Complications

A/N: I'm on the favorites list! Wow, really guys, I'm flattered! It took me almost a year to get this thing started. I hope that you all out there enjoy reading this piece as much as I did while writing it.

This is just for the record: Go and see Chapter 1 for full information…

Chapter 2

Speed's eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light but his mind was still fuzzy. He tried to move, but his body was too heavy.

'A hospital' he thought. 'Why am I in a hospital…?' He had to think a very long time about this but come to no conclusion at first. 'I'm injured. Why?' He slowly turned his head to the right side and saw an IV bag hanging at the head end of the bed. Then he could feel the IV in his right hand. 'Good. Drugs…I can probably use it right now' he thought. Speed tried to focus on his surroundings and recognized several machines around his bed.

"Oh, great. You're awake", an unknown voice said to him

Tim moved his head back and looked at a nurse. He tried to say something, but his mouth was terribly dry. All he could manage was a hoarsely whispering. The nurse vanished.

One minute later the nurse and a man stepped into the room. "How do you feel?" he wanted to know.

But Speed still couldn't talk, so the nurse took a cup of water to his lips and let him sip some of the liquid. "Thanks…where am I?"

"You're at General Hospital. You are recovering from a surgery on your left upper arm and shoulder. We worked almost 5 hours on you and it looks like you're going to survive", he smiled.

Tim wanted to reply, but then Alexx Woods stepped to his side.

"Sorry. You're not allowed to…" the nurse said to her.

"I'm Dr. Alexx Woods and with the CSI", she told the nurse and showed her ID card. "This is one of my co-workers and also a victim of a crime." She looked at the doctor. "Did you operate him?"

"Yes. My name's Dr. White."

"Can I see the x-rays, Dr. White?"

"Sure", he asked the nurse to get them. After she got them, he held one of it up. "That was before the surgery."

"Oh…my…", she frowned. Speed could see that she moved her head from one side to the other. "I didn't think there'd be so much damage," she sighed heavily.

Dr. White nodded. "Unfortunately there was. A 9 mm isn't a piece of cake. As you can see, the damage done by the bullet was huge. It took a lot of time to get his collarbone back together…but I think you'll be satisfied with the result", he said and showed her another x-ray.

Again her head was moving, as she compared the two x-rays. "You did great, Dr. White."

"Thank you," he smiled. "The two rods are permanent, and I'm afraid that screw is also. But, I'm optimistic that he will make a full recovery."

"Will there be any impairment?"

"We are not absolutely sure," he answered with hesitation. "Probably yes. We can't guarantee a full function again because of the great damage."

"Excuse me? I'm awake and I can hear you. So would you please talk to me?" Tim said hoarsely.

"Of course, Mr. Speedle. As you heard, I'm optimistic about your recovery but I'm not sure about the impairment. Positive thing about it, from now on you can tell the weather change. Those things in there", he pointed to the x-ray, "are working like a barometer. Every time the weather's going to change, you'll be the first to know."

"Fabulous," Tim answered sarcastically. Alexx's mood was lightened by his answer, which was complete with a trademark Speedle eye roll. "How long am I going to wear this cast?" he asked with a deep frown.

"At least a month. I know it is awful and distracting, but we have to immobilize the shoulder completely", he had to smile as he saw Tim's shocked face. Dr. White tried to sound positive as he explained further. "After that we check again and see how the healing process is going on. Probably you have to wear a sling for another month or so – if there are no complications. You seem to be in a good physical condition, so I'm looking forward to a full recovery."

"Yeah, but sometimes it seems like he's off the roll", Alexx smiled.

"Okay. I'll give you five minutes. Then he should rest." The doctor and the nurse left the room.

Alexx stepped closer to the bed.

"Hey", Speed said.

"Hey", Alexx answered. "Why did you do this, boy?"

"I had no other choice. Otherwise we'll all be dead by now. Where's Andy? He's okay?"

