XXV

Reunion

I'm hanging on another day

Just to see what you will throw my way

And I'm hanging on to the words you say

You said that I will be okay.

- Lifehouse, "Broken"

Walter and Calleigh waited anxiously as the elevator rose painfully slowly, the silence between them palpable. It only took one worried glance at each other to know they had both received the same text from Horatio.

The elevator doors finally opened into the lab and the two of them hurried out. Horatio, Frank, Natalia and Eric were already gathered together in an out-of-the-way corner near the reception desk. Calleigh and Walter hastened toward them.

The colleagues barely acknowledged each other before Walter blurted out, "What's going on, H?"

The redheaded lieutenant looked somber, but he kept his cool in front of his team. "We just received a call-out," he explained. "There's been an attempted murder at Marble Tree."

All of them were horrified. Natalia covered her mouth with one hand.

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"Is Ryan okay?" Eric added, fighting to keep a handle on his emotions. He was worried for his friend.

"Apparently a patient tried to kill another," Horatio explained. "He set him on fire."

Calleigh's eyes widened. Natalia looked close to tears.

"And Ryan?" Eric pressed.

"We don't know," Horatio said heavily. "No names were given, for all we know he wasn't even remotely involved. But we're heading out there now. I'll contact you all as soon as I have more information. Who's coming with me?"

The team was silent for a moment as they looked around at each other. Every last one of them wanted to go, but they knew that would be a little too inconspicuous.

"I have a lot of work to do," Walter said tightly, obviously fighting to keep his voice even and carefree. "Text me if anything comes up."

With that, he left the group to head toward the locker room. Natalia watched him go sadly. She knew the big guy was just as distressed about the possibility of Ryan being hurt as she was, this was just his way of dealing with it. He pretended not to care because he didn't want to seem weak.

She smiled weakly. "I'd go, but I wouldn't trust myself to not blow Ryan's cover. I'm a little emotional at the moment."

Horatio smiled kindly at her, understanding.

"If it ain't a homicide, there'd be no reason for me to go," Frank grumbled sourly.

Calleigh looked up at Eric. So it was between the two of them.

"You go ahead," Calleigh told him. "We both know you want to."

Eric nodded gravely. "Thanks, Cal."

"If you get a chance, tell Ryan I say hi," she said lightly, also leaving.

Eric met Horatio's eyes. His own feelings were reflected there in that gaze. They both worried for their friend and colleague. Ryan was like a son to Horatio and a little brother to Eric. Neither of them had been sure or pleased about Ryan taking this assignment.

The thought of it taking him was too much for either of them to bear.

::|+|::

Eric anxiously tapped the badge clipped to his jeans, chewing on his bottom lip as he stood in the elevator with Horatio. They were on their way up to the fourth floor of Marble Tree. It hadn't done anything to soothe their worries that the incident had happened on Ryan's ward and they still hadn't received the names of the patients involved.

Horatio was very quiet next to him, even more than usual, if that was possible. They both watched as the numbers for each floor lit up one by one at a painfully slow pace. Eric took a deep breath as the light moved from three to four. The little bell sounded and the doors opened.

The brothers stepped out together. The lobby they stepped out into was surprisingly vacant and quiet. The first-responding pair of patrol officers were there: One was speaking quietly to a middle-aged doctor and the other was finishing putting yellow crime scene tape around the area. There didn't seem to be any blatant evidence of wrongdoing, save for a handful of scorchmarks on the tile. Horatio and Eric approached the doctor and the officer.

The police officer nodded to them when they came over. "Lieutenant. CSI Delko."

"Officer Green," Horatio said. "What's the situation?"

"Officers, I'm Dr. Noah Fletcher," the doctor said. "I'm in charge of this ward." He looked at Horatio. "I believe we've met."

Horatio knew exactly what he was talking about, but he of course played dumb. "Have we?"

"You brought us one of our patients a few weeks ago," Dr. Fletcher. "Jordan West?"

Horatio pretended to think for a moment, then nodded. "That's right. So, Dr. Fletcher, what happened here?"

Dr. Fletcher looked grave. "A terrible thing. One of our patients tried to kill another earlier this morning right here in the lobby. We've kept all the patients on this ward sequestered in their rooms for now. We didn't even take them down to breakfast; we brought them food. I've let as few people as possible walk through here."

"Thanks for your help, doctor," Horatio said. "We appreciate your respect for preserving evidence."

"It's not our first go-around with this sort of thing, I'm afraid," he replied sadly.

"Where are the patients that were involved?" Eric asked.

"Ray Olsen is being held in his room by security," Dr. Fletcher said. "The man he attacked, Ben Reynolds, was sent to the hospital with serious burns."

Horatio and Eric both breathed an inward sigh of relief. Ryan was okay, at least as far as they knew.

"Were there any witnesses?" Horatio asked.

"Yes," Dr. Fletcher answered. "The security guard from last night, Chris Birkle, restrained Olsen during the attack. Our night-nurse Gina DiStefano was there as well. And I'm told a third patient was the one who actually saved Mr. Reynolds, put the fire out with a blanket from the nurses' station."

"We're gonna need to talk to all of them," Horatio said.

"Who was the third patient?" Eric asked.

"Actually it was Jordan West," Dr. Fletcher said amusedly. "It seems the two of you were meant to continuously cross paths, Lieutenant."

Eric fought the urge to glance at Horatio when Dr. Fletcher said the name. So Ryan had been involved. He just hoped he hadn't done anything to put himself or his cover at risk.

Horatio ignored Dr. Fletcher's comment and turned to Eric. "I'll talk to the nurse and the guard. You take Mr. West."

