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Eric ran a worried hand over his head, "Tell us what's wrong, doctor"
Looking at each of them in turn he took a deep breath before he spoke, "When Mr Caine was brought in he had a GCS of 1, we immediately took him for a CT scan and an MRI. The results showed a depressed skull fracture on the back of the head and also some localised bleeding and swelling around the fracture site. We took Mr Caine straight into surgery and performed a craniotomy to gain access to the injured area, we eventually managed to stem the bleeding and repair the fracture"
"So he'll be ok then?" Eric pressed, wanting answers.
The doctor hesitated, unsure of how to continue without unduly upsetting the two people sitting across from him. "We've managed to stop the bleeding but there is a significant amount of swelling to the brain. We've had to deeply sedate your friend and place him on a ventilator to give his body every chance to recover"
"But he'll recover, won't he?" Eric asked insistently, wishing the doctor would give him some positive news.
"Until the swelling has gone down there is no way to accurately gauge if there will be any significant or permanent damage to his brain. He'll be kept in an artificial coma until the pressure has lessened, after that we'll reduce the sedatives and hope he regains consciousness"
"Hope? What do you mean hope?" Eric could feel his temper start to get the better of him.
"As I said, until the swelling has been reduced I'm unable to give you any clear answers. I'm sorry" Picking up the chart by his side the doctor stood, leaving Calleigh and Eric to process the news.
Neither of them moved for some time, both sat in shock trying to understand the severity of the situation. "Eric, oh my God. Eric!" Calleigh began to weep as she fell on to Eric's shoulder.
He rubbed soothing circles on her arm as he tried to comfort her, he felt tears threatening to fall from his own eyes but with a deep breath he held them back. Horatio needed him to be strong for all of them. He held her as her tears slowly died out; she lay against him heavily as exhaustion overtook her. "We'll go up to the ICU, see if we can sit with him for a while"
She lifted her head, wiped at her face and nodded. Together they walked down the nondescript hallways of Dade Memorial Hospital until they reached the Intensive Care Unit. Eric walked over to a nurse sitting behind the main desk and asked for Horatio's room number.
"Room 12" she replied before eyeing the pair of them, "Only one visitor at a time though"
Calleigh dreaded reaching his room, he looked awful in the ambulance and she doubted he would look much better now. Eric gave her a quick hug before guiding her gently into the room where her boss lay.
She gasped when she saw him, he looked worse than she had imagined. He was lying prone on the bed, connected to a ventilator with tubes and wires running from most portions of his exposed chest. His head was swathed with thick bandages and his eyes were heavily swollen. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of his chest she would have thought he was dead. She walked over to the side of the bed on decidedly wobbly legs, taking his cold and limp hand in hers she spoke softly to him. "Horatio, its Calleigh. I don't know if you can hear me but I want you to know that Eric and I are right here with you" She squeezed his hand and frowned when he did not respond, the only noises from the room were the whirring and whooshing noises of the machines that we helping to keep her beloved red head stable.
She pulled up a chair and sat beside his bed, chatting about random topics until she found she had run out of things to say. Suddenly the silence in the room became more than she could bear, getting quickly to her feet she gave his hand one final squeeze as she bolted from the room. Eric did not have to time to stop her before she ran towards the nearest exit.
He walked in to the room, unprepared for the sight that greeted him. Only hours ago that morning Horatio had stood next to him at the crime scene, now he was lying helpless in a hospital bed, desperately clinging on to life. "He's here because of you, Delko" he berated himself, if only he had followed his gut then his friend wouldn't be lying here right now. He knew better than anyone how tricky head injuries could be and yet he let himself be fooled by Horatio's bravado and insistence that he was alright. Sitting down next to his brother in law he picked up the limp hand and held it in both of his, only now allowing the tears to fall freely from his face.
Feeling better for the fresh air Calleigh composed herself before re-entering the hospital, she had got as far as the lobby when her cell phone rang. "Calleigh Duquesne"
"Thank God I got through to you, how is Horatio? Is he ok?" Natalia asked frantically.
"No it's not good news. He's in a coma" Calleigh heard the other woman gasp and almost drop the phone. "The doctors won't give us any straight answers but it's not looking too good at the moment"
"Oh, Calleigh. Is there anything we can do?"
