Fic : Demons Part 15
Title: When Demons Come a Calling - Part 15
Author: Kimmi
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I only wished I owned Sara and Catherine. Unfortunately CBS does, I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: When Sara’s past comes back to haunt her it arrives with a vengeance.
Spoilers: Up to Nesting Dolls, after that it takes a sharp left turn.
Authors Notes: This is dark, full of angst and deals with themes of rape and torture, although I don’t think I got too graphic. I also do not have a beta so there will be errors.
Chapters | 1 | 2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
Part 15
Catherine was determined to keep in physical contact with Sara even though the paramedics kept trying to get her to sit back, she needed to let the younger woman know that she wasn’t alone. She was no doctor, but from the frantic activity and medical jargon being thrown around, she knew the brunette was in bad shape.
“Stay with me Sara. You’re so strong, stronger than anyone I know, you’ve got to keep fighting.” Cath kept stroking dark limp hair as she leaned over to whisper more encouragement in Sara’s ear. “We’re almost there sweetie, just a couple more minutes, and you’re going to be at the hospital where the doctors are going to take care of you. So just hold on a little while longer ok, for me, please?”
Willows continued her quite pleas and soft touches until the ambulance pulled into the ER and Sara was whisked away. She tried to follow but was held back by the medic that had tried to examine her before.
“Ma’am they won’t let you go in there with her. Don’t worry she’s in good hands and if she’s as strong as you say, she’s got a good chance. Now we need to get you checked out.”
Catherine didn’t want to sit meekly in an exam room, she wanted to be by Sara’s side. She was so afraid that the brunette’s last ditch effort to save her had been too much for the young woman’s traumatized body. She needed to be in there with Sara and she dared them to try to keep her out of that room.
She sidestepped the medic and her path was almost immediately blocked by a short dirty-blonde woman in a white lab coat that looked much too young to be a doctor. Catherine tried to go around her but a wave of dizziness forced her to a halt until it passed. By the time she regained her equilibrium the doctor and paramedic had been joined by a rather large orderly and had formed a human wall in front of her.
“Ma’am I’m Dr. Sims, I know you’re worried about your friend but you can’t go back there. You need to come with me so I can have a look at your head.” Carla Sims kept her voice soft so as to keep the woman calm. She could see the rising panic in her icy blue eyes and she was afraid if the blonde tried to fight them she would only end up hurting herself.
“Sara’s not just my friend! She’s…she’s…more than that.” Catherine was at a loss for words. How exactly did you categorize a woman you’d worked beside, fought with, spurned, and spent more time with then your own daughter for five years? How did you describe a woman that could very well die because she was protecting you? Friend just didn’t seem to be adequate.
“I understand, but regardless of your relationship I can’t let you go in there. You would just be in the way and could actually be a danger to her.” Sims was sympathetic but distraught family members tended to hinder more than they helped in situations such as these. “Why don’t you let me examine you and by the time I’m done we should have some news, ok?”
With one last long look down the hall Catherine reluctantly agreed. After being poked, prodded, x-rayed, stitched, bandaged and a long argument about staying overnight for observation the petite doctor finally let her go. Borrowing a set of scrubs, Cath changed out of her blood stained clothes and bagged them while Sims went to fulfill her promise of getting an update on Sara.
When the doctor hadn’t returned after about five minutes, Cath started to get a little panicky. What the hell was taking so long? What if it was bad news and she was trying to find a way to break it to her gently. Bolting out from behind the curtain that had shielded her during the exam, heart hammering its way out of her chest, the blonde saw the woman almost immediately. The short blonde was standing halfway down the corridor along with another doctor and both were being harassed by her co-workers.
She started toward the group intent on getting answers when a twelve year old tornado hit her full force knocking her back a few steps before she could regain her balance. Catherine pulled her daughter to her in a crushing hug, stoking the girl’s golden hair as Lindsey’s tears quickly soaked through the thin scrubs she was wearing. Her world shrank until nothing existed but the two of them, her child her only concern.
“I was so scared Mom, I thought you left me just like dad.” Lindsey finally managed to verbalize the fear that had been strangling her since Warrick had come to their house to tell them that Catherine was missing.
