State of Mind
Chapter 6
Calleigh awoke to laughing voices. It took her a while to remember what had happened, but when she did, she quickly grabbed her robe and headed down the stairs. Coming into the kitchen, she saw as Alexx, Horatio, and Eric were sitting in the breakfast nook having a cup of coffee. She saw as Eric was sporting a bandage where she had hit him. A pang of guilt hit her hard as she stepped into the kitchen. Alexx lifted her head up to see Calleigh walking.
" So sleeping beauty arises. Good morning," Alexx said putting her coffee down and walking to her. She gave Calleigh a hug then put a hand on her belly. " Is she doing ok , this morning."
Calleigh smiled and rubbed the side of her stomach, " Yes, she is doing well, and ready for something to eat. Where's Tim?"
Alexx shot a look at Eric who shot one to Horatio. Nobody wanted to tell Calleigh that Speed was following through with the item he found on the beach. The room held an awkward silence as Calleigh looked into the eyes of her friends. She knew that something was up.
" What's going on ? All of you look like you got caught red handed with your hand in the cookie jar," Calleigh said putting her hands on her hips. Her thick southern drawl encased her words, giving them a other worldly sound. " So , where is he?"
"Um, well Calleigh..." Horatio started as he heard the door open. To everyone's relief, Speed walked in with a white linen suit in a dry cleaning bag.
" Did, I interrupt something?" Speed asked as he stopped to stare at the scene.
" Where have you been, Tim?" Calleigh asked as she turned her glare to him. She knew that the team had something they didn't want to tell her and it was making her angry.
" Well, as you can see from the garments that I hold in my hand, I will say with positive indication that I was at the cleaners."
" You sure? Cause I asked about you and all of a sudden you can hear a pin drop. I hope you haven't been out getting into trouble ,Tim."
" What on my wedding day? I wouldn't think of it, honey. Speaking of which, are you supposed to be even talking to me?" Speed asked as he threw a cautious look to the others. " Something about it being bad luck."
Calleigh immediately ducked out of view from him and raced back upstairs.
" See you on the beach, Cal!" Speed called as the room erupted in laughter. As soon as he heard the door shut close, he dropped the smile and placed his garments on the couch. In his hands he held a print out from the local CSI. It was amazing the help he got from them by just showing his badge and ID .
" We have a problem. The item that I found on the beach had blood on it. I asked the local CSIs to run it through DNA and guess who pops up?"
" Don't tell me," Alexx said as she stood next to Speed.
" The one and only, Therrin Mackenzie," Speed said passing the print out around the table.
" This can't be right, Speed. You put at least eight rounds into him. He's supposed to be six feet."Eric said sending the print out to Horatio.
" It's there in black and white, Delko. The blood is Therrin's. But what's so odd is that when someone called, they said that they were a friend of Therrin and that they were coming to finish the job. Calleigh can't handle another incident. She's hanging on by a thread now."
" What's disturbing is that this guy followed you here. Have you been noticing anything out of the ordinary?" Horatio asked.
" No. Nothing. I don't want Calleigh to be worried. Not on our wedding day," Speed said as he took the print out from Horatio. He then walked over to the sink and lit a match, burning the paper. Calleigh wouldn't know.
" We will keep a look out for anything suspicious, Speed," Horatio said as he finished off his coffee. " This day will be special for both of you."
" I hope so," Speed said as he walked out. The remaining people in the room echoed his sentiment.
S/C
two months later...
" Tim!" Calleigh said as she rolled over in the bed. She felt something wet under her. When he didn't wake, she put a hand on his shoulder and shook it. " Tim? Tim? Wake up. My water broke."
In an instant, Speed snapped his head up and turned to look at Calleigh , sleep still in his warm brown eyes.
" It broke? When?"
" Just a moment ago. It's time to go, now," Calleigh said as she began to experience contractions.
Speed threw the covers across the bed and hit the floor running. He was glad that he hadn't unpacked Calleigh's bag when they got back from the Carribean. He grabbed his cell phone as Calleigh walked slowly to the bathroom. She couldn't go anywhere with this stuff on her. She quickly washed up as she timed the contractions. They were coming every fifteen minutes. Speed dialed Alexx's number first , knowing that she would get the other two to the hospital.
