No Other One, Chapter 54
Title: No Other One, Chapter 54
Author: Duckie Nicks
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Yelina Salas, Horatio Caine, the whole Caine family
Author's Note: WARNING: SPOILER FOR SEASON 6.
Summary: Almost two decades ago, Horatio made a decision that would change his family forever. Will they ever forgive him? Will he ever tell Yelina how he feels? This is an alternative to the beginning of season 6. A Horatio and Kyle story; H/Y romance in the future.
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27, Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35, Chapter 36, Chapter 37, Chapter 38, Chapter 39, Chapter 40, Chapter 41, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Chapter 44, Chapter 45, Chapter 46, Chapter 47, Chapter 48, Chapter 49, Chapter 50, Chapter 51, Chapter 52, and Chapter 53.
Disclaimer: I don't own the show.
“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy - it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.” - Jane Austen
The smell of latex gloves warred with the distinct scent of her perfume. A bizarre combination of plastic, flowers, and the powder used to make the gloves slide on easier, it made Kyle’s stomach twist and turn.
Or maybe it was the sight of the needle embedded in his face that made him want to barf all over himself. The syringe right in front of his eyes, it was impossible to think of anything else, impossible to forget the slight pinch and pressure. Try as he might, the view from his perspective was one he couldn’t pretend to care less about. The cloak of indifference he was so used to wearing had its defects and holes, Kyle realized, and it could not protect him from the uncomfortable feeling of needles being depleted in his face.
Nor did it do much good in defending him against Yelina, who currently had an arm around him.
And it was then that he realized what was making his stomach do flip-flops.
Yelina.
More than the bizarre smell in the room, more than the pain and the needle - it was her and her inexplicable closeness. It was the arm splayed across his shoulders and the fingers curled reassuringly into his forearm. It was the way her long curls tickled the flesh of his cheek and the way he thought he could feel the warmth radiating off of her body. And as completely unisexual as the whole thing was, it still made him completely uncomfortable.
Just her presence made him want to pull away.
“Okay,” the doctor said, interrupting his epiphany. “We’re going to wait a few minutes for the Lidocaine to take effect, and then we’ll see if your nose is broken, Kyle.”
He nodded his head in understanding, bothered by the way his cheek rubbed against the outside of Yelina’s suit coat.
Not that he had any intention of saying anything.
As much as it bothered him, Kyle was aware that… it didn’t bother him. Which didn’t really make any sense to him, so he couldn’t say anything, because how could he even begin to explain it to anyone else? How could he say that it was weird for him to be this close to someone without it being sexual and without an ulterior motive?
There were no words to explain it, and worse still, it sounded pathetic, even in his own mind. So there was no way Kyle was going to start chatting about it.
Which only left him with thinking about it to himself.
And that was fine. The past week or so had had so many changes, so many revelations, that he was more than content to ponder away. Especially considering the doctor was beginning to poke around his nose, he was eager for the distraction.
Fingers prodding gently at him, Kyle tried not to think about it and instead focused his attention on the other matter at hand - Yelina. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure what to make of the contact. He’d never… or no, that wasn’t true. There had been a time when someone had touched him like this - reassuringly and gently, seemingly without motive. But it had been so long since his mother’s death that that time felt more like a dream than anything real. And frankly, if it hadn’t been for the fact that he existed, Kyle would have probably believed that his mother had never been a real person, had never been anything more than a figment of his imagination.
It had been so fucking long that he no longer knew, if he had ever known, how to respond to it. And even if he did have an idea of how to react, he wasn’t sure what Yelina wanted from him.
So Kyle sat there rigidly, his back ramrod straight, hoping that the whole thing would be over soon.
“Well, it’s not broken,” the doctor informed them, still poking around. But then she asked, “Are you in pain, Kyle?”
His answer was a suspicious, “No.”
Giving him a toothy smile, she told him, “Just wonderin’. You seem awfully tense.”
And it was that statement that made Yelina react; her free hand reaching upward, she gently stroked through his hair once, her fingers pushing back strands of his thick blond hair. The act so natural and maternal, it was almost dizzying how she could make him feel so… resentful and relaxed all with one touch.
