By: Manigault
Rating: R
Category: CRGS
Disclaimer: They are not mine. They are not mine. They belong to CBS,
Atlantic-Alliance, and Anthony Zuiker.
Fairfax Hospital
5:45 pm
Catherine was waiting for them outside of room 402. She looked Sara over and was satisfied that she had slept. "You must have been out to the world, Sara, because I tried calling you all afternoon."
"Oh." Sara didn't look at Grissom, but motioned over to him. "Grissom woke me. I must have slept through your calls."
Grissom nodded towards the hospital door. "Is she awake?"
"I haven't been in yet," Catherine informed him. "I was waiting for you." She glanced at Sara but didn't say what they were all thinking. Why was Sara here when Grissom had been so adamant about her not becoming involved with the victim. Catherine shrugged, watched Grissom show his credentials to the guard, then followed him into the room.
Erin Monroe had her face turned away, but as they approached the bed Sara could see the tears trailing down the pale cheeks and the shaking hand that clutched the sheet above her belly.
Catherine spoke softly. "Erin? This is Catherine Willows, Gil Grissom, and Sara Sidle. We spoke with you earlier? We would like to ask you a few more questions if you feel up to it."
Erin wiped at the tears with her right hand, then whispered. "I told you everything I know, but if it will help find my baby then you can ask again."
"Who is the biological father of your baby?" Sara asked gently.
The woman's head snapped around and she focused on Sara. "You are the one who told me that my baby was missing."
Sara lowered her eyes to the woman's fidgeting hand. "I'm sorry. I..."
"Don't be." Erin said. "You were only being honest with me." She kept her eyes trained directly on Sara. "I didn't know him. It was one time. I was lonely."
A flicker of hope leapt between the three investigators. "You can describe him?" Sara asked with an eagerness that confused the woman.
"I could, but what does it matter? He told me that he never wanted children and it was clear that he would want no part of this one."
"He knew that you were pregnant?" Grissom asked.
Erin's eyes slid from Sara's face to his. "No." She studied him thoughtfully, then asked. "Haven't you ever spent a night with a woman and not cared about the consequences?"
"No." Grissom refused to look at Sara and kept his eyes on Erin. "I would take all responsibility for my actions."
Erin smiled slightly then looked back at Sara and Catherine. "If you were in my situation would it be important to find the biological father?"
Sara wanted to say that she would not be in that situation, but that would sound incredibly self-righteous. "If I was in your situation I would concentrate on finding who did this, and if the biological father could somehow connect a dot then I would share all the information I could about him with the people that want to find my child."
Erin turned away from them and stared back out of the window. They were about to give up any hope of her replying when she said. "I met him when I was at a wedding reception for my editor."
Sara exchanged a look with Catherine before turning to Grissom who was deep in thought. Catherine leaned over the bed and gently touched the woman's shoulder. "He was a guest of your editors?"
"No, I don't think so," Erin rubbed her stomach as tears welled up in her eyes. "He was a photographer."
Grissom straightened up, his mind churning as Erin continued giving a brief recollection of her encounter with the babies biological father. "The reception was in the Starlight Casino. We had a few drinks." She squeezed her eyes shut tight. "He was so charming and so nice."
"You left the next morning? Exchanged phone numbers?" Catherine asked.
"No." Erin looked back at them. "He left before morning and we did not exchange names or numbers."
Sara stared at the woman with a baffled expression. In this day and age how could someone just go up to a strangers room, have sex, then leave without any possibility of contacting the person again. Maybe working crime scenes had made her overly cautious, but in her wildest college days she knew who she was with, even if it was a one time only in the mile high club. Rape. Murder. What was Erin Monroe thinking? She found herself looking into those knowing eyes.
"I'd never done anything like that before. I was in a strange frame of mind." Erin said.
"Drugged?" Sara mused. "Could he have slipped something in your drink?"
Erin rubbed her eyes and shook her head, before replying. "I don't think so. The waiter brought us drinks and I don't remember any time that my drink was out of my sight."
The nurse came in, checked Erin's vitals, then asked them to leave. Grissom sighed and spoke for only the second time since entering the room. "What is the mans name? What did you talk about while you were having drinks?"
Erin frowned. "Bryan is his first name. That's all I remember." She rubbed her eyes again. the nurse repeated her request for them to leave.
After obtaining the name of her editor, they left the room, pausing outside in the hall.
"Catherine," Grissom said as soon as the door shut behind them.. "Will you get a sketch artist here and then run it through the system?"
"Okay," Catherine said. "I take it you and Sara are going to visit the editor?"
"Yeah." Grissom replied. "Call me if you find
anything."