Sorry for leaving it on a cliffhanger, here's the next part:
"H!" Eric shouted as he watched the young man run down the back yard, hop over a fence and out of sight. "Are you alright man?"
Groaning, he attempted to raise his hand to his bloody nose before answering. "I'm fine, Eric. Go and check on the boy" Eric stood over him for a few moments, unsure as to whether to stay with his fallen friend or go and check on their witness. Finally, Eric nodded and walked back towards the living area.
He came back a few minutes later to find Horatio sitting on the kitchen floor with his back leaning against a leg of the dining table, holding his handkerchief to his face. "He's gone, H. Must have bolted when his brother did" He crouched down to Horatio so their faces were level. "Man, you look a mess. Let me take you to the hospital to get checked out"
Annoyed at the younger man's hovering he waved away his concern with his free hand, "It's fine. Just take me back to the lab so I can get cleaned up. We need to find Pablo and his brother before the gang do" Eric looked at him uncertainly, "Eric, don't make me order you to do it" he growled as the throbbing pain in his head intensified.
"H, you need to get checked out. Please" he implored his friend as he reached out a hand to help him up.
"I told you, I'm fine. Let's get back to the lab" Eric didn't miss the way Horatio swayed on his feet as he stood, he held out a hand to steady him but retracted it when he saw the look on his face.
By the time they got back to the lab Horatio's nose had nearly stopped bleeding, he gingerly touched it to assess the damage. "You've probably broken it, let me take you to the hospital" Eric tried again. He closed is mouth when he saw the fearsome glare that the red head was giving him, even with two black eyes beginning to form he was still a force to be reckoned with.
Stalking from the car and into the crime lab, Horatio made his way to the locker room to retrieve a fresh shirt. He looked down at the one he was wearing and grimaced at the blood stains that had ruined his expensive Italian tailoring. Walking to the bathroom he took a look at his reflection in the mirror and winced, dried blood smeared the bottom half of his face and covered his shirt, his bottom lip was split and started bleeding sluggishly when he moved his mouth. Raising his hands to his face he was satisfied that his jaw had come through the incident relatively unscathed, touching his nose he hissed in pain as it protested at the movement. Gazing further up he could see two black eyes starting to form, he certainly wasn't going to look pretty for a day or two but apart from that he thought nothing of his injuries. Telling himself that the incessant pounding in his head was a by-product of the head-butt and nothing more.
Grabbing some paper towels he wetted them in the sink and went about wiping the dried blood from his face, his nose had stopped bleeding but it still looked wonky and swollen. Eric was probably right, it looked like he had broken his nose but his pride prevented him from accepting the other man's help. He looked down at his blood stained shirt and sighed, shrugging his jacket from his shoulders he ignored the wave of dizziness that came over him, telling himself that it was most likely caused by the blood loss from his nose. He walked over to his locker as he unbuttoned his shirt and groaned deeply when his stomach churned; bolting to the nearest lavatory his stomach emptied itself of its contents. He sat for a while, crouched down by the toilet as his vision swam. "Maybe Eric was right" he thought to himself as he grimaced at the awful aftertaste left in his mouth from the vomiting. Pulling the chain he managed to climb to his feet and out of the stall before he walked into Ryan.
The younger man took one look at his boss, shirt open and hair mussed he looked nothing like the clean-cut and smartly dressed lieutenant that they had all become so accustomed to. "Jeez, H. What happened to you?" he asked the concern for his friend evident in his voice.
"Run in with a suspect, nothing to worry about" he replied as he began fiddling with his shirt with shaky hands, trying to stop his vision from swimming.
Ryan walked closer to him and held out a hand to steady Horatio after seeing him sway slightly on his feet. "You need to get checked out at the hospital, let me take you"
"I'm fine, Mr Wolfe. Now if you don't mind I have things to do" The hovering of his colleagues was starting to irritate him, grabbing a clean shirt, buttoning and tucking it into his pants haphazardly he slammed his locker shut and left the room.
Pulling his sunglasses from his pockets he slid them back on to his face, he knew he looked foolish walking down the darkened corridors in his shades but at least it would stop people looking at him and asking him stupid questions. Random colleagues walked past him and winced at the sight of his battered face, finally he made it to his office, closing the door he sat down heavily on his chair. He threw the sunglasses on the table and rested his head in his hands; the pounding in his head was getting louder and more painful with each minute that passed. His vision continued to swim as he tried vainly to focus on something, anything on his desk. With a shaky hand he reached into the top draw of his desk and grasped wildly for the bottle of painkillers that he knew were in there. After a couple of failed attempts his hand touched the bottle, he took it out and placed it on the desk, after managing to take the safety cap off he shook two pills out on to his hand. The pain in his head intensified as he swallowed them back with the remnants of a cold cup of coffee from earlier.
Lying back in his chair he allowed his head to fall back against it and winced as it made contact with the soft leather. Closing his eyes he told himself that he would sit and rest for only a moment, until the dizziness and nausea had passed. He woke with a shock some time later when he heard a knock on his door, he opened his eyes with some difficulty and attempted to sit up straighter in his chair as he answered, "Come in"
Pain lanced through his skull as he looked up at his visitor, the image was blurry at best but the long, flowing blonde hair was unmistakable. "Calleigh, thank you for coming" he said in a shaky voice as he shuffled further up in his chair.
She took one look at him and gasped, "My God! What happened to you?" she asked as she walked up to his desk and sat down.
He waved her concern away and instantly regretted it as the room began to turn on its side; he grabbed the edge of the desk as he groaned. "It's nothing, just had a little incident with a witness. That's all"
Her tone softened as she looked at him in concern, "Horatio, you don't look so well. Let me take you to get checked out"
As awful as he felt he could not help the wave of shame that came over him, it was bad enough that Eric and Ryan were trying to nursemaid him. He really didn't need his beautiful temptress cooing at him like some helpless child. "Calleigh, I told you I'm fine" he growled in a menacing tone as the throbbing pain in his head turned itself up a notch.
Anger surged through her at his words, "Fine, I came up here to discuss what happened earlier but I can see that you've still got your head firmly stuck up your ass!"
She got up from the chair quickly; he bolted from his as he tried to catch her before she reached the door. "Calleigh, please wait" he implored her as he held his arm out towards her.
She kept her back to him, her hand on the door. She turned round when she heard him groan and crash to the ground heavily. "Horatio!" she called out as she crouched next to him on the floor.