A/N: Blah, blah...in the Intro..blah, blah...no medical training.I hope you're enjoying this. Please R&R. Even if you hate it.

TenFour: The roller coaster is pulling into the station. You can quit clutching the safety bar so hard now. Stevie: I try to keep ahead of the game with updates and writing. Sometimes it gets tricky. And I told you, carrots work better with Annabel than sticks. Annabel is very likely just to grab the stick and use it on whoever is prodding her.

Annabel sang softly to Horatio. The hospital was quiet. The lights dimmed. Dr. Ramirez had tried a couple of times to convince her to go back to her room after she had returned. He had finally given up. Eric and Calleigh had left when visiting hours ended at 9pm. Annabel looked at Horatio's face. The slight light coming in from the hall threw it into deep shadow, his eyes looking even more sunken. Annabel brushed her hand over his forehead enjoying the silky feel of his hair. Her fingers trailed down his face across his stubbled cheeks. She traced his lips. Annabel wanted more than anything to just climb into the bed and curl up next to Horatio. Rest her head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat. Feel him breathing beneath her cheek. She knew that wasn't the best idea for either of them, no matter how much she wanted to. Annabel sighed, took Horatio's hand and brought it to her lips. She kissed it, rubbed it against her cheek and went back to singing.

Annabel had fallen asleep. She'd pulled the chair next to the bed, so her head rested on the edge. A nurse came in to check Horatio's monitors. She smiled down at Annabel, left the roomto geta light blanket. The nurse came back anddraped it over Annabel. She looked back at Horatio. Blue eyes blinked up at her. The nurse started to say something. Horatio shook his head weakly. He glanced where Annabel was collapsed.

"I have to. I'm sorry. I have to get a doctor in here," she said quietly. She shook Annabel awake. Annabel sat upright. She gripped Horatio's hand tightly.

"I..," Annabel started to protest. The nurse looked pointedly at Horatio. Annabel's eyes flew to his face. Annabel's breath caught. His clear blue eyes met hers. Tears blurred Annabel's vision. Horatio gave her hand a little squeeze.

"Miss McGinty. I have to get a doctor in here to check Mr. Caine over. You'll have to wait..."

"Can I stay until the doctor gets here? Please?" Annabel's eyes never left Horatio's.

The nurse smiled. "I think that's doable. Just until the doctor comes. Then you'll have to go outside for a while." Annabel nodded. The nurse left to find the doctor on call.

"Hi," she said quietly. Horatio's gaze traveled over her face ending with a pointed look at her eye. Annabel's free hand drifted up to touch the dark swelling. "Lovely, isn't it? It actually looks better." She gave him a watery smile. "I'm gonna have a scar. Won't that be tough looking?" Horatio tried to roll his eyes at her. Annabel kissed his knuckles. The nurse returned with the doctor on call. Annabel stood up, leaned over and kissed Horatio lightly. "I can give you a full catalog of my injuries later. You need yours checked now. I love you." Annabel rose stiffly. She groaned a little.

"That would be why you shouldn't be a curled up here for as long as you were," chided the doctor. Annabel looked at her. "Dr. Ramirez warned me about you."

Annabel nodded. "Then you know I'll be back as soon as you are done."

"Not surprised." Annabel nodded and looked at Horatio again. She gave him a small smile and a wave and stepped into the hall. Annabel paced back and forth, her robe trailing out behind her. The nurse popped her head out into the hall. She called after Annabel. Annabel turned and she held up a tote bag.

"I thought you might want this."

"Thanks."

"There's a restroom down at the end of the hall. Unless you're headed back up to your own room."