Catherine swiped at her face, trying to dry the tears that had begun falling as soon as she had her daughter in her arms. She sank to her knees so that she could look the girl in the eye. “Oh god baby I am so sorry. You know that I would never leave you without a fight, right?”
Lindsey nodded and reached out to touch the bandage around her mother’s head. “Are you okay?”
Catherine’s heart nearly broke at how tiny Linds’ voice sounded. The girl had come damn close to being an orphan, to close. She just hoped this didn’t bring back the nightmares that had plagued her daughter after Eddie’s death or the resulting behavior problems. “I’m fine baby. It’s just a bump on the head and a few stitches.”
Standing up Catherine looked around at the others that had gathered silently around them. Her mother, sister and her co-workers had formed a protective circle blocking the tearful reunion with her daughter from any curious eyes. This was her family whether related by blood or not. This time the blonde didn’t hesitate and threw her arms around each one in turn. Once she had greeted them all and assured everyone that she was all right Cath turned her attention to the two doctors. “How is Sara?”
“Ms Willows this is Dr. Klein, he worked on your, ah, girlfriend here in the ER.” Carla didn’t want to offend the woman again by calling her partner a friend.
“Ms Sidle’s file doesn’t list a next of kin and the only emergency contact is the Las Vegas Crime lab. Have you informed her family?” Reginald Klein asked without looking up from the clipboard he was holding. He had deflected the questions of her co-workers because his colleague had told him that his patient’s girlfriend was there. However she wasn’t listed in the file as a contact or as having power of attorney.
“She doesn’t have any family. We’re all she has. Now will you please just tell me how she is?” Catherine had ignored the raised eyebrows at the doctor’s description of her relationship with Sara. She didn’t care that she had accidentally led these people to believe that there was more between her and brunette than there was, not as long as it got her information on the Sara’s condition.
The doctor looked carefully at the assembled group and shook his head. It wasn’t hospital policy but from the looks on their faces they weren’t going to take no for an answer. Well families came in all shapes and sizes these days. “We gave her three units of blood and were able to get her stabilized enough to take her up to surgery. I won’t sugarcoat it, Ms Sidle is far from out of the woods yet. Apart from the blood loss she is dehydrated and has deep tissue bruising to over eighty percent of her body along with more than a dozen cuts and puncture wounds. She has three cracked ribs, a broken collar bone, two broken fingers and her shoulder shows signs of having recently been dislocated.”
Catherine had known that Sara had been badly beaten but she was surprised that she didn’t have more broken bones. The others had barely gotten a glance at the brunette before they were rushed to the hospital and the looks on their faces told her that they had no idea that she had suffered so much.
“Doctor was she…” Grissom couldn’t ask. He looked to Catherine hoping she would understand what he was trying say.
“Did you do a SART exam?” Catherine almost couldn’t bring herself to ask either, even though it was her biggest fear.
“We did manage to do a cursory exam and found no signs of sexual assault. If you would like to go up to the surgical waiting room it is on the third floor. I will leave word for Dr. Kingsley to keep you informed,” Reginald told them. He nodded once to Dr. Sims before going to see to his next patient.
Catherine thanked god that Sara had been spared another violation. What the brunette had gone through was going to be hard enough for her to deal without adding another rape on top of it. Looking around she saw that the others were also breathing a sigh of relief. Not wanting to wait any longer she took Lindsey’s hand and started for the elevator, the others right behind her.
The ride up was silent as no one wanted to be the first to ask one of the questions bouncing around in their heads. The second the doors opened Catherine led Lindsey to the nurse’s station to let them know who they were there for and that they would be in the waiting room. She sighed as she turned toward the small glass-walled room knowing that she wouldn’t be able to avoid the questions much longer. It was probably better to get it over with quickly.
Taking the chair closest to the door Catherine was surprised when Lindsey crawled into her lap and snuggled against her. She couldn’t remember the last time the sometimes surly preteen had initiated this kind of contact with her. While their relationship had gotten better lately it was still strained and she was going to soak this up for as long as it lasted.
“Catherine what happened?” It was Grissom that spoke first his voice low. He had wanted to wait until she was ready to talk but it didn’t seem as if that would be any time soon and he needed to know what had gone on in that factory.