"He's sleeping next door. They put him under sedatives, too. Eric wanted to take him home, but he insisted to go here."

"Looks like I'm out for a while, I guess."

She smiled. "Yeah, that's right." She took his right hand. "God, Timmy. You were lucky to have your left arm at least." She saw him fighting against the sleep. "You sleep now, do you hear me? You need to rest." After a few seconds he was already sleeping and she left the room to tell Horatio.

The next time Tim woke up, he tried to move his fingers, which peered out of the cast. It took several seconds for them to react, but they finally did. He let out a grateful sigh and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then he realized that the cast took his whole left side and arm, beginning at his neck straight down to his waist. The doctor had told the truth about immobilizing his shoulder completely. A short time later he could feel the pain. He moved his head around and saw a man sitting by the window. "Hello?"

"Oh hey!" Andy practically ran to his right side. "How do you feel, Tim?"

Tim tried to smile, but wasn't sure if he was successful. "Like shit. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…Mom called today…"

"Did you tell her?" he asked afraid of the answer.

"No…at that point no one knew if you gonna pull through…God, I thought was gonna loose you…" he began to cry.

"Hey. Everything's going to be fine. I'm here. I'm alive", Tim said and tried to sit up a bit but failed. "Come here."

Andy sat down on the bed and Tim pulled him closer to his right shoulder, as Andy sobbed. "Shhh, everything's going to be alright", he repeated several times and ran his hand up and down his brother's back. After a few minutes Andy regained his composure and settled down in the chair again.

"Thanks for not telling mom. She'd freak out if she knew", Tim smiled. "We tell her when they're back home. Right now she deserves the vacation."

They sat in silence. A knock on the door could be heard.

"Yes?" Tim said.

Horatio and the rest of the team stepped in. They brought flowers and some books. "Good to see you, Speed", Horatio said and padded him on the right shoulder. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for coming", he replied.

"Sure thing", Eric said and put a plastic bowl on the nightstand next to the bed.
Speed eyed him suspiciously.
"From my mom. She said, to get healthy again you must eat our famous hot-pot. Something like this", he said laughing and shrugged.
"Oh, thanks…I just thought this is my last meal."

"I want to sign the cast", Calleigh smiled.

"I hope you find some space", he said sarcastically.

"Alexx told me about the luck you've had. I'm glad you're doing fine", Calleigh said while she wrote her name on his left upper arm.

"Yeah, I'm a lucky one", Tim smirked. "Always was."

"But don't overdo your lucky charms", Horatio told him. Then he looked at Andy. "Doing better?"

"Yes, thank you. Any news on the investigation?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, we found DNA from the fugitive as well as his fingerprints. We also managed to get a picture from the tape, but since they wore ski masks…"

"No identification yet?" Tim asked. "They aren't at AFIS?"

"No."

"But what about…" he started.

"Speed?"

"Yeah?" he looked at his boss.

"You're out. Let us handle this case, okay? You should rest now."

Tim watched him annoyed. "THIS is my case as well. I'm the one who got shot! I'm not going to back…" he said but was interrupted by Horatio.

"Hey! You're in no physical condition to argue like you're doing right now." He turned to his team. "You better go."

They said their goodbyes and left.

"Andy? Would you mind to leave me alone with Tim?" Horatio asked.

"No problem. But watch out. He's weak, don't sue him."

As he had left, Horatio turned to Speed again. "He's right. You're weak. So don't make this any harder on you then it already is. You know we're doing the best we can. Even without you at the lab", he smiled.

Tim swallowed hard. "I know…I'm sorry…it's just…" he trailed off. Tears were forming in his eyes. "If they had killed Andy…I don't know what…"

Horatio stepped closer and sat on the bed like Andy before. "But Andy wasn't killed. He's alright, do you hear me?"

Speed just nodded as tears began running down his cheeks.

"I'll promise to find the guy. We're gonna get him, Speed", Horatio said as he brought his forehead against Tim's. "You're exhausted. You are probably dealing with great pain right now, so do you need some more pain medication?" he asked with a low voice.

