CSI not mine, never was, never will be. Neither are the CSI characters. I light up when I get nice reviews so if you can...please review for me ;o)
***THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE LAST REVIEWER WHO MADE ME FEEL SO GOOD ABOUT MY STORY THAT I KEEP READING HER REVIEW OVER AND OVER!!!***
RATED K
This is not an exciting chapter but a necessary one to move our friends along. This chapter has a little underlying sadness in a way. If you read into it you will see them all going in different directions and the underlying message is change. Change for Nick. Change for Jules. Change for Warrick. Change even for Nurse Kelly who won't be seeing them anymore. Change in different ways and yet all the same. Hope you can see where I was going with it.
Chapter 55: Leaving
Slinging her pink duffel bag over his shoulder and taking the last gift basket in his arm, Nick gave her a sweet peck on her lips and told her he would go bring his truck around front.
Waiting alone in silence, Jules closed her eyes and leaned her head back as she sat in a wheelchair by the door of Room 507. It was very early in the morning and Jules was tired but she didn't care. When Dr. Harlow gave the okay last night for her release, she and Nick were up and ready to get out the door by 5 am. Both of them couldn't wait another minute.
As she leaned back Jules thought about the wild ride it had been being at Valley Hospital. It had almost been her last stop before the cemetery. That was a morbid thought, she realized.
Lifting her head back up and glancing around the room she had spent the past month in, Jules felt not one bit of nostalgia or sadness about leaving it. It wasn't a terrible room, but it sure was one she never wanted to see again in her lifetime. She was ready to leave.
She looked at the wall above the bed and saw the remnants of tape that had once held a picture of her and her best friend. She smiled inwardly. Her eyes fell to the chair that Warrick sat in tirelessly at the end of her bed. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, there was nothing she would miss about this room,"she said to herself silently.
"Okay, Jules, we got everything?" Kelly asked coming in behind her and grabbing the handles of the wheelchair.
"Well, if I know Nick and Warrick, every inch of this room has been dusted, printed, and processed," Jules laughed at the vision of it. "So yeah, I am sure nothing has been left behind."
Kelly chuckled in agreement as she began pushing her out of Room 507 for the last time and rolling her down the hall.
"Come on, Kell, I can walk out of here ya know! I feel like an invalid," Jules complained as she tilted her head back and looked up at Kelly.
"I know, I know. Protocol...you know how it is," the nurse explained. "I am glad you're getting out of here, Jules," she said sincerely as the went down the hall. "...but I really will miss you guys though."
"Well, Kelly, we will all have to go out together soon, for sure," Jules told her and then smiled. "Just no 'one hump' jokes for my man, you hear me?" The two women laughed like school girls as they entered the elevator.
Nick's black Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled up in front of the main doors and he waited patiently for her to arrive. He smiled wide when he saw her being wheeled out the hospital doors.
"Thank you, God! She is finally free," he whispered quietly to himself.
He was so elated to see her out in the real world, away from the confines of Room 507, IVs, and monitors. Leaving his motor running, Nick got out and walked around to the other side of his truck to meet her.
Kelly smiled at Nick and gave him a hug, before turning back to Jules.
"I really am glad to see you all put back together, Jules," she said and gave her a hug as she stood up from the wheelchair.
"Me too, Kelly, me too," she said looking over and smiling at Nick. Nick looked back at her and winked. He was happy to see her "all put back together" too.
Warrick pulled up behind Nick in the black Denali. He was just finishing his shift when Nick called and told him he and Jules were getting ready to leave. Warrick decided to swing by and see them before heading back to the lab.
"Hey, my Baby Girl, look at you!" Warrick hopped out of the truck and jogged over to his sister. He smiled seeing her in a blue baseball cap and a blue sweatsuit with BEBE written in rhinestones across the front of the jacket. She looked like her old self again.
"Hey back!" she said smiling. "And look at you rockin' all up in your CSI digs hawkin' the crime!" she grinned, goofing with him using ghetto talk.
