Eric is in hospital after being shot in the head and Ryan has to try and deal with a lot of feelings and emotions while trying to figure out if there is anything he can do. Lots of Ryan/OC!Dad.

So I know this chapter is very Ryan/Esteban focused but Eric was in hospital. The next chapter will definitely be more Ryan/Eric in it and other characters from Miami as well.
Eric recovery and Ryan trying to hide exactly what he is as well will feature in the next chapter.
Enjoy!.

"H."

Ryan had arrived at the hospital very quickly and found Horatio relatively quickly, standing outside an empty room but looking in through the window. For one terrible moment Ryan thought that Eric had died but Horatio realised he was there quickly and turned to him with a light smile and Ryan knew that H would not be smiling if Eric were dead.

"Mr. Wolfe, how are you feeling?" Horatio inquired.

Ryan blinked. Such a normal question that fitted so well into his personal situation didn't feel right at the moment, considering Eric had been shot in the head and Ryan wasn't sure if he was alive or not.

"How's Delko?" Ryan asked, bypassing Horatio's question completely. He had realised not ten minutes ago at least that he loved Eric and he wanted information on him.

"He's in surgery. No other news apart from that he's still alive right now." Horatio replied quietly. "Tell me how you're feeling Ryan." The older CSI requested, switching to his rare use of Ryan's first name to symbolise to the young man that he wasn't going to stop until he knew the answer to his question.

"I'm fine." Ryan managed to say without snapping. Horatio's eyebrows rose. "I mean it Horatio I can come and help catch the guy who did this."

"Nothing like an accident for a friend to motivate you." Calleigh's voice said and Ryan jumped to find that she had snuck up behind them both.

"Calleigh." Horatio murmured in acknowledgement and she offered him a rather strained smile in response. Ryan did not smile or speak but when he met her eyes he could see the worry in them and the inherent fear that she felt for Eric. He felt the same but he knew he could easily hide it from her.

"Any news?" Calleigh asked.

"None. Alexx was allowed into the operating theatre with him so he's in safe hands." Horatio replied.

Silence fell between the three of them and Ryan fidgeted with the cuffs of his shirt. He wondered where his dad had gone and part of him wished he was here. Ryan shook his head and closed his eyes, he did not want his dad here, he'd probably be…well happy…that Eric had received this wound he might forget things.

"Lieutenant Caine."

A doctor in scrubs had approached them, looking rather tired but smiling.

"How is he?" Horatio asked quickly.

"He's got a battle ahead of him. Most of the bullet is still lodged in his temporal lobe it would be impossible for us to remove it, and he may suffer permanent damage to motor skills, speech and memory due to a hematoma." The doctor explained as several other doctors appeared, wheeling Eric towards the empty room next to them. Bandages were wrapped around his head and his eyes were closed, a tube was down his throat to help him breath and he was hooked up to two IVs and a mini heart monitor. Alexx appeared behind the trolley, wearing scrubs herself and when she met Ryan's eyes he could see her own worry.

"He'll survive, Delko is strong." Ryan found himself saying. Alexx noticed him seemingly for the first time despite the fact that she had caught his eye first before turning to Horatio.

"Ryan honey what are you doing here? Horatio said you were too tired to work. Silly boy." She chastised him fondly and Ryan was torn between grimacing and smiling at her ability to still mother him despite the fact Eric was lying in a hospital bed.

"I'm fine Alexx really. I'm going to help you catch this guy." He stated. Alexx smiled warmly before turning and entering the room where doctors were checking Eric's vitals.

"Calleigh take Ryan back to the lab and brief him on what has happened and what evidence we have. I'm going to stay here and wait with Eric." Horatio ordered as he watched Alexx sit by Eric's side and take his hand.

"Alright Horatio. Call us if anything happens." Calleigh accepted. Ryan said nothing but he followed Calleigh as she made her way silently out of the hospital. Her shoulders were stiffened as she walked and her hands were balled tightly into fists and Ryan realised quite suddenly that she was trying to contain her emotions, to stop herself from crying. I'm realising a lot of things suddenly recently, Ryan thought drily.

