She drove up at 8:45.  She got out of her car, but before she arrived at the front door, Gil Grissom was exiting his house.  Although she had seen him just the night before, there was something about how he

was moving today that wrenched at her heart.  Even through the sunglasses he was wearing, she could see that his eyes were puffy, most likely from lack of sleep.

       

As they drove to the hospital he asked her about the assignment from the night before.  She told him the details of the two bodies that were found along side a stretch of desert road.  They had been dead for at least 24 hours and recently dumped on the side of the road.  She commented that it was just the type of case he was good at solving.  He just reminded her to follow the evidence, suggesting that the victims clothing be carefully searched for foreign fibers such as carpeting from a car trunk or oil stains.  All things he knew she was already checking for. 

       

Once at the hospital she had her car valet parked.  By the time she turned over her keys to the valet and got her parking stub, Gil was still working his way out of the car.  Catherine offered him her hand, which he took.  He needed her to help get his balance.  They walked into the hospital hand in hand.  While waiting for the elevator he told her what a good friend she'd been to him.  She told him that their friendship was important to her also.

       

Gil got as far as the door to Jenna's room, but stopped short of actually entering the room.  "Gil, have you seen her since that first night?"  Catherine asked him.

     

"I saw her yesterday, after the paperwork was done."

      

"Come on," Catherine said, as she took his arm, "I'm here for you."

      

Sr. Laura and four of the girls from the Shelter were in the room.  The girls were the last of the volunteers that were keeping a 24-hour vigil with Jenna.  Once Gil and Catherine entered, Sr. Laura instructed the girls to say their good-byes.  The girls each gave Jenna a kiss and their sympathy to Gil.  They told Sr. Laura that they would wait for her in the hallway. 

      

The first thing Gil noticed was that Jenna was wearing make-up and street clothes.  Sr. Laura said the girls thought that considering she was leaving on a journey, that Jenna would want to look her best.  "You don't mind, do you?"

      

"No, she looks beautiful."  He assured her.  He also asked her to thank the girls for taking such good care of Jenna.

        

Catherine pulled a chair up to the bed and instructed Gil to sit down.

       

At five minutes after ten, Dr. Frederick Farrell entered the room with Rose Langley, the nurse that had been in charge of Jenna's case.  The first thing Dr. Farrell did was to confirm that Gil had no second thoughts about what they were about to do.  He then gave a run through on what would happen.  She could survive for an extended period, but more realistically she would only survive a matter of a few minutes.  "So if you're ready, we'll get started."

           

Before giving the doctor the go ahead, Gil turned to Sr. Laura and invited her sit on Jenna's right side, while he sat on her left.  "Jenna loved you, like a mother.  She would want you to be close to her."

For the first time since all this happen, Sr. Laura lost her battle of tears.  "I couldn't have loved her more if she was my own child.  I've been telling myself that I need to rejoice for Jenna as God was now going to fulfill his greatest promise to her, everlasting life, but now that the time is here....." she couldn't finish what was in her heart, but she didn't need to.

       

"Do you really believe that about everlasting life?"  Gil asked.

      

"With all my heart and soul."  She confirmed for him and added, "Even more important, Jenna believed it."

     

"I know she did," He confirmed. 

      

They each held one of Jenna's hands.  Gil told the doctor that he could proceed.  The room became quite with only the blinking of the heart monitor.  After fifteen minutes the line went flat.  Dr. Farrell checked for a pulse and heart beat.  After not finding either, he pronounced the time of death as 10:57 AM.

Catherine walked over and first hugged Sr. Laura and then Gil.  No one spoke. 

Dr. Farrell excused himself.  Nurse Langley would take over from here.  Her body would be taken to the morgue until transported to the designated funeral home.  Nurse Langley told Gil that he could stay as long as he wanted.  She would be at the nurse's station and he should just ring for her when they were ready to leave. 

Once the nurse left, Gil suggested to Catherine that she should go home also; there was nothing more that she could do.  He would take a cab home.  Catherine could tell by his mannerisms that once again he wanted time alone.  She felt he deserved his privacy. 

"I'll call you later today," she told him.

He stood up to say good-bye to her.  He gave her a tight hug and thanked her for being his friend and especially for helping him through everything with Jenna.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait and take you home?"  Catherine asked.

"Go home and take care of your family," he told her.

She kissed him on the cheek, said good-bye to Sr. Laura, and left. 

Sara was right, Catherine thought, he wouldn't be coming back to work.