Sorry for the long wait for an update, but what can I say, college….anyway, here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it. Don't forget to review!

Waking Up

Recap

"Daddy?" Kara said as Ryan set her down and covered her up with her blanket.

"What is it, sweetie?" Ryan asked. He sat down by her feet and stroked her hair.

"I wuv you."

Ryan's heart melted and he smiled. "I love you to, Kara." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. He sat next to her until she fell asleep. I love you so much, Kara, and your mommy. I am going to do everything I can to keep you safe. He leaned his head back against the backrest and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep next to Kara.

Ryan woke startled and gasping for air. He just had the worst nightmare that Calleigh would never wake up, and Kara would hate him for not bringing her back. He looked down to see that Kara and managed to crawl into his lap and settle up against him in her sleep, her head against his chest. He smiled and hugged her to him, noticing that her fever had gone down a little. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Calleigh and Kara, it would be too much for him to handle. He gently lifted Kara and placed her back on the couch, covering her with her blanket and situating the teddy bear by her arm. He got up to stand; surprised when his strength left him and he nearly fell back onto the couch. He frowned, knowing it was from his lack of sleep and food. He was falling apart at the seams but he wouldn't show it, not in front of the team and certainly not in front of Kara. She counted on him so much.

Kara woke up and looked over at Ryan, frightened when she saw him hunched over the couch with a pained look on his face. "Daddy, you ok?" she asked in a scared voice.

Ryan looked over at her and smiled a little. "Daddy's fine, sweetie. I just…stubbed my toe." He reached over and tickled her foot under the blanket, smiling when she giggled and squirmed. He slowly regained his composure and walked into the kitchen as Kara played with her bear on the couch. He looked at the clock and realized it was 7:30AM. Must have slept the whole night for once. He realized he had to go to work, this time he would be taking Kara with him. He walked back into the living room. "Kara, time to get ready to go. I'm taking you to work with me, remember?"

Kara's eyes got wide and she scrambled off the couch. Ryan laughed a little as she hurried to the stairs to get to her room. He walked up behind her, following her room to help her. After she was dressed, Ryan quickly dressed himself as well.

After he grabbed a small bag of cheerios for Kara to eat in the car, he put her I her booster seat and climbed into the driver's seat. He sighed as he pulled out of the driveway. He wished things didn't have to be like this. It was bad enough that Calleigh had not woken up yet; he did not want to be afraid for Kara as well. With this new killer on the loose whose victims were little girls, that looked a lot like Kara and hose names started with the letter K, Ryan was constantly looking over his shoulder. He looked in the rearview mirror to check on Kara. He smiled when he saw her happily munching in her cheerios.

Once at the lab, Ryan quickly entered the building with Kara at his side. He wanted to talk to Horatio, but he kept getting stopped by other lab techs and CSIs who wanted to say hi to Kara. He smiled a little as Kara looked around and smiled at the people surrounding her. Once he finally made it to the right floor, he saw Horatio standing outside one of the interrogation rooms. He approached him and tapped his shoulder. "H?"

Horatio looked at him. "Mr. Wolfe, you're here." He looked down at Kara and smiled. "Hello, sweetie."

Kara grinned up at Horatio. "Hi, Uncle H."

Horatio looked at Ryan again. "We have our suspect in interrogation. We found him in an abandoned apartment no three blocks from the daycare center."

Ryan nodded and peered into the interrogation room. He saw Carl Wiseman sitting at the table, looking smug. His hands were folded in front of him and he was tapping his foot impatiently. Ryan swallowed and tightened his grip on Kara's hand.

Horatio noticed this action and looked at Ryan once more. "Kara can stay in Natalia's lab with her while you and I interrogate Mr. Wiseman."

Ryan nodded and quickly walked Kara down to Natalia's lab. Once she was inside with Natalia, he hurried back down to the interrogation room where Horatio was already waiting. He stepped inside and closed the door, staring coldly at Carl.

Carl looked between the two CSIs and grinned smugly. His dirty blonde hair fell over his face and he stared at Horatio and Ryan. "So, why am I here exactly?"

Horatio spoke first, stepping closer to Carl. "I think you know why, Mr. Wiseman." He placed pictures of the three little girls in front of him. "Would you like to tell us why you murdered these three young girls?"

Carl looked at the pictures briefly before making a face and pushing back from the table. "Damn it man, don't do that! Take those away!" He pushed away at the pictures and covered his eyes.

Horatio's expression did not change as he removed the pictures from the table and put them back in the folder. "Can't stand to look at your own victims, Mr. Wiseman?"

Carl glowered at Horatio. "I said I ain't got nothing to do with those little girls."

Ryan wasn't convinced. He stared coldly at Carl and took a step forward. "What do you do for a living, Carl?"

Carl looked at Ryan in slightly confusion, pulling himself back to the table. "I help my wife with her business, I ain't got too much skill."

"What is your wife's business, then?"

"She's a seamstress. All that fabric and stuff, I separate it all for her. It ain't much but it's what I do…why?"

Ryan continued to stare at him as he pulled out another picture and set it in front of Carl. It was a picture of the letter K. "We found these at each of the crime scenes on the victims. You said your wife has a seamstress business. It would be very easy for you to get a hold of some red felt like this."

Carl glared at Ryan, his hands balling into fists. "You can't accuse me of anything."

Ryan grinned a little. "Did I mention we found your DNA on the felt?"

