25.

As with most cases, despite a rush order on evidence, results didn't show up in a split second. Time dragged. Despite the holding order on Parnell, they only had 72 hours or less to come up with something to keep him longer.

Knowing his team was doing thier utmost to come up with the evidence, Horatio returned to Mt. Sinai Medical Center, and as the incredibly long day passed into night and early morning, Horatio took up residence in the chair next to Schell's bed. She had been moved again, to a room with a window, and was still sleeping off the effects of emergency surgery. Though the oxygen tubes had been removed, she still was hooked up to the monitors and the IV. Horatio simply sat and watched her sleep, lapsing into long periods of thought. In the small hours of the morning he fell into a restless sleep.

He barely stirred as the nurses came in every two hours to check Schell's vital signs. When he did finally drag himself awake, simply because the crook in his neck had grown too painful, he found Schell gazing up at the IV bags suspended from thier rack. Were those tears in her eyes?

Horatio groaned, reaching up to rub his neck and twisting to get the knot out as he sat forward in the chair. "Hey..." he murmured to her as her gaze shifted to meet his, and he gave her a tired smile.

"Hi..." she replied sleepily and tilted her head towards the nightstand. "Were those from you?"

Horatio tucked his chin in, glanced up at her and nodded. A small vase of white lilies and freesias sat on the nightstand. "They are, only they came with something else," He rose, pulled the chair up next to the bed then reached over and extracted a small slim box from the bouquet.

Schell frowned a little, winced and reached up to lightly touch her swollen lip as Horatio opened the box and pulled out a cell phone.

"I got this for you," he said softly, flipping it open and handing it to her. "I've added a few numbers to the speed dial; to reach me you just push the eight and the send. I've activated the account on my service provider, so if you ever need to call me, you can just do it."

She smiled slightly, looking the phone over then glanced at him. "Thank you..." she murmured. "How long have you been here?" she asked.

"Most of the night," he said, then he gazed at her in concern. Those were tears in her eyes. "Schell?" he asked gently. "What is it?"

She gave him a sad smile and glanced at him. "I was thinking about Lionel."

Horatio looked at her a moment and nodded his head in understanding. He reached up to close the cell phone and set it within easy grasp of her hand.

"He was talking a mile a minute about shipwrecks," Schell said softly, frowning in remembrance. She gazed at Horatio again, her dark eyes troubled.

"He didn't suffer..." Horatio murmured gently, and took her hand up in his.

Very softly Schell asked, "Sargeant Stetler said something about a sniper...?"

Far back in Schell's eyes Horatio could see that familiar spectre of fear and he silently damned Rick to a private level of hell. Horatio sighed, dropped his head and absently stroked the back of her hand.

"Horatio?" she asked.

"Sweetheart..." he said quietly, squeezing her hand. "You don't need to be afraid. We have the man we believe is responsible in our holding cells. We're just waiting on the results of our tests to confirm that he is our suspect."

Schell looked away, thinking about what he said then she gazed back at him. "What happened?" she asked, referring to the accident.

"The bullet came through the windshield. It was instant, he felt nothing. When the window shattered you lost visibility and the shock of the impacts caused you to lose control of the car," he explained carefully.

"I asked him if I could drive," she said softly, gripping his fingers. "I wanted to see what driving a BMW was like... If I hadn't been driving he'd still be alive."

"And you would be gone," Horatio replied back. She looked at him. He gave her a soft smile and quietly added, "Then where would I be?"

She said nothing, just continuing to study his tired features.

"Schell, this wasn't your fault. Just do me a favour and don't go blaming yourself..." Horatio said. "You couldn't have known this was going to happen. I, on the other hand, should have."

Schell frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"I should have followed through on what was happening in Seattle, Schell. I failed to to do that."

"But you couldn't, it wasn't your case..." she protested.

"Still," he started. "I made a promise to protect you..."

"Horatio," she replied, looking at him in consternation. "This wasn't your fault either."

The look he gave her was one of skepticism, but she just shook her head. "I've been thinking about what that Stetler told me... you take too much on yourself, Horatio," she said softly. "Don't go adding this. You want me to not feel guilty about this, but I don't want you feeling guilty about it either." There was the faintest hint of challenge in her eyes.

Horatio, his chin tucked in, glanced sidelong at her then smiled slightly. "All right," he murmured. "Let me ask you something," he said. She looked at him with a raised brow. "Did anyone else know you were going to Oleta River, to the Archives there?"

Schell blinked a moment and thought as he gently stroked the back of her hand, studying her fingers.

"We stopped at the gallery, to see to the final layout of the exhibit. That was it." Schell replied, gazing at Horatio curiously.

