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Chapter 15
Later that night.
Everyone was dressed in black.
"Ok, Eric let's go through the back." Horatio whispered to Eric when they got there.
They slowly opened the back door. The tv was on but no one was in the living room. Eric felt his temperature rising as thoughts ran through his mind of where his wife could be with that man. They heard something towards the back of the house and made their way back there.
"Nick, please stop." Natalia said as Nick kissed her hard. Her body was aching and him touching it wasn't helping. Her breathing had become unsteady. She was going in and out of consciousness. Nick lifted her off the ground to keep her awake and pushed her up against the wall. He lifted her shirt off of her and threw it behind him. Natalia could feel the sting of the tears rolling down her face. She felt hopeless. She wanted to fight but couldn't. Her body hurt from the bruises. She was tired and all she wanted to do was sleep. Nick made his way down to her jeans and pulled them off of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her towards him. He kissed her hard and long.
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It took everything Eric had to wait on Horatios cue. He was watching his wife get tortured. And before he knew it, he would see something that he never thought he'd ever have to see her go through. Every time Nick kissed her and touched her body making her scream in pain, he felt a tear roll down his face. He hated seeing her like this. He wanted her back in his arms again. He never wanted to let go of her ever again.
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Natalias mind almost went blank with the fear she suddenly felt, but she forced herself to stay in control. He was not going to get her to go along with this quietly. He leaned in, whispering, "Miss me?" Overcoming the revulsion and fear she felt at his movement and close proximity, Natalia jerked her head sharply, smacking his head with her own. He dropped her at the sudden pain and rush of blood coming from his nose, and Natalia fell to the floor and tried to crawl away.
Almost there she thought, reaching her arm out for the doorway. She gasped as she felt Nick's boot connect solidly with her side, and her body instinctively curled up into a ball. She couldn't breathe. Natalia tried desperately to inhale something, anything, but it felt like her lungs had shriveled up inside of her and stopped working. The last thing she saw before blacking out was Nick's dark shape looming over her, grinning.
Horatio gave Erics cue to go in. As Nick heard footsteps he turned around to find Eric standing in the doorway.
"One move and she dies." Nick hissed. He grinned maliciously, knowing he had Eric's hands tied.
"Nick, please, let her go. She doesn't deserve this." Eric said as he took one step closer.
Natalia's eyes fluttered, making Eric's heart jump painfully.
"Ok, Nick, just let her go. You taught her a lesson, she knows."
"You don't honestly think I'm going to just let her go do you? Because I don't think she really understands the lesson yet." Nick drew a knife across her cheek with just enough pressure to make a thin slice in the skin.
"No, I think I'm going to take this nice and slow, and you're going to watch or she'll die right here and now. Now, why don't you just set that gun down on the table so we both know where it is."
Eric slowly moved to set the gun down
"There you go, Nick, right there on the table. Nobody needs to get hurt here."
"No, somebody needs to get hurt here. Natalia."
The sudden gunshot startled him as he moved to cut Natalia again and almost without thinking he moved the knife up and into Natalia's rib cage with a sickening sound.
"NO!" Eric flew the few feet to Natalia, who was now slumped over.
There was a red pool of blood coming from Nicks chest. He had just enough energy to look to see who shot him. Calleigh was standing in the doorway with a smoking gun in her hands.
Calleigh rushed to Natalia's side with Eric. She gasped as she saw the growing pool of blood.
"Eric..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Eric shook his head hard, trying to focus on what he could do to save Natalia.
"Calleigh, help me put pressure on this." Calleigh nodded, running and grabbing the sheets off of the bed.
"The EMTs should be here in the next minute." Calleigh said, trying to help Eric staunch Natalia's wounds.
Natalia's eyes opened for the briefest of moments at the sounds of their voices.
"Eric...Calleigh..." Her voice was weak and her eyes closed again.
"Stay with me, Nat, fight!" He didn't take his eyes off of Natalia even as he heard the sirens outside and the EMTs rushed in with a stretcher.
"Come on, we'll meet them at the hospital." Calleigh pulled him away from Natalia as she was taken out of the door.
Eric and Calleigh sped into the parking lot of the hospital. They had gotten there in record time due to the lack of traffic, but it had still felt like hours. Eric was out of the car before it had fully stopped, and Calleigh wasn't far behind him.
