Title: Damaged Goods (2/?)
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)
Feedback: Review, or I'll send Maria to your house, y'hear?
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.
Dedication: To Yana, again, because she helped me get over writer's block, again! And to Jackie, in hopes that she won't kill Calleigh in her fic.
__________________________________________
"What have we got?" A doctor asked.
"Maria Santiago, twenty-four." One of the paramedics replied. "Possible drug overdose or alcohol poisoning."
"Whoa, wait just a second!" Calleigh snapped, having arrived with the three men seconds after the ambulance. "She had three drinks, over three hours. And there is no fucking way it's drugs, she's a cop, for God's sake!"
"She could have been slipped something." The doctor said. He sized up the three men standing behind Calleigh. "All four of you were out with her? Is there any chance you might have played a prank on her or anything?"
"What the hell are you implying?" Hagen demanded, getting right up in the doctor's face.
"He's not implying anything." Eric said. "He's accusing us, right to our faces, of being sick enough to do this to Maria."
"Okay, guys, take a deep breath." Tim cut in, the voice of reason once more. "They have to ask these questions if they're going to help her." He turned to the doctor. "Look, there's no way any of us would hurt this girl, all right? We're all cops, too. And we're her friends, so obviously everyone's a little on edge right now."
"I understand that." The doctor replied calmly. "But all of you need to understand that there is nothing you can do right now, aside from getting in the way."
"Yeah." Calleigh said, taking a deep breath. "Guys, come on, we'll wait outside. Besides, someone needs to check in with Horatio." She started to leave the room, followed by Hagen and Tim. In the doorway, she turned back. "Eric, come on."
Eric stood for another moment, watching as doctors and nurses swarmed around Maria. As someone moved to put an oxygen mask over her face, blocking her from his view, he finally snapped out of it and followed the others out of the room.
____________________
Horatio frowned as he crouched down beside Alexx, looking at the body of a redhaired girl, probably in her early twenties. She looked like she could have been beautiful once. Before someone put a gun to her forehead and pulled the trigger.
"Cause of death is no mystery." Alexx said, indicating the bullet hole. "At least we know you didn't suffer." The girl's face was so relaxed, it seemed likely that she had, in fact, been sound asleep when she was killed.
"There's nothing on her." Jade announced, emerging from the main room of the upscale suite. "The whole room looks like it hasn't been used, the towels and toiletries in the bathroom are untouched, there's no luggage. And it doesn't look like you'll find any I.D, there's not even a wallet."
Alexx looked at Horatio, raising an eyebrow. "Where is everyone?" She asked, surprised to see one of her assistants doing the jobs of the rest of the team.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Horatio replied, annoyed at the younger CSIs, but at the same time, increasingly worried.
"They're all MIA?" Alexx asked. "That's strange." She could tell that Horatio was concerned. "I'm sure everything's fine, though."
"This is so unlike them, though." Horatio pointed out. "It's one thing for one of them to be late, but for all four of them to be this late, and not have their cell phones on, just doesn't make sense."
Alexx nodded. "Well, you're right about that." She turned her attention to another tech who approached her from the second bedroom.
Horatio's cell phone rang. "Just a second." He checked the caller ID window. "Speed, where are you? I've been trying to call you for an hour."
"Sorry about that, H." Tim replied calmly. "We had to turn off our cells, hospital policy."
"Hospital?" Horatio repeated. "What's going on?"
"It's Maria, we're not sure what the problem is." Tim explained. "We were out at a bar last night, this morning we couldn't wake her up. They're running some tests on her now."
"All right, listen, don't worry about coming in." Horatio told him. "We'll call the graveyard shift back in. Keep me posted, call me if she wakes up."
"Will do." Tim said.
"Thanks, Speed." Horatio hung up the cell phone and looked at Alexx, who was no longer focused on the victim. "It's Maria, they couldn't wake her up this morning, after they went out for drinks last night."
"They thinking alcohol poisoning?" Alexx asked, concerned.
"I'm not sure." Horatio admitted. "Speed said they were running some tests."