Tim sobbed a few times before answering. "It hurts like hell, but I don't want that stuff yet. It only makes me fuzzy."

Horatio leaned back and smiled: "Speed, it's supposed to have this effect on you! That's your chance to get high legally."

"No, thanks. Listen, could you do me a favour?"

"Sure."

"Would you take care of Andy? He shouldn't be alone. I'm not gonna get home that fast, I guess."

"I'll take care of him. Now, I need some information from you. What do you remember?"

Tim sighed. "Not much…we were at the refrigerators in the back. The second I saw the two guys I had this…gut feeling, you know? They moved to the cashier and as they drew their guns…my only reaction was to make sure that Andy wouldn't be harmed. No one should be harmed at all…" he explained and told Horatio everything he could think of.

After 10 minutes Horatio noticed that Speed grew tired as he spoke. "Okay, let's stop here. I have enough to work with. You need to rest, Tim" he said as he walked back to the door.

"H?"

"Yes?"

"Go and get the bad guy, okay?" Speed smiled weakly.

"Will do", Horatio answered, "but you have to do me a favour in return. News people are waiting outside….I know, I know…" he grinned as he saw Speed frowning. "Just be polite, tell them a good story, stuff like that. It won't last very long according to Dr. White. He made sure they only have a few minutes to ask questions."

Headquarters

Everyone was occupied. Eric entered Horatio's office with a big smile on his face. "I think we've got him!"

With that Horatio was on his feet. "How?"

"A guy broke in a vet's clinic 30 minutes ago. He wanted medicine, threatened the doc. But he managed to get him sleeping pills instead of painkillers. Smart man. The guy has a bullet wound in his tight and a few scratches at his arms. We are already examine his blood sample. The cops are with him at the hospital right now."

An hour later Horatio and Eric went to the hospital room to meet their suspect. DNA came back positive. A short time later they left – with a satisfied look at their faces. Luck was with them today. They stood in the hallway. "Wanna tell Speed?" Horatio asked.

"Sure thing, boss", Eric smiled and went to see his friend.

One week later, Speed had to learn to walk again which was difficult because the heavy cast always made him walk like he was drunk. He had the tendency to drift to the left side while he tried to put one foot in front of the other. Alexx stopped by a few times to check his healing process. She was pleased; so far there weren't any complications. Andy enjoyed himself while hanging out with Calleigh and Eric.

Two weeks after the accident Alexx convinced Dr. White to release Tim into her custody. She was with him as he sat on the bed while Andy stuffed Tim's clothes into the suitcase.

"I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself, but you have to back down for the next weeks, Tim. If you don't do as I say – you'll be back here in no time, understand that?"
"Yes, Ma'am" he said honestly and stood up. "Ready?"

The three of them walked to the car in the parking lot after finishing all the papers and Speed's necessary wheelchair ride to the entrance. They stood in front of the car.

"Oookaaay…I think…we have a problem here", Tim said while looking at his cast and the car. "How am I supposed to fit in there? Your car's way too small, Alexx."

"Stop whining and get in, bro", Andy said and pushed Tim further towards the car.

Once at home, Speed let out a loud sigh. "Man, this feels great", he smiled and walked toward the living room. His eyes caught a stack of newspapers at the table. SHOOTING AT MIKE'S MARKET: Miami Dade Police Officer saves lives! could be read. "Uh oh, let's hope they got the lines I gave them right."

"I guess so. You're a local hero so to speak", Alexx said and went into the kitchen. She placed a few medicine bottles at the table and turned to Andy. "Make sure he takes them as labelled, okay?"

"Yeah, no problem", Andy replied.

"We're going to check you next week, see if we can lift this cast off a bit earlier", she said to Tim as she left.

"THAT would be fantastic", he answered happily.

Later that day after changing clothes and eating a big family pizza, the two sat at the backyard and watched the darkening sky.

