Trouble with Friends
Chapter 9
"Get those crates loaded, NOW! The police will be here any minute!" And I'm sure with them that bastard – Caine. Sent those two yahoos to take care of him and what did I get – nothing. Caine's still on my ass, but at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that Jared endured torture before he bought it. As they say – 'payback's a bitch'. Those who don't complete the task given them, or get in my way suffer Miller justice.
"Tony…how much is already loaded on the ship?"
A giant of a man raised his head at the question and stood to his full six foot six frame.
"I'd say 'bout three-fourths of the load boss."
"We need to do better. Get those goons moving quicker, or tell them I'll deal with them later," Miller snarled. Tony knew the boss always carried through with his threats and he sure didn't want to be included so he walked out to the dock to speed the process up.
The loading dock was jammed with crates and heavy equipment with a huge crane lifting platforms of boxes onto the deck of a freighter flying the flag of the Dominion Republic. Miller had worked out an agreement with a band of criminals in Santo Domingo to obtain registry of his ships through legitimate companies there that were secretly under their control. His reasoning was to confuse any overeager investigator attempting to connect them with him, or his business in Haiti.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tony caught the movement behind some stacked barrels at the corner of the building. Then in the next second, heavily armed, armored police came from all directions shouting,
"HANDS IN THE AIR – MDPD! ON THE GROUND…FACE DOWN NOW!"
Horatio took his usual position, in front of Eric and Calleigh, while all of them followed behind the SWAT officers. Men that were working to load the containers scattered. Some dared to return fire and quickly realized their fatal mistake. Tony ducked into the building and the move did not escape Horatio's attention. He has to be going to warn Miller.
"Cover me," Horatio called out to Calleigh as he ran to the side of the large opening where the tall man had entered. Eric had veered in the opposite direction attempting to go with the officers with the intention of boarding the ship, but first had to get past a group of workers that had two officers pinned down with automatic weapon fire behind a stack of crates.
Calleigh watched as Horatio ran to the side of the building. Before actually stepping through the opening, Horatio looked back at Calleigh and nodded, then smiled, prior to cautiously easing into the dimly lit, cavernous building holding his Sig Sauer at eye level, his head cocked to the right. Alert to every noise inside the building, Horatio while in a semi-crouched position, slowly made his way down a pathway between stacks of crates and equipment, his eyes darting from side to side anticipating possible threats.
Calleigh left the protection of her cover in order to move to the door where Horatio had been moments before. SWAT officers ran past her and entered the building, skirting to the right side. Then she heard Eric scream, "CALLEIGH, CALL IN OFFICER DOWN." She instantly turned her head to look behind her and saw Eric performing CPR on an officer who was lying prone on the concrete while bullets hit the crates all around them. She crouched down behind a forklift and called 911 then began covering Eric with return fire. Briefly, her mind went back to her dream…she shook her head for a moment and resolved, I have to stay and cover Eric, even though Horatio is in that building with no backup other than the officers who may not be aware he's in there. She saw more SWAT officers attempting to circle around and get behind the shooters that were threatening Eric and the other man. Hopefully, they will get this situation under control soon, freeing me to back up Horatio.
From his vantage point, Horatio saw the SWAT officers come in and go to the right toward offices located in the furthest corner, while he continued slowly through the stacks and equipment. Detecting movement ahead to his right a split second before a young man stepped out and leveled an AK-47 in his direction, Horatio countered by putting a bullet between the young man's eyes. Quickly ducking behind storage containers to his left, Horatio moved as fast as he could and still be prepared to handle another threat, which was not long in coming. Bullets just missed him as he ducked back behind a container as automatic rifle fire bombarded the storage units. Gunfire was also coming from across the huge area from the right side where officers had encountered some resistance. Calleigh, still covering Eric, heard the gunfire inside the building and all she could do was pray that Horatio would be ok until she could help.
Tony had found Miller in the building, warning him of the raid before the onslaught of police. The two had made it fairly close to a large service truck that was parked inside in the left rear corner before all hell had broken loose.
While they could see the truck, Tony turned to his boss and advised, "Wait. We need to be cautious while making our move for the truck."
"If you see a redhead, he's mine," Miller growled back as he sat behind a crate.
Horatio stayed still behind a container and thought he heard voices close to his location between explosions of gunfire. It bothers me that Calleigh hasn't appeared. If anything happens to her…clear your mind Caine, he admonished as he shook his head gently, the movement causing a slight feeling of dizziness. She can handle herself, but I still worry about her in situations like this. Then he heard the unmistakable voice of Joe Miller that zeroed in his attention on a stack of crates about thirty feet away.