" Cal, hon. Come on, let's go. The bags are at the door," Speed said as he knocked on the bathroom door. He heard Calleigh call out in pain. " Calleigh, are you ok?"
" Yeah, it's just the contractions. I'm coming out."Calleigh returned.
She opened the door and took Speed's hand, " We're having a baby."
" Yes we are baby, and I would prefer if she was born in the hospital. You ready?"
" Ready as I'll ever be. Have you called Alexx?" Calleigh asked as she descended the stairs carefully. She felt another intense pain as it coursed through her body. The contractions were coming at a faster pace. Speed nodded , letting Calleigh know that he indeed called Alexx.
Getting Calliegh into the Tahoe, Speed got in and put the truck in reverse, flooring it.
" Tim, I would like to get there alive," Calleigh said as she breathed in deeply.
Speed ignored her and drove like a bat out of hell. He wove through traffic like a NASCAR driver on the last lap. In no time he had pulled up into the emergency room parking lot. He saw as Horatio and Eric were standing at the door with worried look on their faces. As the nurse came to transport her, Calleigh screamed out in pain.
" Mrs. Speedle, how far are the contractions?"
" They are close. Really close."Calleigh replied out of breath.
" Okay, we are going to get you up to the delivery room. It's been prepped for you. Mr. Speedle, you can follow me. Your friends will have to stay in the maternity ward waiting room," the nurse said as she wheeled Calleigh on the elevator.
" You guys know how to get to the maternity ward? " Speed asked as he boarded the elevator.
" We can manage, go!" Horatio said as he waved them off.
Speed smiled as the elevator doors swished closed.
S/C
"Come on Calleigh, you've got to push," the doctor said as he looked down. He looked back up to watch Calleigh's progress.
" I can't push any more," Calleigh said as tears dropped from her eyes. She had been in labor for almostthree hours, and it was excruciating. She held on to the bed linens to bear down against the pain.
" Honey, you can do this. Just one more push," Speed said as he offered his hand.
" Mr. Speedle I wouldn't do that if I were you," the doctor said as he noticed Speed grasp his wife's hand.
" Wha– ... Owwww. Calleigh, let go. Let go," Speed exclaimed as Calleigh had his hand in a death grip as she beared down again.
" I hate you Timothy! I hate what you did to me... Hurry up and get her out of there!" Calleigh said harshly.
" Good you can hate me, but please let go of my hand. I 'll need it later in life."
" You bastard! You don't know what pain is..." Calleigh said through clenched teeth.
" Calleigh come on ,bear down and give me one more push..."
" I can't..."
" Yes , you can... One ... Two... Three... PUSH!"
Calleigh gave one last push and shortly there after, the sounds of a baby crying filled the air. Speed watched silently as they took the tiny form to clean and weigh it.
" It's a girl. Congratulations, Calleigh and Tim." the doctor said as he observed the nurses working, " Ten fingers, ten toes, and a strong pair of lungs."
Speed grabbed Calleigh's hand with his good hand as they finished cleaning her. His eyes welled with happiness as they walked her over to them and placing the baby on top of Calleigh.
" Oh , Tim, she's gorgeous. She's got your curly hair," Calleigh said through the tears.
Speed bent down to look at his daughter and his wife big tears protruding out of his own eyes, " I love you, Calleigh. More than you will ever know."
" I love you, Tim. I didn't mean it when I said I hated you. Look at her, Tim. She's here! I can't believe she's here," Calleigh said softly.
" Mr. Speedle, you might want to get that looked at," the doctor said as he noticed his hand.
" I will, doc just as soon as..." Speed said as he heard the monitors all go off at the same time. The doctor stopped smiling and looked at Calleigh. She had loss conscienousness and her blood pressure was dropping. Tim saw an insane amount of blood as it dripped continuously on the floor. The nurses took the baby and placed her safely in a bassinet. The doctor ushered Speed out as he barked orders to his staff.
" What's going on, doc? ..."
" I don't know but you can't be in here. Please , Mr. Speedle . I need to help your wife."
Speed nodded as he saw the nurses take the baby out of the room, then he glanced at Calleigh as she laid on the bed, motionless. Her color had turned an ashen gray.
As the doors closed on him he heard the doctor say, " We need to hurry, we're losing her..."
TBC...
A/N: poor Calleigh can't catch a break...