A/N: I do not own CSI Miami or any of it's characters, affiliates...etc. This is just my imagination running with it! I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter V

Teddy Bear

She woke up abruptly in the middle of the night. She hadn't been having a nightmare, but damn did she feel rough. Something was wrong. She threw her feet off the bed to try and make it to the bathroom before she got sick, and she doubled over in pain.

Making it back up to her feet, she made her way out of her room and was rocked with another wave of pain before she made it more than a couple of steps. Falling into the wall and unable to think much past the ache in her stomach. "Lin...Lincoln..."

She opened tired eyes and looked at him.

"Cainey?"

"I...I can't..." and she collapsed in his hallway before he could register what was going on. She had spoken so softly he wasn't sure he'd heard her, but when he saw her...

He was beside her in a second. "Cainey? What's wrong sweetheart?"

"I don't...know. Hurts..." she whispered. Why was it so hard to stay awake?

"What hurts?"

Breathlessly she mumbled, but he wasn't able to make out what she said. Pushing her hair out of her face then roller her onto her back, he was up and had his phone in his hand dialing nine-one-one within a few seconds. "Cainey? Open your eyes honey."

Touching her forehead, he got worried, then the dispatcher said someone was on the way. Her skin was so hot to the touch. She had looked like she hadn't felt good that night, and had barely ate anything, but she hadn't complained about anything hurting at all. Then he thought back to Maria and what she'd told him about her not complaining at all, ever. Dammit!

The trip to the hospital seemed to take forever and she had lost consciousness. When they got her into the ER they started running tests and popped out of there, talking to Horatio. "It's acute appendicitis. She's going to need emergency surgery. It's ruptured and looks like it happened a couple of days ago because it's caused peritonitis. Which is basically when the infection spreads to the intestinal lining. We're going to do everything we can to keep her from going septic, but it's going to take some time before we know. Has she talked about hurting...anywhere in the last couple of days? Anything at all in her abdomen?"

Shaking his head dazedly, he glanced at the man. "No. Not at all."

Giving him a confused look, he thought about it. "Has she gotten sick at all? Vomited...anything?"

"No."

"By the looks of this, she should have been in a lot worse shape than you're telling me." he said, a hint of accusation lacing his voice.

She probably had been in worse shape. But she'd gotten so used to pushing things out of her mind, he was sure this had been no different. "Look, she's my daughter. I just found out she was alive and brought her home from Texas, night before last. She hasn't complained, she hasn't been sick and when she woke me up in the middle of the night tonight, she was in my hallway floor saying it hurt. That's when I called an ambulance. Now, if you're done throwing accusations around, I'd like you to help her in any way that you can."

Stepping back at the anger and protectiveness the man was exuding, he nodded his head and ducked out.

Horatio sat down in the waiting room, and watched the clock. How long would this take?

Alexx stopped when she noticed the familiar redhead. It was five thirty in the morning, what was he doing there? She stepped into the room. "Horatio?"

Sitting up straight, he inhaled sharply.

She took in his pants and shirt, no tie, no jacket...no socks. "Baby why are you here?"

He cleared his throat and instantly felt bad. With everything he'd had going on, he'd forgotten to call her and tell her, anything. "Turns out, the baby didn't die."

She took a second to consider his words, then knowing what he meant, she looked at him confused. "But why are you here?"

"Eric and I went and picked her up Tuesday. She was okay yesterday, took her to the lab, got the blood work done, went home, then she collapsed in my floor a few hours ago. Her appendix ruptured apparently, before we even arrived in Texas and now it's infected everything around it. She's in surgery."

She studied him. "Have they told you anything?"

He shook his head.

"Hang on baby. I'll be right back." and she disappeared. Appearing a few minutes later she sat down beside him. "They're trying to get all of the infection out. And they're really hoping it doesn't get into her blood stream. Baby's been hurting pretty bad the last couple of days."

That angered him to no end. "How much longer?"

"An hour, maybe two. She's in bad shape Horatio."

Hanging his head, it was hard not to break down. He cleared his throat. "I...I need to call Eric."

