CSI:MIAMI SEASON 11
Episode 8
A/N: Ok, you can open your eyes now, back to PG for now.
"Calleigh, what on earth happened? Did you fall out of bed?" Her sister-in-law came into the room and immediately pulled the ice off her foot. "Oh, Cal, this is gonna need an x-ray."
"Great, just great."
"What happened?"
"Well, I didn't fall out of bed. Tell John he's got a rung missing from the hayloft ladder in the barn." She looked down at the bed and played with her fingers.
"You didn't. Calleigh Marie Duquesne!"
"Caine, Ruthie. My last name is Caine, remember?" The tears began to fall again. I suppose we have to wake up Mama and Daddy so they know to watch the kids. I'm never gonna live this down, am I?"
"I don't think so. I'm going home to get dressed. Horatio, put something light on her, shorts or something so it doesn't aggravate that foot."
"What's all the ruckus in here? Ruthie, do you know what time it is?"
"Yes, Mama, Horatio came and got me. Calleigh had a fall in the barn, and from the looks of it she's broken her ankle."
Calleigh fell back on the pillow. That was NOT what she wanted to hear. "I can't have a broken ankle. I have a house full of things to unpack, two children to look after, a husband, a job. I do not have time for a broken ankle!" Horatio pulled her to him and stroked her hair.
"Don't panic, Cal. Let me go home and let John know I'm leaving, throw some clothes on and we'll go on over to the local hospital."
"Is that place still standing? Wasn't it built when Lincoln was in office?"
"Funny, Sis. It's not quite that old, and it does have an x-ray machine. We'll try that first, otherwise it's Bastrop or Shreveport."
"Shreveport? No, no way. If I have to go that far for treatment my brother can fly us to Miami. I am NOT going away from my kids for that long."
"Is she always this cranky, Horatio?"
He continued stroking her hair gently. "No, she isn't, she's just in a lot of pain. I think she's got every right to be cranky."
"Thanks." She looked up at him and sniffed. "Ok, let me get dressed and get out of here. Mama, can you watch the kids for us?"
"Absolutely, cher. I'll see you when you get back."
"Thanks, Mama, you're the best." Her mother smiled warmly as she left the room. "Great, now the entire family will know that we were up in that hayloft and what we were doin'."
"Right now...right now I'm more worried about that ankle of yours. Let's find you some clothes and I'll carry you downstairs to the car." He went through the drawer and pulled out her bra and matching underwear, and found her sweat shorts and a t shirt. "How's this? You don't need to dress up for the emergency room."
"No, no more looking for a handsome doctor, I have a handsome police officer." She smirked at him.
"Then I suppose I won't be worried when you start flirting like you always do. Will you know any of them?"
"Who, the doctors? The local ones maybe, although I doubt it. Most of them went out of town to school and stayed out. Ruthie stayed because John came back here."
Horatio pulled her shirt over her head. "All set. You ready?"
"I need to brush my hair."
Horatio picked up the brush and began to slowly and carefully brush her hair. "Hmm, look what I found." He pulled a piece of hay from her hair. "Same color as your hair, I almost missed it." He finished brushing and kissed the top of her head. He opened the bedroom door, and lifted her gently, so he wouldn't aggravate her injury, and then carried her downstairs and to the Hummer. "I need to set you down, hold on to me so you don't fall. I'm putting you in the back seat so you can keep your foot elevated."
Just as he got her comfortable, Ruthie showed up with a pillow and an ice pack for her foot. They got Calleigh re adjusted and headed for the local hospital.
Ruthie had called the doctor on call, and he was waiting at the emergency room entrance for them. "This place hasn't changed a bit. Is it still just two rooms?"
"No, they added a bit to it on the other side. They now have the E.R., a waiting room and a couple of exam rooms. They can even do minor surgery in those exam rooms."
"Wow, so now they are into the 20th century!" She wrapped her arms around Horatio's neck as he pulled her out of the Hummer. The doctor had a wheelchair waiting for her, but she just shook her head and buried it into her husband's neck.
"I'll carry her doctor, just lead the way." He followed the doctor into an exam room and carefully sat her on the table.
"All right, young lady, on a scale of one to ten, what's your pain level?"
"Oh, I'd say it's down to about fifteen now."
