He lay there, somewhere between asleep and awake, next to the most beautiful, intelligent and addictive woman he had ever met, and his girlfriend for nearly seven months. He could hear her breathing, deep and slow. He rolled over to face her, looking at her through bleary eyes, resisting the urge to touch, not wanting to wake her. He smiled and closed his eyes, ready to fall back into a deep slumber, but apparently someone had other ideas. A shrill ring came from the phone beside his bed. He sighed and sat up to answer the call. As he had suspected, Ecklie need him to come to work early and had told him to ring the nightshift CSI on call, Sara, and get her join him. He put down the phone and rubbed his eyes. At least getting hold of Sara was easy.
"They need you at a scene?" Saras' quiet voice floated up to his ears, from where she lay, her head propped on a pillow, her eyes open only halfway. He nodded and looked at her apologetically, brushing the hair that had worked its way from her ponytail back from her face.
"You too I'm afraid." She pushed herself up in the bed, wincing as Grissom turned on his bedside lamp. "Some kids found a body in the desert."
"Could they not have waited a couple of hours?" She groaned. "What were they doing in the desert at," She looked at the clock. "5.30… Ugh now wonder I feel like I haven't slept." She sighed, falling back against the wall. Grissom chuckled. "So do you want to shower first or shall I?" She asked, rubbing her forehead, last nights' dose of Tylenol clearly having worn off.
"You go. I'll make coffee." He said, kissing the top of her head before sliding out of bed and making his way to the kitchen. With a heavy sigh, Sara also slid from under the covers, the hardwood floor cold and uninviting on her feet. She made her way to the bathroom and studied herself in the mirror above the sink. She felt tired and she certainly looked it. She grabbed a packet of Tylenol from the cupboard and swallowed two with water she cupped in her hands. With any look she would be feeling a lot more awake and a little less like her head was about to explode by the time she arrived at the scene.
"You two took your time." Brass said as the two CSI stepped out of Grissom car into the warm Nevada air, the sandy ground clouding around their feet as they walked.
"My car wouldn't start." Sighed Sara honestly. This was not necessarily a bad thing as it meant she got to spend more time alone with Grissom but today she didn't feel much like talking and the ride had been fairly quiet. "Grissom picked me up on the way over." She continued, stretching the truth just a little here. Brass shrugged, accepting the explanation and leading them over the to body, holding up the yellow crime scene tape for them pass under as he talked.
"Two teenage boys out here after school racing their bikes found him. Looks like he's been dead a couple of days. The kids said they didn't touch him. They're on the way to the station to make a statement now."
"Ok thanks Jim." Grissom said, kneeling next to the body and turning to address the coroner. "So David, do we have a TOD?"
"I'd say he's been dead for over 36 hours. He has two gun shot wounds to the chest. Can I role him?" Grissom nodded. "Only one exit wound. We'll have to extract the other bullet at autopsy." He lay the body back down and Grissom leaned in for closer look.
"There's visible GSR around the wounds so he must have been shot at close range." His eyes scanned down the body, looking for any more evidence. "What are these marks on his arm?"
"They look like defensive wounds." David speculated. "Defiantly pre-mortem."
"Ok thanks David." He said, standing and addressing Sara now. "So how do we think he got here?"
"Tyre marks." She said, pointing to the ground in both directions. "Would suggest the body was driven here, or the guy was brought here alive and then shot."
"There doesn't seem to be much blood." Grissom observed. "That would imply this isn't the primary crime scene."
"Ok, but why not drive back the way you came?" She said, pointing at the tyre marks heading away from the road and into the vast expanse of sand beyond. "Why drive off into the desert? There's no road for miles in that direction. Vehicle dump maybe?" She guessed. Grissom shrugged.
"Well when we've done here, I guess we'll be going for a little walk."
And they did walk. For over half and hour now they had been walking, following the tyre tracks in to the wilderness. It was hot and humid, the damp air clinging to their clothes and feeling heavy in their lungs. Dark clouds hung overhead, the impending storm growing closer and closer as the light began to fade. Saras headache was beginning to creep back and with it came a slight feeling of nausea, grumbling in the pit of her stomach. Her pace was slowing as the interruption to her sleep was beginning to take effect. They hadn't spoken much and Grissom was growing concerned. He kept casting careful glances in her direction, ensuring she wouldn't notice, but eventually he had to ask. "Is everything alright Sara?"
"Huh?" She stopped and looked at him. He noticed how pale her face was, her cheeks tinged pink with the heat of the air and that of her own slightly feverish body.
"You just seem…quiet."
"Oh, just a headache that's all." She said, carrying on walking. He followed her, placing a hand on the small of her back as he spoke.
"You should have said you weren't feeling well, I wouldn't have brought you out here."
"No it's fine, really." She said looking up at the sky as a distant rumble of thunder resonated through the desert. He felt her sigh as much as he heard it as she closed her eyes and looked down at the ground. "Great." She mumbled.
"We should head back." He said.
"We can't. We still haven't found anything yet. There must be something out here." She threw her arms up in frustration, gesturing to the empty sands that lay around them. They had walk for over a mile and her head was pounding. She didn't want it all to be in vane.
"We can come back later." Sara looked at him surprised by this statement. It wasn't like Grissom to leave before the job was done. Then seeing the look of concern in his eyes she realised why he was giving up.
"It's just a headache Gil." She said quietly, stepping closer to him.
"I know." He replied, running his hand lightly down her arm as another rumble of thunder echoed around them. "I'm worried about that too." He said referring to the growing storm clouds. "It'll be a long walk back in the rain." But as he said it, they felt the first drops starting to fall. He slipped his hand into hers and began to lead her back in the direction they had just come from, hoping to at least miss the worst of the storm. His hopes were soon shattered though as another low rumble signified the beginning of the down pour. They picked up the pace, their feet pounding on the hard sand but Sara couldn't keep it up for long as the pain in her head grew and she began to feel dizzy. She slowed to a walk, trying to hide her deep breathing as she lifted her hand to her head and closed her eyes, desperate for the oxygen to stop her head spinning. She didn't even realise she had stopped moving until Grissoms' hand came to her back.
"You ok?" He panted.
"Yeah I just need a second." She mumbled, her voice only just audible over the sound of the rain falling around them.
"You sure?"
She nodded. "Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Come on." She began to walk, tentatively at first but then her steps began to quicken as her head became clearer.
By the time they reached their car they were both soaked, their clothes and hair clinging to their bodies. Not caring about how wet they may make they vehicles upholstery they climbed in and turned on the heater in an attempt to dry them selves out and warm up. Sara couldn't stop shivering despite the hot air surrounding her body. She pulled down the sun shield and look in the mirror as she scraped her wet hair up into a ponytail. She was even paler than she had been earlier. Annoyed at how horrible she looked and how horrible she felt, she quickly flicked the mirror away and lent back in the seat with a sigh. Today was not turning out to be a good day.
I know it's only a short chapter but I would love to know what you think so please leave a review, it will make me very happy!