"Yea, no doubt, you know it, Baby Girl. Had to catch a case of Hood Rats and Block Ballers last night," he chuckled giving the ghetto talk right back to her.
Nick laughed under his breath, looked over at his best friend and girlfriend, and shook his head at them.
"Hood Rats and Block Ballers... Nice" He rolled his eyes and took Jules' hand in his.
Nick knew ghetto terminology very well because of work, he just wasn't used to it flowing from his girlfriend's mouth with such ease.
Warrick laughed out loud before turning and looking over at Kelly who was also laughing at their conversation.
"Ahhhhh," he made the loud noise toward Kelly as he held his arms open wide before scooping her up and giving her a big bear hug. "Thank you so much...for everything."
She gave him a genuine hug back. Kelly really would miss all of them. She was Jules' head nurse for over a month and came to care very much about all of them.
As she walked back into the hospital she heard her name being called and she turned back around.
"Kelly!" Warrick yelled and walked quickly over to her as she headed inside. "Listen, maybe um, maybe you and I could go out sometime," he said as he handed her his card, "My number is on here," he smiled.
She smiled sweetly back at him, nodded and the automatic doors closed behind her.
Warrick turned back to Nick and Jules, both of them pretending not to notice he just hit on Jules' nurse.
"Are you headed back to Nick's or are you going home?" he asked, deep down already knowing the answer.
Jules smiled at her brother. She didn't have the heart to tell him she would be moving out. She would tell him after she spent a few days at Nick's. She figured staying at Nick's instead of going back home right away would break him in and it wouldn't feel so weird for her to be there and then suddenly gone.
Nick looked at Jules to see how she would handle Warrick's question. He would accept whatever answer she chose to give him.
"Nick will take me back to his place," she nodded, "Call me when you get home if you're not too tired. Maybe you can come by and we can all go out and grab something to eat before your next shift?"
Warrick nodded. He knew. She didn't have to tell him. The way that she and Nick were, it was obvious they wouldn't be able to stay away from each other. And he was absolutely okay with that. In fact, he was more than okay with it. He was happy about it.
Warrick had only been rough on them in the beginning because of the promise he made his Grams. He had been afraid for his sister to get involved with Nick. He was afraid he wasn't keeping his promise to Grams if he just sat back and watched her get involved with a guy he knew was a player. But once time went on, he had no doubt that Nick was not the same man he was before Jules. He had changed. And when Warrick saw that Nick wasn't just playing with his sister, he was fine with the two of them together.
But now, after going through what they all went through together, Warrick knew he could not only trust Nick with his own life, but with his sister's life, too. If he had any lingering doubts that they might not last before this, he sure as hell didn't now. He saw the way Nick treated his sister with such love and respect, and that alone was enough to make him want to see them together for the rest of his life.
And now he knew for sure that his Grams approved; he didn't have to worry about keeping his promise to her anymore... he already had. She was in good hands and his Grams was proud of him. That was all he needed. He was truly happy for both of them. No, he wasn't upset that Jules would be leaving and moving in with Nick. He really believed it was the best thing for them both.
But, Warrick decided he wouldn't let them know he knew. He knew his sister would feel guilty and want to explain, even though she didn't have to, so instead he would just let her have a stress free moment with the love of her life. He wouldn't dare take that from her. He wouldn't ever take anything from her again. Warrick knew he had a lot to be thankful for. He almost lost his baby sister and he would never waste time worrying about any kind of nonsense again. He just wanted her happy. And since Nick made her very happy, he was happy, too.
"Yeah, Baby Girl, that sounds good. I'll call you," he smiled and leaned in and kissed her cheek.
Nick opened her door and she hopped into his truck. Closing the door behind her, Nick nodded upward at Warrick who reached out and shook his hand.
"She's all yours brother...take care of her, okay?" Warrick said as he patted Nick on his shoulder.
Nick didn't know that Warrick truly meant it. It was Nick who was her "Superman" now, and that was the way it should be.
Nick gave him an assured smile, "I'll call you later, man," he said nodding.
Warrick nodded back and turned to get into his truck.
Both vehicles pulled away... and headed in opposite directions.
