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Ray's voice rang out clearly through the room as he told the jury and those present of the case. It was a sad one but today justice was being served. Catherine was only half listening as she watched the faces of the jury, reading their feelings flickering through their faces. The door creaking catches her attention, turning she sees a young man slip into the back, taking one of the last seats in the gallery.
Three shots ring out, Catherine feels adrenaline rush through her as she reaches for her gun. Two bailiffs move quickly out the door, tense silence follows. Next to her she sees Nick has a hand on his gun as well.
Movement in the corner of her eye causes her to turn, the man who had slipped in late is standing with a gun raised. Turning back she jumps as Nick's gun goes off and fire is returned. The shots are wide but she realizes he isn't shooting at her colleague but the judge.
Ducking down Catherine moves quickly out the end of the bench and along behind the jury, everyone is either ducking down for cover or frozen; no one notices her. For a moment she wonders why the bailiffs didn't return but her gut knows the answer.
Another series of shots ring out and she doesn't try to distinguish where they originated from; she is sure of the target. Coming out between the end of the jury bench and the witness stand she looks for Ray. He wasn't in sight, which hopefully meant he had got down.
Centring herself she stood, the shooter had moved up the isle and seemed frozen; she stared at him. Holding her gun steady she tried to get a focus as she squeezes the trigger; feeling the kick through her wrists echoing into her shoulders.
One shot is returned, it hits her gun and refracts grazing her shoulder; pain is sudden. Her vision blurs but she watches as the man ten feet away from her sways but doesn't fall; his shoulder is hit. He closes the distance between them and knocks her gun a way. Something floods through her and she feels heat from the barrel of the gun before the impact with the niche of her neck and shoulder; right where the bullet first grazed. This time she recognizes the flood, anger and she shoves him hard; here losing wasn't an option. She felt his hands closing on her shoulder, the pain flared and she hit him hard; her fist connected with the side of his skull and he slumped. His weight caused her to fall backwards.
Catherine lay still, she could feel his weight on her and hear the noise in the court room; he was heavy. Her right side throbbed, she tried to push him off but couldn't move him. Taking deep breaths she tried to calm herself, she had to keep a cool head thankful for her training; hoping someone had the sense to call 911.
A voice above her told her to stay still and then the man was rolled off of her; Catherine started to sit. Feeling her head spin slightly she waited to gain her sense of balance; taking in the room. She could see paramedics working; she watched to see where they were. Suddenly two came from behind her, her heart dropped Ray was on a gurney.
People were moving in and out now of the room now, cops were pulling people out and paramedics were flooding in . A hand on her shoulder made her yelp, glancing up she found a uni standing behind her.
" Ma'am can I help you out of here." The young man offered her a hand. Slowly pushing herself up she found her whole body was aching, the officer saw her pain and called for a paramedic.
The woman who came to treat her calmly ignored her protests as she lead her out to the bus and sat her on the back. Catherine let the medic poke her as she looked around, three ambulances were leaving and four more were waiting; it looked like another was packing up to go.
It took her a moment to recognize Ecklie weaving through the mess and poking his nose in the back of the bus's waiting; making his way towards her.
" Catherine, what happened?" The lab director stopped in front of her.
" I don't know, one moment everything was normal and then shots just started going off." She muttered, right now she didn't really care what had happened, she wanted to know about her people. It wasn't like she would be processing it all; she was a witness.
" Right well it was the last thing we needed, from what the witness statements are saying Nick tried confrontation and got shot for it and Ray stood up to go to him and got the same; you ended up the hero. How bad is she?" Ecklie addressed the medic.
" She will be okay, she is going to be sore and she needs some cleaning up but it nothing to major. Mostly it is going to be this graze, the burns on her neck and hand then bruising from her tussle." The woman summed up .
" Does she need to go to the hospital?" He asked and Catherine started to protest, afraid of where this was going to go.
" If she will see a doctor within the next twenty four hours then I will bandage her up but she will need to see someone eventually; I would advise the hospital though." The medic hesitated.
" I need her. Catherine days and swing are maxed out. Nick and Ray are on their way to the hospital and Greg is in Reno. I will get you Sara." She glared at her boss as he finally addressed her.
" I'm a witness, you process it." Catherine stated, glaring at him. It wasn't that she particularly wanted to go to the hospital but she didn't really want to deal with this mess either.
" Trust me I have already spoken to the DA and the sheriff; they feel this is too important let slide and you and Sara are two of the best. Your shift has the best solve rate and you are a good CSI, just keep your head." Ecklie answered calmly, she could tell he had already thought this through; funny how this was probably the only compliment she would get from him for the next few years.
" Fine, patch me up. I will see my doctor once I get some of this sorted out. Do it fast, I'm evidence so it will all get pulled apart later." She directed her snarl at the medic who didn't seem bothered by it.
The woman quickly covered the whole thing on her neck and taped the pad in place. Then wrapped the hand, with a pad over the burn and told her she was set. Standing up she winced, her body was not happy; she would probably have bruises all over from the last fall.
" Is your kit in your truck? Sara will be here soon. I need to get back to the lab." Ecklie moved to leave.
Staring at his back she groaned, this was a big enough scene; she did not feel like it. Working her way through people she made her way to the side parking lot and unlocked the truck. Pulling the kit out of the back she tried not to cry; everything throbbed. Searching for her purse she dug out some Tylenol.
Hoping the pills would take effect quickly she moved back into the court house, settling on the task at hand.
Setting her kit inside the perimeter of tape she began to wander through the scene. It had started in the lobby, past the metal detector; posing the first question. It appeared that the first suspect had fired a shot at the bailiff outside the door and then killed the two bailiffs who had come out of the courtroom before being killed. The first bailiff shot must have been taken to hospital because there was blood pool but no body.
Then there was a break in the mess to move into the court room; thankfully it held only the body of the suspect whom she had killed. The room looked like a war zone. Hugging the benches she made her way to the front, pausing to look at the man; it struck her how young he was. With a sigh she moved back to where her kit was.
Opening the silver box and donning a pair of latex gloves she slipped into the focused world of collecting all the debris. Time ticked by as she printed surfaces, collected trace, examined the metal detector and located bullets. At some point Sara arrived and took the main room, then David Phillips who removed the bodies. For Catherine it was all a blur, she was just existing and coasting through on autopilot. Trying to think about Nick and Ray, Lindsay and what she would hear or anything except how much pain she felt and how long this was going to take to get sorted out. Finally her scene was finished and she stood up, her back protesting from the position it had been curled into. Glancing around the room she found Sara watching her. " Ready to head back to the lab?"
" I guess." Catherine muttered and gathered her evidence.
" How are you feeling?" Sara came over to help her, seeing the pain cross her face as she started to walk.
" Fine. Lets get this sorted out and closed so I can go and take some painkillers to sleep." She followed the brunette out to the trucks.
" Did they clean it out Cath? That looks sketchy." Sara stopped her, getting a good look at her shoulder. The tape had been moved and loosened letting the pad slip as she had worked.
" Leave it, lets go." Catherine blew her off, not in the mood; she knew Sara meant well.
" Fine. For now. We will talk later though, I know you." Sara gave her arm a squeeze before turning to head for her own truck.