Eric fought to keep the gratitude out of his face and nodded.

Dr. Fletcher beckoned to Horatio. "Ms. DiStefano is this way, Lieutenant. Officer, if you follow that hallway there, you'll find Jordan's room. Just look for an orderly named Matthew Price."

Horatio followed Dr. Fletcher away from the lobby, not risking a look back. Eric took a breath and then started down the hallway the doctor had pointed out. It didn't take him long before he found an open room.

He stepped in front of the doorway and looked inside. A young black man wearing an orderly's uniform was standing against the dresser with his arms folded across his chest. A female doctor was sitting on a chair in front of the bed, bent over working on something.

Ryan was sitting on the bed in front of the doctor.

Eric almost didn't know what to do when the three of them all looked up at him. A tiny grin flickered on Ryan's face. Eric couldn't describe the relief and happiness upon seeing his friend again after worrying about him for so long. He finally remembered himself.

"I'm looking for Jordan West," he said.

The orderly took a step toward him, noticing his badge and gun. "You found him," he said, extending his hand. "Matt Price."

Eric shook his hand. "Eric Delko, CSI. I need to talk to Mr. West about what happened this morning."

"All done," the doctor said, scooting away from Ryan in her chair. Eric saw now that his hand was bandaged and she was gathering up the leftovers of some kind of suture kit. She got up and left the room.

"Would it be all right if I talk to you in private?" Eric asked Ryan.

Maintaining character, Ryan glanced up at Matthew nervously. His orderly friend shrugged. "It's up to you, Jordan."

Ryan thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll come back in about fifteen minutes," Matthew said, moving to go. As he passed Eric on the threshold, he stepped in close to say something only Eric could hear. "Go easy on him," he whispered. "Patients like him... they clam up in defense whenever they feel threatened or scared, and coming down on them like I know you cops are trained to do will only make it worse."

"He's not in trouble, you know," Eric retorted quietly.

"It's good you know that," Matthew replied evenly, obviously feeling protective of Ryan. "He saved a man's life this morning. He bust through a glass window with his own fist just to help the guy, needed ten stitches in his hand. Don't go treating him like a criminal."

With that, he left, closing the door behind him and leaving Eric alone with Ryan.

Eric grinned.

Ryan grinned back.

::|+|::

"Matthew."

The young orderly looked up. "Hey, Dr. Fletcher."

The older man look worried and oddly confused about something. "Has Jordan talked to you about what happened?"

Matthew frowned. "I don't think he's said a word all morning. That cop's in there with him now. Why?"

Dr. Fletcher didn't say anything for a moment. "Gina said he put the fire out with a blanket he got after breaking into the nurses' station."

"Yeah, that's the story."

"He's only been here for two weeks... How did he know where to find the blanket?"

Matthew's frown deepened. "Huh. I don't know, I hadn't thought about that. He must have heard someone mention they were there."

"Right... That must have been it..."

"Is Ben gonna be okay?" Matthew asked.

"He has some second and third-degree burns on his arms and torso, but he'll be all right," Dr. Fletcher said distractedly. "He probably won't be coming back here, though. And Ray is being sent to a special facility for the criminally insane this afternoon. We won't be seeing any more of him, either."

"Just be glad Jordan was there," Matthew said. "He picked a hell of a good day to take a walk when he did."

"...Indeed."

::|+|::

Eric sat down heavily on the bed next to Ryan, who turned so he was sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing Eric. Neither of them could help but grin at each other.

"You okay, Wolfe?"

Ryan looked at his bandaged hand. "Yeah, it's fine. Just some stitches and they gave me some low-grade painkillers for it."

"I wasn't just talking about your hand, Ryan."

To Eric's sudden dismay, his friend's smile flickered.

"I'm okay, Delko," Ryan answered quietly.

"You don't sound too sure about that," Eric joked half-heartedly.

Ryan chuckled. "Well, it certainly hasn't been a picnic."

"So this Ray guy is bad news, huh?"

Ryan nodded. "He's one of the only real crazy people in here. Everyone else is just either sick or... lost."

"We ran background on him like you asked," Eric told him. "He's been here for seven years. About the same time he got here, the cases of abuse of patients started."

Ryan sighed and ran his unbandaged hand through his hair. "I should have known," he growled. "It was Ray this whole time. I should have done something about him sooner."

"You were focused on the bigger picture," Eric told him. "That was more important. And now that we have solid evidence on Ray, we can probably start to wrap this thing up. You'll be able to get out of here soon."

But to Eric's surprise, Ryan didn't look happy.

"What's up, Wolfe? Is there something you're not telling us?"

His friend was silent for a moment.

"No."

Eric gave him a look that clearly said Don't lie to me. "Come on, Wolfe, don't hold out on me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just get the feeling something else is going on around here, that's all," Ryan said simply. "I just haven't found the evidence yet."

Neither of them said anything for a moment.

"You should probably get going," Ryan told him. "And act annoyed. Jordan wouldn't have wanted to talk to you much. He doesn't like cops and would've given you mostly one-word answers."

Eric laughed, standing up. "Whatever you say, Wolfe."

Ryan didn't get up from the bed, but he did hold out his good hand. "It was good to see you, Delko."

Eric shook his hand. "Good to see you too, Wolfe. We can't wait to get you back."

Ryan smiled. "I can't wait to be back."

They let go of each other reluctantly and Eric turned to go. He stopped when he got to the door, then turned around one last time.

"You're gonna be okay, Wolfe. You know that, right?"

Ryan grinned, a flash of mischief in his hazel eyes. "Yeah, I know."

Author's Note: Phew, that was a long one. :P More to come soon!