Tony decided the time was right for them to get in the truck and bust their way out. The truck was heavy and while not exactly an armored truck, it wasn't far off the mark. Both men stayed low, but ran for the truck. Horatio kept his attention on the area where he'd heard the voices and saw the men running. He took off in the same direction, parallel to their location and then saw their target – a large truck. Thinking he'd ambush them before they reached the vehicle, Horatio stayed slightly ahead of the two and when he thought he'd have a chance of taking them out, he opened fire.
Tony returned the fire as the two kept up their track toward the truck, effectively keeping Horatio down long enough to make it. Climbing up in the truck, Tony turned the key and the engine jumped to life. Putting the truck into gear, the big man floored the accelerator pedal and the truck lurched toward the large opening at the other end of the building. Horatio stepped out from his cover into the pathway of the truck and fired repeatedly into the cab as it was aimed right for him. Keeping his position, determined to stop it, Horatio almost stayed too long before leaping to the side at the last second, barely clearing the truck as his body slammed to the concrete, his head hit the floor hard. On impact, the pain was so excruciating that for a few moments he couldn't breathe. But determination had him struggling to get to his feet, only managing to raise his body up about a foot when his vision became blurry and then darkness enveloped him as he collapsed back to the concrete.
The huge truck burst through the door, almost hitting Calleigh as it veered to the right. The SWAT officers had just killed the remaining shooters and she had run toward the opening in hopes of helping Horatio. Quickly she jumped to the protection of the side of the building, just before the truck narrowly missed her causing her to feel the rush of air on her right side as it passed. Officers fired at the speeding vehicle as it headed toward a chain link fence, successfully breaking through and then it sped down the street toward the main road. Picking herself up, she ran inside with her .45 at the ready.
SWAT officers appeared off to her right and she screamed, "Have you seen Lieutenant Caine?"
One of the officers shook his head no, but said, "There was shooting in the back left corner where the truck came from."
Calleigh ran in that direction, still alert to a possible shooter still lose in the building. Then as she ran around the corner of stacked crates she gasped. Horatio lay deathly still on the concrete floor.
"HORATIO…" she called as she ran toward his prone form.
Quickly she checked for a pulse; at first not feeling one. NO he's got to be alive. With shaky fingers she checked again and found a slow, weak pulse. Pulling out her phone she called 911 and told dispatch that paramedics were needed STAT as another officer was down.
"CALLEIGH…" Eric's voice boomed as he entered the building. "CALLEIGH…" he called again.
"ERIC," Calleigh screamed with a frightened voice, "BACK LEFT CORNER."
Calleigh carefully turned Horatio over on his back and began checking for a gunshot wound, but didn't find one.
Eric fell down on one knee on the opposite side of Horatio looking in shock at his friend and mentor lying on the concrete unconscious.
"Have you located any gunshot wound?" He frantically asked.
"No. He doesn't have any." Then they detected Horatio's eyes fluttering open.
"Horatio…can you hear me?" Calleigh desperately asked.
His eyes opened and he stared at Calleigh and Eric asking weakly, "What…happened? Stop…Miller…truck." He moved to sit up, but Eric placed his hand on the redhead's chest keeping him down,
"You need to lay still H. Calleigh has called for help."
"I'm…alright Calleigh. I…" he wasn't able to finish before the darkness came back and his body went limp.
"Horatio…" Calleigh softly called as she checked his pulse. It felt even weaker and more unstable now than before.
"Do you think the truck hit him?" Eric asked as his anger built.
Calleigh put a shaky hand on her forehead, hanging her head before she answered with a quivering voice, "I don't know. I…don't want to move him anymore than I already have for fear of injuring him further." Raising her head, she saw the fear registered in Eric's face.
"See if you can find something to cover him with. He may be going into shock," Calleigh asked while she gently stroked Horatio's face. Eric left to find something.
Horatio began regaining consciousness and roughly announced, "I'm…going to…be sick." Calleigh gently rolled him over on his left side, holding him in position while he vomited. After the sickness seemed to be over, she eased him onto his back.
"Horatio, can you tell me where you hurt?"
Eric arrived back with a blanket he found and was just beginning to spread it over Horatio when his injured friend began jerking uncontrollably.
Calleigh screamed, "Hold his head…keep his head as still as you can. He's having convulsions."
Then she heard someone shout, "PARAMEDICS…," one of the officers had led the two men to Horatio.
The men began working on Horatio first, strapping a stabilizer on his head and then one held his arm still on the concrete while the other began to get an IV line inserted. Calleigh stood still, her heart breaking as she watched the men work on Horatio. Eric stood silently by her side.
