The New Recruits
Chapter 4
" Where is she?" Eric said as he walked into the hospital waiting room. He had been coming out of the water with the murder weapon when he saw the chaos. His instant thoughts were of Jen, not knowing that she had already been transported to the hospital. He met RJ, who was talking on the phone with his mother. Eric listened as RJ tried to reassure his mother that he was okay. When he was finished, RJ turned to Eric.
" Jen's fine, Mr. Delko. She's in with the doctor. They are saying that her eardrum is pierced and that she will experience slight hearing loss for a couple of weeks, but she is fine," RJ said as he went to sit down. He along with Jarett , Calleigh, Raymond and Alexx waited for news on Tim, Jacinda, Maddison, and Horatio. " They are operating on my dad's ankle, Jacinda is unconscious, Maddison has a severe concussion , and Horatio..."
" What about Horatio?" Eric asked.
" It's not looking good, Mr. Delko. He had a piece of steel sticking out of his side. He's in surgery right now."
Eric looked at the floor in disbelief. Horatio had spent all of his life in the business of protecting others and now he flirted with death. " Does any one know who put the bomb there?"
" No, but there is a team out there trying to figure that out as we speak," Raymond said as he saw a trio of doctors as they approached the waiting room.
" Okay, everyone. We have some news. First, Mr. Speedle, your father is okay. His ankle was crushed but we put some pins in it and tried to get the little pieces of fragments out. He's going to be in a cast for two months, maybe later. We are keeping him over night for observation," the first doctor said. RJ and the others breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor said, " You can see him, but one at a time ,okay."
" Okay, doc. Where is he?" RJ asked as he rose out of his seat.
" I can take you there, follow me."
As R J left with the doctor, Calleigh got up and followed them. Jacinda was unconscious on the same floor as Tim was, and she wanted to see Tim for herself.
The other doctor stepped up to report, " Ms. Caine suffered a severe concussion and required stitches in her forehead and arm all totaling up to forty. We are going to keep her for a couple of days until we are certain she is out of harms way. You can go see her when she gets into her room."
Another breath of relief, but the worse was coming. Horatio's doctor was next, and he didn't look as confident as the other two doctors. He stepped up hesitantly and ran an uneasy hand through his hair.
" Lieutenant Caine suffered severe loss of blood, requiring a blood transfusion. He also suffered a transected kidney as well as damage to the liver and spleen. It's touch and go right now , if he survives the night his chances get better. He's in ICU and only one visitor per hour. He should be in his room in an hour."
" What's his long term prognosis , doctor?" Alexx asked as her eyes glittered.
" If he survives, he will be unable to return back to work. The trauma he suffered has put a tremendous strain on his aging body. He is going to need a lot of recovery time."
" He was retiring today," Raymond said as he looked at the floor. Now more than anything did he want to find who did this.
" He's going to be fine, Raymond," Alexx said as she touched Raymond's arm. The gesture was not lost on him and he gave her a weak smile in return.
The doctor then showed them to the ICU floor waiting room and left them with their thoughts. And fears.
RJ walked into the room to see his father lying on the bed, gazing outside the window. He didn't want to disturb him, but he wanted to look in on him. RJ turned to go out, but Tim caught him as he moved to walk out.
" RJ, come in. Sit down." Tim said as he repositioned himself on the bed. He winced at the pain that he was still experiencing.
RJ did as he was told and sat down next to his father. He looked at his dad with regret in his eyes about how he talked to him earlier. He realized that he had a strong chance of losing his father today.
" Dad..."
" No RJ. Don't apologize. I was out of line. You are a grown man, I should have respected your decision," Tim said.
" Still that doesn't give me the right to speak about your business. I was the one out of line," RJ said as he kept his father's gaze.
" Well you are right about that, RJ. But let's consider that water under the bridge ,okay?" Tim said as he gave him a warm smile. " I know you called your mother. What did she say?"
" Oh she was frantic. She saw it on the news before I could call her. She was driving over here as we spoke. I imagine that she will enter this room in a few minutes. I had to practically shout over her to let her know that I was fine."
" She's going to be all over me about leaving CSI. But I don't want to. I want to stay as long as I can, ya know?"
" Yeah dad, I know. Once you get forensics in your blood you live with it until you die,"
" Spoken like a true lab rat," Tim replied as RJ smiled.
" This coming from one," RJ returned as he heard a soft knock on the door. " That's mom."
" Let her in," Tim said as he prepared himself for the barrage of concern.
RJ opened the door and Calleigh stepped in the room. Instantly the atmosphere had charged as she set her gaze with Tim. RJ noticed and decided that this was something that he didn't need to be privy to. Calleigh glanced at RJ with a light smile as she stood at the foot of the bed.
" How's Jacinda?" RJ asked.
" She's still out. Her father is there with her." Calleigh replied.
" Can I go see her?" RJ asked as he shifted his weight. It was a trait that he had picked up from his father.
" Sure. She's in room 308."
RJ left the room and Calleigh moved to Tim's side. She took his hand as she sat down, next to him.
" Hey, you. How are you doing?"
" Okay, if you consider having pins in your ankles. I was lucky. I heard that several patrol officers were killed."
" Yeah, and we sustained some bad injuries. Maddison has a concussion, and Horatio is in ICU. It doesn't look good for him." Calleigh said as she felt tears coming to her eyes.
" How's Jacinda?" Tim asked as he raised his hand to catch a tear. No matter what they may have gone through, he never liked seeing her upset.
