A Father's Heartache

Chapter 20

Eric was the first to speak, "H can't be gone…he can't." Then Frank's cell phone rang, it was the Coast Guard saying they were moving in on the site of the explosion to begin recovery efforts. After hanging up, Eric thought he could see tears welling in the big guys eyes.

"Frank, its light enough now…we need to go see if we can find H…we've got to find him. He's out there somewhere…" Eric pushed the throttles forward and proceeded to the strewn pieces of the two boats floating over a large area.

Eric was careful to keep the boat's engines low so they were barely breaking the water enabling them to watch for any sign of Horatio. The Coast Guard cutter had arrived, disbursing smaller boats into the water to aid in the recovery effort.

Eric eased their boat around the debris, desperately searching for the redhead, praying he was alive. They had been scanning the water for about 20 minutes when Eric thought he saw something moving on a large piece of fiberglass. Pointing the boat in the direction to take them to the spot, he told Frank,

"I saw something over there," and pointed to the piece. Frank rushed to Eric's side of the boat praying the young man was right this time, as they had thought they'd seen him before, only to find out it was the body of one of the mobsters.

"I don't see it Delko…wait a minute YES, I see it now."

What they both saw was Horatio's red hair as he was lying sprawled on his side. "H," Eric screamed as he leaped over the side of the boat and began furiously swimming toward Horatio. As he swam, he thought the way H was lolling with the large piece of fiberglass, he might find him dead.

Grasping the large piece, Eric moved around to where he was closer to Horatio. His heart was in his throat as he reached for Horatio's wrist to check for a pulse. Eric felt again to make certain.

"HE'S ALIVE…FRANK CALL THE SHIP AND TELL THEM WE HAVE A SURVIVOR!" Frank felt weak momentarily as he clutched the side of the boat and then with shaky hands he highlighted the last number received in his phone and relayed the message.

The small boat quickly made its way toward Horatio and Coast Guard divers jumped into the water joining Eric to rescue Horatio.

Carefully the men hoisted Horatio, strapped on a body board, onto the small boat and then whisked him toward the large Coast Guard cutter and a waiting helicopter. Eric swam back to Frank and the boat.

Frank grabbed Eric and bear hugged him, not caring that he got soaking wet. Eric returned his hug. "He's…he's alive," Frank kept shouting and Eric was shouting with him, until they realized how they must look and both stepped back grinning.

"But, Frank he's injured pretty bad…and his pulse is weak," Eric said as his face turned serious.

"He's alive though Delko…he'll at least have a chance!"

"C'mon, let's get this boat back and rid ourselves of the goon and head to Miami-Dade," Eric smiled at his friend. Both men felt tremendous relief, but in the back of their minds, they also realized Horatio was not out of trouble yet.

Eric and Frank walked into the trauma center hoping to find out something about Horatio, but the doctors and nurses were extremely busy; they caught a glimpse of Alexx, as she ran out from behind the nurse's desk carrying tubing, before slipping into a trauma room. They waited until Alexx emerged from where she had disappeared a few minutes ago.

"Alexx," Eric called. Alexx looked up to see both men standing with concerned faces and she took a minute and walked over to them.

"How's Horatio?"

Alexx looked at them with a serious expression and answered, "He's not doing too good right now Sugar, but we're doing everything we can. If we can get his blood pressure to stay up and he remains stable, he'll be taken into surgery to repair the damage to his leg from the gunshot wound. But he's so damaged inside…, that's our main concern," looking down and shaking her head, she then looked back up into their eyes and reiterated, "we're doing all we can…."

Eric hung his head, trying to overcome a bad feeling he had in the pit of his stomach, but Frank tersely commented, "H is a fighter…he's strong…he wants to live, I know he does for Kyle and for Calleigh."

"He needs to fight like he's never fought before," Alexx added before telling them she needed to get back and they should go wait with Kyle and Calleigh.

Hours went by as they all were waiting to hear news about Horatio's status after surgery. Kyle received calls all throughout the surgery, giving him updates on Horatio's condition, which helped everyone's anxiety a little.

Then later, Alexx walked through the door into the room. As she scanned all their anticipating faces she told them, "He made it. He's on a ventilator right now to help him breathe and allow his body to rest; now all we can do is to wait and make sure he doesn't begin hemorrhaging internally." A somewhat collective sigh of relief went up from the group on the news. Calleigh shed silent tears as she thought of Horatio lying in ICU, alone."

Kyle asked, "Dr. Woods, can I see him?" Normally this was not allowed with a patient in Horatio's critical condition, but she saw the anxiousness on Kyle's face and answered,

"For only a minute Kyle…c'mon I'll take you to him."

As they walked, Alexx explained how Horatio was going to have a tube down his throat, and other tubes going in and out of him while he would be surrounded by beeping and hissing machines. As they stepped through the opening into the room where his dad lay in a bed, nothing could have prepared him for the sight. He had seen him in ICU before, but not like this.

Slowly he walked to his dad's side and touched his arm. Then Kyle leaned over and got closer to his face and softly whispered, "Fight this dad; come back to us. I need you; so many other people need you; Calleigh needs you most of all, she loves you dad, don't leave her now." He bent down and kissed his father's cheek. Alexx looked over at the heart rate machine and noticed Horatio's numbers came up a bit. Smiling she thought the visit did both of them some good.

