Suddenly Tragic
Rating: Teen, I guess.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: What if Keppler hadn't been able to shoot back?
A/N: Yes. So Meg took my wonderful FanFic idea for that new episode. LOL. I'm kidding. But I watched that last scene over and over and over again and cried almost everytime I heard Catherine say, 'What??'. Oh man. Sadness.
She had followed him to the motel and she knew it wasn't the smartest idea she ever had. She felt curious as to know what was going on with Keppler. As each day passed he grew more and more aware of people and his surroundings. She hung up her cell phone after she had called Grissom to let him know what was going on. She frowned, realizing she hadn't given him the greeting she should have. She made nice with Keppler. He actually turned out to be a pretty nice guy.
Thunder crashed in the background as she pulled her keys out of her pocket. If Grissom wasn't going to do anything about this, she would. And that's when it hit her. She missed Grissom. She found herself starving for his attention now that he was back. She called the lab, had Eric's phone traced, and sped off towards the location they had given her.
He car came to a sudden stop as she flew out of the driver's seat and ran into the office of the remote motel.
----
Grissom knew Catherine was worried about this guy, but he couldn't figure out why. What had gone on between the two while he was gone? Nick had interrupted his thoughts and suddenly brought another into Gil's head.
Where was Catherine?
"She's not answering her cell phone and Sara said the last time she saw Cath was at the dead show girls home." This put Gil in a panic. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and quickly dialed Catherine's number without looking down at his phone. When it rang seven times and no one answered, he looked up at Nick with a determined look.
"Trace Catherine's cell, Denali- everything. See where she's headed to or where she's already at. I want the location the second you get it. Understand?" Nick nodded his head and took off running for Brass's office. Sara was leaning against the wall, watching Gil pace back and forth. She had never seen him so worried or worked up over something.
Nick came running down the hall a few minutes later, out of breath. He held a single piece of paper in his hands and held it up to Grissom as he inhaled deep breaths. Gil headed towards the exit of the lab. He was furious. Not only had this Keppler guy come and almost split up the team, but he was about to get Catherine involved in something she didn't need to be apart of.
Warrick, Nick, Greg, and Brass piled at the glass door and watched Gil speed out of the parking lot, leaving tire treads on the freshly painted ground.
----
Catherine walked out of the reception office and looked around at all the motel rooms. They could've been in any room. She looked down at the room number in her hands. Part of her knew it was a bad idea, but the other part wanted to know what Keppler was up to. Again, she knew showing up at the motel wasn't the best idea, but her curious side got to her because the common sense side did.
----
Gil turned down the street written on the paper Nick had given him. He could barely make out the neon sign of a motel a little further down the road. He leaned forward to get a better look of the parking lot, hoping Catherine's Denali would be there, when a large raindrop fell on the windshield.
----
Catherine slowly climbed the stairs of the motel, which led to the second floor, and looked around at the room numbers on the doors. She was close to getting to the room which she held in her shaking hands. The next few minutes of her life would change drastically and she felt it.
Gil parked his Denali right next to Catherine's and got out. Not even bothering to turn the car off. He was worried about her, and this time, he wasn't going to hide it. His heart stopped beating when he head one single gun shot.
The rain started pouring.
Catherine's face fell as she watched Keppler fall back against the wall. Her jaw dropped and she couldn't seem to move. Shock and fear had long taken over her body. She had her gun, too, but she wasn't sure if she should grab it or just beg for her life. With a gun pointed directly at her face, she gulped and closed her eyes.
Gil ran to the room. He didn't care that it was raining, or that he could've completely fell. He had no care in the world but getting to Catherine. He stopped running at the sight of a terrified blonde backing out of a room just a few feet away from him. He began to relax but tensed up again.
'Wait. If she doesn't have her gun in her hand... then...'
Lightening flashed and time seemed to freeze. He could hear his heart pound in his chest as he watched her press her back against the railing in the pouring rain. Her hair was soaked and was matted to her face, making it hard for her to see. Her hands slowly started making their way above her head.
"CATHERINE!!"
She turned her head, with tears in her eyes even with the rain coming down, and looked at Gil dead in the eyes. He shook his head and she closed her eyes again.
The shot rang out. Gil sprung into action and pulled his own gun out while running towards Catherine in record time. The old man came running out of the room, stepping over Catherine and Keppler's body. Gil stood up and fired once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four, five, six, and stopped.
Catherine was slumped against the railing; the rain washing away the blood from her clothes and pulled around her body. He leaned over her and yelled at bystanders.
"Call an ambulance! NOW!"
He felt a small tug on his sleeve and looked down at her. Her eyes were barely open and she was having a difficult time breathing. "Gil...," She whispered. His heart broke into a million pieces when he watched her cough. The blood pool in her mouth and started dripping down the sides of her lips. He slowly pulled her body close to his and kissed her forehead.
"Stay with me, Catherine."
"Gil... I..."
"I'm here Cath. I'm here."
She lifted her numb hand and placed it over his chest; over his heart. The rain drenched them both. He placed his hand over hers and kissed the top of her head.