They ran into the ER, looking for anyone who might be able to tell them where Natalia was and how she was doing.
"Horatio!" Calleigh exclaimed as her eyes finally lit on a familiar face. Horatio walked slowly towards them, and Calleigh felt her heart sink at the somber look on his face.
"How is she?" Eric could barely get the words out, and he knew what the answer was going to be even as Horatio said it.
"Not good."
"But is she going to be ok?" Horatio slowly shook his head, and the strain and guilt of not being able to do anything showed on his face.
"Eric, they're doing everything they can, but he did a lot of damage. She's in surgery now, they'll let us know."
Even though he had been expecting the words to come, they still hit him like a load of bricks and Eric felt his legs start to go out.
He stumbled to a chair next to where Calleigh was already seated, head in her hands.
Glancing at the clock, he noted the time. It said 12:00 a.m. It had been two hours since they reached the hospital. Everything had happened so fast.
"She has to be ok. I don't think I can live without her..." Eric thought to himself.
Looking at Calleigh he could tell that she felt the same way. She didn't want to lose it in front of everyone when she wasn't even the one who was hurt, and she was trying so hard to keep it together and be strong. But try as she might, Calleigh couldn't escape the image of Natalia's brown eyes full of pain and fear, the terror on her face.
Horatio was talking on his cell phone, a look of intense concentration on his face. He hung up and walked over to Eric and Calleigh.
"They pronounced Mr. Townsend dead at the scene. The night shift is going to go ahead and process the scene for us. I called Alex and Ryan, and they both said they're on their way."
Eric could only nod, but he stood quickly as the doctor came out of the operating room. The doctor looked absolutely exhausted as he walked over.
"We did everything we could. She's in ICU, and we're going to have to go in for further operation, but she'll be ok if she can keep fighting."
The last few words were all Eric and Calleigh needed to hear to break the tension that had been building, but then the doctor spoke again.
"There may, however, be permanent damage to her mobility as a result of the broken ribs and shattered tibia."
Eric nodded, knowing that as long as she was alive he could help her make it through anything.
"Can we see her?" He asked.
"Only one at a time."
Calleigh looked at the anxiousness clearly visible on Eric's face and she sighed.
"Alright, fine, Delko, you win, you can go in first." Eric followed the doctor into Natalia's room. The sight of her laying pale beneath the stark white sheets killed him, and he wanted to just hold her and make everything better.
"'Talia?" He questioned softly, hoping for an answer. He didn't get one, so he inched closer to the bed and took the hand that wasn't bandaged in his own. He squeezed it gently, trying to convey to her without words how much he loved her and needed for her to get better and wake up. He tore himself away from her side as Calleigh came in. Calleigh moved to the side of the bed, speaking quietly.
"Nat, honey, we're here. You just need to wake up now, please, just wake up and be okay." A sob escaped her as she held Natalia's hand, her creamy pale skin contrasting with Natalia's tan. As if in sudden response to Calleigh's words, Natalia's eyes opened just barely enough for her to see.
"Cal?" She couldn't get the rest of Calleigh's name out and her voice was barely audible. Still, it was enough, and Calleigh turned.
"Natalia! Hang on, let me get Eric." She ran out, returning with an ecstatic Eric behind her, both of them disregarding the doctor's order to go in one at a time. Eric was at her side in a split second, and Calleigh could see he had something to say to Natalia.
Deciding that there would be time for talking with Natalia afterwards, Calleigh quietly left the room. Natalia looked at Eric through bleary eyes.
"Hey..." She said weakly.
"Hey yourself." He answered.
"God, she looked so fragile and spent." Eric thought to himself as he looked at his wife.
"How are you?" A small smile appeared on her lips.
"Well, I've been better.." Her words were suddenly cut off as Eric's lips came crashing onto hers. Even in her semi-conscious state she reveled in the feel of them.
Everything that had happened seemed to just melt away as he kissed her, and she groaned with disappointment when he broke away. Smiling down at her, he shook his head.
"Nope, Nat, not now." Still smiling at her obvious disappointment, he crawled onto the bed with her, gently wrapping his arms around her.
"There will be plenty of time for that later." He whispered.