Chapter 20

"A neurologist will be down in 2 minutes, she'll have to perform it, as I'm not a neurologist." Nathan said growing concerned.

"There's no need to worry. I haven't got meningitis!" Zoë said as she got up again.

"Well it's to be on the safe side, okay? Now sit down please." Nathan said as he rose and put his hand on her shoulder and sat her down. The neurosurgeon came in.

"Hi Zoë, I'm Liz, I'm just going to perform a lumbar puncture okay? It won't take long."

"Hi." Zoë said as she shook the doctor's hand.

"If you could please sit on the chair sideways please and lean forward and pull your shirt up?" Liz asked. Zoë did as she asked.

"Okay, sharp scratch." Liz warned as she drew the CFS fluid from Zoë's spine. Liz pulled the needle out and placed a swab on Zoë's back and held it there.

"Good news, the fluid is clear, you've not got meningitis." Liz said with a smile as she placed the needle down on the tray and taped the swab to Zoë's back.

"Thank you, see Nathan." She said looking back at him with a cheeky smile.

"I wanted to be on the safe side, okay?" Nathan said back to her.

"Thanks Liz." Nathan said as she left and nodded at Nathan. Zoë sat back against the chair.

"I told you it was nothing." Zoë said again.

"I know, I wanted to make sure." Nathan said getting a little annoyed he then realised that Zoë was playing around with him and he smiled back at her.

"I've got to attend some other patients now that we've got that all cleared up." Nathan said.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you want to inflict on me while you're here? A hearing test? Stick me with needles?" She said with a big cheeky smile.

"I might do later when I get back, but at the moment, no." He said with a cheeky grin and winked at her. He made for the door and visited his other patients as Zoë sat back in the chair. Zoë took a deep breath as Horatio exhaled. She stood up and leant on the safety bars.

"Hey, are you with me?" Zoë asked sweetly lowering her head. Horatio turned his head to the left and opened his eyes.

"Mmm" Horatio moaned.

"How are you feeling?" Zoë asked with a smile as she wisped Horatio's hair from his forehead over to the side with her hand.

"Better." Horatio mumbled.

"Good." She said with a sweet smile. Horatio brought his left hand up to try and remove the mask again.

"How many times am I going to have to tell you to leave that alone?" She said with a wide grin. Horatio smiled back at her while he then scratched his cheek.

"Well I know one thing, I definitely need a shave." He said as he rubbed his cheeks.

"I don't think a shave is the top of your priority list at the moment." She said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

"Anyway, there's barely any stubble there." She said smiling still.

"To me it feels like there's stubble." Horatio said as he placed his hand on his chest.

"That's probably because you're always clean shaven, you can barely see it. Don't worry." She said with a grin.

"I can probably get Nathan to give you a shave if you're that desperate?" She said with a cheeky grin.

"I think I can wait." Horatio said with a bigger smile appearing.

"I thought so." Zoë said.

"You look shattered, have you had any rest?" Horatio asked growing concerned.

"Right, you're added to my list, you, Eric and Nathan have to take a class to learn how to improve your compliments." She said with a smile. Horatio smiled and looked down then back up to Zoë.

"I've just had about 17 hours sleep; I don't think I can possibly get anymore rest." She said with a smile.

"I think you're the one that needs to get some more rest." Zoë said raising her eyebrow.

"I've just had about 5 days' worth of rest; I don't think I can possibly get anymore." Horatio said.

"You're getting in the habit of taking my words, aren't you?" Zoë said with a smile, a cheeky grin appeared across Horatio's face under the mask.

"Now, no more cheekiness until you get some rest. May I remind you that you're in hospital for a reason?" Zoë said with a grin. She placed her hand over his.

"Now close those blue eyes, and sleep." She said raising an eyebrow. She let go of his hand and sat down.

"But…" Horatio said but Zoë cut him off.

"I don't hear very much sleeping." She said looking up to him. Horatio laughed as he exhaled with a smile as Zoë stood back up.

"Look honey, if you don't get the sleep that your body needs, you're only going to be in here longer. You and I both know that is not what you want. Is it?" She said softly tilting her head.

"Okay." He exhaled. Zoë sat back down and Horatio closed his eyes. Zoë put her head back as she was asleep instantly, Nathan checked on Horatio every now and then. 3 hours later she woke up while Nathan was taking Horatio's temperature. She sat up and stretched then looked up at the clock.

"Jesus Christ! I closed my eyes for 5 minutes! Not 3 hours!" Nathan looked over to her.

"Well, your brain is obviously tired. I'd let it get all the rest it needs." Nathan said with a smile as Zoë got up and walked around.

"Not going to give me another lumbar puncture, are you?" She said with a cheeky smile looking out of the window.

"No, not just yet." Nathan said looking down at Horatio's notes.

"How is he doing?" Zoë asked.

"Very well." Nathan answered.

"Yeah, he woke earlier, he was wide awake and definitely the same old Horatio, he even managed to slip in a bit of cheekiness." Zoë said with a wide grin appearing across her face.

"That's good news! My guess is that if he rests as much as it's humanly possible, he'll be out of here within 3-4 days. If he doesn't try and push himself." Nathan said looking up at Zoë who was looking out of the window. Zoë turned to him.

"He's going to push himself; it's a part of his character."

"We'll we're just going to have to try our best to keep him in that bed then." Nathan said glancing at Zoë from Horatio's notes.

"Or I'll have to sedate him." Nathan said with a small smile.

"I'd like to see you try that one, I'm certain he'd put up a fight." Zoë's grin widened. Ryan knocked on the door and came in. Zoë turned around to see who it was.

"Hey, how's he doing?" Ryan said walking over to the window by Zoë.

"He's doing really well, I was just telling Zoë that if he rests as much as he can, he should be out of here within 3-4 days." Nathan answered briefly looking up from the notes.

"That's fantastic news!" Ryan said with a smile.

"I'll be back in a little while." Nathan said as he left. Zoë and Ryan nodded at him and he walked through the door. Zoë walked back to her seat and Ryan sat next to her.

"I've got a free evening and I've caught up on all of my work. Do you want to go home and get a shower and something to eat? I'll stay here with H." Ryan asked.

"Thank you Ryan, I think I'll take you up on that offer!" Zoë stood up and picked up her bag, turned to Horatio.

"Don't you go anywhere." She said quietly, she then turned to Ryan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you pretty boy." She said with a cheeky grin.

"Don't tell me that's going to stick?" Ryan looked up at her with a wide grin himself.

"Oh it sure is." She said as she walked out the door. She went home, fixed herself some toast and had a shower. She got another suit and shirt out and put it on.