Horatio stood outside the hospital in Downtown Los Angeles. It was nighttime, around 11pm, but cars were still tearing up and down the streets and the city was just as alive as ever. Again, Horatio remembered his days as a cop in New York City.
He used his good arm to make a call. It was raining, and his shirt was soaked through, but the cool rain was welcoming in the LA heat- even at 11pm it was warm. He paced the sidewalk, anxiously waiting for someone to pick up on the other end.
Horatio: Calleigh?
Calleigh: *yawns* Hello?
H: Calleigh it's Horatio.
C: Horatio, it's...it's like 2am.
H: I know, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting the time difference...
C: What's going on? Any news on Tim?
H: Errm, Calleigh...you might want to sit down for this.
C: Horatio, it's 2am. I'm lying in bed.
H: Right, sorry.
C: What's going on?
H: *takes deep breath* Ryan's in surgery.
C:...
H: We were ambushed in an alley earlier today. I was hit in the shoulder, but I'm fine. Ryan...one in the heart, one in the hip-
C: Is he...going to be okay?
H: I don't know, Cal.
C: Why does all this shit keep happening to us?
H: I...I don't know.
C: Oh, Horatio... *cries*
H: I know, Cal. I know.
C: What am I going to tell Eric? And Alexx? That after Tim was supposedly killed, then found out to be alive, then returned to Miami, then snatched away, and all along this was a plan to put the lab under a freaking microscope and bring us down...and you were almost killed. Now Ryan...
H: I know.
C: I mean...what if you don't find Tim and it was all for nothing? He's hurt for nothing?
H: I know. And I'll be frank with you, it doesn't look good for him. I want you to all be able to talk to him once...if he...
C: Shit, Horatio...is he going to die?
H: It's going to be a rough night is all I can say.
Nurse: *approaches Horatio* Lieutenant, he's out of surgery. You can see him now.
H: Hold on, Cal. *puts hand over phone* Is he awake?
N: Not at the moment, but you can come in and stay with him.
H: Alright. *puts mouth to phone* Cal?
C: Any news?
H: He's out of surgery. I'm going to see him.
C: Horatio...call me if anything changes.
H: I will. Hang in there, Cal.
C: You too. *hangs up*
H: *sighs, hangs up* Alright, where is he?
N: Follow me. *goes inside*
H: *follows*
They walk through the hospital, and Horatio sees the tragedy from room to room that's come upon these people. He realizes that he's build a sheild around himself that prevents a real feeling of deep sadness for the victims of the crimes he sees ever day. These are the people who are lucky enough to make it.
He passes a room where a man can be heard moaning, and when Horatio looks in, he sees the man's entire face covered in bandages. From what he can gather, the man was in a large fire; there are burnt clothes next to the man's bed. Another room holds a woman, who's crying. Her doctor is standing next to her, possibly breaking some bad news.
N: Here we are, room 203.
H: *looks back at the long hall* How do you...do this job? Deal with all this sadness and pain?
N: I could ask the same thing of you, Lieutenant.
H:...I know. But this is so much more...
N:...real?
H: Yeah.
N: Your victims are already dead, so it's easier to imagine them as corpses and not people. These people are right in front of you-
H: Yeah! I just don't understand how you deal with all of it.
N: I personally focus on what I can do to help them. It's my job.
H: *smiles*
N: Anyway, he's sleeping, but he's stabalized. The bullet penetrated his heart, and his lung. We went in, stopped the heart, removed the bullet and repaired the damaged tissue. The surgery was a success, but he could have some serious aftereffects, because it was open heart surgery. He also lost a large ammount of blood.
H: Can they test me as a donor? I want to do anything I can help.
N: Yes, but...the bullet to his hip may have done just as much damage as the bullet to the heart. You can donate any ammount of blood, but his organs were under a great deal of stress. We're not sure he's strong enough to make it through the night at this point.
H: *nods* Uh...I just want to do anything I can to help. I'd like to donate blood as soon as possible.
N: I'll set up a room and call you in. It'll be pretty soon, because he needs blood urgently.
H: Okay.
N: You can go see him now. We'll call you in.
H: *sighs* Thank you. *walks in*