Annabel smiled and shook her head. "I'll use the restroom." She went down the hall. Annabel shut and locked the door. She looked in the bag. Calleigh had brought it for her and Annabel had no idea what she'd find. She pulled out the clothes and carefully dressed. A glance in the mirror over the sink gave Annabel a small view of the bruises covering her body. She silently thanked Calleigh for the button shirt. Her shoulder was incredibly sore and lifting a shirt over her head would have been painful. Annabel flexed her left shoulder. A sharp pain shot through her. Holding and firing her gun will be interesting, she thought. She ran the hairbrush through her hair with her uninjured arm. Annabel peered into the mirror. Her eye did look horrid. She could open it completely, but it was ringed in dark purple. Several stitches ran between her eyebrow and her left temple. She turned her head to the opposite side briefly. There was a small burn mark below her right temple. Annabel looked back into the mirror. Suddenly everything that had happened weighed down on her. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. Annabel sat on the floor and wept. A knock came after a while.

"Miss McGinty?" It was the nurse. Annabel sniffled, rubbed her hand a cross her eyes and stood up.

"I'll be right out." She ran the water and scrubbed carefully at her face.

"We're done with Mr. Caine and he's asking for you."

Annabel opened the door. The nurse gave her a small smile. "It hits hard sometimes, doesn't it?" She led Annabel back down the hall to Horatio's room. He was sitting up, but still looked very pale. Horatio held his hand out and Annabel sat down beside him and took his hand. They both looked expectantly at the doctor. She looked at Annabel.

"Mr. Caine wouldn't let me continue until you came back, Miss McGinty."

"As I said, Dr. Collins, Miss McGinty needs to be appraised of my prognosis," Horatio said quietly.

Annabel looked quickly between Horatio and the doctor. Horatio gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm okay, Bella."

"Well, no. You're not exactly. You have a bullet wound in your shoulder and you have a bad concussion. You were unconscious for over 36 hours. We'll be running an MRI tomorrow."

"I feel fine, Dr. Collins."

"You may feel fine, but we still want to be sure. Besides the concussion, you had a significant blood loss. Your heart stopped." Annabel gripped Horatio's hand hard. "You will be in here for a few more days. We want to keep you under observation. Run some tests. When you get out of here, you will need to be on medical leave for at least 4 to 6 weeks. That is if we don't find anything wrong in your MRI or with any of the other tests. You need to get rest." Dr. Collins looked pointedly at Annabel.

"I wouldn't try to run Annabel off, Dr. Collins. She's very persistent." Annabel blushed.

"That's his way of pointing out I'm stubborn."

"Your stubbornness not withstanding, Mr. Caine still needs rest."

"He's more likely to get it if, I watching over him." Annabel looked at Horatio and then back at Dr. Collins. "Horatio is even more stubborn than me. If I don't keep track of him, you'll be lucky if you keep him from work for two weeks, let alone four to six." Annabel struggled to keep her voice lighthearted. Dr. Collins just shook her head.

"I'll be back to check on you, Mr. Caine." Horatio nodded slightly and the doctor left. Horatio shifted so he could look more easily at Annabel. He let go of her hand, reached up and lightly touched the bruising around her eye.

"And?"

Annabel looked down. "And what?"

"Bella." He sounded tired; there was a frustrated note in it. "Last time I saw you..."

"I was sitting here." Annabel looked right at him.

"Before that."

Annabel looked towards the door. "Marco Juarez is dead. After he... After... He forced me out to the Glades. I rolled the car. He fell out and the car rolled over him," she said simply. Annabel started shaking. Tears poured down her face. "I rolled the car I was in. On purpose. I…I...I killed a man with a car." Annabel choked on her words. Her breathing was ragged. Her eyes flashed around the room, trying to grasp at a perspective. She looked back at Horatio. He watched her quietly. His eyes were damp. She reached out and ran her hand across Horatio's face. She traced every contour, memorizing the feel. Horatio took her hand and tugged on it.

"Bella, come here." Annabel shook her head. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Horatio smiled. "It's alright, Detective." Annabel carefully climbed up on the side of the bed and curled up next to Horatio. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Horatio rubbed Annabel's back in slow circles. They lay quietly until Annabel relaxed. Horatio kissed the top of her head again. "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me, Bella."

Annabel shifted so she could look at his face. "I can't think of someone else I'd rather be stuck with." She shifted again, upward so she sitting to next to him. "I can't lie on that shoulder. Sorry." Horatio pushed the neck of her shirt slightly open to look at her discolored shoulder.

