A Father's Heartache

Monday morning started as a normal day for Horatio Caine and his team of CSI's with their usual briefing on cases that were handled over the weekend. One case in particular, Horatio dreaded discussing, but was one of the most important. It involved the death of a 4 year old girl who, according to preliminary autopsy reports, had been tortured to death by her father and after he was through, dumped her body on a public beach south of downtown where two surf fishermen had found her early yesterday morning.

"Tom," Horatio turned his attention to the medical examiner, "would you present your findings as of now to us?"

Tom began as everyone around the table listened intently.

"Baby Johnson, as I call her since we do not know her first name, had cigarette burns over 80% of her body, along with multiple contusions over her entire body. She was also sodomized," Tom solemnly told the team causing each member visible distress, as Horatio flinched and balled his fists while clenching his jaw as he stared down at the floor desiring to spend an hour in a locked room with the monster that did this to an innocent child; "I also found small pieces of cloth material inside her mouth and down her trachea, I would imagine from being gagged so her screams could not be heard. Traces of biological evidence under the girl's fingernails shows she fought her killer," Tom began flipping through sheets of paper in his report, "ah, yes a one Robert Johnson."

"Thank you Tom. Eric, Natalia I want you to complete the DNA and evidence testing on the child and pay close attention to evidence on her clothes. Ryan, Walter, continue canvassing the neighborhood to locate anyone who might have witnessed even the slightest indication that things were not normal at the Johnson home. "

"Frank…any reports of being close to finding this monster?"

"Not yet Horatio, but every unit has the APB information and if bastard is still in Miami, we will find him."

"Cal…" Horatio began then he looked up out into the hallway and saw two uniformed army officers being directed toward the glass conference room and suddenly he felt a wave of panic overtake his entire body.

Calleigh noticed Horatio's face suddenly drain of all color and he looked as pale as a sheet of paper so she turned to look out in the hall to find out what was affecting him so and saw the army officers, then she immediately knew why Horatio had abruptly stopped. The rest of the team turned around as well and stared out into the hallway. Calleigh felt fear grip in the pit of her stomach as her mind imagined the worse. Horatio's son, Kyle was stationed in Afghanistan in the horrible war currently active.

Calleigh quickly turned around as she sensed Horatio had moved close to her and he softly asked, "Calleigh…would you mind taking over for me?"

Calleigh looked into his blue eyes and saw the fear registered there. "Sure Horatio," she whispered as she reached out and tenderly touched his hand, hoping in some way the simple gesture would convey she was there for him if he needed her. Horatio responded to her touch with, "Thank you."

As Horatio approached the officers he felt a tightening in his chest along with nausea, accompanied by a deep feeling of dread as to the reason why they would come to the crime lab.

"Lieutenant Caine?" One of the young officers inquired.

Horatio looked apprehensive about answering, but quietly said, "Yes…how may I help you?" As he looked down momentarily and fidgeted with his sunglasses that were in his hands.

"Does your son Kyle Harmon-Caine serve in the 186th infantry division, U.S. Army in Afghanistan?" The officer inquired sympathetically.

Horatio slowly looked up at the man and answered, "Yes," feeling as if his knees were about to buckle when Eric walked up to one side of him and Frank on the other, standing close enough to let Horatio know they were there for him anticipating the news the officers came to give.

"Lieutenant, I am sorry to inform you…" Eric looked at Horatio and detected his friend looked as if he were about to pass out, "that your son has been injured in battle and is en-route from Germany to the Patton Army Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois."

Horatio slumped and Eric caught one arm and Frank the other and led him to a bench in the hallway to sit down. By this time all of the team had come out of the room to learn what was going on. Tom swiftly made his way over to Horatio, noticing the paleness of his face and began checking his pulse finding it had increased to a rapid rate.

Tom said, "Horatio, take deep breaths then, lean over and put your head down between your knees. You will be ok in a minute."

