10.
It was the sound of someone softly humming that slowly brought Horatio around to his senses again. Something of a struggle occurred, as he wanted to remain in the deep, comforting, enveloping, darkness his tormented soul longed for. Anything to not think for a while longer, to stay at peace with himself, but the stronger part of him reasserted its dominance and he slowly began to drag himself to wakefulness.
Several things struck him as odd, though, as he began to regain consciousness. There was something warm wrapping him that had the faintest scent of a flower; a familiar scent. He was horizontal, and his arm under him felt like it was numb from being slept on. Slept on?
He heard the soft humming again and the odd sound of scratching…like something on paper. Reluctantly he cracked open his eyes and frowned, sucking in a deep breath, before reaching up with his free hand and rubbing at his eyes. His head was on a pillow, he was on a couch and someone had put a blanket over him, and he couldn't remember for a split second how he came to be in this position. Then he heard the scratching sound again.
Pencil on paper.
He blinked, frowned, then set his hand on the couch and levered himself up. As it dawned on him that the surroundings were unfamiliar, his hand automatically reached down and felt for the gun still attached securely to his belt. It wasn't until after he sat upright that he realized he'd fallen asleep in Schell's new apartment. He looked in the direction the scratching sound was coming from and saw that she was perched on the drafting table stool, utterly ensconced in laying out a piece of work on a huge sheet of paper, and was humming softly as she worked.
His arm was utterly numb, so he reached down with a groan, pulled it onto his lap and tried to rub the circulation back in. His movements, and the soft groan that had issued from his lips, caused Schell to stop her work and look at him.
"Oh, no!" he heard her gasp in consternation, as she slid off the stool. He frowned again and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Horatio, I'm sorry!" he heard her say.
"Mmm?" He managed to utter, realizing he had been sleeping too damn hard. She was suddenly sitting on the coffee table, just before him as he leaned forward, dropped his head and tried to force the last dregs of sleep out of his mind.
"I was only gonna let you sleep an hour…" she said apologetically, looking at him in concern.
"An hour?" he mumbled, rubbing his arm again and trying to flex his fingers. "I shouldn't have been sleeping at all…"
"Can I get you something?" she asked in concern, searching his face.
He managed a slight smile, still struggling to get his eyes to stay open. "Let me wake up, first. How long have I been asleep?"
Schell smiled back, sorely tempted to tell him he was awake from the fact that a question popped out of his mouth already, but he looked like he had a raging headache.
"Hey?" she asked, setting a hand on his knee. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"Yeah…" he mumbled, "You wouldn't happen to have any aspirin?"
"Yeah, let me get it," she said and stood up.
He was more awake when she returned to hand him a couple of aspirin and a cold glass of water.
"Can I get you anything else?" she asked, sitting back down in front of him as he took the tablets.
"Not at the moment," he said, setting the glass down, then glancing at her. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked as he dug into his breast pocket for his cell phone.
"It's almost four o'clock. I'm sorry, Horatio. I was just gonna let you sleep an hour, then wake you, but I got into that and…" She nodded at the drafting table and shrugged, looking at him apologetically.
He was looking at his cell phone as if something was wrong with it, figuring rightly that he'd been asleep roughly three hours. He glanced at her, smiled slightly, and murmured. "I shouldn't've fallen asleep at all."
"You went out like a light…" she said as he pushed a preset button on his phone. He raised a curious eyebrow at her. She paused when he set the phone to his ear.
"Yeah Paula? Horatio. Any messages at all?" he asked, frowning slightly. He looked a bit puzzled as he listened to her reply. "None?" he asked. "No call outs?"
Schell smiled a little at the look on his face as Paula obviously answered in the negative.
"All right, yeah, you're right, it's unusually quiet." He said, his shoulders relaxing a little. He looked at Schell and shrugged. "Thanks Paula," he said and disconnected the phone.
Slipping the phone away, he looked at her. "Not a good idea for a policeman to fall asleep on the job."
"I'm sorry…" she murmured, "You just went out. I turned away for a few moments and when I looked back you were gone. I didn't have the heart to wake you up."
He sighed, studying the apologetic look on her face, then he smiled. "Next time, wake me up," he said gently.
"All right," she murmured, "You sure I can't get you anything else?"
"I'll be all right," He said reaching over and taking her hand in his. "I'm just sorry I fell asleep on you. Haven't seen you in six months and when I do, things don't turn out quite right but when we work things out I fall asleep…" He looked at her hand a moment, then glanced shyly at her. "Can I, uhh, can I make it up to you? Take you out to dinner?"
