Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews, it really does mean a lot to me that you have taken the time to read and review my work :-)
Here's the next chapter for you, I hope you enjoy...
It had been a long and harrowing three days, throughout that time at least one member of the team had been at Horatio's bedside, only leaving when the doctors or nurses asked them to exit the room. The worry and stress had taken its toll on everyone, each person taking it in turns to keep up the vigil at their fallen leader's bedside, willing Horatio to hold on and fight as the infection raged through his system. It had by no means been an uneventful 72 hours, the monitors reflecting the life and death battle that was being waged in the red head's body.
Eric walked back into Horatio's room, relieving Frank of his watch over the lieutenant, he sat in the armchair and picked up Horatio's limp hand. "H, its Eric. I'm not sure if you can hear me but you've given us all quite a scare these last few days" he looked at the other man, hoping for a response. "You've given Frank a few more grey hairs, we've all been sitting here with you. We miss you, H" he said sadly.
He thought he imagined it at first, a small and almost imperceptible pressure on his hand. "H?" he questioned as he stood up and leaned over, praying that he hadn't imagined the movement from the other man. "H, if you can hear me" he started as he squeezed his hand harder, "I need you to open your eyes H, please" he pleaded almost desperately. There was no response and Eric felt his heart sink, he slowly moved to sit back down but stopped when he felt pressure on his hand once more. "H, c'mon man. Open those eyes for me" he coaxed gently as he saw the eyelids of his friend flicker slowly and open to half-mast. "That's it, H. You can do it"
Horatio felt as if he had been floating in a fog for the last few hours, he heard voices around him but he was surrounded by darkness and unable to move his weary body. He floated in a dreamlike state for what seemed like eternity before he felt someone take hold of his hand. Not sure what was real and what was fantasy he gripped the hand as tight as he could, hoping that it could anchor him back to some sort of reality. He heard a voice that he recognised, telling him to open his eyes, he tried in vain to obey the command but found his body unwilling to co-operate. Finally he succeeded and managed to open his eyes a fraction, everything was blurry and the voice speaking to him sounded muffled. He attempted to take a breath so that he could open his mouth and speak but instead found himself choking on the tube that had been inserted into his throat. Still dazed and confused he started to panic, the screeching of the alarms above his bed doing nothing to calm his racing heartbeat. He looked desperately at the fuzzy face of the man standing over him, whatever he was saying was so muffled that he couldn't understand it, his fear was beginning to overwhelm him and he could feel himself starting to tremble.
"H" Eric raised his voice and lent over his friend, trying to get his attention, "It's me, Eric. You need to calm down man, you've got a tube down your throat to help you breathe. Just relax, you need to calm down" Eric told him as he reached for the alarm button, he could see Horatio's panic rise and the fear was evident in the half-opened eyes.
A doctor and two nurses came rushing into the room, seeing the distress of the red head the doctor placed both hand gently on Horatio's face in an effort to calm him, "Mr Caine, you're in the hospital" he began, seeing that he was not getting through he tried again, "Mr Caine, you need to calm down. Don't fight the machine, it's helping you breathe". The doctor gently caught the shaky hand that reached up towards the tube, "I can take it out but you need to calm down Mr Caine, ok?" sensing that he was finally getting through he continued, "Nod your head if you understand me Mr Caine" he instructed him. Horatio nodded his head slightly and then groaned as he felt a shooting pain go through his head. "You still with me Mr Caine?" the doctor asked, Horatio opened his eyes once more and blinked in response. "Ok, I'm going to remove the tube now, when I count to three I need you to cough as hard as you can for me. Can you do that?" Another blink. "Ok, one…two….three" Horatio coughed and gagged as the tube left his throat.
"Wha…." he rasped roughly, raising a shaky hand to his throat.
"Take it easy Mr Caine, your throat is going to be very sore for a while" the doctor informed him gently whilst one of the nurses wetted a sponge stick and applied it to his dry lips. "We're going to check you over, ok?" The doctor looked at Eric, "Mr Delko, if you wouldn't mind waiting outside please" Eric nodded his agreement and left the room.
Natalia, Frank and Calleigh were all in the waiting room, using their Sunday off to keep watch over Horatio and lend their support to Eric. Seeing the commotion unfold all three of them looked to Eric for answers, "What's happening Delko?" Frank asked impatiently.
Eric shook his head in slight bewilderment before addressing the group in front of him, "He opened his eyes" he told them, the women smiled hopefully at him eager to hear some good news on Horatio's condition, "I felt him squeeze my hand and then he opened his eyes, I'm not sure he knew where he was as he started to panic. The doctor has thrown me out now so he can check him over" he sat heavily on a chair and ran a hand through his hair.
It seemed like an eternity but when the doctor finally emerged from the room, everyone stood up to meet him, eager to ask questions about their friend. "Mr Caine is awake" he told them brightly, "He's by no means out of the woods yet but I'm hopeful that he's turned a corner now. I was concerned that he wouldn't be able to breathe sufficiently on his own when we extubated him but he seems to be holding his own at the moment" The doctor paused for breath and looked once more at the group of officers in front of him, "We've got him on 100% oxygen to help his lungs, it's important that he remains as calm as possible as there is still a high risk of serious complications in his recovery"
"Will he be ok though?" Frank asked, feeling his patience wearing thin.
"Mr Caine is very drowsy right now, probably due to the medication we've been administering so it's hard to assess his physical and mental status at this time. We need to give him time for the fog to clear, so to speak, before we can make any judgments on whether he'll make a full recovery"
"Can we see him?" Calleigh asked, biting her bottom lip slightly.
The doctor nodded, "One at a time though" he told them sternly, "He's still very weak and in and out of consciousness, try not to overwhelm him. His heart and lungs really can't take any kind of stress right now" The doctor made his excuses and then left the waiting area to check on another patient, passing Ryan on the way through.
Four sets of eyes bored into him, he had done his best to stay out of their way and keep a low profile since the raid. He knew that they blamed him for what happened, somehow he needed to make them understand that he would do anything to be able to change places with H right now. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for the onslaught of fury, "I know that you don't want me here" he told them, looking at the ground, "I've tried to stay out of everyone's way but I couldn't help it. I needed to see him" Keeping his head down and expecting Eric to launch for him at any moment he braced himself for the physical impact. He was caught by surprise when Calleigh walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, she squeezed him slightly in reassurance.
"Ryan, its ok" she told him, "There was nothing you could have done, it's not your fault. You have just as much right to see him as the rest of us" she smiled softly at him. He glanced at Natalia who smiled and nodded her head slightly, he turned his gaze to Frank and then Eric and found their countenances not as forgiving as those of the women.
"Eric" he started, "If you want me to leave I will, I don't want any trouble here" he said as he turned to leave. He was stopped by Eric's deep voice.
"Hey Wolfe, wait." Ryan turned back towards Eric and looked him in the eyes, "Stay" the Cuban said as he sat back down on a chair.