Horatio and the Bad Day—that ended Good

Horatio sat on the bench of the locker room. It had been an eventful shift to say the least. He knew Aimee would find out the events of the day's shift even if he decided not to tell her himself. Either way he knew she'd be shaken—she probably already knew about it, the news crews had shown up after the explosion at the meth lab at the abandoned warehouse. The place had been rigged to explode within two minutes of the warehouse door being opened. The explosion was meant to kill all officers and destroy all evidence inside. Upon entering the building Horatio felt liquid dripping down on him. He saw the face of digital wristwatch counting down. He sniffed the clear the liquid when it dripped on his hand—gas. He looked up to four propane canisters suspended from the ceiling.

He shouted for everyone to get out of the building now. The structure had exploded within seconds of officers retreating. Nobody had been killed or seriously wounded though some of the officers—Horatio included, had been hit and cut with flying debris. Horatio had a two-inch cut near the top of his left cheek that required stitches.

Whether or not Aimee knew about the explosion in the moments after Horatio did not know but he didn't want her scared not knowing his condition if she happened to see it on Breaking News on television. Aimee hadn't heard or seen the news; she had no idea any explosion occurred. She was sitting on the floor reading to Rachel when he called. He couldn't tell her any details; all he could tell her was there had been an explosion but with the exception of the cut that required stitches, he was fine.

"They're sending all of us home a bit early," he said, in reference to the team who attended the warehouse call. "Looks like I'll be home in time for dinner tonight."

"Your daughter will be glad to hear that. Hear that, Rachel? Daddy will be home to have dinner with us."

"Dada!" Rachel said. Rachel always seemed to notice if Horatio didn't get home early enough for dinner. Even if she were just eighteen months old. She really tended to notice when he wasn't home by her bedtime. She liked for Horatio to tuck her into bed too. Horatio would go to his sleeping daughter's nursery and give her a kiss when he got home but Rachel didn't knew that and it wasn't the same.

Aimee was happy that her husband called to tell her he was okay after the explosion she hadn't known about. She knew if she had to hear about it without him calling and assuring her he was all right except for a few stitches, her heart would have in her throat till he walked through the front door—which in a case like this most times meant later than usual. Aimee guessed that this team of officers were sent home to rest and told to see their personal physicians ASAP as a precaution. Aimee made a mental note to call their family doctor first thing the following morning—whether or not Horatio thought he needed to or not.

"Hey," Aimee whispered, kissing Horatio passionately in the doorway of the living room. She gingerly touched the small bandage that covered the wound on his face.

"Hey," Horatio replied softly, taking Aimee's face into his palms. "Shh. I'm okay." He took the hand that had touched his wound and kissed her fingertips.

Aimee put her head on her husband's chest and held him tighter. Horatio hugged her back then let his hand drift down and stroke her pregnant belly. He knew that even though he came home uninjured it still had to frighten his pregnant wife.

Rachel 'captured' her dad after dinner—he was 'all hers' till bedtime. It amused her parents all she wanted to do was cuddle with dad and watch cartoons. Horatio kissed the baby's head and caroused her hair. Rachel started to fall asleep in her dad's arms just before her bedtime. Aimee had taken their daughter to the park that afternoon and fresh air had tired the toddler out.

"I'll tuck her in. You relax," he said to Aimee.

"I'll meet you in our room," Aimee replied, getting up from the couch, rubbing Horatio's shoulder as she passed by him.

Horatio couldn't help but grin. "Okay."

Maybe this bad day wasn't going to end that way after all.