"Front desk says this suite's been empty for three days." Detective Sevilla announced, coming into the room. "Last occupants were a guy on a business trip, and his teenage son and daughter. All three checked out on Monday, and there was nothing unusual about the room when housekeeping came through." She noticed that Horatio and Alexx weren't so focused on the case any more. "Did you hear from the team?"
"Maria's in the hospital, they're not sure what's wrong with her." Horatio said. "They went out for drinks last night, now she's unconscious."
Sevilla looked stunned. "Jesus Christ. Do you need to get over there?"
"Not yet." Horatio replied. "Speedle's going to call me as soon as they know anything." He gestured to the body on the bed. "Whatever's wrong with Maria, we've got someone here who's a lot worse off."
_________________________
"Any luck?" Tim asked, approaching the vending machine Calleigh was standing in front of.
Calleigh inspected the contents of the styrofoam cup and wrinkled her nose. "Well, this time it's hot, and it's got cream in it...but it's still chicken soup." She tossed the cup into the trash can and made her way back to the waiting area. "But who needs coffee? We can pass the time by catching up on current events in these very up to date magazines." She held up an issue of 'Life.' "Oh, look, Tricia Nixon's getting married." She threw the magazine aside and sank into a chair, scowling. "I fucking hate hospitals."
Tim didn't say anything, he just sat down beside her and gently pulled her so she was leaning against his chest.
"It's taking too long." Calleigh said, despairing. "If she was all right, we would have heard something by now."
"Hey, she's going to be fine." Tim assured her. He pressed his lips gently against her forehead and rubbed her back. "We were with her all night, we know she didn't take anything, and she only had three drinks."
"Then what the hell is taking so long?" Calleigh asked rhetorically. "I hate it. I hate that there's something wrong with her, and I can't do anything about it."
"You hate feeling helpless, I know." Tim said. "I understand. But I hate seeing you this upset. It makes me feel helpless. Because I love you."
Calleigh lifted her head up and looked into his eyes. "Tim..."
Tim mentally kicked himself. "Yeah, this was probably the wrong time and place to say that for the first time..."
"No, it's perfect." Calleigh said, kissing him softly. "I love you, too."
_______________________
"What are you reading?" Eric asked.
"Cat Fancy." Hagen replied.
Eric raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything else?"
"If there was, would I be reading Cat Fancy?" Hagen snapped.
"I honestly have no idea." Eric shrugged.
"You found out, huh?" Hagen observed.
"Well, you two were practically mating on the dance floor about three feet away from me last night." Eric scoffed.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hagen said. "Actually, no I'm not. You know as well as I do how hard it is to say no to Maria. Did you seriously get it on with her in Horatio's office? Man, if he ever found out about that..."
"I could plead temporary insanity." Eric admitted. "You've got a point, it's damn near impossible to say no to her. Next time you're at the girls' apartment, check the bookshelf in her room. Ten bucks says you find some kinda mind control manual." He shook his head. "You do realize that we are her man-whores, right?"
"Speak for yourself." Hagen told him. "I am not her...ah, fuck it. Yeah, I'm her bitch."
Eric shrugged. "Yeah, well, let me give you some advice, one man-bitch to another. Do not fall in love with that girl. And if you do, keep your damn mouth shut. Because the way I'm feeling right now? I wouldn't wish it on anyone." He stood up. "I'm gonna check in with H."
_______________________
"Wonder what they're talking about." Calleigh said, observing the two men on the opposite side of the waiting area.
"Comparing war stories." Tim suggested. "Maybe they'll form a Maria Survivors club."
"Hey." Calleigh laughed, smacking him playfully. "Watch it. She may be a total nympho, but she's still my best friend."
A young woman in the hideous pink jacket that marked her as a volunteer entered the waiting area. "Miss...uh...erm...oh, hell, Maria Santiago's...friend?"
Calleigh smirked at the obvious difficulty the girl was having pronouncing her name. "I'm Calleigh Duquesne, Maria's roommate. How is she?"
"Well, she's stabilized." The volunteer replied. "Doctor Anders will need to talk to you before you can see her."