Tim leaned back in his chair as much as he could and closed his eyes. "Hope you enjoyed your trip so far", he said sarcastically, his eyes still closed.

"It's the best thing that's ever happened to me," Andy shot back with a grin. "Seriously, man, things have changed with us. I don't know why you've always been reluctant to spend time with me, but…the last two weeks have been…different. I mean, I'm not happy about what happened to you, now way. But, I don't know, maybe it was meant to be."

Tim glanced at Andy. "How many beers did you have, little man?"

"Don't get me wrong! I…for the first time I started to feel that connection between us…doesn't make any sense, does it?"

At first Tim couldn't think of anything to say. He just sat there for a while until he finally answered: "I guess you're wrong. It does make sense to me. See, I've always been on my own. Dad just worked all day and Mom was busy with all the other kids at home. I liked it that way – I was independent. I could do whatever I wanted to do. And then – you came into the world. I mean I was 13 back then, I wanted to have fun, not to watch out for my little brother. But I was told to do so. And I did. That pissed me off. That's why I didn't liked having you around. I'm sorry. I realised I was totally wrong…" he stopped and looked at Andy. "I had lots of time back in the hospital to think…"

"Oh, that's dangerous."

He laughed. "Yeah!"

Both smiled and stayed silent for a few moments, each lost in thoughts.

"I hope we can start to make things up, even if it will take quite some time", Speed continued. "I've learned that you are important to me."

"We have all the time in the world, Tim. One thing at a time", Andy offered.

"Good."

Alexx arrived Monday morning at Speed's house to pick them up. After a few more tests and x-rays Dr. White decided to give it a try – and 30 minutes later Tim walked out of the examine room with his left arm in a sling.

"Mr. Speedle, don't forget: you were very lucky back then. Just give it time to heal completely. But I guess Dr. Woods has a good influence to you. If nothing comes up we meet again next week to pull the stitches. Bye", Dr. White said, shook Tim's hand and left them in the hallway.

Tim carefully lifted his left shoulder only a little bit but got a sharp pain in response. He winced.

"Hey! Don't you listen? Stop that", Andy said.

"I didn't do anything! Hell, that hurts! A lot…but it still feels good", he smiled.

Alexx's pager went up and after she made a phone call she said: "I'm sorry, but I have to go. Can I take you home?"

"Nah, we'll take a cab. Besides I wanna show Andy around. See you", Tim answered and grabbed Andy by his shoulder.

They spent the whole day together. They went down town, sat at the beach, watched the people going by, grabbed something to eat, talked for hours and simply enjoyed themselves.

Later that afternoon they went to the headquarters and everybody was happy to see Speed. Horatio passed by and greeted them. "Hi. I see you got rid of the cast. Guess it's a good feeling", he noticed after they shook hands.

"Man, best feeling ever!" Tim laughed.

"What are you doing here, by the way?"

"Just stopped by. We were doing some sightseeing", Speed explained. Then his cell phone rang. "Speedle", he said and listened. "Oh, hi Mom!" he smiled. "How are you?" He looked at Horatio who waved his hand goodbye. "That's good to hear, Mom. What? Oh…we're doing fine, really. Nothing to worry about. He's right there. Wanna talk to him? Yeah, bye" he ended and passed the phone to Andy.

"Hi Mom! Are you having a good time? That's great. We went downtown, you know. Sightseeing, that kind of stuff", he answered her questions and watched Tim who took a seat at the hallway. "Listen, we gotta go now. We talk when you're home again, okay? Say Dad hello. Bye", he finally said and shut the cell off. He looked at Speed with a worried expression.

Tim had his eyes closed and his head leaned back at the wall.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Speed's head snapped right back and he cleared his throat. "Just a little tired. Let's go home", he tried to sound normal, but failed.

"Just a little? Man, you're totally wiped out. We shouldn't have spent the whole day walking around. Partly it's my fault, too. I should have known." Then he called a cab. "Can you walk? Or do you need help?"

