Do I know you? Chapter 14, a csi: miami fanfic

One of the police officers had asked Ryan to drive to their little police station in town so that they could get his statement on what went down at the gas station. They had also had someone come over and take a better look at his arm to make sure he didn't injure it further. They brought some cast material and plastered it over the damaged part, thus allowing him some time to get to his own doctor for further evaluation. Ryan was not happy at how long this was taking, but he figured they were told to keep him there until Horatio arrived. He would have loved to have bailed out of town, but as he sat there thinking over the events of the day he decided to stop running and face his life head on. Here he was in a strange town where he knew no one and he still managed to save a young girls life. He figured that even though he may not remember anything before the accident, he obviously had a knack for law enforcement.

Ryan was sitting in the stations break room resting his eyes when he heard a door open and a voice say "I'm glad you waited for me. Are you ready to go home now?" He didn't have to open his eyes to know who the voice belonged to.

Horatio moved closer to Ryan and waited for some kind of response. He knew the young man was not sleeping, but he didn't want to make any wrong moves for fear of scaring him away. He was there to take him home and that was what he planned on doing.

Ryan finally sat up and opened his eyes. He looked around the room before spotting Horatio standing off to his left. "Hi Horatio, you know I could have driven myself home".

"I know, but I thought it would be a better idea if you let someone else do the driving so you could rest. Don't worry about your car either; I brought someone along who is going to drive it home for you".

Ryan was wondering about that and was glad that Horatio was on top of things. "Thanks H, I really appreciate that. I am kind of tired now that you mention it".

Horatio helped Ryan up to his feet and noticed the cast. "I think having someone look at your arm is in order, but it can wait until tomorrow. Now let's get you home". He guided Ryan out to his car and was glad he didn't resist the personal attention.

The other person Horatio had brought along with him had already taken the car ahead, leaving the two of them alone as they drove the 3 hours back to Miami. The ride was silent for the first hour and a half as Ryan dosed off in the passenger's seat.

Horatio was just getting use to the silence when from out of nowhere he heard Ryan scream. The sudden noise scared him enough to make him momentarily lose control of the car. Luckily there were no other drivers on the road to contend with. As he got the car under control he pulled off to the side of the road to check on Ryan.

He looked over to see that Ryan was rubbing his head looking very confused and disoriented. "What's wrong" was all he could think to say. He didn't know if Ryan screamed out of pain or from something else.

Ryan looked over at Horatio, "What, where am I?" He quickly looked around and then remembered he was in the car on his way back home. "Oh, sorry Horatio, I was just forgot where I was for a second".

"Can you tell me what happened, did you get hurt back at the gas station".

"No, I'm sorry. I was just dreaming and I must have had a nightmare, that's all". Ryan didn't want to talk about it anymore and hoped that Horatio was satisfied with his answer. He clearly remembered his dream and didn't want to discuss it since it was the same dream he had 2 other times in the last couple of days. He decided not to sleep for the rest of the drive home.

Horatio had to be satisfied with the answer since he knew Ryan was not always willing to share his feelings with others. The rest of the ride was uneventful and quiet.

As Horatio drove into Miami he thought he better tell Ryan his plan for the next couple of days. "I thought it might be better that you stay with someone for a few days. I have an extra room so I had someone bring over some of your things to my place. Now before you say anything I know you are very capable of being on your own, but there seems to be something going on and I thought it would be best if you had someone around to talk to, if you needed it". He had never reached out to Ryan before and this was very hard for him to offer, he just hoped the young man would be willing to accept.

Ryan didn't know what to make of his offer, except that he was too tired to argue. "All right, I'll stay tonight, but after that I am going home".

Horatio was happy with the answer, he figure he would work on having him stay longer after he had a good night's rest.

Ryan entered Horatio's home and was surprised. He didn't know if he had ever been here before, but said, "Nice place you've got Horatio".

Horatio walked over to the stairs, "There should be a change of clothing in the room at the top of the stairs. I had Calleigh bring something over".

Ryan made his way upstairs and sat down on the bed. There was a small duffel bag sitting on the chair and he figured it contained his stuff. It looked like it contained more than a day's worth of clothes; he just hoped Horatio didn't expect him to stay longer. As he was thinking there was a slight knock on the partially opened door. "Come in".

Horatio came in carrying a couple of towels and placed them on the dresser. "The shower is down the hallway. I thought you might like to wash up before dinner". Without saying another thing he walked out of the room.

Ryan was once again alone in the room. He got up, grabbed the towels and walked down toward the bathroom. Perhaps a shower and a bite to eat was just want he needed.

After he showered and changed he walked downstairs to find Horatio busy in the kitchen, "Something sure smells good".

Horatio was happy to see Ryan looking better, "I hope spaghetti sounds good, it's the only meal I'm good at cooking. Take a seat at the table, it should be ready soon. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sure, whatever you have is fine".

Horatio brought over a pitcher of ice tea and poured Ryan a glass. "There is sugar on the table if you like your ice tea sweetened".

"Thanks, and I'm just not saying that for the ice tea. I want to thank you for everything you did today. I don't really know what got into me. Ever since my dad left I just have not felt the same".

"My first priority is to make sure you're all right. I can't imagine any of this has been easy on you. I talked to your father earlier today and he told me that you know about the accident you were in as a child. None of that can be easy to deal with. I also want you to know I have taken care of work for you and you will be allowed to return on one condition. I would like you to talk to someone about everything that has happened to you. They will be the ones to determine when you can return to work full time".

"Ok" was Ryan's only reply.

Horatio served the dinner and Ryan ate what he could. He didn't say much to Horatio while he ate and excused himself when he was finished saying that he was tired; which was the truth. As he closed the door to his temporary room, he didn't know if he wanted to fall asleep. He was afraid of having the same dream again. He sat in the chair and turned on the T.V that was sitting on the dresser. He started watching some show on the food network and tried to stay awake, but he lost the battle. He was soon fast asleep in the chair.

Horatio had cleaned up after dinner and went to his own bedroom for some sleep. It had been a long day and he hoped that tomorrow would be a nice normal day for everyone; especially Ryan.

He grabbed his book and crawled into bed, hoping to get a few chapters in before falling asleep. Just as he found the page where he had left off he heard a terrible scream from Ryan. He got up and rushed into the other room. He found Ryan sitting on the floor next to the chair. "Ryan, what's wrong". He rushed over to him and sat on the floor next to him. He could see that Ryan was very upset over something and he wondered if he had another nightmare. "Did you have another dream?"

Ryan wasn't aware he had company until he heard Horatio mention the dream. As he heard this he looked up at Horatio. He was trying to keep the tears at bay, but he just couldn't get the image of his mother and brother out of his mind. "It's my fault; I tried to save them but their dead because of me. I can still see my mother, it was horrible Horatio. There was so much blood everywhere and I couldn't do anything to save them".

Horatio saw the pain in Ryan's eyes and did what he thought best. He reached over and pulled Ryan into a hug. He didn't know what to say so he just held him in his arms waiting until he calmed down. When he felt the sobs stop he pulled Ryan away just far enough to say "come on, let's get you to bed". He helped him into the bed and then sat in the chair making sure fell asleep. He decided it was best to stay with him tonight. Tomorrow he would make sure he talked with someone who could hopefully help him. Horatio wasn't sure what was going on, but it seemed like he was finally remembering something, only it was of his first accident.

Author's note: do you think Horatio was too mushy at the end. I didn't know if I would have him do this or have someone else, but in the end I thought he would be the best choice.