Calleigh kneeled down and placed a hand on Horatio's shoulder. In a couple of minutes, Horatio sat back up and was thoroughly embarrassed about causing such a scene.

"I'm ok…I'm ok…thanks for your concern folks," Horatio guiltily responded to the attention.

Horatio looked up at the officers and asked, "Can you tell me anything about his injury?"

One of the officers said as he handed Horatio a card, "The hospital number and address where your son is being sent is on this card, but we have no information concerning his condition."

Horatio took the card and stared at it not really able to make out the printed information right now as he was having some difficulty focusing.

"Do you have information concerning the time Kyle should be arriving in Chicago?" Horatio asked.

"He is scheduled to arrive early this evening at a naval air station near the city, then he will be transported to the hospital that is all the information we were told Sir. The Lieutenant and I need to be going…we hope your son recovers quickly."

"Thank you officers," Horatio said as he shook each man's hand.

Feeling more normal, Horatio began running over things in his mind before looking at Calleigh and the rest of the team and asking, "Would all of you be alright for a while without me?"

Calleigh spoke up, "We will Horatio, go see about Kyle."

"Sure H, you need to be there with your son," Walter chimed in with all the others nodding their heads in agreement.

Horatio slowly got up from the bench and stood for a moment with Eric by his side asking, "H, you feeling better now?"

"I am Eric, thank you."

"Horatio just let me know when and I will take you to the airport," Frank offered.

"Thank you my friend. Let me start making arrangements. Um, everyone carry on with the tasks at hand here and hopefully I will be back soon with Kyle."

"Calleigh, would you come with me to my office and I will fill you in on what needs to be done?"

"Sure Horatio."

Horatio and Calleigh walked off together toward his office. Upon entering, Horatio sat down heavily in his chair behind the desk and put his head in his hands.

Calleigh was feeling a bit concerned about how he was really feeling so she softly asked, "Horatio are you ok?"

Horatio slowly raised his head and looked at her and admitted, "No…no Cal I don't think so. I would feel better if I knew the extent of Kyle's injuries, but all I can do is pray that the boy is not severely hurt where it will affect him the rest of his life."

"We all will be praying for that. Would you like for me to make your arrangements for getting to Chicago this evening?"

"That would be nice, Sweetheart." Horatio said as he raised his head to look at her and then smiled feebly.

"I'll be back in a little while Calleigh…I've got to go talk to the chief about a leave of absence."

Calleigh asked, "Do you have a hotel preference?"

"Don't make me hotel reservations, just get me a seat on a plane…I'll…I'll stay with Kyle," Horatio smiled slightly as he walked out the door.

Calleigh shook her head and thought, Handsome, you are going to need rest before you make yourself sick and a hospital is not the ideal place for that…although you probably won't rest properly anyplace knowing you.

Horatio came back to his office and found Calleigh waiting on him. "I got you a side aisle seat on the 2:25pm non-stop flight arriving at O'Hare at 4:40. The agent let me leave the return date open when I explained the circumstances. He said just give the airline a minimum of a 48 hour notice when you have your return date set."

Horatio, taking the opportunity to thank her for her kindness, walked over to Calleigh and opened his arms as he approached. Calleigh thought, oh my stars, HORATIO is about to hug me…I have dreamed so many times of him taking me into his arms, I just wish it was under different circumstances.

Calleigh was shocked as Horatio's arms engulfed her in a tight hug, pulling her against his lean, firm body, and she returned his hug, hoping he felt what she desired to convey. This is so wonderful, she told herself.

At the same time Horatio thought, Calleigh, how I have longed to take you in my arms again, I haven't held you since Speed's tragic death a few years ago…why have I waited this long? I feel as if I could hold you like this forever…you give me so much strength.

"Thank you Sweetheart for taking time to help me," he whispered in her ear and the deep, velvety voice made her knees weak.