At first Speed wanted to refuse the offered help, but he had to face the facts. Andy was right. He was still weak, stiff and sore. This afternoon drained him out completely. He held out his right hand. "Do you mind?"

"Of course not!" Andy answered and carefully lifted him from the seat and brought his left arm around Tim's waist.

Later that day Alexx called Tim at home. But it was Andy who took the call instead. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me. Alexx. How are you doing?"

"Good. Tim's asleep. He's completely wiped out after our little big trip I'm afraid. I should have stopped him", he tried to apologize.

"No harm done – yet. Just make sure he stays in bed for the next 12 hours."

"That's not easy. You know him – he gets easily bored. He needs to do something…"

"Yeah, you're right…I'll figure something out. For now, go and take a nap yourself. Do you need something?"

"No, thanks. See you later."

Tim awoke by the smell of fresh coffee the next morning. He tried to stretch his arms but was greeted by the familiar sharp pain in his left shoulder and arm. 'Alright, I hear you, pal. Just relax, okay?' he thought. He moved slowly, hoping to ease the pain at least a little bit. He got out of the bed very carefully and was about to go to the bathroom, as Andy's head appeared in the doorway.

"Morning! I've made breakfast" he greeted and looked at Tim. "But first we have to clean you up."

"Clean…me up…?" Speed stammered. "Why…?"

"Gee, you're looking like shit. Hair's are a mess and you definitely need to shave. Unless you like your beard."

Tim ran a hand across his face. 'Well, Andy's got a point there' he thought. "Okay, I'll take a shower", he gave in.

"Do you need a helping hand?" Andy grinned.

"Hell, NO!" he laughed and disappeared in the bathroom as fast as he could.

Twenty minutes later he stepped into the kitchen, shaved, his curly hair still slightly wet. He wore jeans and a shirt but no socks. "Can you help me with the buttons?"

Andy buttoned the shirt and helped Tim put the sling back on. "Alexx called last night," Andy reported over breakfast. "But you were asleep. She told me to make sure you don't leave the house today, but I told her fat chance, considering you can't sit still that long. She said she would figure something out," he said while Tim skimmed the newspaper.

"Yeah, whatever", he mumbled absent-minded.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Speed turned to Andy. "So, what's next? I haven't shown you the football stadium yet. Great place to hang out. I thought we…"

"Don't you ever listen to me? I just told you that you're not allowed to set a foot outside of this house!"

"Oh, come on, pal! What am I supposed to do all day long? I can't just sit here and wait for the evening to come!" he said annoyed.

"I'm afraid but that's what you are going to do", Andy replied.

"But…" Speed wanted to argue, but was interrupted by the doorbell.

Andy answered it and was greeted by Eric. "How are you two doing? I could hear you through the door. Any problems?" he smiled.

"Nah, just trying to make plans for the day", Tim said and shot a quick glance at Andy. "But we haven't found a interesting theme yet."

"Well, I think I can find something for you to do," Eric smirked as he made his way to the living room. He laid a thick stack of papers and files onto the coffee table. "Alexx went to Horatio, explained your boredom. And Horatio gave me this," Eric explained as he opened the folder, "Unsolved cases from the last ten years."

"You're…you're kidding, right!" Speed said and looked at Eric. "No way I'm digging through this stuff…no, no. Speedy won't do this," he was still shocked. "There must be some other way to…"

"No chance. According to Horatio you're gonna have to take a second look at the reports. Try to find new clues, evidence…Whatever. And oh, I almost forgot, that's from Alexx," he grinned as he took a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to the still stunned and speechless Tim Speedle.

"…what's that?" he asked after he regained some composure. But he still had to read the paper several times to understand the lines.

"Your doctor's schedule for the rehabilitation training", Eric explained.

"That's…that's a timeframe for…for 3 months!"

"And, my friend, that's just the beginning – according to Alexx," Eric patted Tim's right shoulder as he tried hard not to laugh out loud. After a few moments he said: "Gotta go. Have fun."