Catherine shook her head. She knew he was asking about Sara but she didn’t have the answers he wanted. “I don’t know. I didn’t see her until a few minutes before you found us. There were screams and, and then silence and then more screams. He tortured her and there was nothing I could do.” She was crying now and felt someone wrap a strong arm around her shoulders but she shook it off even as she pulled her daughter closer to her. She didn’t want comforting she wanted to see Sara, she wanted to go home and spend time with her not so little girl, she wanted all this to have never have happened. “She saved my life. That bullet was meant for me.”
“What about you Cath?” Warrick asked from beside her. He was a little hurt that she had rejected him but if she had been through anything like what Sara had suffered he could understand why she wouldn’t want to be touched.
“He left me alone most of the time. Sara was the one he wanted I was just a means to an ends. He was completely insane. How did you guys find us?” She knew they would be confused but she couldn’t tell them everything, not yet, maybe not ever.
“Highway Patrol spotted Sara’s car.” Nick answered her. He was still upset that it had been nothing more than dumb luck, that all their evidence and work had been useless. Of course without that bit of luck they would be planning two funerals right now.
A shiver traveled down Cath’s spine. She and Sara had come closer to death than she had previously thought. She was lost in thoughts of what had nearly happened when someone clearing their throat drew her attention.
“Hey Catherine what was all that downstairs about you being Sara’s girlfriend?” Even with everything else going on Greg hadn’t been able to get it out of his mind ever since the doctor had stumbled over the word.
Catherine groaned to herself as a slight blush crept its way up her neck to color her cheeks. She had known someone would comment on that sooner or later, she had just hoped for later. “I may have accidentally given her that impression. But at least it got us an update on Sara without too much of a fight.”
“Accidentally? How do you accidentally make someone think that you and Sara are…?” Greg wisely chose not to finish when Catherine narrowed her eyes at him. He would figure out a way to get the story out of her later.
“Ok well what about her family? Where are her parents?” Nick was curious as to how Catherine had gotten her information. Sara was notoriously closed-mouthed when it came to her private life and she had never once talked about her family with him and he had thought he was one of her closest friends in Vegas.
Catherine chewed her bottom lip as she considered how to answer him. Nick didn’t know so that meant Sara didn’t want him to. “Her parents are dead.” It was half a lie, but she couldn’t tell them the truth, it wasn’t her place. “I think she has brother but I don’t even know his name. I don’t even know if Sara knows where he is.”
She had only heard Sara mention her brother once in passing. It had been one of their rare conversations about something other than work and all she had said was that her brother had left home when she was eight. Even though the brunette hadn’t said it, she had gotten the impression that Sara hadn’t seen him since then. Catherine looked over at Grissom and saw him close his eyes as if he were in pain. She wondered just how much he knew about the brunette’s past.
Xxx
Catherine divided her attention between stroking the hair of her now sleeping daughter and staring out the window toward the nurse’s station as the hours seemed to crawl by. So she was the first one to notice the approaching man.
As Brass entered the room he found himself the focus of seven pairs of eyes but he was only looking for one. He stopped in front of Catherine and took the hand she held out to him. “You okay?”
“Just a mild concussion.” Catherine could see the worry in his eyes and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“How’s Sara?” That was the burning question in Jim’s mind. He hadn’t been able to get the image of her bloody broken body out of his head. The look of resignation in her dark eyes as they closed would haunt him until he could see her alive and sending him one of her death glares for daring to be worried about her.
“She’s still in surgery. The doctors in the ER said they stabilized her before bringing her up here but we haven’t heard a word since then.” Catherine didn’t want to think about how long it had been since they had been waiting. She knew these things took time but it didn’t stop the fear. Doctors had operated on Holly Gribbs for nearly ten hours and they hadn’t been able to save her.
“Sara’s strong she’s gonna pull through. I bet you the first thing she says when she wakes up is ‘When can I go back to work’.” Hearing chuckles from around the room Brass turned and gave the others a smile. “I would have been here sooner but the sheriff wanted to have a conversation about the shooting.”
Seeing the question in Catherine’s eyes, Jim remembered that she had been unconscious when he had killed Thomas. “He wanted to convene the shooting review board today but I told him I wouldn’t answer any questions until I knew Sara was okay. So it’s been scheduled for tomorrow. I get the feeling that someone wants to sweep this under the carpet as quickly as possible.”
