Chapter 36
"Horatio!" Alexx yelled and Horatio quickly ran in to the ladies restroom with Joe quickly behind.
"She's passed out, I think." Alexx said as she looked up at them as she knelt on her knees.
Horatio immediately knelt on his knees to look under the cubical door to see Zoë slumped against the cubical wall, seemingly unconscious.
"The door is locked too." Alexx said frantically.
"Zoë!" Horatio raised his voice. Joe had gone into the cubical to the side of Zoë and stood on the loo. Horatio looked up at him and then watched Joe hop over the cubical and into the one that Zoë was in. He quickly took her pulse.
"She's got a pulse." He said to Horatio and Alexx. Joe then pulled her up.
"Be careful of her side." Horatio said as both he and Alexx rose to their feet as Joe unlocked the door and held Zoë against him. He got out and then laid her on the floor, on Horatio's jacket that he'd laid out as he knew she'd freak if she woke up laying on the restroom floor. They all crouched around her as Alexx checked her eyes and took her pulse.
"She's too stressed." Horatio said as he placed his hand on her stomach.
"You need to take her home and get her to rest." Alexx said as she looked up at Horatio. Horatio nodded and then looked down at Zoë as she moved her head and let out a light moan.
"Zoë honey, you're okay you've just passed out." Alexx said warmly. Zoë shook her head as she raised her right arm and covered her eyes. Alexx looked over to Horatio and then swapped places with him.
"Beautiful, it's Horatio, you're okay." He said softly as he threaded his fingers in her hair. She removed her arm a little and glanced up at him. She could make out his red-hair but her vision was blurred.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her softly.
"Mmm" she moaned as she covered her eyes again.
"Would you like some water?" He asked and she shook her head.
"Can you sit up?" Horatio asked softly and she nodded and tried to sit up but hissed in pain and laid back down as she placed her right hand over her left-hand side ribcage.
"Zoë, I need to check to see if the stitches are still in, okay?" Horatio asked and she nodded as she looked up at him.
"I'm going to unbutton your shirt okay? I just want a quick look." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she placed her right hand on one of his thighs.
"I want to go home, please." She pleaded him.
"Well go straight home after this, okay?" Horatio asked and she lowered her eyebrows.
"Really?" She asked and Horatio nodded at her as he began to undo her shirt buttons. He glanced up at Joe who quickly backed off and turned around to give them privacy. Horatio quickly pulled her shirt apart and then peeled the bandage back a little. Alexx got a look too.
"One of the stiches is bleeding a little, but it's nothing to worry about, okay?" Alexx asked and Zoë nodded as Horatio placed the bandage back and then buttoned her shirt back up.
"It's probably going to sting a little, okay?" Alexx asked and Zoë nodded again.
"I'm sorry." Zoë said as she looked up at Horatio.
"Sorry for what sweetheart? You've done nothing wrong." Horatio said softly.
"For arguing with you, with you all." She said as she looked up at him.
"Don't worry about that sweetheart, if you want to drop the charges, then I'll support you. Just as long as you're absolutely certain that it's what you want to do." Horatio said softly and she looked up at him as she swallowed. Joe turned around just as Horatio helped her to sit up.
"I'm not absolutely certain about not charging him, but I'm certain that I can't do it now, if you know what I mean?" She asked as she looked round to Horatio and he nodded at her.
"We can charge at a later date, if you'd like?" He asked and Zoë nodded.
"Okay sweetheart." Horatio said softly.
"If I leave you in the break room with Eric and Joe, will you be okay? I've just got to go and take care of Mr Wolfe." Horatio said softly and she turned to him.
"I want to see him walk away." Zoë said as she looked up at Horatio.
"Okay sweetheart, but I want you to be sitting down, okay?" He asked and she nodded as she looked up at him with a slightly pale face. Horatio then got her up and picked his jacket up and put his arm around her lower back and waist to help support her. They walked out with Alexx and Joe following and then walked down to the holding rooms. Horatio sat Zoë down and then spoke to an officer. Joe sat next to Zoë and took hold of one her hands and asked if she was okay. She nodded at him and then leant against him and watched Horatio talk.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Joe asked and she nodded as she watched Horatio walk over to the holding room and enter. She watched them talking.
"She wants to drop the charges." Horatio exhaled as he walked over to Ryan.
"What? Why?" Ryan questioned.
"She's under too much stress at the moment; she can't handle this on top of everything else." Horatio said as he took the handcuffs off Ryan, even though it pained him to undo them.
"She's going to think about charging you at a later date, so I wouldn't go far. In case you haven't noticed, you're fired." Horatio growled at him. He watched a relieved expression cross Ryan's face.
"She's not dropping the charges all together and I'm only agreeing to this as she needs support, not conflict." Horatio growled as he stepped closer to Ryan, intimidating him.
"If you think for one second she's forgiven you, she hasn't, she'll never forgive you, I'll never forgive you. No-one you know will forgive you." Horatio growled as he pushed Ryan against the wall with his hand on his throat.
