By the way, I know the time line is totally screwed up, but let's pretend this is after DLG, but DLG is before ABRTI part 1 & 2...sorry if that makes no sense. I'm not putting ABRTI part 1 & 2 in the book, it's just that that's when Nick got the stache (which in George Ead's defense wasn't as horrible as everyone says it was...) and I've got my own explanation for the stache...yeah, I'm that pathetic...(shrugs)
Also, I don't own Tina, Nick, Doc, Warrick, or anyone else from CSI...and I don't own or represent Pudlle Of Mudd or any of their songs.
Rating is high on this, just a steamy make-out scene, but there's a lot of crude language and mature themes.
Chapter 21
(June 19, 2006 – Same night)
"What can you tell me about her Doc?" Nick asked and Doctor Al Robbins sighed.
"Same as before Nick, young girl she's only 23, fits the profile to a Texas 'T'. Raped brutally multiple times, beaten brutally, blunt force trauma to the occipital of the head. Judging by the shape of the wound I'd say it was a rounded object, yet slightly flat on the end. I found splinters in the wound, along with vaginal fluid...I sent it to DNA, new girl's working on it." He added and pointed towards her lower abdomen. "Several stab like wounds from her umbilical to her inguinal, wounds indicate that the weapon was sharp, irregular with a tight curve."
"Corkscrew?" Nick asked and Doc nodded.
"That'd do it."
"He hasn't used a corkscrew before..."
"Escalation Nick...she also obtained bruises to the sternum, deltoid, and axillary."
"More escalation...how'd that get there?"
"Not my job Nick." Doc informed him and Nick sighed. "Took a buccal swab, she had seminal fluid in her mouth."
Nick sighed again and shifted his feet. "Alright..." Doc handed him the formal report. "Thanks Doc."
--Desert Palms Hospital—9:24 pm—Third Floor/ Monitory Ward--
"Okay, you just go ahead and do that Mrs. Johnson." Riley said trying her hardest to be friendly to the diffident woman.
"I hate this damn hospital! I hate you damn doctors! I hate the damn meds and I hate wire hangers!" She exclaimed and Riley closed the door.
"Alright, that's good to know!" Riley huffed, not really trying to be friendly anymore. She sighed and closed the door on the screaming woman. "I think she's better suited for the psych ward." Riley mumbled to no one in particular. She sighed and took off towards the break room for a much needed session with the Ben and Jerry's she left in the community freezer.
Riley sighed in relief when she saw it was untouched and sat down at the table to dig into her simple pleasure when a fellow nurse and friend walked in. "Hey Riley." She greeted and Riley lifted the spoon and nodded slightly.
"Hey Tina."
"Ooh, tough shift?" Tina asked and sat down at the table with her salad.
"And it's just beginning." She answered. "How 'bout you?" The Texan drawled and continued with the 'Half Baked' flavor ice cream pint.
"Eh, not so bad."
Riley furred her brows. "I thought you had the 'uncooperative' teenager on the fifth floor? Heard he's horrible..."
"I do, and he is...but I get to see my man in about thirty minutes for his break..." Tina smiled and nodded slightly and Riley shook her head and laughed.
"Tina Brown, you have it bad." Riley drawled.
"Well, he is my husband." The pretty African American defended while blushing.
"It's alright Tina...I get it. I just have this knack for making fun of people when they're happy. My Mama says it's a defense mechanism." Riley replied with a small smile as she continued eating her ice cream.
Tina raised an eyebrow. "Well, I was talking about my husband...what're you defending yourself against? You wanting a husband?" Tina joked while giving her a mock pout and Riley threw her head back and laughed.
"No...farthest thing from it. Nah, I just made an 'uh-oh' this morning with my boyfriend..."
"What happened Ry?"
Riley sighed and pushed the chunks of brownie around in the ice cream carton before setting it down on the table and looking at Tina. "How did you react when Rick first told you he loved you?"
Tina laughed. "I married him." Riley's jaw hit the floor. "We'd been dating for about four or five months when he came home one night...he had this, really tough case at work, involving his best friend and...he told me life was too short to waste it messing around and..." She sighed dreamily. "Told me he loved me, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He took me to the Belagio Hotel's jewelry store and let me pick out the engagement ring and wedding bands, and then we went to a drive through chapel."
Riley chuckled a little.
"Hey, I know it's nothing fancy but...if you're marrying the right man, none of that matters."
"How did you know you loved him after you'd only been dating a few months?"
Tina shrugged. "I don't know...I just-"
"Knew." Riley finished while nodding. "Apparently that's the universal feeling known to everyone but me."