After a few minutes, one of the paramedics announced, "We've got him stabilized. We need to get him to the hospital as quick as possible."
As Calleigh and Eric accompanied Horatio as the paramedics rolled him toward a waiting helicopter, one of the paramedics asked,
"Do you know what happened?"
"I…we don't know what happened. He already had a concussion and also fractured ribs on his right side, but other than that, I can't tell you," Calleigh answered.
Reaching the helicopter the men slid the gurney inside, with one climbing in with Horatio. The other man turned and said,
"One of you can ride with him, if you'd like."
Eric turned to Calleigh, "You go." Looking at the medic Eric said, "She needs to go. She's family. I'll come on to the hospital Calleigh, as quickly as I can after I secure the area." Calleigh nodded her head as the first tear slowly slid down her cheek. Eric helped her through the door.
Landing at the helipad of Miami-Dade General, the helicopter was met by a doctor and two nurses. As soon as they pulled Horatio from the helicopter, the monitor signaled, with a flat tone, that his heart had stopped. One of the nurses leaped onto the gurney and straddled Horatio and began CPR.
The doctor shouted, "Get him inside immediately. We need a defibrillator!"
Someone helped Calleigh out of the door as she was feeling numb and weak watching the scene playing out before her. It's all too surreal, she thought. Calleigh began walking as if in slow motion, with the help of a strong grip from one of the nurses, she followed the gurney inside. Once inside the ER, Horatio was rushed into a trauma room and Calleigh was forced to stay outside the doors. I followed procedure and now the man I love is lying in a hospital, in serious trouble.
Feeling as if she were in a dream…she felt someone walk her to a row of chairs against the wall, helping her to sit down. A familiar voice broke through the fog and slowly Calleigh turned her head in the direction of the sound. It was her dear friend Dr. Alexx Woods.
"Sugar, I'm here," Alexx cooed as she sat down next to her friend and took the blonde into her arms, gently rocking her as all of Calleigh's emotions finally poured out. Alexx tightened her embrace and softly said, "I'm here Calleigh, I'm here." Alexx tried to hold her tears in as well, but couldn't. Horatio was her dear long-time friend and she knew he was in serious trouble.
Calleigh managed to say through her flood of tears, "His heart stopped. He died. I don't know…I don't know if he's alive or…dead."
"Let's think positive thoughts, Sugar…let's think positive," Alexx murmured, trying to keep the nervousness from her voice.
After what seemed like hours, but actually was less than one, Calleigh's eyes settled on a man dressed in blue scrubs walking toward her and Alexx.
"Family of Lieutenant Caine?" The doctor asked, keeping his expression neutral.
Calleigh stood and answered, "We are. Calleigh Duquesne," she slowly offered as she shook the doctor's hand.
"Dr. Jim Green, the neurosurgeon on call. Please have a seat," he motioned toward the chairs.
"How is Horatio doctor?" Calleigh asked apprehensively while squeezing Alexx's hand unconsciously.
The doctor looked down at the floor briefly before looking up into Calleigh's eyes glistening with tears that were threatening to escape.
"He's stable at the moment. We've been able to get his vitals stable enough for surgery. The CT scan showed significant bleeding between the Dura matter and the arachnoid matter, which are layers of meninges that protect the brain. I'm going to operate and relieve the pressure that has built up on his brain from the pooling blood. I noticed that the scan showed a little older injury to the same tissues. When did that occur?"
"Um, a few days ago…from a car accident," Calleigh answered. The doctor grunted lowly and looked away. "After the surgery…is he going to be alright?" Calleigh looked back and forth between Dr. Green and Alexx.
"Ms. Duquesne, I think Dr. Woods will agree with me, it's too soon to say. This injury he's sustained is very serious and I'm sorry, but I need to tell you that some people don't survive."
Alexx gripped tightly with an arm around Calleigh's shoulders as the doctor's words caused the distraught blonde to slump against her friend. Through her free flowing tears Calleigh said, "No…he can't die." Then looking into Alexx's eyes, with a pleading expression she asked, "He's not going to die is he?"
"Horatio is as tough as they come Sugar, if anyone can make it…he will. He has to," Alexx knew then that Calleigh truly loved Horatio. Dear God let Horatio live, these two people need each other. Alexx silently thought.
In a group of people close by, sat Tony. Miller had wanted to know if the Lieutenant had survived. Tony was the only one he trusted to find out. Slowly the big man stood and walked away down the hall to report to his boss.
Then a deep booming voice broke through, "Calleigh…what's happened?" Alexx looked up and saw Frank walking toward them.
TBC…
A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews!