Part 9 – Last ditch
Lieutenant Horatio Caine took off his jacket and placed it over the back of a chair. Sergeant Orrick handed him the blast protective clothing and Horatio started getting dressed while the younger man assisted Calleigh. He pulled some sort of vest over her head, which covered her front as much as possible, then wrapped some material around her legs for protection. A helmet completed the set, and after a brief nod, the Sergeant set to preparing his equipment.
Calleigh, unable to assist, was left to watch in silence. Her heart was racing, despite the many ways Horatio had tried to calm her down. She was sitting on a bomb, and the last case she remembered with a bomb had been that guy with the pipe bomb around his neck. Al Humphries had been the one to do the hands-on and the whole thing had exploded, killing both the victim and the bomb squad technician.
She didn't want to think about a repeating of history. She knew Horatio well enough to know how hard it had been for him to watch the explosion that had killed his mentor. That exactly that was the reason why he refused to leave. He just couldn't watch from a distance, not again, not with one of his own people on the inside. Especially her, although she was positive he would have done exactly the same thing for Eric or Tim if one of them had been sitting on this chair.
For Calleigh, however, things were different. While she had no choice, he had. And she wanted him to live, whether she was going to make it or not. She wasn't ready to die, and she definitely wasn't ready to drag him with her. Bringing this up wasn't going to get her anywhere, however, so she accepted his presence and forced herself to hope for the best.
"Calleigh, are you okay?" his soft and gentle voice interrupted her inner turmoil.
She looked up, and found a pair of blue eyes, glancing at her in worry. She smiled. "I'm fine, Horatio. I just wish this was over."
"It will be, in a minute. Have you picked that restaurant yet?" he asked, in another attempt to distract her.
"I'm still thinking, okay?" she answered absentmindedly, as she watched intently at what the bomb technician was doing.
Sergeant Orrick had finished setting up his equipment. The cutter he was going to use was long, allowing the technician to stay at a relatively safe distance. He'd also set up some sort of screen, like a mobile room-divider. The screen was made of blast-protective material, and would serve as a shield. It was set up to Calleigh's left, the screen being directed at the blast-area.
Orrick moved, until he was standing right beside Calleigh, held out his hands as if he was going to drag her away, then looked over his shoulder. "I think this is it, Lieutenant," he said. "You'll pull her off the chair and dive behind the shield, all right?"
Horatio stood still, his head slightly tilted, his eyes following the line of movement, from the chair to the shield. Nodding in approval, he stepped closer. "All right. Let's do this, right now."
"On three?" Sergeant Orrick asked, while moving in position.
"On three," acknowledged Horatio. "Calleigh, on three, I want you to jump with me, and we're going to get behind that screen, all right?"
This was it, she thought, and nodded. Lifting her arms, she offered her hands to Horatio.
He took her hands, shifted until he stood steadily and looked over his shoulder to aim where he was going. Turning his head, he looked at her one last time, threw her a smile, then shifted his attention to Sergeant Orrick. "Ready?"
Orrick had picked up his equipment and slowly and carefully positioned it, the blazers open, the yellow wire trapped between them. He couldn't look away from his task anymore so he settled for saying yes.
"Okay. Here we go. One. Two," Horatio's hands clasped around Calleigh's hands. "Three!"
Orrick cut the wire.
Horatio jerked at Calleigh's hands and dove, dragging her with him, shielding her with his body, as he rolled and maneuvered, until they landed behind the shield, Calleigh on her back, Horatio protectively on top of her.
She had her eyes tightly closed, waiting for the explosion.
Horatio didn't move, covering her with his body, waiting, expectantly.
It didn't come. Nothing happened.
Then, Sergeant Orrick's voice broke the silence. "We're safe."
Crying out in utter relief, Calleigh finally dared to open her eyes. "We made it."
"Yes, we did, didn't we?" Horatio smiled. He slowly rolled off her, then sat up. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine now, handsome," she said happily, and used her elbows to push herself into a sitting position. She started removing the blast protective clothing, starting with the helmet, noticing from the corner of her eyes that Horatio was doing the same. "You?" she inquired, and her eyes widened as she looked him over. "Horatio, your head is bleeding again. Sit still."
He placed his helmet on the ground and frowned. He lifted a hand to touch the damaged area. His fingers came back slick with blood.
Calleigh had already jumped up, gathered some gauze from the same kit as Alexx had done earlier, then knelt beside him. "Here, let me." As gently as she could, she pressed the gauze over the bandage that had now turned red with blood.
He winced.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I think we need to call in the medics."
"It's okay, Cal," Horatio reassured her. "Let's go down and see how Eric is doing, all right? I think Sergeant Orrick can handle the disposal of the bomb."
Sergeant Orrick looked up. He'd moved towards the chair and was looking underneath it, examining the remaining bomb. "You two go ahead, I'll wrap this baby up in a special container and then I'm done."
"Thank you," Calleigh said, "for all you've done for me."
"You're welcome, ma'am," he answered. "I was just doing my job."
"And you were doing it pretty well, Sergeant," Horatio added. "Al has taught you well."
"Thank you, sir," Orrick smiled.
"Here, hold this," Calleigh said, as she lifted Horatio's arm and guided his hand until it was on top of the makeshift bandage. Withdrawing her own hand, she looked in satisfaction how he kept his hand in position, keeping pressure on the wound. Grabbing him under his other arm, she pulled him to his feet. "Let's go."
Together, they left the lab and headed for the stairs. Calleigh didn't fail to notice how her boss staggered slightly, so she hooked into his free arm, providing him with some support. "Hold on to me," she told him before slowly guiding him downstairs. Reaching the main hall, she glanced sideways. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," he said, and let go of her arm as they reached the front door. Ever the gentleman, he opened it for her. "After you."
"Well, thank you," Calleigh said as she stepped outside. "Isn't there a lot of activity going on here," she commented, seeing for the first time what the situation with Keith Reynolds had caused. She noticed the command post, the fire trucks, the extra police officers and swat team, the rescue unit, all gathered around the building. The streets were blocked at a safe distance, and, looking back at the command post, she spotted her colleague Tim Speedle waving his arms, with Frank Tripp sporting a wide grin standing next to him.
"Guess they are happy to see you," Horatio remarked with a smile. He took out his sunglasses and put them on.
"I didn't know I was that popular," she teased. "I wonder how Eric is doing."
"Well, let's get over there and find out, shall we?" Horatio invited her, and together they walked into the direction of the parking lot.
A/N's: that's it for now, folks! At least you know now that Cal is okay. The final chapter isn't finished, though, and I'm going away for a while, so you will have to wait for that til January. Thanks for all of your reviews, you guys feed my pen! I love it.Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you. - Corine.