Here Without You
Rating: Teen (For language)
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: Gil's holiday goes from great to horrible.
A/N: For CSIFAN's FanFic Challenge. Sad Category (Also dedicated to my best friend, Ashley.)
"Hmm. Do I really have to?"
"Your crime scene isn't going to process itself, babe."
"Well I wish it would," She complained. Gil tucked a piece of hair behind her ears and softly kissed her on the lips. Their mouths stayed pressed together as she mumbled, "As soon as I'm done, I'm coming back." He chuckled against her lips and tried to lift her from his lap. She squirmed in his hands and pressed herself harder to his lap. He let his hands fall the side of the chair as she smirked and lifted herself off of him. He watched her walk down the hall and meet up with Sara.
"Hey."
"You headed to the scene?"
"Yeah. I'll meet you at the Denali in five." Sara nodded and walked off into the parking lot. Catherine waited until the door closed all the way before she ran back down the hallway and threw herself into Gil's lap again. He gave her a crazed look, but she pressed a finger to his lips and whispered in his ear. "We have five minutes."
----
"What took you so long? I waited out here for at least fifteen minutes." Catherine blushed and got into the passenger seat of the SUV.
"Sorry. I ugh... I had to change clothes. I spilt coffee on my pants."
"Oh." They pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards their scene. "Well it looks like we're gonna have some bad weather. Let's hurry up with this so we don't get caught in the storm." Catherine looked down at her watch for the tenth time since they've been on the road. "Have somewhere to be?"
"Huh?" Sara gave her a look. "No, no. Today's going to be a long day. That's all." As Sara pulled onto the side of the road, Catherine's cell phone started vibrating. She flipped the cover and smiled at the message that popped up before her eyes.
'I miss u alrdy. Hrry up over there. I love u.'
She shut her phone at the sound of police sirens. She climbed out of the Denali and followed Sara into the house. They bagged evidence, talked to witnesses, took pictures, and put the seal on the door of the house. When they were done processing, Catherine practically ran to the Denali and sat nervously in the seat as Sara placed their field kits in the trunk.
"Catherine. What the hell did you eat this morning?"
"Nothing. Nothing! Can we go now? Please? PLEASE?"
----
Gil walked into Catherine's office, looking for some envelopes when her phone on her desk started ringing. He ignored it at first, and sighed when the ringer went off. He smiled victoriously as he found her spare envelopes, which he swore not to use, and went to walk out of the door. He stopped dead in his tracks when the phone started ringing again. He looked around, hoping she would be walking down the hall. When he couldn't take the sound of the high pitched ring anymore, he grasped the phone.
"Hello?"
"Um... Catherine?"
"I'm sorry. Catherine's not here right now. Can I take a message?"
"Ugh... yeah, yeah. Tell her Danny called and that she needs to call me back. ASAP." A feeling of anger flooded his body as he wrote down the name and the exact words that came out of this mysterious man's mouth.
"And... who are you, again?"
"Danny. Just tell her I called. She knows who I am."
"Oh I'm sure she does," Gil mumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean? Who are you?"
"I'm her boyfriend." There was a pause and then a laugh from the man on the other line.
"So you're Doctor Gil Grissom, huh?"
"Excuse me?"
"She talks about you all the time."
"Gil?" He jumped at her voice and slammed the phone back down. "Who was that?"
"Does Danny ring any bells," He asked in a low, angry voice as he leaned against her desk.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I'm just peachy. Are you alright?"
"Well I'm a little light headed from running down the hall to get to your office, but I'll be fine." She smiled and went to wrap her arms around his neck, but he tensed up and held the message in front of her face. She frowned and snatched the small paper out of his grasp. "Okay. Let's see what this is all about."
"He said you 'needed to call him ASAP.' Why is that?" She looked up at him in disbelief. 'He doesn't trust me!'
"What's it to ya'," She asked. He almost laughed at the comment, but smirked instead. An angry smirk. The kind she always feared.
"Well... hmm... I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say: I'M YOUR BOYFRIEND!"
"Way to sound childish, Gil. Way-to-go," She yelled back.