"I'll call him. You sit tight, okay? I'll be back."

Nodding was his only response. It was almost an hour later when Eric walked through the door. "Hey."

"Any news?"

He shook his head. "No."

"I came as soon as Alexx called me."

Looking up at him, he shrugged. "Sorry. I should have called, I was just..."

"No worries man."

It wasn't more than a half an hour later when Alexx walked in, smiling. She sat down. "She made it through and she's awake. I don't know how long she's going to stay that way, and they're still not completely sure she's not going to end up septic, but for now she's stable and she's asking for you."

Horatio stood and looked at his brother in law.

"Come on baby. You can see her too." and she smiled.

Both men followed her to a room on the second floor. "She's going to be really out of it, so don't expect much." and both men nodded. "She keeps trying to stop breathing for some reason, so we're running a little bit of oxygen to help out. It's not completely uncommon after surgery so don't stress too much about it."

She knocked on the door and entered, letting both men in. Horatio was surprised to see her open her eyes and try to move her hand. Stepping next to the bed, he took it in his and squeezed. Her eyes closed for a moment then opened again.

"What..."

"Shhh. It's alright Cainey. Just relax."

"Hurts..." she whispered.

"I know honey. They're going to fix that really soon, okay?"

"Glad...you're...here."

"I'm not going anywhere. Neither is Eric. We've got you sweetheart. We're not going to let anything happen to you."

Closing her eyes again, she nodded this time, and her eyes stayed closed. Turning back to Alexx, he asked her, "Are they able to do anything for the pain? Because she didn't even tell me she was hurting, so if she's admitting it now, it's bad."

"We can get some Morphine going for her. That will probably help with the healing process too since she'll be relaxed a little more." and she disappeared.

Horatio looked at Eric. "The whole time she was in the shop Tuesday, the trip here, all day yesterday...she was in pain. The doctor when he first came out, had the audacity to accuse me of not paying enough attention to her."

"What?"

"Apparently she should have been in so much pain she shouldn't have been able to function."

Inhaling sharply, she opened her eyes. "Pain...is...irrelevant."

Both men looked down at her. "No, sweetheart. You're wrong. How bad have you been hurting? This whole time I thought it was just your hand."

She closed her eyes. "Didn't want...to be..." and she swallowed hard "...burden." and her head lolled to one side as she faded out again.

Reaching a shaky hand up to brush the hair out of her face, he leaned in and kissed her forehead gently. "You will never be a burden to me."

Eric reached his hand out and touched her leg gingerly. "Me either kid. You have family now, which means you lean on us for anything." he said softly, hoping she heard him, even though she was out of it.

When she opened her eyes, there was sun shining brightly through the window in her hospital room. She glanced around to get her bearings and felt the hand in hers squeeze. She looked into they eyes that matched her own. "Lincoln." she murmured softly.

He smiled. "Hey sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

Closing her eyes in a long blink, she opened them again. "Tired."

"Well you're entitled for sure."

"Hard...to think."

"That's probably the drugs they have you on for pain."

"What happened?"

"Your appendix ruptured. Best guess it happened early Tuesday morning before we got to the shop."

She nodded. "Felt...something pull...releasing bolt. But I cut...my hand. Pushed it...away." Then she looked at him. "Cold."

How in the world had this kid simply dismissed the pain she was in? Studying her now, he knew she was going to be alright. "You've been running a fever the last few hours. They're afraid the infection might have gotten into your blood stream through your stomach lining."

"When will they...know for sure?"

"Hopefully the antibiotics they have you on will help it and you'll start feeling better soon."

That's when she looked up and noticed a bouquet of flowers on the window sill. Staring at them, the confusion became immediately apparent. "Flowers..."

"Those are from Eric. And those," he said pointing to a different bouquet, "are from your grandparents," and he pointed at a bunch of balloons and continued. "And those are from my team at work, Natalia you met, Walter, Ryan and Calleigh you haven't yet. But you will in good time." and he grabbed a classic Pooh Bear and handed it to her. "And this, is from me." He had hoped with everything, that all girls still loved teddy bears, his own included.

