The Sweetest Sound
As he sat in the driver's seat of his Tahoe, he speed-dialed his cell phone and waited. Please be home.
Catherine Willows smiled as she watched her daughter playing with her Barbies and she walked to pick up the phone as it rang. Please don't let it be Brass with another case. "Hello?"
I love to hear her voice. How long will it be until I cannot hear her anymore? "Cath?"
Something's wrong. I can tell by his tone. Something's wrong. "Gil. Hey."
"I need to talk to you. Are you busy?"
"No. Lindsay's playing with her dolls. Come on over."
"Thanks. Fifteen minutes."
"All right. I'll order Chinese." Should I fix my makeup? It's just Gil, why am I so damn worried? Maybe it was his tone; there's something wrong.
She hung up the phone and Lindsay came over to her. "Mom?" Her eight-year-old had recently decided that she was too old to say Mommy, but Catherine wasn't too sure if she was ready for the Mom stage. "Do you have to go to work?"
"No. Grissom's on his way over. We're going to have Chinese for dinner, do you want a pizza?"
Lindsay clapped. "Yeah! Pizza!"
Catherine smiled and called in the order for take-out Chinese before she heated a frozen pizza for Lindsay. There was a knock on the door.
"Can I answer it, Mom?"
"Ask who it is, first."
The little girl bounded over to the door and Catherine listened from the kitchen. "Who is it?"
"Uncle Grissom."
Lindsay opened the door and hugged him. "Uncle Grissom! Mom's in the kitchen." She led him to where Catherine was putting ice in the glasses.
"I need to talk to you." Grissom said quietly.
"Lindsay, can you go clean your dolls up? You can get them out again after we eat." The little girl nodded and left the room. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"I wanted to tell you first. I had a doctor's appointment today."
"More migraines?" She asked, worried.
"No. Do you remember when you four tried to figure out how I knew sign language?"
Yes. Still another thing I haven't figured out about you. "Vaguely."
"My mother knew it and she taught me. She lost her hearing…and I'm losing mine too."
I heard him wrong. Grissom…he can't be losing his hearing. I can't be losing him. "How long?" Damn it, why am I crying? I've gotten through worse than this without crying; why am I crying?
She's crying. When I pictured telling her, I didn't picture her crying. It hurts me when she cries. Ed made her cry, but I never do. I made her cry. "I don't know. It's gradual."
Is it fatal? Am I going to lose him all together or just never be able to talk to him again? "What about work?" What about us? You're my best friend in Vegas; I can't be losing you too.
"Right now, I'm looking at quitting, but I'm not sure when. You can handle things; you're good at politics. Warrick and Nick don't need much leadership right now and Nick takes care of Sara." Why do I feel like there's so much that we're talking around instead of about? Why do I feel like there's so much more I need to tell her?
The doorbell rang and Lindsay came into the kitchen. Catherine paid for the takeout and came back into the kitchen. "Mom, can I have a soft drink?"
"One." Lindsay got a Coke out of the refrigerator and put ice in the glasses for her mother and Grissom.
"No! NO!" Grissom woke up the next day in a cold sweat. He'd had a dream about Ed being in the lab again and he was hurting Catherine again. This time, it was different though. She was yelling and he couldn't hear her, he couldn't understand what she was telling him. He tried to get to her, but he couldn't move and he couldn't shout for help. They'd been dating casually for months, but nothing had happened although he thought about it sometimes. How can it ever happen now? How can I ask her to make a commitment of any kind to a man who won't even be able to work in a few years? What happens when I can't hear her anymore?
The next shift was uneventful. He managed to avoid Catherine completely, putting her on a case with Sara and he took Nick with him to a scene. Warrick was on his own, not that he minded. Catherine and Sara were finishing up the case.
"Cath, is Grissom all right? He's seemed upset today." Sara asked.
Before Catherine could answer, both women saw Ed Willows, Catherine's ex-husband, standing against the wall. "Sara, why don't you go type up the report?" Reluctantly, Sara left as Catherine walked over to Ed. "You're not supposed to be at the lab anymore."
"I need to talk to you."
She could tell that he was both drunk and stoned. "Not here." She said, turning to walk away.
He grabbed her arm. "Now."
"Come with me." They walked to Grissom's office. "What the hell do you want?"
"Catherine, I found out about your little trip to Miami and who you left Lindsay with. Another custody hearing's coming up. I wonder what the judge would say."
"If you're not happy about me seeing Grissom, tough. You don't have a say anymore; we're not married."
"Lindsay's still my daughter. Or is she?"
"What are you getting at?"
"How do I know that you didn't know Grissom back then? Maybe she's really his daughter." Catherine cursed at him and they started fighting.
