When Alexx hurried into the Intensive Care waiting room she found Calleigh the only one there. Her friend was huddled in a chair, wrapped in a standard issue ambulance blanket. She had a full to the brim paper cup of coffee clutched in her hands and Horatio's sunglasses were perched haphazardly on her head. Calleigh didn't seem to notice her, even when Alexx pried the cup from her frozen grip and set it carefully on a table.
She knelt down in front of her friend and took both of Calleigh's cold hands in her warm ones. "Calleigh?" she said softly. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here. How's Horatio?"
Calleigh still didn't react and Alexx shifted gears rapidly from worrying about one friend to worrying about two. The blanket on Calleigh's shoulders fell open a little at the front and Alexx noticed that she was wearing only a bra underneath. It just took a second for her to figure out where the rest of Calleigh's clothes had gone.
"Here, take this." Alexx was wearing an apple green tank top and matching sweater. She peeled the outer layer off, eased the blanket away from Calleigh's shoulders and helped her slip the sweater on, quickly doing up the row of tiny buttons. "It's not really your color, sugar, but it'll have to do."
"Thanks," Calleigh whispered, and Alexx gave her a brief hug before pulling a chair close and sitting down facing her friend.
"Can you tell me what happened?" she asked gently.
Calleigh started slowly but she did manage to eventually choke out the entire story. "They haven't told me much, Alexx," she ended on a sob, "except that he lost an awful lot of blood. As if I didn't know." Calleigh sniffed loudly and gratefully accepted a tissue from her friend. "When they moved him from Emergency to Intensive Care," she continued after drying her eyes, "they said he wasn't going to need major surgery. That's a good sign, isn't it?" Calleigh's eyes, all ready filling with fresh tears, pleaded for the right answer.
"Sure is," Alexx reassured her, but Calleigh didn't seem comforted. "Tell you what. Horatio has me listed as his personal physician. Why don't I see what I can find out? Will you be okay alone for a few minutes?"
Calleigh nodded woodenly and Alexx squeezed her hand before she left. "Be right back," she assured her friend and disappeared in the direction of the nurse's station. True to her word, she reappeared in less than five minutes and reclaimed her chair.
"Thank you, Calleigh," the M.E. said softly.
That wasn't what Calleigh expected to hear and it jolted her out of her daze. "What for?" she asked, baffled.
"Straight from the attending physician's mouth. First aid applied at the scene saved Lieutenant Caine's life," Alexx quoted. "That would be you, Calleigh."
Calleigh raised her eyes and Alexx saw hope in them for the first time. "He's going to be okay?" she whispered.
"I think so," Alexx replied. "By some miracle the metal entered and exited far enough to the side where it missed hitting anything vital. Two broken ribs, that's it, and he's very, very weak from massive blood loss which is always a danger. They'll keep him in ICU until he regains consciousness and then he'll be reevaluated. But I honestly believe he'll make a full recovery."
Calleigh closed her eyes. "Thank God," was the only intelligent thing she could think of to say.
-
"Take your time, honey," Alexx crooned, and he did, staring at the two women standing next to the bed as if he couldn't quite decipher what he was looking at.
"Am I seeing double?" he finally whispered. Calleigh and Alexx grew concerned for a moment until they glanced at each other and remembered the matching green sweaters.
"No," Calleigh said softly, squeezing his hand. "We're both here, Horatio."
"Oh. Okay." His eyes drifted shut again and Calleigh glanced at Alexx for reassurance. The M.E. studied the impressive array of monitors blinking and bleeping at the head of the bed before she replied.
"He's fine," she reported in a calming tone. "But between the blood loss and the pain killers I wouldn't expect a stimulating conversation quite yet."
"Lot you know," Horatio mumbled.
Calleigh smiled. "How you doing, Handsome?"
"Tired," he admitted, but he opened his eyes again and stared at her. "Liked it better … before …" he said softly, and Calleigh shook her head, uncertain as to what he meant.
"Your outfit," he elaborated, and Calleigh giggled which made Alexx grin.
"Just don't expect me to model it for you a second time," Calleigh warned him, then wished she could bite the words back as Horatio's chuckle turned instantly into a grimace of pain.
"And try not to laugh," Alexx added, wincing in sympathy.
Horatio's face gradually relaxed as exhaustion prevailed over pain. He felt himself drifting again and fought it valiantly until someone whispered "sleep, Horatio," and he did.
FIN