Chapter 10

Horatio slept for a few hours, comfortably wrapped around Calleigh's warm body. It was close to 4:30 in the afternoon when he awoke. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was his son sprawled comfortably in the big chair next to the bed, engrossed in a magazine.

"Hi son," he said, his voice still husky from sleep.

He felt Calleigh stir, waking up from her nap as well.

"Hey Kyle," Calleigh said sleepily.

Kyle looked up at hearing their voices, and smiled broadly.

"Hi Calleigh," he said warmly glancing at her, then looking back at his father. "Hey Dad. How you feeling?"

"I'm… hanging in there, son," he said with a lightly tired sigh. "Hanging in there."

"You want anything? Water? Soda? Anything?" The young man asked, eager to help.

"Water would be great," Horatio answered with a smile, and began to unravel himself from the lovely lady sharing his bed, and prop himself up.

"Sure," Kyle answered, and jumped to the task.

Horatio looked down at Calleigh's lovely face, and gazed into her soft green eyes. They shared a moment of silent communication, both slowly and sweetly smiling at each other.

The he turned his attention back to his son.

"Thank you, son. How long have you been here?" Horatio asked.

"Oh, not even an hour," Kyle answered, handing the cup of water to his Dad. "I was supposed to get off shift at 2, but Dr. Price really needed the extra help, so I stayed til 3. But then I came straight here."

The cool water tasted wonderful. Then he felt his angel of warmth moving towards the edge of the bed, slowly sliding out from underneath his body.

"Hey, you know what," Calleigh said, gently separating herself from her attractive red-read. "There's a few things I need to do. And you two could use a little father-son time."

She reached out and softly put a hand to Horatio's cheek as she stood.

"You OK?" She asked sincerely.

He leaned into her touch, closed his eyes for a second, and nodded.

"I'm fine," he said opening his eyes again and smiling at her.

"OK. I'll be back in a bit," she said, then flashed a brilliant smile at Kyle.

Horatio watched her leave the room.

Calleigh had obviously wanted to give Horatio and his son some alone time, but unbeknown to the two men, she had also decided to use this opportunity to venture off and find Horatio's new doctor, and make sure he wasn't an asshole…

Kyle watched his Dad gazing longingly after the pretty blonde woman who had just left the room.

"Dad, I am so glad that you finally have a girlfriend," he said with a grin. "I mean, it's about time, right?"

Horatio gave his son a slightly shy smile. Girlfriend. Just the word itself made him feel warm and giddy inside.

"Calleigh's awesome," his son added.

"Yes, son," he answered. "Yes she is."

The room went quiet.

Kyle got a very serious look on his face, and stared down at the floor for a moment. That concerned Horatio. Something was obviously bothering the young man. Was he really OK with Calleigh?

"Dad?" Kyle asked hesitantly, looking up at into his father's inquisitive gaze. He took a deep breath. "There's a couple things that… I really need to tell you."

"OK," Horatio replied, hoping to hide the growing worry he was feeling at his son's change in demeanor. Whatever Kyle had on his mind, it was serious.

"Eric told me what happened to you," Kyle began. "He wanted me to hear it first-hand, get the facts straight, before I heard it anywhere else. And I'm glad that he did that, I really do appreciate it."

Horatio just stayed still and listened.

"But it also really scared me," he continued. "Because I've had some things that I really wanted to tell you… for a while. But… I don't know… I just… never found the right time. And then, to think that something had happened to you, and that maybe I would never get the chance… it scared me."

"That's understandable Kyle," Horatio said gently.

The young man nodded, and took a deep breath. "So I'm just going to tell you now, OK?"

"OK son, go ahead," came the soft response.

Kyle took another deep breath, and took the plunge.

"From the minute you found out I was your son, you did everything you could to help me. You took care of me. You protected me. You were there for me. I had never had anybody care about me at all before that. But you did. You really did. I would never have survived any of that mess… without you."

Horatio felt a huge lump forming in his throat. He swallowed hard, his emotions beginning to rise.

Kyle was beginning to get emotional as well.

"And… I never said thank you. I never did," his son's pale blue eyes were swimming with heartfelt sincerity. "So I'm saying it now. Dad, thank you."

Horatio felt his heart surge with emotion for his son. Before he could say anything, Kyle kept talking.

"And I've made a lot of mistakes, I know that," he forged on, but looked down at the floor. "But there's one that's way bigger than all the others."

Kyle took a minute to gather his strength before continuing, vowing to himself to verbalize what he wanted to say without breaking down and bursting into tears.

"You remember that day, after my trial, when I had to choose you or Mom?"

Horatio remembered it all too well. He remembered feeling like his heart had been torn from his chest and run over by a truck. But when his soon looked up at him, he merely nodded, staying quiet, letting Kyle keep talking.

"I never should have chosen her," he said, his voice beginning to break just a little. "I don't know, it's just… being bounced around all those foster homes, I never knew anything about you. All I could remember was her. And I missed her so much. I thought about her every day. That maybe one day, she'd come back for me. And then, all the sudden, there she was… I just wanted to be with her… But... I never should have done that to you."

"Kyle," Horatio began, but his son wasn't quite done yet.

"No, Dad… look…" the boy interrupted. "When we were driving away, in Mom's car… Before we left the parking lot… I looked in the mirror…"

Kyle had to stop, and his father watched as the young man struggled to keep himself under control and finish what he had started. But Horatio was struggling with his own emotions as well.

"And… I saw you… standing there on the courthouse steps," Kyle plowed on. "Staring down at the ground. You looked so… hurt. And I will never forget that. I did that. I hurt you. After everything you did for me, I jumped into a fancy car with a crazy woman and drove off and left you."

Kyle couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They began to flow freely, sliding down the young man's cheeks.

"I am so sorry Dad," Kyle said, his voice breaking. "I should have picked you. I should've."

"God, Kyle," Horatio breathed, his own eyes welling up, threatening to spill over at any second. "Come here, son," he said, reaching his arm out.

Kyle got up, swiping some tears away, and hugged his Dad around the neck, being careful to avoid his injured back. Horatio wrapped his arm around his son and squeezed him tightly.

"I love you Dad," Kyle sobbed.

"I love you too son," came the choking reply.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, before Kyle released his hold, and sat on the edge of the bed, still wiping the tears away.

"Listen to me, Kyle," came his Dad's deep, rich voice. "You should not feel guilty about wanting to be with your Mother. She's your Mom. I don't blame you at all for that. Absolutely not at all. And neither should you. OK?"

Kyle nodded, sniffling.

"The important thing is," Horatio continued, "that you're here now."

"Yeah, I know," Kyle said, taking a shaky deep breath. "But, I had to tell you. I had to."

He saw his Dad smile warmly at him. "And I'm glad you did."

After a few quiet moments, Kyle broke the warm silence.

"So, where do you think Calleigh went?" he asked his Dad.

"I have no idea," came the honest reply.

They both caught the wafting scent of food, apparently the evening food service was about to be distributed.

"Why don't I go find her? She's gonna miss dinner."

Horatio smiled and nodded. Kyle stood up, then abruptly lunged back towards his father, and hugged him again. "I'm glad we had time to talk," he said before releasing his Dad.

"Me too."

Horatio watched his son turn and disappear out into the hallway, and smiled to himself, his heart swelling with emotion. He knew that he had another dose of painkillers coming soon, as well as another dreadful back treatment.

But he also knew that very shortly, the two people that he loved more than anything else in this world would be walking back through that door, together, to be with him.