"If you come anywhere near the house or her, I will not hesitate to arrest you or shoot you if I feel that you're a potential threat to her." Horatio growled as he pushed harder on Ryan's throat. Alexx began to walk over to them but Zoë stopped her.
"Alexx, leave it, Horatio won't hurt him. He'll back off in a few seconds." Zoë said as she looked up at Alexx. Alexx stepped back and looked at Zoë then to Horatio again.
"I won't, I promise." Ryan gasped and Horatio then nodded and released him.
"You're free to go for now. Don't even attempt to hide from me, I will find you, wherever you go." Horatio growled and Ryan nodded. They walked out and Ryan walked past Joe, Zoë and Alexx. Alexx shook her head at Ryan while Zoë tried to ignore him.
"I'm sorry, Zoë." He apologised again as he stopped. Zoë looked away and over to the other side of the room. Ryan then looked to Alexx.
"Don't you dare try and give me an excuse." Alexx warned lowly when she saw him about to speak to her.
"Get out of here now, or I might change my mind." Horatio growled as he walked over to Zoë. Ryan quickly made his way out as Horatio placed his hand on Zoë's shoulder.
"Let's go home, beautiful." Horatio said softly and she nodded and then stood. She linked arms with him and then walked out with Joe.
"We'll see you soon Alexx, I'm sorry for causing such a mess and for snapping at you earlier." Zoë apologised and Alexx nodded.
"Thank you Alexx." Horatio said softly and she nodded at Horatio.
"If you could inform Eric of what has gone on, I'd be most grateful." Horatio said softly and Alexx nodded. She then placed her hand on Zoë's arm to test whether a hug was safe at this moment in time but she saw Zoë tense so she backed off.
"If you need anything, just give me a ring." She said softly. Horatio gave her a nod while Zoë looked down. Alexx then walked away as did Horatio, Zoë and Joe.
"Oh, yeah this is where we work." Zoë said quietly up at Joe and he nodded.
"I gathered that." Joe smiled at him and she gave him a smile. They got out and into the car. Zoë relaxed back into the seat.
"How are you feeling?" Horatio asked and she turned her head to look at him.
"Marvellous." She smiled tiredly and he gave her a smile and then nodded as he pulled off.
"We'll be home soon." Horatio said softly and she nodded.
"Shall we get a takeaway on the way back? I doubt you want to cook." Zoë said softly.
"If that's what you want then of course." Horatio said softly and she looked back to Joe after nodding at Horatio. He gave her a smile.
"Chinese it is then." She smiled at Horatio and he nodded as he placed his hand over her thigh. She gave him a small smile and then closed her eyes slowly. Horatio pulled up at the Chinese and then got out and left Zoë and Joe in the car. Zoë woke when he'd pulled up and then looked back to Joe.
"I'm sorry, I know you want to see him put away, but I can't do it at the moment." She said softly. Joe nodded at her; he didn't want to say anything as he knew he'd get wound up again.
"Is Adam going to come by a little later with your things?" She asked and Joe nodded. Zoë looked over to Horatio as he came back.
"Do you want any Fanta or Coke to go with it?" Horatio asked and she nodded.
"Fanta?" She asked and Horatio then nodded and walked back in.
"He's literally an angel." Zoë exhaled as she turned back around in her seat.
"Joe, what's wrong? Don't tell me that nothing is wrong because I know that there is." She asked as she looked at him using the mirror.
"Nothing's wrong as such, I'm just a little worried about you." Joe said softly.
"Worried about what? I'm fine." Zoë assured him.
"You're stressed, you've just passed out, you've just let Ryan go free, what if he comes back?" Joe questioned.
"He won't come back. I'm going to change the code to the front door so he can't get in. I'm safe in my house, he won't dare come near me when I'm out. He knows how I feel about him and he knows that Horatio will lose it if he comes near me." Zoë said as she turned in the seat again.
"I'll be fine soon, I passed out because I got too stressed as I had just had an argument about Wolfe, I'm fine. I'll get home, eat and then relax." Zoë assured him and Joe nodded.
"Horatio wouldn't have agreed to free him if he wasn't certain that I was safe. Wolfe is literally torn up, he wouldn't dare try and come near me again as he knows he'd upset me if he did - that's the last thing he wants to do." Zoë said softly and Joe nodded as he sat back.
"Look, I will probably charge him at a later date, but right now, I just can't, okay?" She said softly. Joe reluctantly nodded and she turned back round to see Horatio walking back towards them with a bag in his hand. He quickly got into the car and handed Zoë the bag and then drove off after putting his seatbelt on.
"I don't know what you like, so I just got a variety of things." Horatio said softly.
"Joe will eat anything…" Zoë smiled at the both of them.
"Thank you, I left my wallet at yours, I'll pay you when we get back." Joe said softly.
"Don't be ridiculous, we've got this." She smiled back at him and Joe gave her a small smile and then looked to Horatio.
"We've got it." Horatio assured him.
