Sorry for leaving it on another cliffhanger, I'm doing it deliberately in an effort to crank up the tension a bit...
"Horatio, talk to me. Are you alright?" Calleigh reached a shaky hand out to his neck and felt for his pulse, it was fast and erratic. It was then that she noticed the blood seeping from his ear; pulling out her phone she dialled 911. She shook his shoulder gently, trying to raise a response from him. "Horatio, can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes for me" She got no response; she took her phone out again and rang the M.E her eyes all the while never leaving him.
Several minutes later Tom Loman bustled into the room with Eric not far behind him, "I came as soon as I could, Calleigh. What happened to him?" Leaning over he gently rolled Horatio on to his back and bent down to listen for his breathing, he noticed the blood coming from his nose and ears.
Taking a deep breath she brushed the hair back from her face as she leant back on her knees giving Tom more room to work. "I don't know, he said he had an altercation with a witness. I tried to get him to go to hospital but we ended up arguing. Next thing I know he's collapsed on the floor"
Nodding his head as he felt around Horatio's skull he probed Calleigh deeper, "Well he sustained a head injury, that much is clear. Do we know if he lost consciousness when the injury was sustained?"
"I've got no idea. Eric, did you see anything?"
He stood in the doorway in a state of shock, Horatio had looked fine a couple of hours ago. Dazed and a bit irritable but otherwise his normal self, he kicked himself for listening to the other man when he said he was fine. It was clear now that he wasn't. "The witness's older brother" he tried to explain, "He had a knife, and H was talking him into dropping it when a brick smashed the window. The guy head-butted H and made a run for it"
"How long ago was this?" Tom asked, his attention still firmly on the man lying prone on the floor.
"A couple of hours maybe. He seemed fine after it happened, a bit grouchy but that's not unusual these days" he looked at Calleigh pointedly.
Tom lifted Horatio's head slightly and used his fingers to probe the back of his skull; he grimaced when he found what he was looking for. Gently placing Horatio's head back down in the ground he lifted his hands for Eric and Calleigh to see the blood that was on them. "I hope that bus is on its way, we're going to need it" Ignoring the gasps of the two CSI's he carefully lifted Horatio's eyelids in turn and frowned at what he found, the pupils were dilated and moving sluggishly as they attempted to adjust to the artificial light in the room. Pinching his earlobe produced no response either.
"Tom, is he going to be ok?" Calleigh asked as her voice wavered.
Sighing deeply before answering he told them, "He's got a serious head injury, looks like he cracked the back of his head on something. My best guess is a depressed skull fracture and judging by the blood and fluid coming from his ears I would say there's at least some swelling on the brain"
There was barely time for Tom's words to register before two paramedics came running up the corridor and into the room. Placing their bags down they tried talking to Horatio in an effort to gain a response but he remained silent and unmoving. Tom apprised them of the situation as they placed a neck brace to support his head and spine then ran IV's into both arms. Calleigh looked on in shock as they quickly transferred him to a stretcher and began carrying him briskly from the room. "Anyone coming with him?" one of the paramedics asked.
"I will" Calleigh responded as she tried to compose herself. "Now is not the time to fall apart" she told herself as she jogged to catch up with the paramedics.
Standing back she watched them load the stretcher into the back of the ambulance and was concerned at the frantic way the paramedics were working on Horatio. She climbed in as instructed and sat on the opposite side as a paramedic stood over him whilst the other got in the front and drove quickly, sirens blaring. "He's going to be ok, isn't he?"
The paramedic stopped what he was doing and glanced at Calleigh quickly before placing leads on Horatio's bare chest, "Your friend has a serious head injury, we need to get him to Dade Memorial as soon as possible" Feeling guilty for upsetting his passenger the paramedic tried to reassure her, "We'll do all we can for him, the hospital we're taking him to has some of the best neurosurgeons in the country"
The words were meant to be comforting but they only served to upset her even more, he was fine when she saw him this morning, how could things have gone downhill so quickly? It hit her suddenly, if he died she would never be able to apologise for their stupid argument this morning. It seemed so pointless now; pride and ego had come between the both of them. With more confidence than she felt she reached over and grabbed the hand closest to her, willing him to hold on until they got to the hospital. His hand felt cold and limp in hers, when she squeezed it she got no response. She closed her eyes and prayed that he would come through this, suddenly his hand tensed.
Looking up she could see his whole body had tensed too; the heart monitor began to squeal as Horatio's body stiffened and then started jerking uncontrollably. She lost her footing as the paramedic roughly moved her out of the way, "Sorry, ma'am. I need room to work" he said, his back to her as he frantically worked on stabilising the man on the stretcher.
It seemed like an eternity but the seizure rode its course as Horatio lay still on the stretcher once more, her heart sank when she saw the grey tinge to his complexion. Only the erratic beeping from the monitors gave any indication that the man lying prone in the ambulance was alive. Tears sprang to her eyes when she watched the paramedic deftly insert a breathing tube into Horatio's throat. Seeing her distress he smiled at her gently, "You wanna help?" he asked, she gave a weak nod of her head in response. "Every five seconds squeeze this bag; it'll help your friend breathe"
It took a lot of effort to keep her hand steady; she concentrated on following the paramedic's instructions, squeezing the bag rhythmically with one hand whilst brushing the sweat soaked hair from his forehead. The pale hue to his skin made the bruising under his eyes seem even more vivid as he lay deathly still on the stretcher.
As soon as the ambulance pulled up the back doors were thrown open and the stretcher quickly removed. Doctors and nurses began swarming around Horatio as they ran into the ER with him. It was only then that the shock of what had happened hit her, air rushed from her lungs as she sat down heavily on the step of the ambulance as the tears began to flow with a vengeance.
Sitting down heavily on a hard plastic chair Calleigh realised she had no idea how she had got here. The last few hours had passed in a blur, looking up she saw Eric walking towards her. He gave her a small, reassuring smile and sat in the chair next to her, "Any news yet?"
She shook her head sadly as she felt the tears threatening to fall, "Nothing. They took him and I haven't seen him since" She couldn't face looking at him right now.
Placing a hand on her leg he gave it a reassuring squeeze, "No news is good news, it means he's hanging on" he winced at his own words.
"Eric, he didn't look good. What if he doesn't make it?"
"He will, he's made of tough stuff" Eric replied as he leant back in his chair, keeping Calleigh company as they waited for news on their fallen friend.
Hours passed before a haggard-looking doctor in blue scrubs came to meet them, pulling the surgical hat from his head the sweat-soaked hair gave an indication of the effort that had gone in to working on Horatio. "Are you here for Mr Caine?" he asked as he stood in front of them.
Calleigh opened her mouth to speak but found that no words would come out. Eric stepped in, "Yes we are, how is he?"
Sighing, the doctor sat himself down on a chair opposite them and regarding both of them in turn. "It's not good I'm afraid"