CHAPTER ELEVEN
Did I?
Thanks, everybody, for all the PMs, prayers, v-hugs and cyber-flowers, you guys are the absolute best. I'm really sorry for the long wait between the last few chapters, let me know how you like this one.
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The Florida Hospital Medical Centre was the largest in Orlando and the two strangers from Miami took several wrong turns before finally finding Calleigh all by herself in a spacious fourth floor waiting room. Wearing bleach faded hospital scrubs that made her look particularly pale and fragile she was curled up sleeping on one of the room's several couches.
Alexx dragged a cube chair close. The décor was modern and Calleigh actually would have looked somewhat comfortable on the sectional if one could have ignored the dark smudges under her eyes and the tear tracks on her cheeks. Sitting down Alexx began gently stroking the blonde hair while Eric crouched down beside them so that his face was the first thing Calleigh saw when she blinked open bewildered blue-green eyes.
She gasped when she did, struggling upward as if to free herself from something they couldn't see, not waking up at all the way they had intended. Until this instant both had totally forgotten that Calleigh hadn't seen Eric since before the stitches and the bruising.
"It's okay!" He just grabbed her quick, clasped her upper body to his chest and held her close while Alexx continued to smooth her hair, fingers unconsciously forming the semblance of a loose braid in the long, blonde strands. Calleigh started to cry, much like the last time Eric had tried to hold onto her, but at least she wasn't struggling to get away.
"Oh, God, Eric, it looks awful. I'm so sorry," she mumbled into his shirt between sobs.
"Honest, Cal, it's okay, I'm fine. Look at me? Please," he begged but she just shook her head and buried her face deeper.
"Are you okay, baby?" Alexx crooned, rubbing Calleigh's shoulders as she continued to sob in Eric's embrace with no sign of letting up. The two exchanged concerned glances over the blonde head. They were worried about her and Horatio as well, but the nurse at the desk had informed them he was in surgery at present so they knew he was alive and being cared for. They would be patient, look after Calleigh and wait until she was ready to talk about what had happened.
Eventually the blonde CSI pushed away slightly from Eric's chest, trying to catch her breath, and glanced up timidly into his face. Flinching she drew a fingertip tenderly along the raised edge of the healing slash, pausing for a moment at each stitch and each tiny bandage.
"See? Still the same gorgeous face all the girls love to touch," Eric teased with a wink and a little giggle escaped. Alexx handed Calleigh a tissue as she leaned back, sniffing, and started to relax.
"Horatio's in surgery," she said quietly and they nodded, waiting, while she dabbed at her eyes. "They're closing the knife wound in his chest. I guess it'll need stitches at different depths?" She glanced at Alexx to see if that made sense and the M.E. nodded.
"It bled an awful lot." Calleigh shivered, remembering the rivers of red and exactly how his cold skin had felt as she held the wound together for minutes that seemed endless. "He was convulsing and he crashed in the chopper but they got him back really quickly."
Alexx nodded. "I'm not surprised. Florida Flight 1 is the best in the country. Thank God you were able to find a phone and call in time."
"Yeah, they saved him. And he saved me. I didn't do anything except find my way out of a building and dial 911." Calleigh dismissed everything else she had done without a thought, her eyes oddly haunted. "There's more, but the knife wound is the worst. Well…not the worst, but it's what almost killed him."
Not the worst but it's what almost killed him? Alexx wondered what her friend could possibly mean by that.
Eric sat down on the couch next to Calleigh and drew her close. She nestled comfortably into his chest, drawing her cheek back and forth against the stubble on his chin as he rested an arm around her.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Alexx wondered.
"I'm not hurt. How did you get here so fast?"
"We had an APB out on the delivery truck," Eric explained, "and the State Police found it abandoned near SR-91 not far from Orlando. So we'd all ready driven over half way up when we got the call about you and Horatio. We dropped Wolfe off at the scene on our way here. Calleigh, is there anything we need to know right now, anything that can't wait?"
Calleigh shook her head and sighed. All too soon she'd have to relate and relive their captivity with all of the awful details. She wasn't looking forward to it but at least Eric and Alexx were here now and it would be easier than talking to Orlando PD.
That was later, though. For now, if she'd known even the smallest thing that could help track down the accomplice who was still at large it would have been the first thing to leave her lips. But she didn't, not a single damn thing, and for the moment that left Horatio as her only real concern. Calleigh tilted her head to glance at Eric's wrist watch.
