Technology consumed their lives; Nick thought to himself as he rummaged around his office desk, which was scattered with papers, none of which resembled the thing he needed. He thought about consulting an encyclopedia for the project but decided begrudgingly to give in to the advances of technology, Google an image of what he needed and print it out. Once the ink on the image was dry and smudge free, he folded it up neatly, tucked it into an envelope and sealed it. Less than five minutes later, he presented the envelope to Julie who was nestled on the couch with Sam watching TV.
"What's this?" she asked flipping the envelope over in her hand.
"A present," he said, loving the way her eyes lit up when she heard those words.
With absolutely no grace whatsoever, she tore into the envelope and ripped out the folded piece of paper, unfolding it, then staring at it with a confused face.
"It's a map," she said plainly, staring at the image of the continental United States of America with Alaska and Hawaii in the corner box, wondering how this could be a present.
"Thanks, I guess," she said, still searching the map for an indicator as to what type of gift this was supposed to be.
Amused that she wasn't getting the message, Nick told her plainly "I want you to pick a place on that map, anywhere you want, and we'll go, that's the gift."
"Really?" she asked, stunned "Nicky that's too much, we just had Christmas vacation."
"I know," he said "but this is for, you know, next month, February."
He chose his words carefully now.
"The fifteenth," he continued gently "three years since, you know, the coma, but I want to make that day special for you, for us, I want to celebrate you, celebrate what you survived, and I think traveling out of Vegas to do that would be nice."
He finished conveying his thoughts to her with a tender gaze, hoping he wouldn't upset her by discussing the coma. Three years seemed recent in both their minds but also seemed so far back. So much had happened since then and she felt completely normal but it was still part of her life and she didn't want to forget what it did to her; the good and the bad. She realized she had been quiet for too long and Nick looked worried, waiting for her to say something.
"This is really sweet," she finally told him to his relief "but how can I choose? There are so many places."
"Easy," he said, scooping her up suddenly, making her gasp in surprise, settling her in his lap, hugging her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and whispering "I'll keep my eyes closed so you can pick a place, no pressure."
"Okay," she giggled, cuddling into his embrace but still holding on to the map, studying it, imagining the two of them visiting a mountain range in Tennessee, or exploring a big city like New York. Then she thought of them on the beach, splashing around in the water like children, doing cartwheels and chasing each other along the shore, collecting seashells. She always felt at ease when they were in San Diego and even though he told her to choose any new place to go, she knew exactly what she wanted.
"Did you pick one yet?" he whispered in her ear now, making her shiver then giggle when he tickled her sides, stopping only when she cried out "yes" letting him know she had made a decision.
She turned in his arms to face him now, folding up the map and grinning smugly.
"This is a wonderful gift," she told him "I love that you want to give me the world, literally, and I love traveling to new places with you, but, I really, really love the beach, we have so much fun there and it's so relaxing, that's where I want to be with you, can we go to San Diego like always?"
She pierced him with a hopeful gaze that shattered his heart into a million pieces. He knew how much it meant to her and he had a hunch she would choose the beach anyways so he smiled and said "Of course we can" to which she kissed him, delighted, then started chatting away about how she couldn't wait to go.
February 15th, 2018
The sun never seemed to shy away from them when they were here together, Julie thought, as she strolled around the crowded boardwalk with Nick on their second day in San Diego. They treated themselves to ice cream, wandering around, checking out the various little shops and food trucks they passed. Julie spotted a group of people surfing on a large wave.
"Doesn't that look fun?" she asked him "can we try that one day?"
"Surfing?" he questioned "you know I would fall after like two seconds."
"But it would be fun," she said, grinning at him with a hopeful gaze.
"Maybe," he said, glancing at his phone distractedly "what would you say if I told you we could do something fun right now?"
Before she could answer, he was reaching for hand and gently guiding her back down the boardwalk and over to the harbor where a myriad of boats were docked and even more were bouncing around on the water. He was looking around the dock as they walked in such a way that she had to ask "Looking for someone?"
"Yep," he said grinning, pointing to what he had been waiting for.
A large sail boat loomed into their view, blocking the sun momentarily with it's massive sails flapping around in the wind. Two people waved from the steering wheel as they guided the boat over to a stopping point on the dock where Nick and Julie stood; Julie transfixed by what was in front of her. Nick couldn't help but grin at the look of shock on Julie's face as the boat came to rest, safely anchored in front of them, bobbing up and down in the water but no longer needing to be steered. The people at the helm descended the large vessel and approached Nick and Julie on the dock.
"Hey beach bums," Sara greeted her friends and colleagues happily.
She embraced Julie who remained rooted to the spot, still fixated on the boat.
"Hey Sara, Gil, thanks for coming," Nick said acknowledging Grissom who had followed behind Sara.
"Sorry if we were late," Grissom said now, smiling at Julie "hey kiddo, how are you?"
"Fine," Julie finally managed to stammer "is-is that your boat?"
"One of them," Grissom explained "Sara and I need a little break from research sometimes so we take this one out for spin."
He nodded behind him at the sailboat, smiling, watching Julie's eyes as she tried to take in the enormity of the craft.
"It's incredible," she breathed, approaching the railing on the dock, leaning over as far as she could to be closer to the boat.
