Chapter 12

She disappeared into the branches and leaves of a tall tree. Horatio slipped once he tried to scramble up the rocks quickly in order to reach her.

"Horatio!" Zoë screamed from the tree as Eric and Walter darted forwards and caught their bosses falling body. They stood Horatio on his feet and then looked up to the tree that Zoë was slowly climbing down from. Horatio's heart was pounding more than it ever had before.

"Horatio! Are you okay?" She called loudly.

"Yes I'm fine, are you okay?" Horatio questioned.

"Yes." She called down. Horatio approached the tree once they saw Zoë making her way down.

"There's nothing but more land back there, the beach we're on seems to go on forever. I don't think this is a small island. The summit has to be thousands of meters high. I also didn't get any signal up there on my phone." Zoë said as she sat on a branch.

"Is that why you went up there?" Horatio questioned as he reached up.

"Yes, we needed baring's and higher ground usually has more signal, I should have done it the other day." She said as she looked down to Horatio and his out stretched arms.

"Jump" Horatio said softly as he looked up at her. She looked down at him, unsure if she should jump. She couldn't get any lower as the branches weren't low enough for her to reach the floor.

"Move out of the way please, I can jump, I don't want to hurt you." Zoë said softly.

"Just jump, trust me, Zoë." He said as he looked up at her. She nodded at him and then pushed herself off the branch. Horatio caught her and slowed her landing down so she didn't do herself any damage.

"Thank you." She said as she pushed her hair back. She looked up at him and then swallowed as he moved his hands down to her waist.

"I'm so sorry Horatio, I didn't mean to swear at you." She said as she looked into his eyes.

"I know, it's okay sweetheart." Horatio said softly and she then pulled him closer and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm so sorry and I'm so sorry if I hurt you when I took hold of your wrist. I didn't mean to get so worked up, I'm so sorry. I didn't–" She whispered into his ear.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I overstepped the mark, I deserved that. I shouldn't have held your wrist, I'm sorry." Horatio said softly as he cut her off from apologising as he knew she didn't mean any of it, he knew she'd lost it and wasn't in control of what she was saying and he knew she probably got the wrong idea about the situation, he felt her nod.

"I love you so much, but please don't ever climb a rock face again." She pleaded.

"I won't, if you don't ever climb one again." He said softly and he then felt her chuckle a little.

She pulled away and then placed a loving kiss on his lips. He gave her a small smile, he'd forgotten all about his anger with Ryan, he was just focussing on Zoë.

"Eric, I'm so sorry." She said as she pulled away from Horatio and then put her arms around Eric's waist.

"Don't worry, are you okay?" He asked and she nodded.

"I'm sorry you had to hear any of that too." She said as she pulled out of the hug.

"Don't worry, Zo." Eric said softly and she gave him a small smile and nod.

"Who's hurt?" Zoë asked when she saw her kit in Ryan's hands.

"It was precautionary." Walter said softly.

"Zoë, you're bleeding." Ryan pointed out as he moved closer to her. Horatio quickly stepped in front of Zoë and warned Ryan off.

"You're just being ridiculous now, Horatio!" Ryan raised his voice as he backed off. Horatio ignored him and turned around and then looked down at Zoë's stomach and saw a small amount of blood.

"Zoë?" Horatio questioned when he looked up at her face. She raised her left hand and placed it on Horatio's arm and gripped his shirt as her other came up to her chest.

"Zoë!" Horatio yelled as her eyes rolled up and her body relaxed. He grabbed her and then lifted her.

"Eric, get her pulse." Horatio asked and Eric immediately stepped forward and took hold of her wrist.

"It's slow." Eric said and Horatio nodded.

"We need to get her back." Horatio said as he started to walk back to camp. She began to come around half-way back.

"Horatio?" She asked as she looked up at him.

"Yes, sweetheart. Don't worry, you've just passed out, you're going to be fine." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she closed her eyes while she took a deep breath.

