Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding CSI: Miami. Currently, that I am aware of, there are no spoilers in this one shot.

Warning: character death! You've been warned. I apologize if it upsets or disturbs anyone. As always, thank you for taking the time to read this. Please enjoy.

He looked peaceful in his coffin.

Hang on, Mr. Wolfe. Hang on.

For the last years of his life, he had been ragged in appearance. His suits had become horribly wrinkled, as if he slept in them. His voice, once smooth, had cracked and would catch on even the simplest words.

We still need you.

The entire police department turned out for his funeral. There were many, many citizens crowding the cemetery as he was laid to rest.

He had touched the lives of almost everyone in Miami.

Hang on.

The flowers surrounding his coffin were numerous. There were even more back at the funeral parlor, where his wake had been held.

Several people had spoken, said great things about him.

Don't give up.

The whole world was darker without him. The sky, usually blue and too bright, was gray, filled with clouds waiting to rain. The air was almost too thick to breathe.

It's okay. Everything will work out.

He had lost so much weight just before his death. He was almost unrecognizable. They spent every day with him and they hadn't noticed at first; he hadn't noticed.

It wasn't until he was coughing up blood that he agreed to see a doctor. By then it was far too late.

Don't worry about me. It's you that needs care.

He had never asked anyone for anything, except that they not lie to him. Toward the end, they had tried to honor that wish, expressing their concerns of carrying on without him. He had laughed and said, "This isn't goodbye forever."

But it was. And, damn, it hurt so much.

I love you.

"I love you too," Ryan Wolfe stepped up to the now-closed coffin, a red rose held loosely in his fingers. "Goodbye, Horatio." He set it down carefully, stepping back so someone else could do the same.

Horatio was dead, and Ryan was dead inside.

~ The End ~

A/N: This was supposed to be part of a larger body of work where Horatio has to rescue Ryan from some atrocity and through the healing process, they learn to care greatly for each other (in an asexual relationship-although I didn't have the right word for it when I came up with the idea). I don't think I'm ever going to write that work. So, have this one shot from that universe, and if anyone wants to take up the mantle, go for it.