"Layla?" she repeats.
Once again there is no response, only breathing. The air conditioning kicks on. The back door shuts, the clock ticks.
"Answer me please," Catherine begs.
Catherine studies the face laying against her. The face only scowls. No vocal cords vibrate, no lips move.
"Are you ok?" Catherine questions. Once again nothing.
"Layla please answer me," she implores.
She is ignored once again. She begins to rub the head that is resting against her. Minutes pass. The big green eyes close and the body relaxes. Catherine carefully lays the sleeping body on her bed just in time for the phone to ring. She grabs it on the second ring.
"Hello?" she answers.
"Mom I'm just calling to tell you that I made it."
A noise interrupts the phone call. "Thanks. I've got to go. I love you have a good time," Catherine hangs up. She hangs up the phone and stares at the source of frantic crying.
"Layla stop. I'm not going anywhere. It was just Lindsey. I'm not leaving you."
The noise stops. The ocean of tears recedes. Catherine wipes away tears from a tiny, delicate face.
Nick has been asleep for two and a half hours when he gets the call. Within the hour he's at the scene. Greg meets him. They follow Brass into the scene. A girl lays in the middle of her yard dead.
"I get to be supervisor and boom I get called in the middle of the night to come to this?"
"That's how the cookie crumbles."
"I hate cases with kids."
"Me too."
"I guess we'll just have to work even harder."
"Yeah," Greg agrees.
"Did you get any sleep?"
"I got a few hours," Greg admits.
"She's only seven. What was she doing out after dark?" Nick wonders.
"Who knows? Maybe she came out to look at the stars," Greg theorizes.
"An innocent kid playing in her own yard minding her business, and someone comes along and shoots her," Nick shakes his head.
"We'd better get started," Greg suggests.
"Yeah it's going to be a long day," Nick adds.
It's just after eight and Catherine has just fallen asleep. The lights in her house are off, and all the doors are locked. The bed is warm and the fan hums in the background. The blinds are drawn, and the door to the bedroom stands open. The room is filled with different noises. The fan, the air conditioner, the clock ticking on the wall, and snores coming from the bed.
At three Ray and Riley are called to their own scene. A traffic accident with suspicious circumstances. Ray starts with the tire tracks. Riley heads to the hospital with the sole living victim. And eventually the both of them end up back at the lab processing their evidence. Nick and Greg join them just after six.
"Are you coming to help?" Riley asks.
"No, I thought you two might like to join us for a quick breakfast. We can talk about our cases, and come back with fresh perspectives," Nick suggests.
"I'm in," Riley agrees.
"Who's buying?" Ray asks.
"It's Greg's turn," Riley points out.
"Yeah ok," Greg nods.
They all put their evidence away temporarily, and grab their stuff. The four CSI's jump in Nick's vehicle and head to a diner nearby to get breakfast. Riley orders oatmeal, Ray an omelette, Greg french toast and bacon, and Nick gets the biggest breakfast on the menu.
At twelve past six Catherine wakes up. She looks around her room, first at the clock, then the other half of the bed, to the window. The sun has yet to make an appearance. Breakfast of any sort is the last thing on her mind. She rolls over and puts a pillow over her head.
At the diner talk somehow veers from cases to Catherine, the most recent hot topic at the lab.
"I bet Catherine is dead asleep right now," Nick bets as their waitress heads to the kitchen with their orders.
"If I were her I would be," Greg admits.
"I'd love to have three days off," Riley smiles.
"In a row... we'd all love that," Nick agrees.
"So did you get to the bottom of the mystery yet?" Ray asks.
"What mystery?" Nick asks.
"The one about Catherine?" Ray questions.
"No. I think that I should just leave it alone," Nick admits.
"Nick if you have an allegation, or a concern why don't you just ask her?" Ray wonders.
"Are you kidding? He doesn't want his head on a platter. If anyone could kill you and make it look like an accident it would be Catherine," Greg defends him.
"Besides I can't just go up to her out of the blue and go 'Hey Riley saw you in the grocery store with a kid. Do you have another kid that you forgot to tell us about, or something?' I can't do that."
"Don't bring me into this," Riley warns.
"How can I not? If you hadn't seen her in the grocery store with a kid none of us would be so paranoid," Nick questions.
"So then just pretend that I didn't see her. I mean it might not have even been her."
"I can't do that. You can't put pandora back in the box," Nick rants.
Catherine finally rolls out of bed a few minutes before eight. She's sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee when she hears footsteps coming from her upstairs. The footsteps suddenly stop.
"Mom!" A frantic voice yells.
"I'm down here," Catherine answers.
"Mom!" the voice calls again.
"I'm in the kitchen," Catherine yells out.
The footsteps rush down the stairs into the kitchen. They stop at her feet. Catherine smiles widely, "I'm right here."
"Don't leave me," she begs.
"I'm not going to leave you. I'm off work today," Catherine reassures her.
"Promise?"
"Yes I promise," Catherine nods.
"Ok," she sighs.
"How's your chin feeling?"
"Itchy," she answers.
"Does it hurt?"
"No," she shakes her head.
"You need to be more careful," Catherine reminds her.
"I know," she answers.
"I think that you're going to have a nice big bruise there."
"It hurt a lot the other day," she admits.
"I'm sorry," Catherine apologizes.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"Will you stay home with me forever?"
"I can't stay home with you forever. I have to go to work and make money. I have to pay bills."
"But I don't want you to."
"Do you want to live in a box?"
"Yes," she smiles.
"Outside in the rain?" Catherine questions.
"No," she shakes her head.
"Then I have to go to work."
"But not today?"
"No not today. I get to stay home with you today."
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"I hate when you go to work."
"I know."
"Mommy?"
"What?"
"Can I have some coffee?"
"No," Catherine answers.
"Mommy?"
"Huh?"
"Can I sit in your lap?"
Catherine smiles at the little girl. "Yes."
"Mommy?"
"What?"
"I love you."
"I love you to Layla," Catherine answers.
The little girl lays her head against Catherine's neck. Catherine pets her thick, wavy, hair, and smells her. She wraps her arms around the little girl and holds her tightly.
"Mommy don't leave me," she begs.
Catherine says nothing she just chokes back the lump in her throat. As she holds the little girl she fights back tears, but she says nothing, she just watches the beautiful little girl.