"Are you guys ready to go?" Sara asked Nick now.
"I think so," Nick said as Julie tore her eyes away from the boat to stare at all three of them in shock.
"We're going sailing?" she asked now as if it wasn't already obvious, but too good to be true still, in her mind.
They all smiled and nodded at her, Grissom stepping around her and motioning for them all to follow him around the corner to where the boat had a small ramp to help them step onto it. Sara and Nick went first, then Julie, with all her energy, practically leapt over the railing of the boat in excitement. Julie let her shoulder bag slip off her shoulder and land gently on the floor of the boat as she spun around in circles on the spot, taking in all her surroundings; the sounds of the waves splashing against the side of the boat, the sails flapping around in the wind, bells in the distance from the harbor and docks, the salty air from the warm breeze hitting her face. All of her senses were feeling something even just by standing there. She knew Nick had planned all of this and Sara and Grissom had been waiting for them so she turned back to them and said "This is beautiful, I love it!" before racing off to the other side of the boat to stare longingly out at the ocean.
Julie had never been sailing before and the only time she had been on a boat was for work despite living in Seattle for so long. As Grissom started the boat up and steered them around the docks, she leaned against the railing, letting the wind whip her hair around, trying to see as far ahead as she could but her eyes were only met with blue skies and teal water in every direction. She felt like a little kid at Christmas time, watching other boats fly by them; some pulling people behind them on water skies and other various surfing mechanisms. She winced when they wiped out on the waves but resurfaced, clambering back onto their boats ready to try and tackle the waves again.
When she got tired of standing, she sat down, letting her legs hang over the side of the boat, her arms wrapped tightly around the metal railing. Sara joined her, and they chatted about work, their vacation here, how fun it would be to push Hodges into the water if he were with them.
Grissom navigated the boat with ease, sailing them into calmer waters where Julie could take pictures with her cell phone of the seemingly endless ocean in front of her.
"Is this what it's like every time you're here?" Julie asked Sara.
"Pretty much," Sara confirmed "Gil and I love helping sharks and working with our team, but it's the lifestyle, there's just something about it, boats, beaches, it's just, wonderful."
Julie knew exactly how Sara felt. She loved the ocean and the beach but never really experienced sailing like she was right now. It felt like an entirely different world. There was so much life surrounding them, little worlds under the ocean floor. In the midst of her wonder, Julie couldn't help but think back to three years ago; that violent night in her condo. Everything felt so dark and lonely back then. But now, here she was, standing in warm sunshine, surrounded by her friends and Nick who loved her. She had taken her shoes off to let her feet skim the top of the water. It was chilly, but she didn't care. The combination of cold water and hot sun made her feel alive and lucky to be here to experience all of this.
Nick didn't like to brag, but he was almost certain he had given Julie the best surprise today. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she explored the boat, took endless pictures, chatting with Sara about work, and asking Grissom how the boat worked. His heart practically exploded with adoration when he saw Grissom show her how to steer the boat and let her take control of it for a few minutes. She was pure joy wrapped in adorable.
As the afternoon disintegrated around them, the sun started to set, casting an orange glow around the water and illuminating the boat. Julie had settled on the cushiony, bench like seats that lined the side of the boat to watch the waves. She didn't care if the wind tossed her hair around, she liked that feeling, the way it made her feel truly alive. She was so distracted, lost in her own world and thoughts that she only just felt someone sit behind her, knowing it was Nick because of the way he wrapped his arms around her.
"I love this place," she declared happily.
"I can see that," he remarked of her sheer joy all afternoon.
It was a stark contrast from three years ago; he couldn't help but think back to. He still remembered the vibration of his cell phone waking him up in San Diego at one in the morning, how his groggy state had turned to panic when Sara told him the news. Russell and Greg were too shaken up to tell him so that task had been dictated to Sara. Everything after that was dark; his room, the airport, the plane, Vegas, until he reached the hospital at four in the morning which was so brightly lit, it hurt his eyes. He will never forget the unbearable ache in his chest when the doctors took him to see Julie and how close to death she had been. Even now he could still picture the way the bruises had formed over her face and neck, too many to get an exact count according to the doctor. Despite the terrible agony she had endured, he was somewhat grateful she never had to experience the pain of recovery from those bruises and fractures, aside from regaining physical strength when she woke up. And though she had asked him many times what those first few days after the attack had been like, and he had been honest with her, nothing he could describe could ever do justice to the severity of her injuries that night.
The longer he sat with her watching the waves, thinking about the events of three years ago, the stronger he felt the need to protect her. So naturally, he tightened his arms around her, leaning in close and kissing her neck and shoulder, squeezing her side at the same time. He felt her shiver at the contact, drawing her knees up and leaning back into his embrace. There was no amount of kisses and gentle touches that could make up for the violence she experienced that night, but he liked to think he could, over time, take away that pain.
Peace; that was what she felt now with Nick, with their lives here in San Diego and Vegas. It was a state of mind she never thought she would have again when she first woke up from the coma. But peace found them. She thought back to when Nick first gave her the map to choose a place to go, she couldn't believe her luck. She promised herself that, next time, she would pick a place to go that they both had never been to. They had so many more adventures to experience and she couldn't wait to be with him in places they had never been.