Chapter 12

The night passed by comfortably and uneventfully. The two slept deeply, arms wrapped securely around each other. When he awoke, it was still very early. So he just laid quiet and still in Calleigh's warm and gentle embrace, listening to her soft, rhythmic breathing, and reveling in the sensuous feel of her body against his.

The Miami sun rose quickly, and soon the room was bathed in gentle hues of soft, muted sunlight. He felt Calleigh gently stir beneath him, and knew she was waking up. He heard her yawn and take a deep breath. He tightened his arms around her slightly, and felt her reach up and run a gentle hand through his hair. He moaned softly in response. He silently wished that every single morning could be just like this one…

The hushed quiet of the morning was disrupted as the first wave of deliveries was wheeled into the room on a small multi-level cart. It was the first of many. Throughout the day, Horatio's room began to quickly fill up with numerous cards, hearty plants, tastefully arranged flowers, and arrays of balloons. All from well-wishers that were not only from the multitudes at the Miami Police Department, but also included a healthy batch of Judges and Attorneys throughout Dade County. And in addition to all of those, the cards and gifts also ranged in impressive numbers from New York to Las Vegas, and even as far away as California.

At Horatio's request, Calleigh would get up and cheerfully but methodically make her way around the room every time a new batch of deliveries came in, reading the cards and thoughtful 'Get Well' wishes to him. He was nearly overwhelmed at the sheer volume of the incoming flood of sincere prayers, thoughts and well-wishes. He was genuinely moved.

Breakfast was served, along with a fresh dose of pain meds. Calleigh sat next to him on the bed and they chatted as he ate heartily. He was actually feeling good. Markedly better than yesterday.

As soon as the food trays were cleared away, the doors slid open and a tall, young-looking man in a white coat entered, and stopped respectfully at the foot of Horatio's bed. Calleigh flashed him a smile, but her eyes conveyed a look of warning and caution.

"Good Morning Mr. Caine," he said brightly, then nodded to Calleigh, "Ma'am."

Calleigh nodded back.

"I'm Doctor Hendricks, and I've been recently assigned to you," he said pleasantly, addressing Horatio. "I understand that there were some… issues with your previous Doctor. Please be assured that nothing like that will happen with me. Now, I am intending to just take a look at your back, and to see how you're healing. And, unless we talk about it first, I will not touch you. Would that be OK Sir?" The young Doctor stood rooted to his spot, not daring to approach without definitive permission.

Horatio turned and cast a very inquisitive gaze at Calleigh. She raised her eyebrows, and her face took on a completely surprised and innocent expression.

"What?" She asked coyly.

He couldn't suppress a light smile. So that's where Calleigh had gone when Kyle was here. He could almost picture her getting right up in the poor guys face and sternly spelling out the rules he was to follow. So with a light huff of humor at the imagined scene, he turned back to the waiting doctor. His heart glowed with a radiant warmth at the thought of her quietly coming to his aid once again, protecting him.

"Sure. Thank you Doctor. That will be fine. Go ahead." Horatio was completely relaxed as the Doc walked slowly and deliberately up behind him, nervously glancing between his patient and the carefully watchful eyes of the pretty blond woman with him. Horatio rolled further over on top of Calleigh, to give the man a better view of his injured back.

"OK, Mr. Caine," the man said, focusing intently on Horatio's back. "Wow. You're doing really, really well. A lot of the swelling has gone down, and… yeah, there's a few places where the skin was broken, but I believe that if there's any scarring at all, it will be quite minimal. You're healing extremely well Sir."

Horatio breathed a heavy sigh of relief at the good news.

The doc walked back to the foot of the bed and scribbled some notes on Horatio's chart before hanging it back on the bed rail.

"Do you have any questions? Concerns?" The young Doctor asked Horatio, then looked directly at Calleigh. "Everything OK?"

This time even Calleigh couldn't suppress a genuine and relieved smile.

She glanced at Horatio, then back at the waiting Doc. "Everything's fine, thank you," she answered cheerfully.

"OK, good. Depending on how well you progress over the next day or so, we could start talking about when you can go home."

And with that, the nice young Doc smiled, nodded, and turned and left the room.

Home. Horatio thought. The idea sounded wonderful, on the surface. But it also meant that he would be someplace where Calleigh wasn't. And that saddened him deeply. Now that he finally had the woman of his dreams by his side and lying in his arms 24/7, he was extremely reluctant to let her go.

Calleigh saw the change in his mood immediately.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked him seriously, her voice heavy with concern.

He struggled for a few moments, trying to search for the right words, and not sound like he was begging or overly needy. But, then he thought, screw it. I don't care how I sound. I just want her with me.

He looked up, and gazed into her lovely green eyes. "Calleigh, when they send me home, would you… " he halted briefly, his surge of emotion nearly choking him up, "would you… come and stay with me? Just for a while? OK?"

The open sincerity in his voice and the near pleading look in his eyes made her heart melt.

"Of course I will," she answered warmly. "Horatio, there's nothing on this earth that could possibly keep me away." She reached up and put her hand against his cheek. He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. It gave him the surge of confidence that he needed…

When he opened his eyes and looked at her again, she could see all the deep gratitude and raw emotion swimming in those crystal blue eyes. Then she saw something else…

He took a deep breath before he spoke…

"Well then… in light of that new information," he spoke slowly, his rich voice growing sultry and deep. "I… have a plan." She saw the impish sparkle in his eyes, as a slight wry smile curved his lips. He looked at her slightly sideways, that classic Horatio gaze that she knew so well. She was delightedly giddy to see it again. Clearly, he really was feeling better.

"Oh, you have a plan, do you," she asked, heavily flirting right back.

He nodded, still smiling knowingly. "Indeed I do."

"Hmm. Well, would you are to share, handsome?"

His expression changed slightly, and got more serious. He slowly rolled over onto her again, pinning her to the hospital mattress, but supporting himself on his elbows. She laid back readily, and felt his hands softly cradling her face, sensually caressing her cheeks and gently brushing a few stray strands of her soft blonde hair away. She felt as though she would absolutely melt under his touch. She gazed up at him and saw in his sparkling blue eyes the most deeply loving expression she had ever seen.

He leaned down and spoke soft and low into her ear. She could feel his hot breath tickling her neck.

"Calleigh, sweetheart… Our first kiss… our real first kiss… I want that to happen… in the middle of my bed," his voice was so deep and rich, it was almost like a lion purring in her ear. "You're going to be as naked as I am right now. And I am going to be healthy enough to do much more than just kiss you. But that's where I'm going to start…"

"Oh, God, Horatio," she breathed, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Oh, I really, really like your plan…"

She was flushed with desire at the sound of his soft sultry words, but also recognized and respected his left-handed bid for privacy. He didn't want things to escalate out of control here in this hospital room, in such a public place. No. He wanted their affections and passions for each other to be shared privately. And when he was closer to full strength. And what more perfect place than in his own bedroom?

True to form, the doors slid open and a now-familiar nurse came in to treat Horatio's back. It actually went pretty well. He jumped and flinched a few times, and still clenched his teeth, but he was definitely improving.

Calleigh held him in her arms, and once the nurse was finished and left the room, she felt his lean body fully relax against her with a heavy sigh. She ran her fingers through his soft red hair and closed her eyes as she replayed his sensual words in her head.

She couldn't wait for the Doctor to tell them when he could go home…