SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMER and RATING.

Thanks everybody for all of the awesome reviews. In particular, Corine, I hang on every word you write, girl, even if reviews are all you're giving me at the moment. Thanks for the quick Sunday afternoon rescue in response to my panic attack and for the formatting tips which were a lifesaver. Deb, fabulous to hear from you, thanks for the too kind words. Yeah, it's good to be back. Please let me know if any of my medical jargon is inaccurate, appreciate it. And Becs, you were obviously on line when I posted andon the wings of your instantaneous review I went on to write about half of this chapter in half an hour. Enjoy!

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Alexx squinted as she descended three shallow steps into cool, indoor dimness from the late day Miami glare. She had dumped her shoes out after leaving the beach but a few gritty grains had persisted and shifted uncomfortably against the bottoms of her feet. Alexx's ears were still ringing from a quick walkthrough of the firing range across the street and a cold mojito was starting to sound extremely appealing whether Calleigh was here at Julie's or not.

With considerable relief the M.E. spotted a sheet of white blonde hair neatly hiding the occupant of a small, round corner table. Approaching she noticed that Calleigh was working on her second peach belini. Alexx smiled gently. At least it wasn't half a dozen scotch on the rocks like the last time she'd rescued someone else from this very table.

"Calleigh? May I sit down?"

Startled, Calleigh looked up, panic flaring in the wide blue-greens. "Is Horatio…"

"He's fine," Alexx reassured her friend, pulling out a chair. "He's worried about you."

"How big of him." Calleigh sniffed and took a sip of her drink as a huge man with a tiny, white apron tied in a ridiculous bow around his midriff approached. He scooped Calleigh's first drink glass off the table and fastidiously swiped a sticky peach ring off the mirrored black surface.

"Get'cha something, Doc?" he inquired as he polished.

"The usual, please, Big Julie."

"One mojito coming up. How about you, sweetheart?" he asked Calleigh kindly. "Another belini?"

"Sure, I guess."

Big Julie neatly intercepted a stern look from Alexx. "Aw, Doc, cut her some slack. It's man problems, you know," he observed with a knowing wink. "Besides, I talked her out of bourbon straight up before you got here. You're driving, though, so only one for you. Coming right up." Slowly the big man shuffled back behind the bar, pausing briefly to polish the neon light cocktail glass glowing midair above it. Not for the first time Alexx winced at the glaring seventies décor. Big Julie was a fixture loved by everyone but the rest could definitely stand a little updating.

Calleigh stared unblinkingly at the black mirror table top, stubbornly rubbing at a sticky peach droplet that had escaped Big Julie's notice. Alexx reached across and parted the curtain of hair, tucking it tenderly behind Calleigh's ears. "You okay, sugar?" she wondered, studying the tear tracked face.

"Yeah. Just wallowing in it, I guess." Calleigh looked up, fear on her face. "Is Horatio really all right, Alexx?"

"He will be. I promise."

Calleigh absent mindedly nibbled on the end of a stir stick. "I'm really mad at him, you know, but I'm even madder at myself. You have no idea how incredibly stupid I was."

"I have an idea how stupid Horatio was, not telling you he'd hit his head after…"

"Alexx, you don't understand," the blonde CSI protested. "I didn't check. I didn't notice that his pupils weren't reacting equally. I didn't even realize it was a bullet wound until he told me he'd been shot…"

"You're not a doctor, Calleigh," Alexx interjected gently, "but you called one."

"I know more about bullets and the damage they do than you," Calleigh sulked, "but okay, forget the medical stuff. I'm a police officer. Ask me if I secured the scene? Drew my weapon? Called for backup? Go ahead, Alexx. Ask."

Alexx sighed heavily as a mojito and a peach belini settled gently on the table top between them. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long evening and she was right. It was well after midnight when the two women finally left Julie's and returned to Jackson Memorial. Moments later they stood in the doorway of Horatio's room, staring at a precisely made and very empty bed.

"He… I wasn't here and he…" Calleigh took several shaky steps into the room as though the bed was somehow pulling her in. Alexx stayed where she was, head reeling in disbelief, body frozen while brain flew.

It was a simple, linear fracture…the bone didn't shift…they relieved the pressure in time to avoid brain damage…I was right here when he woke up, lucid, after surgery. All the medical facts considered he should still be here. Sporting a huge headache, yes, but he should still be here.

Alexx stepped into the room, mind groping for a reasonable explanation. They just took him down for a CT scan, her mind supplied obligingly. Hope blossomed for a brief instant but as her experienced eye swept the room she noticed all the small things a hospital did to ready a room for a new occupant. Horatio wasn't coming back.