"Oh, okay." Calleigh said. "Tim, could you tell Eric and John-"
"I'm sorry, just you." The girl interrupted. "You're listed as her emergency contact, we can't release information about a patient to anyone else."
Calleigh sighed and let go of Tim's hand. "All right."
_____________________
"Miss Duquesne?" The older doctor smiled warmly. "I'm Doctor Anders, I treated your friend."
"How is she?" Calleigh asked, barely concealing her anxiety.
"She's going to be fine." Dr. Anders replied. "But I'm afraid the results of her tox screen showed a very high dose of GHB - gamma hydroxybutyrate. It's a date-rape drug-"
Calleigh put up her hand, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I know what GHB is."
"Your friend was lucky." Dr. Anders continued. "GHB is a very unpredictable drug, it reacts differently to every individual's body chemistry. What would have been enough to merely intoxicate someone else would have killed Maria, if you hadn't gotten her here when you did."
"Jesus Christ." Calleigh sagged against the wall.
"We did an internal exam. There's no sign of rape, or of intercourse for that matter." Dr. Anders assured her.
"No, I didn't think there would be." Calleigh said. "She was with us all last night, and then just passed out in my boyfriend's apartment. I just can't believe that someone drugged her."
"We pumped her stomach and gave her charcoal." Dr. Anders said. "She'll need to stay here, at least until this afternoon, and she might feel weak and have trouble keeping food down for a few days, but she's going to be fine."
"Thank you." Calleigh sighed, shaking the doctor's hand. "Can we see her?"
"Absolutely." Dr. Anders replied. "She's asleep right now, but she should be awake soon enough. Why don't you go and get your friends?"
________________________
"We've got an I.D on our victim." Adele said, bursting into the hotel room, out of breath. With the team out of commission, and only a few CSIs from the graveyard shift willing and able to return to work, the investigation was dangerously close to becoming chaotic. "Natalie Mullaly, twenty-one. She and her friend Dawn Aberdine were staying in this hotel on a two-week vacation from London. When Natalie didn't come back to their suite last night, and didn't answer her cell phone, Dawn called the front desk, and they alerted security."
"Some vacation." Horatio grimaced. "Has Dawn given us a positive I.D?"
"She just did, and was then escorted back to her suite to call Natalie's parents." Adele sighed. "She was pretty broken up."
"Okay, I'm going to need to talk to her as soon as she's able." Horatio said.
______________________
"I can't get it out of my head." Dawn sniffled, clutching a cup of tea in her trembling hands. As devastated as she was, she had remembered her very British manners, offering Horatio and Adele a cup of tea as soon as they had arrived in her suite. They had graciously accepted her offer, and now all three sat on the couch, the dark-haired young tourist seated between the two cops. "Who could have done this to her?"
"That's what we're going to find out." Horatio told her. "And what would help us, is if you could remember everything that you and Natalie did last night."
"We...we went out to dinner." Dawn said, taking a deep, shaky breath. "I wanted to come right back here after, but Natalie really wanted to go to this bar down by the beach...The Luxe, I think. We were there for a while, I met a nice chap. While I was dancing with him, Nat came over and said she had a headache, and was going to take a cab back here. I offered to go with her, but she said she was all right." She sobbed quietly. "When I got back, she wasn't here. I thought maybe she'd met someone, or gone for a walk, so I just went to bed. I shouldn't have let her leave alone..."
"You had no way of knowing this would happen." Horatio said soothingly, rubbing the young woman's back with one hand as she broke down.
_______________________
"So someone grabbed her off the street." Adele guessed as they left the suite. "Either in front of the bar, or back here at the hotel."
"It looks that way, doesn't it?" Horatio agreed. His cell phone rang. "Excuse me. Horatio."
"It's Alexx. I've got the results of Natalie's tox screen." Alexx said. "Blood alcohol wasn't off the charts, but the GHB in her system was."
"So it was a drug rape." Horatio said. A beep over the line indicated that he had another call incoming. "Thank you, Alexx. Keep me posted." He hit a button to answer the other call. "Yeah?"
"H, Maria's awake." Tim's voice greeted him. "She's a little disoriented, but she's going to be fine."