Her hazel eyes trained on him, he thought she must have known how he was feeling, must have sensed it as mothers (even if she weren’t his mother) did.
Or maybe mothers didn’t really know that - what another person was thinking and feeling, that was. Maybe that had been little more than a stereotype, something Kyle had unknowingly picked up from television.
His sight skittering away from the doctor’s gaze to look out the window, he allowed himself to think back to the time his mother had been alive. A dangerous thing to do, he knew. Something he rarely let himself do, thanks to the horrible memories and longing that usually arose from doing so.
But looking back on it now, the teenager couldn’t remember if his own mother had been intuitive in the same way Yelina seemed to be. As the doctor stepped away from him, part of him thought she couldn’t have been; women who were murdered didn’t -
The window into that time period was abruptly slammed shut, his mind refusing to even think the end of the thought.
His eyes began to sting with the threat of tears; his throat starting to burn with the taste of bile, he abruptly turned away from the window - as though it had somehow been responsible. Whipping his head around without thought, Kyle found himself looking at Yelina.
Her eyes immediately assessing him, a stricken look, matching exactly how he felt, slowly overtook her features.
He quickly looked away.
“He’ll be fine,” the doctor announced. “Although he’ll obviously want to avoid receiving anymore trauma to the face. I’ll write a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine, which you can fill at our pharmacy, for the pain.”
“Wonderful,” Yelina replied, although it was obvious her attention was completely on him; he could feel her eyes on him still, and he wished she would find something else to focus on.
But that didn’t seem likely anytime soon, because even after he’d gotten off of the hospital bed, she still kept an arm around him.
In fact, it was only when they’d left the room and Kyle had deliberately pulled himself away from her that the contact was broken. The uncomfortable closeness now gone, he started to feel his body calm down; his heart ceasing to pound in his ears, his stomach contents returning to his stomach, he began to feel better - even as he felt his nose begin to burn and ache once more.
Turning to face him, Yelina said, “All right, sweetheart, I’m sure you’re ready to leave the hospital and get home, so -”
“I don’t have keys,” Kyle interrupted, trying not to think about the term of endearment she’d slipped in just then. “To the house,” he lamely finished after a brief pause.
“Oh” was her shocked response. Her tongue running along her teeth, she took her own pause. And he couldn’t help but watch her, look for her response. Because as much as he didn’t want to let her see parts of himself… he couldn’t deny his own curiosity towards her. If only because it would give him information he could use, Kyle wanted to know what she thought.
And it was obvious what she thought; her eyes darkened for a second, her lips turning downward into a frown. The way she looked, he thought Yelina was going to say something insulting or angry.
But if that’s what he was expecting, it definitely wasn’t what she had in mind. The brief emotion quickly giving way to something softer, she gave a tiny shake of her head. Her curls bouncing ever so slightly, when she stopped moving, she looked calm once more. Her anger gone, Kyle couldn’t help but think she was like one of those Etch-a-Sketches he’d played with as a child. Just as the dark gray image would disappear when the older kids snatched it and shook the board, so too did the dark look on her face.
Sounding unconcerned, she continued, “Well, that makes two of us.”
“You don’t have a key,” he repeated in disbelief.
“No.” A forced smile on her face, Yelina told him, “So… while you wait in line for your medication, I will take care of the bill and call your father… again.” Her irritation was audible on the last word, the tone laced with disdain.
And that made him wonder if her annoyance was at Horatio or at the possibility of being stuck with him.
Standing there in front of her, Kyle supposed it could be either. Or both even, because his self-appointed-but-totally-absent father had said she was mad at him. And Kyle couldn’t imagine Yelina being pleased at being forced to take care of her brother-in-law’s kid.
But if she were mad at Kyle himself, that was kind of stupid. Unfair too, but mainly stupid, because it wasn’t like he had planned on her son attacking him or Horatio being an unreliable douche bag.
Kyle’s response was a forced, “Okay,” before unceremoniously walking away from her. Afraid of what he might tell her if he stood in front of her another minute, he stalked towards the direction of the hospital’s pharmacy.