Tina chuckled sympathetically. "When you know, you'll know."
"What's Rick like?" Riley asked curiously, desperate for a change of topic.
Tina smiled. "Amazing...he's just...perfect. He treats me better than any other guy I've been with, his work schedule kinda sucked, he worked Nights and I worked Swing, then he got moved to Swing and I was moved to Nights, but he finally moved back to Nights...it's been good ever since." Tina smiled and Riley nodded.
"You sound really happy."
"I am, Warrick is the best thing that ever happened to me." Tina professed and Riley knitted her brow.
Warrick Brown...why do I feel like I've heard that name somewhere...?
"Tina," Dr. Almers poked his head into the break room. "Your husband is here for you." He said dryly and left just as quickly as he came, not too happy about discussing his ex-girlfriend's husband.
Tina sighed and Riley shot her a sympathetic smile. "Working around your ex and having your man interfere a lot of the time...I know the situation all too well..."
Tina laughed and stood up to go greet her husband when the man in question arrived at the break room door. "Mrs. Brown." He greeted and kissed her.
"Hey Baby, I was just comin to see you." He kissed her again and she laughed and pulled away. "Oh, Rick, I want you to meet Riley Turner. Riley, this is Rick."
Riley stood up and shook hands with Warrick. "Hi, nice to meet you." She greeted.
"Oh yeah, right back at ya. Tina speaks very highly of you." Warrick informed her. Wow...why does she look familiar?
"Same for you. Any time your name comes into conversation she brightens up." Riley replied and Tina blushed.
"Well, I'm sorry to pull you two ladies from your conversation but I'm going to steal my wife for a little bit." Warrick explained and Riley chuckled.
"No problem, I gotta get back to work anyway." She drawled and put the ice cream back in the freezer. Going out the door with a sly smile on her face, she shot back at them good naturedly, "Have fun, but not in one of the empty rooms, Edgar gets mad when people fool around in those rooms. Employee or not."
Tina laughed. "You and your Cowboy?" She questioned and Riley responded with a smile and waggling her eyebrows.
"Ah, man...she's got a boyfriend?" Warrick asked sadly and Tina swatted his arm. "Not for me." He defended. "I'm talkin about Nick...he seemed kinda down this morning..."
"You think he needs a girl?"
"Well, I think he had a girl a while back cause he was comin into work with scratch marks on his back and hickeys here and there. But about four months back he was down for a while, then back on top, now he's down again. But I never asked him about it..."
"Maybe he's breaking up with a girl...or it's just a casual thing...anyway, Riley said she's goin through problems with her boyfriend." Tina smiled. "Hey, maybe they'll get lucky and each break it off with the other people and we can play Cupid and hook them up."
Warrick laughed. "I'll ask Nick what's goin on. Anyway, I don't wanna talk about Nick right now...we could be spending our time doing more fulfilling activities." Warrick hinted and Tina laughed.
--CSI Crime Lab—Layout Room—12:16 a.m.--
"Nick...hey, how're you doing?" Sara asked tentatively as she stepped into the room Nick was working in. It was no secret that Nick had been slightly hostile with everyone today, for a reason no one knew, and it was very odd for Nick to be rude to everyone and anyone because of something personal...
"Fine. Why?"
She shrugged. "Just curious. How far have you come with the newest vic?"
"Well, she has an identity now. Ms Kendra Blake, lives about two blocks from here in the Windsor Apartments. Cocktail waitress at the Rio Hotel, just finishing up school."
"School?"
"College, majoring in human psychology."
"Hmm...she was smart."
"Yeah, I spoke with the uh, the owner of the apartments and he said that Ms. Blake was rooming with two other girls; a Ms. Diana Larson and Ms. Karen Grier."
"Did you get a hold of them?"
"Brass is bringing them in now." Nick answered and kept his attention on the evidence. Sara stayed next to him, wanting to ask him about what was bothering him, but didn't want to risk getting her head bitten off. "What can I do for you Sara?" Nick asked tightly and she sighed.
"Nick are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. Just wasn't too happy about getting woken up and having my ass dragged back to work after I just pulled two doubles." Nick snapped and Sara nodded and recoiled a few steps.
"Alright...I'll um...okay." She stammered and quickly hurried out of the room.
--Nick's House—7:18 a.m... I really hope they get the bar thingy fixed...--
One week later, Riley hesitantly unlocked Nick's door and stepped inside cautiously, as if the slightest movements could set off a bomb. She sighed and looked onto the couch to see Nick passed out, still in his clothes from work, shoes, and vest. He was lying face up with one arm draped over his eyes, the other arm across his stomach, with one leg was extended straight out on the couch, and the other draped over the edge of the couch.