"Speed, that's great news. I'll be there as soon as I can." Horatio
replied. "Did they figure out what was wrong with her?"
"Looks like someone slipped something into her drink at the bar last night, before we got there." Tim explained. Calleigh's voice was recognizable but indistinct in the background. "I'll be right there. H, I've got to go." The call cut off before Horatio could say anything.
He felt a sudden chill as he recalled what Tim had said. "Damn it."
________________________
"You scared the hell out of us." Hagen said, leaning down to give Maria a kiss on her forehead. "Don't ever fucking do that again."
Maria rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand. Her chin and hospital gown had a few dark gray streaks from the liquid charcoal that had been forced down her throat, and her skin was almost as white as the sterile sheets she lay on, but her green eyes had their usual spark. "You know, every damn time I end up in the fucking hospital, I get you people all up in my face, telling me I better not do that shit again. I can't figure out if you're all overly optimistic, or just really fucking stupid."
"Well, that much cursing can only mean one thing." The group looked up and saw Horatio in the doorway. "You must be feeling better."
"More or less, yeah." Maria said with a shrug. "Aside from feeling like I'm going to hurl...uh...again. And it feels like I've got the Main Street Parade at Disney World in my head. But yeah, other than that, can't complain."
"Glad to hear it." Horatio said. "I think. Calleigh, could I see you outside?"
"Yeah, sure." Calleigh stood up from her chair beside Maria's bed. She followed Horatio out into the corridor. "She's going to have to stay here until this afternoon, and it'll probably be a good idea for her to stay at home, at least tomorrow."
"Speed said someone drugged her at the bar." Horatio said.
"Yeah, she tested positive for GHB. A lot of it, too." Calleigh confirmed. "It makes me sick just thinking about it. You know, the doctor said that if we hadn't brought her in when we did, she would have been dead within an hour."
Horatio grimaced at the thought. And at another thought that he couldn't shake. "Calleigh, this is important. What bar did you go to last night?"
"Shit, I can barely remember, if you can believe that." Calleigh sighed. She thought for a moment. "Oh, I know! It was The Luxe. Why?"
_____________________
TBC...
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)
Feedback: Review, or I'll send Maria to your house, y'hear?
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.
Dedication: To Yana, again, because she helped me get over writer's block, again! And to Jackie, in hopes that she won't kill Calleigh in her fic.
__________________________________________
"What have we got?" A doctor asked.
"Maria Santiago, twenty-four." One of the paramedics replied. "Possible drug overdose or alcohol poisoning."
"Whoa, wait just a second!" Calleigh snapped, having arrived with the three men seconds after the ambulance. "She had three drinks, over three hours. And there is no fucking way it's drugs, she's a cop, for God's sake!"
"She could have been slipped something." The doctor said. He sized up the three men standing behind Calleigh. "All four of you were out with her? Is there any chance you might have played a prank on her or anything?"
"What the hell are you implying?" Hagen demanded, getting right up in the doctor's face.
"He's not implying anything." Eric said. "He's accusing us, right to our faces, of being sick enough to do this to Maria."
"Okay, guys, take a deep breath." Tim cut in, the voice of reason once more. "They have to ask these questions if they're going to help her." He turned to the doctor. "Look, there's no way any of us would hurt this girl, all right? We're all cops, too. And we're her friends, so obviously everyone's a little on edge right now."
"I understand that." The doctor replied calmly. "But all of you need to understand that there is nothing you can do right now, aside from getting in the way."
"Yeah." Calleigh said, taking a deep breath. "Guys, come on, we'll wait outside. Besides, someone needs to check in with Horatio." She started to leave the room, followed by Hagen and Tim. In the doorway, she turned back. "Eric, come on."
Eric stood for another moment, watching as doctors and nurses swarmed around Maria. As someone moved to put an oxygen mask over her face, blocking her from his view, he finally snapped out of it and followed the others out of the room.
____________________
Horatio frowned as he crouched down beside Alexx, looking at the body of a redhaired girl, probably in her early twenties. She looked like she could have been beautiful once. Before someone put a gun to her forehead and pulled the trigger.