As he followed the big, bright signs to his destination, he couldn’t help but think that this was not his fault. There’d been things that he’d done that he wasn’t proud of, things that he absolutely could and should have been blamed for.
But this wasn’t one of them.
This wasn’t his fault, he told himself.
And if Yelina really was annoyed at him, then…
Then that was her problem, he thought with finality.
His gaze turning steely, his posture becoming stiff, Kyle waited in line all by himself. There were only a few people in front of him, maybe four or five. But the wait seemed undesirably infinite to him; the pain in his nose returning with a vengeance, it was enough to make him wish he had the medicine right then and there.
Of course, time held his ache in no regard and passed by as slowly as humanly possible. And as each minute meandered along, as each person ahead of him decided to take their time asking question after question, Kyle’s nose throbbed more and more, each wave of pain becoming stronger and longer.
His hand instinctively reaching up to rub the sore area, he mused how much worse it was to not have Yelina round as a distraction. And just as he did so, he heard the telltale sound of her heels on the linoleum floor. Turning around to see her right before she had a chance to surprise him, Kyle heard her say, “Don’t touch - it’ll hurt worse.”
He willfully chose to do the opposite of what she advised by pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Pretended not to hear her in the same way she pretended not to hear his hiss of pain seconds later.
Sighing, Kyle dropped his hand and, annoyed, suspicious, mentioned, “You made it through that line awfully fast.”
She glanced back to where she’d been with a shrug. “They told me you would need a receipt in order to get your medicine; I went fast.”
His instinct was to say something sarcastic and rude like, “Who’d you have to flash to go that quick?” But truthfully, Kyle didn’t have it in him to say that; as uncomfortable as she made him, as weird as it was to have her around, it was better than nothing. Much better than nothing, because…
Kyle wasn’t sure that she cared. If anything, he sort of doubted that she did. Really, who did care about new, random family members that popped out of nowhere? He doubted that Yelina did, although not nearly as much as he doubted Horatio’s intentions.
Nevertheless, he didn’t feel the need to insult her; whatever her reasons were, without her, Kyle knew he’d still be waiting to be seen by a doctor. The slightest bit of gratitude washing through him, he told her, “Thanks.”
Her response was a smile and watery eyes, was one that made him wonder if she’d never been told thank you before in her life. And he felt an affinity for her then, felt connected to her in a way that made absolutely no sense. Both raw and honest in that single moment, they were so different but so similar that, looking at her, Kyle thought he could only see himself.
But just as he was about to say something, they were once again interrupted, this time by the pharmacist. “Prescription, please.”
And as he lazily handed over the square piece of paper, Kyle knew it was for the best - that he hadn’t had a chance to say something to Yelina. Because now, with the moment over, he could see that no, they weren’t the same, that no, she didn’t care what he was thinking.
His mouth firmly shut, he listened impatiently to the pharmacist describe the side effects of the medication and mention that he needed to take it with food, blah, blah, blah.
Of course, as soon as the pills were in his hands, Kyle didn’t care what the proper procedure was for taking the stupid things. Not that he was a junkie or anything, although weed was pretty nice, but he was in pain. And the sooner his nose stopped bothering him, the sooner he could focus on other things - like holding Yelina at bay or thinking about what he was going to say to Horatio.
But as soon as he’d managed to pry off the childproof cap, she stopped him by asking, “Have you eaten anything?”
“No,” he answered almost immediately. But surely, it didn’t really matter. “Afraid I’m gonna puke in your car?” he asked accusingly.
She raised an eyebrow at the question, but in her eyes, he could see that that possibility was crossing her mind. “Hardly.”
“Uh huh. You look like you’re about to break out into hives if -”
One of her hands curling around his elbow, Yelina pulled him towards the cafeteria. Or at least that was where he thought they were going, the bright lights and semi-enticing smells noticeable from where they were. The contact once more distracting and unwanted, it was with effort that he heard her admit, “Kyle, as undesirable as it would be for me to witness you vomit, I would think that such an experience would be, in fact, worse from your perspective.”
