Chapter Seventy-two: When the Lights Go Out
Speed came to in a darkened room. He rubbed at his eyes as he tried to recall what the hell had happened and figure out where he was. He couldn't recall much from the last few hours. There had been a break in the case, he could remember that much. But what exactly had it been? Had they been able to find one of the missing dogs or was it another murder with a slip-up by the killer? For some reason that minor detail managed to escape him. He did, however, remember Horatio talking to Hagen and Frank about making an arrest or something along those lines. Had they mentioned something about a raid or was he throwing in facts from an old case? He definitely remembered being told to go home, to get some sleep. At that point he put up a fight because he wanted to be there for…whatever the hell it was that they were going to do. The case was as much his as anyone else's, why couldn't he go along?
He closed his eyes again, searching his mind for the missing details and turning up empty. When he opened his eyes it was still unnaturally dark in…where was he? He could feel the softness of a mattress underneath him so at least he was somewhere familiar, or so he hoped. Someone had taken the time to throw a blanket over him to make sure that he didn't catch a chill. When he tried to stretch away an ache in his side he felt a wave of pain wash over his body. The pain was enough to keep him from moving another inch, a hiss of breath escaping from between his lips. What the hell was going on?
Straining, he tried to pick-up any sounds that might give 'way his location. Were those cars that he heard outside? Was it raining? His mind seemed a little foggy and it worried him that he couldn't remember certain things. And why did it seem like his hearing was off? The more worried he grew the more frantic his heart began to beat and he wondered if he might suffer some sort of heart attack. Fear waited within arms reach to drag him into the throws of a panic attack if he couldn't start putting the pieces together and bring some sense of calm over the situation.
It was another ten minutes of mentally arguing with himself before he realized that his eyes had grown used to the darkness. He was now able to make out certain shapes in the darkness. It looked like he was in a bedroom. His or someone else's? Noticing a lamp off to his side he risked the pain to reach out for it hoping to shine some light on the room. Alas, his efforts failed. No matter how long he played with the lamp no light came from the bulb. He was left in the darkness, left to deal with his growing fear. Could he be stuck in some sort of prison having been kidnapped or something? His mind flashed back to a few months ago when he'd been dragged into a shack in the middle of the everglades and beaten. A shudder trickled down his spine as his mouth went dry. He couldn't go through something like that a second time. Having to experience that again would be enough to make him….That was a thought he wished he didn't have, something he wished stayed buried deep in his subconscious.
He was on the verge of completely freaking out when he caught a faint glow coming from a doorway. With each passing second the glow grew a little bigger as it drew closer. Unable to move without causing himself pain he lay on the bed like a helpless victim wondering what horrors awaited him when that light finally reached the room. He held his breath, waiting. His hands clenched into fists.
Then Delko walked through the door with a candle in one hand and a lightless flashlight in the other. Speed felt a measure of relief at the sight of his friend, most of the fear dissipating. Delko sat on the edge of the bed, placing the candle on the nightstand. He smiled at Speed. "Glad to see that you're finally awake."
"What the hell…" His voice sounded scratchy, his throat felt dry.
"Storm blew out that power," Delko explained. "I can't believe you slept through it."
Speed tried to sit up but once again the pain got the best of him. "I hurt."
"I'm not surprised."
"Why?" Speed asked.
Delko looked away, a clear sign that he didn't want to answer the question. Speed felt a jolt of anger. He tried to reach out to Delko, to fight the pain and get some sort of hold on the man he thought he was falling in love with. Love. How could he be falling in love with someone who didn't even have the courage to answer a simple question?
"Delko," he said, trying to convey his need for an answer, "Please tell me what the hell is going on."
A sigh escaped Delko, his shoulders slumping a little. In the soft glow of the candle it looked like he'd been to hell and back, but that could have been the way the shadows played across his face. "She said you might not remember."
"Who?"
"Alexx."
"Delko…"
"They beat you, Speed," Delko finally said, keeping his back to Speed. "You went out to walk Mite after you got home from the lab and…when you hadn't returned after a while I went to see what was keeping you. I found you in the park lying on the ground." Delko was talking fast like he needed to get the words out and feared that speaking them might burn his lips. "Alexx says they hit you on the back of the head and kicked you once or twice while you were down."
"That explains why I hurt," Speed spoke rationally. A voice in the back of his mind began nagging. "Who beat me?"
"They did," Delko said, stressing the first word. Finally he turned to look at Speed and it looked like he was crying but once again the lighting was poor, it could have been a trick of the mind. "I'm sorry, Timmy, I am so sorry."
"For what?" He could sense that the other shoe was about to drop.
"They took Mite."