That evening went well, Horatio thought. Perhaps they had reached the turning point, and things would begin to improve. He was careful not to push her too far, and they didn't talk much, but the silence was companionable rather than uncomfortable this time. The problem came at night. Frankie spent the entire night tossing and turning, barely getting any rest at all. When she did drop off to sleep, she would jerk awake minutes later, gasping for breath. He asked her once if she was all right. Only once. She had told him to mind his own business in a tone that brooked no argument.

The morning sun was therefore very welcome. Horatio was already wide awake, had been for most of the night, and was glad to have an excuse to get up. Frankie laid there, eyes open, staring at nothing.

"Do you want any coffee?"

She shook her head, and kept staring at the wall. Horatio left her to it, trying not to feel as though they had taken one step forward and two backwards. After all, he reasoned, she was never much of a morning person anyway. Deciding against interrupting her to ask if she wanted any breakfast, Horatio drank his coffee and was debating whether to wait for her to get up or simply go into work.

Frankie solved that dilemma by emerging from the bedroom then, her hair spiked up in all directions and her eyes dull with tiredness. He tried a smile, but she only looked at him. "You didn't sleep that well," he began. "Perhaps you should take it easy today, maybe try and get some sleep later on?"

"I haven't slept in days," she said acidly. "Oh, sure, sometimes I manage a whole ten minutes of sleep, but then I wake up after yet another nightmare." She took in his dark grey suit and shirt. "Going to work?"

He nodded. "Unless you'd like company…"

Afterwards, Frankie tried to blame her exhaustion, knowing that was just an excuse. She should never have reacted the way she did to what was a genuine offer of company. Instead of being rational, however, she glared at Horatio. "Company? You think I want company? You think I want to spend my days with people who only offer me false sympathy?"

"It's not false."

"Of course it bloody is!" she snapped. "How can you really sympathise with me? How can you know how it feels to have lost your child? My own body killed my baby! And you want to know if I'd like company!"

Horatio stood up. "I was only asking Frankie. There's no need to bite my head off."

She snorted, rage getting the better of her. All the times she had bitten her tongue over the last week, all the anger she had swallowed, was coming out now. "Well, why not? Go on, run back to your stupid lab, and your stupid job! Hide behind the persona of the great Lieutenant Caine, who never puts a foot wrong! Go and pretend everything's just peachy and you just go on being the perfect cop – the man who never makes a mistake."

Horatio swallowed hard, his jaw tightening with the effort of not snapping back an answer. Frankie took a step towards him and he stepped back, trying to keep some neutral ground between them. Her tirade wasn't finished yet though.

"Well, you made a mistake here, didn't you?" Her voice was slowly rising to a shout. "You screwed up royally this time! The perfect little wife, and the perfect little family – hah, that's all gone now! You can't save this situation, Horatio, so just run away back to your lab."

"You're the one who doesn't want me here," he said, a trace of bitterness in his voice. The allegation that he was running away from her, abandoning her, hurt him deeply. She was the one who was always telling him to go to work.

"Got it in one! But then you always are right, aren't you?" She was still advancing towards him, and he was still backing away slowly. "Always so damn right about everything. Well, you'll be late from work if you stay here any longer! And we wouldn't want to leave Miami without its great protector, would we? God knows, they need you far more than I do! I mean, look what you did to me! This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you!" She shrieked the last at him and he visibly flinched, as though she had struck him.

"I think I should give you some space," he muttered, turning towards the door.

"Hah! Running away again!" Frankie folded her arms across her chest. "Coward! Can't bear to face me, can you? Can't bear to know that this is all your fault. My baby is dead! Dead! And it's all your fault!" She was screaming at him. "Just get out of my sight!"

He opened the door, turned back to her and looked as though he was about to say something before changing his mind. He shook his head sadly, and shut the door behind him.

Frankie glared at the door, as though she was still glaring at Horatio. Then, slowly, her anger melted away and she sank into a chair, exhausted by all the emotion. She looked around the house, her eyes wide with horror.

"Oh god, what have I done?"