ACT TWO

FADE IN:

EXT. FRITZ HOME - EARLY DAWN

With flashlights, Ecklie and CSI DANA are searching the perimeter. The sun has just begun rising on the horizon. Dana disappears behind a sagebrush and emerges brandishing two guns.

DANA
I found a revolver and pistol!

Ecklie slowly turns to her with a tense expression.

ECKLIE
And what do we do with evidence
when we find it? Do we hold it up
in the air and let the world know?

Dana lowers her hand.

DANA
No, sir. We bag and tag it.

She walks over to her kit to do just that. Ecklie turns back to searching. His light glints across metal under a bush. He crouches down and reaches under the spiny bush.

He grimaces as the thorns tear his skin but he continues pushing his arm further. He pulls out a bloody crowbar. Hair is stuck to the weapon and in the hooked end he can see bits of skin.

ECKLIE
Bring me an evidence bag, Dana.

DANA
Yes, sir.

INT. CSI - MAIN LAYOUT ROOM - DAY

Lab Tech WENDY is laying out printed diagrams of the Fritz house. She has multiple colored paper flags that she's applying at each spot of blood marked on the diagrams. Some have multiple flags.

Nick walks in with photograph printouts.

NICK
Archie said you picked up the diagrams.

WENDY
You were busy. I thought I could
get started on the bloodstains and spatter.

NICK
I could have done that.

Wendy stops, staring at him. He notices after a moment.

NICK
What?

WENDY
The more time we take, the further
away his attacker is getting.

Nick nods. She turns back to the diagrams. As she talks, she points to the spots in the individual rooms.

WENDY
Every sample of the paintings on
the wall came back as blood from
two or more victims. Blood from the
Officer Carson is only in the front
hall and the drops to the kitchen.
The smear across the floor into the
pantry was his, so he must have been
killed there. In the hall there are
drops from the dog to the basement.
From the living room, the cat to
the basement. The blood pool in the
basement was all Grissom, as were
the drops on the bottom steps. Upstairs--

NICK
Wait a second. There are drops from
Grissom on the stairs?

WENDY
Yes.

NICK
Go on.

WENDY
Upstairs, blood from the teenager
and female child were in these two
bedrooms and there were drops to
the hall closet. The son was in
this room, no drops in the hall.
Dad's blood is in the bed and was
smeared across the carpet to the
hall closet. Mom's blood next to
the bed and then smeared to the
hall closet. In the bathroom, the
largest donor was Grissom. That's
probably where he...

Wendy stops, tearing up. Nick rubs her shoulder.

NICK
Do you need a minute?

She shakes her head, getting over it quickly.

NICK
You have unknown 1 and 2 in the
upstairs bathroom and in the kitchen.

WENDY
Unknown 1 is the John Doe found in
the pantry with Officer Carson.
There was a lot of his blood in the
bathroom, down the hall, stairs,
and right at the back door. Then
drag marks from the back door to
the pantry.

Nick sorts the photographs, separating them by room and examining them. He lays them out, showing directionality.

NICK
(distant)
How did this play out?

Wendy thinks about it and begins to envision what transpired...

INT. FRITZ HOME - BASEMENT - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)

Grissom slowly climbs down the stairs, kit in one hand and flashlight in the other. He stops, staring at EMILY painted on the wall. He leans in to examine it, sets his kit on a step. Grissom pulls out a pre-moistened swab and then swipes the paint.

Behind him a faceless adult comes around the open door with a crowbar in hand. The person creeps down the steps, lifting the crowbar in anticipation.

Grissom spritzes the swab with luminol. He shines his light on it, watching the swab change color to identify blood. The attacker swings, smacking Grissom over the head. Grissom tumbles down the stairs and the attacker follows. He's on Grissom before he gets a chance to get up. Grissom tries to fight back but he realizes he's outmatched and lies still.

The attack stops after a few more strikes. The attacker drops the crowbar and walks upstairs. Somewhere above one of the girls screams. Grissom opens his eyes. He tries to get up but the attack has caused enough injury that he can't move right away.

Blood begins to pool around him. The girl screams again.

Grissom drags himself to his feet, picks up the crowbar, and heads up the stairs. The blood falls on the lower steps, but stops before he gets to the top.

INT. FRITZ HOME - UPSTAIRS HALL - NIGHT (RE-ENACTMENT)

Grissom creeps along the wall, crowbar gripped in both hands. He can hear the girl crying and a man cussing at her. Grissom comes to the bedroom door and sees the man on top of the girl.

He gets a good grip on the crowbar, and attacks. The man is caught by surprise and quickly goes down, but the dark figure from before comes in. The faceless adult grabs Grissom from behind. Thrown off balance, Grissom can't keep the attacker from taking back the crowbar.