"Thank you." Joe said softly and Zoë gave him a smile. They arrived home and ate the Chinese out in the kitchen.
"Go and sit down sweetheart, I'll clear up out here." Horatio said softly.
"I'm good for now, I can help." She said softly as she got up off the stool and then picked hers and Joe's plate up and put them into the dishwasher.
"Zoë, please sweetheart." Horatio pleaded her and she looked up at him. She then nodded and gave him a quick kiss and then walked out. Joe picked up his glass and walked over to the dishwasher.
"I've got it, thank you Joe." Horatio said softly and Joe then handed Horatio the glass.
"Thank you." Joe said softly and Horatio gave him a nod and then continued to clean and tidy the kitchen. Joe walked through to the living room and sat down on the sofa as Zoë turned the TV on.
"So, you can talk to your house?" Joe asked and Zoë nodded.
"She's a big computer basically with a high-tech security system." Zoë smiled. "I did tell you that I have a good security system in place." Zoë said softly.
"Yes, but I thought you just meant a state-of-the-art burglar alarm or something." Joe said softly. "I didn't even know things like this were on the market." Joe said with a smile and Zoë chuckled as she relaxed back.
"Only a couple of companies do it and it's an expensive system. I had it put in place because I didn't have you around and I didn't know anyone who lived near me. That's until I realised Horatio lived just a few doors down." She smiled softly.
"So you guys have two houses on the same street?" He asked.
"No, Horatio sold his house, this is our house now." Zoë said softly and Joe nodded.
"Why'd you sell it? I could have had it." Joe smiled.
"I couldn't go in there anymore; it's where I was taken from when Maya was taken from us." Zoë said softly and Joe froze.
"I'm so sorry Zoë, I didn't realise." Joe quickly apologised.
"Don't worry sweetie." She said softly and Joe nodded.
"There's plenty of lovely houses around though." She smiled and Joe nodded.
"Anyway, your computer security thing has a name?" Joe asked and Zoë nodded.
"Skyler" she smiled.
"Did you come up with the name?" Joe questioned.
"No, there's a selection that you can choose from, I liked Skyler compared to the rest. She'll basically do anything and everything." Zoë smiled.
"So, could I tell her to change the channel?" Joe asked.
"She won't recognise your voice just yet, but yes, Horatio or I could ask her to. I could be so lazy if I wanted." She smiled and Joe's eyebrows rose.
"I can't wait until you move down, you'll have to come over all the time, especially when we have children." She said softly and Joe gave her a small smile and nod.
"I wouldn't want to intrude too much." Joe said softly.
"You wouldn't be intruding." Zoë assured him with a natural smile.
"When we have kids anyway, I'd want you to be a part of their lives as much as possible." She smiled at him and Joe smiled at her.
"May I ask something, relating to your wedding and Ryan?" Joe asked softly and she nodded.
"Were you going to ask Ryan to walk you down the aisle instead of me?" He asked.
"No, that was always going to be you I was going to come up one weekend to ask, but seeing as you're here now…." She said softly and he gave her a smile.
"I would have asked you to be the God-father of Maya, but you lived in New York, she wouldn't have seen you half as much as she would have seen Wolfe, that and Horatio didn't know you." She said softly and he nodded at her with a smile.
"You'll always be the closest one to me, except for Horatio obviously." She said softly and he gave her a smile.
"Why I didn't move down here sooner, I do not know." He smiled at her.
"I know! You should have come down when I did." She smiled and he nodded and then pulled his phone out when it began to ring. Zoë focused back on the TV as Joe spoke until Horatio came in. She leant against Horatio as he put his arm around her.
"Okay?" He asked quietly and Zoë nodded up at him with a smile. They relaxed back and Joe eventually hung up.
"Father is going to quickly drop my case off and then head off to a meal with a colleague, or the other way around, is that okay?" Joe asked.
"Of course" Zoë said softly with a smile.
"If you need a lift to your house viewings tomorrow, we're more than happy to give you a lift or you can borrow my car." She said softly.
"Thank you." Joe said softly. They all relaxed, having a pleasant conversation to keep Zoë's mind off Ryan. She looked up at the clock – 9.30PM.
"I think I'm going to have another bath." Zoë said softly and Horatio nodded at her.
"I'll be up in a moment. I don't want you in there on your own again." Horatio said quietly.
"I'm not a child, Horatio." She whined.
"No, but you blacked out earlier in the bath and could have drowned if I wasn't there. That's the second time it's happened. I am not going to chance it." Horatio said softly.
"Horatio…" She whined again.
"It's either that or you have a shower, but I suspect that you would like a bath." Horatio said softly and she exhaled.
"May as well pay you to babysit me" she mumbled as she got up and then walked out. Horatio sighed as he watched her walk out.
"Nothing ever changes." Joe smiled at Horatio.
"Hmm…" Horatio murmured as he sat back.
"I'd be insisting the same thing, I'd get the same response, probably more of a negative response actually." Joe said as he raised an eyebrow.
