Title: The Deal, Chapter 18/20
Fandom: CSI Miami
Pair: Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome

CSI Miami Main List

The Deal, Chapter 1
The Deal, Chapter 2 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 3 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 4 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 5 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 6 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 7 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 8 
The Deal, Chapter 9 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 10 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 11
The Deal, Chapter 12 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 13
The Deal, Chapter 14 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 15 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 16 NC-17
The Deal, Chapter 17



“How is he?” Valera rushed to hospital waiting area. Eric swallowed the last of the bitter machine coffee and dumped the cup to the bin.

“They haven’t said anything yet.”
“What happened?”
“He hit his head on the edge of a table. But he was fine after it! He was talking and walking.”
“How did he hit his head?”
“He fell.”
“Eric.”
“I was holding him, he tried to get away, and he tried to yank himself away from me.”
“And he fell.”
“Yeah.”
“Eric….” Valera ran her fingers  though her hair. “Have you heard what people are saying?”
“What people?”
“Paramedics talk with paramedics and cops, cops gossip like little old ladies…. I think the whole lab has heard by now.”
“It happened five hours ago!”
“Exactly. That’s how fast it goes. If he got serious injuries, you’re in trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
“I only know what I heard from the girls at the lab who heard it from some of the cops, who heard it-”
“Get to the point.”

“Think about it. The paramedics show up, he’s unconscious and he has bruises on his arms. You got a bruise on your jaw. What do you think it looks like?”
“I know what it looks like, but it’s not that!” Eric would have continued his rant, but Valera’s cell phone interrupted him. She snapped it open and started a series of high pitched exclamations, most of them “Really?”, “You’re kidding!” or “Get outta here!” She finished her call and went back to her normal voice.

“Sorry about that, girl talk. That was the update from work. One shift started, another one goes off duty to spread the gossip and the rumour mill is grinding. Remember that chippy from the achieves? She and her friends were at the bar when that….. Thing happened with you Ryan and that bimbo and they saw him walking out.”

Eric sat down to digest it.
“So the cat’s out of the bag.”
“Right now that’s the least of your problems. If his injuries are serious there will be an official investigation, if they’re not the gossip remains. People are already talking about lovers tiff gone ugly, no matter how this goes that picture is gonna stay.”
“Lover’s tiff?”
“That’s what they’re saying, but it’s not that far from the truth, is it?”
“I don’t know, he was ready to dump me when got into that…. when he fell.”
“For real?”
“He’s had so many freak-out’s I have no idea.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I wasn’t gonna let him drop me so easily.”
“And then?”
“He tried to get away from me.”

Valera took a deep breath. “Listen carefully. As a guy, you may not know how rumours work, so I’ll tell you. If he recovers and doesn’t dump you people will say you beat up your boyfriend and he forgave you. If he doesn’t take you back they will say you beat up your boyfriend and he left you.”
“Great, just great…..”
“And speaking of that cat’s-out-of-the-closet thing….. Pretty much the whole lab already knew you go after anything that moves. It’s not exactly front page news.”
“So what?” Eric frowned. “Seven hours ago everything was fine. How the hell can things go straight to hell in couple hours?”
“That’s a pretty weird question from somebody in your job.”

“Excuse me, are you here for Mr. Wolfe?” A woman in a white coat came walked closer eyeing a patient chart.

“Yeah, how is he?”
“Still unconscious. But we’ve done a scan, and there is no bleeding inside the skull. That was the biggest worry. I need to ask you some questions.”
“Okay.”
“Were you there when the incident happened?”
“Yeah.”
“He apparently had two hits on his head, one just above the  forehead, one on the back of his head. Can you tell me how he fell? Face down, sideways?”
“He…. He fell sideways against the table, and then he fell to the floor. I think he hit the back of his head to the floor.”
“How did he seem after it?”
“He seemed fine. He was talking and he sat down and I went to get the first aid kit. When I came back he was passing out.”
“You said he was talking, did he complain pain?”
“No, I think he just said he felt dizzy.”

“But he was up and talking, isn’t that a good sign?” Valera interrupted.
“Not necessarily. Head injuries don’t always show up right away. If a person gets a hit on a head, it may not even be the primary cause for the biggest damages. A hit can move brains within the skull, leading to swelling of the brain tissue, or it can trigger an existing condition.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Eric complained.
“It means that he’s comfortable and there’s no bleeding. We don’t know more, until he wakes up.”
“So he will wake up?”
“Like I said, he’s unconscious, he’ll come out of it when he’s ready.”
“How long will that take?”
“That’s impossible to say. When we know me, we’ll tell you. Now if you’ll excuse me, we have a ward full of patients.” The doctor turned to leave, but she paused and turned to face Eric again. “One more thing. He had distinctive bruises on his arms. Can you tell me how he got them?”
“We…. We were arguing and I grabbed him. Just to keep him from leaving.”
“I see.” The doctor didn’t look convinced. She left and Eric slouched down to the couch again.

“Ignore her.” Valera commented. She was digging through the content of her purse. Finally he found a handful of coins and started shoving them to the coffee machine.
“You want coffee?”
“No.”
“Hot chocolate?”
“No.”
“Tea?”
“Just shut up for a minute.” Eric’s cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID. “I’ll be back.”

He marched to the front doors and out to the parking lot. When he came back his face had turned to greenish gray.
“What was it?” Valera sipped her coffee.
“That was from the PD. The paramedics send their incident report forward, and now they want me to go there in the morning to give my statement.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Ryan worked with those guys. I got a feeling I’m gonna be facing a lynching mob in the morning.”

“Excuse me.” A tiny nurse approached them. “Mr. Wolfe is awake now.”
“Can I go see him?”
“Are you a relative?”
“No, I mean yeah, I’m….” He gave Valera a confused glance. “I’m his boyfriend.”
Nurse gave him the same look the doctor had given him. “Very short visit, he’s still pretty out of it, and the doctor wants to do more tests.”
“Thanks.” The nurse showed him to the right door. He pushed the door open and peeked in.

Ryan had his eyes closed, but they snapped open when the door was shut. He looked like he had troubles focusing his eyes on Eric.

“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“What time is it? I don’t have my watch.”
“About three in the morning.”
“How long was I out?”
“Almost five hours. How are you feeling?”
“Foggy. Scattered. My heads going to every direction and I can’t figure out any of them. Sleepy.”
“You want me to go so you can sleep?”
“Come here.” Ryan tried to reach for Eric’s hand, but he was too tired to lift the limb from his belly.
“You want me to stay?”
“Here.” Ryan complained like a sleepy child. Eric kicked of his shoes and climbed into the bed next to him. Ryan let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes again.

The Deal, Chapter 19/20