Chapter 3

As promised, Horatio stopped in the following afternoon to see how Samantha was feeling. Knocking gently on her door, Horatio peeked his head in and saw that she was sleeping soundly, her hair now unbound by the white bandage that had covered most of it the previous night. Horatio noticed a pile of bandages lying ungracefully on the floor by Samantha's bed. He chuckled inwardly. The girl had spirit, he'd give her that!

Not wanting to wake her up, Horatio quietly took a seat by Samantha's bedside. His earlier assessment at the accident of her being exceptionally beautiful seemed to fall short to how he saw her now. Portions of her face were starting to turn black and blue, but even that didn't detract from her beauty. Her skin had gained a bit more color, but it was still as fair as his. The small spattering of freckles on her nose told Horatio her complexion was bound to tolerate the hot Miami sun about as well as his own. He made a mental note to bring her a bottle of SPF 50 the next time he came to see her.

Returning back to the woman who lay sleeping before him, Horatio found himself looking into a pair of brilliant green eyes flecked with gold. Horatio tried not to blush, though he wasn't sure if he'd succeeded. The smirk on her face told him maybe he hadn't.

"You know this is the second time I have awoken to find you staring at me."

This time, Horatio was sure he did blush, though a clever duck of his head kept her from seeing most of it. "I apologize. I came to see how you were feeling and I didn't want to wake you." He looked back up at her once he felt his face had returned to its natural color.

"That was sweet of you. Thank you." She stretched her body, arching her back slightly in an attempt to work out the kinks. The thoughts popping into Horatio's head at the sight of it were bordering on obscene. He blinked hard to put those thoughts to rest. Samantha sighed with contentment and lay back on the hospital bed.

Horatio cleared his throat. "I spoke with the Doctor this morning. He said that whenever you feel you are ready to leave that you can be discharged."

Samantha smiled at this. "Really?" She threw her legs over the bed before Horatio could protest. "Great let's g-----." Wobbling on unsteady legs as a wave of dizziness swept over her, Samantha would have landed rather ungracefully on the floor had it not been for the quick reflexes and strong arms of Horatio Caine. Instead, she now found herself seated quite securely in his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Horatio smirked, looking up into her now bright red face.

"I'm so sorry!" She sputtered. "I knew better than that… but I felt fine laying down so I thought…that was stupid…. I---"

"--- It's ok, Samantha. It's ok. But maybe we should get you back in that bed, huh?" Horatio waited for Samantha's nod before helping her gently to her feet and back into bed.

After she was settled back in and the spinning room returned to rights, Samantha looked back over at Horatio who had seated himself again at her bedside. Her face was still quite pink. "Thanks. Umm… maybe I'll just take it easy this afternoon." Horatio smiled at her. He really needed to stop doing that, Samantha thought. That smile could wreak havoc on a woman's emotions. She had a feeling the handsome Lieutenant wasn't aware he possessed that particular skill.

"What hotel are you staying at?" Horatio asked.

"I don't actually have one yet. I'd planned to get one after I dropped off my application yesterday but ---."

"---You just leave that to me." Horatio interjected softly. "I'll tell you what…" He leaned forward slightly, looking up at Samantha. "You stay here tonight, and I'll come by to pick you up and take you to a hotel in the morning. Then if you're feeling up to it, I think there's an interview you wanted to go to?"

Samantha beamed back at him. "Extra points for interviewing with a concussion?" Samantha joked.

Horatio chuckled, standing and resting his hands on his hips. "We shall see. You get your rest, and I'll see you in the morning."