“Excuse me is Ms Willows here?”
Cath looked up at the interruption to see a doctor in green scrubs looking around the room. “I’m Catherine Willows. Is Sara okay?”
He waited for a portly man to move out of the way so he could face the blonde. “I’m Dr. Kingsley, and Ms Sidle is a very lucky woman. The bullet hit in the best place possible and while she’ll have to undergo some therapy for the damage to the muscle she should regain full use of the arm. We’ll be taking her to ICU for a day or two before moving her to a private room because there could be complications with her other injuries. I’m worried about secondary infections as well as blood clots from the extensive bruising. The next twenty-four hours will be crucial but if she gets through them then I expect her to make a full recovery. ”
Catherine closed her eyes as tears of relief escaped, leaving hot trails down her cheeks. “When can I see her?”
“They’re taking her to recovery now. I can give you a couple of minutes but the others will have to wait until tomorrow. ICU visiting hours are from six a.m. till eight a.m. and three p.m. until five p.m.” The doctor stepped back as the blonde motioned for someone to take the sleeping child from her so that she could follow him.
Grissom wanted to protest but kept silent. He doubted that anything he said would convince the doctor to allow to him see Sara as well. They were still under the impression that the two women were in a relationship and if he said anything Catherine might not get to see the brunette. If that happened he knew his body would probably never be found.
Catherine had known that Sara would be hooked up to machines and tubes but it didn’t stop the cold shock of actually seeing it. Her heart clenched at how small the brunette looked laying there, it just wasn’t natural to think of the tall lanky woman as tiny but that was exactly how she seemed. The younger woman’s face was still slightly pale but it wasn’t the spectral shade of white it had been and some of the color had already come back to her cheeks. The blonde took the slender hand that wasn’t splinted from where it rested on the sleeping woman’s stomach and noted with satisfaction that this time it was warm.
“Sara I know you probably can’t hear me but I just wanted you to know that I’m here. They won’t let me stay long but I’ll be back first thing in the morning. You’re not going to have to go through this alone, I’m going to be with you every step of the way, I promise.” Catherine was determined that Sara was not going to carry this burden alone the way she obviously had with everything else.
The nurse returned to inform her that her time was up entirely too quickly for Cath. She was reluctant to go but she had a daughter that had probably not slept since Thomas had taken them and she needed to get Lindsey home and into her own bed. She leaned over and lightly brushed her lips against Sara’s pale forehead. “They’re kicking me out but I’ll be here tomorrow sweetie so you just get some rest.”
As she turned to leave Catherine wondered at the how easily the term of endearment rolled off her tongue. This wasn’t the first time she had used it either. It was amazing how facing death with someone could change perspectives and relationships.
When she returned to the waiting room Cath found them all looking up at her expectantly. “She looks better even with the IV’s and wires hanging all over the place. She’s going to be okay. Look guys I’m going to take Linds home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“We’ll walk you out.” Nick said coming up beside her with Warrick behind him carrying the slumbering girl.
Greg followed a little slower, allowing Catherine’s mother and sister to precede him. He turned when he realized Grissom wasn’t with them. “Hey Griss you coming?”
Gil shook his head. “No I’m going to stay for a little while longer. I’ll see you later.”
Catherine went back to her friend and knelt beside him. “There’s nothing you can do tonight. Go home and get some rest. You all look like you haven’t slept in days.”
“We haven’t, we couldn’t, not until we got you both back.” Grissom couldn’t look her in the eye with his guilt weighing so heavily on him.
“Well we’re here, safe and on the way to being sound so you can rest. Go home Gil or you’re going to fall over. She’s asleep and not aware of whether we’re here or not.” Catherine patted his knee knowing that he wouldn’t listen but at least she had tried. She was too tired herself to really argue with him and she completely understood why he didn’t want to go. If she didn’t have Lindsey to worry about she would be right there beside him all night. “Try to get a little rest okay.”
Grissom nodded and left in the opposite direction of everyone else. He wanted to find the ICU waiting room and get settled in. He was going to make sure he was the first person to see Sara in the morning. He had something very important to tell her.