/

The day went quickly by and night soon approached and Ryan found himself stood outside the hospital looking at the double doors. He knew visiting hours were over, but he couldn't tear himself away. Eric lay in there. Visiting hours were over, he knew that, but Ryan really just wanted to see Eric and know that he was okay. Well, to know that he was still alive. That was one of the reasons he had stolen a doctor's uniform and was intending to use it to sneak into the hospital and check on Eric. Sit with him for a bit. Hold his hand and pray that he was going to survive, going to get better, going to live a normal life.

Standing in the cold night air Ryan took a deep breath and made his way into the hospital. He was already wearing the clothes he had stolen and he had had to force himself to leave a coat at home. No one passed a glance at him, none of the late night patients, the tired and cranky receptionists or the doctors and nurses that hurried past him. He reached Eric's room with almost nobody speaking to him, perhaps because he had been walking so quickly and had had a grim expression on his face, those who assumed him to be a colleague also assumed that he had something important to attend to. Which he did.

Eric was lying in the bed in the same position he had been in when Ryan had seen him earlier that day. Crossing to the glass walls of Eric's room Ryan drew the blinds so they hid his presence and locked the door as well. He knew he shouldn't, that if there was a problem the doctors would need to get in to see Eric quickly, but he wanted privacy.

"Hey Eric," He said softly, his voice cracking a bit as he tried to be quiet and get used to saying Eric when he normally said Delko. "You better wake up soon everyone's really worried about you."

"Touching," A voice said just as softly as Ryan had and the CSI whirled around to find Esteban watching him from next to the window of the room, which was open, arms crossed, dark hair windswept and covering one of his eyes slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan hissed, hurrying to the open window and closing it and the curtains swiftly.

"I could ask you the same thing Ryan." Esteban replied coolly, making no move as Ryan glared at him and moved to Eric's bedside. His eyes followed Ryan's every move however and there was something akin to cool disapproval in their depth. Ryan ignored what he could see there and focused on Eric.

"I had to see he was okay." Ryan eventually murmured as he took one of Eric's hands and gently massaged the palm of it with his thumb.

"You love him don't you?" Esteban inquired, slipping an arm around Ryan's shoulders.

Ryan jumped at the contact as he hadn't realised his father had moved to stand next to him. Esteban still wore a rather blank look on his face but his eyes held sorrow and pity in them instead of disapproval.

"I think I do. I know I can't get involved with him," Ryan said hastily as Esteban went to say something, "But I can look at him and help him when he's injured dad, it's what a good friend does."

"I know Ryan, I know." Esteban muttered, "But you have to be careful. If he gets wind of your feelings, or if he even starts to show that he likes you too…well you know what I'm going to say."

"I do." Ryan confirmed, "You fell in love with a human before you met my mother and it was heart-breaking for you when she died and you had no way to follow her. Doomed to live forever and no wound could ever kill you. And I'm the same. I should avoid falling in love at all because it hurts, unless I'm lucky enough to meet someone the same as me." He spoke in a resigned tone, for he had heard this speech a lot from his father when he had come home with a girl or a boy and claimed they were going to be together forever.

Esteban said nothing. He could tell that Ryan was upset about the fact that he did, indeed, love Eric Delko but that it was impossible for them to ever be together because of what Eric was. Or rather because of what Ryan was. Esteban turned and pulled up another chair next to Ryan so he could gain easier access to hug his son. Ryan leant into the embrace but did not move to hug his father back, merely kept hold of Eric's hands and focused on his friend's face.

"He's not going to be the same." Ryan sighed after a moment. Esteban was silent, waiting for Ryan to continue.
"' Most of the bullet is still lodged in his temporal lobe it would be impossible for us to remove it, and he may suffer permanent damage to motor skills, speech and memory due to a hematoma.' That's what the doctor said."

Esteban couldn't help but smile at the ability Ryan had to remember what was said to him word for word no matter the situation. Ryan didn't notice, or if he did he knew why his father was smiling so he didn't comment on it.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Ryan, they said that he may suffer from those things, not that it was definite." Esteban said softly, squeezing Ryan's shoulder a little to comfort him. Sometimes he wished Ryan was more open to affection from him so he could comfort him properly in these situations but Ryan had always denied the fact that he needed comfort from anyone.

"You don't know that!" Ryan cried, prompting Esteban to place a finger to his lips and shush his son. Ryan glanced at him before once again focusing on Eric. "You don't know that he's going to fine. None of us do. Unless-…" Ryan trailed off before he could finish and looked at the floor.