She looked up at the bear he'd placed in her hand and weakly hugged it close. "No one has ever...given me...anything. Never had...a teddy bear."

He smiled gently. "I'm glad you like it." and he noticed a tear brim. "Don't cry sweetheart."

"Can't...help it."

"Don't feel bad." and he reached his hand up, using his thumb to wipe the tear away. "Never feel bad around me." and he gave her a soft smile. "Relax Cainey. You're safe here."

"Maria..."

"I can call her if you want."

"Just...check in."

"I will." and he squeezed her hand.

She yawned, finding it hard to stay awake. He'd told her it was most likely the drugs having that affect on her but she still couldn't stand not being able to stay up, or string words together, or anything else for that matter. She hated feeling that muddled and unable to get her wits about her. Giving in, she closed her eyes and rested. She heard and felt everything going on around her for the next few hours, paying no real attention to it unless it was her dad.

If he wasn't beside her, Eric was. That was strange to her. No one kept vigil over her. Though admittedly, she had never been allowed to stop for anything. She was sure that if she hadn't been drugged, she wouldn't have stopped this time either though. By the time she woke up again, she saw the sun in the window again and felt more revived than the last time. She must have slept through the night.

Her dad was back beside her, dressed in his suit and tie, though his jacket was thrown across the window sill and not on him.

"Lincoln." she whispered softly.

He leaned forward and smiled. "Hey sweetheart. How are you feeling this morning?"

She breathed in. "Better."

"Good. How is your stomach?"

"It's okay."

"No pain?"

She shrugged. "Nothing I can't handle."

"You know, I'm very aware you can apparently handle quite a bit of pain, so I want you to tell me if you hurt at all, anywhere. Okay? No more pushing it away. If we'd been able to get you in here when it first happened, you would be home now."

Closing her eyes, she nodded. "I know."

"It's okay sweetheart. I just don't want you to think you have to hide anything from me, least of all when you don't feel good. I need to know."

She stared at him for a long moment. "I'll work on it. That's all I can promise."

"That's all I can ask." he replied softly.

He hadn't told her it wasn't good enough. He hadn't told her that her response was wrong or that he didn't want her to work on it, he wanted her to make it happen. He hadn't demanded perfection.

"You look confused again."

"I'm not used to not being told I wasn't good enough. That my answer wasn't right or that I didn't need to just try, I needed to do, period."

Poor kid. She'd never been shown love or understanding. She'd never known what it was to just be loved by someone for who she was. She'd always been told that she wasn't good enough. And that she wasn't wanted.

"Do you think...I mean...will everyone...am I going to disappoint everyone?"

He stared at her for a long moment. "Disappoint everyone?"

She stared, eyes filling with tears.

Then, realizing what she was saying, he let out a sad breath. "No, sweetheart. You wont disappoint anyone."

"But I'm such a poor replacement."

"Oh Cainey. Is that what you think?" and he noticed her nod softly. "Honey, you're not a replacement. Don't you understand that? No one could replace your mom. She was her own person, just like you are."

"But if I hadn't been born, she wouldn't have died."

"Baby, you don't know that."

"Didn't you find her merely hours after I'd been born?"

He nodded.

"Don't you see? If she hadn't been pregnant with me, she would have been okay. She would have been saved. You could have saved her then had her. You could have had more kids."

Oh dear Lord how did he make her see? "I would never replace you for your mother. Ever. You're an amazing person all on your own."

"Even if you could have her back?"

"What I had with your mother was amazing. It was the most incredible time in my life."

"See...?" she tried to argue her point, tears falling down her cheeks now.

He reached up, wiping her face with his thumb. "Until I found you."

"You've barely known me a couple of days."

"You are my daughter. You are a part of your mother, and of me. With you around, I can have both of you. I would never give that up. Never. Do you have any idea what it did to me when your mom told me you were dead? That all these years I could have raised you, taken care of you, loved you, and it was all stolen from me? And stolen from you."

