Chapter 4

Calleigh curled up on the couch with a mug of tea. Horatio was asleep down the hall after her attempt at getting him to eat failed miserably. As he sipped the hot liquid slowly, her purse that she had abandoned on the side table began to vibrate as her cell rang.

"Duquesne." Her fatigue carried into her voice.

"It's Alexx. What's the story?" Concern poured through the phone line as she spoke.

"Things aren't going well. He's asleep right now. I don't know how long he'll stay that way. But, things got to get worse before they get better, right?" Calleigh set her cup on the floor and laid down across the couch.

"That's right, girl. You just got to keep support him and keep him from sinking down too low." Alexx reassured. Across the phone line, she heard her friend sniffle. "Oh Cal, what's wrong?"

"I don't know if I can do this, Alexx." Calleigh admitted, trying her hardest to hold back her tears . "If I can't help my father with all of his problems, how can I help Horatio with this?"

"Well, for one thing, you can't do it all by yourself. You two have both got to learn to ask for help when you need it. And it's going to take time. How much time I can't tell you." She could hear the shrug in Alexx's voice. Calleigh wiped at her tears and then took a deep breath.

"I don't know Alexx. I just have this horrible, nagging thought in the back of my mind." She said, through the thump in her throat.

"What is it?"

"He won't survive this." She whispered. Vocalizing her fears just made the weight of them press down on her even further and a sob broke loose from her. Alexx wanted to offer some type of comfort, wanted to tell her not to worry, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"You should get some sleep, Cal. You need to be in good health if you're going to take care of him. We'll talk more later." The two women said their goodbyes and disconnected. Calleigh closed her eyes and let her cry herself into a fitful sleep.

Horatio awoke in a cold sweat. His heart was racing and his breath came in short gasps. The nightmares were already beginning to take hold of him. He threw aside the covers and padded down the hall to the bathroom. After splashing his face with cold water, he headed down the hall to the living when he noticed that the light was already on in the living room.

He entered the room and found his fiancée curled up asleep on the couch. Her face had taken on an angelic quality and he couldn't resist. He needed comfort and- to hold her in his arms, to feel her breathe against him, to know that they were both still alive and real-would feel better than anything.

So he laid down next to her and spooned her against him as he pulled down the afghan down from the back of the couch. She stirred a little at the movement and turned her head to look behind her. She stared at him with sleepy eyes.

"Hey stranger." She smiled and winked. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. She settled in against him and gave a content sigh. It was the sweetest sound he could ever want to hear.

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Calleigh woke up the next morning alone. Panic set in quickly as she searched the small house only to find, he wasn't there. She returned to the living room and sat down on the couch, trying to push back all of the horrible scenarios flashing before her eyes when she spotted the mug of coffee with a note folded underneath it.

Reaching over to the coffee table, she grabbed the mug and the paper and sat back on the couch. The mug was still warm and she could tell by the color of the liquid that Horatio had made it just how she liked it. She sipped it carefully as she unfolded the note and read his bold script.

Cal,

Went for a run. Don't worry; I just needed to clear my head. Be back later.

H

Calmed by the information, Calleigh left the note on the table and headed into the kitchen to make breakfast. The old white tile was cold under her bare feet as she scampered across the room to the antique fridge. The heavy blue door creaked as she pulled the stainless steel handle.

While she would not consider the fridge bare, it certainly was not stocked. Inside, were a couple of beers, a bowl of fresh fruit, fresh squeezed orange juice and a cartoon of eggs. Calleigh shook her head as she took out the latter items. Horatio had been a busy boy this morning.

She smiled to herself as she made breakfast. She had never really noticed before how, in the seven months that she and Horatio had been together, he had picked up on all of her routines and accepted them as his own without a single comment or complaint.

She sighed and shook her head. Horatio took such good care of her and made sure that she never hurt. Well now the tables were turned and it was her turn to take care of him and she swore then and there to be with him through whatever he was going through, whether he wanted her to be there or not.

The gentle clearing of a man's throat hurled Calleigh back to reality. Horatio was standing in the doorway watching her in all her glory. Calleigh looked him over and for a second, she saw him-the real him, standing there with his hair sticking to his temples and his t-shirt clinging to his toned chest.

"Hey stranger." She gave him one of her megawatt smiles that made him weak in the knees.

"Hi ya back." He didn't smile but the tiny twinkle in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. Calleigh turned her attention back to the stove, where she continued to make breakfast.

Horatio sat down at the tiny table and watched her every move. Watching her do something so normal was incredibly comforting to him. It allowed him to believe for a moment that everything was fine, that the last 48 hours had just been some horrible nightmare.

With food in hand, Calleigh came over and joined him at the table. She handed him his plate and his hand lingered on hers longer than necessary.

"Thank you." He muttered as he set his plate down in front of him. She smiled again and watched as he took a bite.

"So I was thinking that after breakfast, we could head back home." She said as she sipped her coffee. Horatio stopped chewing and swallowed hard. God, did he love her, because only she could be so light hearted when talking about sending him to a certain death. "You can't hide here forever, Handsome."

"Yeah, but I can't go back there." Calleigh tilted her head and just looked at him.

"Why?" She asked innocently. Horatio took a deep breath.

"Because I can't bear to look in the eyes of fellow cops and see the doubt, wondering, was Raymond really dirty? Was he a bad cop? To have them look at me and wonder if I had something to do with his death or if I'm just as dirty as he was?" Calleigh reached over and put a finger over his lip as she looked him in the eye.

"You are not a dirty cop." She stated sternly. He turned his head away. She pulled him back to look at her. "You are not a dirty cop."

"You said that already." He retorted.

"Because you're not listening to me. Horatio, I don't think you know how respected and admired you really are. No one will ever think that you're a dirty cop unless you plant the thought in their heads." He still looked at her in disbelief. "I know this is hard, but life will go on. The sun will still come up tomorrow, the world is still going to turn, and I am still going to love you." She explained, and then leaned over the table and placed a sweet kiss on his lips to help make her point. Horatio was just about to respond when his phone rang. He looked down at the caller id and then back up at her with scared eyes.

"It's Yelena."

"Answer it." She encouraged. She knew that he didn't want to take this call but he had to talk to her eventually. Horatio swallowed thickly before pressing the talk button.

"Caine." Calleigh had sat back down but kept a firm grip on his hand. The call lasted about ten minutes and he managed to stay composed but just barely.

"What'd she say?" Horatio ran a hand over his tired face.

"Alexx finished the autopsy, so she released the body. The wake's tomorrow… She wants me to help make the last arrangements, so, I guess you got your wish." He informed and then stood and started to leave.

"Hey," He turned around when she called after him. "You want me to come with?" Horatio came back over to her and brushed his hand over her cheek.

"No, I need to do this by myself."