"Would you mind asking at the desk, Alexx, to see if Horatio's out of surgery yet? Dr. Swain said he'd check back with me but…"
"And here I am, Calleigh, checking back. Hello." A middle aged man with a kind face, still wearing blue-green surgical garb, approached and extended a hand towards Alexx who introduced herself and Eric. Dr. Swain shook hands with them both before perching on the edge of a chair, his surgical cap dangling in his hands. He worked the ties through his fingers as he spoke.
"Let me start by reassuring you all that Lieutenant Caine came through the surgery just fine. I've removed him from the critical list." He paused with a faint smile to watch the ripple of relief wash away the worst of the fear in the waiting room before continuing.
"The knife wound was deeper than we initially thought. The blade penetrated multiple layers of muscle but it was high enough in the chest where it didn't compromise any vital organs. With physiotherapy at a later date I believe he'll make a full recovery in that regard. The bullet wound on his arm was superficial, a few stitches to close the skin. His wrists did sustain some serious damage but as bad as they may look, Calleigh," he smiled encouragingly in her direction, "everything will heal, there's no permanent injury. He will have extensive scarring but nothing to keep him from full use of his hands. I know you were concerned about that."
Calleigh took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A big chunk of tension went with it. "Thank you," she nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"The wrists are, however, badly infected from the wire."
Alexx flinched and Eric tightened his grip on Calleigh's shoulders, both of them remembering how Horatio had found his mother's body with her wrists wired together. Dr. Swain observed their reactions with some concern but Calleigh seemed quite accepting of the information so he cautiously continued.
"We'll be starting him on a course of antibiotics to clear that up and he's also receiving IV fluids for dehydration as well as pain killers, of course. He's been through substantial upper body trauma not to mention shock and major blood loss so I expect him to take some time to heal and regain his strength."
"What about the previous head injury?" Alexx inquired, worried about the skull fracture that had seemed so serious only a couple of days ago. It seemed almost an afterthought now, in light of everything else.
"Based on the information Calleigh gave us we did extensive x-rays of the area and it's stable. All things considered I think we have a very good outcome here." He smiled kindly at Calleigh. "He's in recovery at the moment. Would you by any chance like to see him for just a few seconds?"
Calleigh was on her feet instantly, no time whatsoever between sitting and standing. Dr. Swain grinned and glanced apologetically at the others as he rose somewhat more slowly. "I'm sorry, but even one visitor in recovery is bending the rules a bit. I'll send her back to you shortly." He took Calleigh's elbow and gently steered her in the appropriate direction.
"The x-rays also show both shoulders settled nicely back in place. Good job," he congratulated her as they made their way into the hallway. Eric and Alexx exchanged raised eyebrows. There would be more than a few questions waiting for Calleigh when she came back to them.
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"Hi, Beautiful," he whispered as she stood beside the bed. Calleigh closed her eyes. Two tears slid down her cheeks, no more, only two.
"Hi, Handsome."
She sounded pretty wavery but he really wasn't in any kind of shape himself to judge. Still, he thought he'd better make sure.
"You 'kay, Cal?"
"Oh, Horatio." Her eyes opened, huge in the dimly lit room, and he felt her fingers close around his hand. "I am now. I'm more than okay. I'm wonderful."
"Yes. Yes, you are." His eyes drifted shut. "Tired…"
"I know. Do you think you could you stay awake just a little longer?"
It was more than a request, Calleigh sounded like she really, really needed him to. All ready sinking into sleep Horatio forced himself back upward through waves and waves of drugs and deep exhaustion, finally managing to surface again. He dragged his eyes open into narrow slits, tried to ease his aching shoulders into a more comfortable position and groaned softly. Calleigh heard the recovery room nurse rustle closer from behind.
"Where…"
"Shhh. Be still, please love, or they'll make me leave. This is Florida Hospital in Orlando. You're in the recovery room, you've just had surgery to close the knife wound. Everything's fine."
He shifted his legs a bit under the blankets but she noticed he was careful not to move his upper body again. "Doesn't feel fine," he grumbled and she smiled.
"It will, Horatio. I promise."
A shadow crossed his face and she could tell he was struggling through the drugs to remember what had happened, how he had gotten here. Suddenly she wished with all her heart she hadn't been so selfish a moment ago, that she'd just let him drift back off to sleep.