Calleigh was staring blankly at the freshly fluffed pillow. Alexx took her by the shoulders and turned her around, got one look at the dilated pupils in the shocked, white face and pushed the younger woman gently down into a sitting position on the bed.

"No! Not there!" Calleigh flung herself off so violently that she slipped and went down, knees cracking on the freshly waxed linoleum. Alexx half-dropped, half-knelt beside her, fitting her arms around Calleigh's slender, shaking shoulders as hot tears welled up and spilled down her own face.

"I wasn't here. Alexx, he's gone and I wasn't here for him when he… when he…" Calleigh choked on a sob.

Alexx hugged her friend hard, drawing support as well as trying to give it. "Neither was I," she whispered.

"But you didn't kill him. I did."

"Oh, baby …" Horrified, Alexx squeezed tighter, doing her best to come up with the words to make Calleigh realize how wrong she was.

The door crept inward a few inches and Eric cheerfully poked his head in. "Okay to come in, H? Didn't think you'd be asleep…" The young man's voice trailed off as he took in the two women clinging to each other on the hospital floor. "What's going on?" Alarmed, he pushed the door open and came towards them.

Alexx mutely raised a tear streaked face. Eric glanced uneasily around the room, noting its' pristine condition and glaring lack of an occupant. "H? He's not…"

Abruptly Eric sat down. Unlike Calleigh, he had no compunctions whatsoever about using the bed. Elbows resting on his knees, arms limply dangling, he stared straight ahead with his mouth open a little bit and tried to absorb the shock.

After a moment Alexx stood up carefully and attempted to get Calleigh on her feet as well. Eric blinked and stood up to help eventually and between them they coaxed the blonde CSI over to the room's only chair and gently pushed her down to sit in it.

"I'll go and find out what happened," Alexx said softly, placing her hand on Calleigh's arm. "Stay with her, Eric."

Eric sat down on the bed again. Calleigh's head was bowed and he could see how hard she was trembling. He grabbed her hand as Alexx left, rubbing icy fingers between his. "Calleigh? Cal? Can you hear me?" he coaxed softly.

When she finally raised her head and looked at him her pupils were pinpricks lost in pools of despairing blue-green. Abruptly pulling her hand from his grasp Calleigh jumped up, grabbed her bag and fled, fighting with the door for a brief moment before escaping into the hallway. Still wobbly with shock himself, Eric skidded after her. Through a blur of surprised faces they flew past the nurses' station. Eric winced when Calleigh flung herself against an EXIT door hard enough to bruise. She pelted down the stairwell with Eric right behind her. He was gaining bit by bit but he didn't want to just out and out tackle her and take her down. Calleigh was in the parking lot by the time he closed in enough to reach out and grab her by the shoulders. Eric dragged her backwards into his chest, hugging her hard and holding her there with his chin resting on the top of her blonde head.

"It's okay," he crooned as she struggled. "Cal, it'll be okay. We'll figure out what to…"

Calleigh shoved a sharp elbow back into his stomach and Eric's breath exploded with a whoosh into the humid Miami night. He let go of her and stumbled sideways, slamming his face into the rear view mirror of the SUV beside him. Blood began to drip from the split skin above his cheekbone.

Horrified, eyes wide, Calleigh backed slowly away. "Just leave me alone!" she shouted when he slowly straightened up and looked at her. Calleigh spun and ran, dodging between rows of cars, quickly out of sight. Eric started to go after her but fell back, head reeling, against the passenger door of the SUV.

Alexx came flying across the pavement a few minutes later. Eric was still leaning on the vehicle for balance but the M.E. was too excited to notice. "He's alive!" she reported breathlessly, skidding to a stop and grabbing his arm. "Horatio's alive. Not that he will be for long once I get my hands on him. Idiot that he is, he checked himself out. Asked the head nurse for his clothes, signed the release forms and left, calm as could be. I stopped at the Admitting desk and someone there remembers seeing him get into a cab. We can check the address with the cab company …"

Alexx wound down and paused, realizing that Calleigh was nowhere in sight. Eric wasn't reacting to the good news like he should be, either, and the M.E. actually looked at him for the first time.

"My God, baby. You're bleeding." Concerned she reached towards his cheek but he grabbed her fingers and dragged her hand away. "Alexx, we have to find Calleigh," Eric grated. "She still thinks Horatio's dead."

Alexx's breath caught and rattled in her throat. "It's worse than that," she whispered. "Calleigh thinks she killed him."

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Okay, okay, sorry for the evil cliffie, but it'll be worth it. Trust me ladies, Four is AWESOME. Stay tuned.