"Stay with me sweetheart." Horatio said softly and she nodded her head as she began to move in his arms.

"Sweetheart, I can't carry you if you move." Horatio said softly and she let out a small moan.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly.

"Can I walk, please?" She asked softly as she looked up at him and he nodded at her and then gently placed her down and put her arm around his neck.

"Eric, can you give me a hand, please?" Horatio asked softly and he gave Horatio a nod and then pulled Zoë's other arm around his neck while she dropped her head to the side and rested it on her arm that was around Horatio's neck. They got back to shelter and both Eric and Horatio sat Zoë down.

"Can someone pass me my stethoscope, please?" She asked as she looked up at them all tiredly. Walter quickly pulled it out of the bag and handed it to her. She listened to her own chest while Horatio began to really worry.

"Everything sounds good, it must be the heat." She said softly as she handed it back to Walter.

"Have some water, beautiful." Horatio said softly and she nodded at him and then took the bottle from him.

"Can I have an antiseptic wipe and a bandage please?" She asked as he looked up at them. Walter quickly pulled the items from the bag as she pulled her top up a little. She took the items from Walter and thanked him.

"Let me do it." Horatio said softly and she handed him the wipes and the small bandage. Horatio studied the small cut. He cleaned it for her and then taped the bandage to her with surgical tape and then put the rest of the tape back in the first aid kit.

"I'm really sorry everyone, I didn't mean to cause a scene or worry any of you." She said as she looked up at them all.

"Don't worry about it, we're just glad you're okay." They said together.

"Can we have some privacy please, just for a little while." Zoë said softly and they all nodded and then walked out.

"Horatio, I'm… I'm sorry." She apologised as she looked up at him.

"Don't worry about it sweetheart, I knew it was going to stress you out, I know it's a sensitive subject." Horatio said softly.

"I just, I don't understand why you have a problem with it. I wasn't going to shower with them, I would have turned my back to them when they were showering just as much as they would have done when I was. You had nothing to worry about, I would never do anything with anyone else, I'd never even think of it, Horatio." She said as she looked at him.

"That wasn't the problem I had, sweetheart–" He said softly.

"Is it because you didn't trust me? I was looking at it as if we had swapped, if you were me and I were you and the camp was 4 females and one male. If you were the only one on the island with advanced life-saving techniques and first aid training and one of the other ladies had become unwell, I'd let you go with them. Obviously, I wouldn't be absolutely ecstatic about it, but it would be necessary in my eyes. I know you wouldn't look at them, I know you wouldn't do anything. I have complete trust in you, Horatio. I thought you had in me too." She said softly as she looked down.

"I do Zoë, I trust you 100%, my problem was that Ryan was there, I know you'd never do anything with him and I know that you'd never look or want to do anything with him… but he's betrayed the both of us before. Please don't get upset sweetheart, but I don't trust him at all. What he did to you when you were unwell was unacceptable, I will never forgive him and I will never trust him again. You are already very stressed, we can all see that. You were getting more and more stressed, which makes you a lot more vulnerable because that leads to blackouts. I can see that look in his eyes Zoë, I've been seeing it for a few days. You may not see it for the whole picture sweetheart and that isn't your fault, but I can and I will protect you no-matter what. I know you don't understand why I do what I do sometimes, but I assure you that I do it with your best interests and to protect you." Horatio said calmly and she looked into his eyes.

"So you're jealous?" She asked and he shook his head.

"I'm afraid, Zoë." Horatio said quietly and she looked at him.

"Are you afraid that he'll do something again?" Zoë asked and Horatio nodded.

"Why didn't you say that?" She asked as she tilted her head.

"I did Zoë, you were too stressed and too deep in to your outburst to realise though, that I understand sweetheart. We argued about that, you even said that he wouldn't try anything. I know you don't see things like we do anymore, that can't be helped, so I understand why you argued. But we've got to do something about this so it doesn't get out of hand again." Horatio said softly.