"Come on, Cath. Stay with me. Please, Catherine." His voice broke as the familiar sounds of an ambulance and police cars flooded his ears. He had protected her all of his life, but he couldn't stop her from coming to this motel. He couldn't get to her fast enough. Rain drops had trailed down her face. She leaned up, as painful as it was for her, and pressed her forehead to his cheek. He placed her wet hair behind her ears and out of her face.
"I love... you." His free hand kept pressure on her wound as he softly whispered into her ear,
"I love you too, Cath- more than you'll ever know." She moaned. "That's why you have to stay. You have to fight this so I can show you how much I love you."
Women covered their children's eyes, young teens held their hands over their hearts with frowns on their faces, and men just watched at Gil tried desperately to keep the love of his life alive.
"You told me I need a women. Remember that?" She weakly nodded her head and coughed again. "Well, you looked so beautiful that night. When you helped me with my bow and you just... I can't explain. I realized you're the woman I need and if you leave me, Cath... there's no other purpose for me on this earth."
The paramedics rushed to the couple sitting on the ground and started jogging to the ambulance with Catherine. She jerked on the bed and let her right arm dangle off of it. Gil ran to her side and grabbed her hand. She squeezed it before closing her eyes again.
They had made it to the ambulance and her breathing was back to normal. She was hot in the stomach, but it hadn't damaged anything major. The paramedic held his hand up, blocking Gil from climbing into the back with her. She could barely make out the argument. It took her a while to figure out why they wouldn't let him in with her.
"I'm sorry, sir. You're going to have to ride to the hospital in your vehicle."
She opened her eyes, which caught Gil's attention, and held up her hand while pointing to her ring finger.
"That's my wife!" The two paramedics looked at each other and nodded.
"Alright then. Hop in."
The second he sat down next to her, they both reached for each other. Once she had his hand clamped between both of hers, she placed them over her heart. They had made it to the hospital in record time, which Gil was grateful for. They rushed her into the emergency room and blocked Gil from going with them. Scared and terrified of going alone, Catherine tried to stop the doctors, but she was too weak.
Hours passed and no doctor had come out to speak with Grissom. He found himself some coffee in one of the waiting rooms and headed back towards his seat when Lindsey came running through the doors, alone.
"Lindsey!"
"Uncle Gil!" She ran into his arms and sobbed into his chest. He gently rocked her back and forth.
"How'd you get here?"
"I drove myself. I may only be fifteen, but that wasn't going to stop me from getting here." They pulled apart and she wiped away a few tears that were running down her cheek. "How is she?"
"I don't know. None of the doctors came out yet." They sat down together and waited patiently for one of Catherine's doctors to come out. Gil turned his head to tell Lindsey he was going to the waiting room, when he noticed she had her head on his shoulder and she was fast asleep. Only in a pair of shorts and a long sleeved shorts, Lindsey trembled as the air conditionar above them came on. He leaned over and grabbed his jacket from the chair across from him and gently laid it over her.
By the time one doctor came out, it was almost 5 in the morning. He walked over to Gil and a sleeping Lindsey and shook Gil's hand.
"You're wife is fine. It took us a while to get the bullet out, but she's okay."
"Can we see her?" The doctor nodded his head.
"She's in room 435." Gil softly nudged Lindsey's shoulder and tucked a piece of hair behind her ears.
"Ready to go see your mom?"
"She's okay!?"
"The doctor said she's going to be just fine." Lindsey jumped up from the chair and grabbed Gil's hand. "She's in room 435." Lindsey jogged down the hall, with Grissom behind her and opened the door. Catherine turned her head and weakly smiled at the two.
"I was wondering what took you guys so long." Lindsey left Gil's side and ran into her mother's arms. Catherine felt the hot tears spill onto her shoulder and hugged Lindsey tightly. "Hey... I'm going to be fine. Okay?" Lindsey sniffed and nodded her head. "I love you so much."
----
"Is Catherine Willows registered here?" Nick, Warrick, Sara, Greg, and Brass walked into the waiting room, worried and scared.
"Yes. But her husband and daughter are with her as of the moment." Nick turned away from the desk and looked at Brass.
"Husband? The only one who knew where she was is-"
----
Lindsey had fallen asleep on the small couch in the corner of the room with her mother's jacket as a pillow and Gil's jacket as a blanket. Gil sat on the edge of Catherine's bed and held her hand tight. She was softly drifting off to sleep, but she was trying to stay awake.
"Did um... did Keppler make it?" He frowned and her lips trembled.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I was... so... afraid, that no one would be able to find me. And I knew I was making a mistake by going to that motel in the first place, but I wanted to know what was going on." Her voice started cracking. "And when he held that gun in my face, I know it sounds crazy, but I was hoping you would find me."
"I did."
"I know. And I'm glad. If you hadn't, I'd probably be-"
"You need to get some rest."
"But I want... to stay awake. With you."
"I'll be here when you wake up."
"Promise?"
"I promise." He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her lips.
"Love you."
"No. I love you," He replied softly. She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face. He looked down at her small fingers and smirked. 'No ring... yet.'
A/N: Yay! Cath's alive! Wee! Ahaha. Should I do another chapter, maybe? Hmm. I don't know. Tell me what you guys think of this first. LOL