She let go of him then, using her free hand to hold the door to the cafeteria open. Pretending to think about the matter at hand, Yelina said, “But I don’t know… maybe it is nice to throw up while your nose is -”
“Fine,” he caved, not wanting to think about how much that would hurt. But as he started to walk through the doorway, Kyle remembered. “But I don’t have any cash,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
“Not a problem,” she dismissed, her hand on his back as she gently pushed him in the rest of the way.
Trying to turn around, Kyle protested, “But -”
Her voice soft and sweet, Yelina told him, “Lets not worry about that, okay?”
And though it didn’t feel right, for whatever reason, he couldn’t argue anymore.
***************
The sky was clouding ominously around them, and even though they were technically inside a shack, Horatio doubted the thatched roof would protect them from the weather. Still knee deep in trace on the bodies, they hadn’t even begun to process the rest of the room (aside from making clear paths to the victims, naturally). And, although Horatio hated doing things out of their natural order, he knew this one of those times where they would have to be.
“You praying the weather’s gonna be cooperative?” Alexx asked, as if hearing his thoughts.
He smirked, despite knowing that she, still kneeling on the ground, couldn’t see it. “Hmm. I have my doubts.”
“You want to hold off on trace?” she asked, her hands cupping the cheeks of the last victim.
He was about to say that they were more than likely going to have to, but he was abruptly interrupted by Natalia. “We’re leaving?” she asked. “But I just got here. And Ryan’s on his way. I had a flat tire and -”
“And there’s still the rest of the scene to process, Ms. Boa Vista,” he informed her, his eyes peering at her over his sunglasses.
Deflating a little, she responded with a nod of the head, “Right.”
“But since you are interested in staying,” he said slowly, “I… will accompany Alexx back to lab.”
It happened so fast that it practically felt as though Natalia wasn’t aware of what was going on until Horatio and Alexx had carefully packed all the bodies up. And indeed, the dumbfounded look on the younger woman’s face put a smile on his face as he drove away from her.
But the lighthearted feeling didn’t last.
Five minutes or so after he’d left, Horatio heard the telltale beep of his cell phone, once more confirming that his ability to be father was one he’d yet to demonstrate.
Go to the next chapter
Author: Duckie Nicks
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Yelina Salas, Horatio Caine, the whole Caine family
Author's Note: WARNING: SPOILER FOR SEASON 6.
Summary: Almost two decades ago, Horatio made a decision that would change his family forever. Will they ever forgive him? Will he ever tell Yelina how he feels? This is an alternative to the beginning of season 6. A Horatio and Kyle story; H/Y romance in the future.
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27, Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35, Chapter 36, Chapter 37, Chapter 38, Chapter 39, Chapter 40, Chapter 41, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Chapter 44, Chapter 45, Chapter 46, Chapter 47, Chapter 48, Chapter 49, Chapter 50, Chapter 51, Chapter 52, and Chapter 53.
Disclaimer: I don't own the show.
“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy - it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.” - Jane Austen
The smell of latex gloves warred with the distinct scent of her perfume. A bizarre combination of plastic, flowers, and the powder used to make the gloves slide on easier, it made Kyle’s stomach twist and turn.
Or maybe it was the sight of the needle embedded in his face that made him want to barf all over himself. The syringe right in front of his eyes, it was impossible to think of anything else, impossible to forget the slight pinch and pressure. Try as he might, the view from his perspective was one he couldn’t pretend to care less about. The cloak of indifference he was so used to wearing had its defects and holes, Kyle realized, and it could not protect him from the uncomfortable feeling of needles being depleted in his face.
Nor did it do much good in defending him against Yelina, who currently had an arm around him.
And it was then that he realized what was making his stomach do flip-flops.
Yelina.
More than the bizarre smell in the room, more than the pain and the needle - it was her and her inexplicable closeness. It was the arm splayed across his shoulders and the fingers curled reassuringly into his forearm. It was the way her long curls tickled the flesh of his cheek and the way he thought he could feel the warmth radiating off of her body. And as completely unisexual as the whole thing was, it still made him completely uncomfortable.
Just her presence made him want to pull away.
