Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made.

A/N: Drama ahead, cause I'm a bitch like that.

-DT-

Calleigh frowned as she felt Will's forehead. He had a fever, and was rather listless. He also kept turning his head away from the light, and she was starting to worry. An hour ago he had been fine, if a little upset when Horatio had left for work. She was due there herself fin another half-hour, but she didn't think she should leave Will at child care when he wasn't well.

Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number.

"Hey Alexx. Now I know this really isn't your specialty, but I'm kind of worried about Will… yeah, he's got a pretty high fever, and seems to be sensitive to light… his hands?" She quickly felt the boy's hands and feet. "Yeah, they're cold… pretty sudden, he was fine a couple hours ago… Alexx, should I be worried?"

-DT-

An hour later, Horatio finally got out of his meeting with the Director. He'd been holed up in that office for nearly two hours, and was frustrated. Pointless meetings, endless paperwork and petty politics took him away from his real job of protecting the people of Miami.

When he heard Calleigh's panicked message on his voice mail, however, all thoughts of his job were pushed from his mind and he raced to the hospital.

Not again, he prayed as he hit the sirens on the hummer. Please God, don't take him away from me.

-DT-

Horatio froze in the doorway. Will was lying in a crib in the ICU, hooked up to an IV drip and some monitors he recognised from Holly's stay here. Calleigh sat next to him, Rosie asleep on her lap, holding his hand. She had tear stains on her cheeks, and Horatio could see how much this was tearing her apart.

"Calleigh," he whispered as he moved toward her. She looked up and started sobbing again.

"Oh God, Horatio. This can't be happening. He's just a baby!"

Horatio quickly closed the remaining distance and knelt by her chair, taking her hands in his. She cried quietly, not wanting to wake the children, and Horatio felt tears start to slide down his cheeks as well. After a moment, Calleigh got herself under control again, and Horatio felt strong enough to ask her what the diagnosis was.

"Meningitis," Calleigh whispered. "Horatio, they don't know if he's gonna make it. And even if he does, he's not gonna be our healthy little boy any more. There's so many things that could go wrong."

"I know," Horatio murmured, looking over at his son. His worst nightmare was coming true. One of his children was dying, and there was nothing he could do to save the young boy.

-DT-

Time passed. Horatio and Calleigh stayed at Will's bedside as doctors and nurses came and went. The IV bag was changed a few times as different antibiotics were tried. The good news was that he didn't seem to be deteriorating. The bad news was that he wasn't improving, either. Horatio wasn't sure which was worse – knowing that his son could die, or waiting around for the news.

Midday came, and with it Alexx, Eric and Ryan. The boys took Rosie for a while, saying that they'd get her some lunch and fresh air. Horatio was loath to let her out of his sight, but knew that they were right. Alexx looked over Will's charts, then went to speak to the doctors.

Alone with their son, Calleigh and Horatio looked at each other. They didn't know what to do, a feeling that neither of them was very familiar with. This was a situation that was completely out of their hands, and all they could do was hold on to William and pray that he would make it.

-DT-

It was nearly three when Will's fever broke. Calleigh leapt into Horatio's arms, laughing in delight, when the doctors told them that he was going to live.

Their relief, however, didn't last.

Will was taken away again for some tests, to see if there were going to be any lasting side-effects. One look at the doctor's face as he came back to them was enough to tell Horatio that it was bad news.

"I'm sorry, Mr and Mrs Caine. While there was no permanent brain damage, your son has lost his hearing. There's really nothing we can do to repair it. He's going to be deaf for the rest of his life."

Calleigh sat in shock, while Horatio reached out blindly and took her hand. Will was alive, but the nightmare was nowhere near over, and he wasn't sure if they could get through it.