TBC
Author: Kimmi
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I only wished I owned Sara and Catherine. Unfortunately CBS does, I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: When Sara’s past comes back to haunt her it arrives with a vengeance.
Spoilers: Up to Nesting Dolls, after that it takes a sharp left turn.
Authors Notes: This is dark, full of angst and deals with themes of rape and torture, although I don’t think I got too graphic. I also do not have a beta so there will be errors.
Chapters | 1 | 2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
Part 15
Catherine was determined to keep in physical contact with Sara even though the paramedics kept trying to get her to sit back, she needed to let the younger woman know that she wasn’t alone. She was no doctor, but from the frantic activity and medical jargon being thrown around, she knew the brunette was in bad shape.
“Stay with me Sara. You’re so strong, stronger than anyone I know, you’ve got to keep fighting.” Cath kept stroking dark limp hair as she leaned over to whisper more encouragement in Sara’s ear. “We’re almost there sweetie, just a couple more minutes, and you’re going to be at the hospital where the doctors are going to take care of you. So just hold on a little while longer ok, for me, please?”
Willows continued her quite pleas and soft touches until the ambulance pulled into the ER and Sara was whisked away. She tried to follow but was held back by the medic that had tried to examine her before.
“Ma’am they won’t let you go in there with her. Don’t worry she’s in good hands and if she’s as strong as you say, she’s got a good chance. Now we need to get you checked out.”
Catherine didn’t want to sit meekly in an exam room, she wanted to be by Sara’s side. She was so afraid that the brunette’s last ditch effort to save her had been too much for the young woman’s traumatized body. She needed to be in there with Sara and she dared them to try to keep her out of that room.
She sidestepped the medic and her path was almost immediately blocked by a short dirty-blonde woman in a white lab coat that looked much too young to be a doctor. Catherine tried to go around her but a wave of dizziness forced her to a halt until it passed. By the time she regained her equilibrium the doctor and paramedic had been joined by a rather large orderly and had formed a human wall in front of her.
“Ma’am I’m Dr. Sims, I know you’re worried about your friend but you can’t go back there. You need to come with me so I can have a look at your head.” Carla Sims kept her voice soft so as to keep the woman calm. She could see the rising panic in her icy blue eyes and she was afraid if the blonde tried to fight them she would only end up hurting herself.
“Sara’s not just my friend! She’s…she’s…more than that.” Catherine was at a loss for words. How exactly did you categorize a woman you’d worked beside, fought with, spurned, and spent more time with then your own daughter for five years? How did you describe a woman that could very well die because she was protecting you? Friend just didn’t seem to be adequate.
“I understand, but regardless of your relationship I can’t let you go in there. You would just be in the way and could actually be a danger to her.” Sims was sympathetic but distraught family members tended to hinder more than they helped in situations such as these. “Why don’t you let me examine you and by the time I’m done we should have some news, ok?”
With one last long look down the hall Catherine reluctantly agreed. After being poked, prodded, x-rayed, stitched, bandaged and a long argument about staying overnight for observation the petite doctor finally let her go. Borrowing a set of scrubs, Cath changed out of her blood stained clothes and bagged them while Sims went to fulfill her promise of getting an update on Sara.
When the doctor hadn’t returned after about five minutes, Cath started to get a little panicky. What the hell was taking so long? What if it was bad news and she was trying to find a way to break it to her gently. Bolting out from behind the curtain that had shielded her during the exam, heart hammering its way out of her chest, the blonde saw the woman almost immediately. The short blonde was standing halfway down the corridor along with another doctor and both were being harassed by her co-workers.
She started toward the group intent on getting answers when a twelve year old tornado hit her full force knocking her back a few steps before she could regain her balance. Catherine pulled her daughter to her in a crushing hug, stoking the girl’s golden hair as Lindsey’s tears quickly soaked through the thin scrubs she was wearing. Her world shrank until nothing existed but the two of them, her child her only concern.
“I was so scared Mom, I thought you left me just like dad.” Lindsey finally managed to verbalize the fear that had been strangling her since Warrick had come to their house to tell them that Catherine was missing.