"So what's so great about this Danny guy? What's he have that I don't?"
"Are you serious!? I can't believe you! You don't trust me?"
"It's not a matter of trust, Catherine. It's a matter of what you want." She rested her weight on one leg and shook her head.
"You better think long and hard before you ask me that, Gil."
"What do you want, Catherine?" She stood there and when she didn't say anything, he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. When he opened his eyes and went to apologize, she was gone. He let his hands fall to his sides and stared at the phone.
----
Catherine stormed down the hall, her heels clicking furiously as she passed her co-workers without stopping for a second. Nick and Sara caught a glance of her tear stained cheeks and suddenly stopped what they were doing. They followed her down the hallway and called out to her.
"Cath! What's up?" Nick looked back at Sara and gave her a frown.
"Hey! Catherine! What happened back there?" She wiped the tears from her face and had her hands on the door, but Nick rested his hand on her shoulder. She tensed up and softly said,
"Let go, Nick."
"Cath, just tell us what's wro-"
"I SAID LET GO! Jesus!" He pulled his hand back and watched as she walked off into the pouring rain, to her Denali in the parking lot which was ankle deep in rain. They both turned and jogged down the hall to Grissom's office. When they didn't find him there, they thought of the only place he could be. Catherine's office. They slowly walked in to see him sitting behind her desk, her framed pictures in his hands.
"Griss?"
"I blew it." They watched him carefully, not knowing exactly what to say. "I didn't even give her a chance to explain." Warrick walked in, as if on cue, and looked around the crowded office.
"Ugh... have you guys seen Catherine?"
"Dude, she just left."
"In this weather? You can barely see down the parking lot."
"Where the hell you think she's going," Sara asked in a worried tone. Warrick noticed Gil sitting in her desk and shook his head when he read the message that Gil had written down from Danny.
"Please... please don't tell me what this is about."
"What?" Gil looked up to find Warrick holding the message in his hands.
"Do you even know who this guy is?"
"No, and nor do I want to," Gil reasoned. Warrick crumbled the paper and tossed it in the trash.
"Gil, she was planning a Christmas party." It took a while for the shock to set in. He put his head in his hands and mumbled into his arms.
"She what?"
"She was planning a surprise Christmas party for the lab. That Danny guy was just the owner of the place where she bought your present." He groaned into his hands. Warrick was pissed. He loved Catherine like a sister, and being as protective as he was, he felt the need to make Gil feel even worse for what he did to her. "She asked him to call her when your present was ready to pick up."
"Okay. You can stop now."
"Don't you feel like an ass? I know I would."
It's as if time had slowed down. Brass came running into the office, but Gil couldn't understand what he was saying. He saw the jaw's of everyone in the room drop, but he was in his own world. When the words 'car wreck' filtered through his ears, his heart stopped beating all together.
"She's on her way to the hospital now. I don't know what kind of condition she's in, though."
He was the first one of the office, leaving everyone behind stunned at how fast he could still move at fifty years old. He didn't even grab his coat. The only thing he had in his hands were his car keys. He didn't even shut his door all the way before he was speeding down the slippery highway to get to the hospital. When the traffic in front of him wouldn't budge, he hit the siren in front of the steering wheel and almost ran over anyone who refused to get out of his way.
--+-+--
"We're losing her! Hurry!" The doctors scurried quickly around her bed side, some cleaning the blood away from her face and others getting breathing masks ready. A monitor keeping track of her heart was instantly set up, but it's as if it wasn't turned on. "Clear!"
--+-+--
He didn't care where he parked. He didn't care if his SUV was towed away and he'd never be able to leave. He didn't want to. He ignored the yells of the police man at the door and shoved him out of the way. He ran to the front desk and practically yelled at the small receptionist. She froze with fear and tried desperately to get Catherine's room number.
"S-Sir, Ms. Willows is in surgery at the moment. I can-"
"NO! You don't understand! I need to see her! NOW!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"What the hell do you mean you can't fucking do that?! Yes you can! Give me her damn room number!"
"Please keep your voice down or I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir."
--+-+--
"We've got a pulse!"