"Why are you sorry?" He sighed and let his hand drop to the bed.

Annabel gave him a tentative smile. "It looks worse than it is."

Horatio shook his head. "I doubt that."

"I'll live."

Horatio's eyes darkened. He wrapped his hand around the back of Annabel's neck and drew her down for a fierce kiss. When it ended they stayed with their foreheads touching.

"Are you trying to make me cry again, Horatio?"

"No." Annabel slid back down next to him. "I thought you said lying like that hurt."

"It does. But I'll deal. I just need to be right here."

"I won't make you leave."

"Yea. But that Dr. Ramirez will have a fit if he finds me here in the morning. I don't think Dr. Collins would be exactly thrilled either."

"Annabel, you keep avoiding telling me how you are."

Annabel gave him a frustrated sigh. "I had a slight concussion. Nothing as bad as yours. Bashed my shoulder hard, but not broken. Using my gun will be tricky for a bit. I probably can't go back until I get tested on the range. Bad bruising from the seatbelt and assorted other cuts and scrapes." She touched her eyebrow. "Oh, and the stitches. I only have to take a week off. That is if I pass on the firing range."

"Lucky you."

"Luck both of us. We were both very lucky." Annabel's voice cracked on the last sentence. They lapsed into silence, just listening to each other breathing.

"You were singing," Horatio said quietly.

Annabel frowned. "You heard me?"

"Just a little."

She shook her head. "You were out."

"What were you singing?"

Annabel shrugged. "I dunno. All sorts of stuff. Whatever popped into my head. Irish Rovers songs, songs from the radio, church songs, show tunes, other stuff. I couldn't just do Rosaries constantly."

"You were praying the Rosary for me?" Horatio sounded surprised.

Annabel shrugged again. "Old habits die hard. My Gran would pull out her Rosary when she was really troubled. I always have one in my pocket. It's my talisman. Kind of like Calleigh's rock. Or Alexx's worry dolls."

"I don't think anyone's prayed for me for along time." The sad note in his voice gave Annabel's heart a squeeze.

Annabel propped herself up and shook her head. She touched Horatio's face tenderly and looked him straight in the eye. "That's where you're wrong. I pray for you every time you walk out of my sight."

Horatio gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

Suddenly, Annabel couldn't breathe. She looked away, tears pricking her eyes. "I need someone to keep track of you," she whispered huskily.

"You constantly amaze me, Bella." He reached under Annabel's chin and turned her face back towards him. She was struck and a little scared by the raw emotion in his eyes.

Annabel smiled with false brightness and struck a pose. "That's me. The Amazing Annabel." She winced a little at the pain in her shoulder. Horatio grinned at her, his mood suddenly changed. Annabel blushed. She ran her fingers through her hair. "Quit looking at me like that. You are in no shape to even contemplate what you're thinking."

Horatio gave her a bemused look. "So now you're a mind reader too?"

"It's not your mind in control right now." Annabel slid off the bed. "I think I'd better stay over here."

"Scared, Detective McGinty?"

Annabel smiled. "Beating that dead horse again, are you, Lieutenant Caine? You know the answer to that. But I still love you. And as soon as you are well enough..." Horatio opened his mouth. Annabel placed her fingers over his lips to silence him. "I don't care what your opinion is on the matter right now. As soon as you are cleared..."

"Promises, promises," he mumbled against her fingers.

Annabel shook her head. She bent down and kissed Horatio long and hard. "Enough of a promise, Lieutenant?"

Horatio smiled and ran his thumb over her lips. "I guess it will have to hold me."

"I will more than make it up to you. Just practice some of that patented control of yours in the mean time."

"It's harder than you think, Bella."

Annabel smiled at him. "I think they had better cut your meds. You need to remember what sorry shape you're in."

"That's cruel."

"You need to rest."

Horatio sighed and closed his eyes. "Look who's talking. I'll hold you to that promise, Detective."

Annabel smiled and linked her fingers through Horatio's. "You'd better, Lieutenant."

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