"Catherine, what does…" Sara came into the office and saw them fighting. "Damn it, stop it!"
She didn't even realize when he threw Catherine against the wall, knocking down the shelves that were already unstable. As Ed began to hit Sara instead of his ex-wife, Greg Sanders was passing by in the hall and saw what was happening. He ran to the front doors where Grissom and Nick had finally come back to the lab.
"What is it, Greg?" Nick asked, knowing that something was wrong.
"Catherine. Sara." Grissom and Nick followed Greg to Grissom's office where Ed and Sara were still fighting.
"Greg, go call Warrick. Tell him to meet us at the hospital. Then go get the first aid kit." Nick said, trying to lift the bookcase off Catherine.
Blood ran from Ed's mouth and nose. "Shit! You broke my nose!"
"Sara, go." She nodded and hurried to try to help Nick.
"You broke my nose!" Ed repeated.
"If you ever come near Sara or Catherine or Lindsay again, I'll do more than that." Security came and lifted the bookcase off Catherine. "I believe Mr. Willows wants to file an assault charge." Grissom said, before dropping down to the floor to sit with Catherine. Ed didn't comment as the security led him out.
Nick and Sara left the office, Nick's arm protectively around Sara's shoulders. Greg ran with the first aid kit. "You look awful." He told Sara.
"Well, thanks, Greg." She commented sarcastically.
"Is Warrick coming?"
"He's on his way. So's an ambulance."
"Thanks, man." Greg nodded and went back to his corner of the lab. "Are you all right?" Nick asked Sara quietly as they found a place to sit where he could use the first aid on her face.
"I don't know what happened. I don't even remember thinking before I did it." That didn't surprise him. A lot of the times he didn't think she thought before acting. That's what got her in so much trouble. He continued to doctor her face.
"It hurts." Catherine said quietly.
"Yeah, I know."
"I'm sorry about the tarantula." His empty cage laid at with the rubble of the bookcase and the books.
"Don't worry about him. Don't think about the pain; don't try to talk. Just lie there."
"Don't leave." She said, reaching for his hand.
"I won't." He wished that he could at least move her off the floor, but he didn't know what damage had been done, if any, and he didn't want to hurt her anymore than Ed already had.
The ambulance pulled up at the same time as Warrick. "What's going on?" Warrick asked when he found Sara and Nick.
"Ed paid a visit." Nick told his friend.
"You okay?" Warrick asked Sara, who nodded. "What about Catherine?"
The medics brought her out on the stretcher. "Nick, take Sara home. Warrick, handle things here." Grissom said, pausing before going with Sara to the hospital.
"He's right." Warrick said, looking at Sara. "You two need to go home."
"Go get your stuff." Nick told Sara gently. When she left he said, "I'm taking her to my house. If you need any help, call there."
"All right. Hey, Nick, what happened?"
"I don't know." Sara returned with her purse. "You ready?" She nodded and they left.
When Nick and Sara got to his house, he pulled her onto his lap. "Sar, why do you try to take on the world? Don't you know what Ed could have done to you today? Why didn't you call security?" He asked, looking worried and brushing her hair aside lightly.
"I don't know. I guess I just wasn't thinking." She paused and he watched her battered face. "I just saw him hurting Catherine and, well, I remember what it's like for someone you love to hurt you like that."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, thoroughly confused. She unbuttoned a few buttons on her shirt until he saw burns on her chest. "Oh, God. What the hell happened? Who hurt you?"
"When I was in college. I wasn't as stubborn and outspoken as I am now. He had me believing that I couldn't live without him." She saw Nick's jaw clench and she paused, unsure how much he wanted to hear. "We were going to get married when I found out I was pregnant." Tears finally began to fall and he reached for her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I was attacked coming out of the school after one of my classes. They kicked me until I lost the baby."
"Is that why you don't like to be around kids?" He asked quietly.
She nodded. "Yeah. The doctors say that there's not much chance of having another one; I'm too messed up. If I can't have any, I don't want to get attached to any." It made sense, in a 'Sara' sort of way.
"Was he involved in the attack?" Nick asked, changing the subject back.
"Yeah. He was arrested, but his father got him off. I graduated a year early and moved back to San Francisco." She slid off his lap. "Nick, I know this is a lot for you to absorb all at once. I should have told you before, but I was afraid how you would react. If you don't want me around any more, I'll understand."
Nick stood. "Sara, please tell me you don't think that little of me. If I knew who hurt you, I'd make him pay. You know that, don't you? You're so important to me. When Crane pushed me out of that window, I discovered that you're the only thing that matters." She walked back over to him, still weeping, and he hugged her.