"Cause of death is no mystery." Alexx said, indicating the bullet hole. "At least we know you didn't suffer." The girl's face was so relaxed, it seemed likely that she had, in fact, been sound asleep when she was killed.
"There's nothing on her." Jade announced, emerging from the main room of the upscale suite. "The whole room looks like it hasn't been used, the towels and toiletries in the bathroom are untouched, there's no luggage. And it doesn't look like you'll find any I.D, there's not even a wallet."
Alexx looked at Horatio, raising an eyebrow. "Where is everyone?" She asked, surprised to see one of her assistants doing the jobs of the rest of the team.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Horatio replied, annoyed at the younger CSIs, but at the same time, increasingly worried.
"They're all MIA?" Alexx asked. "That's strange." She could tell that Horatio was concerned. "I'm sure everything's fine, though."
"This is so unlike them, though." Horatio pointed out. "It's one thing for one of them to be late, but for all four of them to be this late, and not have their cell phones on, just doesn't make sense."
Alexx nodded. "Well, you're right about that." She turned her attention to another tech who approached her from the second bedroom.
Horatio's cell phone rang. "Just a second." He checked the caller ID window. "Speed, where are you? I've been trying to call you for an hour."
"Sorry about that, H." Tim replied calmly. "We had to turn off our cells, hospital policy."
"Hospital?" Horatio repeated. "What's going on?"
"It's Maria, we're not sure what the problem is." Tim explained. "We were out at a bar last night, this morning we couldn't wake her up. They're running some tests on her now."
"All right, listen, don't worry about coming in." Horatio told him. "We'll call the graveyard shift back in. Keep me posted, call me if she wakes up."
"Will do." Tim said.
"Thanks, Speed." Horatio hung up the cell phone and looked at Alexx, who was no longer focused on the victim. "It's Maria, they couldn't wake her up this morning, after they went out for drinks last night."
"They thinking alcohol poisoning?" Alexx asked, concerned.
"I'm not sure." Horatio admitted. "Speed said they were running some tests."
"Front desk says this suite's been empty for three days." Detective Sevilla announced, coming into the room. "Last occupants were a guy on a business trip, and his teenage son and daughter. All three checked out on Monday, and there was nothing unusual about the room when housekeeping came through." She noticed that Horatio and Alexx weren't so focused on the case any more. "Did you hear from the team?"
"Maria's in the hospital, they're not sure what's wrong with her." Horatio said. "They went out for drinks last night, now she's unconscious."
Sevilla looked stunned. "Jesus Christ. Do you need to get over there?"
"Not yet." Horatio replied. "Speedle's going to call me as soon as they know anything." He gestured to the body on the bed. "Whatever's wrong with Maria, we've got someone here who's a lot worse off."
_________________________
"Any luck?" Tim asked, approaching the vending machine Calleigh was standing in front of.
Calleigh inspected the contents of the styrofoam cup and wrinkled her nose. "Well, this time it's hot, and it's got cream in it...but it's still chicken soup." She tossed the cup into the trash can and made her way back to the waiting area. "But who needs coffee? We can pass the time by catching up on current events in these very up to date magazines." She held up an issue of 'Life.' "Oh, look, Tricia Nixon's getting married." She threw the magazine aside and sank into a chair, scowling. "I fucking hate hospitals."
Tim didn't say anything, he just sat down beside her and gently pulled her so she was leaning against his chest.
"It's taking too long." Calleigh said, despairing. "If she was all right, we would have heard something by now."
"Hey, she's going to be fine." Tim assured her. He pressed his lips gently against her forehead and rubbed her back. "We were with her all night, we know she didn't take anything, and she only had three drinks."
"Then what the hell is taking so long?" Calleigh asked rhetorically. "I hate it. I hate that there's something wrong with her, and I can't do anything about it."
"You hate feeling helpless, I know." Tim said. "I understand. But I hate seeing you this upset. It makes me feel helpless. Because I love you."
Calleigh lifted her head up and looked into his eyes. "Tim..."
Tim mentally kicked himself. "Yeah, this was probably the wrong time and place to say that for the first time..."
"No, it's perfect." Calleigh said, kissing him softly. "I love you, too."