"What Ryan?" Esteban pushed.

"Unless we did something." Ryan mumbled.

"No Ryan, we can't." Esteban stated firmly.

"I know."

Silence fell between them then as they both watched Eric lying somewhat peacefully before them, eyelids fluttering every now and then in his sleep. Ryan did not let go of Eric's hand, even when he fell asleep slumped against Esteban and he had to carry Ryan home because the CSI had walked to the hospital instead of driven there. His fingers were still curled when Esteban put him to bed as if he were still holding Eric's hand. Esteban smiled sadly before turning off the light.

/

The next couple of days were rather hectic and emotions were running high as the entire lab, both day and night, worked their hardest to find the man who had shot Eric and the man he had been working for, Clavo Cruz. Every so often he got in touch with Horatio who would keep calm while talking to him, even if his eyes did blaze in anger at having him so close and yet so far. Calleigh mentioned at one point that it felt like everything was moving in double speed and that they had to be as careful as possible not to miss the one piece of key evidence that would nail the guy who had shot Eric. Ryan however felt like everything was moving in slow motion. He meticulously went over every single piece of evidence that had been collected before and after the shooting, looking for that one thing, that one little piece that would break the case. Ryan wanted to catch this guy, wanted to catch him more than any other criminal and he was working himself into frenzy. At nights he wasn't sleeping properly because he was sneaking into the hospital and sitting with Eric. Usually Esteban was there too but sometimes Ryan was alone.

Calleigh could tell, she thought, that Ryan was driving himself crazy with this case. Only about a week earlier Ryan had stopped Eric from getting shot by taking a bullet himself and it must have been frustrating for him to see Eric now with a bullet wound to the head, she found herself thinking. She and Ryan had found the man they were sure had shot Eric, Tanner Wilcox, but he had tested negative for GSR and they had had to let him go.

But now, now they had him. Together they had figured out that the gun used to shoot Eric had been a rifle and therefore the earlier GSR test had been used on the wrong hand.

Together Calleigh and Ryan were sat in a room again with the security guard who they had originally tested before they found Tanner Wilcox. He was sat calmly before them, albeit with a little confusion woven into his expression. Ryan was standing next to him and he grabbed his left hand rather roughly and started to swab at it to apply the GSR test. When the young CSI saw that it came back positive the frenzy that he had been holding back broke through the barriers and he went for the man before him, the man that had shot his friend, the man that he loved. The police officer stood near the wall stopped him before he could do anything and Calleigh's professional, stern tone as she called his name made Ryan stop and think for a moment. He wanted to punch this guy, to beat this guy, to completely and utterly destroy this man and yet it wouldn't help Eric.

The day quickly ended after the security guard was taken to prison until Ryan overheard Horatio talking to Calleigh about how Eric had woken up and was asking after Marisol, who had been dead for quite a while now. Ryan knew that Marisol and Horatio had been married for a few short hours at least before she died and despite that they had been very close. How could Eric think she was alive? He was going to have to learn she was dead again. It was horrible. Ryan took a deep breath and hurried from the crime lab, on his way to the hospital, with one idea on his mind to help Eric.

/

"Ryan." Esteban said softly as soon as Ryan entered Eric's hospital room and the CSI had to stop himself from jumping at the sound and making some sort of noise.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan hissed.

"I knew you'd be coming here tonight, since Delko was awake today." Esteban replied.

"I came to help him." Ryan admitted. He crossed to Eric's bedside and took a seat on the bed instead of the vacant chair. Esteban stayed stood against the far wall, arms folded.

"How?"

"You know how." Ryan snapped. "You're the one that told me I could do it if I really wanted to!"

Esteban's eyes widened as he realised what Ryan was talking about. "You cannot heal him Ryan."

"Why not dad? Why can't I heal Eric and take that wound away from him and make him remember everything?" Ryan asked harshly, turning his head to look right at Esteban, anger in his eyes.

"What do you think would happen if he was suddenly better after getting shot in the head?" Esteban pointed out incredulously.

"Well they wouldn't suspect me!" Ryan cried.

