Chapter three:

An: Thank you for the reviews, they're highly appreciated

Back at the hospital, Calleigh hadn't left Eric's side for more than 5 minutes. Although her friends pointed out there was nothing she could do, she still wanted to stay with him. She wanted to be there when he woke up.

Ryan was there with her. In the beginning she was a bit hostile towards Ryan. Not only did he replace a dear friend of hers, his first case was a hit and run with her father involved. But the more time she spent with him and the more cases they worked together, the more she'd appreciate him and they became good friends.

Yelina waited over an hour for Horatio and when he didn't show up, she started to question the suspect Thomas Harrison without him.

Thomas claimed he didn't know about his wife's death or the attempt on Eric's life until the police arrested him and he of course he denied any possible involvement. Yelina stopped questioning him when she spotted Horatio in the hallway.

"Hey, I waited an hour for you." Horatio looked at her like he had no idea what she was talking about. Yelina gave him a confused look as well. "Thomas Harrison, remember?"

Horatio had to think another minute or two before he realized who she was talking about. "Right Thomas Harrison. What did he tell you?"

"Not much, just that he had nothing to do with it. That their marriage wasn't in any trouble, that he loved his wife dearly and that he would do anything for her.

"You know what, Yelina, I don't believe him." Horatio entered the room, introduced himself and took over the interrogation.

Her conversation with Horatio, scared her. This was the first time Horatio was late without warning her. Plus he didn't remember why she needed him. This really spooked her. She did believe him when he told her he was in the lab and forgot the time, but she paged him more than seven times. He should have noticed that. Anyway, she decided that she would talk to him about it later that evening, if he would let her. She looked at him another minute, then joined him.

Eric tossed and turned a while before he woke up. At first he didn't know where he was but it soon came back to him. His mouth was dry, his shoulder was killing him but he was glad to be still alive. He was even more glad when he spotted Calleigh next to his bed. She was still sleeping, like she had been for quite some time now. Ryan tried to persuade her to go home, before he left for work, but he had no luck…so she was still there.

Eric felt how tight she was holding his hand, like she was never going to let it go. It gave him a good feeling and made his pain more liveable. He waited till she opened her eyes. And even when she just woke up, he thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world. "Hey" he softly said.

Calleigh was surprised and a bit embarrassed to see him looking at her. She thought she would be the one looking at him instead of the other way round but still she was glad he was awake and talking. "Hey, how are you" she said back just as softly as he did.

"My shoulder hurts but I'll live." An uncomfortable moment of silence followed. Both were thinking about what he said when he was lying in her arms ,dying at the time. Eric wanted to forget all about it. He wanted to acted like it never happened but Calleigh couldn't and broke the silence.

"Eric" They looked in each other eyes and he knew she would turn him down. Still he waited in suspense if that was in fact the thing she was about to say "About what you said earlier…"

Again a pause fell, Eric couldn't take it any longer. "Never mind about that.. I…" He tried to talk his way out of it but Calleigh wouldn't let him. She grabbed his hand and made him look at her. "No, let me finish. I… I like being around you too." She took a deep breathe and went on "I also like to see in the morning and spend so much time trying out theories. Hell I even like the way you smell." They both laughed.

"What does that mean?" Eric asked confused and embarrassed. He felt like he was in high school again. " I don't, you tell me." Now Calleigh starred at the floor embarrassed like she was in her high school years. Although she was always the person that got asked out.

"Maybe I can take you out to dinner sometimes, when I get out of here."

Calleigh nodded, smiled and said: "I'd like that." Eric kissed her hand which made her blush.

"Now get some rest okay." Calleigh gave him a kiss on his forehead and left the room confused but happy.

Without any kind of evidence, Horatio had nothing to hold Thomas any longer and it got to him. Thomas wouldn't break and that got Horatio really frustrated, especially with Rick Stetler looking over his shoulder. They had no choice but to cut him loose.

"Losing your touch Horatio?" Rick asked amused. The last year it was his goal to bring down Horatio. He felt threatened by him because deep down he knew if Horatio wanted Yelina, he would get her. Once, only once in the very beginning, Yelina admitted that she loved Horatio.

"Not now, Rick, not now." Horatio said in a calm voice and wisely walked away. But Rick couldn't help it and made another nasty remark. Yelina, who was talking to Thomas attorney for further arrangements, noticed something was out of the ordinary when she saw Horatio walk back to Rick. She slowly walked towards the two men.

Horatio pushed Rick against the wall and wanted to punch him but Yelina interfered. She just looked at him and Horatio calmed back down. He said sorry to Rick and left for the elevator, not looking back.

"What was that about?" She asked Rick confused. "He's losing it Yelina, and this time he's gone too far." Yelina turned back but Horatio was already gone…