Title: Two Lives

Author: innocent choir girl (ff-dot-net), shannyfish (From Out of the Lab)

Summary: Calleigh Duquesne is kidnapped and isolated from the world. She's trapped between trying to escape and protecting what she treasures most. Crossover with CSI.

Category: Crossover – Ship Ahoy! Calleigh/Horatio

Genres: Established Relationship, Suspense

Characters: Horatio Caine, Alexx Woods, Catherine Willows

Warnings: none

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 7 "Bedside Findings"

Author's Notes: And here I thought I'd be on vacation ;) but here I am writing two more chapters…oops? LOL So, here I am posting this chapter from Vegas…enjoy ;) AND! Thanks to Opal and Riley for beta-ing for me! And I still have several chapters held hostage ;)

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Horatio sat at Calleigh's bedside with his head down. He and Alexx had been informed that she had fallen into a coma; the thumping that her head had taken had given her a concussion along with having caused swelling on her brain. The doctor couldn't guarantee when she'd come out of it, but Horatio had had time to call her father and he had given him permission to make decisions regarding Calleigh's medical health. He still wanted to get back to Miami, but they were hoping that she'd wake soon…

It'd been a couple days since Calleigh had been found, and as Alexx re-entered the hospital room with a cup of coffee in each hand her concern for Horatio grew. "Honey, you can't blame yourself," she told him holding out his cup to him. When he took it, she sat in the chair next to him. "Calleigh's gonna wake up when she's ready," she tried to assure. "And so far the baby's doing fine…"

"Lilith…"

"Yes, Lilith. But there's a problem," Alexx told him. "They finally got the results back from the panels they ran on Calleigh and Miller's blood samples." She watched as he waited for her response, and she wondered how he would take it. "Miller isn't Lilith's father."

Horatio's dropped his head, "We don't know from Calleigh what he could have done to her…who he could have exposed her to." Looking back up, he sighed, "None of the entries say anything about Mr. Lewis bringing another man into the house…"

"Perhaps he's trying to cover up something… Maybe he's just embarrassed of a condition he has and wanted a family anyways," Alexx reasoned.

"I need to have a discussion with Mr. Lewis."

Seeing Horatio stand, Alexx stood blocking his way. "Horatio…let Captain Brass deal with it. Calleigh needs you here…"

"I'm not doing Calleigh any good here…" he argued wondering why Alexx wasn't letting him do his job.

"You wait here for one minute," she told him and set her coffee down on a nearby table. She was happy that the hospital was able to give them a private room; it made things so much easier for them all. "I'll be right back; you just stay with her for a minute, okay?" When she finally got a nod, she exited the room and headed for the nursery. Normally, they would be in completely different areas, but the doctors had agreed to keep Calleigh close to the nursery, so that they could let Lilith visit. Since the doctors hadn't found anything wrong with her, Alexx was free to take her to Calleigh's room as she pleased. Coming back into the room with Lilith in her arms in yellow cotton pajamas with little ducks on them, she held her out to Horatio. "Go on, take her," she said nodding.

Carefully, he set his coffee out of the way and took Lilith into his arms before taking a step back and slowly sinking down into the chair. "She does look just like Calleigh," he said as the little girl smiled up at him. Her blue eyes sparkled as she started to babble nonsense.

"I told you if you'd actually look at her that you'd see that," Alexx told him. "Right now, it doesn't matter who Lilith's father is…all that matters is that she and Calleigh are taken care of… Calleigh needs us here, Horatio. She can hear us…and she needs to feel us here." Alexx walked up to the bed and ran her hand along Calleigh's cheek, "We're here for you, Sweetheart… Horatio, Lilith, and I…we can't wait for you to open those pretty eyes of yours…"

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It was day four since they had found Calleigh Duquesne and rescued her from her imprisonment in Miller Lewis' home and she was still in a coma. Catherine found Horatio Caine right where she expected to find him, slumped in a chair with his hand wrapped around Calleigh's talking softly to her. She knocked on the side of the wall to get his attention and when he looked her way she could see the lack of sleep and worry quite apparent in his face. "She any better?" she asked concerned.

Horatio shook his head a bit, "They just say that she'll wake when she's ready…"

"Horatio, Alexx talked to Grissom about the paternity test. How Lewis isn't the father," Catherine started and then looked down at the file she had in her hand before looking back up at him. "We ran the DNA through all of our systems, and we found a match."

"Repeat offender?" he questioned wondering if that was what Miller Lewis had been going for. If he had found some other creep and let him have Calleigh. The thought made him sick, and without Calleigh to tell them otherwise, that's all they had been thinking had happened.

"No," Catherine said tilting her head and knew that he had obviously no idea. "Horatio, you're Lilith's father…"

"Excuse me?"

