Chapter 4
"Zoë!" Horatio said louder and more forceful and she sat up, finding herself on his sofa and immediately grabbed out for him and took two fistfuls of his shirt, breathing heavily.
"Zoë?!" Horatio said, loudly as removed one hand from hers and placed it on the side of her face and gripped her arm as she tightened her grip on his shirt. She looked over at him, looking terrified.
"What were we just talking about?" She asked, looking at him intensely.
"You told me to lay off the caffeine, then you fell asleep after I put the TV on." Horatio said looking at her concerned.
She let go of Horatio's shirt and raised her hands to her head and then ran them through her hair.
"I-I-I need to go" she said as she got up. "I'm so sorry Horatio." She said looking at him as he got up as well.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly. She looked around to him then blinked a few times as she inhaled and then closed her mouth as she lowered her eyebrows. She shook her head at him, as her eyes became watery.
"Sweetheart?" He said, growing more and more concerned, she looked down at the sofa where he was sat and then looked back up at him. He placed his hand on the side of her head and pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she let him hug her. She gently pulled back as she looked around to the bottom of the stairs.
"Horatio, what happened here?" She asked looking up at him. He had no idea what to say. He just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm losing my mind Horatio, you were in the kitchen as well as in here, you said "sit down beautiful" and then you were behind me, you had your shirt undone. Then you were gone completely. Horatio, I don't know what's going on, am I going crazy?" She asked looking up at him. He exhaled and looked at her, then pulled her in again.
"I think… I think I just need some sleep and to just forget today." She said against his chest.
"That may be a good idea." Horatio said softly. She pulled from the hug again and gave him a nod and a small smile.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked.
"No, it's okay honey. Get some rest and I'll be over tomorrow." She said with a smile.
"Okay, ring me if you need anything." He said softly.
"The same to you too" she said with a smile. He gave her a nod and then walked her out, with his hand on her back.
"I'll see you tomorrow, are you sure you're okay?" Horatio asked.
"I'm sure, just tired – that's all. I'll see you tomorrow." She said with a smile then walked out of the door and off home. Horatio closed the door and exhaled. He began to wonder if some of the memories are beginning to seep through into her consciousness. 'What if it upsets her though? I'm afraid to tell her in case she doesn't love me anymore. She doesn't, does she?' He thought to himself.
She got home and had a long relaxing bath and got into bed, Horatio did the same. She put the dream behind her and forgot about it as best she could. The next morning they got up and got ready then Zoë drove over to Horatio's and picked him up. He got in the car and asked if she was feeling any better today.
"Much, thank you honey." She said with a smile as she reversed off his drive.
"How are you feeling today?" She asked softly.
"Good, I feel good." He said with a smile.
"Anymore palpitations?" She questioned as she pulled onto the motorway.
"No, not today" he said with a smile, looking over at her, admiring her concentration on the road.
"What?" She asked glancing over at him, with a smile as she saw him looking at her through the corner of her eye.
"Are you telling me the truth Horatio?" She asked, glancing over at him a few times.
"Yes, I am." He said with a small shy smile, knowing he was caught admiring her.
She took her hand off the wheel and took a hold of his wrist as she pulled his sleeve up and felt his pulse. His heart rate instantly increased when her hand took hold of his wrist.
She was silent as she concentrated on the road and his pulse.
She pulled his hand away from his lap and closer to her, which only increased his heart rate as he thought she was going to put it in her lap.
"Horatio, it's still fast." She said as she put his hand back in his lap and she glanced over at him.
He had no idea what to say or what excuse to use.
"I… er" he began to say but wasn't sure how to finish the sentence.
"Horatio… did you have coffee this morning?" She asked looking over at him.
"Er… yes. I had coffee" he said looking over at her slightly relieved.
"I told you no coffee, stick with non-caffeinated things for now." She said looking over at him with a smile and then pulled off the motorway.
"I'm sorry, but I need my morning coffee" he said with a smile, relieved that he'd just got out of it.
"No more coffee for today at least, okay?" She said glancing over at him.