"I argued because I thought you didn't trust me, I thought you thought I was going to do something with Ryan. I wasn't taking in anything you were saying, I was just giving a short snappy answer and then forgetting about what we were arguing about and continuing with what was going on in my head, which was that I thought you thought I'd run off with him, if you get what I mean?" She said quietly.

"That's what I'm saying sweetheart, you mis-read my argument I wasn't worried about that at all." Horatio said softly as he stroked her forearm.

"I'm sorry Horatio." She said quietly as she looked down.

"It's okay sweetheart, in future, we need to calmly talk about these things, okay?" Horatio asked and she nodded.

"I didn't mean what I said about you being possessive." She said as she looked back up at him.

"No, you were right, Zoë." Horatio said softly.

"No, you were being protective, not possessive, there's a slight difference." She said quietly.

"I'm sorry for scaring and hurting you sweetheart, I didn't mean to do that or to be so forceful." He said softly and she nodded.

"I knew you wouldn't do anything, but I just panicked a little when you had hold of my wrist. I think that's why I got too defensive and began to block what you were saying out." She said softly and Horatio nodded.

"I know sweetheart, I'm sorry." Horatio said softly.

"Are we okay?" She asked and he nodded.

"We're good." Horatio smiled softly at her and she smiled back.

"I just wish I was normal again, I'm sorry for misunderstanding." She said softly and Horatio nodded.

"You are normal sweetheart, misunderstanding wasn't your fault, don't worry about it. I should have kept my cool and then perhaps we wouldn't have got into a mess." Horatio said softly and she nodded and then got up and hugged him. They gave each other a light kiss and hugged once more. They broke once the other 3 entered again.

"Sorry about that guys, all sorted." She said softly and they gave her a small smile and a nod as she sat back down.

"What's wrong with you all? You all seem tense?" She asked as Horatio placed his hand on her shoulder. Horatio looked over to Ryan with his anger growing again now that he was happy that Zoë was okay. Eric and Walter then looked over to Ryan as he stepped back, he could see the anger growing in Horatio's eyes again and the disapproval in Eric's and Walter's eyes.

"Please, not in front of her." Ryan pleaded.

"What?" Zoë questioned.

"What's gone on?" Zoë asked as she stood up with the bottle of water in her hand.

"Sit down for me please sweetheart, don't worry." Horatio said softly.

"No, what's this about? Who's said what? Is this about what we were talking about?" Zoë asked Horatio as she glanced over to Eric. Horatio swallowed as he looked at Zoë.

"What have you said?" Zoë questioned.

"Let's not do this now, please Zoë." Horatio pleaded.

"No, you look like you all want to rip Ryan's throat out, why?" She questioned.

"Did you tell Walter?" She added.

"Mr Wolfe and I may have had some words in front of Walter." Horatio sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"He didn't take advantage." Zoë said as she looked round to Eric and Walter. "We only kissed, nothing else." She said frantically as they all looked over to her.

"Zoë, calm down beautiful." Horatio said as he began to rub her back when he saw her starting to tremble.

"It wasn't Ryan's fault." She pleaded as she looked round to Horatio.

"No, you can't blame him." She said as she looked around to them all.

"Zoë, you weren't in any state of mind, sweetheart. You know you weren't." Horatio said softly as he looked down.

"We just kissed, and he had his hands up my top, that's all." She pleaded as she looked at all of them.

"Zoë, come with me for a moment." Horatio said softly as he took her by the hand and led her out of the shelter. 'I have to come clean with her.' He thought to himself. They stood a few meters away as they all looked round to the both of them. They all remained silent.

"You don't have to hide anything from me Zoë. I know there was more than kissing, you can tell me, beautiful. I'm not going to be mad or disappointed with you." He said quietly as he placed his hand on the side of her neck and looked into her chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm telling you the truth, Horatio. All we did was kiss, I promise you, I swear to you. We kissed and he had his hands up my shirt and on my bum that is all. Really, it is." She pleaded as she looked up at him. They could all hear her plea and Ryan's heart began to pound.

