Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
"If you think it might work, Doc, then let's give it a try," Kenwall said, still bathing his daughter's face and neck with a cool cloth. "I'm willing to try just about anything to get this fever to break."
"The tea will be ready shortly," Gabe said. "It's been known to be the only thing that will break a stubborn fever. My grandmother swore by it."
"A good bowl of extra spicy bayou gumbo does the trick back home," Kenwall said, "But, somehow, I don't think that's recommended, considering she was throwing up almost non-stop yesterday."
"It's the same concept. The spice induces sweating, which is the body's natural cooling mechanism," Gabe commented as he strode out of the room. He stopped at the nurses' station and checked his tea.
"Is there any change, Doctor?" Horatio asked quietly.
Gabe shook his head. "None. The fever is still high. Mr. Duquesne consented for us to try the tea to get it to go down. I'm honestly out of ideas if it doesn't work."
"How many doses does it usually take?" Horatio asked, a frown of worry creasing his face. He stifled a yawn, not having slept much the night before. He had been too worried about his second in command; his dear and precious friend.
"One, perhaps two doses. I've never had to go for more than three. I want to pair it with another immersion bath to see if it works more effectively," Dr. Louis said, testing the flavor of the tea and nodding in satisfaction. He picked up the cup and carried it back into Calleigh's room. "Mr. Duquesne, can you wake her up, please?"
Horatio followed, wanting, needing to see Calleigh for himself. He leaned in the doorway and watched the interaction.
Kenwall nodded and gently shook his daughter's shoulder. "Lambchop, time to get up." She mumbled incoherently and rolled on her side. "No, you have to get up now, Calleigh. You have to take some medicine."
"Not now, daddy. I just want to sleep," she drawled softly.
Kenwall couldn't help a small smile. He was reminded of how she was as a little girl. He put his arms under her and forced her to sit up, disturbed at how hot her skin felt. "Yes, now, baby. You won't get any better if you don't take it."
Calleigh opened sleepy eyes that had an unhealthy brightness to them and glared. "Why do I smell tea?"
"That's because that's your medicine," Dr. Louis said, handing her father the cup. "I want to try some natural remedies to compliment the traditional Western medicine. Calleigh, your fever is too high and I'm very reluctant to put more chemicals in you because I don't want any adverse interactions. This is borage tea which has been used for centuries to break fevers. Drink the whole cup."
"It's going to taste terrible, isn't it?" she asked.
He smiled at her. "No, it doesn't. It tastes like cucumber."
Giving him a skeptical look, she took her first sip. "This isn't bad."
Dr. Louis nodded at her, smiling. "I want you to drink it all. You can go back to sleep afterward."
Overcome by thirst, Calleigh quickly drained the entire cup, handing it back to her father. She looked past him and noticed Horatio in the doorway. Even though her attention span was dulled by the illness, she could still see the guilt in his eyes. "That wasn't too bad, after all. It would be better cold. Dad, can I have a little time with Horatio before I fall back to sleep?"
Kenwall looked from his daughter to Horatio and back again, certain that something was going on under the surface. He just wasn't sure what it was. "Sure."
She pat the bed. "Come here." Horatio did as requested and stood at her bedside. "I can see the guilt in your eyes. I'm not blaming you for my getting sick so stop blaming yourself. It was an accident."
Horatio took her trembling hands and sat down. "I do blame myself because I shouldn't have taken you out there with me. I was going to take Eric but I changed my mind because I missed talking with you. I was being selfish and now you're paying for it."
"That's a load of bull and you know it. What's past is past," she said shifting and letting out a low moan as her fevered muscles protested the movement. "I fell in and that's it. It could have happened any time I went to the 'Glades for an evidence hunt, so just stop it."
"I just can't get past-"
"Figure out how," she said, her shivering becoming more pronounced as she used precious energy to help salve Horatio's conscience.
"Okay," he whispered in an attempt to soothe her. He helped her lay back down, hating the extreme body heat radiating off of her. "Just rest now, sweetheart. Go back to sleep; I'll be back to check on you later."
She nodded and closed her eyes. Calleigh couldn't be certain, but as she drifted back off, she thought she felt someone press a soft kiss to her forehead. Whether it was Horatio or her dad or the man in the moon, she didn't know and was too tired to open her eyes and find out.
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Eric rubbed at his face as Horatio described what had happened and couldn't shake the irrational thought that if he had stayed her fever wouldn't have spiked. He knew it was foolish to think that way, but the worry just wouldn't stop.
"Doctor Louis wants to try another immersion bath in about an hour to see if that will help any," Horatio said as his phone vibrated on his belt. He walked a short distance and answered it.
Eric leaned heavily against the wall and watched Ryan pace uncomfortably, glancing every now and then over at the darkened doorway to Calleigh's room. Once Horatio had left, Calleigh's dad had gone back in to find her fast asleep once again. He chose to sit with her for a while as she slept and, hopefully, the tea did some good. None of the CSI's wanted to interrupt or interfere with the positive father/daughter interaction, all knowing that they had had far too little of that in their lives. So, instead, they paced like expectant fathers not allowed into the delivery room.
"I'm going for some coffee," Ryan said suddenly. "You want some?"
"Yeah," Eric replied. "Listen, Ryan, how bad is she? I mean I haven't seen her yet today so I don't know."