" She hasn't resurfaced yet, but the doctors seem to think that she will recovery fully. If it wasn't for RJ, I don't know if I could say that. He saved her life."
" RJ's a good guy," Tim stated as he gazed into her sparkling green eyes. Long ago, he saw his future in them and for a split second, he felt the old feelings as they tugged on his heart.
" Just like his daddy," Calleigh added. " Tim, I never got to say I was sorry for what happened all those years ago..."
" Calleigh, don't worry about it. It's in the past. We both have children and wonderful spouses," Tim said , not believing the words. In truth, he was just as in love with her as the first day he met her. But there was no way he could act on it now.
" Tim, I was being childish. If I would've just come and talk to you, who knows what could've happened?"
"Cal,..."Tim started .
" No, Tim. I have to apologize." Calleigh said as her mind went back into the past.
Flashback
" Calleigh, why won't you talk to me?" Tim asked as he cornered her in the break room. He had tried to talk to her all day ,but she had successfully avoided him. She didn't want to deal with her feelings right now.
" What is there to talk about? I saw you kiss her, Speed."
" You don't know what you saw, Calleigh. I didn't kiss her, she came on to me. C'mon don't you trust me?" Tim asked with fear in his voice. He couldn't lose her.
" Obviously, you don't trust or love me , if you put yourself in that position. I saw you, Tim!" Calleigh said as she stormed out of the break room.
Months later, Calleigh announced to Alexx in the layout room , " Phillip asked me to marry him. I think I am going to do it."
" Calleigh, are you sure? It's only been six months." Alexx said as she saw Tim enter into the room.
"You take a look at this ring and tell me if I am sure," Calleigh drawled as she lifted her finger.
Tim glanced over at her then quickly adverted his eyes. He had lost her after the fight in the break room and she had dated some random guy she met while investigating a scene. He still couldn't get used to the fact that she was with someone else.
" Calleigh, it's beautiful. When is the date," Alexx asked as she took her hand and looked at the ring closely.
" I wanted a winter wedding, but Phillip says a spring wedding is better. So we have almost nine months to plan this thing," Calleigh said as she looked at Tim. He had turned his head to look at some evidence that he was preparing to display .She saw in his movements the hurt that he felt. She doubted her intentions slightly, but then she stilled herself by exhaling. She was going to marry Phillip.
Present
" Tim, I shouldn't have reacted that way to you. I knew how that woman operated. I don't know why I didn't trust you." Calleigh said as she came back to the present.
" It doesn't matter now. We've gone on. We can't go back," Tim said as he squeezed her hand. As much as he wanted to he couldn't bring himself to do this to Robin. She was no Calleigh, but he still loved her.
Calleigh sensed that there was no reason to further this conversation , and she let go of his hand. Getting up she said, " Well I should be getting back. I want to be there when Jacinda wakes up."
" Calleigh,..." Tim said in an attempt to comfort her.
" No, Tim. You are right. There is no reason to try and revisit the past. You love Robin, I love Phillip. Our lives are perfect."
" Call me won't you?" Tim asked feeling his heart break again.
" Always. Take care of that ankle so you can come back soon," Calleigh said as she opened the door.
Standing on the outside of the door was Robin and Mallory. Calleigh chuckled softly as she passed Robin and shook her head. Lucky woman, she thought. She then walked out of the door and headed back to Jacinda's room, wiping the tears away from her eyes.
" Maddison?" Raymond asked softly as he sat near her bed. The bandage on her forehead lying in stark contrast to her red hair. He hated to see his sister in hospital beds. She had gone through so much of that as a kid.
Hearing his voice, Maddison stirred. She put a hand up to her head and winced, " Ray, what happened? Is everyone okay?"
He didn't want to tell her about Horatio, not until she was out of the woods herself, " Everyone's fine, Maddie. How are you feeling?"
" Like someone hit me over the head with an eighteen wheeler and backed it up. Multiple times. So what's the status?" Maddison asked all authority coming back to her.
" We lost thirteen patrol officers, along with a good amount of evidence. Eric found the gun , and the swing shift from CSI is out there right now getting the bomb together." Raymond reported.
" Do we know who did this?" Maddison asked as she sat up more, sending her head spinning.
" Not yet. But when we get the evidence back to the lab, I'm sure that we can track down whoever did this."
" How much of my team is workable?"
" Tim Speedle's ankle is crushed, so field work is out for him. Jacinda Willison is still unconscious and Jen Delko is experiencing slight hearing loss but she is fine to work. So you have a trace analyst, two ballistic experts a fingerprinting analyst and two ME s still usable." Raymond said.
"And what about Horatio? Was he hurt? We could use his bomb expertise," Maddison said as she swiped a red hair from her face. She noticed Raymond's hesitancy to answer. " Ray, what's going on with Horatio?"
" I didn't want to tell you this before you got out, but Maddie, it looks bad. He's in ICU. There was damage done to his internal organs. They are hoping he makes it through the night. He lost a lot of blood."
Maddsion dropped her head as a tear escaped her eyes. She didn't want to believe Ray about this. She couldn't lose Horatio. He was the only one who believed in her, the only one who cared. Maddison shook her head to wipe the images of his funeral from her mind , she couldn't think like that.
" I want to go see him," she said as she lifted her head.
" Maddie, you have to take it easy. You have a serious concussion."
" I don't care. Take me to see him, or I'll take myself." Maddison said as she moved to flip the covers off.
" Alright, Alright, Maddie. Let me get the nurse," Ray said as he put his hands out to stop her.
In moments, Maddison was being pushed to the ICU , wondering what she would find.
TBC...