"Was anyone there?" he asked.

"Just Connie, the gallery owner. She was seeing to last minute preparations." Schell snorted softly in ironic amusement. "The exhibit opens day after next and it looks like I am going to miss it..." She looked up at the IV bag, then at him. "Can't exactly show up trussed up like a Christmas goose."

Profile to her, he smiled a little, continued to study her hand, then looked at her again. "Can you remember anything about the accident?" he asked gently.

Her face saddened, and she nodded. "Most of it, actually..." she replied quietly.

"It's all right..." he reassured, seeing the look of sorrow in her face. "We don't have to talk about it."

She nodded, thinking a moment then asked, "What about you? Shouldn't you go home and get some decent sleep?"

"Trying to get rid of me?" he asked, trying to deflect her question.

"No..." she murmured, as she gripped his fingers lightly. "But I don't need you dropping from exhaustion on me either."

"Hmmm, " he murmured, lifting his chin and giving her a wry smile. "I'll be fine," he reassured. "It's you who needs the rest more than me... Dr. Alcalá says that your arm needs to stay immobilized for at least a month. No lifting or stress on your shoulder or collarbone. And that the surgery was invasive enough that your muscles around the surgery sites are gonna need time to heal."

"Yeah..." Schell sighed, looking away from his gaze a moment. "And right now I want more than anything just to get these needles and tubes out of me and go home to some real sleep."

"Therein lies the crux of the situation," he said.

Schell frowned and looked at him, "What do you mean?"

Horatio, eyes widening expressively for a moment, said slowly, "Dr. Alcalá won't release you until she knows that you have someone either nearby or staying with you. For about a week, she says."

"Just how much have you been asking her?" Schell frowned, and looking at him in a bit of mock consternation.

Horatio smiled, a bit too slyly. "Enough to ascertain that I think it would be a good idea for me to stay with you until you are capable of taking care of things on your own," he said, deliberately not looking her way.

"Oh really?" she asked, an eyebrow lifting.

"Really," he said, then he glanced at her with the faintest of impish glints in his eyes. "Alcalá won't let you out otherwise... said you would have to go to a rehabilition center until you were well enough to take care of yourself."

The appalled look on Schell's face caused the grin on his to become more pronounced. "I told her that wouldn't be necessary, that I'd be looking out for you..." he murmured.

Schell just stared at him a moment, then shook her head slightly trying to hide the smile on her face. "That was mighty presumptuous of you."

"It was," he replied, curling her fingers over his hand.

"You've neatly manouevered me into a situation I can't refuse, haven't you?"

Horatio tucked his chin in and smirked, then he rose and leaned over the bed. Reaching up to stroke back her hair, he looked her in the eyes and murmured, "Uh huh..."

"Don't make me laugh," she said, "You know damn good and well it's gonna hurt too much... I hate to think what I am gonna be like when they wean me off this pain machine."

"And I thought laughter was the best medicine..."

She reached up to set her hand gently on his face as she studied his tired features and smiled.

"What?" he murmured, as she searched his face.

"I was wondering how you can stand looking at someone who looks like they lost a round with Rocky Balboa... I mean, my face is looking pretty bad at the moment."

Horatio only smirked in amusement as he contined stroking back her hair. "A few scrapes and bruises don't matter that much," he said quietly, smiling only to her. "It's the eyes that are the window to the soul and that's what I like to look at..."

"Ooo," Schell said softly, smiling back into his eyes. "Very smooth move, Lieutenant."

Horatio only chuckled as he leaned forward, catching her lip with a feather light touch in his own. As he did, his cell phone went off.

Schell let out a groan, as he pulled back in dismay.

"Sorry..." he murmured and stood up, pulling the phone out of his pocket. Schell could only sigh and watch as he flipped the phone open. "It's from Calleigh, she might have something concerning our suspect," he said, reading a text message on the little screen.

"Calleigh?" Schell asked.

"One of my best CSI's, she's handling the case at present because of my involvement in it," he explained and folded the phone shut. Slipping the phone away he leaned back over the bed and gazed at her. "Which means I need to go see what is going on..."

"Duty calls..."

"It does," he replied, smiling at her. "When I get a chance though, would you like me to stop by your apartment for anything?"

"Could you?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.

"I just volunteered, right?" he replied.

Schell softly snorted, then winced, reaching up to gently touch her lip. She told him a few items to gather for her then he reached down and picked up the new cell phone for her.

"Call me if you need anything else, all right?" he asked, setting it near her.

"Of course."

Horatio nodded then bent and gently kissed her again. "I'll be back after a while..." he murmured next to her ear, then smiled as he turned to walk away.