She closed her eyes as more moisture dripped down.

"I love you Cainey. You are my daughter. My flesh and blood. You may not understand that now, but by God, you will when I'm done. I wouldn't trade you for anything in the world, and now that I've found you, I'm never letting you go. You mean too much to me sweetheart."

"Maria's the only one who has ever told me they love me." she whispered.

This was all still so new to her. Being cared for. Being loved. Being allowed to be her. "Well I'm sorry for that. That is definitely going to change from here on out."

She stared at him for a long time before closing her eyes to allow a few more tears to drop. She took a breath. "Have you talked to Maria?"

"I did. She said things have calmed down there, that Rodrigo stopped coming in after the second day you were a no show, but she hasn't seen him at the shop either. Which could mean nothing."

"Or it could mean something."

He shrugged. "It's a possibility. But you know what? I don't want you to worry about it. If he shows up here, I will protect you. I wont let anything happen to you."

"I'm worried about you."

He smiled. "Your mom did that to me a lot too." and he squeezed her hand. Reaching up, he tucked her hair once more behind her ear and leaned forward, laying a quick kiss on her forehead again. "I, will be fine sweetheart. I have been dealing with these guys for a long time. They're not going to get me."

Closing her eyes for a moment, she leaned back and nodded. That seemed to suffice. "So when can I get out of here?"

"Well, now that they know that the infection didn't spread, I assume probably once you actually eat something. They're going to keep an eye on you for probably another day or so. Maybe tomorrow?"

She nodded, almost relieved to be getting out of the hospital. Even if it did mean going straight back to her dad's house and not going anywhere for a few days. Simply being out of the stark white and antiseptic smell was enough for her. She looked around again at all of the balloons and things that people had gotten for her and closed her eyes still in disbelief that everything that was happening, was real. She felt a hand squeeze hers.

"You alright sweetheart?"

She nodded again. "Half expecting to wake up in my apartment. Like this has all been a crazy messed up dream and when I wake up, I'll be back in Hell."

"That's kind of a tough one. All I can do is assure you you're not in Laredo and that you're in a hospital in Miami."

"With you."

He nodded. "With me."

"I've been such an inconvenience."

"I've told you once, and I'll tell you a thousand times if you need me to, you are my daughter. Not an inconvenience. I've got time to make up for and I wouldn't miss the bad times any more than I would miss the good times."

"Has this been a bad time?"

He smiled softly. "Bad, no. Scary, definitely."

"I think I'm glad you're my...dad."

Hearing her say it, was incredible. She hadn't called him dad, she had said that he was hers, but he would take anything he could get in the lines of acknowledgement on the subject. "Well good." he replied softly.

"It's strange. Caring about someone? I've never been good at it. And no one has ever taken care of me. Or cared for me. Except Maria. But even she was afraid of Rodrigo." then her gaze was even more contemplative. "Why aren't you afraid of him?"

"Because Rodrigo is nothing more than a bully. And bullies use intimidation to get what they want. I generally intimidate. Not the other way around."

"I can't see you being particularly intimidating."

He smiled and shook his head laughing softly. "Only to certain people and only when it's necessary. I don't have to intimidate someone to get what I want. I've found most times that simply saying please, does wonders for getting something."

She pondered that for a moment. "I don't think anyone has ever asked me to do something until you." she said softly. Then she shrugged. "I've always just done what I was told. If I didn't, Rodrigo would usually pound me." and she closed her eyes slowly. Not opening them again, she continued, her voice drifting as she started to fall asleep. "I only made mistakes once. I never had to make them again."

He ran his free hand through his hair as his brother in law walked in.

"How is she?" he asked quietly.

"She just fell back out asleep."

"When are they gonna let us bust her out?"

He smiled and chuckled. "Hopefully tomorrow if she can eat something. I need to make a few calls and check on a couple of things."

Eric nodded. "I'll stick around. What's up?"

"Rodrigo hasn't been around since yesterday at his shop in Laredo. I don't like it."

"No problem. She'll be safe. I've got this. You go."