The Return

Chapter 17

The nurse wondered if the redhead could walk under his own power, or did she need to call for an orderly. She noticed the butterfly closures applied to the large cut on the left side of his head, indicating that he had at least been given minimal care. But, she wondered why he would be left out here alone.

"Calleigh Duquesne… can you tell me anything about her condition?" Horatio softly pleaded as his eyes looked into those of the woman.

The nurse smiled and responded, "They are performing tests. It will be a little while, in the meantime, let's get you fixed up, ok?"

Horatio started shaking his head about to tell the nurse that he needed to stay there so the doctors could find him to give him an update, but the slight motion sent the room spinning causing him to hang his head and close his eyes.

Weakly he replied, "I need to stay… to be here in case…."

"The doctor will find you when they know something about your friend. I'll make sure they will," the nurse smiled as she reassured him.

Knowing it might be risky for her to get this man to a room by herself; she stopped a familiar orderly as he walked past in the hallway.

"Ted, would you give me a hand with this gentleman?"

Ted was a big man, who devoted much of his time to bodybuilding which came in helpful when moving patients.

Horatio was no problem for the man as he lifted the redhead out of the chair. Normally, Horatio would have angrily declined any such help, but this time he gave in, wondering himself if he'd be able to make it on his own very far.

As the nurse was chatting about how she and a doctor would clean up his injury, he felt his aching body being lowered to the soft bed. He had to admit, it felt good to lie down, gradually feeling some of the tension in his muscles easing. He closed his eyes. Good thing I'd been able to change shirts before leaving the lodge, or they would have whisked me into the ER.

Horatio, suddenly aware someone else entered the small room, quickly opened his eyes to find a doctor standing beside the bed and wondered if he had news about Calleigh's condition.

"Calleigh… Duquesne… how…"

The doctor answered in a soft, reassuring tone as his hand lightly squeezed Horatio's forearm.

"The doctor on her case is waiting for the results of the brain scan. She's in good hands. Let's see about getting you fixed up now, alright?

"I'm Dr. Allred. Can you tell me what happened?" The question was in part; to satisfy his own curiosity as what could have happened to this man and the two others. It was also an attempt to determine if the patient had lost any brain function due to his injury.

Horatio hesitated, as he thought that it would be better to keep what happened confined to a general response.

"We're… police officers. The other man brought in… is a FBI agent. We were on a case."

Dr. Allred while examining Horatio's wound, replied, "Oh, so you really don't want to go into details. I understand. Well, I'm going to clean this nasty cut then put a few stitches to close it up. I'm going to give you…"

"NO," Horatio weakly snapped, "Don't put me to sleep… I…"

The doctor smiled, "Nothing that severe. I'm just going to give you a shot to deaden the area." Looking across at the nurse standing on the opposite side of the bed, the doctor asked, "Janet, would you help me get his shirt off? Don't want to get any blood on it."

With Horatio's shirt now open, both saw what looked like an older gunshot wound on his chest. It was healing, but was still very red.

"Appears you've recently had a worse encounter," Dr. Allred commented. "Is it still painful?"

"Some… when I move a certain way."

"Janet, get a tube of anti-biotic ointment out of the cabinet and apply a coat to the wound. It looks like it might have some infection."

The doctor worked fast in closing the head wound after the deadening took effect. Horatio had actually drifted off during the procedure.

"Mr. Caine…" both the doctor and nurse watched as Horatio's eyes slowly opened. "I must have been gentle. It appears you went to sleep on me."

Horatio felt groggy, surprised that he had relaxed enough to have gone to sleep.

"Have you… heard any news about…?" Horatio stopped in mid-question, his throat feeling as dry as cotton.

"The doctor who's seeing about your friend is here. He'd like to talk with you."

With that news, Horatio abruptly moved to sit up, only to realize his mistake when it felt as if his head would explode. Then a wave of dizziness and nausea hit.

Dr. Allred knew the move had to have affected the police officer and he immediately grabbed Horatio's arm to steady the shaking man.

"Easy Mr. Caine, you shouldn't make those quick moves now," Dr. Allred instructed as he guided the man back down to the bed.

"Calleigh…"

Dr. Benjamin Morgan stepped up on the other side and after Horatio settled, began explaining about Calleigh.

"Her scan showed a small amount of blood collected at the injury site and since there's not much space for accumulation, it's putting pressure on her brain. That's the reason she hasn't regained consciousness." The doctor noticed the fear which became very clear in Horatio's eyes with this news and quickly countered with more positive information.

"Ms. Duquesne has been taken to surgery and our best neurosurgeon at this center happened to be on call. He'll drill two small holes in her skull to relieve the pressure and do a complete evacuation of the clot. She should regain consciousness after the procedure. She'll be in recovery for about an hour then taken to a private room. If you're able, you can join her."

Horatio answered, "I'll be there."

True to his word, Horatio was sitting in a chair in the room where Calleigh would be brought after recovery. Dr. Allred had wanted to admit him, but he'd refused. He had to be with Calleigh.

A few minutes ago, a nurse had called on the room phone to tell him that Calleigh was being moved from recovery to the room and would be arriving soon. Horatio prayed she would be conscious.