"How about I give you a pain injection before we do the x-rays, that'll make it easier on you."
"Easier is good, let's go with that."
As he was injecting the medication into her ankle, he looked up and smiled. "Aren't you Mariele Duquesne's little girl?"
"Yeah, I am. This is my husband, Horatio Caine. We brought our kids over to see the family for a few days."
"Where are you livin' now?"
"Miami. Horatio and I are Crime Scene Investigators."
"Well, if this is broken, I doubt you'll be doin' much investigatin'"
"I don't even want to think about that." She laid back and placed her upper arm over her eyes, waiting for the medication to act.
"That should do it, let's get you to the x-ray room and see what we've got."
They wheeled the bed down the hall and into the room, and Horatio helped her onto the cold x-ray table. "Can I stay with her, Doctor?"
"You'll have to come behind this glass, but she'll be able to see you all the time."
He leaned down and kissed her softly. "I'll be right over there the whole time, Sweetheart."
She nodded and laid back, shuddering as the table chilled her body. The doctor moved her foot this way and that, and shot about twenty films. When he was done, Horatio joined Calleigh on the table and rubbed her back to warm it up. "All right, we're set. Let's get our patient back to her room and go over these."
Horatio moved her back to the bed and helped the doctor wheel the bed back to the exam room. The doctor scrolled through picture by picture. "Ah, there's your problem. A fracture of the lateral malleolus. Fortunately, it's a non displaced fracture, so you won't need surgery."
"What in the hell is a lateral malleolus?" She was sitting up trying to make sense of the x-rays.
The doctor touched her ankle gently. "It's this bone right here, and if I had an MRI machine, I could probably tell you that you've torn some tendons in that area as well, based on the amount of pain you're having."
She fell back and covered her eyes with her forearm. "Doctor, what's the difference in treatment, the break versus tendon damage?" Horatio rubbed her arm gently.
"She's lucky, the bone didn't move, I'll just put her in a walking boot, and she can follow up with her own doc when you get back to Miami. How do you feel about some pain medication, Calleigh?"
"I can't, I've got kids to..." Horatio cut her off.
"Don't worry about the kids, Sweetheart, there are going to be enough adults around to help out. You can just rest on the porch and drink tea or your mother's amazing lemonade."
"Ah, Mariele's lemonade. Nobody makes it like her." The doctor smiled broadly. "I know she's got a secret ingredient, but she'll take with her to the grave."
"No, she won't. All her kids have the recipe to pass down to our kids. I've made it before. I've tried to take it into work, it doesn't last."
Horatio grinned sheepishly. "Guilty. I think I drink that faster than I do your sweet tea, Love."
Ruthie popped her head in the room. "What's the verdict, Sis?"
"I'll leave the three of you to talk and go get your boot, Calleigh."
"Boot? So you did break it."
"And he says there's probably tendon damage as well."
"Well, Cal, when you mess up, you really mess up. You are gonna be miserable for a few days."
"He's givin' me pain meds. He already gave me a shot."
The doctor re entered the room with a tall black boot and carefully strapped her in, showing Horatio which velcro straps to attach first. "Now, if you are upstairs resting, you can take this off, and you don't have to sleep in it. The rest of the time, leave it on until you've seen an ortho in Miami."
"Thanks, doctor." Ruthie smiled. "We're having a boil tomorrow, a sort of wedding reception for these two. You're welcome to come and bring your wife."
"To a Duquesne boil? We wouldn't miss it."
"Around four-ish."
The doctor handed Calleigh a set of crutches to make walking with the boot easier, and walked out to the Hummer with them. "See you tomorrow, Sunshine."
"Thanks, Doc." Horatio helped her into the back seat and elevated her leg again, and then began the drive back to the farm.
"Sunshine?"
"He always called me that because of my blonde hair and my personality. The boys were always crabby when it was time to go to see a doc, I didn't mind, he's a sweet man."
"Yes, he really is. I like the way he treated you. You WERE pretty crabby, though."
"Did he give you a shot or a prescription?"
"Both, and the shot is really working. Horatio, I think you may have to carry me up the stairs."
"That, my love...that is not a problem. Thank you for going with us, Ruthie."
"I'd do anything for Calleigh. When John and I got together, she was the only one who accepted me right away. I never had a sister of my own, so I have Cal now."
