Lonely But Not

The tall redhead stood in the heat of the Miami sun. Within his worn hands, he clutched a lone rose, his thoughts consuming his mind. His features were evident with his everlasting grief as he painfully sighed. The Lieutenant thought of nothing in an instant once he knelt before the grave of Marisol Delko Caine. "6 years today." he whispered. It was truthfully too much for him. 6 years ago on this very day, his life, his love, his everything, was stolen from him; And truthfully, the hurt never went away.

Horatio spent what seemed like an eternity simply kneeling before his beloved wife's resting place. No matter the amount of time. With it, came many tears, held in for oh so long. Nothing could heal his battered and bruised heart. Not after it had been so long. At long last, he stood from his position and muttered his "I love you" in a trembling voice. It took a lot of his nerve to do it, but eventually he returned to the Hummer, dreading what the day had to offer.

H slumped in his office chair that morning and made an attempt to begin on the mass of paperwork sprawled on his overflowing desk. The day had started on a rather low note. Perhaps it was that he had stopped caring about that aspect of his life. Even the man himself didn't know what to think anymore.

Through his steely resolve, he grasped his pen and repeatedly scrawled his approval on the demanding reports and files before him. Every outside conversation suddenly grew muted as his oceanic eyes traveled to his treasured wedding photograph. Nothing had ever broken him before, but that was all it took. The pen dropped from his hand while a waterfall of unrelenting tears cascaded from his weary eyes. Yet again, he lost track of time, but then again, he could have cared less.

For a literal amount of an hour and a half, Horatio sobbed and convulsed within the confines of his office with seldom interruption, if any at all. the only thing that forced him to collect himself was a sudden but recognizable knock at the door. With a swipe of the hand, he cleared the grief from his face and pretended to work. A moment later, a rather cheerful Natalia entered with a file in hand. At first, his efforts to appear normal were easily accepted. However, her sharpened detective skills honed in on his radiating grief.

"Horatio, are you alright?", she questioned.

Before speaking he forced a smile. "I'm well, thank you Miss Boa Vista."

She refused to buy it. Nat frowned and strolled to her boss's side.

"Horatio, I think we both know that that's a lie. You can tell me anything, we're family. What's wrong?"

Busted, he thought. " Well, it's uh, six years to this day that.. well..."

Natalia didn't need anymore information to quickly decipher the source of his apparent sadness. She rested her hand on his shoulder as he stared into the oblivion of his desk; Near distant from the present. She couldn't think of any words to console his burdened soul. She only stood there, caressing his back in comforting circles. I feel so sorry for him, he has no idea, she pondered. Finally, her words came to her and she tried her best to be meaningful in saying them.

"I'm so sorry, H."

Her superior looked up at her, wearing an appreciative smile. She returned one of her own, and gave him a soft squeeze on his forearm. When she turned to leave, he spoke up.

"Natalia?"

"Yeah Horatio?"

"Thank you."

TBC

A/N So this is the start of many chapters to come in my work :) I hope you enjoy it so far, reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. The chapters will get longer as I go, so that won't be an issue. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to 3 great friends who encouraged me to go for it. NashMarquez, LovelyLadiiZ, and Teeheehee123, you're the best!