Grissom is forced to fight for his life. The attacker backs Grissom into the bathroom, gets him down and this time he doesn't stop.

BACK TO SCENE

NICK
No. That's not what happened.

WENDY
How do you know?

NICK
Grissom wouldn't have attacked the
killer. He would have called for
backup and gotten out of the house
or somewhere safe. He wouldn't have
done that.

WENDY
How can you be sure? Do you really
think he would have abandon a child
in trouble?

NICK
Yes! He would have known he was
more help calling for backup. It's
more likely he was forced upstairs.

WENDY
Maybe. But I really think he went
to help someone.

NICK
No. If you think he'd have done
something so stupid, then you don't
know him.

WENDY
If you think he wouldn't have
helped, then you don't know him.
Nick, we may be civilians, but we
still vowed to protect and serve.

Nick can't argue with that. He sighs, looking at the photographs.

NICK
If that is what happened, he should
have served more than he protected.
It wasn't worth his life.

Wendy doesn't argue with that.

INT. CSI - A.V. LAB - DAY

Archie is working at the computer when Greg walks up and stands next to him.

GREG
You paged?

ARCHIE
Your John Doe is seventeen-year-old
Curtis Pike. The other unknown is
fifteen-year-old Donald Conway. You
think Curtis talked this kid into
helping him kill the family?

GREG
What's the kid's records look like?

ARCHIE
Both escaped from the Clark County
Juvenile Detention Center during
transfer. Curtis doesn't have much
of a record. One grand theft auto,
but he returned the car and then
was arrested. A couple drug charges.
But this fifteen-year-old... He is
hard core, Greg.

GREG
What's his say?

ARCHIE
Age seven, cited for cruelty to
animals. Age eight, charges pressed
for assault on another child. Age
nine, six more assault charges. Age
ten, assault with a weapon, armed
robbery, and raped a five year old.
Geeze! The last charge was aggravated
assault with a weapon. He put a kid
in the hospital for putting down
his favorite music artist.

Greg joins Archie.

GREG
Marilyn Manson?

ARCHIE
Danzig.

Greg uses a landline to make a phone call. Ecklie walks into the lab, standing behind the two. Both notice him, but don't acknowledge him.

GREG
(to phone)
Hey, Doc, do you have the x-rays
from the hospital? Grissom's.

ECKLIE
Who's this?

Ecklie motions at the screen.

ARCHIE
One of the fingerprints flagged
this kid. Do you think a fifteen-
year-old could have killed Gris--
the family?

Ecklie reads the screen.

GREG
(to phone)
No. I'll call Catherine and ask her
were he x-rays are. She might still
be at the hospital.

Greg hangs up.

ECKLIE
Do we need a warrant for this kid, Sanders?

GREG
Wouldn't hurt, but we have to find
him first.

ECKLIE
I'll get it. Catherine needs you to
pick up the x-rays. Doctor Ian has
a copy of Grissom's medical file
waiting at the front desk at
the hospital.

Greg leaves. Archie looks back at Ecklie.

ARCHIE
Are you working this case too?

ECKLIE
Yes.

ARCHIE
That's pretty cool of you, Ecklie.

ECKLIE
Make sure you finish scanning the prints.

Archie nods and Ecklie leaves.

INT. CSI - HALLWAY - DAY

Ecklie stops, leaning against a wall. For a moment it looks like he may not hold it together. A lab tech comes around the corner and he pretends to be making a cell phone call. When she's gone, he walks away.

INT. SUNRISE HOSPITAL - ICU ROOM 4 - DAY

Grissom's left leg and both arms are in casts. The rest of him is wrapped in bandages. The only parts of his face not covered are his eyes and lips. A respirator breathes for him.

Catherine sits on the windowsill near the bed, staring out at the neighborhood. Sara walks up behind her.

SARA
Catherine?

She turns and the two women don't speak right away. Sara walks up the bed to lay her hand on Grissom's.

SARA
Any change?

CATHERINE
He went into a coma.

Sara turns her head a little.

SARA
Why don't you take a break?

CATHERINE
Sure. If you need relief, call me.

Catherine stops at the door and turns.

CATHERINE
The last thing he said, in the
ambulance, was to tell you 'move
on.' What does that mean?

Sara shakes her head.

SARA
I don't know.

Catherine isn't convinced but doesn't argue and leaves.

Sara carefully climbs into the bed next to Grissom and lies beside him. She kisses his eyelid before laying her head on the pillow next to his.

SARA
Gil, you can't give up on me. I
wouldn't know how to move on
without you.