"Okay." He said with a smile.
They arrived at MDPD and she told him to wait in the car. She got out and walked round to his door with a stethoscope in her hand.
"Zoë, I'm fine." He assured her.
"Well then, let me listen." She said, leaning on the door, looking at him.
"Okay, just do it inside." He said looking around.
"Okay honey" she said as she put the stethoscope in her pocket and stood to the side to let him out, she locked the car and walked in with him, going straight to his office.
"Now please sit down." She asked nicely, giving him a smile.
He sat in his chair and she walked around, leaning against the desk.
"Could you please unbutton the first few buttons?" She asked with a smile. He did as she asked and she then slid the head of the stethoscope in.
"It's cold, I'm sorry" she said as she listened to his heart and moved it around a little. She held it still for a little and it was slower than it had been in the car.
"Sounds better now" She said with a smile and she withdrew her hand.
"Thank you" he said as he buttoned his shirt up.
"You call me if you feel unwell, okay?" She said as she got up and walked around his desk.
"Of course, I'll see you later." He said with a smile. She gave him a nod and flashed him a smile, then walked out.
She walked into the locker room where Ryan was just putting his stuff away.
"Hey" he said with a smile as she walked in.
"Hey pretty boy" she beamed with a smile as she unlocked her locker and placed the bag and stethoscope in.
"What's with the stethoscope?" He asked looking over at her.
"Horatio; he's had quite a fast heartbeat" she said as she placed it away, giving him a smile.
"He is okay though? Right?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, he's fine. Just needs to lay off the coffee." She said with a smile.
"Good okay. I need to get to work, see you in the lab?" He asked closing his locker.
"Shall see you there pretty boy" she said giving him a grin.
She waited for him to leave and then opened her locker again and then opened his, using his combination.
She picked up all of her make-up and hair products and placed them in his locker and taped a mirror to the inside of his door and closed it, after writing something on the mirror. She walked into the lab like nothing happened.
The day quickly passed and she, Ryan and Eric walked into the locker room to pick up their bits.
Zoë opened her locker and pulled her bag out while Eric opened his next to Ryan and then Ryan opened his.
Ryan stared at his locker and looked at the mirror.
"I'm a pretty boy" he read out the writing on the mirror, he then exhaled a small laugh as he glanced round at Zoe.
"Wolfe, you've finally come out of the closet!" Eric said with a grin. "How did you manage to hide all of that for so long?" Eric asked, knowing full well Zoë had placed it in there. She walked over to him and began to laugh.
A smile appeared across Ryan's face as he turned around and raised an eyebrow at Zoë who was grinning at him.
"When did–" He started to say and then stopped himself realising that he had left her in the locker room that morning.
"You don't need to keep things like this a secret from us pretty boy, it's evident that you're screaming out for some recognition." She said tilting her head at him, giving him a very serious face.
"Could I borrow some of your mascara? Mine seems to have gone missing." She added with a grin.
"Get out of here" Ryan said with a playful smile as he picked out her make-up and hair products with a smile, shaking his head.
Ryan held them up with a grin, reading what the different products were.
"Mr Wolfe, I didn't realise you were into that sort of thing." Horatio said, appearing by the door, looking over at him.
"No… no it's not mine H." Ryan said, looking over at Horatio's serious face.
"Hmm" Horatio mumbled with a nod and then quickly walked out.
"H, it's not mine, really" Ryan said as his heart fluttered but Horatio had already left. Zoë burst out laughing, she couldn't contain it any longer. Ryan looked round to her, almost horrified. 'What? H thinks I'm gay? He can't think that, surely? Oh God, oh God.' Ryan thought as he began to panic. Zoë calmed herself down and exhaled, looking up at him with a wide grin. 'At least it made her laugh, I've not seen her laugh like that since before she was in hospital.' Ryan thought, Eric also thinking something along the same lines.
"Relax pretty boy, he's messing with you." Zoë said giving him a playful tap on the arm. She took the make-up from him and placed it in her locker.
"He didn't look like he was joking…" Ryan said, worried.