Catherine swiped at her face, trying to dry the tears that had begun falling as soon as she had her daughter in her arms. She sank to her knees so that she could look the girl in the eye. “Oh god baby I am so sorry. You know that I would never leave you without a fight, right?”
Lindsey nodded and reached out to touch the bandage around her mother’s head. “Are you okay?”
Catherine’s heart nearly broke at how tiny Linds’ voice sounded. The girl had come damn close to being an orphan, to close. She just hoped this didn’t bring back the nightmares that had plagued her daughter after Eddie’s death or the resulting behavior problems. “I’m fine baby. It’s just a bump on the head and a few stitches.”
Standing up Catherine looked around at the others that had gathered silently around them. Her mother, sister and her co-workers had formed a protective circle blocking the tearful reunion with her daughter from any curious eyes. This was her family whether related by blood or not. This time the blonde didn’t hesitate and threw her arms around each one in turn. Once she had greeted them all and assured everyone that she was all right Cath turned her attention to the two doctors. “How is Sara?”
“Ms Willows this is Dr. Klein, he worked on your, ah, girlfriend here in the ER.” Carla didn’t want to offend the woman again by calling her partner a friend.
“Ms Sidle’s file doesn’t list a next of kin and the only emergency contact is the Las Vegas Crime lab. Have you informed her family?” Reginald Klein asked without looking up from the clipboard he was holding. He had deflected the questions of her co-workers because his colleague had told him that his patient’s girlfriend was there. However she wasn’t listed in the file as a contact or as having power of attorney.
“She doesn’t have any family. We’re all she has. Now will you please just tell me how she is?” Catherine had ignored the raised eyebrows at the doctor’s description of her relationship with Sara. She didn’t care that she had accidentally led these people to believe that there was more between her and brunette than there was, not as long as it got her information on the Sara’s condition.
The doctor looked carefully at the assembled group and shook his head. It wasn’t hospital policy but from the looks on their faces they weren’t going to take no for an answer. Well families came in all shapes and sizes these days. “We gave her three units of blood and were able to get her stabilized enough to take her up to surgery. I won’t sugarcoat it, Ms Sidle is far from out of the woods yet. Apart from the blood loss she is dehydrated and has deep tissue bruising to over eighty percent of her body along with more than a dozen cuts and puncture wounds. She has three cracked ribs, a broken collar bone, two broken fingers and her shoulder shows signs of having recently been dislocated.”
Catherine had known that Sara had been badly beaten but she was surprised that she didn’t have more broken bones. The others had barely gotten a glance at the brunette before they were rushed to the hospital and the looks on their faces told her that they had no idea that she had suffered so much.
“Doctor was she…” Grissom couldn’t ask. He looked to Catherine hoping she would understand what he was trying say.
“Did you do a SART exam?” Catherine almost couldn’t bring herself to ask either, even though it was her biggest fear.
“We did manage to do a cursory exam and found no signs of sexual assault. If you would like to go up to the surgical waiting room it is on the third floor. I will leave word for Dr. Kingsley to keep you informed,” Reginald told them. He nodded once to Dr. Sims before going to see to his next patient.
Catherine thanked god that Sara had been spared another violation. What the brunette had gone through was going to be hard enough for her to deal without adding another rape on top of it. Looking around she saw that the others were also breathing a sigh of relief. Not wanting to wait any longer she took Lindsey’s hand and started for the elevator, the others right behind her.
The ride up was silent as no one wanted to be the first to ask one of the questions bouncing around in their heads. The second the doors opened Catherine led Lindsey to the nurse’s station to let them know who they were there for and that they would be in the waiting room. She sighed as she turned toward the small glass-walled room knowing that she wouldn’t be able to avoid the questions much longer. It was probably better to get it over with quickly.
Taking the chair closest to the door Catherine was surprised when Lindsey crawled into her lap and snuggled against her. She couldn’t remember the last time the sometimes surly preteen had initiated this kind of contact with her. While their relationship had gotten better lately it was still strained and she was going to soak this up for as long as it lasted.
“Catherine what happened?” It was Grissom that spoke first his voice low. He had wanted to wait until she was ready to talk but it didn’t seem as if that would be any time soon and he needed to know what had gone on in that factory.
