Chapter 21

smokinhottie

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the CSI characters. Scott the paramedic and Rodney Carlton the SWAT team member are both mine.

I know I freaked some people out with the last few chapters. Im sorry! Only advice I have for you is to just strap yourself in for a wild ride!

Catherine had rushed to the backroom where SWAT was examining the scene. There was a body on the floor with a sheet over it and her heart stopped when she thought of who it might be. Now she burst past the SWAT team to look at the body. One of the SWAT members and long time friend, Rodney Carlton, managed to stop Catherine before she reached the body.

"Catherine! Hang on a moment. I know you want to see who it is, but you can't destroy evidence." he said gently. "Wait and we will let you see...ok?" Catherine nodded slowly and Rodney wrapped an arm around her as he led her to where the body was. He nodded slightly and another SWAT member lifted the sheet covering the body. Catherine released the breath she had been holding and almost sank to her knees in relief if Rodney hadn't had a good grip on her.

"Thank God!" she said, relief washing over her as she looked at the face of the stranger on the floor, "It's not him!"

She was so relieved, but at the same time afraid. 'Where was he? If this is one of his captors, where was he?' Thoughts flew through her mind so quickly that her head felt like it was spinning. It took a moment to get herself straight. That's when she saw it. There on the white tile floor, further away from the body, was another pool of dark red blood. Catherine nearly died as she knelt near it.The smell of blood was heavy in the air and it was all she could do to keep from losing her stomach. It wasn't long before Warrick came and knelt beside her as Rodney rejoined his team.

"There's so much blood." she whispered as she continued to stare at the puddle. Warrick sighed and nodded.

"I know. Nick and I got to him as fast as we could. Obviously it wasn't enough." Catherine shook her head.

"No you guys did all you could. It's just...where is he now?" she said as she looked around.

"I don't know," Warrick said, "We were all unconscious." Catherine nodded as she scanned the room. It was then that she spotted a small trail of blood drops. She followed the trail of blood to the back door and that's when she saw it. If it hadn't been for years of being a blood analysis expert, she wouldn't have seen it. There on the under side of the door handle was part of a bloody handprint.

"Warrick!" She cried "The door! They went out the back door!" and with that she bolted back through the store, out the front door, and around to the back. Unfortunately, her efforts all appeared in vain, when she saw the empty parking lot.

"Damnit!" she cursed. She felt like crying with frustration. 'Pull yourself together Catherine, Grissom needs you.' she said to herself. She didn't truly expect to find the men parked out back with Grissom in the car waiting for her to show up. On the other hand, any obvious indication as to where they took him would have been greatly appreciated. She scanned the parking lot looking for clues as she raced the clock. That's when she saw it.

It lay shimmering in the moonlight near the embankment to a water run off for the parking lot. Catherine ran to pick it up. It was her gold cross and chain completely covered in blood. She clutched it in her hands and brought it to her chest.

'Why him? Where is he now?' she thought to herself as Warrick walked over to her.

"I've got people checking the print on the door. Nick had to go to the hospital and Sara went with him," Warrick said as he came to stand beside her, "What do you have there?" He said when he saw that she had some thing in her hand.

"A gold chain and cross..." she said, "my gold chain and cross."

"What sit doing out here?" he said with a frown.

"I gave it to Grissom before he went in...for good luck and protection...so much for that." She said sighing heavily.

"Hey now..." Warrick said as he gave her a hug "We will find him. OK? But you have to be strong for him. Understand?" Catherine nodded and they began searching for Grissom. It was now raining, making it even more urgent at finding him.

As time went by, Catherine became more and more anxious. Grissom had lost a large amount of blood in there. Who knew how much he had lost by now. Catherine thought as she walked along the run off. A flash of lightning had illuminated the embankment enough for Catherine to see the water at the bottom. That's when she saw him. He was laying face down at the bottom of the embankment with half of his body in the water.

"WARRICK!" she screamed, "I GOT HIM!" She easily slid down the wet and muddy embankment landing in waist deep muddy water. More water was pouring in thanks to the rain and the water from the parking lot. Warrick had called to Brass and the medics as he scrambled down the embankment after Catherine.

"GRISSOM!" she cried as thunder cracked over head. "TALK TO ME! GIL! COME ON! SPEAK TO ME!" She had rolled him over on to his back and immediately felt for a pulse. She became even more anxious when she found that she was having a hard time finding his. He was covered in mud and was soaking wet. Blood was everywhere as she placed her hands over his wounds and tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Warrick was soon at her side.

"Catherine!" he shouted "We have to move him! The water is getting too high!" With the help of Catherine, Warrick and the paramedics, they managed to drag him up the embankment to the parking lot. A stretcher a waited them at the top of the hill along with a young paramedic. He was medium height with an athletic build. To Catherine, he looked so young with his baby face, that she wondered if he was old enough to know what he was doing.

"Mrs. Willows, My name is Scott and I'm a trained paramedic. I need you to please stand back a moment for me." With the help of an other paramedic, Scott managed to get Grissom on to the stretcher. They immediately began preparing him for transport. Catherine stood off to the side and watched them strap him to aboard and fit him with a neck brace. Warrick came to stand by her and wrapped an arm around her for comfort. After what seemed like forever to Catherine, the medics finally put Grissom in the waiting ambulance.

"Would you like to ride with him?" Scott asked Catherine. She looked at Brass as if to ask if they needed her.

"Jim...I..."She said as she tried to decide what to do.

"Don't worry Catherine. We've got everything under control. You go with him. He needs you right now." Brass said gently, knowing what she was thinking.

"Well be right behind you." Warrick said. Catherine hesitated a moment and looked at Brass again. When he nodded, she climbed in and asked what hospital they were going to.

"Desert Palms," Scott said as he continued to care for Grissom. "That's where they took the other guy." She nodded and looked at them one last time before shutting the doors. Brass and Warrick watched as the ambulance drove off into the cold, rainy night, with the sirens screaming and the lights flashing. Warrick shook his head as he watched the ambulance go.

"How's Hannah?" Warrick asked as they turned and began walking to the car.

"She's fine. Greg went with her to the hospital to get checked out." Brass said wearily as the nights events finally caught up with him. He looked at Warrick and put a hand to his shoulder.

"Come on let's go." he said as they reached the car and got in.