"Not really, Eric and I are here. Is everything ok at the lab?" It was the last thing she wanted to concentrate on right now but she had to ask.
"Its chaos, the rumour mill is going into overdrive with the news of what happened. Ryan, Walter and I are trying to keep the lab in some sort of order"
"Good, either Eric or I will be back in the morning to help out"
"Sure, give our best to Horatio and tell him we're thinking of him"
Saying goodbye she closed her phone, walking back to the ICU with a heavy heart. When she reached the waiting area she was surprised to see Eric sitting on one of the chairs outside Horatio's room. "Eric is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.
He looked up at her tiredly, "Nurse asked me to leave whilst she 'attended' to him" he gave her a small smile, "I needed a break anyway. How are you holding up?"
"Better" she answered him, even though it was a lie. "I just needed to get some fresh air and to clear my head a little" She sat down next to Eric, "Natalia called, she says the team send their love"
"He's gonna need a lot more than love to get through this, Calleigh" Neither of them spoke, knowing he was right.
They fell into a regular pattern over the next several days, members of the team taking it in turns to sit with their fallen colleague. Each day Horatio was taken for MRI and CT scans to assess the level of swelling on his brain, the monitors continued to beep erratically as he remained heavily sedated. The doctors and nurses that attended to him during the day gave small smiles or nods of encouragement as the team looked at them questioningly.
Calleigh was sitting holding Horatio's hand on the sixth day when a doctor entered the room, "We did another set of scans on your friend this morning" he began in a bright tone, "The swelling has reduced significantly, we'll be reducing the sedatives this afternoon"
She felt hope surge through her but willed herself not to get too excited, "When will he be conscious?"
"I wouldn't expect him to start responding to any sort of stimuli for at least a few days" The doctor lowered his eyes as he continued, "I have to make you aware that there may be a chance that he won't wake at all. At the moment we have no way of knowing"
Her heart sank, this was Horatio, he had to regain consciousness there was simply no other option.
Eric and Calleigh took it in turns to sit by Horatio's bedside whilst the other returned to the lab and act in the capacity of temporary leader in their boss's absence. Two days after the sedatives had been reduced Horatio began to show signs of waking, his eyebrows twitched and his hands began to move at irregular intervals. Calleigh's heart leapt as a small groaning noise escaped from his mouth. She would see his eyes flicker open ever so slightly before closing again.
Eric had dozed off in the chair beside Horatio's bed when he was jolted from his slumber by the movement of the other man's hand. "H, its Eric. Can you hear me?" He shook the red head's shoulder gently, trying to get a response. Horatio groaned deeply around the breathing tube as his eyes flickered open.
After trying and failing several times he eventually got his eyes to stay open, everything was blurry and the voice he heard was muffled. He raised a shaky hand and was alarmed to see the blurry outline of the wires and tubes running in and out of his chest and arms. Still dazed and very confused he began to panic as he felt the choking presence of the tube in his throat. Eric hit the alarm button as hard as he could as a doctor and two nurses ran in to the room.
Placing a hand on the agitated man's chest the doctor tried to calm him, "Mr Caine, please lie still" His words seemed to have no effect as Horatio continued to push against the hands holding him down. The doctor caught his hand as it made a move towards the breathing tube, "I'll take it out but you need to lie still, understand?" Horatio groaned at the pain in his head as he moved it. "Ok on three I want you to breathe out and cough as hard as you can. One, two, three"
He gagged and coughed as the doctor pulled the tube from his throat; he raised a shaky hand to his eyes and tried to rub them so he could see clearly. His focus remained blurry; all he could see were the outlines of people standing over him. He opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't, a vague figure handed him a cup of water and guided the straw to his mouth. He took a couple of mouthfuls before licking his dry lips and trying again. "Where…where am I?" he croaked out.
The doctor leaned over him and began shining a penlight in his eyes, assessing the response of his pupils. Clicking the light off, he answered his patient, "You're in Miami Dade Memorial Hospital, Mr Caine"
His eyes widened in shock, it took him a couple of attempts to form the words but finally he spoke, his voice shaking. "Why am I in Miami and who the hell is Mr Caine?"