Catherine shook her head. She knew he was asking about Sara but she didn’t have the answers he wanted. “I don’t know. I didn’t see her until a few minutes before you found us. There were screams and, and then silence and then more screams. He tortured her and there was nothing I could do.” She was crying now and felt someone wrap a strong arm around her shoulders but she shook it off even as she pulled her daughter closer to her. She didn’t want comforting she wanted to see Sara, she wanted to go home and spend time with her not so little girl, she wanted all this to have never have happened. “She saved my life. That bullet was meant for me.”
“What about you Cath?” Warrick asked from beside her. He was a little hurt that she had rejected him but if she had been through anything like what Sara had suffered he could understand why she wouldn’t want to be touched.
“He left me alone most of the time. Sara was the one he wanted I was just a means to an ends. He was completely insane. How did you guys find us?” She knew they would be confused but she couldn’t tell them everything, not yet, maybe not ever.
“Highway Patrol spotted Sara’s car.” Nick answered her. He was still upset that it had been nothing more than dumb luck, that all their evidence and work had been useless. Of course without that bit of luck they would be planning two funerals right now.
A shiver traveled down Cath’s spine. She and Sara had come closer to death than she had previously thought. She was lost in thoughts of what had nearly happened when someone clearing their throat drew her attention.
“Hey Catherine what was all that downstairs about you being Sara’s girlfriend?” Even with everything else going on Greg hadn’t been able to get it out of his mind ever since the doctor had stumbled over the word.
Catherine groaned to herself as a slight blush crept its way up her neck to color her cheeks. She had known someone would comment on that sooner or later, she had just hoped for later. “I may have accidentally given her that impression. But at least it got us an update on Sara without too much of a fight.”
“Accidentally? How do you accidentally make someone think that you and Sara are…?” Greg wisely chose not to finish when Catherine narrowed her eyes at him. He would figure out a way to get the story out of her later.
“Ok well what about her family? Where are her parents?” Nick was curious as to how Catherine had gotten her information. Sara was notoriously closed-mouthed when it came to her private life and she had never once talked about her family with him and he had thought he was one of her closest friends in Vegas.
Catherine chewed her bottom lip as she considered how to answer him. Nick didn’t know so that meant Sara didn’t want him to. “Her parents are dead.” It was half a lie, but she couldn’t tell them the truth, it wasn’t her place. “I think she has brother but I don’t even know his name. I don’t even know if Sara knows where he is.”
She had only heard Sara mention her brother once in passing. It had been one of their rare conversations about something other than work and all she had said was that her brother had left home when she was eight. Even though the brunette hadn’t said it, she had gotten the impression that Sara hadn’t seen him since then. Catherine looked over at Grissom and saw him close his eyes as if he were in pain. She wondered just how much he knew about the brunette’s past.
Xxx
Catherine divided her attention between stroking the hair of her now sleeping daughter and staring out the window toward the nurse’s station as the hours seemed to crawl by. So she was the first one to notice the approaching man.
As Brass entered the room he found himself the focus of seven pairs of eyes but he was only looking for one. He stopped in front of Catherine and took the hand she held out to him. “You okay?”
“Just a mild concussion.” Catherine could see the worry in his eyes and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“How’s Sara?” That was the burning question in Jim’s mind. He hadn’t been able to get the image of her bloody broken body out of his head. The look of resignation in her dark eyes as they closed would haunt him until he could see her alive and sending him one of her death glares for daring to be worried about her.
“She’s still in surgery. The doctors in the ER said they stabilized her before bringing her up here but we haven’t heard a word since then.” Catherine didn’t want to think about how long it had been since they had been waiting. She knew these things took time but it didn’t stop the fear. Doctors had operated on Holly Gribbs for nearly ten hours and they hadn’t been able to save her.
“Sara’s strong she’s gonna pull through. I bet you the first thing she says when she wakes up is ‘When can I go back to work’.” Hearing chuckles from around the room Brass turned and gave the others a smile. “I would have been here sooner but the sheriff wanted to have a conversation about the shooting.”
Seeing the question in Catherine’s eyes, Jim remembered that she had been unconscious when he had killed Thomas. “He wanted to convene the shooting review board today but I told him I wouldn’t answer any questions until I knew Sara was okay. So it’s been scheduled for tomorrow. I get the feeling that someone wants to sweep this under the carpet as quickly as possible.”