"I wish she just understood me from where I'm coming from." Horatio mumbled.
"She does, she's just being difficult and stubborn. You know her better than everyone really, she won't accept the help." Joe levelled with Horatio and he looked up at him and nodded.
"That was her way of giving in to you. If she was adamant that you weren't going to check up on her, she would have made you give in to her. She has her ways." Joe said with a small smile.
"I guess you're right." Horatio said with a small, barely visible smile. They could hear the water running.
"You're not just worried about her blacking out are you? You know she'll scrub too hard, don't you?" Joe asked and Horatio nodded.
"Have you dealt with this before then?" Joe questioned.
"No, but after her reaction this morning and from what she's said, she won't just let it go." Horatio said softly.
"Yeah, you're right." Joe said softly and Horatio looked at him.
"Yes, it's happened with us before. It took her a few days to stop the scrubbing and panicking." Joe said softly and Horatio nodded. They heard a light thump on the floor upstairs and Horatio quickly got up and ran upstairs with Joe following close behind. Horatio rushed into the bathroom to find Zoë just placing the towel on the towel rack. She tilted her head at them.
"Are you okay?" Horatio asked and she nodded sweetly.
"Are you okay?" She asked back and they both nodded.
"Sorry sweetheart, I thought you'd passed out again. We heard a light bang." Horatio said softly.
"Sorry, I just jumped to reach the towel on the top shelf." She said softly and they nodded at her.
"Okay beautiful, I'll be back in a moment." Horatio said softly and she nodded at him. Horatio quickly closed the door.
"We'll be down soon, you're welcome to help yourself to food and drink and you're welcome to take a shower whenever you want." Horatio said softly and Joe nodded.
"Thank you." Joe said softly and then walked downstairs after Horatio walked into the bedroom, he picked up a couple of clean bandages and gauze pad and then walked back into the bathroom. She turned to him and looked up at him.
"I can't undo the buttons either." She said quietly and Horatio quickly walked over to her and put the bandages down by the sink. He quickly unbuttoned her shirt and trousers and then backed off and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Thank you." She said softly and Horatio nodded at her. She quickly got undressed and slowly got into the bath.
"You can join me if you'd like?" She grinned at him and he chuckled.
"Maybe another time sweetheart" Horatio said softly.
"We don't have to do anything, we can just bathe together." Zoë said softly.
"Hmm" Horatio murmured quietly as he walked over to her and then knelt beside the bath and moved her left arm slowly.
"Can I take the bandage off to get another look at it, it seems to have been bleeding." Horatio said softly and she nodded at him. He peeled it off and then threw it in the bin and inspected the wound.
"It's fine now, it's stopped bleeding." Horatio said softly and Zoë nodded. Horatio got up and then sat on the side of the bath.
"Please get naked." She smiled up at him and he chuckled again.
"Zoë, just wash sweetheart" Horatio said softly.
"But you get to see me naked." She looked up at him.
"That's not actually the reason I'm in here for though. If it were, I'd happily get in there with you." He smiled at her. She unwrapped the wet bandage from her hand and then threw it into the bin and inspected her hand. Her palm and fingers were all freshly clotted as she had kept disturbing the clotting process when she rubbed it again.
"Be gentle with yourself, please." Horatio said as he got up to give her some space she nodded at him. As soon as he turned she began scrubbing at her hand again, she'd immediately opened the wounds again and began to create more. She scrubbed through the pain and gritted her teeth, the pain was giving her some sort of feeling that she was cleaning her hand. She stopped when her hand began to bleed a lot more and then picked up a clean rough sponge and began to scrub her chest. Horatio turned around and saw her skin bright red and her bleeding hand as she continued to scrub hard enough to take off the very top layer of her skin.
"Zoë! Stop." Horatio said quickly and loudly. He rushed over to her and pulled the soap and the sponge out of her hands as she looked up at him.
"What are you doing? Zoë, you've made yourself sore." Horatio said as he rolled his sleeves up and sat on the edge of the bath as she looked up at him innocently.
"He's on me." She said quietly as she looked back down at the bubbles.
"Zoë, don't do this to yourself." Horatio said as he placed his hand over the top of her chest and ran his fingers over her skin. He quickly pulled her right hand up and inspected her palm.
"You've literally taken most of your skin off, Zoë." Horatio said as she looked up at him.
"It feels better now though." She said as she looked up at him. He exhaled and then got up and pulled antiseptic cream from the cabinet and applied it to her palm and fingers once he'd dried it.
"You can't do that to yourself beautiful." Horatio said softly.
"I can't help it, it's what I've always done when something like that has happened." She said as she looked up at him.
"Don't put your hand back in the water." He said as he got up and picked up the gauze and bandages. He quickly wrapped her hand up and made sure that it wasn't so easy to get off and then picked up a soft cloth and washed her again.
"See, smooth and gentle also gets him off you." Horatio said softly when he saw her relax.
"No, it's your hands that get him off me." She said as she looked up at him.
"I told you to be gentle." Horatio said softly.
