Okay, sorry for the delay but here's the next chapter for you. I hope you enjoy:
It had been an hour since Horatio had been rushed into the ER, Frank and Calleigh sat beside Eric waiting to hear any news about his condition. "Eric" Calleigh said softly as she placed a hand on his knee, "You did everything you could for him" she smiled at him with watery eyes.
"What if he dies Calleigh?" he asked her, the despair clearly written all over his face.
"He's Horatio" she told him, "He's as hard as they come, it's going to take more than a couple of drug dealers to bring him down" Truth be told, she didn't know who she was trying to convince, Eric or herself.
Fifteen minutes later a doctor came in, recognising Eric he walked over to talk to him. "Eric Delko?" the doctor asked.
"That's me" he told the doctor, standing up and bracing himself for the bad news. "How's Horatio? Is he going to be ok?" He asked, silently dreading the answers.
The doctor looked at the ground and let out a breath, "He's alive" he replied, sensing the tension in the room he continued, "Mr Caine was injected with a large amount of heroin as you know. Due to the fact that he's not a user it has affected him quite significantly, we've administered a drug called Naloxone to neutralise the effects of the heroin. Your friend is lucky that it wasn't given to him intravenously otherwise in all likelihood he'd be dead right now"
"Will he be ok, doctor?" Calleigh asked shakily.
The doctor ran a hand through his hair, trying to phrase his answer in a way that wouldn't panic the people in front of him, "The heroin severely affected Mr Caine's ability to breathe, it has suppressed his respiratory functions and so we've had to put him on a ventilator to help him" The doctor saw their crestfallen faces but knew he had to continue, "We're carrying out arterial blood gas tests and liver and renal function tests as we speak to ascertain the likelihood of long-term or permanent damage. We also need to carry out MRI and CT scans to check for any damage to his brain or central nervous system" The doctor paused for breath, allowing the information to sink in. "He's stable at the moment but is still not able to breathe on his own, all we can do is sit back and wait"
"But he will be alright, won't he?" Frank asked.
The doctor looked at them once more and sighed softly, "At this point I'm afraid I really can't say. I'm sorry that I don't have better news for you"
"Where is he?" Eric questioned the doctor, "Can we see him?" He wouldn't believe what the doctor was saying until he saw Horatio with his own eyes.
"He's in the ICU at the moment. You can visit him one at a time but you need to let the nurses do their job. If they ask you to leave or get out of the way then you do that, understood?"
"We understand" Eric replied, answering for all of them, following the doctor through the stark white hallways of the hospital towards the ICU ward, the smell of antiseptic brought back memories of his own time in the hospital five years ago. He put those thoughts to the back of his mind as he entered Horatio's room, his eyes widened in shock as he looked at his friend lying limply on the hospital bed surrounded by wires, tubes and monitors. He looked deathly pale and his lips still had that same blue tinge that they had at the warehouse.
"He's stable for the moment, it seems as though the Naloxone is having a positive effect on his condition. His vital organs have been subjected to quite an ordeal today, we're keeping him sedated until he's strong enough to breathe on his own again" the doctor told him as he checked through the chart at the end of the bed. "If he makes it through the night without any complications then I'm reasonably optimistic that he'll survive"
It wasn't what Eric wanted to hear, he wanted the doctor to tell him that Horatio would be fine in a day or two, back at the crime lab giving suspects hell. "He'll be ok though, won't he?" he asked hopefully.
"Until he wakes up Mr Delko I'm afraid we have no way of knowing" the doctor told him sadly, wishing he had better news to give the young man.
He walked over to the bed, his heart pounding against his ribcage; in all of his years in CSI he had never seen Horatio look so small and vulnerable. "H" Eric began, trying to keep his voice steady, "It's me, Eric. You're gonna be ok, whatever happens we're here for you" he gripped his friends hand, it felt cold and limp. "Frank and Calleigh are here too. Frank says the coffee in here tastes like shit and that you need to hurry the hell up and wake up" a he let out a small laugh and a slight smile graced his lips. Eric ran a hand over his short hair, "Truth is H, I don't know what I'd do without you"
A soft knock at the door caught Eric's attention and he turned around to see a nurse standing in the doorway, "Sorry Mr Delko, I need you to leave the room for a few minutes whilst I attend to your friend" she smiled apologetically to him.
