Disclaimer:  This is solely for the enjoyment of the readership.  There is no intent to infringe on characters owned by CBS.

Rating:  PG

Sharpshooter – 4

After an hour or so in the quiet of the Chapel, Calleigh noted, "Maybe it's time to move this party upstairs to the Waiting Room outside the OR."

"Sure, Calleigh, just give me five minutes, okay?" Eric requested.  "Alone…"

"Can do.  I'll get us some coffee and meet you outside the chapel door," she returned.

"Thanks," Eric reassured her.

After Calleigh had let the door close quietly behind her, Eric got down on his knees, pulled out his rosary, and began to pray in earnest.

Calleigh pulled out Horatio's wallet since hers was in the Hummer.  She stuffed the receipt inside as a reminder to put money back in just as soon as she could.  Before returning the wallet to the pocket on her jacket, she looked at the photos one more time.

Eric rejoined her, and together they headed upstairs to the Waiting Room.

"Have you heard from Tim?" Calleigh wanted to know.

"Can't use a cell phone in the hospital," Eric reminded her.  "I left it in the car when I came in.  Cuts down on temptation, you know," he smiled down at her.

She nodded, "I wonder what's going on in there?"

Eric led her to a pair of chairs that happened to be together.  As the leading trauma center in South Florida, Jackson Memorial was always packed with gunshot victims, car crashes, and burn patients.  The Waiting Rooms were always full.  At least the one for OR was a bit tamer than the ER Waiting Room.

"I guess we just wait," he began, "And that is not my strongest character trait."

"Patience is a virtue," Calleigh spoke softly, "I just can't do it right now."

Eric hugged her gently.

A surgeon came in, or at least the room lit up as if it were a surgeon.  He called out someone else's name.  That family rose and followed him out to a smaller room nearby.  Calleigh and Eric would just have to wait their turn.

Calleigh had been at the hospital for four and a half hours when a man dressed in scrubs came out saying, "Kelly?  Is there a Kelly here?"

"Do you suppose he means me?" she asked Eric.

"What have we got to lose?  I don't see anybody else jumping up, do you?" Eric offered.

Calleigh rose, taking Eric's hand to bring him along.

"I'm Calleigh.  I'm here for Horatio Caine.  Do you mean me?" she inquired.

He looked down at his chart to verify, "Yes.  Can you come with me, please?"

Calleigh looked apprehensively at Eric who returned her concern.

They were ushered into a small conference room.

"ER said you came in with Lieutenant Caine earlier.  Are you his next of kin?" he wanted to know.

"Not exactly," Calleigh began.  "I don't really know who Horatio has listed as his next of kin.  Do you, Eric?" she looked over at him.

"Beats me," Eric commented, "But we're all family anyhow," he added defensively.

The doctor looked at them, flipped through a few more pages of chart.  He sighed before beginning.  Calleigh squeezed Eric's hand tightly.

"Okay.  I can't find anything here that says otherwise.  So let me tell you what we did in there," the surgeon started.  "As you know, he was suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper left quadrant," he motioned to the general area on a graphic.

"I pulled fragments of probably two bullets out.  That was the easy part.  One had cut the brachial artery.  That was the time consuming part.  By the way, whoever applied the first bandage with pressure may have saved his life," he continued.

Calleigh looked relieved and began to breathe again.

"We've already transferred custody of the fragments to the crime lab folks," he went on.

Eric looked down at Calleigh and patted his front pocket, "We are the crime lab folks, and so I've got them for analysis."

The doctor smiled before finishing.

"I repaired the artery and checked for other blood vessel damage.  So far, so good.  When we closed, there were no leaks.  For the next few hours, that's our main concern.  Tomorrow will have a whole new set of concerns."

"When can I see him?" Calleigh needed to know.

"Tomorrow, I guess," the doctor answered.

"Can I see him now?  I really need to see him now.  Please…" she pled with him.

Shaking his head, "He's in Recovery.  From there we'll put him in the Unit, that's ICU.  I don't know how long before he's in a room," he concluded.

"Please, may I see him now?" Calleigh implored once more.

The doctor looked at her, saw the blood stains on the jacket.

"You were there when he was shot?" the physician wanted to know.

Calleigh nodded as her eyes began to fill with tears again.  She could not stop them this time.  The surgeon drew in a deep breath.

"Come with me, then," he offered.

Calleigh addressed Eric, "You stay here, okay?"

Eric agreed.  He was not entirely sure he wanted to see Horatio just now.

A nurse greeted them at the desk for the Recovery Room.  All the beds were full; the monitors chirped and buzzed; the smell of clean pervaded the area.  Calleigh's eyes moved quickly in search of Horatio.

"Can you take off that jacket, please," she said as she offered Calleigh a surgical smock.

Calleigh relinquished the shooting jacket in favour of the clean garment.  She donned a mask, still looking for him.  The nurse led her to the far end where Calleigh's heart immediately found its way to the middle of her throat.  She paused for just a moment, enough to make the nurse turn around and look at her.

"I'm fine.  I'm fine.  The last time I saw him was the ER.  He looks better now," she said weakly.

Calleigh stood at Horatio's right side.  A plain sheet covered the lower half of his body.  A PIC line had taken the place of all the previous IVs.  Whole blood and antibiotics all ran into this one line.  Scanning the monitors over his head, she could see that his pulse was elevated while his pressure was down.  He had begun to run a fever, which worried Calleigh a bit.

"He's got a fever," she muttered at no one in particular.

Horatio's pulse jumped at the sound of her voice.

"He can hear me," she said with delight.  It was the first time in hours that she felt good.

"Horatio, it's Calleigh," she looked deep into his calm face.  "I told you I'd be here when you got back.  I'll be here as long as they let me.  Everything is going to be okay now," she breathed a sigh of relief.

Softly she stroked his face and stopped to trace her finger around his ear.  She brushed his hair back and gently kissed his forehead, "Everything's fine now."

The nurse took her elbow, "Dear, he needs lots of rest…"

"Horatio," she began, "I've got your stuff.  I borrowed some change for coffee for Eric…Eric is here too.  Tim is at the lab.  I kinda made work for Alexx, too."

The nurse touched her again.

"Anyhow, I've got to go now.  It's going to be okay," she finished by leaning over to kiss his flushed cheek.  "I'll come back later when they let me.  God answered our prayers.  You're going to be okay."

Quietly Calleigh slipped out, returning to the nurses' desk.  She picked up her stained shooting jacket as she placed the smock and mask into the dirty laundry bin.

"Oh no, she's seen the photo," thought Horatio.  "I wonder what she thinks.  At least she didn't hammer me for it.  But then, Calleigh is kind hearted and would not want me to worry.  Fat chance!  I'm worried already.  Come back, Calleigh.  We need to talk!"