"That was gentle…" She said as she looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows and exhaled.
"Gentle compared to what I've done before, anyway." She said as she looked down and Horatio sighed.
"Sweetheart, you should have asked me to do this before." Horatio said softly.
"I didn't want to ask for help." She said as she looked up at him and he nodded.
"I know beautiful." Horatio said softly.
"You'll have to put some cream on your chest because that's going to be sore." Horatio said softly and she nodded. He washed her hair for her and she felt right at ease.
"I swear you have Jesus hands." She said as she looked up at him.
"Jesus hands?" Horatio questioned.
"Yeah, didn't he heal people with his hands?" She questioned and he let out a small chuckle, he knew she didn't mean to offend him in anyway.
"Kind of, Zoë" Horatio said softly.
"I didn't say something wrong, did I?" She questioned as she looked up at him and Horatio shook his head.
"Just promise me that you won't talk about religion in public? I can see you getting into a bit of trouble." Horatio said softly and she continued to look up at him.
"You didn't offend me, Zoë. I know that religion isn't your favourite subject." Horatio said softly, assuring her. He could see that she was still a little confused.
"Some people could find it offensive if they didn't know you." Horatio said softly and she nodded.
"But I don't understand what was offensive?" She asked.
"Well, comparing someone or a part of someone to Christ could offend them. I know you didn't mean it like that though, you meant it as a compliment, people who don't know you wouldn't know that sweetheart." Horatio said softly.
"Sorry Horatio." She apologised.
"It's okay sweetheart." He said softly as he gave her a reassuring smile.
"I guess I shouldn't have skipped the Religious Education classes." She said as she looked up at Horatio and he smiled at her.
"Were they the only classes you skipped?" Horatio questioned.
"Yeah, I didn't like them as a child, or a teenager…" She said innocently.
"Care to explain why?" He questioned as he continued to gently wash her.
"I don't want to say something that could offend you though." She said softly.
"You won't don't worry." Horatio said softly.
"Well, our teacher was deeply religious, much like yourself. But she was over the top, she tried to force her views on the students and I didn't like it. I like to be able to make my own mind up, I don't like it when people force their views on me, if they do that, I end up going in the opposite direction. So I skipped those classes." She said softly.
"I respect other people's beliefs and I understand that you all have a right to express your opinions, but I don't like it when religion is forced upon someone, just as much as I don't like non-religious people forcing their views on those who are. If you get me?" She asked.
"I understand sweetheart, I personally think that religion shouldn't be made compulsory in schools, I understand that it's not for everyone." Horatio said softly and she nodded.
"I agree." She said sweetly.
"I used to be religious as a child, I was brought up with it. My mother was religious. But I couldn't understand how a God could allow such cruelty to be brought to innocent people all over the world and within my family. So once I moved in with David, I gradually began to not believe in God anymore. David used to say that my mother wasn't always religious, but she turned to religion when she couldn't find another way out when my father turned violent. David didn't know anything about the violence until it was too late, he just knew that my father was possessive. I believe in heaven though, I guess I believe in it because I want to though, I want to think that she's up there with David now and with Maya and Josh." Zoë said softly and Horatio nodded.
"David had a gold cross necklace in his pocket when he died, was he religious?" Horatio questioned.
"No, but that was my mothers, he never went anywhere without it." Zoë said softly as Horatio helped her to sit up. Horatio nodded and then stood up and helped her out of the bath.
"Eric's religious, isn't he?" Zoë asked and Horatio nodded as he wrapped her in the towel. She gave him a small tired smile as she pulled the towel tighter around her and then walked out with Horatio following after he'd let the water out and dried his hands. He then walked into the bedroom with her and put the bandage back over the wound on her rib cage. She quickly dried herself while Horatio walked over to the draws.
"Are you changing for bed now?" He asked and Zoë nodded. He then pulled out her shorts and top along with a bra and pants. He placed them on the bed for her and then took his jacket off and put it away after she'd pulled her pants and shorts on. He walked back around to her and helped to get her bra on and then very delicately pulled her top on for her. They walked back downstairs.
"Tea?" Horatio asked and she nodded at him.
"Joe, would you like a coffee?" Horatio asked.
"Please." Joe said softly and Horatio nodded and then walked out into the kitchen while Zoë sat on the sofa.
"Okay?" Joe asked and Zoë nodded. Joe's eyes then fell to the still red skin at the top of her chest and on her collarbones.
"Don't say anything, please." She asked and he gave her a nod and then looked back to the TV. 'He must have stopped her; she's only got bad skin on her chest, no-where else. How can he have so much influence over her? Not even I could stop her from scrubbing hard.' He thought to himself. 'I do applaud him though, he must mean so much to her. I'm so happy she's found someone like him.' Joe thought to himself. Zoë relaxed back and stared blankly at the screen as she lost herself in a daze.
"Your tea is on the coffee table, Zoë." Horatio said softly and she snapped out of the daze quickly and smiled up at him.
"Thank you." She said sweetly.
