Chapter 12: The Promise of Survival - Pt. I

14:22pm

Miami Sunbird Hospital, Miami

It had been 2 days. 2 whole days of torment and no sleep. 2 wholes days set on staying by her side, grasping a mug of coffee, muttering words into her ear and willing her to open her eyes. There had been no progress in her recovery. No signs of her knowing that he was even there.

Horatio sighed and leant back for about the hundredth time in the chair by Calleigh's bed. He rubbed his eyes, forcing them to stay open and drawing his hand over his face. He set aside yet another cup of coffee and looked over at Calleigh. Her face was battered and bruised, her left leg was broken and she had to have over 2/3 of blood pumped back into her. It was no wonder she was in a coma. Horatio's eyes began to flicker before he finally drifted off into a sleep, letting himself be sucked under.

18:31pm

Miami Sunbird Hospital, Miami

Horatio jerked awake, dragging himself away from a nightmare. He looked over quickly at the bed. Calleigh was still there, just as he had left her. He glanced at his watch. He'd slept for four hours. Horatio sighed slowly and sat up slightly. He felt his phone vibrating against his chest from his breast pocket. He reached in and got up, answering it as he walked out of the room.

"Caine." He said, in a low voice, so not to wake Calleigh, though he doubted that he could do that.

"Horatio? It's Alexx." Horatio breathed out slowly. "How is she?"

"Not good Alexx, not good at all." He said, looking through the window at Calleigh's face. "She's not even out of the coma yet." He heard Alexx sigh over the phone.

"Do you want me to watch her tonight?" She asked.

"No, I'll stay."

"Horatio, you've sat by her side 2 days straight. You haven't slept. Look, if anything happens at all, I'll ring you straight away." Alexx said fiercely. Horatio stood silently there for minute, staring down at his shoes, pondering the idea. If something happened. What could happen? Calleigh could wake up of course. But what if she went the other way and never did wake up? He couldn't bare the thought of him being at home while Calleigh died. It was at though he would be sleeping off the problem. But then again, the doctors said she was stable. Also the fact that he was going to have to go home anyway, due to the certain fact that Alexx would come here herself and usher him away. He peered back though the window, looking at Calleigh again. He hadn't been there when she had been stabbed and shot. What if he wasn't there when she finally died?

Horatio shook this idea. Now he was just fooling himself, letting his own mind take advantage over him.

"Alright, Alexx. But I'll be back if anything happens to her. And I mean anything. Her finger twitches, her breathing gets worse. Anything." Horatio suddenly felt like he was parenting toward Calleigh and as though Alexx was some sort of babysitter.

"I promise Horatio. Do you want me to take you home?" Alexx asked.

"No, it's only a few minutes away form my house. Bye Alexx." Horatio replied and he snapped his cell shut. He walked back into the room and lifted his jacket off the chair. Should he wait until Alexx got here? He agreed to his own idea and sat there, back on that chair which he had come so familiar with, to wait for Alexx to come.

19:17pm

CSI Building, Miami

Eric sat in the locker room, looking down at his hands. Usually, like most normal people, they didn't bother him. But for some odd reason, they were scaring him. His hands had swum through bloody swimming pool, had handled dead bodies and had been the single tool that operated the gun which he had used to kill someone. He had the power to kill. It was for defence of him and other members of the team. So why on earth was it bothering him now? Why was it nagging at his mind, pulling him back from his work, making him turn away? He had killed few people, but they never seemed to creep back up on him. He growled at his own self-pity. Calleigh was the one in trouble, not him and his hands. He tried to shake it off, but it dugs it's claws into his conscience. He stamped his foot and put his head in his hands.

Ryan just had to walk in at that moment. He considered leaving Delko, not wanting to intrude on his business, but he made his way toward him and sat down beside him. Eric glanced up at him from his hands.

"Come to enjoy the moment have you?" He said lowly. Ryan narrowed his eyes. Eric had still held him against replacing Speed, but he wiped the comment away as though it were a mere fly that just be happening to bother him.