Realizing he was probably allowing his hug to linger a little too long, he said to himself, damn, I don't want to let go of this lovely lady!

Breaking the hug, Horatio looked into her eyes and noticed the almost dreamlike state she appeared to be in and he wondered could she possibly feel more than friendship toward him. Caine, don't flatter yourself, she is just being polite and feels sorry for you right now.

Horatio tilted his head and smiled tenderly at Calleigh and halfheartedly began to talk about the cases facing the team. "Cal, I hate to leave you with the load of cases we have right now…especially leaving the Johnson case in midair, but I need to be with Kyle. If it was anything other than my son…"

Calleigh reached out and touched Horatio's arm shaking her head in disbelief at his concern for them when Kyle was hurt. "Horatio I will be fine overseeing the lab for you and all the team will keep working hard to resolve the cases. Kyle needs you."

Horatio and Calleigh spent the next hour going over everything about the cases, but his thoughts centered on the Johnson case and how it should be handled. Horatio looked at his watch and it was nearing 11:00 and asked Calleigh if she would like to get a quick, early lunch with him.

They walked down the street from the lab to a diner and sat down in a booth across from each other when Natalia, Ryan and Frank walked in a short time later and observed them in the booth. At the moment, Horatio was reaching across the table holding Calleigh's hand.

Frank spoke first, "Um, guess we better not bother them…"

"Yeah, they might not appreciate us joining them," but all three noticed the looks their colleagues were giving each other, oblivious to anyone else.

After eating, Horatio mentioned he needed to get back to the lab to get his car and then get home and pack a bag before heading out to the airport.

Calleigh was finished eating and said, "I'll walk back to the lab with you Horatio."

"I'd like that Sweetheart."

Standing up and turning to leave, Horatio and Calleigh saw the team members looking at them, as they quickly looked down at their plates, attempting to hide the fact they had been watching.

"Hey," Calleigh said as she and Horatio walked over to the table. "We ate an early lunch so Horatio could prepare to leave." The team members looked at them both with curious glances.

Horatio spoke up, "Calleigh and I had some matters to discuss with me leaving abruptly. I appreciate everyone's understanding about me leaving the team shorthanded."

Frank spoke up, "When do I need to take you to the airport Horatio?"

"Um, I need to be there at 1:30 to give me time to clear security for the plane's 2:25 departure."

"I'll pick you up at your place in an hour," Frank responded.

"See you then Frank…" Horatio bid everyone else goodbye and he and Calleigh left.

Once their boss was out of the diner, Ryan spoke up and inquired, "What was that about?"

Frank glared over at the young man and said, "Well, whatever it was, it's none of our business!"

Natalia agreed, but her curiosity was aroused as well.

Before parting in different directions after reaching the lab, Horatio stopped and turned to Calleigh and said, "Call me if you need to ask anything Calleigh."

"Thanks, I will. Give Kyle my love and good wishes for a speedy recovery and thanks for lunch," Calleigh said smiling slightly as she stepped closer and gave Horatio a friendly hug.

Horatio responded by hugging her back, and they broke it off quickly since they were in full view in front of the building, but before he turned to leave he tilted his head and said, "Take care Calleigh," then walked away toward the garage to get his car.

Later, Frank let Horatio out at the airport, after his friend insisted he didn't need to stay and they said their goodbyes in the car, "Horatio, please know we all will be thinking about Kyle and hoping he will be back home in Miami soon. Let us hear from you."

"Thanks my friend and I really appreciate you bringing me to the airport. I can't say when I will be back - I asked for a leave of absence and was granted 6 weeks. In the meantime, Calleigh will be in charge at the lab….I will call when I can."

As Horatio sat on the plane while it was preparing for takeoff, he was anxious to see Kyle, to be there for him and learn the extent of his injuries…right now that was the most important thing to him, but he couldn't explain the overwhelming loneliness that was sweeping over him as he thought of leaving Calleigh.

TBC…