"And I have you. It was rough growin' up with all boys. When John brought you home for dinner that first time, I was ready to plan your wedding right then and there."
Horatio pulled into the yard. "Home sweet home, ladies." Before he could get Calleigh out of the back seat and on her crutches, her parents were on the porch.
"What did the doctor say, Lambchop?"
Calleigh sighed. "I broke my lateral malleolus."
"And that is?"
"The bone that sticks out on the outside of the ankle. He thinks I tore the tendons, too."
"How about I make you some tea to help you relax before you go back upstairs?"
"I'd like that, Mama, thanks."
"Do you want it on the porch?" Calleigh nodded as Horatio helped her up the stairs and into the swing.
She watched her parents go into the house and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Horatio."
"No worries, Sweetheart, you'll heal, and you'll be able spend more time at home with the children." He moved in behind her so she could rest against his chest. "We could also use this time to work on a new baby."
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. "Once we get home. I need to talk to about something."
"Why don't you tell me now, we can talk while we drink our tea."
She nodded as tears filled her eyes. Would he ever forgive for this? Her mother set the pot and cups on a table and moved it over to the swing. "Don't bother getting up early in the morning. We'll see to our grandchildren. Calleigh, you need your rest, and Horatio, you need to take care of your beautiful wife."
"Yes, Ma'am." Horatio smiled as she walked away. "Good night, Marie."
She returned his smile with a warm one of her own. "Good night, Son."
Horatio poured two cups of tea and they settled back on the swing. "All right, what's this thing that you're afraid to tell me?"
Her eyes filled with tears again and she stared out into the corn field. "You know I love you more than anything, I've loved you since I met you all those years ago."
"Of course."
"And you know what I thought of Marisol. I wanted to hate her, I really did, but whoever knew her could never hate her."
"I know that, too. The two of you became close friends."
"Did you know that she asked me to surrogate for you?"
"She did what? No, Calleigh, I didn't know that, I'm sorry, I never told her about..."
"Neither did I, Horatio. I didn't want to hurt her."
"But you said 'no', right?"
Silence.
"Right?"
She sighed deeply. "No, Horatio, I told her 'yes'. I still loved you, and I knew that was one thing I could do to show you, was to give you Mari's child."
He held her tighter. "That had to hurt."
"It gets better. Do you remember the day she died? Stupid question, of course you do. Remember how angry you and Eric were because you thought I flaked the investigation to go pick up my dad?"
"But there was more to it, wasn't there? I never asked you at the time."
"The call I got was from Mari. She asked me to get my dad and hurry to the hospital. I didn't ask why, I just dropped everything and went." The tears were streaming down her face now. She sniffed a couple of times before continuing. "Her doctor and the hospital lawyer were in her room. Before her chemo they harvested her eggs, since she was so young."
"They would've destroyed them upon her death."
"Which is why she called me. She asked me to take care of you, she knew you'd need extra care. She said she hoped we'd find our way back to each other, and she signed over her eggs to me, with the provision that only you would fertilize them, and only I would carry them."
"Oh, Sweetheart, you've been carrying this for five years?"
"It was never the right time. Now that we're married, I've been thinking about it a lot."
"You're thinking about having Marisol's child?"
"Twins. Harvest my eggs, and fertilize one of each. If I'm gonna have to have two babies, one of mine and one of hers, why not do it at the same time?"
"Calleigh, you don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do. I promised her. I made a promise to my friend, Horatio. Now the ball's in your court. The decision is entirely yours, but I'm more than happy to give you her child."
He kissed the back of her head. "I love you. Ready for bed?"
"More than ready. Take me to bed, Handsome."
He sat the crutches aside, scooped her up and ascended the stairs, not stopping until he reached the bed. He undressed her carefully, so he didn't jar her injured ankle, took off his own clothes and crawled into bed next to her, pulling her close against his body. "God, I love you, Mrs. Caine."
"And I love you, Mr. Caine."
He held her tight until he felt her breathing become deep and regular. He couldn't sleep. All he could think of was this amazing woman who kept putting other's needs above her own. She encouraged him to become involved with Marisol in the first place, promised Marisol to surrogate for them, and now even with Marisol gone, wants to give him his late wife's child. If at all possible, he was now even deeper in love with his precious Calleigh.