"She's bad, man. The fever dreams are the worst. She sounds and looks like she's having the worst nightmares of her life. I just hope the fever goes down sometime soon. Dr. Louis is worried that it might affect her brain," Ryan said softly.
Eric felt the strength go out of his legs and he sat down hard. Not Calleigh; not his Calleigh. Brain damage was something he knew plenty about, having been shot in the head. "Oh, God."
"I'm just praying that the fever goes down soon," Ryan said, sitting next to him. "Just keep hoping that everything will turn out for the best and we'll have her riding herd on us in a little while again."
"Yeah," Eric said with no real emotion. He was stunned into a numbness born of extreme shock. He knew that Calleigh was very seriously ill, but it never occurred to him just ill. He had fallen in so deep that he didn't notice the latest arrival nor heard her speaking to him.
"Eric, baby, where are you?" Alexx said softly, putting her arms around him and holding him close.
Her gentle ministrations finally broke through his shock and he looked over at her, his pain evident in his eyes. "Alexx, when did you get here?"
"Not too long ago, honey. What's wrong?"
Eric poured everything out to her, watching her impassive physician's face for any clue at how afraid he should be at the moment. She played her cards close and, as he spoke, began to get a clear picture of what Calleigh was facing, and, all of them by extension. "How long has she had the high fever?"
"A couple of hours, I think. They've already tried bathing her, but nothing happened. Dr. Louis gave her some kind of tea that's supposed to break fevers. If nothing happens, he's going to bathe her again to try to get the fever to break," Eric said. He looked pleadingly at her. "How long before she suffers some kind of brain damage if her fever doesn't go down?"
"It'll take a while longer and as long as she's being kept cool, she should have a good chance of it breaking on it's own. Gabe gave her borage tea. He gave the same thing to me when I caught the flu in medical school. It works, Eric. You just have to give it a chance," Alexx said soothingly. "Why don't you-"
"I'm not leaving her again. There's no argument, Alexx. I don't care how tired I get or how hungry. I can't leave again because every time I do, something terrible happens and if-"
Alexx's eyes welled and she pulled him to her again, comforting, soothing, "It's okay. You stay as long as you want. I'll go down to the cafeteria and get something for you."
"Ryan went to get coffee," Eric said into her shoulder, clinging to her as if she were his lifeline.
"Baby, you know you have to eat something and I know that you haven't because I know you, Eric. When you worry, you don't eat," Alexx scolded gently, extricating herself from his grip and standing up. At the moment, she was more concerned about Eric's welfare than Calleigh's. He was within inches of breaking down completely. "I'll bring you some soup or a sandwich. You have to eat. I won't be long."
Alexx was as good as her word and she returned a few minutes later with a container of soup and half a sandwich. She didn't think that she'd be able to get him to eat even that much, but she knew she needed to try. She sat next to him and practically fed him as he sat numbly staring at Calleigh's doorway. Movement from her left caused her to look over and see Gabe checking in at the nurses' station and then entering Calleigh's room. A few minutes later, Duke exited and approached.
"There's no movement with the fever. It's still at 105.4. The doctor is going to try another bath and has more tea. Dr. Woods, is he just blowing hopeful smoke in our faces with that tea?" Duke asked.
"No, it's real. Sometimes it takes a few cups for it to work. It's an herb, not magic. Let me go and talk to him," Alexx said, eying Eric as he listlessly ate.
"Good enough. Thank you, Dr. Woods," Duke said as he sat down across from Eric. He looked the younger man over, noting the deep worry and fear cloaking the normally smiling man. He hadn't had much interaction with him, but Calleigh spoke so highly of him and so warmly about him that he knew that those two were close and there had to be deep feelings between them. Duke could see that he was right. This man had his daughter's complete trust and that was a great deal. "You care a lot about my daughter, don't you, young man?"
Eric looked over at him. "Yes, sir, I do. She means...she means the world to me."
Duke nodded sagely, then surprised Eric by saying, "You love her."
"What? I, uhm, well, I-"
"You either do or don't, son, and I think you do," Duke said with a frightening degree of perception. "Just be honest with me. I won't give it away to her if you do. That's for you to tell her, not me."
Eric regarded him, realizing where Calleigh got her keen intelligence and sharp perceptive skills from. "I'll be honest, sir, and I hope you approve because I do. I love her; I'm trying to find the right time to tell her."
"I'll be honest with you, too. You're not what I pictured for her. You're Cuban and not...old habits die hard and I spent a long time in my life being judgmental about the color of peoples' skin or their ethnicity. I had to get over that when I became a public defender because not all my clients were going to look like me. Hell, the vast majority of them don't and I've learned to value what was inside the person and not pay much attention to the packaging. Calleigh is really the one that taught me that. She taught me the hard way and suffered some for it, but I've learned well and if she loves you back and you make her happy, well, then I can't do anything but approve. Tell her soon, son."
"You think she's going to-"
"No, nothing like that. She's bad right now and I don't know what the future holds, but if she knows how you feel then maybe it'll help to light a fire under her and get some more fight into her," Duke said, leaning back in his chair.
"Eric," Alexx said, coming to sit down by the men, "Gabe is ready to immerse her again and wants to know if you'd like to give him a hand. Rachel broke her wrist and she's not going to be much help."
His eyes lit up at the chance to take action. "Thanks Alexx."