"Really, he was messing with you." Zoë said softly.
"You can keep the mirror if you want; I know how much you like to look at yourself." She said giving him another grin.
"Well, I might just do that then." He said with a smile, closing his locker.
She closed hers along with Eric.
"I shall see you boys on Monday" she said with a grin as she put her bag over her shoulder.
"See you Monday" they both said to her with grins and she turned and walked out as they both dropped their eyes to her ass.
She flashed Horatio a smile as she walked out as he walked past her and he gave her one back.
She got in her car and went home; the rest of them weren't far behind her.
She cooked some dinner before thinking about Horatio and whether he was okay. She got up and decided to pop round just to make sure, she knocked on his door and he answered, inviting her in with a wide smile.
"How are you feeling?" She asked with a smile as he followed her through to the kitchen.
"Good thank you, even better after seeing Mr Wolfe's face earlier" he said looking at her with raised eyebrows.
Zoë laughed a little. "He thought you were being serious!" She said grinning at him as she leant on the counter, looking completely at ease.
"I think you're in the wrong profession, an actor would suit you well I think." She said with a smile.
"Really? Then how did you know I was joking?" He asked slyly, giving her a boyish grin.
"Because I know you too well; your subtle body language gave it away the most, as well as the look in your eyes." She said with a grin, exhaling a laugh too.
"I must try harder next time then." He said with a grin, putting the kettle on.
"Tea?" He asked.
"Thank you" she said with a grin as she stood up straight. Sorting her shirt out while he made the tea and herbal tea.
"I'm glad to see you're laying off the caffeine!" She said with a smile with a hand on her hip. He glanced round to her with a smile and stirred both of the cups.
He handed one to Zoë and she looked down at his wrist, seeing the slight blemish there still.
"Thank you" she said with a small smile as he gestured towards the living room.
She then followed him through with a small smile and sat next to him, pulling one leg under her.
He was happy to see her more relaxed whilst sitting on the sofa next to him.
"I'm so happy it's the weekend, it's been a hectic week, don't you think?" She said giving him a smile.
"I couldn't agree more." He said with a small smile, looking at her with very soft blue eyes.
They casually chatted a little more and finished their drinks, as Horatio leant forward and placed his mug on the coffee table his sleeves were pulled up slightly, revealing the blemishes again. Being in his house, in his living room and seeing them was starting to unlock some of the hidden memories. She looked at his wrists as he pulled his arms back. She looked down at them with slightly sad eyes and began to chew on her tongue, without realising it.
"Sweetheart…" he said seeing her do this action again when he'd not seen her do it since being severely unwell in hospital.
"Sweetheart?" he said, placing his hand on the side of her face. She looked up at him, feeling his hand on her face and snapped out of the daze.
"Sorry" she said as she looked away and over at the wall as she swallowed. She heard him exhale slowly; his heart ached once more, seeing the pain she was being put through.
She looked back round to him and picked up his hand, her fingers traced the blemish around his wrist and she looked up at him and searched his eyes.
"You were cuffed to a black pole" she said looking at him and he nodded at her.
"The room was damp and dark and we were at opposite sides." She said to him, remembering looking over at Horatio as he struggled. She saw the pain in his eyes as he too began to relive the situation.
"You tried your hardest to get out of them but you couldn't" she said and then she got up and walked out of the living room running her hand through her hair. Horatio quickly followed her as she turned around with her hands in her hair, looking down at the floor.
"Why am I remembering this now?" She asked him.
"I don't know sweetheart, I don't know" he said softly, looking up at her affectionately, tilting his head. That's all she could remember the rest of it was a blur. She almost had tears in her eyes as he placed his hand round the back of her head and pulled her in towards his chest as his other hand slid down to her back.
She blinked a few times as she held on to his arm that was on her back with her right hand and her left around his waist as she held the tears back and sucked it up, telling herself that it was in the past and there was no point getting upset about it. He felt her breathing relax and she pulled away a little, looking up at him. Looking into his calm blue eyes, as he held her gaze as he saw her relax and calm down.