"So? Anyone could have both it from my wife's store and used it for that! And I already I told you I'm the one who separates it!"

Ryan finally stepped up to the table and leaned on it. "You're our number one suspect right now, Carl. Why not just tell us why you did it and save us all the trouble?"

Carl sighed and stared up at Ryan. "I have a daughter, I could never do something like this to a kid," he said quietly, still looking at Ryan. "I love my daughter…and I'm sure you love yours too. You wouldn't do something like this, would you?"

Ryan stepped back quickly and swallowed. How did Carl know he had a daughter? He was suddenly afraid for Kara. What if he knows she went to that daycare? What if he comes after her next?

Horatio noticed Carl's words and Ryan's sudden discomfort. "We'll continue this another day, Mr. Wiseman." He motioned for the guard to come take him. "Take him."

Carl grinded his teeth as the guard cuffed him. "You can't hold me forever. You have no proof I did this. My wife will bail me out by this afternoon, you can't keep me!"

"We'll see about that, Mr. Wiseman." He watched as the guard removed Carl from the room. He followed them out, Ryan behind him. "Mr. Wolfe, are you ok?"

Ryan nodded slowly. He felt sick, and he was trying very hard not to start shaking. "Yeah, I just want to see Kara."

As if on cue, Kara pounced out of the lab with Natalia beside her. "Daddy, guess what?" she asked as she bounced into Ryan's arms. "Miss Nat taught me to write my name!"

"That's great, sweetie," Ryan said, picking her up and hugging her." He looked over her shoulder to see Carl staring at him in disbelief. His eyes on Kara and a strange look on his face. Ryan shivered and held Kara tighter to him. He wasn't going to let this man hurt his little girl.

"Ryan? Are you ok? You look like you're gonna be sick," Natalia said worriedly.

"Yeah…um, I'm fine," he lied quickly as he set Kara back down on the ground, holding her hand tightly. "I'm ok."

"Really? You were turning green for a second."

"Oh," Ryan flushed a little and looked away. "I feel fine, really." He was caught off guard when Natalia and Horatio suddenly had him cornered.

"You haven't been sleeping, have you Ryan?" Natalia asked, her hands on her hips. "You better not lie, we will set Alexx loose on you."

Ryan swallowed and looked between the two. Natalia was a cross between angry and worried, and he couldn't exactly figure out Horatio's expression. "Um…not as much as I could be?"

Horatio shifted to the other foot. "Mr. Wolfe, I-" He was cut off when Ryan's phone started ringing.

"Sorry," Ryan mumbled as he quickly answered his phone. "Wolfe." Ryan listened for a few minutes before his eyes got really wide. "Oh my god, ok, thank you. I'll be right there." He hung up his phone and looked between Natalia and Horatio. "Calleigh is waking up!"

FORRICHERFORPOORERFORBETTERORFORWORSEINSICKNESSANDINHEALTHTILLDEATHDOUSPART

Ryan sped into the hospital with Kara in his arms, the rest of the team behind him. He was so happy Calleigh was waking up that he could barely think straight. He skidded to a halt outside her room and stepped in. he looked at the doctor and nurse that were standing by her bed. "How is she?"

The doctor looked up and smiled at Ryan. "She should be waking up any minute now. You can wait in here if you like."

"Thank you," Ryan said, setting Kara down in a nearby chair. He approached Calleigh's bedside and took her hand gently in his. "Hey, sweetie…I've missed you so much. I love you, it's time to wake up." He stayed put as the rest of the team quietly filed in behind him and stood against the wall. He was about to take a seat when Calleigh's hand suddenly twitched. "Cal?"

Calleigh's eyes slowly fluttered open and she blinked a couple of times. She looked around the room and too in her surroundings. "H-Hi?"

Ryan smiled slightly as tears formed in his eyes. "Hey, there."

Calleigh looked at him briefly before seeing Kara out the corner of her eye. "My baby, Kara, sweetie!" she called out, her voice slightly hoarse.

"Mommy!" Kara squealed, bounding over to the bed. Ryan lifted her up and set her down next to Calleigh. She clung to Calleigh and smiled widely. "You waked up!"

Calleigh smiled down at her daughter and kissed her forehead. "Mommy is here now sweetie. Where's your daddy?"

Ryan was stunned, he nearly fell over. "Cal…honey, I'm right here."

Calleigh looked at him in confusion. "Who are you?"

Silence stole over the room and Calleigh and Ryan looked at each other in confusion. Horatio finally cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Calleigh, do you know who we are?"

Calleigh looked at the rest of the team. "Of course, Horatio. There is you, Eric, Natalia, and Alexx." She looked back up at Ryan. "Seriously, who are you? What's your name?"

Ryan felt like he just died, his heart was broken. He swallowed back tears as he looked at Calleigh. "Cal, honey it's me…Ryan…your husband." He sat down on the bet, hurt when she recoiled slightly. "Don't you remember me?"

Calleigh shook her head slowly, and then looked at the rest of the team. Her eyes fell on Eric, who looked just as confused as the rest of them. She looked at him, remembered something in the back of her mind. "Eric?"

Eric looked around, startled, before looking back at her. "What is it, Calleigh?"

Calleigh glanced at Ryan once more, and then back at him. "When can we go home?"

TBC

Ok, so Calleigh woke up and thinks that Eric is her husband, not Ryan. It get's more interesting, I promise. Keep reading and don't forget to review!