Unfortunate Reunion

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Ch9: Trust


Nick's parents waited in the waiting room as Nick's other siblings start to show up. No one had ever seen all of the Stokes in one place before. Catherine left to get processed and cleaned up. The team waits in silence for the doctor.

"Oh mama," a woman, Emily Nick's oldest sister, cried. She hugged her mother.

Jacob was the oldest then it was Emily, John William, Roger Jr, Madison, Nick, Helen and Anna who were twins, and Parker. All of them were in the waiting room except for Nick.

"It's going to be alright," Jillian said.

"How is he doing?" Emily said her voice had a super thick southern accent.

"I'm not sure. He's still in surgery," Jillian said trying to stay strong for all her brothers and sisters, as she hugged them all.

"How long has he been in surgery?" Parker asked. Parker looked just like Nick, except he didn't groom himself like Nick. His hair was shagging and he had a light beard and was missing a tooth.

"A couple hours,"

"Where's Jacob?" Parker asked.

Meanwhile, Brass goes to Dana's room. Dana had suffered a GSW through her shoulder and the bullet and it had nicked her artery but she was out of surgery and awake. As Brass entered the room he saw Jake and Dana in a quiet heated discussion.

"Is everything alright?" Brass asked. The couple immediately went quiet and nervously stared at each other and Brass.

"She has nothing to say to you." Jake says standing between Dana and Brass. Dana laid down looking away.

"What are you her lawyer?"

"He's on his way."

"Do you not realize that your brother is here too and the only person who knows what happened is her?" Brass said angry.

"She's just as much a victim as my brother!"

"Your brother! Your brother is still in emergency surgery in case you were wondering."

"Get out she needs to rest." Jake said.


Morgan and DB go over Nick's belongings at the lab. Nick's clothes were saturated in his blood as well as Dana's. DB looked at Nick's shirt. Nick's shirt showed burning from the gunshot.

"It seems like Nick was shot at just about point blank range, while Dana's shirt shows more of a distance."

Morgan stops seeing Nick's belt buckle thinking of all the times he and the others teased Nick. They test his clothes for GSR as well as Dana's both come back positive.

"Both of their clothes are covered in GSR and they both have blood from each other on them... So you think there was a struggle?"

"Brass says Dana isn't talking, we will have to go back to the scene."


Catherine rejoined everyone in the waiting room. She was in scrubs because her clothes were now evidence. Nick was still in surgery with no word on how he was doing. Catherine was still an emotional mess and in shock. She was even more shocked on how Nick's family came out. Catherine took a seat next to Jillian and Nick's sister Emily.

"How you doing', sug'?" Emily asked holding Catherine's hand; Catherine realized she had a lonely tear running down her face.

"I'm alright..." Catherine lied.

"I'm going to go get something from the vendin' machine," Emily said. Jillian turned and looked at Catherine as tears swelled her eyes.

"This is my fault." Jillian said.

"What do you mean?" Catherine said, weary of the woman's guilt. She wasn't sure if it was just a guilty conscience about Nick's abuse or if she had done something that led Nick to be in the hospital.

"I... I told..." Jillian cried.

"Who?" Catherine exclaimed loudly, frustration and disappointment in her voice.

"Stokes!" a nurse said, she was in scrubs. Jillian, Roger, and Catherine all went to the young nurse. Nick had been in surgery for almost five hours.

"That's us," Roger said putting a supportive arm around his wife.

"I came to give you an update." the nurse said, everyone nodded. The nurse took a deep breath. "Mr. Stokes, suffered a gunshot wound to his midsection. When the bullet entered... it did nick his lung a little and hit a rib where it continued to move around. He has some internal bleed. I want to reassure you that the surgeons are doing the best they can." the nurse said leaving just as quickly as she came.


DB and Morgan go to Nick's house, all his neighbors were still out front and a little boy riding around on a bicycle. They go inside, and see the blood pools and obvious sign of a struggle as they continue their walk through in Nick's house.

DB walked in Nick's room. DB noticed Nick's boots by his bed, it reminded him of all his son would come home from practice and flop into his bed then takes his shoes off. DB noticed a towel in the doorway to Nick's bathroom. He opened the door and saw Nick's clothes in a pile.

"What are you thinking?" Morgan asked DB as he returned to the bedroom.

"That none of this makes any sense. I think Nick was sleeping when Dana and or the shooter arrived."

"But there was no force entry. So Nick must have let them in. But why? I heard Nick hated her." they both pause thinking. "I'm starting to think Dana was over here with Nick for a different reason..." Morgan said digging in her bad for her ALS light. DB pulled out his as well, the bed was jostled on both sides. A suspicious stain did illuminate when the light hit it.