After Delko left the house, Speed stood in the middle of the living room, slightly shocked by the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. Andy sensed his mood. "C'mon. Let's take a look at this stuff."

Speed slowly walked back and settled down in a chair. He exhaled loudly but then stayed silent.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Andy said and the chair next to Tim. "Do you wanna talk about it? What's bothering you?"

"It's…it's just…I don't know…"

"It's the fact that you're not gonna be able to return to work that easily, right? What do you expect? Hell, you just survived a shooting!"
"Well, thank you Dr. Speedle, I already figured that out. In case you didn't notice, I'm not able to move my left arm because of that," he shot back angrily. He stared at the ceiling as his mind raced. The doorbell rang again and Speed moved quickly towards the door. "What is it, Delko? Aren't you having enough fun at my expense already?" he shouted as he opened the door. He was shocked into silence again. "What…hi, Mom…Dad…? …what…how…why…are you…here?" he managed to get out.

Susan was surprised, too. She didn't expect to get such a cold welcome. She looked at her son. "Well, it's nice to see you, too. Thank you. I guess we interrupted…" she stopped as she noticed the sling. "Honey, what happened to you?"

Tim felt sorry. He stepped aside. "Excuse me, Mom. You got me on the wrong foot. I'm sorry. Please come in."

After his parents were inside, Susan hugged Tim.

"Ouch! Be careful, mom. I'm wounded", he said.

Arthur just padded his right shoulder after exchanging greetings. Then he went to see Andy.

"Sorry, my boy. What happened to you?" she asked for the second time. "And when? You didn't tell me when we talked last time."

"That's because it happened right after you left for Hawaii. But what are you doing here anyway?"

"Timothy Patrick Speedle, don't try to change subject! I want to know what happened to you."

He sighed. "Alright. I was shot during a robbery, okay?" He went to the kitchen. "You guys want something to drink?"

"Yeah, I could use something", Arthur answered. "But you don't get off that easily. So, would you please tell us what happened to you, son?"

After handing out the drinks he settled down with his family and told the whole story. His parents were some kind shocked. "And you didn't tell us when I called you? I had this feeling that day. I HAD to make that phone call, you know", Susan said to Andy.

"Well, the time you called, no one knew if he…he would pull through. I was scared as shit. I didn't want to upset you. I'm sorry."

"Okay, now…let's face the facts, Susan. They are sill alive and I think we should thank God that he watched out for our two boys", Arthur said and hugged his wife.

Tim just rolled with his eyes. Thank God? For what? But he stayed silent.

"What about you? Why are you here?" Tim asked.

"Our flight back home was cancelled last night. We had to stay for one day. So we decided to surprise you. Then we called the Police Station to see if you're at work. Lt. Caine told us you were staying at home, but he didn't mentioned why. He also said that you're not coming back to work for the next few weeks. I thought you were in trouble. So we came here as fast as we could. But now I'm not sure if this is any better. You're still in trouble. Are you going to be okay?" Susan asked.

"Yeah, give it some time, mom. It'll be alright."

"Anyway, we have to get home, honey. I should call the airport to get us the tickets", Arthur said and took the telephone.
"Yeah, you should do that. But we're gonna need 4 tickets", Susan said and looked at her husband who shot a glance back. He was confused.

"Wait a minute – why 4 tickets?" Tim asked. But he already knew the answer.

"I think it would be a good idea to have you around for a while. Since you didn't want to come to NYC earlier", Susan said.

"Mom, it's not that I didn't want to see you, but with all the work…I just couldn't manage to visit."

"That's right. But as you said before, you can't work right now. So, why don't you spent some time with us?" Susan asked.

"I have to go to the rehabilitation training…"

"Don't you think there are quite some physicians back in New York? We can work things out, I guess. There shouldn't be any problem."

"But…"

"No but's there, son. You're coming with us. It'll be fun" Susan smiled.

TBC…