Riley suppressed a smile and walked over to him and knelt down next to him, and let a stray finger travel down the part of his cheek that was exposed. She felt the stubble along his jaw line from a few nights of not shaving and she smiled. Nick shifted slightly in his sleep and moved his arm over his head, exposing the rest of his face. She sucked in a breath and smiled as she brushed the hair off of his forehead.
Nick sighed in his sleep and rolled over onto his left side. His arm snaked around her waist and held her tightly, making it hard for her to move. She was instantly glad that he had purchased a big couch when they had refurnished his house. She slid onto the couch next to him, not bothering to take off her shoes or jacket, mocking his movements, and snuggled against him. He pulled her closer to himself and let the hand resting above him fall into her hair.
She wrapped her arm across his chest and kissed his jaw lightly before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later the shifting on the other side of the couch brought Riley back to the 'world of the living' as Nick often called it. She kept her eyes closed but tightened her grasp on Nick, snuggling in closer to him. She heard him sigh and felt as his fingers began brushing through her hair. He planted a soft kiss on top of her head and sighed once again. "I love you Riley." He whispered, unaware of the fact that she was awake. "And I'm sorry you don't love me too."
She felt her heart stop in her chest as she awaited his next move. He climbed over her on the couchand walked into the kitchen to start the coffee. Riley rolled over to face the back of the couch and pressed herself against it to insinuate she was still sleeping and looking for heat that had once been provided by Nick's body.
Oh. My. God...he said he loves me...again. And he knows I'm not there yet...what the hell am I gonna do? It's not like before when I could've ignored it. Sure, he thinks I was asleep, but I know I wasn't...and I know what he said. But...if he thinks that I was asleep and he said it then maybe I can let this go. Plus, he just said he knew that I don't love him back. But he also said he was sorry...does he think there's something wrong with him? God I hope not...he's...he's amazing. I'm just not there yet. Okay, why can't I just tell him this...?
She asked herself, and squeezed her eyes shut and tried to will herself back to sleep so that she may forget any of this ever happened, and just wake up and deal with what happened a week ago without having to deal wiht the added stress caused by stalling.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filtered into her nostrils, and she opened her eyes and rolled over to see Nick walk over with two cups of coffee. He knelt down next to her and brushed a long, thick curl from her face, caressing her cheek as he did so. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her softly, she hesitated before beginning to kiss him back and wrap her arms around his neck. She closed her eyes and tried to forget about what he had said, and focus on how good it felt to have his lips pressed against her own.
The kiss deepened and Nick's hand went to the other side of her brace himself above her as he eased himself back on the couch. She moaned into his mouth and Nick brought one of the hands used to brace himself to her hip as he rested carefully on her body, allowing his hands access to roam her curves. She slid her hands down his sides and then dipped them underneath his shirt to feel his muscles underneath. He moaned and pushed his pelvis into hers, causing her to pull her mouth away from his and moan. His lips traveled down her neck, pulling at the sensitive, porcelain skin with his teeth. She dug her nails into the small of his back, making him hiss and chuckle.
"Someone's feisty in the mornings..." Nick drawled.
"You know I'm feisty in the mornings...the scratches on your back are proof." She stated, the twang in her voice more evident with sleep and arousal.
"Mmmm...that hasn't happened in a while." He noted and she finally opened her eyes and looked at him as he kissed his way down her abdomen, sliding his hand into the top of her scrubs pants as he did so. She gasped as she felt his hand graze her sensitive area, and threw her head back in appraisal. Nick kissed his way back up to her mouth and she moaned as he pushed his hand further into her pants. She moaned and spread her legs apart, allowing him room to fulfill her desires.
The shrill ringing of his phone made Riley groan loudly in protest. "I am going to kill your boss..." She snarled angrily.
"You don't know that its Grissom."
"It's always Grissom." She growled and Nick sighed and got up off of her. She adjusted her pants and sat up from the couch while working her jaw and silently fuming.
"Stokes..." He sighed and turned slightly away from Riley and she sighed in anger. She knew that when he did that it meant he had to go to work. "Is it absolutely necessary that I be there...? Because they ordered me home until-...yeah..." He sighed again. "I'll be there." Nick hung up and turned back around to face Riley. He stared at her for a moment, then held out his hands and shrugged slightly to show there was nothing he could do. Riley scoffed in disgust and shook her head as she walked off towards his bedroom. Nick sighed and followed after her. "What do you want me to do Riley? It's my job." He defended. "I told you it'd be hard."