Looking up at the room's door as it opened, he smiled seeing two orderlies guiding the bed, holding Calleigh, into the room. He stood and moved back, giving the men enough space to set the bed and hang the drip. He felt his hopes drop noticing her eyes were closed.

A nurse entered the room with a clipboard and began making notations. Having finished, she then looked up at the crestfallen expression on Horatio's face.

"She came to in recovery for a few seconds – that's a positive sign. You're her fiancé?"

Feeling slightly relieved hearing positive news, Horatio softly answered, "I am," briefly switching his attention from Calleigh to the nurse.

"We're going to take good care of her. You can stay with her; perhaps your presence and the sound of your voice will encourage her to wake again soon. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Horatio pulled his chair up beside the bed, but before sitting, he leaned over and placed a tender kiss on Calleigh's forehead.

"I love you," he whispered. "I'm right here Sweetheart."

Still feeling a little light-headed, Horatio sat down in the chair. He reached out and gently took her hand in his and began making light circles with his thumb, hoping she could feel his touch.

He'd been sitting for several minutes watching for any sign that she was waking, when fatigue overtook him. Placing an elbow on the bed, he rested his forehead against his fingertips, while rubbing his aching head.

He didn't know how long it had been since he'd sat down beside the bed when he felt Calleigh's hand move within his.

Startled, he jerked his head and found Calleigh's beautiful, emerald-green eyes looking back at him.

"Calleigh…" Horatio called out, immediately jumping up on his feet to lean over her; quickly catching himself with a hand on her bed to keep from falling over. She noticed his unsteadiness and the bandage on the side of his head.

"Are you… alright?" She asked softly, concerned by how he looked.

Horatio's blue eyes took on a sparkle as he smiled, "I'm fine Sweetheart, especially now. I've been so worried…." He paused before adding, "What happened to you is my fault… if I hadn't gotten them to bring you here…"

"If you hadn't had them bring me… I would've gone crazy; probably ruined the rest of my life."

The door to the room opened and her nurse appeared at the side of the bed smiling, "Nice of you to join us Ms. Duquesne. Your fiancé has never left your side since we put you in the room."

Calleigh looked surprised by the nurse's words and diverted her eyes to Horatio, observing his sheepish expression as he gave her a wink. She in return gave him a questioning look, accompanied by a warm smile.

"I need to check my patient so, Mr. Caine, if you would step out in the hall…"

"Sure. I'll get a coffee – maybe two?" He questioned as he looked at the nurse for her response.

"Better hold up on the caffeine for her until the doctor approves. He'll be here in a few minutes, we've been monitoring her from the nurses station. I sent word that she has regained consciousness."

Horatio placed a soft kiss on Calleigh's lips, and then slipped out into the hallway. The earlier bustling hallway was now quiet, as it should at two in the morning. Hearing the elevator arrive drew his attention down the hall. Three familiar people exited the car and began walking toward him.

Hella called out when they were closer, "Mr. Horatio… Miss Calleigh… is she alright?"

"She is Hella. She's going to be just fine. She's awake now." Horatio smiled as he gave the elderly woman a warm hug. "The nurse is with her now and the surgeon is on his way to check her."

"Glad to hear she's awake. I see you finally got looked at - how are you feeling," Frank inquired.

"Tired… for the most part."

"H… there's something I need to tell you…"

At the ding of the other elevator arriving on the quiet hall, Horatio looked up to see his father stepping out, causing his expression to harden in obvious displeasure.

Frank turned back to look at Horatio, "And that's it. Your father insisted on coming. Said he had something important to tell us and wanted you to hear it."

"Can't imagine what that could be," Horatio muttered under his breath.

The first question out of Daniel's mouth was about Calleigh.

"How is Miss Duquesne?"

Horatio reluctantly admitted silently to himself that if it hadn't been for his father having the forethought to bring paramedics with him to the lodge, Calleigh's condition would probably have turned out more grave. For that, he was grateful.

"She's going to be fine…."

Horatio broke eye contact with his father and looked down at the shiny floor, trying to formulate his words of thanks. It was difficult to actually thank a man who showed him nothing but cruelty growing up as a boy. Has my father changed? It appears so, but I'm still skeptical. The return of him to my life has dredged up very painful memories, ones I thought I'd pretty much buried. But, in his defense, for all appearances he's been sincere in his concern for Calleigh and for me, but he's still high-ranking mafia; a fact I'll never condone.

Frank, Walter and Hella could sense the turmoil boiling inside Horatio and Frank especially wondered how his friend would react to his father now.

Finally, Horatio made eye contact with his father once again. "Thank you for bringing paramedics with you to the lodge. Things would have turned out very differently for Calleigh had you not come."

Daniel realized it was a strain for Horatio to voice his appreciation to him, but it quickly made him silently question, if the situation were opposite, would I have the moral character to do the same? Probably not, he decided. At that moment, the depth of Horatio's character was proven.

"I'm glad I could help. May I talk to you and your colleagues a few minutes?" Daniel had already spied a small doctor/patient conference room across the hall. "I have a plausible theory, yet based entirely on my suspicions mind you, of a possible connection Agent Cross may have had in Miami."

That statement got Horatio's attention.

TBC…