Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. I am only using the characters to keep some G/LH fans happy. J
Author's Note: Thanks to my lovely beta GumDrops! I really appreciate your help. This is my first Gil/Lady H fic; I hope y'all like it!
"Grissom," The aged Entomologist hissed into his cellphone.
He was in no mood to talk to anyone. Almost everyone he encountered has pissed him off in some way or another and most likely whoever was on the other line was next.
It had been a hard night at the Las Vegas Crime Lab; He was headed home for a shower, some breakfast and to forget about the case.
"Gil, it's Brass," A short pause followed this statement. "You um, need to get to Desert Palm now."
Gil felt his anger rise and could no longer keep it tamed.
"Goddamn it, Jim. I'm going home! What the hell could be so im—"
The detective was shocked a the sudden outburst, but quickly cut his colleague off.
"It's Lady Heather."
Silence fell between the two for a moment. Then the screeching of tires followed by car horns honking told Jim that Gil was on his way.
"I'll be there in ten."
Desert Palm Hospital
He had barely recognized her. She looked nothing like the Heather he knew.
She was lying in the hospital bed, head tilted to the right; She didn't appear to be in much pain so Gil had to wonder what exactly had happened to her.
On the phone Jim Brass hadn't disclosed any information as to Heather's condition, leaving Gil's mind to wander to the worst. And now that Gil had reached the hospital and needed to be filled in, Jim was no where to be found.
He focused on her again. She was the only thing that should be on his mind.
He stood outside of the room, not daring to go inside.
He was leaning against the door frame. The room he was peering into was almost completely without light, except for two dim lights on either side of the bed, making her small form visible.
Her brown hair was visibly damp and clung to her cheeks; Her skin was pale, more so than usual. And her lips were chapped and scabbed, making Gil swallow hard.
It was become clear that whatever happened to her wasn't pleasant.
Obviously if it sent to her the hospital it wasn't something she wished for but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Her mysterious green eyes that he loved so much were closed tightly, fluttering occasionally as she attempted to rest; Gil didn't think she was having much luck falling asleep, the way her lips trembled and her eyes would dart open.
He also didn't think she saw him standing outside. Each time her eyes would open, her gaze immediately went straight to her hands where she itched at something for a few moments then would lie back and close her eyes again.
Once again, Gil debated on whether he should go in or not. He was afraid to find out what had happened and even more afraid that she wouldn't want to see him.
He was sure that Heather didn't realize he was in love with her.
A tap on his shoulder interrupted Gil's thoughts.
"Dr. Grissom?"
For the first time since being shown to her room Gil tore his eyes away from Heather and spun around to face the man who had tapped his shoulder.
"Yes?" He replied.
"I understand you are a friend of Ms. Kesslers'. Mind if we go somewhere to talk for a moment?"
Gil nodded and followed the doctor, who led him down the hall. Their steps echoed throughout the hall.
Gil couldn't remember the hospital ever being this quiet.
The doctor held the white door open for Gil to enter the room first; Several people in the room looked up, awaiting news from a doctor about their loved ones. When they saw Gil wasn't the doctor they needed, they went back to talking.
The room looked as if it were designed to make people feel at home. It's soft green walls, slightly overstuffed chairs, televisions on low volume did seem somewhat comforting; Until Gil's mind wandered back to Heather.
The doctor motioned for Gil to sit down and obediently did as instructed.
"Are you the boyfriend or…?" The doctor asked quietly.
"Friend of the family."
The doctor hesitated but saw the look in Gil's eyes and decided to go ahead with the information he had.
"Okay. The internal injuries Ms. Kessler suffered were repaired with the appropriate surgeries."
"What injuries?" Gil inquired. He understood why she couldn't sleep; The surgeries had probably made it uncomfortable to do much of anything.
"Well, the big problem was internal bleeding. But while she was still under the anesthetic we had to put her left shoulder back in place," The doctor calmly explained. He glanced down at his chart before continuing.
"She had two broken ribs, a fractured wrist and severe bruising to her torso, thighs, arms and a few on her face."
Gil didn't speak at first. The shock was too much.
The images of Heather's battered and bruised body flooded his mind, making it impossible to focus.
"Dr. Grissom?"
Tears now clouded Gil's vision; He inhaled sharply. It was hard to breathe; He had to leave.
"I have to see her," He hoarsely whispered.
The doctor nodded knowingly.
Gil took off for Heather's room; It was closer then he remembered and suddenly found himself standing in front of the door, where he had been before the doctor had found him.
He reached for the doorknob, but froze in mid-reach. Time seemed to stand still as he debated on whether or not to enter; He still hadn't reached a decision when the doctor decided to check on him.
"Dr. Grissom, are you okay?"
The young doctor approached Gil slowly.
Slowly, Gil turned around suddenly full of questions.
"Will she be okay?" He blurted. He glanced at the doctor's name tag; 'Dr. Lind.'
"After all of her wounds heal she should be fine, physically. But emotionally, that's another story," Dr. Lind patiently explained.
A confused look invaded Gil's face; What happened that made it so Heather wouldn't be okay emotionally? Dr. Lind saw the bewilderment in the older man's face so he went on.
"Um, Dr. Grissom, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but Ms. Kessler was… raped," Dr. Lind explained.
Before Gil could respond, a petite nurse slipped between the space amid the two men and into Heather's room.
He watched, expressionless and shocked by the news he had just received, as the nurse gently woke Heather. He read the nurse's lips as she told Heather a cup of ice chips had been placed on the counter and they would soothe her throat.