"Yeah well, I can deal with having a demanding job, okay, I get that. I've got two of 'em. But...Jesus-" She gave the gesture he had given her in the living room and Nick rolled his eyes. "What the Hell is that?"
"C'mon, gimme a break." Nick grumbled and dragged a tired hand over his face.
"Seriously Nick. What's with that?"
"What!" Nick asked confused in a high pitch voice.
"What was that gesture?"
"Yeah, kinda sucks when someone doesn't respond huh?" Nick asked setting his hands on his hips. Riley dropped her jaw and glared ferociously at him. Nick set her with the same glare and she shook her head.
"Is that was this is about?" She asked angrily. "Just cause I didn't say it back?"
"Oh no, Riley, I understand four little words can be hard too say...but somethin would've been nice!" He yelled and she recoiled a bit, but stood her ground and let her anger grow. "I mean Jesus, you started at me for fuckin five minutes! You could have said somethin, anything!"
She shook her head and chuckled dryly. "You are unbelievable." She snapped and walked out of the room. Nick sighed and worked his jaw as he followed her out of the room.
"So what you're gonna just leave? Oh yeah. Nice. Great. That's real great. Just, just leave." He said and shrugged while nodding and leaning against the counter.
"My pleasure." She grumbled.
"Oh, don't forget your coat." He tossed it to her while smiling mock-pleasantly. He waved good bye and she shook her head in disbelief.
"For someone who apparently loves someone else...you gotta shitty way of showin it."
"Yeah well, for someone who doesn't love someone else, you show it perfectly." Nick replied and she nodded slightly while dragging her tongue across the tops of her teeth.
"Yeah...so if I'm so horrible...what the fuck are doin with me?" She asked as she stood in the doorway.
"You know I don't really know." Nick said, his voice steady, but seething with anger. She stared at him for a moment then turned and wordlessly walked out the door, slamming it loudly behind her, hard enough to make the pictures on the wall vibrate.
"Mother Fucker!"
He heard the curse through the door, and that was enough to make Nick wince and recoil from the door, and walk back to his room, not knowing what to do with himself besides go to work.
--Nick's Tahoe—7:38 a.m. Oooohhh, drama drama drama--
Nick sighed and tried to drown out the mental replays of his and Riley's break up (number 2) by turning on the radio. Apparently God hates Nick, and decided to torture him...through song.
A well known song by Puddle of Mudd called She Hates Me, started playing on the radio and Nick furred his eyebrows as he listened to the lyrics.
Met a girl, thought she was grand. In a trapped trip I can't grip.
Fell in love, found out first hand.
Went well for a week or two.
Then it all came unglued.
Never thought I'd be the one who'd slip.
Then I started to realize,
I was living one big lie.
She fucking hates me.
Trust.
She fucking hates me.
La la la love.
I tried too hard,
And she tore my feelings like I had none,
And ripped them away.
She was queen for about an hour. In a trapped trip I can't grip.
After that shit got sour.
She took all I ever had.
No sign of guilt,
No feeling of bad, no.
Never thought I'd be the one who'd slip.
Then I started to realize,
I was living one big lie.
She fucking hates me.
Trust.
She fucking hates me.
La la la love.
I tried too hard,
And she tore my feelings like I had none,
And ripped them away.
That's my story, as you see,
Learned my lesson and so did she.
Now it's over and I'm glad,
'Cause I'm a fool for all I've said.
She fucking hates me.
Trust.
She fucking hates me.
La la la love.
I tried too hard,
And she tore my feelings like I had none,
And ripped them away.
La la la la la la la la la love.
Trust.
La la la la la la la la la love.
Trust.
And she tore my feelings like I had none.
She fucking hates me.
Nick yelled in anger and turned off the radio. If it wasn't the department's car, he'd have probably broken the radio. He fumed and griped the steering wheel tighter. He wasn't quite sure who he was mad at, himself or Riley. He sighed and stopped at the red light and dragged his hands over his face tiredly. He had to hide this, if he came into work pissed off again people would start to ask questions.
He shook his head and put his hands back on the wheel and drove off to work.
--Yep...kinda depressing...I got outta my funk a little bit ago, but I had to keep up with the plot bunny I'd created—
(Ducks under desk to avoid flying objects that seem to come at her a lot lately) I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But I just had to be mean to them, a few readers no why but only because they have to put up with me...they're the' chosen ones' Thank you Captain Chemistry! (Laughs ass off and struggles as she tries to sit in the chair without an ass...XD)
But anyway...should I end the book with them splitting up or should they get back together! Review and let me know what y'all think!
-Badly Pelted Futuremisscsi60