“Okay,” the doctor said, interrupting his epiphany. “We’re going to wait a few minutes for the Lidocaine to take effect, and then we’ll see if your nose is broken, Kyle.”
He nodded his head in understanding, bothered by the way his cheek rubbed against the outside of Yelina’s suit coat.
Not that he had any intention of saying anything.
As much as it bothered him, Kyle was aware that… it didn’t bother him. Which didn’t really make any sense to him, so he couldn’t say anything, because how could he even begin to explain it to anyone else? How could he say that it was weird for him to be this close to someone without it being sexual and without an ulterior motive?
There were no words to explain it, and worse still, it sounded pathetic, even in his own mind. So there was no way Kyle was going to start chatting about it.
Which only left him with thinking about it to himself.
And that was fine. The past week or so had had so many changes, so many revelations, that he was more than content to ponder away. Especially considering the doctor was beginning to poke around his nose, he was eager for the distraction.
Fingers prodding gently at him, Kyle tried not to think about it and instead focused his attention on the other matter at hand - Yelina. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure what to make of the contact. He’d never… or no, that wasn’t true. There had been a time when someone had touched him like this - reassuringly and gently, seemingly without motive. But it had been so long since his mother’s death that that time felt more like a dream than anything real. And frankly, if it hadn’t been for the fact that he existed, Kyle would have probably believed that his mother had never been a real person, had never been anything more than a figment of his imagination.
It had been so fucking long that he no longer knew, if he had ever known, how to respond to it. And even if he did have an idea of how to react, he wasn’t sure what Yelina wanted from him.
So Kyle sat there rigidly, his back ramrod straight, hoping that the whole thing would be over soon.
“Well, it’s not broken,” the doctor informed them, still poking around. But then she asked, “Are you in pain, Kyle?”
His answer was a suspicious, “No.”
Giving him a toothy smile, she told him, “Just wonderin’. You seem awfully tense.”
And it was that statement that made Yelina react; her free hand reaching upward, she gently stroked through his hair once, her fingers pushing back strands of his thick blond hair. The act so natural and maternal, it was almost dizzying how she could make him feel so… resentful and relaxed all with one touch.
Her hazel eyes trained on him, he thought she must have known how he was feeling, must have sensed it as mothers (even if she weren’t his mother) did.
Or maybe mothers didn’t really know that - what another person was thinking and feeling, that was. Maybe that had been little more than a stereotype, something Kyle had unknowingly picked up from television.
His sight skittering away from the doctor’s gaze to look out the window, he allowed himself to think back to the time his mother had been alive. A dangerous thing to do, he knew. Something he rarely let himself do, thanks to the horrible memories and longing that usually arose from doing so.
But looking back on it now, the teenager couldn’t remember if his own mother had been intuitive in the same way Yelina seemed to be. As the doctor stepped away from him, part of him thought she couldn’t have been; women who were murdered didn’t -
The window into that time period was abruptly slammed shut, his mind refusing to even think the end of the thought.
His eyes began to sting with the threat of tears; his throat starting to burn with the taste of bile, he abruptly turned away from the window - as though it had somehow been responsible. Whipping his head around without thought, Kyle found himself looking at Yelina.
Her eyes immediately assessing him, a stricken look, matching exactly how he felt, slowly overtook her features.
He quickly looked away.
“He’ll be fine,” the doctor announced. “Although he’ll obviously want to avoid receiving anymore trauma to the face. I’ll write a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine, which you can fill at our pharmacy, for the pain.”
“Wonderful,” Yelina replied, although it was obvious her attention was completely on him; he could feel her eyes on him still, and he wished she would find something else to focus on.
But that didn’t seem likely anytime soon, because even after he’d gotten off of the hospital bed, she still kept an arm around him.
In fact, it was only when they’d left the room and Kyle had deliberately pulled himself away from her that the contact was broken. The uncomfortable closeness now gone, he started to feel his body calm down; his heart ceasing to pound in his ears, his stomach contents returning to his stomach, he began to feel better - even as he felt his nose begin to burn and ache once more.
Turning to face him, Yelina said, “All right, sweetheart, I’m sure you’re ready to leave the hospital and get home, so -”
“I don’t have keys,” Kyle interrupted, trying not to think about the term of endearment she’d slipped in just then. “To the house,” he lamely finished after a brief pause.
