Title:Last Drink Tonight
Author:Nicksfriend
Disclaimer:I do not own or have any sort of connection to CBS or the CSI franchise...wish I did though it would be nice to have a little extra cash.
Summary: A trip to a missing person is interrupted by a drunk driver.
Twenty-four hours later
Step-down Unit
Crusty eyes attempted to open, voices in the background,recognized as his friends,a loud noise that was disturbing to his rest,he needed to open his eyes and see what the hell was going on but he was too tired,his eyes just wouldn't open, so he settled down and continued to sleep.
Cowan's Cemetery
The grave digger pulled back the machine,the hole now was deep enough for four caskets,a potter's grave,Joe Huntley's body was in the casket on bottom,on top were three dead hookers found without identification, Jane Doe's to the world for the rest of time.
The lifter brought the caskets over and sat them in the grave, now all he had to do was to cover them with dirt, no last good-byes,no fanfare, just dead bodies that needed to be placed into the ground. The man took off his hat and bowed his head,he would give the dead respect that nobody else would give. He repeated the Lord's Prayer and said,"amen".
Within minutes the soil was replaced, the bodies were taken care of for those who felt no desire to take care of their dead.
The man drove his machine away,no flowers to place, no stones to repeat their names or their dates of life or death,they were just dead."Rest in peace Joe Huntley, women,rest in peace." the man repeated as he drove away on his small machine,hoping his life would not be as meaningless as those four individuals.
Twelve hours later
Desert Palm
John sat in Nick's room, the Judge would not take his calls, his mother was too upset,she had been kept sedated,medicated so she wouldn't have to deal with everything that was happening to Nick,to their family.
He glanced at the time,the clock on the wall a few minutes fast. Elizabeth would be here soon to take her watch over Nick. Nick's friends refused to leave,staying watch over one of their own,he felt a closeness to them too. They really loved Nick, they really cared about the man who was lying quietly in the bed.
The beautiful red head refused to leave his side,her hair full of soft curls,her blue eyes that shined like the sea,her smile that would cause any man to look a minute longer and she was in love with his brother, she was in love definitely with his brother, he would have to talk to Nick when he felt better, she was a keeper, he needed to get his brother a wake up call and tell him to accept that she was the one for him.
A small knock on the door disrupted his thoughts, another sitter to replace the woman at the bed, he was at least six foot four,broad shoulders,looked as if he had played football a few times in his life, his dark brown skin rippled over large muscles and he had a smile that would make any woman fall for him,and literally die.
Sara and Catherine stared at his finely shaped body as he sat down beside Nick. He was the new sitter,which was required when one is on suicide watch, though he would do nothing, Nick had been sleeping since he was brought to the floor.
The man spoke anyways to Nick's sleeping form, introducing himself as Charlie Amber, and that he would be the sitter for the next twelve hours.
Warrick felt a tinge of jealousy,the women seemed to interested in the man who now was Nick's sitter, a man who would sit there for the next twelve hours staring at someone who was refusing to awaken,his body attempting to recover from the assault of thirty—six hours ago.
Grissom stood,stretching sore muscles and walked over to where John was sitting,wanting to speak to the man who had given his CSI so much grief in the past,not wanting him to cause Nick anymore problems.
"Can I speak to for a few minutes?" he asked, he kept his voice low, as John's view was closer to Nick. Nick's pale features could be seen even in the dark,his wounds starting to heal,scabs over most of the cuts,his new IV line securely out of his reach,evidently he had attempted to pull it out prior to coming to the hospital,the new bandages were stained with blood and the cardiac monitor was now showing sinus rhythm,his fast heartrate now under control.
John spoke as the man approached, hearing the request for a talk " As soon as Elizabeth returns we can grab a cup of coffee." As if on key she entered the dark room and walked over to her empty chair that sat beside her brother,she gave her brother a small loving smile and took her seat.
John stood,"I'll be back in just a few minutes." he whispered as he patted her on the shoulder, as he stood and walked out of the room with the supervisor.
They walked away from the room,both being in their own thoughts but Grissom broke the silence,"Nick is probably one of the toughest people I know. I believe he'll be fine,even after what he experienced."