"Ryan!" Esteban barked, his voice carrying raw rage, standing up straight and drawing himself to his full height. He was quite a bit taller than Ryan when standing and more so now since Ryan was sat down and he used this to gain authority in the conversation. Ryan was staring at him a little shocked. It had been a while since his father had used that tone with him, even when they had been arguing about whether Ryan was going to stay in Miami or go home Esteban had not used that tone, even when angry.

"No dad." Ryan stated firmly when Esteban went to say something else. When he had been younger his dad had managed to scare him with that tone but now things were different, especially after what Horatio had mentioned about Marisol.
"You can't stop me from doing this. I want to help Eric. You said it yourself the first night we spent here 'the doctor only said may', therefore it is possible that Eric could recover fully without any problems. It's slim but it could happen!"

Esteban moved forward so quickly that Ryan didn't notice until he felt an iron grip fasten on his upper arm and he was slammed against the wall. His father was pinning him against the wall with just one hand and Ryan couldn't break away from his strength. With his other hand Esteban grasped Ryan's chin in a firm grip and forced his son to look at him.

"You can't do this." Esteban repeated gently this time.

"I don't want Eric to live a different life dad! It's not fair." Ryan's voice quavered as he spoke and Esteban saw tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. "Horatio said that Eric was awake today and asking for his sister, Marisol. She died dad, she died months ago and Eric was coming to terms with it, at least it seemed so. I don't want him to have to go through her death twice! What if he gets his memories back? He'll feel horrible for forgetting her death and hurting Horatio by asking for her! He cannot go through that again! Not when I can help him." Ryan continued, his voice steadily rising as he became more and more worked up and distressed.

Esteban moved back from his son so Ryan could stand properly before enveloping him in a hug. Ryan resisted at first but eventually his arms came around Esteban to curl into the back of his shirt and Ryan buried his face in his chest, sobbing against him.

"It isn't your choice to make Ryan." Esteban soothed, stroking his son's hair, "If Eric is to suffer these defects then all you can do is support him as best you can, without doing anything that a human wouldn't do."

"But I can help him in other ways!" Ryan's words were muffled by Esteban's shirt but he heard them fine and sighed.

"If I allowed this what would you do?" He asked after a few moments of silence, broken only by Ryan's crying.

"I'd do it even if you didn't allow it." Ryan claimed and Esteban smiled despite himself. "But I'd…I don't know, take the wound from him! If I had it I'd heal in a matter of minutes, well maybe a little longer since it is a bad injury, and Eric would have no issues. No memory loss, no speech impairment, nothing, he'd just be the same old Eric!"

"Ryan do you even know how to do that?"

"No."

"Then you can't."

Ryan nodded, "Then I'll do something else!"

"No Ryan listen to me. I was going to say, you can't, but I can."

Ryan pulled back and looked up at Esteban, confusion written all over his face.

"I've done this before, sometimes just on people that didn't deserve to die, other times it was when someone I cared about was hurt but I learnt in the end that it was dangerous to do that. When someone is shot at point blank and is so close to death it is obvious they aren't going to recover it is pretty obvious that when they live there is something strange going on. It's only a matter of time until the finger is pointed at you."Esteban admitted with a rather wry smile.

"So you're willing to help?" Ryan asked.

"I wouldn't be able to stop you from doing it regardless." Esteban smirked, "So I may as well do it."

"Thanks dad." Ryan said.

"I can do it now-."Esteban began before both he and Ryan froze and looked at the door where the doorknob was turning. Quickly Ryan vaulted off the bed and hurried over to the door so he could hide behind it when the doctor entered. Esteban rolled under the bed and lifted himself up using the metal bars so the doctor would not see him there.

The doctor checked Eric's heart monitor and then his IV before standing for a few minutes and looking down at his patient. Ryan watched in concern through the glass panel of the door as the minutes ticked by and the doctor merely stared at Eric. From his position Ryan could not see the doctor's expression but from the way he was merely stood looking down at Eric made Ryan think he was just sad to see someone so injured with no possibility for doctor help. Eventually the man turned and Ryan ducked so he wouldn't be seen and sighed in relief when the door was closed. Esteban appeared after a few seconds and smiled as Ryan offered a hand to help him up.