"You're her father… I had them rerun the tests…hell, I ran it myself…and it's not wrong. DNA doesn't lie. You and Calleigh are that little girl's parents." She could see the shock in his eyes, obviously he hadn't even thought about that avenue. "You okay?" she asked as his hands went up to his face.

"I need some time…" he spoke up, not moving from where he was. "Thank you for the information."

His voice was still calm and even, and Catherine just nodded figuring that such a big thing being dropped on him deserved time for him to process it. "Call me if you need anything," she told him before leaving.

Horatio sat there with his head in his hands. He was Lilith's father… Calleigh and Lilith were his family…and Miller Lewis had stolen that from him for two years…and he hadn't even known about it… He had missed so much… The big things that he had always wanted to be involved in had been stolen from him. But he was a father, and though the baby wasn't planned, he would love and protect his little girl. The sound of the door opening caught his attention and he had a good idea who it was, and he quickly tried to hide any evidence of upset and anger.

"Horatio? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Alexx."

She tilted her head studying him for a minute before taking a step forward, "Don't lie to me, Horatio…" Taking a seat next to him, she sat sideways in the chair to face him. "You know you can trust me, Honey…"

He knew that Alexx needed to know, but that she'd most likely be shocked as he was since he and Calleigh had kept it a secret…even with Calleigh gone he had kept the secret even though he had wanted to tell someone. "They found out who the father is."

"Okay…"

"I am," he said his voice faltering slightly, which forced him to look away and back towards Calleigh's sleeping form. It was even hard for him to take in. He and Calleigh hadn't been involved for too long, but they had been reasonable serious…and it had been easy to fall so quickly in love…they had been best friends for so long…

Alexx wasn't sure how to take that. Horatio and Calleigh? Sure she wanted them to be happy, they both deserved it…but why hadn't she seen it before? "When were you and Calleigh together?" she asked feeling slightly on edge for being kept from two of her best friends keeping something so big from her.

"For a couple months," he admitted, his eyes still on Calleigh. "It was my fault…we were trying to keep it a secret and Calleigh wouldn't drive to work with me and insisted on taking a different route to CSI. I should have made her drive with me…"

"Honey, Calleigh will do what she thinks is right…" Alexx told him, putting her hand on his arm. "And why did you two think it was important to keep a secret like that from me? Even with Calleigh's disappearance?"

Horatio had known she'd ask. And it was a good question, but was his answer a good reason? He wasn't sure, but he knew he had to give her something. "We wanted to wait…just a bit longer. But when Calleigh was taken…I almost told you so many times…" He let out a sigh before continuing, "I just kept telling myself that we would find her, and I figured that Calleigh wouldn't want everyone to know like that…"

Alexx shook her head, "No wonder you've been blaming yourself for so long… But it wasn't your fault, Horatio… If Miller Lewis wanted Calleigh, then he would have found a way to get her even if you two drove together to work…"

Keeping his head down, he remained quiet wondering if Alexx was right…or if he would have been able to protect her.

"Do you think she knew?" Alexx asked knowing that Calleigh would more likely have been more determined if she knew the child was Horatio's…that she wouldn't feel so restrained from attempting to escape. But Calleigh had remained idle for so long… She shook her head, already knowing the answer. She knew her best friend enough to know how she thought.

"No."

Alexx sighed, "Honey, I wish you would have told me… I know it doesn't make a difference, but I wish I had known…"

"You were going to be the first one we were going to tell when we felt we were ready," Horatio told her with a small smile. "I was worried about Eric's reaction and so was Calleigh…"

"Marisol."

Horatio nodded, "I loved Marisol…but I love Calleigh, too…"

"You've loved Calleigh for a while, haven't you, Horatio?" Alexx asked with a knowing smile as she watched him.

"Probably since the moment I saw her."

Alexx sighed, "God was I blind."

He smiled, "You're not the only one, Alexx… You're not the only one." Horatio had loved Calleigh from a distance, intent on keeping a professional relationship with Calleigh no matter what. Even with Yelina he had tried to keep it professional, but even that had remained hard…but then Ray came back and then her brother's family was in Brazil…until Ray died again.

Marisol's death had taken him to Brazil…and Yelina, and all they seemed to do was clash. But Marisol had been gone for a year before he and Calleigh had started dating…and Horatio had felt that it had been enough time, though he wasn't sure Eric would see it like that. And now…now it had been three years since Marisol's death.

Alexx frowned, and moved her chair so that she was closer to Calleigh. Taking her friend's hand, she whispered; "Baby, it's time to wake up… Horatio and I are both here… It's safe, Baby…it's safe…"

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TBC…