2.
It was a long time before coherent thought began stringing itself together in a sensible order inside his brain. Then a few pictures began falling into place and finally he sighed, reluctantly opening his eyes and wondering where the hell he was... That it was a hospital room became quickly apparent. He reached up with a low groan to run a hand over his tired eyes. An uncomfortable tug on the back of his hand made him look at it and he frowned as he stared at an IV needle stuck there.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." A gruff male voice to his right said, sounding vaguely amused. Horatio let out another sigh, still looking a touch confused and turned his head to see who was talking.
Dr. Rick Turner, a junior King County ME, stood leaning against the wall next to the window, arms folded and was looking at Horatio curiously. Horatio swallowed uncomfortably, suddenly aware of a seriously parched throat and slowly pushed himself to sit more upright, appalled at how weak his muscles felt, not to mention how sore. He was one stiff puppy. He tried to speak, had to clear his throat and looked around the nightstand near his bed.
"Rick?" he asked curiously, his voice scratchy and rough. Turner snorted softly, pushed himself from the wall and hunted down a glass for the pitcher of water that Horatio was reaching for.
"Let me get it, Hero. You're weaker 'n' a kitten at the moment," he said catching the pitcher that Horatio had lifted and was now wobbling in his hand.
"Hero?" Horatio asked after draining one glass and holding it out for more. Rick shook his head, smiling and obliged.
"You're all over the front pages, H, because of that stunt you pulled yesterday." He shook his head.
"Thanks," Horatio said as he drained the second glass, then he shifted to sit up straighter. He looked at Turner curiously. "Yesterday?"
Rick nodded his head as he put the water pitcher down. "Yesterday afternoon… you've been sleeping off your little stunt for about 12 hours now."
"The girl?" Horatio asked automatically, as his feeling of disorientation began to subside.
"Aside from a nasty concussion, she's all right, thanks to you." Rick said before shaking his head in amused disbelief, "I swear though H. Only you southern boys would be stupid enough to go diving into Puget Sound in March."
"I think at the time it was rather necessary." Horatio commented flatly.
"Unfortunately I have to agree." Rick replied. "I just have to get my digs in."
"So what's all of this?" Horatio asked, nodding at the IV equipment he was hooked up to. He located the mechanism to raise his bed up a little and once it was where he liked he settled back into his pillow with a sigh of relief.
"We fished both of you out with a good onset of hypothermia. Another five minutes in the water and we'd have lost you both." Rick replied. "That's just preventative maintenance." He watched Horatio look away, tuck his chin in for a moment, his eyes lost in thought before turning his attention back to Rick.
"How come it took so long?" he asked. Rick sighed. How many times had Horatio Caine come right straight at the heart of a matter in the long years they had been acquainted?
"You were in the middle of Puget Sound, H. As it was, the skipper of the Klickitat had the presence of mind to drop one of the life boats and half the damn convention tried getting into it to get you two out."
The slightest of smiles ghosted across Horatio's lips as he looked away, again, thinking hard.
"Look, H, all told, you and Miss Demereau spent nearly twenty minutes floating around in 42° water. By the time the ferry stopped, you were over 300 yards from the ship. It's a damn good thing you two didn't try to swim for it."
"Demereau?" Horatio asked, his attention focusing back on Turner.
"Schell Demereau. 32 years old, lives over at Shilshole Marina. She's a maritime artist, a damn good one from what we've been getting on her, and a licensed captain."
"What was she doing in the channel, Rick?"
"That is the million dollar question. That boat she was on was a rental and it was burnt to the water line. Never expected it to blow up on impact."
"It didn't," Horatio said looking at him. "That boat blew up before the ferry reached it. I know, I saw the flash go off inside the cabin." Turner studied him a moment.
"Are you sure of that?" he asked. Horatio gave him a look that could have curdled milk. Turner looked down and smiled, before chuckling.
"My bad. I keep forgetting you were on a bomb squad. I also keep forgetting you are the guest here, the victim as it were and not on duty in your own jurisdiction. You're in my neck of the woods. I am supposed to be asking you the questions not the other way around. Despite my being just the coroner."
Horatio's head dropped, as he gazed at the needle stuck in the back of his hand then he smiled a little before snorting softly in amusement.
"Victim? I hardly think so."
"You… yeah, you're right there, you pain in the arse." Turner replied. "Shit! First you wipe several of your colleagues on the floor with that lecture of yours, then you ditch everyone to go wandering about the ferry before diving to the rescue of some gal who blows up her boat. What do you do for encores?"
"She didn't blow up the boat, Rick," Horatio said flatly, looking at him. "She was running to get off it. She saw something in the cabin and was running."
Turner stopped again and looked at the redhead as he turned his attention from him to staring at the hospital gown he was wearing.
"Okay…" Turner replied slowly his mind racing. "I haven't had a chance to speak with everyone who witnessed it all yet. Well, except maybe you."
"She was running," Horatio restated. "…and the boat exploded before the ferry could even have touched it."
"Gotcha…" Turner said and watched as Horatio looked around the room, searching for something. He smirked.
"Your personal stuff is in the nightstand, H. As for your clothes, the jacket and shoes are in the closet and the rest is getting dry cleaned courtesy of the King County Medical Examiner's office. For right now, clothes horse, you're stuck in that air conditioned gown."
"Can I get you to stop off at my hotel?" Horatio asked, reaching to open the drawer of the nightstand and looking at Turner with a hint of disgust on his features.
"Yeah I think I can do that." Turner sighed and smiled. "You are gonna wait until the doctor releases you right? I'd hate to have to put some of Seattle's finest at your door to make you sit still."
Turner chuckled at the look he received as Horatio pulled out a plastic bag holding his personal effects. "You think for one minute I'm gonna let Miami-Dade find out you ditched out of the hospital while I was around? Guess again. They're already ticked 'cause they think I put you up to this."
Horatio just shook his head, the corner of his mouth crooking in a wry smile. "Make yourself useful Rick and find me a decent bathrobe." He said as he pushed himself more upright, obviously intending to get up.
"Sure you want to do that?" He chuckled at the exasperated expression on Caine's face.
"All right, all right, give me your room key and I'll go fetch you some decent clothes. Just don't run roughshod over the doctors. Oh, by the way, what do you want to do about the media dogs hanging about the place?"
"Media?" Horatio asked, finding the key card to his hotel room. He handed it to Rick and frowned. "Just tell them I'm unavailable for comment."
"Aw c'mon H, this is your chance to shine…" Rick prodded; he knew full well how much most criminal investigators loathed the media.
"What ever happened to the milk of human kindness?" Horatio asked rhetorically.
"It curdled when you looked at it." Turner promptly replied with a grin.
"Remind me Rick, about all this the next time you find yourself in a hospital." Horatio said looking up at him as he swung his legs off the bed. "And I'll be sure to show up and rub salt in your wounds as payment in kind."
Turner chuckled again. "Anyone ever tell you you're a grouch in the mornings?"
"Yes," Horatio said bluntly. "Now do you mind?" he nodded his head towards the restroom door. Turner, still chuckling, got the hint.
"Don't go anywhere H. I'll go get your stuff. I told Beckman with the PD he couldn't see you until I did, just to make sure you're all right. I'm sure he will want to question you more about what happened. "
"I'm quite sure he will, in the meantime." Horatio replied, slowly standing up and reaching for the IV stand. Turner nodded and smiled then reached over and gently gripped Horatio's shoulder.
"I am damn glad to see you're all right, H. I just had to make sure for myself. You scared the hell out of everyone."
"Did I now?"