“Excuse me is Ms Willows here?”
Cath looked up at the interruption to see a doctor in green scrubs looking around the room. “I’m Catherine Willows. Is Sara okay?”
He waited for a portly man to move out of the way so he could face the blonde. “I’m Dr. Kingsley, and Ms Sidle is a very lucky woman. The bullet hit in the best place possible and while she’ll have to undergo some therapy for the damage to the muscle she should regain full use of the arm. We’ll be taking her to ICU for a day or two before moving her to a private room because there could be complications with her other injuries. I’m worried about secondary infections as well as blood clots from the extensive bruising. The next twenty-four hours will be crucial but if she gets through them then I expect her to make a full recovery. ”
Catherine closed her eyes as tears of relief escaped, leaving hot trails down her cheeks. “When can I see her?”
“They’re taking her to recovery now. I can give you a couple of minutes but the others will have to wait until tomorrow. ICU visiting hours are from six a.m. till eight a.m. and three p.m. until five p.m.” The doctor stepped back as the blonde motioned for someone to take the sleeping child from her so that she could follow him.
Grissom wanted to protest but kept silent. He doubted that anything he said would convince the doctor to allow to him see Sara as well. They were still under the impression that the two women were in a relationship and if he said anything Catherine might not get to see the brunette. If that happened he knew his body would probably never be found.
Catherine had known that Sara would be hooked up to machines and tubes but it didn’t stop the cold shock of actually seeing it. Her heart clenched at how small the brunette looked laying there, it just wasn’t natural to think of the tall lanky woman as tiny but that was exactly how she seemed. The younger woman’s face was still slightly pale but it wasn’t the spectral shade of white it had been and some of the color had already come back to her cheeks. The blonde took the slender hand that wasn’t splinted from where it rested on the sleeping woman’s stomach and noted with satisfaction that this time it was warm.
“Sara I know you probably can’t hear me but I just wanted you to know that I’m here. They won’t let me stay long but I’ll be back first thing in the morning. You’re not going to have to go through this alone, I’m going to be with you every step of the way, I promise.” Catherine was determined that Sara was not going to carry this burden alone the way she obviously had with everything else.
The nurse returned to inform her that her time was up entirely too quickly for Cath. She was reluctant to go but she had a daughter that had probably not slept since Thomas had taken them and she needed to get Lindsey home and into her own bed. She leaned over and lightly brushed her lips against Sara’s pale forehead. “They’re kicking me out but I’ll be here tomorrow sweetie so you just get some rest.”
As she turned to leave Catherine wondered at the how easily the term of endearment rolled off her tongue. This wasn’t the first time she had used it either. It was amazing how facing death with someone could change perspectives and relationships.
When she returned to the waiting room Cath found them all looking up at her expectantly. “She looks better even with the IV’s and wires hanging all over the place. She’s going to be okay. Look guys I’m going to take Linds home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“We’ll walk you out.” Nick said coming up beside her with Warrick behind him carrying the slumbering girl.
Greg followed a little slower, allowing Catherine’s mother and sister to precede him. He turned when he realized Grissom wasn’t with them. “Hey Griss you coming?”
Gil shook his head. “No I’m going to stay for a little while longer. I’ll see you later.”
Catherine went back to her friend and knelt beside him. “There’s nothing you can do tonight. Go home and get some rest. You all look like you haven’t slept in days.”
“We haven’t, we couldn’t, not until we got you both back.” Grissom couldn’t look her in the eye with his guilt weighing so heavily on him.
“Well we’re here, safe and on the way to being sound so you can rest. Go home Gil or you’re going to fall over. She’s asleep and not aware of whether we’re here or not.” Catherine patted his knee knowing that he wouldn’t listen but at least she had tried. She was too tired herself to really argue with him and she completely understood why he didn’t want to go. If she didn’t have Lindsey to worry about she would be right there beside him all night. “Try to get a little rest okay.”
Grissom nodded and left in the opposite direction of everyone else. He wanted to find the ICU waiting room and get settled in. He was going to make sure he was the first person to see Sara in the morning. He had something very important to tell her.
TBC