"2 DB's on Hampton dr. Warrick, Sara and Catherine, you can share that one" He said, handing Catherine a slip of paper "Nick, you're with me. A construction company found a hand while digging the site for a new development." Grissom finished matter-of-factly.
"Nice!" Nick commented on his assignment. He liked working with his boss; there was always something to be learned from the wise man. Catherine glanced over at Sara then Warrick and asked, "Who's driving?"
"Oh, c'mon Cath! You should know the answer to that one!" Warrick's ego sighed. "I always drive!" As Grissom left the break room, a smiling Catherine turned to Warrick
"That's because you've never been with me." She said with a wink.
Warrick's wide-eyes gave away his surprise at the comment and his signature sideways grin graced his face. Sara laughed as she took her cue and followed her boss out to get her field kit. Warrick dropped his head to his chest and had to smile at Catherine's comment. If only she knew how he'd dreamed of being 'with' her. He longed to feel her skin against his and he definitely had no problem letting her 'drive'. However, despite the minor space violations he'd allowed himself in the past, he would never actually make a move. Catherine was out of his league, he thought. If I dared to approach her, she'd shut me down and things would never be the same at work or out of work
Warrick was snapped out of his reverie when he heard his name called from the door. He looked up and saw Catherine and Sara looking at him expectantly.
"Do you expect the car to pick you up INSIDE the lab? It ain't the Bat-mobile!" Sara teased. Warrick brushed his hand over his mouth trying to cover his good-natured smile, biting his tongue at whatever comment wanted to come out and lash at the slightly younger CSI.
"I'm comin', I'm comin'" He replied.
They all headed out to the Denali and climbed in. Warrick started the engine and stole a glance at Catherine who had climbed in the back seat, via the rear-view mirror. She was so beautiful. Her golden curls bounced around while she got settled in and tied her seatbelt. She looked up and their eyes met. A slow smile tugged at her lips. They held gazes for a few moments too long, just enough for Sara to pick up on it and turn to Catherine in the back seat, then to Warrick, next to her. Before she could ask any questions, Catherine turned and looked out the window and Warrick pulled out of the parking lot heading toward Hampton dr.
But Warrick's look was still on Catherine's mind. 'His eyes…' thought Catherine. She had seen that glance before. It wasn't the first time they'd made eye contact and it was like something latched on to him, like she'd get lost without those pools of green. She'd caught him watching her before but she'd never known quite what it meant. All she knew was that every time they caught one another staring, she'd wonder what it would be like to see love in those eyes. Love for her. His eyes were definitely one of his best features, she'd decided. But they'd never be hers. Those eyes would never look at her the way she wanted them to. The way she always tried so hard to hide when her eyes looked at him.
They pulled up at the address Grissom had indicated on the slip of paper and saw Brass heading toward their vehicle.
"Hey guys. Here's what we got: there's two of them, mother and daughter. Mother's downstairs, daughter's upstairs. Both with single gunshot wound to the head. Everything else is up to you…I know better than to guess…" he said with a smirk. "Knock yourselves out, we'll be out here". He stated referring to himself and the two junior officers with him.
"Thanks Jim. Is David here?" Catherine asked him.
"Yeah, I think he's upstairs with the daughter." Warrick nodded and when the women turned toward the house and started walking, he turned to the captain and whispered, so as not to be heard, "How old is the daughter, approximately?"
"Twelve. Why?"
"That's Lindsay's age…" He said, thinking about how Catherine would react to seeing a young girl her daughter's age with a bullet hole in her skull. He knew it would bother her immensely.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As they entered the house and he saw the family photo above the mantle, he noticed the girl even resembled Lindsay a bit.
"I'll take the upstairs!" He blurted out without thinking. When he noticed he'd been kind of blunt, he smiled at his coworkers, who stood there in confused surprise, looking at him.
"Uh…ok." Sara hesitated.
"Yeah, alright…you go-getter. You have the ok to take the upstairs." Catherine retorted with a little laugh and the tiniest frown; ever so slightly alluding to the fact that she was the senior CSI on site and that usually it was her who assigned duties. Of course Warrick knew this and knew he was overstepping his boundaries a bit, but he'd do anything to keep that sadness he'd seen too many times from touching Catherine's face.