"Thank you, Horatio." Joe said as he handed Joe the mug. Horatio gave Zoë a smile and then nodded at Joe. Zoë sat up straight and pulled the mug over to her and then crossed her legs as Horatio sat next to her.
"We're not going to be late to bed tonight, I really need an early night, but you're very welcome to stay up. You can use my laptop if you need to, you know all of the passwords and everything. Or the iPad, that's in the study somewhere." She said softly and Joe nodded.
"Thank you." He said softly and Zoë gave him a smile. She looked back to the TV as she stifled a yawn and then sipped her tea. Horatio rested his arm on the back of the sofa just behind her with his fingertips lightly tracing the top of her spine and neck. She giggled and then looked round to him with a wide smile. He stopped at he looked over to her, a little confused.
"Don't stop, please." She grinned.
"Don't stop what?" Horatio asked.
"With your hand." She said softly and Horatio realised he had his hand on her back and neck and he smiled at her and then began to lightly move his fingertips over her skin as he looked back to the TV. She looked back with a wide smile on her face. Joe then looked back at the TV after seeing the smile on her face. He had a smile on his after seeing her so happy. She stifled another yawn after putting her mug down on the coffee table and relaxing back. Horatio saw her dropping off.
"Bed?" Horatio asked and Zoë quickly woke and then nodded at him.
"As I say, feel free to do what you want, we don't mind." She smiled softly and Joe nodded. Zoë picked up his mug too and then walked out with Horatio following as Joe relaxed back.
"Joe, do you have your stuff?" She asked as she walked back through to the living room.
"Yes, father dropped it off while you were in the bath." He said as he looked up at her.
"Okay sweetie, just checking. Don't stay up too late, I know what you're like." She smiled at him and he nodded at her. She quickly placed a kiss on his forehead and then walked out and up the stairs after Horatio. Zoë closed the door after her and then climbed into bed after picking the remote up. 'It's broken you pleb.' She thought to herself when she looked back to the TV and then put the remote down as Horatio walked into the bedroom from the closet with a towel.
"I'm having a shower beautiful." Horatio said softly and she nodded at him. She slunk down into the bed and then began to doze. She was woken when Horatio climbed into bed.
"Sorry." He apologised.
"Don't apologise." She said softly and she then rolled onto her right side and snuggled up with him.
"What a day." Zoë sighed and Horatio nodded as he began to stroke her skin with his fingertips again.
"I'm sorry for being difficult today, I know I've stressed you out." She said as she placed her left hand on his chest.
"There's no need to apologise. You haven't stressed me out either." Horatio said softly and she exhaled.
"Actually, something you said earlier made all of this worth it." Horatio said softly.
"What was that?" She asked as she looked up at him.
"You were talking to Joe about having children with me. It was lovely to hear." Horatio said softly.
"You heard that? Oh how embarrassing." She flushed red.
"It's not embarrassing, it touched my heart, I didn't realise I made you feel that way. It made me happy to hear how I make you feel." Horatio said softly.
"You know how I feel about you, I tell you all the time." She smiled up at him.
"Yes, but to hear you telling Joe with such passion made it really hit home as to how much you love me." Horatio said softly. "Does the thought of our baby in your arms really make you that happy?" Horatio added.
"That thought of having a baby with you feels absolutely, astonishingly and overwhelmingly fantastic. Having your children would honestly be such an honour and it would make my wildest dreams come true." She smiled up at him.
"I feel exactly the same way." He said softly.
"I love you so much Horatio, I hope you know that every second of the day… and night. It's not possible to love you more." She said with a sweet expression.
"I love you just as much back." Horatio said softly.
"I cannot wait to be married to you and I cannot wait to have children with you. I get butterflies in my stomach when I think of having your baby, I get butterflies when I think of your baby being in my tummy, I even get butterflies when I think about when we start to try for a baby." She smiled up at him.
"If you weren't so tired and hadn't had such a rough day, we'd be trying for those babies right now." Horatio boyishly grinned down at Zoë and she chuckled.
"We can if you want." She grinned up at him.
"When you're fully recovered. I don't want to completely exhaust you like last time or pull those stitches apart." Horatio said softly and she slowly nodded.
"Talking about children with you makes me want you so much." She grinned as she moved to lay on him. He raised his eyebrows and smiled up at her.
"Did you mean what you said about me to Joe?" He asked softly and she nodded.
"Every word, I wouldn't change anything about my life because I'd fear that I wouldn't end up with you. Everything I've been through is worth it to have you in this bed with me right now. You are incredible, I literally don't have the words to describe just how extraordinary you are. How I have you in my life genuinely confuses me. You mean everything to me." She said softly before she placed an amorous kiss on his soft lips. He looked up at her, overwhelmed by her love and affection.
"What?" She asked softly.
"You" he said softly.
"You're so passionate and moving." Horatio said honestly as he looked up at her.
"Has no-one ever said that to you then?" She asked softly.
"Not as such and certainly not with such passion." Horatio sighed softly.