"Why would I enjoy it?" Ryan asked. Eric gave him a look that made him angry.

"Look, I get the point. But seriously...Eric, I'm sorry about Speed and I'm sorry that I came. But you're just going to have to live with it. I would have never guessed that I would get on the team, but I'd never have guessed that the few members that I have to work would hold it against me that I took the place of the previous occupant." He said, his tone slicing through Eric like a cold blade. He looked up at Ryan, who was now standing up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eric said stupidly.

"Can't you work it out?" Ryan snapped. "You only pissed off with me because I took Speed's place on the team. If it were under any other circumstances, I think I'd see a better side of you." Eric looked taken aback, slightly dazed at what Ryan had just said to him. The horrible thing was that Eric knew that he was right. He had been holding it against Ryan, generally out of grief for Tim. He'd been taking it out on Ryan. He heard footsteps away from the locker room and saw Ryan leaving. He hesitated before finally blurting out, "Have you ever killed someone?"

Ryan turned round to face him, a sort of shocked look on his face.

"What, murder someone or..."

"No, I mean shot someone, on duty." Eric cut across him. The thought of Ryan chasing someone around with a knife was amusing to him in someway, but he kicked that out of his mind as Ryan began to reply.

"Well, I guess so. But, never killed them, just in the shoulder or leg." Ryan replied, looking straight at Eric. "Why, have you?"

"Yeah. When we found Calleigh, a guy was about to put a bullet in Horatio's head, so I shot him through the chest." Eric said, leaning back against the wall. "But that wasn't the first time. But it usually doesn't affect me, but when I watched that guy just die, it really...I don't know, got to me somehow."

Ryan thought about this, folding his arms across his chest.

"Surely you have kept in mind that you were doing this on duty and that it was to save Horatio. I've met a few people around here who already owe their lives to him, but loads would willing kill the bad guy." Ryan commented.

"Yeah, I know." Eric replied. "I've done it before. But this one just seems to scare me more that the others." Ryan shook his head.

"Don't think about it. You will have to do this more and more soon enough. Just think of the facts, not the life. See you around." Ryan said and he turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"Hey! Ryan!" Eric called. Ryan turned round. "Um, you want to go out for a drink sometime?" Ryan grinned.

"Sure."

19:29pm

Miami Sunbird Hospital, Miami

Alexx walked through the door, looking apologetic.

"Sorry, Horatio. I had to get the kids to bed and...Well, you know. The whole world stopped." Alexx said. Horatio nodded.

"It's fine." Alexx looked him over, her eyes taking in his scruffy hair, creased suit and baggy eyes.

"You sure you don't want me to take you back home?" She asked.

"It's fine. I don't Calleigh to be left alone. Are you ok doing this?" Horatio asked, taking his sunglasses slowly out of his pocket.

"Horatio, all I was gonna to do tonight was sleep. What could possible stop me from coming here?" She asked incredulously.

"Your husband, perhaps?" Horatio said. Alexx gave him a look which answered his question, but she still replied.

"He knows I'm here and he's perfectly fine with that, Horatio." She said slowly. Horatio took this warning, backing off quickly and sharply.

"Well," Horatio sighed, standing up and looking down kindly at Calleigh. "I'll go now." He kneeled down and grasped Calleigh hand in support, before turning, hugging goodbye to Alexx and finally walking out of the hospital. The warm, Miami breeze lifted his hair as he gazed out into the car park and onto the orange sun, which was low on the horizon. He sighed once more and knew he'd be back here in no more then that of 12 hours and made his way back to his Hummer, looking forward to a good long sleep.

Woot! My chapter has finally grown! And I submitted a whole 2 chapters in one day! I'm ona roll people! Right. This story is coming to a close, so already I'm writing up a sequeal to my first CSI: Miami fanfic, Broken. Please read it of you are considering reading my sequeal! Please review! I will update soon!