John stopped,"You're like a father to Nick,I really need to tell you something." He waved Grissom over to a quiet area of the waiting room,nobody was there except a secretary and a security guard.
Grissom felt a little uneasy, he had wanted to talk to the man about his parents, about their reaction to their son but he would allow John to speak first.
"I don't know if you are aware of this but I feel I can trust you. I just recently became aware of Nick being molested when he was a kid, as we were investigating Dorothy Cannon's case we came across some evidence that Nick was one of her victims."
Grissom nodded, "I know he had been molested,he told one of my co-workers when a case was effecting him, he was almost pulled off the case,he felt he needed to tell Catherine so that he could continue working on the case." he cleared his throat and continued," Nick was nine when it happened."
John nodded in understanding, then took his hands,bent forward and partially covered his face,staying that way for a few seconds, he needed to tell the man the rest, he just needed to recompose himself. after a few seconds he continued"She posed the children before she killed them,with a favorite toy, a comfort item, or something that meant something to the child." He paused,wanting to take another second before he continued, the story difficult to tell,especially to the man's supervisor.
"Nick loved baseball, I mean he loved it, and he collected baseball cards and baseballs. Nick's favorite card,worth a lot of money, was Joe DiMaggio,but he lost it, one day it was just gone, frame and all. He would have never lost that card, I should have figured it out then, something had to have happened so bad for him to allow that card out of his sight, but we all assumed that Nick had lost it." he shook his head,how stupid had they all been?
"Dad beat the hell out of Nick for losing that card, the kid couldn't sit down for a good week. Nick got really quiet after that, it seemed no matter what Nick did it pissed off dad, it was if that was some turning point in Nick's life." He looked over to Grissom,his attention focused on only what he was saying.
"She, Dorothy Cannon, had his favorite card at her house,autographed by Joe DiMaggio,the greatest baseball player ever,Nick's card, a present from our grandfather who also loved baseball. Elizabeth was there, she is the one who recognized the frame,the card and the picture of Nick in the book, where Dorothy kept photos of all her victims, all of which were killed after she molested them, all but Nick. She had allowed my brother to live."
Grissom took a deep breath, the information being given to him by Nick's brother was bringing emotion from him that he didn't ever want to show publicly, but Nick was like a son,somebody he cared for deeply, now tears streamed down his face.
"When I went to see Nick the other night he was delirious. talking out of his head,the fever was really playing a game with his body, his mind, but he said something, and I feel it is probably the truth. My father knew, he knew all along what that woman did to his son and he took it out on my brother. Dorothy Cannon was blackmailing him,with a secret that concerns Nick." he looked over at his captive audience,Grissom's mouth went slack,stunned by the news.
"I need you to do me a favor,if you could." he sat up a little bit straighter in the chair.
"What can I do?" he asked,wondering what the brother might ask,knowing that he would do anything for Nick.
"I want you to run a DNA on me and compare it to Nick's, see if we are really brothers,if Nick was adopted or if he and Dorothy Cannon have any familial relationship. I have a feeling that Nick might be her son, or at least kin to her, I just can't figure out any other reason that my Dad would protect her like that." he felt as if he were grasping at straws, but there had to be some reason that Nick had been treated so badly by his father, a reason that she had not killed his brother that night.
"Nick's and Dorothy Cannon's DNA results should be in the database,all I would need from you is a DNA sample." Grissom verbally agreed to running the test.
John reached into his pocket,"Elizabeth is a forensic specialist, she carries these swabs everywhere she goes, I did a buccal swab this morning on myself, that should be sufficient."
"Yes, it should." he took the swab and placed it in his jacket pocket and stood,"Let's get a cup of coffee." the news, the facts, that John had just given him would be confidential,it was an unspoken rule among law enforcement officers, after a cup of coffee he would go and run the test.
John stood and they walked towards the cafeteria."Did you have something that you wanted to discuss with me?"
Even though Grissiom was about to ask the family to leave, feeling that it might be too much for his friend, he knew now that he had misjudged John,"No, It's all fine."
This is a key chapter and I wanted it to be short and sweet...enjoy!
Oh and if you are a chapter skipper....You will not want to miss the next one...it's not what you think!!!!