Alexx watched Calleigh leave the room with her own amused expression as she set about removing the catheter from the redhead. She couldn't smother her smile as she heard Horatio groaning softly as she pulled on the sensitive tissue of his groin.

"Stop being such a drama queen," she teased as she concentrated on removing the tube without looking up at her reluctant patient.

It was only when the noise emanating from the man lying on the bed became more insistent and she felt his whole body tense that she became concerned. She frowned as she realised that the simple procedure should not be causing him this much discomfort.

Placing the equipment on the tray before her, she was alarmed to see the look of pain that was etched into Horatio's face and it immediately set alarm bells ringing in her head as he grabbed at his stomach with his good hand.

"Tell me what's wrong, sugar, "she prompted as she moved her hands to his abdomen.

The pain was excruciating as he slammed his eyes shut, unable to concentrate on anything except the pain coursing through his body. He groaned once more, much louder this time as he felt the urgent need to expel the contents of his stomach.

Alexx could tell by the look on his face what was about to happen and had the forethought to reach for the kidney dish and place it under his chin just in time. She almost dropped the dish in shock as she saw the vast amount of red liquid mingling with bile.

She felt him go limp in her arms and gently lowered him back down to the bed with one hand whilst thumping the call button with the other. Grabbing the stethoscope from around her neck, she placed it on the redhead's chest and listened for the sounds of his laboured breathing.

She had not had a chance to hook him back up to the monitors before he had taken a turn for the worse and so she was relying on old fashioned methods to give her a better idea of what was wrong with her patient.

Three nurses came bustling into the room, closely followed by Calleigh who stood in the corner watching on in a state of shock. She didn't have time right now to concentrate on anyone except Horatio.

She reached out with shaky hands as she palpated her friend's abdomen to confirm what she suspected was true, something had caused the internal bleeding to start again. As the nurses connected him back up to the monitors it was becoming clear to see that another visit to the operating room would be in order.

All of the medical staff took a step back as the unconscious man threw up once more, covering himself and the bed in a wave of blood and bile. They quickly turned him on his side and began suctioning the blood from his mouth and throat, trying to stop the injured man from choking on his own bodily fluids.

"We need to get him to the OR, stat," Alexx called out to her team as she kicked off the brake on the bed and rushed from the room, pushing the unconscious Horatio further away from Calleigh.

Hours must have passed before Horatio was finally transported back to his room, surrounded once more by tubes and wires. Calleigh felt her heart sink as she focused on his unconscious form from afar.

Kyle had joined her an hour or so previously, she had hated to be the one to tell him that his father had taken a turn for the worse. Everyone had been so sure that Horatio had made it through the worst of his injuries and that he was finally on the road to recovery.

It didn't seem fair that only a few short hours ago she had been helping Alexx support him with his first walk around his hospital room. The look of pure joy on his face as he clawed back a small semblance of independence had been the bright spot of what had been a draining and traumatic few weeks for everyone involved.

She had barely had time to rise from her chair before Kyle had accosted the haggard-looking doctor.

"Dr Woods, how is he?" he asked as he quickly moved over to her.

"He's had a setback but he's going to be ok, honey," she replied as she sat heavily on one of the chairs in the waiting area.

"What happened?"

"It seems as if we missed a small piece of the debris from the boat when we operated the first time. My best guess is that the amount of movement Horatio did today likely caused the fragment to move and pierce a major blood vessel in his stomach."

"But he'll be ok?" Calleigh asked quietly.

"We managed to remove the debris and close the wound, we'll keep a close eye on him for the next 48 hours but hopefully he'll be just fine. We got to the source of the bleeding before much damage could be done."

She regarded her friend and the young man in front of her sadly.

"He's going to be stuck in that bed again for a few more days and I doubt he's going to take that news well. It's important that we don't let him get downbeat about this, he needs to know that he's going to recover."

Miami. Present day:

Having decided to split the new evidence they had collected fifty/fifty, Eric and Horatio set about logging and processing their finds in companionable silence. The younger man kept stealing quick glances at his superior as he watched the way he deftly handled the trace that he held.

Both men were disturbed by a loud knocking at the door; Horatio gently put down his tweezers and regarded the man in front of him.

"Andy, what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised to find his former partner at the lab.

The stocky, balding man shuffled into the room as he ran a hand over his bushy moustache.

"I heard a rumour that there was a new lab geek in town, thought I'd come down and check it out for myself."

The redhead glanced down at the lab coat he was wearing and rolled his eyes at the older man.

"Nice coat," Andy quipped as he arched an eyebrow at Horatio.

The redhead fingered the lapels of the light grey lab coat as he adjusted it on his skinny frame.

"You think it looks good on me?" he asked playfully.

"No, I think you look like a dork."

The gruff New Yorker's blunt statement was enough to bring Horatio to ask what his old friend was doing in his part of town.

"Was there a reason for the visit, Andy, or did you just come to mock me?"

"A little of both if I'm honest. I was wondering if you were free for a coffee."

The question sent Horatio's heart racing, never in the entire time that he had known Andy Sipowicz had the man ever asked him out for 'just' a coffee. There was always some kind of ulterior motive for the older man wanting to spend time with him.

"I'm a little busy here, how about another time?"

He hoped Andy would take the hint and leave him alone, no doubt Calleigh had rung him this morning and asked him to come and have a friendly chat with him.