Thank God she hasn't seen it…yet Warrick thought, shooting another glance at the family portrait and again noting the resemblance between the girl and Lindsay. Before heading up the winding staircase he added for good measure, and maybe to cover up a little, "Well, it's just… you know how I like to be on top…" and flashed the two grinning girls his most 'dare me' look and turned for the stairs.
"…Not personally…" he heard from behind him.
He glanced over his shoulder to see Catherine turn back toward him from her quick look at Sara and raise one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. Her beautiful lips were subtly grinning and that made Warrick think of all the things he'd do if they were alone together…As the thoughts ran through his mind he realized that no matter if they were alone, he wouldn't do all those things. He couldn't. He would love to but wouldn't risk the friendship they had between them. He didn't want to lose the little bit of her he did have to hold on to. Just then he realized he was still staring at her. Hang on…she's still staring at me! He played along and hung his head in defeat as he smiled and walked up the stairs, mockingly solemn. When he'd disappeared, Sara shot Catherine a questioning look.
"What?" Catherine asked feeling the interrogation about to begin.
"You have to ask 'what'?" Sara replied with a little 'I knew it!' look.
"I have no idea what conversation I'm in" Catherine stated and turned around.
She could feel herself blushing and she couldn't let Sara see how she felt about Warrick. The fear of Sara being able to see right through her was crushing and Catherine started taking pictures of the crime scene before them, to keep her from having to turn back toward her co-worker.
"I don't believe you're denying this! You know, you can't 'be a woman' with another woman!"
"Keep your voice down..." Catherine said as she saw David coming down the stairs. He waved at her and said shyly, knowing that he was interrupting some girl talk, "I'll be back later to pick them both up…give you time to do the preliminary". Sara nodded and waited for David to close the door behind him.
"Ok, now what the hell are you talking about?" Catherine's words were biting but she smiled over her shoulder to keep it light.
Sara seemed to understand and continued to explain to Catherine's back, "You know…the whole 'no, nothing's wrong' – when something actually is wrong – that typical women do…games, head games. You can't trick a team member who knows the same game! Come on!" she urged, "Out with it!"
Catherine kept taking pictures, her back turned to Sara, not letting her in but knowing that she'd been found out. She took the camera away from her eyes and started,
"Ok, fine. You want to know what's going on? But you have to swear not to tell Grissom…"
"Oh, please!" She heard Sara huff.
"Or Nick or Greg…because that would be just like telling Warrick himself and if this gets out, it could be really ugly, personally AND professionally, for both of us…Promise?" She asked, her back still turned to her friend and resumed taking pictures.
No answer.
"Sara, I want to hear you say it." Catherine said, expecting Sara to be smiling and have crossed fingers behind her back. But still she received no answer. Curious, Catherine turned around to see why Sara wasn't answering…and she found her answer in the fear-stricken eyes of her co-worker. Sara was kneeling on the ground, her fingerprint powder and duster in hand and there was a man standing behind her, holding a gun to her head. Catherine started to reach for her gun but the man's growled words stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Don't even try – or this pretty little face won't be so pretty anymore." Catherine put her hands out in front of her in a sign of cooperation. Sara's wide eyes became a tell-tale sign of fear in a usually fearless face. Her face distorted more as he shoved the pistol into the back of her skull and ordered her to un-holster her gun and toss it aside, slowly. She looked up at Catherine, pleading silently for advice. Catherine didn't know what advice to give but she said quietly, almost inaudibly, "Just do it Sara…do what he says." She struggled to keep her composure and keep the worried look off her face, for Sara's benefit and her own.
Catherine suddenly realized she recognized the man. She stole a glance to the mantle, and there he was; although his picture seemed much friendlier than he did now. She saw Sara toss her gun and it slid beneath the sofa. Damn it! Catherine thought. There'd be no reaching that at a moment's notice.
"Ok now, your turn. Take your gun out of its holster and chuck it…slowly!" He ordered. Catherine racked her brain trying to think of what to do…Warrick was upstairs, he probably couldn't hear anything…Brass was outside, so there was no chance of him overhearing this conversation. What did this guy want? …That's it! She'd try to talk to him and stall him until Warrick walked down or Brass came in wondering what was taking so long…
"Uh…What is it that you want, sir…maybe we can help you…" she began, hoping to hide the tremor in her voice.
"Help?" he sneered. "How are you going to help me…what can YOU possibly help ME with?"