"What about Marisol?" Zoë asked confused.
"We never had this sort of relationship, I'm not sure whether it's because we didn't have much time or that she didn't feel the way you do, or certainly as strongly as you do." Horatio said as he looked up into her eyes. "She wanted children, but because she felt like she needed to feel alive, she'd just got over cancer and she felt like she tried so hard to live that she never actually got to live her life and wanted kids because of that. Of course I agreed as it was what she wanted, but she never said anything like you do. You said you'd love to have my children, she just wanted children and I was there and could give her what she wanted." Horatio said quietly as he looked up at her.
"Try not to read too much into it handsome, she loved you. Relationships are different with other people, Mike and I weren't this passionate either, we had our differences. But with you the relationship is absolutely perfect." She said softly trying to make him feel better about it. He nodded up at her with a smile. She smiled down at him and then ran a hand through his hair and looked into his eyes.
"Your eyes are mesmerizing; they just get even more beautiful each time I look into them." She said quietly.
"As do yours." He said quietly as he placed both of his hands on her ass.
"Yours are more beautiful. I'd love to have your eyes, then you'd see their beauty as you looked into them." She smiled down at them.
"I wouldn't change your eyes, I love them." Horatio smiled and she smiled shyly down at him. She then placed another loving kiss on his lips. She pulled back and then wiped her eyes as she began to weep.
"What's wrong beautiful?" Horatio asked as he removed one of his hands from her ass and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I've told you before, I love you so much, sometimes it just overwhelms me by the amount I love you." She said as she looked down at him.
"They're happy tears, don't worry." She smiled down at him and he smiled and then wiped the rest of the tears away and placed a kiss on her lips. She then rested her head down.
"You smell sooo good." She smiled as she stopped herself from sobbing.
"You do too, as always." He replied before he quickly and gently rolled her over and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
"You need to rest, sweetheart." Horatio said softly after he kissed her.
"But I want you." She said quietly.
"You've got me." He grinned down at her.
"No, but I want to make love to you." She said as she looked up at him.
"When you're well, Zoë" Horatio said softly.
"If you're worried about Joe, then there's no need to worry, I can be quiet, we know I can be now." She smiled up at him.
"I'm not at all worried about Joe hearing, I'm worried about you. I'm not going to make love to you until you're 100% recovered." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she sighed. He placed another steamy kiss on her lips and then nuzzled with her as he supported himself so he wasn't putting much weight on her.
"You see, you're so thoughtful. If you had have been Mike and I was actually up for sex he would have jumped straight to it." She grinned at him.
"You're making him sound like a sex addict." Horatio said softly with a cheeky grin.
"No, we just didn't have sex much as I didn't want it half as much as he did, I didn't want to spend every night getting frisky in bed, where as he was happy to go every minute in the day and night." She smiled up at him.
"I definitely have sex with you a lot more than either him or Joe, I only had sex with Joe a few times as I was new to it and I only wanted sex on special occasions. I had a little more with Mike, but I think I had sex with you more in the first few months of when we actually started having sex than I did if I put both relationships together." She chuckled.
"Well, aren't I lucky then?" He grinned down at her and she chuckled again.
"Mike didn't push you to do anything, did he?" Horatio asked softly and she shook her head.
"He never pushed me to do anything, he just hinted… a lot." Zoë chuckled. He kissed her one more time before rolling onto his side and moving closer to her.
"The boys back at school were forever trying to get into our pants though, they succeeded with some of the girls who didn't like us. Some actually ended up pregnant and had to drop out, which is quite ironic because they were the ones who used to start rumours about us 3 getting pregnant as we were classed as 'pretty'. Kaitlin and Jessica were and still are pretty, I didn't think I was though. People assumed that we were dumb because we were pretty, but we were all actually quite smart girls." She said softly.
"I guarantee that you were as beautiful back then as you are now." Horatio said softly.
"Nah, I was just skinny, people took being skinny as beautiful, I beg to differ. There's a lot of larger women who are beautiful." Zoë said softly and Horatio agreed.
"What were you like at school? You know what I was like." She asked Horatio.
"I was quiet I guess, I wasn't one of the popular kids, I didn't want to be. I didn't like attention and so I sort of fell into the background. I had a couple of friends, but I'm no longer in contact with them." Horatio said softly.
"Being one of the popular ones isn't amazing if I'm honest, there were plenty of times where I wished I was one of the kids who were quiet and didn't have many friends. I wished I was one of the kids that was in the middle, between the popular and the quiet kids." Zoë said softly.
"I can understand why you'd be so popular." Horatio smiled at her and she giggled.
"I've changed since then, you wouldn't have liked me so much as a child, I could be quite gobby and was happy to get into fights." She said honestly.
"You still like fights… and you can still talk back." Horatio boyishly grinned at her and she began to laugh loudly.
"I bet you weren't so cheeky as a boy." She grinned back at him and he nodded.
"When I'm 100% recovered, you are really going to pay for that comment." She grinned at him.
