Ok, hold on to your hats as here comes the next part. The angst has been cranked up to 11, I hope you enjoy!
Eric found himself sitting awkwardly in Horatio's room the next morning; he moved his head from side to side and groaned at the pain in his neck and back. He looked up to find a nurse adjusting the readings on the morphine pump that was connected to his friends arm via an IV. "The doctor has instructed us to reduce Mr Caine's morphine this morning" she smiled at him, trying to reassure him. "This is good news" she told him before leaving the room and closing the door quietly behind her.
"Hey, H" Eric started, as he reached for his friend's hand. "You're going to get through this, ok?" Disheartened that he got no response, he sighed softly and placed the hand gently back down on the bed.
A few hours later Eric was shook from his daydreaming by a knock on the door; Calleigh poked her head through and smiled at him. "Hey Eric, you need to take a break. Let me sit with him for a while, ok?" she told him as she entered the room.
"I'm fine Calleigh" he told her, ready for the lecture that he knew was coming. "I wanna be here for him Calleigh. I need to be here for him"
"We all want to be here too Eric" she tried to reason with him, "He's going to need all of our strength over the next few days, you're not going to be much use if you're exhausted Eric" She stood firm with her hands on her hips, signalling that she would not take no for an answer.
He sighed, stood and nodded his head, "Ok, I'll go home and take a shower and try to get a few hours' sleep. If anything happens you call me straight away Calleigh. Got it?"
"We'll be fine Eric. Go home" she told him, placing her purse by the chair as she sat down. "I've got a pile of reports to sign and this seems as good a place as any to go through them. Didn't think it'd be fair to leave them all to Horatio when he comes back" she joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. "I'm hoping he'll wake up and help me go through some of them" she said as she turned her back to Eric and began writing.
Three cups of coffee and several hours later Calleigh was distracted from her paperwork by a low groan emanating from the man in the bed. "Horatio? You awake handsome?" she asked, seeing the eyelids flicker open.
"Urgh" he groaned once more, "Calleigh, what happened?"
"You're in hospital" she told him gently, "Things went wrong at the warehouse and you got hurt"
"How long?" he asked his words slurring, he reached a shaky hand to the oxygen mask on his face.
"Just over a week, handsome. You gave us all quite a scare" she gently gripped his hand as he tried to remove the mask. "You need to keep that on Horatio" she told him, placing his hand back down on the bed.
"Raid" he said slowly, looking at Calleigh for confirmation.
"That's right Horatio, the raid at the warehouse"
"Ryan?" he asked, trying to lift his hand to his face once more.
"He's fine Horatio, you need to concentrate on getting better, ok?" she answered, her eyes watering. She took his hand once more and held it in both of hers; she noticed the slight tremors that were coursing through his body. Taking a deep breath she steeled herself for the onslaught she knew was to come.
Eric returned later that evening, he knocked once and entered Horatio's room. He found Calleigh gripping her mentor's hand tightly as he moaned softly and moved his head from side to side. "Hey" he said gently, "How's he doing?"
She looked at him, tears running down her face. "They've been reducing the morphine all day. He's been pretty restless the last few hours" She wiped at her face, trying to keep her emotions under control; she knew she needed to be strong for all of them right now.
Eric and Calleigh looked at each other; neither knew what to say to make the other feel better. They were jolted from thoughts by Horatio shouting.
"Speed!" he sat up in bed, breathing heavily. His eyes were open as he frantically looked around the room, his eyes found Eric's and he looked at him pleadingly. "Speed, check your gun!" he demanded, "Speed, no!"he cried out as he desperately tried to free himself and get out of the bed, he was stopped by Calleigh and Eric's strong grip on him. "Let me go!" he yelled, trying to get free, "I have to help him. Speed!" he pleaded breathlessly.
"Horatio, you need to calm down" Calleigh begged him, running her thumb over his shoulder in an effort to calm him.
"Speed" he said, looking at her, "I have to help him, he's dying!" as he struggled to free himself of their grip.
"H" Eric said, his voice firm. "H! It's Eric. You need to calm down, ok?" sensing the other man's struggling lessen he lowered his voice. "Just lay back H, we've got it covered, ok?" he told him as they gently pushed him back towards the bed.
"Speed" Horatio said softly, closing his eyes as his body shook uncontrollably.
Sensing that Horatio had fallen into some kind of restless slumber, Eric turned to Calliegh and told her, "I've got it covered, go home and get some rest"
"What if he starts hallucinating again?"
"We'll be fine Calleigh. You need to be back at the lab tomorrow, go and get some rest" he told her.
Doctors and nurses had come and gone throughout the evening, checking monitors and adjusting IVs as Horatio slept fitfully. The tremors were back with a vengeance and sweat poured from him as he continued to mutter the names of those that he had loved and lost. Pain lanced through Eric's heart as Horatio cried out desperately for Marisol, bringing back the painful memories of her murder.
"Eric?" Horatio groaned softly, trying to raise a shaky hand to his head.
"I'm right here H" he told him, intercepting the hand that was reaching for the oxygen mask.
"It hurts, Eric" he said, squeezing his eyes shut.
Eric's eyes widened at Horatio's admission, he had never heard his boss admit to any kind of pain before, even when he'd been shot by Randy North. "Tell me where it hurts, H"
"Oh God" he groaned as another wave of pain flowed through him, "Make it stop, Eric!" he pleaded as both of his hands went to his stomach as he tried to raise himself from the bed.
Eric felt completely helpless as he watched his friend suffer; he had seen people in withdrawal before but had never witnessed it in a person he cared about. He knew that there was nothing he could do except be there for him. "You're going to get through this; H" he told him fiercely, "You're going to be ok"
He couldn't help the tears that escaped from his eyes as Horatio continued to plead with him, "Eric, make it stop. Please!" he repeated over and over again as spasms clutched at his stomach repeatedly.
"You're going to be ok, H. I promise" he told him as he gripped his hand tightly, hoping to transfer some of his strength to Horatio. He knew that he had no other choice but to sit and watch as his friend writhed in agony.
It had probably been the longest night of Eric's life; he had spent the whole time awake trying to support Horatio through his ordeal. At some point the spasms had given way to vomiting, Eric could do nothing except rub his friend's back as he heaved repeatedly into a kidney dish. In the last few hours Horatio had fallen into a dreamless sleep, his body exhausted. Eric sighed and rubbed at his eyes with both hands and hoped that the worst was over.