In the early hours of the next morning, Calleigh persuaded the doctor on rounds to help her get a wheelchair and have someone take her to ICU. She wasn't going to let a silly ole lung stop her from being beside the love of her life when he needed her touch.

She had fortified herself for the sight of him being connected to numerous machines, but it broke her heart when she actually arrived in the room. After dabbing her tears away with a tissue, she reached out and took his hand in hers and held it as she softly spoke to him, encouraging him to get strong, just as he had done for her.

"Handsome, you need to get well…you have a wedding to go to," she tried to chuckle, but her tears choked the laughter back.

Three days later -

Horatio and Calleigh were waltzing around the dance floor, holding tight to each other as the beautiful music played.

"Are you happy Calleigh?"

"I am very happy Handsome," she smiled radiantly as she saw the sparkle in his blue eyes. He loved the sound of her voice…so sweet he thought; it warmed him to his soul.

It was all so real, then suddenly reality came crashing through and the happy moment quickly disappeared. Horatio's eyes flew open and he was alarmed that he couldn't breathe, he felt as if he were suffocating and began flailing his arms as alarms were sounding all around him. What was going on…what was wrong with him? He thought.

Nurses came running and were trying to hold his arms down so he wouldn't tear out his IV line and other tubes going in and out of his body. The doctor on duty, followed by Alexx Woods ran to Horatio's side and she saw the alarm in his wide open eyes.

"Horatio…Sugar…calm down. Everything is ok. You're in a hospital, on a ventilator to help you breathe. You need to stop moving around Horatio…that tube is going to damage your airway."

The other doctor ordered a sedative to help calm Horatio down. In less than a minute after injecting the medication into Horatio's IV line, he relaxed back down into the bed continuing to look at Alexx.

"Horatio, you just rest and get well. Calleigh is doing real good…she wants you to feel better as well. She has been here with you more than I think is good for her, but no one has been able to convince her that she needs to stay in bed. Everyone is fine Horatio…just relax and let yourself heal." Horatio closed his eyes and thought of Calleigh.

Six months later –

As they moved around the dance floor to the song, The Wonder of You, Horatio leaned down to her ear and whispered, "Are you happy Calleigh?"

Smiling radiantly at him she answered, "Very happy." They continued dancing until right before the song ended, Horatio stopped and took Calleigh in his arms and placed a passionate kiss on her lips, then he placed his forehead on hers and whispered, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you Sweetheart, I love you so much," then the song was finished and everyone clapped and cheered the beautiful couple.

Natalia leaned over to Alexx and said, "I'm so happy for them…they deserve a happy life together."

Alexx, never taking her eyes off of the couple agreed, "More than anyone, Nat."

The announcer said, "Now that the bride and groom have had their first dance together, the floor is open."

Alexx walked up and hugged each of them, brushing a happy tear off her cheek, "You both look so much in love…I'm so glad this day came for you both."

"Thanks to you Alexx," Calleigh answered.

Horatio hugged Calleigh close and responded, "That's right my friend…you helped this to happen, thank you," and then gave Alexx a heartfelt hug.

"Now you're going to make me start bawling all over again," Alexx admonished chuckling. They all began laughing.

All of the team came to them and each one hugged Horatio and Calleigh conveying their good wishes.

Eric was the last one and as he hugged Calleigh he said, "I really am happy for you Cal…take good care of him, he's a great guy." Horatio smiled and looked down bashfully.

"Horatio is very special," Calleigh replied looking at her husband. "Thank you Eric, we're going to take care of each other."

"H," Eric said as they shook hands then hugged. "I'm glad you're happy again."

"Thank you Eric, I am…very much."

Kyle hugged Calleigh and she whispered, "Thanks Kyle for helping to get us together." Kyle leaned back and smiled happily at her replying, "Welcome to our family, Calleigh."

Then Kyle and his Dad bear hugged each other as both were trying hard to contain their tears.

"You guys have a great time…forget about everything and relax,"

"We plan to Son." Samantha hugged both next and wished them well.

Horatio and Calleigh finished their good-byes and ran through the cloud of birdseed to the waiting limousine to whisk them away to start their life together. Stopping at their home to change clothes, the limo carried them on to the marina and a waiting boat. As Horatio steered the boat out of the marina, he was suddenly reminded of a few months ago when he was headed toward Scarpella. He closed his eyes and pushed the memory out of his mind. Calleigh noticed his serious look and asked,

"Are you ok, Handsome?"

Horatio took in a deep breath and answered, "I'm wonderful Sweetheart."

Just before sunset, they arrived at their private island Horatio had rented for two weeks. As they walked up to the beautiful house, surrounded by a large deck overlooking the ocean, Horatio took Calleigh in his arms and kissed her passionately, then when they pulled back and looked into each other's eyes, he softly said,

"After we watch the sunset from the deck, what do you say about starting our family Sweetheart?"

"I'd say I would love to Handsome," as she nuzzled his neck. Then they walked with their arms around each other to the house.

THE END

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers, readers and visitors! I still can't kill Horatio off! Soon, I plan to write a sequel to this story about their life after the wedding, and the happiness they share. Perhaps there are those who would like a happy story after this! I hope you will enjoy it as much.