The portly man ignored the redhead's poor attempts at trying to wriggle out of the situation as he turned his attention to Eric who was standing the corner watching on in wry amusement.

"Hey, kid. Can I borrow Beaker here for a little while?"

The name made Eric break out into a large grin as he tried to stifle the laugh that the mental picture conjured.

"Sure, be my guest. I've got it covered here."

The look that Horatio shot him was one of pure betrayal as the redhead testily removed his lab coat and threw on the back of the chair he had been sitting on moments earlier. Eric carried on grinning as his superior shot him another dirty look before reluctantly following Andy out of the lab.

Both men walked in silence until they reached the local park, just a stone's throw away from the MDPD headquarters. After ordering two coffees they found a park bench and sat down, facing out towards the lush green scenery of the open ground ahead of them.

Andy spotted a scantily-clad Spring-breaker frolicking as one of her friends sprayed her with water from a toy pistol.

"Nice scenery. I can see why you like it here so much," he mused as he took a sip of his coffee.

Horatio refused to rise to the bait.

"What do you want, Andy?" he growled as he leant over, resting his arms in his knees.

"Can't a guy take his buddy out for a coffee anymore?"

"You've never taken me out for a coffee in the entire time that I've known you. What have you come here for?"

The older man sighed and realised that perhaps this wasn't going to be as simple as he thought.

"Your girlfriend rang me this morning," he eventually muttered.

"Girlfriend? I don't have a girlfriend, Andy."

He was aware that his former partner's past experiences had served to make him more closed off than when he knew him back in New York but it didn't make it any easier to not lose patience with the stubborn fool.

"Fine. The blonde chick you've been banging for God knows how long," Andy corrected himself.

He found the Styrofoam cup knocked from his hand as the redhead turned on him violently, grabbing him by his jacket and pulling him close to his own snarling face.

"Easy, tiger," he joked as he held his hands up in surrender. Squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for the punch that he knew was surely coming.

He let out a sigh of relief as he felt himself being pushed back towards the bench, he cracked open his eyes to find that the other man had returned to the same wearied position he had adopted a few moments ago.

He straightened out his clothes and picked up the cup, which was now empty, and threw it in the trash bin beside him.

"They're worried about you, John."

"They shouldn't bother," the redhead muttered quietly.

"They care about you. I care about you."

"And I'll tell you like I told Calleigh, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Andy's words caused him to flinch, was it really that obvious that he was barely holding it together?

"She said you're barely sleeping, hardly eating either."

He shot Andy a fearsome glare.

"Since when have you been worried about how much sleep I'm getting?"

"Because I can see it in your face, John. It's the same haunted look you had after you got jumped by the Malucci thugs. I never pushed you on it back then and I should have."

"It was none of your business then, just like it's none of your business now," Horatio growled as he gripped the coffee in his hands tighter.

"Look, I let you down back then. I'm sure as hell not going to make the same mistake twice."

"I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help, so just back off."

The tone that Horatio used signalled that the topic was not up for further discussion.

"You need to face up to what happened and deal with it. Pretending that everything is ok is not going to cut it, not this time."

"And what would you know?" Horatio shot back as his voice rose, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment as other people in the park stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the two men on the bench.

"A lot more than you think, John. I should know better than anyone that running away from your problems doesn't help."

"What are you accusing me of, Andy, being an alcoholic like you?"

Although the harsh words stung, the older man refused to be goaded into a fight with the man that he regarded as a son.

"You might not be hitting the bottle but I can tell that you're trying to find other ways of coping."

"Do enlighten me, Dr Freud," Horatio responded sarcastically.

"You're not taking care of yourself. I think you're doing it as a way to punish yourself for what happened."

The younger man looked at him but said nothing.

"What happened to you wasn't your fault, you have to believe that."

"Look at you, you've always been a streaky piece of piss at the best of times but the skin and bones look is not for you."

"What do you suggest then, Andy?"

"Let people take care of you. It's not fair to punish them too."

Andy sat back as he kept a watchful eye on the man sitting next to him, allowing his words to filter through into the man's stubborn head.

"Calleigh actually called you?"

"Yeah, she did. Believe me; no one was more surprised than I was to hear from her. She must really be worried about you."

"Look, John, as much as me and her don't get on it's clear to see that she likes you and you like her."

"And?"

"Do something about it. Stop pushing her away, God knows she'd probably come after you with a Glock if you did."

A small smile graced Horatio's face at the mental image of Calleigh charging after him, a gun in each hand as he tried to make good on his escape.

"I don't blame you for wanting to isolate yourself but trust me, it won't help. Take it from someone who knows better."

The conversation died out as the two men watched the world pass by for a while until Horatio stood quickly, placing his sunglasses back on his face.

"I'd better get back, Andy."

"Sure, I'll walk with you," the older man replied as he pushed his bulky frame off of the creaky wooden bench.

"I don't need an escort," Horatio sighed.

Andy shot him a deadpan expression.

"Humour an old guy; I never know when these rickety old knees are going to give out on me."

"Andy?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

Horatio smiled at the man who had come to mean so much to him, a man he thought he had lost so many years ago.

"Everything."

A/N: For those of you who are not familiar with The Muppets, Beaker was a red-headed character who worked in a lab. I would recommend Googling him if you don't already know what he looks like :-)