"Come on. Stay with us." Her body jerked around on the table as the bolts of electricity passed through her small, and bruised body. She was fighting.
--+-+--
He sat in the waiting room for a good five hours. He hadn't heard any news from the doctors and he was getting tired. He was scared and everyone in the waiting room could see it in his face. He loved her and he wasn't about to let her go now. 'I was so stupid! What the hell was I thinking!? I love her! I trust her with everything I've got! Why'd I have to be so fucking jealous!? WAY TO FUCK THINGS UP, GIL!'
"Mr. Grissom?" Gil raised his head and suddenly rose to his feet as a doctor approached him. They shook hands before Gil stuck his back into his pants pockets.
"So... how is she?"
"She's... not so good." His head fell to his chest. "But... she's fighting for her life. She's not giving up."
"Can I see her?" The doctor looked back down the hallway hesitantly and slowly nodded.
"For a few minutes. She's not in the best condition."
"I just need to see her. Please."
"Follow me." Everyone in the waiting room who had been secretly watching over him, sighed in relief as the doctor led him back to Catherine's room. Before he opened the door, he looked at Gil with a frown. "She may not... make it." Gil ignored his words and walked past him, into her room. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her hooked up to different machines and slowly breathing.
"Catherine," He barely whispered. He walked up to her bed and took her soft hand in his. He stared down at her with no emotion in his face. This was his life. His love. And he was the cause of all of this. 'If only I had told her I loved her. If I wouldn't have jumped to conclusions.'
--+-+--
"I love you." She looked up at him with a huge smile on her face. She kissed him senseless and backed him up onto the couch of the break room. Everyone had left, but they had stayed; micro waving TV dinners and catching up on their cases at the small table in the middle of the room. She didn't know how their work conversation had led to this one, but she was glad it did. "I love you, too." "I never imagined I'd tell you like this." "Like what," She whispered against his lips. She settled herself in his lap and let her arms loosely hang around his neck. "On the couch in the break room." She giggled and brushed her lips so soft against his, he didn't know whether or not they had kissed. "Say it again," She demanded and brought their faces only a few centimeters apart. "I love you," He said slowly. With each word, her heart beat grew faster. She kissed him, but differently. Letting him know that she didn't need words to say, 'I love you, too.' --+-+--
Christmas was only five hours away. She hadn't waken up and she showed no signs of getting better. He only went home once. To get fresh clothes and some money for himself. On his way back to the hospital though, he had made a side trip and bought a few things. Lindsey had visited everyday, but always cried when she would be led out of the room and down the hall, back to her grandmother's arms. The team stopped by occasionally and had made out from the back of Catherine's Denali that someone hit her. They came with the news that they had matched the paint of a car that belonged to a guy, who was drunk the time he hit Catherine.
"Baby, wake up. Please," He begged. His voice cracked as he lowered his head onto her chest. He could barely make out her heart beat. He suddenly remembered and looked up at the clock. 12:00 AM.
Christmas.
He took out a small, black box and held the diamond ring in front of his face. He looked down at her bruised hands and slowly picked up her left one. He kissed every finger softly before sliding the engagement ring onto her finger. The heart monitor made a funny noise, which made him panic. When the constant 'beep' came back to his ears, he relaxed a little bit.
--+-+--
"So if we ever have kids, what would you want," She asked as she snuggled in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her tighter against his body. They sat in the back deck of her house, snuggling under a blanket and watching the stars; enjoying nature.
"I'd want a girl."
"A girl? I thought you would want a boy?" "Well a boy would be nice too, but there's something about have a daughter that's always gotten to me."
"Have you thought of what you'd name her?"
"I never really thought about it before you asked me, but I like the name Lynn."
"It's pretty," She whispered as she settled herself in his lap and softly kissed him.
"God, I love you so much."
--+-+--
"I'm sorry, Mr. Grissom."
"Yeah. Me too." He bent down and kissed her pale lips before heading out and sharing the news with her family. "I love you, Catherine."
A/N: Yeah. I hate writing these kind of sad stories. They always make me cry. Especially if I'm listening to sad music while typing it. LOL. So tell me if this story is sad enough to enter in the category! Thanks! I love you all!