"Maybe your right," DB said. "Swab it,"

DB returns to the living room and looking at the trajectory lasers. There was Nick's blood on Dana's shirt but none of Dana's blood on Nick's.

"The doctor said that the trajectory of Nick's wound shows that Nick was shot at a slightly downward angle."

"Okay. Run it." Morgan said putting her kit back down. "I'll be Dana."

"I'm Nick." DB says as they take their respective spots. "Ugh! I'm so mad!" he says mimicking Nick's accent. "There's a struggle..."

"Who shoots who?" Morgan asks.

"We will play it both ways. Gun goes off I'm hit. I fall against the wall where I shoot you."

"Nick is right handed. He was shot on his ride it would have been difficult to muster the strength to shoot me, and so was I was shot in my right shoulder."

"Your right trajectory is off. Unless Nick's left arm is four feet long this isn't going to work. The other way. There's a struggle gun goes off, you go down." DB said thinking of what happened next. "I'm worried for various reasons and go to your aid."

"I shoot you, but if your hunched over to help the trajectory is off again, and where is the gun?"

"There is no blood trail. I didn't see one."

"There was a third person here?"

"That's our shooter. The struggle ensues Nick is shot, shooter checks on him and them shoots her." DB says seeing a blood smear on a drawer in the end table by his door. "You know, when I get home from work I leave my service weapon in the end table by the door to put my wife's mind at ease. It's locked and the table is bolted to the wall to put my mind at ease." he said pulling Nick's weapon out. DB finished processing the end-table and sealed the weapon.

DB and Morgan finish packing all the evidence in their vehicle. The crow that had begun to form outside of Nick's has gotten bigger.

"Excuse me," a woman said lightly touching DB's arm. Morgan and DB both turned around.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" DB said.

"Do you know how Nick is doing?" the woman said as all the onlookers stopped and stared waiting for an answer.

"He's still in surgery," DB said addressing the whole crowd.

"But is he going to be alright?" the boy on the bike. "Do you know who hurt him?"

"We are still working on it. If any of you saw anything that would really help?"

"I heard a lot of yelling. I heard Nick, a woman, and I think another man... But I didn't see anything." the woman said.

"I saw something!" the little boy yelped jumping off his bike.

"Can you tell me what you saw?" Morgan asked.

"Yesterday morning when I was waiting for the school bus and I saw Nick arguing with a man. There were other people there too. But after I heard the loud pops and the police lady ran into Nick's house I saw the same man jump into a blue car and drive off. Is that going help Nick?"

DB and Morgan go to the hospital to get updated about Nick. DB gently pulled Catherine aside who was trying to get Jillian alone. Catherine wanted to find out who hurt Nick just as bad as Nick's parents but if one of them were responsible for hurting him, she'd be heartbroken. She felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt she made Nick tell his mom who did something, by her own admission.

"What do you have?" Catherine asked.

"A witness said that he saw Nick having an argument with a man yesterday and the same man was over at his hospital today. Did Nick mention anything about something happening yesterday?"

"He didn't have to I was there."

"What did you see?"

"After the diner, Nick's truck had flats so I drove him home. His parents and his brother and they were all arguing. Nick did say some nasty things to his parents and brother."

"Do you suspect his brother or his father?"

"I don't know... I have to talk to his parents."

"I'll go with you,"

"No! I mean... Let me do it."

"What in the hell is going on? Has everyone lost their mind."

"Stokes family!" Nick's doctor called, saving Catherine. Everyone went silent as the doctor went to Nick's parents and Catherine.

"How is he?"

"The bullet did a lot of damage before resting on his lung. We repaired all the internal bleeding however we didn't get the bullet out. He is prepped for surgery to remove the bullet."

"What's the risk?" Roger asked.

"Going in to retrieve the bullet could damage his lung and aggravate the internal bleeding, but leaving it inside an infection could spread which could be fatal... Who will be making medical decisions on behalf of Mr. Stokes?" The doctor asked feeling confused.

"I umm..."

"I have Medical Power of Attorney." Catherine said interrupting Nick's mom. An awkward silence took over the room. Jillian nodded as tears went down her face with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," Catherine whispered to Jillian.

DB's phone rings breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm going to need to verify that." the doctor said and Catherine hands him a copy of the paperwork.

"Take the bullet out." Catherine said the doctor nodded and left. The entire

Stokes family stared at Catherine except for Jillian who felt heartbroken.

"Russell." DB said.

"It's Mandy, I was able to get some prints off of Nick's gun and I got a hit in AFIS."

"To who?"