“Oh” was her shocked response. Her tongue running along her teeth, she took her own pause. And he couldn’t help but watch her, look for her response. Because as much as he didn’t want to let her see parts of himself… he couldn’t deny his own curiosity towards her. If only because it would give him information he could use, Kyle wanted to know what she thought.
And it was obvious what she thought; her eyes darkened for a second, her lips turning downward into a frown. The way she looked, he thought Yelina was going to say something insulting or angry.
But if that’s what he was expecting, it definitely wasn’t what she had in mind. The brief emotion quickly giving way to something softer, she gave a tiny shake of her head. Her curls bouncing ever so slightly, when she stopped moving, she looked calm once more. Her anger gone, Kyle couldn’t help but think she was like one of those Etch-a-Sketches he’d played with as a child. Just as the dark gray image would disappear when the older kids snatched it and shook the board, so too did the dark look on her face.
Sounding unconcerned, she continued, “Well, that makes two of us.”
“You don’t have a key,” he repeated in disbelief.
“No.” A forced smile on her face, Yelina told him, “So… while you wait in line for your medication, I will take care of the bill and call your father… again.” Her irritation was audible on the last word, the tone laced with disdain.
And that made him wonder if her annoyance was at Horatio or at the possibility of being stuck with him.
Standing there in front of her, Kyle supposed it could be either. Or both even, because his self-appointed-but-totally-absent father had said she was mad at him. And Kyle couldn’t imagine Yelina being pleased at being forced to take care of her brother-in-law’s kid.
But if she were mad at Kyle himself, that was kind of stupid. Unfair too, but mainly stupid, because it wasn’t like he had planned on her son attacking him or Horatio being an unreliable douche bag.
Kyle’s response was a forced, “Okay,” before unceremoniously walking away from her. Afraid of what he might tell her if he stood in front of her another minute, he stalked towards the direction of the hospital’s pharmacy.
As he followed the big, bright signs to his destination, he couldn’t help but think that this was not his fault. There’d been things that he’d done that he wasn’t proud of, things that he absolutely could and should have been blamed for.
But this wasn’t one of them.
This wasn’t his fault, he told himself.
And if Yelina really was annoyed at him, then…
Then that was her problem, he thought with finality.
His gaze turning steely, his posture becoming stiff, Kyle waited in line all by himself. There were only a few people in front of him, maybe four or five. But the wait seemed undesirably infinite to him; the pain in his nose returning with a vengeance, it was enough to make him wish he had the medicine right then and there.
Of course, time held his ache in no regard and passed by as slowly as humanly possible. And as each minute meandered along, as each person ahead of him decided to take their time asking question after question, Kyle’s nose throbbed more and more, each wave of pain becoming stronger and longer.
His hand instinctively reaching up to rub the sore area, he mused how much worse it was to not have Yelina round as a distraction. And just as he did so, he heard the telltale sound of her heels on the linoleum floor. Turning around to see her right before she had a chance to surprise him, Kyle heard her say, “Don’t touch - it’ll hurt worse.”
He willfully chose to do the opposite of what she advised by pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Pretended not to hear her in the same way she pretended not to hear his hiss of pain seconds later.
Sighing, Kyle dropped his hand and, annoyed, suspicious, mentioned, “You made it through that line awfully fast.”
She glanced back to where she’d been with a shrug. “They told me you would need a receipt in order to get your medicine; I went fast.”
His instinct was to say something sarcastic and rude like, “Who’d you have to flash to go that quick?” But truthfully, Kyle didn’t have it in him to say that; as uncomfortable as she made him, as weird as it was to have her around, it was better than nothing. Much better than nothing, because…
Kyle wasn’t sure that she cared. If anything, he sort of doubted that she did. Really, who did care about new, random family members that popped out of nowhere? He doubted that Yelina did, although not nearly as much as he doubted Horatio’s intentions.
Nevertheless, he didn’t feel the need to insult her; whatever her reasons were, without her, Kyle knew he’d still be waiting to be seen by a doctor. The slightest bit of gratitude washing through him, he told her, “Thanks.”
