Something happened today that made me smile.

Calleigh got wolf-whistled!

Occasionally when Calleigh walked into the lab, I would have to remind Eric not to whistle. I even had to remind myself a couple of times!

But today, it wasn't just one person whistling; it was several burly firemen!

In fact, more than several… it was a whole fire crew!

What really made me smile was how she handled it. She walked confidently through the group of men without even turning her head to one side, almost as if she hadn't noticed them!

It was like spring break all over again!

----------FLASHBACK----------

We had been working during spring break and at one of Calleigh's crime scenes, a teenager had tried to get her to flash him for the camera.

Coolly, she pulled back her jacket, showing her gun and badge.

"This hot enough for you, or do you want to see my weapons permit?"

----------END FLASHBACK----------

Calleigh has always had lots of attention from men.

Well, of course she has.

That's why we try and protect her, I guess.

Not all the attention is light-hearted flirting, is it?

But I guess that's the way this world is.

--------------------

"You okay?"

Calleigh's caring nature shone while she visited Alexx, who was doing an autopsy.

Alexx and Eric had been nearly caught in a forest fire in the Everglades earlier that day. A similar accident had happened before. I'm certainly getting a feeling of déjà vu.

Or maybe they're just cursed.

I'll make sure neither of them end up in the Everglades whenever there's a fire risk!

"Crispy around the edges, but I'll survive," replied Alexx cheerfully.

--------------------

A few hours later, I heard that Horatio was going to the marina and, as I was confident that Calleigh would be okay for and hour or so, I decided to go with him.

When we arrived, I was very surprised at what we found.

On one of the yachts, there was a dying man.

He was lying on the back of the boat, with a machete in his chest.

Horatio's eyes widened when he saw him.

I saw Horatio try and keep the man still and calm him down. Unfortunately, he was in too much pain.

I could see in his eyes that he was about to pull the sword out of his chest and put an end to the agony he was going through.

"Don't do it!" I urged, "You still have a chance! You can be saved!"

Suddenly, with a sickening crunch, he wrenched machete out of his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

That sigh was his last breath.

At the same time, I saw his soul escape from his body and materialise next to me.

"Oh my god! I'm dead!" the soul cried.

"Very clever," I muttered sarcastically.

I knew I should have been comforting him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I know he didn't cause his own death, but the fact that he struck the final blow made me feel as if it was his own fault that he was dead.

"You could have had a chance, you know," I told him. "You might not have died."

He turned to me, just as Horatio closed the eyes of the dead body.

"You haven't been in that situation. You don't know what it's like. You would have made the same decision."

"You have only just died! You don't know what it's like to be dead. I'll talk to you four months down the line. Then you'll see how important life is! You might regret ending your life."

"I would have died anyway."

His voice was solemn and he looked to the ground.

"Not necessarily."

--------------------

I met Alexx just as she was driving away from the Everglades, back to the lab.

The trunk of her van was loaded with a gurney and everything seemed normal.

Even so, I still had a bad feeling…

"Alexx Woods, Medical Examiner," she informed the guards, while she showed them her ID.

As we drove off, I decided to speak up about my uneasiness.

"There's something not quite right about this Alexx."

She was about to answer, to laugh and tell me to stop being so silly, when the unthinkable happened.

The body on the gurney sat up.

He was holding a gun, which he pointed at Alexx.

"Do what I say, or I will kill your children."

"I'll do exactly as you say." Alexx's voice was quiet and fearful.

Her eyes darted to me for a second, willing me to help her.

"I can't," I whispered.

"Please," she said aloud.

The man with the gun looked at her suspiciously.

"…don't hurt me." She finished.

--------------------

"Pull over," he ordered a minute later.

Alexx stopped the van obediently.

I watched from the passenger seat as Alexx was roughly dragged from the driver's seat.

He forced her to dress the wound in his chest.

She wound the bandages around his body in an intricate pattern and tied them in an intricate knot I wasn't familiar with.

She then made her way to the driver's seat again.

"I think I'll ride up front with you, Doc," he said as he climbed into the van.

I had been sitting in the passenger seat a moment before he sat down and only just managed to scramble into the back of the van in time.

Alexx started the engine and drove.

I sat behind her with my hand on her shoulder. I know it wasn't much, but it was the best I could do.

I felt so helpless, unable to save Alexx when she needed it.

She drove, on his directions, to a seemingly random house.

Once there, he ordered Alexx out of the car and he dragged her into the house.

Inside there was a young boy, who was playing a computer game.

When Alexx and the man arrived, the child was struck with fear.

The man was still waving his gun around, so of course the child was scared.

Alexx begged that he left the child alone, but he didn't.

He ordered the child into his father's office and pushed Alexx in after him.

Alexx went to the boy immediately and hugged him.

I stood between them and the man, who was now looking through the office drawers.

He found what he was looking for quickly, and soon he was forcing Alexx and the child back out to the front of the house again.

Everything had been moving so fast, but suddenly, it seemed to move into slow motion.

First, the man showed the child a body that was in the trunk.

"You bastard," Alexx spat. "You sick, sick bastard."

She hugged the screaming child to her chest, as she would for her own children.

Unfortunately, the man didn't take to kindly to being sworn at.

"Get down," he told the both.

He was about to shoot them.

He was about to shoot an innocent child, and a woman who had done nothing wrong.

I was ready to react.

I felt sure I could do something to intervene, but before I could even move, Alexx had started fighting.

"Run!" she screamed at the child.

He ran.

Alexx wrestled the man for a moment and I watched, paralysed with shock.

The man was taller and stronger than Alexx, and he was holding a gun. He soon overpowered Alexx.

"Get down," he told her again, but this time it was louder and with more urgency.

He had heard the police sirens in the distance.

Alexx, so scared that she was shaking, obeyed.

There was no way I couldn't have acted.

I couldn't leave Alexx to get shot.

I did all I felt I could.

I shielded Alexx with my body.

"What are you doing?" she whispered frantically as I lay down, covering her.

"Just trust me," I replied.

I had a feeling that what I was doing just might work.

I heard him cock the gun behind us and Alexx closed her eyes.

I grasped her hand in mine, tightly as I could.

We waited for the inevitable.

The inevitable that never came.

Suddenly Alexx was surrounded by police cars and officers and detectives.

Horatio was comforting her and asking questions, all at the same time.

Then he decided that she needed to go home.

She was only alone once she got into the patrol car.

Except that she wasn't alone because I was in the seat next to her.

"I'm sorry about that Alexx."

"About what?"

"For… uh… laying on you."

Alexx didn't whisper a comment at this. She stared straight ahead, a peculiar expression on her face.

"Are you okay?"

Alexx let out a stifled giggle.

"What?"

"What you did. It would have been funny, if I wasn't about to get shot."

"Ooh haha. Hilariously funny."

"Timmy, lighten up. And stop being so sarcastic."

We fell into silence until we reached Alexx's home.

When the car stopped, we both got out and walked to her front door.

Alexx was getting out her keys when she spoke.

"Thank you."

I was about to open my mouth to ask what I was being thanked for, when Alexx pecked me on the cheek.

"Bye Timmy. My guardian angel."