"I don't know…I was just thinking that maybe we can make some kind of deal…"
"A deal? There's nothing I want from you except for you to get out of my house and leave me and my family alone!"
"Ok, but can we just talk a bit first...uh…Don't you want your family to have a proper burial?" she tried.
"Don't worry about that, I'll give them the burial they deserve. Those bitches only deserve to be eaten by rabid dogs!" He replied nastily.
Catherine looked at Sara to give her some sign of reassurance but she had closed her eyes, seemingly praying for this to be over.
"I don't understand why you would say that about your wife and daugh…
"That's none of your business!" He yelled and waved his gun in Catherine's direction.
Her breath caught in her throat as she kept her hands in front of her and said, pleadingly
"Ok. Ok…I'm sorry, you're right, it's not…"
Warrick was in the girl's bedroom and David had just left. He had finished taking pictures and had moved on to the fingerprinting, but he was hardly concentrating on the task. All he could think about was Catherine's last comment… "…Not personally" she had said. She was referring to her knowing about his liking to be on top – in a sexual reference. His comment was actually not true it was actually quite the opposite. That way he could see her at her best…the thought of seeing Catherine on top of him entered his mind and he started getting excited. He envisioned her with her eyes closed, head tilted ever so slightly back, panting, maybe moaning a bit… He imagined being inside her, holding her close to him…this has to stop…Must concentrate on work he thought as he brought his mind back to reality. He tried forcing his mind to think about the drabbest things to keep his mind off Catherine's naked body on his. He decided to run through the last seminar he'd attended on recent technological advances in the field of Crime Scene Investigation. It started to work. He could feel his blood start to cool down and leave his sexual organs.
What brought him completely down to reality was the sound of a man's voice yelling from downstairs. He stopped dusting and strained to hear what was going on below him, but things had seemed to calm down. Assuming it was Brass or one of the officers, he decided to finish up in here and ask his coworkers about it later.
He thought that…until he heard a gun shot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Enough of this!" The man yelled. "Why do you still have your gun! I told you to remove it and chuck it!" He glared at her defiantly and waved his gun a little to urge her on.
Catherine couldn't think of any other way to keep her firearm and so she removed it from its holster and before she threw it, she noticed the man look down. He swung his gun-yielding arm down quickly and the butt of his gun collided against Sara's temple, who had fidgeted ever so slightly. Had she done it on purpose to give Catherine an opportunity? Did she know that the man would take his eyes off Catherine, giving her a chance to take fire? Catherine couldn't risk missing the chance. She gripped her firearm and brought it up as she released the safety.
Sara watched as Catherine moved in what seemed like slow motion (but what was really the blink of an eye). From her peripheral vision, Sara saw the man swing his arm back up toward Catherine. A shot rang out throughout the room and Catherine's eyes went wide as her mouth dropped and she stumbled back a step. A shiver ran through Sara's body that had nothing to do with the temperature.
Catherine's blouse started soaking up blood at her right hip. Sara could only watch as her partner slowly brought her arm up again trying to aim at the man who'd shot her. Sara scrambled toward the couch trying to reach her firearm before another shot was taken, but she was too late. She heard another shot go off in her ears. She looked over as Catherine dropped to the ground
Sara heard yet another shot come from a different location and covered her head instinctively. She vaguely heard the man run out the back door. And she slowly took her hands away from her eyes and stared again at Catherine; at the two stains that were increasingly getting bigger on her blouse, silently threatening to unite and become one.
"Sara!" It was Warrick. He had crept down a couple stairs with his firearm in his hands and he could see only Sara in the living room with the mother's body. Sara mentally registered that that's where the third shot had come from. It was probably also the reason why the man had run out instead of shooting her as well. Then the realization hit her: Warrick had saved her life.
"Sara! Are you guys ok?" She didn't answer. Warrick! Help Catherine! She wanted to scream. She wanted to move, to help Catherine herself, but couldn't. Her legs wouldn't move. All she did was stare, wide-eyed, at the far end of the room.
Warrick had fired at the retreating shape he saw from the top of the stairs. He'd never had to use his gun before. He had had to pull it out and aim, but never had he fired at someone. Despite this, he was very comfortable with his sidearm. He disciplined himself to go to the firing range and practice once a week. He trained himself to think that, on the day he'd need the skills, he'd be ready. And this was the day. He nimbly descended the rest of the stairs two by two, and swept the hallway, firearm raised in muscular, outstretched arms.