_______________________
"What are you reading?" Eric asked.
"Cat Fancy." Hagen replied.
Eric raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything else?"
"If there was, would I be reading Cat Fancy?" Hagen snapped.
"I honestly have no idea." Eric shrugged.
"You found out, huh?" Hagen observed.
"Well, you two were practically mating on the dance floor about three feet away from me last night." Eric scoffed.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hagen said. "Actually, no I'm not. You know as well as I do how hard it is to say no to Maria. Did you seriously get it on with her in Horatio's office? Man, if he ever found out about that..."
"I could plead temporary insanity." Eric admitted. "You've got a point, it's damn near impossible to say no to her. Next time you're at the girls' apartment, check the bookshelf in her room. Ten bucks says you find some kinda mind control manual." He shook his head. "You do realize that we are her man-whores, right?"
"Speak for yourself." Hagen told him. "I am not her...ah, fuck it. Yeah, I'm her bitch."
Eric shrugged. "Yeah, well, let me give you some advice, one man-bitch to another. Do not fall in love with that girl. And if you do, keep your damn mouth shut. Because the way I'm feeling right now? I wouldn't wish it on anyone." He stood up. "I'm gonna check in with H."
_______________________
"Wonder what they're talking about." Calleigh said, observing the two men on the opposite side of the waiting area.
"Comparing war stories." Tim suggested. "Maybe they'll form a Maria Survivors club."
"Hey." Calleigh laughed, smacking him playfully. "Watch it. She may be a total nympho, but she's still my best friend."
A young woman in the hideous pink jacket that marked her as a volunteer entered the waiting area. "Miss...uh...erm...oh, hell, Maria Santiago's...friend?"
Calleigh smirked at the obvious difficulty the girl was having pronouncing her name. "I'm Calleigh Duquesne, Maria's roommate. How is she?"
"Well, she's stabilized." The volunteer replied. "Doctor Anders will need to talk to you before you can see her."
"Oh, okay." Calleigh said. "Tim, could you tell Eric and John-"
"I'm sorry, just you." The girl interrupted. "You're listed as her emergency contact, we can't release information about a patient to anyone else."
Calleigh sighed and let go of Tim's hand. "All right."
_____________________
"Miss Duquesne?" The older doctor smiled warmly. "I'm Doctor Anders, I treated your friend."
"How is she?" Calleigh asked, barely concealing her anxiety.
"She's going to be fine." Dr. Anders replied. "But I'm afraid the results of her tox screen showed a very high dose of GHB - gamma hydroxybutyrate. It's a date-rape drug-"
Calleigh put up her hand, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I know what GHB is."
"Your friend was lucky." Dr. Anders continued. "GHB is a very unpredictable drug, it reacts differently to every individual's body chemistry. What would have been enough to merely intoxicate someone else would have killed Maria, if you hadn't gotten her here when you did."
"Jesus Christ." Calleigh sagged against the wall.
"We did an internal exam. There's no sign of rape, or of intercourse for that matter." Dr. Anders assured her.
"No, I didn't think there would be." Calleigh said. "She was with us all last night, and then just passed out in my boyfriend's apartment. I just can't believe that someone drugged her."
"We pumped her stomach and gave her charcoal." Dr. Anders said. "She'll need to stay here, at least until this afternoon, and she might feel weak and have trouble keeping food down for a few days, but she's going to be fine."
"Thank you." Calleigh sighed, shaking the doctor's hand. "Can we see her?"
"Absolutely." Dr. Anders replied. "She's asleep right now, but she should be awake soon enough. Why don't you go and get your friends?"
________________________
"We've got an I.D on our victim." Adele said, bursting into the hotel room, out of breath. With the team out of commission, and only a few CSIs from the graveyard shift willing and able to return to work, the investigation was dangerously close to becoming chaotic. "Natalie Mullaly, twenty-one. She and her friend Dawn Aberdine were staying in this hotel on a two-week vacation from London. When Natalie didn't come back to their suite last night, and didn't answer her cell phone, Dawn called the front desk, and they alerted security."
