Chapter 7
The morning had passed slowly and at 10:00 a.m. Catherine was still sitting at her kitchen table trying to sip a cup of coffee as she stared at the wall, feeling as if she might start crying yet again. Trying to get a grip on her emotions had never seemed this hard before. She finally realized she had better start getting ready. She was scheduled for her psychological evaluation to start in just a few hours
Late that evening
It was a completely drained Catherine Willows who entered her home that evening. The psychological had been exhausting, so many questions and deep discussion. She had broken down crying more than once, yet felt strangely she also felt a little more calm as one important step had been made when they had probed her recent nightmares and what could be causing them. The revelation had seemed simple once the doctor explained how she was tying the events of her recent assault at a crime scene, with what had happened the other night. After listening to some of the symptoms she'd been having since the first attack, he said something about post-traumatic stress disorder, she wasn't sure what all he had been talking about at the end, being almost mentally numb from the ordeal, but she did know she had been given an appointment to return. She climbed wearily into bed as she let her mind explore again the connection between the two scenes, she still didn't remember exactly what happened a few nights ago. As she willed her body to relax her mind continued to search for answers as to what had happened, and if there really was something that could have caused her to react the way she did.
Next morning
Her sleep had been restless, and full of disjointed dreams. She remembered definite flashes of Gil's face and guns and men in black, but it had not been so bad as to wake her up this time. She still didn't feel quite herself the next morning, though the sleep had helped. Though not really hungry she began ransacking the kitchen almost out of habit as she looked for food. Her mind kept drifting to Gil as she pictured him lying in a hospital bed. She had been told that he would make a full recovery and that the injury had been confined to some bruised ribs from the vest and the shot in the throat which had miraculously missed any vital areas, but she still felt a yearning to see him, to make sure for herself that he was alright, and even to see the look in his eyes to know if he would ever speak to her again. Her thoughts were interrupted as the doorbell rang.
Opening it she was surprised to see Warrick, Nick and Greg all on her doorstep with coffee and bagels. "We thought you might like some company, now that we've all had our turn with IA and can speak to you again" Nick said brightly as they all filed in. Catherine studied them carefully for signs of anger or blame as they sat and chatted, all ignoring the shooting as if it was an elephant in the middle of the living room. Finally she took it upon herself to ask the obvious question about how things had been at work since the shooting, watching the slight discomfort that settled on the room at her question.
"Well we've all been interviewed," Warrick spoke calmly, and deliberately. "Usual questions, like how you and Gris got along, that kind of stuff." "Yeah, they seemed to think this might be a lovers quarrel or something." Greg spoke up, his statement causing a look of warning from the elder CSI's.
"They what?" Catherine couldn't believe what she had heard.
Sighing, Nick picked up the conversation. "Look, don't sweat it, they just seem to think that maybe you and Grissom had something going on outside of work and maybe this was part of it. But you know, they have to look at all possible angles." He tried to reassure her.
"So what did you all tell them?" She was still slightly stunned.
"The truth," Warrick said simply, "that we had no knowledge of any affair going on and as far as we knew you were just friends." There was a pregnant pause before he continued, "you guys aren't romantically involved are you?"
"Warrick!" Catherine lashed out, "of course not, how could you think…"
"Look, just made us think that's all, you two are awfully tight." Greg interjected.
"But Cath, we aren't here about that, the investigation is all up to IA now. We care about both you and Grissom and we're here as your friends, for support." Nick tried to console her. "We've also been taking turns at the hospital with him, and he's getting better every day."
Catherine tried to relax, knowing that their hearts were in the right place, and she knew that being alone was not healthy. The psychologist had even told her to seek emotional support where she could, so she let them be there for her and ignored the pang of Sara's absence.
TBC