Seeing nothing in the hallway he stepped closer to Sara, but before he could speak he heard pounding at the front door. As he looked over, he noticed that the door was locked. Confusion didn't last long as he figured the shooter probably locked the door to keep Brass and his officers out. The pounding stopped before he could get to the door. Police training told him that the officers had probably not waited for an answer and had run around to the back of the house. Then he heard Brass shouting beyond the door and gun shots through the door. Brass was trying to get in. He looked over at Sara one more time. "Sara, did he leave?"
Finally, she broke her hypnotic stare from the end of the room, which Warrick could still not see what she was looking at from his position, and looked at him, her breathing erratic and her face pale. With the same blank stare, she gave a short nod, in agreement that the suspect was gone.
"Where's Catherine?" Warrick asked her. She didn't move other than to turn back to the far end of the room. Warrick took another quick step towards her, finally in the living room and looked off to his right, to see what Sara was so intently focused on. Then he saw her. Catherine. Oh God. No. He willed his feet to move, to cross the distance between himself and Catherine and noticed two gunshot wounds. Dropping to his knees, he pressed one hand on each of the wounds.
"Catherine, come on, hang in there! Sara! Call for an ambulance!"
She didn't move, just stared at Catherine and now Warrick who was also in her line of sight. Amidst all the confusion and panic, Warrick saw something almost desperate in her eyes, yet she didn't move; she couldn't. Cursing, not at Sara, but at the situation, Warrick heard something from the front entrance and he knew Brass had managed to shoot out the cylinder. Brass came around the corner.
"Brass get an ambulance over here, Catherine's been shot!" Without losing any precious moments, the captain was on his radio calling dispatch to send a bus to the specified address. To add urgency to the message, Brass ended with "…officer down! I repeat officer down!" The radio cackled back "10-4 Captain Brass. 10-52 on its way. ETA 2 minutes"
"You hear that Cath? Two minutes…just hang on! Medics will be here soon. Please! Just hold on to my voice…" Warrick continued to plead her for the next couple minutes until the bus arrived, all the while keeping his hands on her wounds to try and stop the blood.
When the Paramedics had arrived and were loading her onto a gurney, Brass turned to Warrick and said "You go with her; I'll take Sara and follow you there." Warrick nodded and Brass continued "Leave the call to the lab up to me, too." Warrick smiled feebly, but the detective understood. They parted and Warrick followed the paramedics out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They were in the waiting room and any passerby could feel the tension.
"I'm going to go get us some coffee. I think it's going to be a long night." Brass said. He never was the type to sit around during tense emotional moments…had to keep busy.
Warrick nodded and off he went.
Sara sat in a chair in the waiting room next to the operating room. She no longer had the fear present in her face, but there was still a lack of color and a blank gaze occupied her features. Warrick sat next to her, bent over, his elbows perched on his knees and his head hung low in worry and despair.
"Warrick," Sara said feebly, almost inaudibly.
Warrick craned his neck to look at her. She hadn't said a word since he had rushed down the stairs. And even now, she couldn't get more than his name out. Seeing the usually headstrong Sara, now completely beaten and powerless, he let her silence say all and simply took one of her hands in his.
Nick and Grissom walked in with strained looks on their faces.
"'Rick? What happened?" Nick asked hurriedly. Warrick's head snapped up and he stood, Sara standing up with him. Nick recognized immediately the red-rimmed eyes Warrick tried to hide. Nick gave his buddy a quick hug that, between the two men, meant everything.
"I don't know, man. I was upstairs, the girls were downstairs and the next thing I knew, I was hearin' gunshots and when I ran downstairs, Cath was on the ground" Warrick replied, fighting to keep composure. "She's still in there." He added, referring to the operating room.
Grissom looked over at Sara, who still hadn't said a word. He put his arm around her.
"Sara?" She didn't move, just continued to stare at the ground.
"Honey, what happened to your head?" He asked, seeing the forming bruise on her right temple. Sara slowly let her eyes drift up to meet his and he saw a single tear trace a line down her cheek. Grissom put his arm around Sara and hugged her to him, deciding her answer could wait to be spoken…once the shock had passed.