"Zoë, please don't lie to me." Horatio asked calmly.

"I'm not lying to you, that's all that happened. That's what I remember, I'll even show you the footage, the cameras would have caught it. I promise you Horatio, I wouldn't lie about that! I told you everything!" She pleaded and Horatio swallowed. Horatio dropped his hand from the side of her neck and took a very deep breath, he looked down at the floor and then nodded at Zoë.

"Okay sweetheart, I believe you." Horatio said softly. He then swallowed hard and the rage inside began to rise.

"She doesn't even know what you did to her." Horatio growled as he walked away from Zoë. Zoë stood there confused as she watched Horatio approach Ryan.

"She doesn't remember what you did to her!" Horatio yelled as he took a swing at Ryan and clipped him in the side of the jaw.

"Now do you realise how vulnerable she was?! She doesn't know what you did!" Horatio yelled as Zoë began to quickly approach.

"Horatio! What are you doing?" Zoë said as she took hold of his fist.

"Zoë, back off please." Horatio begged her.

"What don't I remember?" She questioned as Horatio took a fistful of Ryan's shirt.

"She was unwell and you did that to her!" Horatio yelled as he pulled Ryan out of the shelter.

"H! H, calm down" Eric and Walter said as Horatio pushed Ryan to the floor and leant on his neck, using his hands.

"You are going straight to prison when we get back to Miami!" Horatio yelled at him as Eric and Walter prised Horatio's hands from Ryan's neck and pulled him up and held him back.

"Do you understand what this is going to do to her?!" Horatio shouted as he swung his leg and managed to kick Ryan in the side of the jaw.

"H! Calm down, H." Both Eric and Walter said as they pulled Horatio further from Ryan.

"I don't understand! What are you talking about?" Zoë asked as she stood there in shock.

"If she doesn't remember that then what else have you done to her?!" Horatio shouted at Ryan.

"Nothing! I've done nothing else!" Ryan pleaded as he rose to his feet as he tried to soothe his neck and jaw. Horatio shook Walter and Eric off and rushed over to Zoë and immediately put his arms around her.

"I thought you knew, I'm so sorry, Zoë. I'm so sorry." Horatio's voice broke as he threaded a hand in her hair and looked back over to Ryan, Eric and Walter. He could see the hostility towards Ryan in Eric's and Walter's eyes.

"I'm so sorry Zoë, I really am." Ryan pleaded and she looked over to him.

"Will someone tell me what you're all talking about, please?" She asked as she pulled away from Horatio.

"Do you want to tell her?" Horatio raised his voice at Ryan again as he approached him, but Walter and Eric quickly backed Horatio off.

"Zoë, I've already watched the footage, I needed to make sure you told me everything, but you hadn't. I just thought that you didn't want me to know some of it, not that you didn't remember." Horatio said softly.

"You watched it? What? When?" Zoë asked.

"I watched it while you were sleeping one evening, after you had told me what you remembered." Horatio said softly as he swallowed.

"You didn't trust me?" Zoë asked.

"It wasn't that, it was more of I needed to see what went on, in case he stepped further and you were too ashamed to say anything about it, or if you were trying to protect him or if you were trying to protect yourself if he held something over you." Horatio said softly. "I'm glad for your sake that I did watch it, because you don't remember all of it." Horatio added before he swallowed. She looked up at him, and then over to Ryan.

"What? We were in the kitchen and we kissed, we both initiated it, he pulled my top up and then said my name when I realised it was him, not… I pushed him away when I realised it was him." Zoë said and Horatio exhaled and shook his head as he wiped his hand over his forehead.

"That isn't at all what happened, Zoë. You must be remembering it very differently." Horatio said quietly and then swallowed.

"What? What else happened?" She asked as she looked from Horatio to Ryan and back.