"Some vacation." Horatio grimaced. "Has Dawn given us a positive I.D?"
"She just did, and was then escorted back to her suite to call Natalie's parents." Adele sighed. "She was pretty broken up."
"Okay, I'm going to need to talk to her as soon as she's able." Horatio said.
______________________
"I can't get it out of my head." Dawn sniffled, clutching a cup of tea in her trembling hands. As devastated as she was, she had remembered her very British manners, offering Horatio and Adele a cup of tea as soon as they had arrived in her suite. They had graciously accepted her offer, and now all three sat on the couch, the dark-haired young tourist seated between the two cops. "Who could have done this to her?"
"That's what we're going to find out." Horatio told her. "And what would help us, is if you could remember everything that you and Natalie did last night."
"We...we went out to dinner." Dawn said, taking a deep, shaky breath. "I wanted to come right back here after, but Natalie really wanted to go to this bar down by the beach...The Luxe, I think. We were there for a while, I met a nice chap. While I was dancing with him, Nat came over and said she had a headache, and was going to take a cab back here. I offered to go with her, but she said she was all right." She sobbed quietly. "When I got back, she wasn't here. I thought maybe she'd met someone, or gone for a walk, so I just went to bed. I shouldn't have let her leave alone..."
"You had no way of knowing this would happen." Horatio said soothingly, rubbing the young woman's back with one hand as she broke down.
_______________________
"So someone grabbed her off the street." Adele guessed as they left the suite. "Either in front of the bar, or back here at the hotel."
"It looks that way, doesn't it?" Horatio agreed. His cell phone rang. "Excuse me. Horatio."
"It's Alexx. I've got the results of Natalie's tox screen." Alexx said. "Blood alcohol wasn't off the charts, but the GHB in her system was."
"So it was a drug rape." Horatio said. A beep over the line indicated that he had another call incoming. "Thank you, Alexx. Keep me posted." He hit a button to answer the other call. "Yeah?"
"H, Maria's awake." Tim's voice greeted him. "She's a little disoriented, but she's going to be fine."
"Speed, that's great news. I'll be there as soon as I can." Horatio
replied. "Did they figure out what was wrong with her?"
"Looks like someone slipped something into her drink at the bar last night, before we got there." Tim explained. Calleigh's voice was recognizable but indistinct in the background. "I'll be right there. H, I've got to go." The call cut off before Horatio could say anything.
He felt a sudden chill as he recalled what Tim had said. "Damn it."
________________________
"You scared the hell out of us." Hagen said, leaning down to give Maria a kiss on her forehead. "Don't ever fucking do that again."
Maria rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand. Her chin and hospital gown had a few dark gray streaks from the liquid charcoal that had been forced down her throat, and her skin was almost as white as the sterile sheets she lay on, but her green eyes had their usual spark. "You know, every damn time I end up in the fucking hospital, I get you people all up in my face, telling me I better not do that shit again. I can't figure out if you're all overly optimistic, or just really fucking stupid."
"Well, that much cursing can only mean one thing." The group looked up and saw Horatio in the doorway. "You must be feeling better."
"More or less, yeah." Maria said with a shrug. "Aside from feeling like I'm going to hurl...uh...again. And it feels like I've got the Main Street Parade at Disney World in my head. But yeah, other than that, can't complain."
"Glad to hear it." Horatio said. "I think. Calleigh, could I see you outside?"
"Yeah, sure." Calleigh stood up from her chair beside Maria's bed. She followed Horatio out into the corridor. "She's going to have to stay here until this afternoon, and it'll probably be a good idea for her to stay at home, at least tomorrow."
"Speed said someone drugged her at the bar." Horatio said.
"Yeah, she tested positive for GHB. A lot of it, too." Calleigh confirmed. "It makes me sick just thinking about it. You know, the doctor said that if we hadn't brought her in when we did, she would have been dead within an hour."
Horatio grimaced at the thought. And at another thought that he couldn't shake. "Calleigh, this is important. What bar did you go to last night?"
"Shit, I can barely remember, if you can believe that." Calleigh sighed. She thought for a moment. "Oh, I know! It was The Luxe. Why?"
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TBC...