Brass returned with coffee for everyone, knowing that Grissom and Nick would have arrived by then and they all sat in silence until the doctor came out to meet them.
"Friends or family with Catherine Willows?"
"Yes!" Warrick jumped up, Nick not far behind him. Grissom's head snapped up but he stayed by Sara's side.
"She's stabilized but we're still not sure how much blood she's lost. She's still unconscious. I'm sorry, only time will tell." The older doctor said and Warrick fell back down in the chair. It was obvious this was the kind of news the doctor didn't like giving, and he'd probably had to give it all too many times. He gave them a quick nod as Nick thanked him. The doctor started to walk away but Nick called after him, "Hey Doc…Can we see her?"
Hearing Nick's question, Warrick was out of his seat again and waiting for the doctor's answer. Grissom looked at his employee's reaction and no words needed to be spoken for him to understand how Warrick felt. Grissom was holding the woman he loved right here. Warrick needed to be with his.
"Yes, but only two at a time please. She's in room 263, just down the hall on the left."
Warrick almost sprinted to her room, temporarily forgetting about the others behind him. Grissom looked at Nick and said, "Go with Warrick, make sure he's alright, I'll stay here with Sara."
At that Nick nodded and turned to catch up with Warrick. The latter was already in the room and was sitting next to Catherine, holding her hand. Nick stood in the doorway for a minute, not wanting to see his coworker lying in a hospital bed. Not wanting to deal with it. Warrick looked up with pure sadness in his eyes. The helplessness he felt was palpable, even from a distance.
"Nick, man, I can't do this. I can't see her like this. She can't die, I don't know what I'd do…" his voice trailed off and he started to cry.
"War, c'mon man, she's not going to die. Cath's a strong woman, she'll fight. She'll fight for us and for her daughter."
"Oh God…Lindsay! She doesn't know about this. We're gonna have to tell her." A haunted look crossed Warrick's features. "Poor girl…" he muttered to himself.
"'Rick! Snap out of it. She's not dead, nor is she going to die!"
"Don't yell at me Nick! You weren't there! You're not inside my head, you don't know what I'm feeling! So please just lay off!" Warrick just snapped back.
"We're all feeling this way, man." Nick said a little more sympathetically.
"No. Nick, you're not. I…feel…more…I…I mean, I …love her, Nick."
Nick's mouth opened, not to say anything, but in pure shock. "Oh." He said, "You never told me that."
"No. I know, nobody knew"" Warrick replied, smiling weakly up at Nick.
"Does she?" Nick asked carefully, stealing a glance at their unconscious co-worker. Warrick followed his gaze and looked at Catherine, too. Pain crossed his features, as he whispered, "No. I never took the time to tell her. And now I might never get that chance." Nick could only watch as his friend's eyes flooded once again, as he started to cry softly and lowered his head to the bed. He'd never seen Warrick this broken.
"Anything I can do, man?" Nick tried, wanting to help, but not knowing how.
Warrick shook his head solemnly as his eyes rose to meet Nick's.
"I'm going to step out, give you some time..." He said. He gave Catherine a few 'hang in there' words, bent at the waist to give her a kiss on the forehead and with a small smile to Warrick, he left.
Warrick looked back down at his soul mate…That's exactly it! She's my soul mate… the truth of this realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He slumped down in his chair, without letting go of her hand, and simply stared at her. The amount of time he'd spent with her, working or just hanging out after work, he'd never admitted to it, but hearing himself say it…she was his soul mate…it felt so natural.
"Oh Cath, I'd give anything to take your place right now. I wish that it'd be me lying here in this bed, not you." He let his head tilt back down and held the back of her hand to his forehead and sobbed. "I…You can't leave me, Cath…what do you want me to do without you? You can't die Lindsay needs you. I need you. God! Why couldn't it be me! I should have told you, but I never thought it would come to this…Cath…I love you…"
Warrick sighed heavily against her hand and suddenly felt a hand push through his hair, lovingly. He slowly raised his head and met Catherine's teary eyes. "Cath, how…" She cut him off, "I love you, too" Warrick's breath caught in his throat. She heard me!
"I…I mean, you…are you…" Warrick mumbled and shook his head as if to place his thoughts back in order. Catherine smiled a bit and said, "Aren't I the one who's supposed to be confused right now?"
"Cath, how long have you been awake?"