"I can do it now Ryan. It's possible that he might wake up during so he might see you but you can pass that off as hallucinations due to being shot." Esteban finished what the doctor had interrupted and Ryan nodded. He moved to Eric's bedside and took his hand. Esteban moved with his son and sat on Eric's other side and took Eric's other hand. He closed his eyes and Ryan decided to keep his eyes on Eric instead of his dad, he'd never seen this happen and he knew that his father wouldn't be happy if he copied what to do from this.
"Ryan."

Ryan glanced at his father, but his eyes were still closed.

"I want to see if I can make him forget that you weren't wearing a bullet proof vest." Esteban stated, "It'll be the only thing he doesn't remember."

"But you said that since we couldn't achieve it Eric was always going to remember." Ryan replied, perplexed.

"Well I might be able to do it now." Esteban explained.

Ryan went silent and so did his father and they sat together in silence for five minutes. Ryan held Eric's hand and watched as his eyes flicked under the lids in his sleep. Esteban began muttering under his breath but Ryan could tell that he was just running through what he had to do.

Eric's eyes flew open and he focused on Ryan, who looked right back at him. His lips moved and Ryan thought he saw his name mouthed but he said nothing, he wanted to be able to convince Eric that he had been dreaming or hallucinating and talking to him would probably make that difficult.

"Ryan," Eric managed to mutter though his voice was so weak Ryan nearly missed it.

He glanced at his father but Esteban still had his eyes closed and he was mouthing to himself instead of muttering. Evidently he had missed Eric talking. Ryan smiled. If Eric was going to remember anything about this little moment then he wanted him to remember his smile. He knew Eric would never like him back, it was evident he wouldn't, he was such a ladies man there was no way he was going to look at Ryan over all the women in Miami. Shaking his head to clear those sorts of thoughts from his head Ryan's smile faded when Eric's eyes fluttered closed again. Esteban suddenly convulsed next to him and Ryan jumped. He could see blood in his father's hair so Ryan dropped Eric's hand and moved around the bed, just in time to catch Esteban as he went limp and fell off the bed. Ryan gently lowered himself to the floor with his father in his arms.

"Never thought I'd be holding my father as he died." He murmured.

"Healing not dying." Esteban choked out.

Ryan said nothing in reply, shifting a little so his legs didn't go numb supporting his father as he lay, paralysed as his body worked to heal the wound in his skull and rid of him of the bullet, which Ryan only realised he had taken from Eric when it fell to the floor with a clatter next to his knee.

"Is it done?" Ryan asked when his father was still and lay quiet in his arms.

"Yes,"

Ryan moved again to stand, pulling Esteban with him and steadying him when he stumbled sideways.

"Dizzy?"

"It's a hard thing to do Ryan, even being what we are." Esteban nearly snapped at his son but stopped himself just in time, knowing Ryan was just being, well, Ryan.

"What are we exactly?" Ryan asked as he helped Esteban sit on the bed next to Eric. He had asked his father that question many times during his life and Esteban had never answered him.

"It's difficult to explain. I guess to humans we'd be angels, or gods." Esteban said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh."

Eric shifted in his sleep and Ryan's attention was drawn to him. He was smiling now, peaceful in rest and Ryan knew if he checked under the bandages on his head there would be only a scar now, as if the bullet wound had happened years ago.

"We should go Ryan, he might wake up and we'd better not be here when he does." Esteban stated, standing and stretching.

"Okay." Ryan replied. Esteban silently took Ryan's hand and led him from Eric's room. Ryan normally would have protested at this action but he could tell from the tight grip that his father was using that he needed to be holding something as he moved. With one last glance at Eric's room Ryan moved forward and wrapped an arm around Esteban's shoulders to support him properly as they left the hospital.

/

Ryan found himself sat in the break room of the Crime Lab when Horatio got the call from the hospital about Eric's condition. Calleigh was with him making a fresh cup of coffee when Horatio entered, followed by Natalia, Frank and Alex.

"I received a call from the hospital." Horatio stated.

"Is Eric okay?" Calleigh asked immediately.

"He's fine." Horatio said simply. "The doctors don't know what to make of it. He woke up this morning and seemed coherent, with all his memories intact and they even say his wound seems to have healed a lot quicker than it should have done."

Every one of them stood and stared at Horatio, dumb-founded, except for Ryan. Ryan turned his face away from them and smiled softly so they wouldn't see. They would never know what had happened to Eric but at least now it was confirmed that he was okay.