"In that case I think I'll have to think of some more cheeky lines." He grinned at her and she giggled a little as she looked up into his eyes. He placed his hand back over her stomach and she smiled at him.
"Can I ask you something?" Zoë asked softly and he nodded.
"Why didn't you flip at Wolfe after you watched the footage the first time you saw it? I was quite clearly out of it, he quite clearly did take advantage." Zoë said softly as she looked up at him.
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way sweetheart, but I think it's because I wanted to believe that you were of sound mind and agreed to everything that happened. I'd much rather know that you did that with him than think of him doing it without you even knowing. I think I looked past your confusion and your altered consciousness because I didn't want to believe that part of it. I'm sorry sweetheart, I should have taken a step back and looked at it properly and I should have brought it up with you, I'm sorry." He said softly and she nodded as she swallowed.
"I guess I can kind of understand that." Zoë said softly and Horatio sighed. He felt guilty and felt as if it was his fault that Ryan had got away with it for so long because he didn't say anything.
"Goodnight handsome." Zoë said softly.
"Goodnight beautiful." Horatio said softly and then leant over to give her another affectionate kiss. She smiled at him and then closed her eyes as she turned her head towards him. She quickly placed another kiss on his lips and then turned onto her side and pulled him closer. He watched her fall asleep. 'We're back in our own bed, she's so beautiful. I don't know how I can ever re-pay Joe, without him, I'd be watching her sleep back in that tent and panicking about her arresting. She loves me with her whole heart, I just can't believe how passionate she is, she means her words and it felt good to hear them, why didn't I find her sooner?' He thought to himself before falling asleep.
He woke the next morning with Zoë wrapped around him. He didn't move a muscle, he just turned his head to hers and watched her sleep again. He laid for 20 minutes, just watching her sleep. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on her side.
"Mmm" she murmured quietly as she tried to pull him closer, instead she pulled herself closer. Horatio smiled when he felt her nose against his. He could feel himself hard in his boxers but tried to calm himself down.
"You're so beautiful, I love you." He whispered to her as she slept. She sat up and turned to Horatio.
"No cats." She groaned dazed and then laid back down and moved close to him. Horatio looked at her a little confused but he knew it was her dazed sleep-talk and he found it amusing. He moved a little and pulled her in closer as he laid on his side. Her forehead touched his as he closed his eyes and felt the rhythm of her breathing. Horatio opened his eyes when he heard and felt her giggling in her sleep. He couldn't help but smile and rub her back. He could see the smile on her face and it made him melt. She nuzzled him in her sleep and Horatio's smile widened.
"Can we get married soon?" She mumbled as she exhaled.
"Ahh Horatio." She groaned in her sleep as she brought her legs up and curled into a ball.
"Horatio" she groaned again before she woke. She let out a long breath and then opened her eyes. She opened them wide when she saw Horatio grinning at her.
"I think I just had another sex dream about you…" She said as she looked at Horatio.
"I think you did…" Horatio grinned.
"Did I say your name again?" She asked and he nodded with a boyish grin.
"Ooh…" She said as she bit her lip with a grin.
"I enjoyed it." Horatio grinned.
"Hmm… I'd much rather make it a reality though and these seem to be getting more frequent…" She smiled tiredly. Horatio smiled at her. She then moved as she was getting a little too hot and Horatio could see that she was pale again.
"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Horatio asked softly.
"A little tired, but otherwise okay." She said softly and Horatio nodded.
"Do you feel sore?" Horatio asked softly.
"Only a little, but it's not bothering me." She said softly and Horatio quickly leant over her and picked up a pot of cream from her bedside.
"Put some of this on your chest, it'll make it feel better." He said softly.
"Can you put it on me?" She asked with a smile and Horatio exhaled a small chuckle. He then nodded at her and she pushed the duvet down. He quickly put a small bead of the cream on her chest and then began to massage it into her skin. He then put a bit more on his fingers and looked back down to her chest.
"Just how much did you scrub?" He questioned when he pulled her top down a little.
"I don't know." She said softly. Horatio sat up an then pulled her top down and pulled the straps off her shoulders.
"Zoë, I didn't realise you'd got down there." He said as he looked up at her.
"It's okay, it's not too sore at all." She said softly as he began to rub the cream into her sternum between her breasts.
"Can I move your bra a little?" Horatio asked softly.
"Of course, you don't have to ask." She chuckled a little with a bright smile. He moved one of the cups so he could get to the sore skin at the top of her breasts.
"Lucky I stopped you when I did, they would have been very sore if you had have scrubbed any lower." Horatio said as he looked up at her.
"The pain would have been worth it." She mumbled as she looked up at him. He quickly did her other breast and then pulled her top back up.
"You shouldn't put yourself through pain, Zoë." Horatio said softly.
"May I ask you something about something Joe said while we were re-fuelling in the Bahamas?" Horatio asked and Zoë nodded.
"What did he mean by 'don't do this to yourself again', he was talking about you not wanting to eat." Horatio said softly.