She studied him a moment, then smiled, squeezing his hand. "Like I'd tell you no?"
"You would have last night…" He commented wryly, raising both eyebrows.
"That, I would have," she confirmed. "But I am not going to dinner dressed like this," she added. Impulsively she reached up, her fingers teasing an errant lock of his red hair back into place, causing him to blink a little in surprise before she dropped her hand, and blushed. "Sorry,…" she murmured, and started to stand, but his hand gripped her fingers when she rose.
"For what?" he asked.
Schell, still blushing, looked away, she clutched his hand a moment longer. "Let me go change…" she said, smiling in spite of herself and unable to meet his curious gaze.
"Wear more comfortable shoes," he said, letting her go and reaching for his phone again.
"I will," she snorted softly in amusement as she limped for the bedroom.
Horatio, smiling to himself, turned back, looking out the bank of windows and then called Eric.
She emerged from the bedroom moments later; wearing a sleeveless, dark blue cotton jumper dress and a pair of backless Birkenstock sandals. She'd pulled her hair back into a ponytail and paused as she waited for Horatio to finish with his call. He was obviously checking in with a co-worker, from the sounds of it.
Rising from the couch as he finished, he turned, smiled at her, and disconnected his call.
"Where to?" he asked.
"I'm clueless, here, remember? I've managed to locate a grocery store, the post office, the Trust location, and a Starbucks half a block up the street." She grinned, picking up her handbag.
Horatio snorted softly in amusement.
"Why not just surprise me?" she asked.
Horatio paused a moment, pursed his lips in thought, then nodded. "Thai sound all right?" he asked.
Schell glanced up at him mischievously. "Hmm, adventure and surprise; never had Thai, before."
"We could try somewhere else…" he suggested.
"No, I'm in the mood for adventures in dining…"
"Well if that's the case, I have just the place." Horatio said, "And it's just around the corner from here, too."
Moments later, he was leading her to another Hummer, her second one of the day, and Schell couldn't help but be amused. She quickly found out he was a stickler for protocol, whereas Alexx had just let her in the car --more like helped her in-- Horatio, from somewhere amongst the heavily equipped back of the enormous rig, produced paperwork, and a visitors tag. He carefully explained it to her, saying that should he get a call out, and couldn't drop her off quickly at home, she was to remain in the vehicle, etc, etc, etc. A coy smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she signed the paperwork, and he was getting caught in the good mood, noticing his headache diminishing.
He wasn't kidding about the restaurant being around the corner. Less then a mile away, he took her to a place called Pacific Time, a 'Pan Asian' style restaurant. Apparently one of the top rated restaurants in the country, it had the price to match its reputation. Schell teased him about the paperwork, saying it was so close they could have walked, but then he countered that she was still limping. She laughed, producing in Horatio one of the first genuine smiles she had seen on him in what seemed like ages.
And the food? One bite of the Szechwan grilled Mahi-mahi was all it took. Dinner wound its leisurely way along, each relaxing as Horatio gently nudged Schell with well-timed questions to help him catch up with what was going on in her life. He was amused hearing the entire story of how they had to use a crane to get her painting of the Glenesslin shipwreck out of the studio in Seattle. He was seeing her much more as her natural self. With no fear for her life, no stress from the police and legal teams. He remembered how much he had enjoyed having breakfast with her that first day she had been out of the hospital in Seattle and how much he enjoyed her light banter. It all came back to him and he found himself enjoying the time out.
Yet even as they talked, she occasionally would ask how things were with him, and he would gently deflect or maneuver his way around the question. He could, however, see that for all his subtle evasiveness about himself, she knew something was up. She had noticed more of it as they had exited the elevator from her apartment. Though he was relaxed and actually talking about more surface things, he was constantly glancing around, like he was looking for something. Vigilant, Schell surmised as a waiter arrived with two glasses of Iced Thai Tea (brewed tea blended with spices and sweet cream over ice). Vigilant and unwilling to discuss it.
With the temperatures being as high as they were, despite it being early November, they had opted to sit outside at one of the umbrella-decked tables. Horatio suggesting to the waiter to place them furthest from the street, but close to the doors of the restaurant. And despite his discreet surveillance of the area, Horatio failed to notice Rick Stetler, who was sitting in a rental car parked not far down the street.