Disclaimer: I do not own CSI Chapter 10
Grissom had been sitting in his office for hours going though the mountain of paperwork on his desk before he was interrupted by a knock on his office door. Looking up he saw Greg standing there.
"How's Sara doing?" he asked choosing not to enter.
"She'll be fine. She's just been under a lot of stress lately, so she is taking the week off to rest before coming back to work," Grissom told him. Checking his watch he noticed that their shift was about to start. "I'll be out with assignment in a few minutes."
He dismissed Greg and turned back to the work in front of him to finish the form he was working on. Once he had it completed he collected the assignment slips on his desk and made his way to the break room where his team was waiting.
"Good evening," he greeted everyone. "How are everyone's cases from last night going?" he asked, turning to Nick to start.
"The Walker case looks to be a murder suicide, there is no evidence of a third party. I still have to determine what the daughters part in that was but she was in surgery last night."
"I have set it up for you to go by the hospital first thing in the morning to talk to Sarah Walker, she is awake and alert. The doctor said that from the look of the stab wound it may not have been intentional, Sarah may have just got in the way…
...There are records of possible past physical abuse, as well as sexual abuse, though it looks like the sexual abuse has only recently started. The doctor is sending copies of the families medical histories tonight. I need you to go over them and contact other hospitals to see if there are any more reports." At the look of surprise on the team's faces he went on to explain. "I was at the hospital earlier. I spoke to Doctor Peters, he's the girl's physician. I have his business card if you have anymore questions." He handed the business card over to Nick.
"Ahh…thanks Grissom," Nick said as he took the card. He was surprised that Grissom had done this, but it did make his job a little easier.
Grissom then turned to Catherine.
"How about your case?" he asked.
"Break and enter in Henderson, turned violent. Elderly woman was taken to hospital, broken arm; bruising and she needed (12) twelve stitches to her face. She was kept over night but released this afternoon. House was totally trashed, jewelry and electronics stolen. Broke in through the back door. Last night I left fingerprints with Mandy and DNA with Wendy and they're both still processing. I'll be interviewing Mrs Fellows in the morning with Vartann."
"Good do you still need Greg or can I use him for a new case?" Grissom asked,
"At the moment we're just waiting for results, we can both start new cases if needed." Catherine tells him.
"Good then you both can have the armed robbery," he passed Catherine the slip. "Warrick, I have a DB at the Tropicana take Nick with you until he needs to leave for his interview. I'll be here working on paperwork. Call if you need me." He started to leave the room but was stopped by Catherine.
"What about Sara, where is she?"
"Sara is taking some time off, she'll be back next week," he told them, and tried to leave again but was stopped this time by Nick.
"Is she okay?" he asked sounding worried.
"She's fine, just needs some personal leave. Come on guys don't keep your scenes waiting." He turned again and left the team behind him.
"What's going on with Sara lately anyway?" Warrick asked having noticed that she had been withdrawn recently.
"She hasn't talked to me but she reacted badly to last nights case. Grissom took her off it because she was getting to involved," Nick told them.
"Yeah, Sara wasn't so good when I saw her at the hospital last night," Greg told them. "I think it has something to do with her mother being here."
"Wait, Sara's mother? I thought she was dead. Sara never mentions her family. I thought she didn't have any," Nick said shocked.
"How about we stop speculating about Sara and get to work?" Catherine told them harshly before leaving the room.
"What's up with her, usually she the first in with the gossip," Nick asked, surprised by Catherine's abrupt departure.
"Don't know, but lets get to work before we get in any more trouble. I have to work with her tonight," Greg told them as he got up and followed Catherine out.
Catherine stormed into the Locker room. She opened her locker but slammed the door without taking out the jacket she had come to get. Instead she sat down on the bench. Why hadn't she noticed the other woman had needed help? Obviously the problems she had weren't new and she had on more than one occasion herself added to the Sara's problems. She decided that after shift she would call Sara and hopefully they could catch up for breakfast or something. She would offer her a shoulder and try to mend their relationship. Standing back up she grabbed her jacket before heading out in search of Greg.
Sara was still at the hospital with Sarah when a lady from social services entered the room. Sarah had just drifted off to sleep so Sara raised a finger to her lips to silence the woman. She gestured for the woman to follow her out into the hall.
"Who are you and what are you doing in that room?" the woman demanded as the door shuts.
"My name is Sara Sidle, I work for the Las Vegas Crime Lab," she told the woman.
"You're not allowed to interview a minor without someone present," she objected.
"I'm not here for work, I'm checking up on her. I was the one who found her last night. I'm no longer on the case and I wanted to see how she is doing," Sara told her calmly, knowing that it would not help to loose her temper with this woman.
"Okay," the woman relaxed a little. "My name is Lisa Hardy, I'm with social services. I have been put on Sarah's case."
"I understand that Sarah has no family, what is going to happen with her?" Sara asked worriedly.
"I am currently looking into foster homes. At the moment she may need to go to a group home until I can find something a little more long term. It's hard to place a child like this."
"Don't I know it?" Sara muttered under her breath. The woman looked up at her curiously.
"Sorry, what was that dear?" she asked.
"Nothing, I was just agreeing. Do you mind if I ask what it takes to become a foster parent?"
"You need to have a background check and you also need to go through eight hours of training to be eligible in the state of Nevada, as well as a Nevada license. The goal is to find a safe, stable, nurturing environment for children who have come from abuse or neglect. From there we try to find someone who will hopefully adopt the child. Children like Sarah though have little chance for adoption as she is older than most people want, plus her past could also be an issue. Are you interested in being a foster parent?"
"I hadn't thought about it before. Maybe."
"Let me give you a business card and you can call me with any questions."
"Thank you, I will."
Sara took the card and looked at it, wondering what she would say to Grissom. They may have one on the way, but neither had experience with children. She left the woman in the hall and went back into the room. She knew she had told Grissom she would rest and have something to eat but she could do that in a hospital. She would go home a little later she thinks to herself as she got more comfortable in her chair.
I would like to thank Amanda Hawthorn for help on this chapter, I appreciated it. You will hopefully find the grammar improved. Let me know what you think. Please review.