"I remember…I think I…" His eyes widened and he lifted his head a bit. "Cal? Did I…did I kill my father?"
The nurse was hurrying towards them now and in that instant all Calleigh wanted to do was find a painless way to ease Horatio back into healing sleep. Vacillating between the truth and a lie, both yes and no on the tip of her tongue, she didn't have a clue which answer, if either, would do it.
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Four hours later, settled in a small private room on the surgical ward, Horatio once again struggled to open his eyes. Alerted by a subtle change in his breathing Calleigh was right there waiting for him when he finally succeeded. He wasn't really seeing her at first but she smiled anyway and held it until the vagueness in his eyes eventually sharpened into a focus of sorts.
"Hi there," she whispered when he finally found her eyes with his. "Don't try and move too much, okay?" Calleigh had peeked under the sheet and the skimpy hospital gown earlier and found his arms and upper body swollen and discoloured into a single huge, painful bruise. The crisp white bandages on his chest, arm and wrists were far easier to deal with than the rest of him. Just looking brought tears to her eyes.
He sighed. Breathing hurt, never mind moving. But a third thing called thinking was also making itself felt on the list of painful things to do and after just a few seconds of clarity Horatio came to the abrupt conclusion that it hurt far worse that the others did. Going back to sleep wasn't an option either, he was feeling much too wide awake for that, so he bent his elbows, placed his palms flat on the mattress and pushed himself up slightly in the bed to see what would happen. Sure enough, thinking shot back down to the bottom of the list where it belonged as he just did his best to breathe in the deep, suffocating well of ripping pain he fell into.
Horatio managed a shallow gasp which didn't do much for the agony seizing his chest but it did at least get some air into his lungs. His arms and shoulders burned with a tearing sensation and it occurred to him that maybe, just maybe, the thinking thing wasn't quite so bad after all. He'd just concentrate on something simple, like breathing in some sort of a normal rhythm.
Someone was wiping his face with a cool cloth, running a soothing hand through his hair, readjusting the sheet around his shoulders, and as his screaming chest and arm muscles began to unclench a little bit the chemist in him realized that a dose of some kind of painkiller had just hit his system. As it quickly took the edge off he began to relax and realize that there had to be more than just one set of hands doing all of this to make him comfortable. Horatio took a hesitant but fairly normal breath, opened his eyes and squinted against the light.
"Hi, Alexx," he whispered while he waited for her to give him hell for moving. What was it she had said the last time, something about stupid male macho crap? Well he certainly deserved it and her anger would be a welcome distraction but damn it all she wasn't saying a word and he could tell from her close-up expression that she knew. Everything. Including how much it hurt -- the thinking, that is. The doctor in her would of course be perfectly aware of the rest and was no doubt responsible for the pain killer.
The fingers that had stroked his hair were Calleigh's, they still rested there, and Horatio welcomed the intimate sense of comfort they offered. He was just about to avert his gaze from Alexx's far too sympathetic one when Eric's concerned face appeared over the M.E.'s shoulder and managed to distract him thoroughly.
"Eric, my God. What happened?" he croaked, lifting his head slightly.
"Calleigh happened, remember?" Alexx reminded him quietly as she eased an extra pillow behind his neck. "No more sudden movements," she warned, close to his ear, "or you'll pull those deep stitches and end up back in surgery. We can raise the head of the bed if you want." She waited for his slight nod before giving Eric the go ahead to increase the angle of the electric bed. All three kept a protective eye on Horatio while that happened, relaxing when it didn't seem to cause any additional discomfort.
Calleigh felt his hot forehead and offered him a drink of water. "Are you warm enough?" she asked, after he took a few sips through the bent straw.
He wasn't really, but Horatio considered the weight of an extra blanket resting on his sore chest and suppressed a shiver. He wished everybody would just quit fussing and get down to business.
"I'm fine. I guess you all know about…" a muscle flinched in his cheek "…my father by now." He gazed in mute appeal at Calleigh for awhile before getting up the courage to continue. He couldn't quite make himself ask either of the others.
"Did I kill him, Cal?"
She shook her head, tears glistening, but it was Eric who spoke quietly after receiving a small nod of approval from Alexx. "H, you didn't kill your father. You killed your uncle."