"Sure. No problem" Eric replied, giving Horatio's hand one last squeeze before leaving the room, he needed time to get control of his emotions anyway. He found Frank and Calleigh sitting in the waiting area and looking at him for news on Horatio's condition.
"Hey Delko, how's he doing?" Frank asked, standing up.
"He's…" he started, not sure if he could keep his voice steady. He shook his head and started again, "He's not good Frank. He's hooked up to so many machines in there" his eyes shifting from Frank, to Calleigh and then to the floor as he continued, "He's just lying there, I've never seen him look so still" He could feel his eyes welling up, he wiped furiously at his face, "I'm sorry. I need some air" he told them as he bolted for the exit.
A few minutes later the nurse left Horatio's room, "One of you can go and sit with him now if you like" she told them, taking a tray of implements with her.
"I'll go in Frank, how about you get some more coffee?" Calleigh told the large Texan.
"Huh" he laughed humourlessly, "I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than drink any more of that slop" he groused, returning to his chair in the waiting area.
Calleigh entered the room cautiously, not sure if she was ready for the sight that would greet her. She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped from her mouth when she saw him, he looked lifeless. Lying in the hospital bed with a tube down his throat he looked nothing like the man Calleigh had come to admire so much. It was the little things that made him 'Horatio' be it his need to always have something in his hands to fiddle with or the way he stood or held himself. She loved the way he could say so much with just a look or a subtle move of his head, now he just looked like the shell of the man she knew.
Eyes brimming with tears, she walked over to his bed and held his hand tightly in both of hers, "Hey Handsome" she started, remembering the way he always used to smile shyly at her nickname for him. "You've gone and got yourself into a pickle this time, haven't you" she tried to joke, "We're gonna be here until you wake up and start giving the doctors and nurses hell. Frank won't say it but he's having kittens out there in the waiting room, I don't think he knows what to do with himself" She looked at his still face, hoping that he would open his eyes and respond to her even though she knew that he wouldn't. She was about to start talking to Horatio again when she heard shouting from outside the door, placing his hand gently back down on the bed she walked over to the door and peeked outside.
"This is all your fault Wolfe!" Eric snarled as he grabbed the shorter man by his shirt, "Where the hell were you? You were meant to have his back!" All Eric wanted to do was tear Ryan apart, piece by piece. Frank tried in vain to pull him back but Eric shrugged him off, "After everything he's done for you, how could you do this to him?"
Ryan squirmed under Eric's furious gaze, trying and failing to free himself from the taller man's grip on his shirt. "It's not what you think Eric, I can explain!" he pleaded, eyes darting between the two men in front of him. "Please, let me go. Frank tell him, please?" he implored the older man.
Frank placed a hand on Eric's shoulder once more, "Eric" when the other man did not respond he tried again, louder and firmer this time. "Eric, let him go. Give him a chance to explain himself" Eric closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before nodding his head slightly and letting Ryan go roughly.
"Explain then" Eric spat, hatred in his voice.
Ryan smoothed his shirt down as he tried to reason with Eric and Frank; he knew they had every reason to be angry with him. He should have had H's back but he had failed him, he knew this was his fault. "I was following H through the warehouse; he was at least ten steps ahead of me. I thought I heard a noise and turned to check it out when I felt a gun on the back of my head. I felt a hand over my mouth and then someone hit me from behind. The next thing I remember is waking up in a pile of trash behind the warehouse" He looked to the two men, eyes begging them to understand. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" he dropped his head and stared at the floor.
"If he dies Wolfe, this is on you!" Eric drilled the smaller man with an icy glare that Horatio would have been proud of. Ryan lifted his head, making eye contact with Eric and nodded his head sadly.