Heather refused by simply shaking her head and the nurse exited the room, looking up at Gil as she walked back to her nurses' station.
The questions that had swamped Gil's mind earlier vanished. Now he just needed to talk to her.
"I can go in, right?"
Dr. Lind nodded; Gil reached for the knob and turned it.
The door squeaked quietly as he opened it. Gil looked once at the doctor then took a few small steps into the room, the door shutting behind him.
"Heather?" He asked softly, not wanting to scare her.
He had dealt with his share of rape victims, but never before had they been someone he loved.
And he did love the woman lying in the bed before him; He loved her with all of his heart.
She gasped suddenly, realizing someone was in her room. Her eyes shot open; The fear was evident in her eyes.
"Heather, it's Gil. May I come in?" He continued talking in the soft tone.
She nodded, trying to flush the terror from her eyes with rapid blinking. Her efforts were fruitless and the fright was still apparent in her eyes.
He walked the short distance to the bed and sat down in the green plastic chair; Neither spoke at first, both trying to figure out where to start.
"So… how'd you know I was here?" Heather kindly inquired.
Gil could tell she was uncomfortable; Her eyes were lowered, not even glancing at the man sitting near her bed. Her chest heaved slightly as she calmed her breathing.
"Heather, I understand if you don't want me here. Just say the word and I'll leave. I know our past has been less than perfect," He offered, speaking just above a whisper.
She swallowed, wincing as the saliva burnt her raw throat.
Gil glanced at her neck; Deep purple bruises in the shape of fingers and possibly a palm were sickening to him. To think that someone hurt Heather was almost unbearable.
His eyes then wandered to her arms which had similar bruising to the ones on her neck; The main discoloration was to her wrists and that signified to Gil that she was either bound or held down.
He ashamedly shook his head at the thoughts. He was looking at her like a piece of evidence and she deserved better than that.
"Aren't you going to answer me?" Heather inquired. Her voice was incredibly soft; Nothing like the strong, independent voice he was used to.
"Oh, sorry. A friend informed me you were here," Gil replied.
She nodded and closed her eyes as a shot of pain ruptured throughout her abdomen.
"Are you okay?"
"Mm-hmm. Will you please hand me the ice chips?" She swallowed hard again as the pain increased and decreased with each breath.
She knew the ice chips wouldn't help her stomach, but maybe the cold would take her mind off of the pain.
Gil rushed around to the other side of the bed and handed Heather the Styrofoam cup full of ice chips. Her eyes shot open as he ever so gently nudged her arm to indicate he was handing them to her.
She eagerly accepted the cup and spooned a few of the chips into her mouth.
After letting them melt for a moment, she swallowed. The cold liquid rushing down her throat momentarily numbed her esophagus and somehow made her forget the pain she had been experiencing; Just like she had expected.
"Heather, I know this will be hard," He started. He knew he had to take her statement; Or so he thought. "But I need to know what happened."
He knew the police had already taken Heather's statement. But he wanted to know everything, that way he could catch the bastard who had done this damage himself.
Heather looked over at him incredulously; Hadn't the police filled him in?
She inhaled a trembling breath and let it out slowly. She didn't want to tell recall the evenings events again; After all, she had already told the police what had happened and given them a description of the man who had attacked her.
Warm tears stung her emerald eyes but even with her efforts to hold them back, she wasn't able and they spilled down her cheeks.
Gil could see how different she was and he had obviously upset her. He wasn't sure how to comfort her so he very tenderly took her hand in his.
Heather gasped as his warm skin collided with her cold hand. He immediately withdrew his hand, apologies pouring out.
"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? I'm really sorry," He blurted.
The truth was, his touch had actually burnt her. It felt as if her hand were on fire for a moment. Not only his touch, but whenever the nurse checked her I.V. she felt a bit of pain shoot through her hand.
But she needed to feel safe; And lying in the room all alone wasn't making her feel safe.
"No, it was okay," She lied. "I… I have one more thing to ask. Can you just sit up here and h-hold me?"
Gil wasn't sure if he should agree at first. He didn't want to hurt her in any way. But if she would feel better, then he had to do as she asked.
"Which side has the most… injuries?" His voice got quieter as the last word left his mouth. Whichever side was the least injured was the side he would sit at.
Heather silently motioned to her right side and Gil quickly walked around the bed again. After she had moved to the left side of the mattress to allow Gil room to sit, he carefully sat down on the bed.
At first, that's all he did was sit there. But after realizing Heather had stated she needed to feel safe, he lifted his right arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, gently letting his hand stop on the upper part of her arm.
Without warning, the tears that had threatened to fall earlier from her emerald eyes fell. She collapsed into the protective hug of Gil, sobbing hysterically.
"It's okay," He whispered as he stroked her hair.
He made no effort to try and make her stop crying; He knew too many people who held their emotions in and he felt it was only healthy to realize the feelings, that bottling everything up only prolonged the healing process.
She emitted a shuddering sigh. Gil stood up from the bed, placing his hands just above her elbow on the back of each of her arms, then helped her lie back on the bed.
"Thanks," Heather mumbled as the drug in her I.V. began taking effect, making her feel tired.
Gil was back down in the plastic chair he had been sitting in earlier; He slipped Heather's left hand in between the grasp of his, being sure not to hold on too tight and not tight enough.
While he watched her sleep, two things were happening in his mind. The first was that he realized she would need someone to stay with her after being released from the hospital, and that he would take care of anything she needed done, whether she refused or not.
The second was a bit more important, something he could never break the vow he had just made to himself.
A vow to never leave her again.