As he sat in the driver's seat of his Tahoe, he speed-dialed his cell phone and waited. Please be home.
Catherine Willows smiled as she watched her daughter playing with her Barbies and she walked to pick up the phone as it rang. Please don't let it be Brass with another case. "Hello?"
I love to hear her voice. How long will it be until I cannot hear her anymore? "Cath?"
Something's wrong. I can tell by his tone. Something's wrong. "Gil. Hey."
"I need to talk to you. Are you busy?"
"No. Lindsay's playing with her dolls. Come on over."
"Thanks. Fifteen minutes."
"All right. I'll order Chinese." Should I fix my makeup? It's just Gil, why am I so damn worried? Maybe it was his tone; there's something wrong.
She hung up the phone and Lindsay came over to her. "Mom?" Her eight-year-old had recently decided that she was too old to say Mommy, but Catherine wasn't too sure if she was ready for the Mom stage. "Do you have to go to work?"
"No. Grissom's on his way over. We're going to have Chinese for dinner, do you want a pizza?"
Lindsay clapped. "Yeah! Pizza!"
Catherine smiled and called in the order for take-out Chinese before she heated a frozen pizza for Lindsay. There was a knock on the door.
"Can I answer it, Mom?"
"Ask who it is, first."
The little girl bounded over to the door and Catherine listened from the kitchen. "Who is it?"
"Uncle Grissom."
Lindsay opened the door and hugged him. "Uncle Grissom! Mom's in the kitchen." She led him to where Catherine was putting ice in the glasses.
"I need to talk to you." Grissom said quietly.
"Lindsay, can you go clean your dolls up? You can get them out again after we eat." The little girl nodded and left the room. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"I wanted to tell you first. I had a doctor's appointment today."
"More migraines?" She asked, worried.
"No. Do you remember when you four tried to figure out how I knew sign language?"
Yes. Still another thing I haven't figured out about you. "Vaguely."
"My mother knew it and she taught me. She lost her hearing…and I'm losing mine too."
I heard him wrong. Grissom…he can't be losing his hearing. I can't be losing him. "How long?" Damn it, why am I crying? I've gotten through worse than this without crying; why am I crying?
She's crying. When I pictured telling her, I didn't picture her crying. It hurts me when she cries. Ed made her cry, but I never do. I made her cry. "I don't know. It's gradual."
Is it fatal? Am I going to lose him all together or just never be able to talk to him again? "What about work?" What about us? You're my best friend in Vegas; I can't be losing you too.
"Right now, I'm looking at quitting, but I'm not sure when. You can handle things; you're good at politics. Warrick and Nick don't need much leadership right now and Nick takes care of Sara." Why do I feel like there's so much that we're talking around instead of about? Why do I feel like there's so much more I need to tell her?
The doorbell rang and Lindsay came into the kitchen. Catherine paid for the takeout and came back into the kitchen. "Mom, can I have a soft drink?"
"One." Lindsay got a Coke out of the refrigerator and put ice in the glasses for her mother and Grissom.
"No! NO!" Grissom woke up the next day in a cold sweat. He'd had a dream about Ed being in the lab again and he was hurting Catherine again. This time, it was different though. She was yelling and he couldn't hear her, he couldn't understand what she was telling him. He tried to get to her, but he couldn't move and he couldn't shout for help. They'd been dating casually for months, but nothing had happened although he thought about it sometimes. How can it ever happen now? How can I ask her to make a commitment of any kind to a man who won't even be able to work in a few years? What happens when I can't hear her anymore?
The next shift was uneventful. He managed to avoid Catherine completely, putting her on a case with Sara and he took Nick with him to a scene. Warrick was on his own, not that he minded. Catherine and Sara were finishing up the case.
"Cath, is Grissom all right? He's seemed upset today." Sara asked.
Before Catherine could answer, both women saw Ed Willows, Catherine's ex-husband, standing against the wall. "Sara, why don't you go type up the report?" Reluctantly, Sara left as Catherine walked over to Ed. "You're not supposed to be at the lab anymore."
"I need to talk to you."
She could tell that he was both drunk and stoned. "Not here." She said, turning to walk away.
He grabbed her arm. "Now."
"Come with me." They walked to Grissom's office. "What the hell do you want?"
"Catherine, I found out about your little trip to Miami and who you left Lindsay with. Another custody hearing's coming up. I wonder what the judge would say."
"If you're not happy about me seeing Grissom, tough. You don't have a say anymore; we're not married."
"Lindsay's still my daughter. Or is she?"
"What are you getting at?"
"How do I know that you didn't know Grissom back then? Maybe she's really his daughter." Catherine cursed at him and they started fighting.