INT. CORONER'S OFFICE - DAY

Nick, Greg, DAVID, and Ecklie wait as ROBBINS snaps x-rays into a lightboard. Nick is holding a case file. When Robbins finishes, he picks up a file from a nearby table.

David is the only one not running on a volatile combination of little sleep and adrenaline with a side of frayed nerves.

ROBBINS
Doctor Ian's report is just preliminary.
When I do the autopsy, I'll--

ECKLIE
Maybe we could focus on what you
have now and not what you hope
you'll get.

ROBBINS
What I hope to get?

NICK
When you do the autopsy? He isn't
dead yet!

ROBBINS
That isn't what I meant. I meant--

GREG
You can't do an autopsy unless he's
dead, and he isn't, so what the hell
did you mean?

The intensifying fight stuns David.

ROBBINS
You three are mincing my words. I
say that with every other victim.
It doesn't mean anything.

ECKLIE
This isn't every other victim, Albert.

ROBBINS
Since when do you give a damn what
happens to Grissom!

DAVID
STOP IT!

David snaps the folder away from Robbins and opens it. He quickly thumbs through the pages and before any of them can attack him, starts reading.

DAVID
Ian says that during post-surgery
he noticed the blood around the
lower extremity wounds was dry.
That leads me to think Grissom
was attacked twice.

Nick opens his case file.

NICK
That is consistent with the blood
patterns. There was a bloodstain
with a defined void matching
Grissom's measurements on the
basement floor. We found drops on
the basement stairs and
directionality indicates he went up
after he was injured. The next place
Grissom's blood was found was in
the upstairs bathroom and a smear
from the bathroom to the closet.

DAVID
Ian couldn't identify the order the
injuries occurred. He did find trace
in the head wounds.

GREG
It was ceramic tile that matched
the tile in the bathroom. There
were chips in the floor tiles where
the weapon had hit the floor. Most
likely transfer occurred during
the attack.

David flips through pages, then walks up to the x-rays. He points out the injuries as he talks about them.

DAVID
There were cleaved indentations on
the skull at least seven millimeters deep.

ECKLIE
Judging from that description it
sounds like the crowbar. Wendy
confirmed the blood and hair were
Grissom's, and both Grissom and
Donald's prints were on it.

DAVID
Ian recovered a bullet from the
lower abdomen and Catherine appears
to have signed for it. I'll take
the bullets we have from the other
victims upstairs for comparison.
The last comment...

David shuts the report.

DAVID
That's all.

ROBBINS
What was the last comment?

DAVID
Information about what drugs he is on.

Ecklie holds his hand out for the report.

ECKLIE
I need to make copies before you
send it back.

David hands Ecklie the file. Nick snatches it away before Ecklie can take it. Greg runs interference as Nick flips through to the last page.

NICK
DNR has been temporarily lifted
until validated. Starting patient
on aggressive life support and
referring for second opinion.

Nick looks up at David.

NICK
You wanted to hide the DNR from us?

DAVID
No. I--

GREG
Then why didn't you read it?

David sighs, looking at the others.

DAVID
I didn't want you four to worry any
more than you already are.

NICK
And hiding a DNR would help avoid worry?

DAVID
No. That's not what I didn't want to do.

NICK
Then what? What would make us worry
less than not knowing Grissom has a DNR?

DAVID
With the extent of injury to his
head, Grissom really needed to be
on oxygen in the last twenty-four hours.

ECKLIE
Why?

Robbins points at the head x-ray that shows how extensive Grissom's skull injuries are.

ROBBINS
He can hardly breathe. He's had
severe blood loss. If his body
hasn't been able to get ample
supply of blood and oxygen to his
brain, he's suffered permanent
brain damage.

The disheartening revelation silences the CSI. Ecklie takes the file and walks to the doors. He stops and turns suddenly.

ECKLIE
Gil will be fine.

The CSI and morticians stare at him. Ecklie nods. He's struggling to hold it together.

ECKLIE
He's going to be fine. It's just
going to take a while. Before long
we'll be fighting over cases and
procedures, and you four will never
let me live this moment down. He'll
be fine.

Ecklie leaves.

DAVID
Was that Ecklie being concerned?

GREG
Or something like it.

NICK
Let's give that house a once over,
Greg. Make sure we haven't
missed something.

The two CSI leave. David and Robbins start pulling off x-rays, and David puts them back in their envelope.

ROBBINS
Thank you.

DAVID
For what?

ROBBINS
Trying to protect us.

David flashes him a smile.

DAVID
I have to run the bullets upstairs
and order copies of the x-rays.
I'll be back in an hour.

David picks up an envelope from the desk and leaves. Robbins slowly sits down on a stool, staring across the empty CORONER'S OFFICE.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT TWO