Her response was a smile and watery eyes, was one that made him wonder if she’d never been told thank you before in her life. And he felt an affinity for her then, felt connected to her in a way that made absolutely no sense. Both raw and honest in that single moment, they were so different but so similar that, looking at her, Kyle thought he could only see himself.
But just as he was about to say something, they were once again interrupted, this time by the pharmacist. “Prescription, please.”
And as he lazily handed over the square piece of paper, Kyle knew it was for the best - that he hadn’t had a chance to say something to Yelina. Because now, with the moment over, he could see that no, they weren’t the same, that no, she didn’t care what he was thinking.
His mouth firmly shut, he listened impatiently to the pharmacist describe the side effects of the medication and mention that he needed to take it with food, blah, blah, blah.
Of course, as soon as the pills were in his hands, Kyle didn’t care what the proper procedure was for taking the stupid things. Not that he was a junkie or anything, although weed was pretty nice, but he was in pain. And the sooner his nose stopped bothering him, the sooner he could focus on other things - like holding Yelina at bay or thinking about what he was going to say to Horatio.
But as soon as he’d managed to pry off the childproof cap, she stopped him by asking, “Have you eaten anything?”
“No,” he answered almost immediately. But surely, it didn’t really matter. “Afraid I’m gonna puke in your car?” he asked accusingly.
She raised an eyebrow at the question, but in her eyes, he could see that that possibility was crossing her mind. “Hardly.”
“Uh huh. You look like you’re about to break out into hives if -”
One of her hands curling around his elbow, Yelina pulled him towards the cafeteria. Or at least that was where he thought they were going, the bright lights and semi-enticing smells noticeable from where they were. The contact once more distracting and unwanted, it was with effort that he heard her admit, “Kyle, as undesirable as it would be for me to witness you vomit, I would think that such an experience would be, in fact, worse from your perspective.”
She let go of him then, using her free hand to hold the door to the cafeteria open. Pretending to think about the matter at hand, Yelina said, “But I don’t know… maybe it is nice to throw up while your nose is -”
“Fine,” he caved, not wanting to think about how much that would hurt. But as he started to walk through the doorway, Kyle remembered. “But I don’t have any cash,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.
“Not a problem,” she dismissed, her hand on his back as she gently pushed him in the rest of the way.
Trying to turn around, Kyle protested, “But -”
Her voice soft and sweet, Yelina told him, “Lets not worry about that, okay?”
And though it didn’t feel right, for whatever reason, he couldn’t argue anymore.
***************
The sky was clouding ominously around them, and even though they were technically inside a shack, Horatio doubted the thatched roof would protect them from the weather. Still knee deep in trace on the bodies, they hadn’t even begun to process the rest of the room (aside from making clear paths to the victims, naturally). And, although Horatio hated doing things out of their natural order, he knew this one of those times where they would have to be.
“You praying the weather’s gonna be cooperative?” Alexx asked, as if hearing his thoughts.
He smirked, despite knowing that she, still kneeling on the ground, couldn’t see it. “Hmm. I have my doubts.”
“You want to hold off on trace?” she asked, her hands cupping the cheeks of the last victim.
He was about to say that they were more than likely going to have to, but he was abruptly interrupted by Natalia. “We’re leaving?” she asked. “But I just got here. And Ryan’s on his way. I had a flat tire and -”
“And there’s still the rest of the scene to process, Ms. Boa Vista,” he informed her, his eyes peering at her over his sunglasses.
Deflating a little, she responded with a nod of the head, “Right.”
“But since you are interested in staying,” he said slowly, “I… will accompany Alexx back to lab.”
It happened so fast that it practically felt as though Natalia wasn’t aware of what was going on until Horatio and Alexx had carefully packed all the bodies up. And indeed, the dumbfounded look on the younger woman’s face put a smile on his face as he drove away from her.
But the lighthearted feeling didn’t last.
Five minutes or so after he’d left, Horatio heard the telltale beep of his cell phone, once more confirming that his ability to be father was one he’d yet to demonstrate.
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