning his shirt which he found awkward with his painful and damaged hands. He shrugged out of the shirt and looked at himself in the mirror, what he saw disgusted him. The scars on his body were the painful reminders of his failures, his father had ensured that he would forever carry the markings of the lessons he had learnt. His father had told him that if anyone saw him for who he really was that they would recoil away from him in horror, he was a child of the devil and the scars would serve as warning for any who got too close to his despicable offspring.
Lifting his eyes he looked at his face, the image reflected back at him showed him for the messed-up nobody that he was. He saw the bruised lump on his forehead and the swelling around his eyes; he looked down at his hands and flexed them stiffly remembering the carnage he had created two days ago. He looked haggard, his face was pale and drawn, the dark circles under his eyes could no longer hide the toll of endless weeks of not sleeping had had on him. His father was right, why would anyone want a man like him?
Calleigh busied herself in the kitchen making coffee and toast, she could hear the water running in the bathroom upstairs and took a small amount of hope from the fact that at least Horatio was making an effort to take care of himself. She had no idea how they would get through this but she told herself that no matter what happened she would stay by his side. Her thoughts returned to his violent nightmare, it frightened her that she had no idea who he believed he was shouting at or the woman he was trying to protect. The CSI in her wanted to take the few pieces of his history that she knew to draw conclusions as to what was affecting Horatio so badly. He was such a private man and she knew from the way he would react to certain victims that he shared some of their pain, she only wished that he would let her in and open up about it to her.
Calleigh was buttering toast when Horatio walked into the kitchen; she gave him a small smile and invited him to sit at the kitchen table. She had to admit that he looked better for having a shower; he was wearing fresh clothes and had combed his hair into its usual style. The bruises and cuts on his face still stood out starkly against his pale skin but he still looked much better than he had when she found him in the wreckage of his home. "I've made coffee and toast, are you hungry?" she asked as she sat down next to him at the table.
"You didn't have to, Calleigh. But thank you" he said quietly as he raised the cup to his mouth, he reluctantly took a slice of toast and started to chew it softly; mindful of what happened last time he tried to eat something.
They sat together drinking coffee and eating toast, both giving the other quick glances as they went about finishing their breakfast. Happy that Horatio seemed to have kept the food down without bringing it back up she offered to make him some more. "That won't be necessary, Calleigh. I don't think I'll push my luck" he told her, giving her an awkward smile. His smile faded as he caught sight of her arm, her eyes followed his as she quickly pulled her sleeve down to cover the offending mark. His eyes darkened as the voices in his head starting pecking at him again, "Woman-beater!" "Not strong enough to take on a man so he beats up women instead!" they taunted him as he closed his eyes and willed them to be quiet.
Sensing that Horatio was once more getting lost in his own dark thoughts she placed a hand on his arm and squeezed lightly, telling him "It's ok, Horatio. No harm done"
He pulled back from her as if he had been stung, he shot up from the chair and walked to the opposite side of the room, "How can you say that!" he said, his voice rising, "I hurt you!" he clenched his eyes shut and let his head fall back. "You need to stay away from me, I'm no good!" he continued, ignoring Calleigh's pleas for him to sit down. "They all get hurt" he said, repeating the words from the night before as he darted back up the stairs and into the master bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
Unfortunately, due to work commitments the next chapter won't be posted until Friday. Sorry guys :-(