"Catherine, what does…" Sara came into the office and saw them fighting. "Damn it, stop it!"
She didn't even realize when he threw Catherine against the wall, knocking down the shelves that were already unstable. As Ed began to hit Sara instead of his ex-wife, Greg Sanders was passing by in the hall and saw what was happening. He ran to the front doors where Grissom and Nick had finally come back to the lab.
"What is it, Greg?" Nick asked, knowing that something was wrong.
"Catherine. Sara." Grissom and Nick followed Greg to Grissom's office where Ed and Sara were still fighting.
"Greg, go call Warrick. Tell him to meet us at the hospital. Then go get the first aid kit." Nick said, trying to lift the bookcase off Catherine.
Blood ran from Ed's mouth and nose. "Shit! You broke my nose!"
"Sara, go." She nodded and hurried to try to help Nick.
"You broke my nose!" Ed repeated.
"If you ever come near Sara or Catherine or Lindsay again, I'll do more than that." Security came and lifted the bookcase off Catherine. "I believe Mr. Willows wants to file an assault charge." Grissom said, before dropping down to the floor to sit with Catherine. Ed didn't comment as the security led him out.
Nick and Sara left the office, Nick's arm protectively around Sara's shoulders. Greg ran with the first aid kit. "You look awful." He told Sara.
"Well, thanks, Greg." She commented sarcastically.
"Is Warrick coming?"
"He's on his way. So's an ambulance."
"Thanks, man." Greg nodded and went back to his corner of the lab. "Are you all right?" Nick asked Sara quietly as they found a place to sit where he could use the first aid on her face.
"I don't know what happened. I don't even remember thinking before I did it." That didn't surprise him. A lot of the times he didn't think she thought before acting. That's what got her in so much trouble. He continued to doctor her face.
"It hurts." Catherine said quietly.
"Yeah, I know."
"I'm sorry about the tarantula." His empty cage laid at with the rubble of the bookcase and the books.
"Don't worry about him. Don't think about the pain; don't try to talk. Just lie there."
"Don't leave." She said, reaching for his hand.
"I won't." He wished that he could at least move her off the floor, but he didn't know what damage had been done, if any, and he didn't want to hurt her anymore than Ed already had.
The ambulance pulled up at the same time as Warrick. "What's going on?" Warrick asked when he found Sara and Nick.
"Ed paid a visit." Nick told his friend.
"You okay?" Warrick asked Sara, who nodded. "What about Catherine?"
The medics brought her out on the stretcher. "Nick, take Sara home. Warrick, handle things here." Grissom said, pausing before going with Sara to the hospital.
"He's right." Warrick said, looking at Sara. "You two need to go home."
"Go get your stuff." Nick told Sara gently. When she left he said, "I'm taking her to my house. If you need any help, call there."
"All right. Hey, Nick, what happened?"
"I don't know." Sara returned with her purse. "You ready?" She nodded and they left.
When Nick and Sara got to his house, he pulled her onto his lap. "Sar, why do you try to take on the world? Don't you know what Ed could have done to you today? Why didn't you call security?" He asked, looking worried and brushing her hair aside lightly.
"I don't know. I guess I just wasn't thinking." She paused and he watched her battered face. "I just saw him hurting Catherine and, well, I remember what it's like for someone you love to hurt you like that."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, thoroughly confused. She unbuttoned a few buttons on her shirt until he saw burns on her chest. "Oh, God. What the hell happened? Who hurt you?"
"When I was in college. I wasn't as stubborn and outspoken as I am now. He had me believing that I couldn't live without him." She saw Nick's jaw clench and she paused, unsure how much he wanted to hear. "We were going to get married when I found out I was pregnant." Tears finally began to fall and he reached for her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I was attacked coming out of the school after one of my classes. They kicked me until I lost the baby."
"Is that why you don't like to be around kids?" He asked quietly.
She nodded. "Yeah. The doctors say that there's not much chance of having another one; I'm too messed up. If I can't have any, I don't want to get attached to any." It made sense, in a 'Sara' sort of way.
"Was he involved in the attack?" Nick asked, changing the subject back.
"Yeah. He was arrested, but his father got him off. I graduated a year early and moved back to San Francisco." She slid off his lap. "Nick, I know this is a lot for you to absorb all at once. I should have told you before, but I was afraid how you would react. If you don't want me around any more, I'll understand."
Nick stood. "Sara, please tell me you don't think that little of me. If I knew who hurt you, I'd make him pay. You know that, don't you? You're so important to me. When Crane pushed me out of that window, I discovered that you're the only thing that matters." She walked back over to him, still weeping, and he hugged her.