"Long enough to hear the important part. And I don't wish it were you here in this bed. Then I'd be the one sitting next to you, pouring my heart out and wishing it was me lying in this bed." She saw Warrick give a feeble smile. "Warrick, why didn't you ever tell me how you felt?"
He hesitated, "uh…because I didn't think I had a shot." Seeing disbelief and confusion in her eyes he continued, "You're a wonderful… beautiful person and an extremely talented CSI. You're a great mother and a great friend but despite, or maybe because of all that, I thought you were out of my league. I never would've guessed that you thought the same way and besides that, you're my boss now. How are we supposed to get around that?" he asked.
In one long-winded sentence, he had given her everything. He was completely open and now felt vulnerable. She could make it or break it and he felt like he was sitting on the edge of a fence waiting to see which way the wind would blow.
"Oh, Warrick. I guess you're right." His heart sank. "I'll just have to transfer you to Gil's team and I'll take Greg on mine. And I'm not out of your league…hardly…because you're right up here with me." She smiled at him as her free hand gently caressed his cheek. He leaned into her touch and briefly closed his eyes. He'd only ever dreamed of this actually happening. One of his hands let go of her hand and he got up from his chair. The distance between them was quickly crossed and his lips collided with hers, lightly at first then deeper as Catherine parted her lips and let his tongue in to mingle with hers.
For the first time, they tasted each other and felt the fire that had always been there, simply waiting to ignite. Catherine felt a pang in her heart at finally being able to share her love for him, and knew that he felt the same. She reached up across herself and wrapped her one arm around his muscular back, pulling him in closer to her. She never wanted to let him go. Not wanting to hurt her, Warrick gently stroked her hair and when he broke from the kiss temporarily to catch a quick breath, she quickly pulled him back in by the front of his shirt and kissed him again lovingly, slowly, passionately. They finally separated when they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway.
"Griss..."
"Glad to see you're awake and doing fine" Grissom said, his signature smile lighting up his face.
"I'm feeling better." Catherine admitted to her supervisor, her own unmistakable grin on hers. She noticed that he had Sara in tow. When she heard Catherine's voice, Sara burst into the room, her eyes red like she'd just gotten out of the pool.
"Catherine? Are you all right?" She asked, obviously drained as she took her hand.
"I'll be better soon, Sara. How are you?" Catherine asked her younger co-worker, remembering what she'd been through.
Sara held a breath and let out a long sigh. "I'm ok…a little freaked out, but fine." She replied and watched Grissom put his arm protectively around Sara's shoulders as she gave a small, forced smile.
The doctor came into the room just then and noticed the gathering of people around Catherine. "I'm glad you're feeling better Ms. Willows, but there are too many people in here." The doctor said, and looking from one to the other, he added, "I'm sorry but you'll have to leave. You can visit again in the morning." Grissom nodded and the doctor left the room after checking the instruments attached to Catherine.
"Ok well, Cath, get some rest and we'll see you tomorrow. You're on paid sick leave for at least two weeks. Take it easy." The CSI supervisor said. Sara gave one final squeeze to Catherine's hand, smiled and turned to follow Grissom out the door.
Warrick looked down at Catherine and gave a hefty sigh. I really don't want him to leave Catherine thought sadly.
I really don't want to go Warrick thought, seeing the obvious sadness in Catherine's eyes. He leaned in and kissed her gently. When he pulled away he noticed a tear streak down her face.
"Cath…" he said, worriedly. "You ok?"
She hesitated, and then finally said, "I don't want you to leave." She slowly brought her eyes up to meet his but before he could respond, the doctor walked in again.
"Ms Willows, you need your rest. I'm going to have to ask your visitor to leave."
"Doctor this is my boyfriend. Would it be possible for him to stay?" Warrick looked at her, a little surprised but went along with it. He didn't want to leave Catherine alone.
"I apologize. I didn't realize. Well he can stay if he lets you rest. I'll ask one of the orderlies to bring you a sleeping cot if you like" he suggested.
Warrick and Catherine looked at each other and smiled, then Warrick nodded at the doctor. When the doctor had left, Warrick turned back to Catherine and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving you. I'm going to be here as long as you are. I'm not leaving your side." He leaned in to kiss her.
When they pulled apart, Catherine smiled at him. She knew that was true and she couldn't ask for more.