Title: Cause of Death?
Author: Eve (Little_Grey_Woman42@yahoo.de)
Spoilers: none
Keywords: (hopefully) humour; GS... uh something
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: not mine
Author's notes: I just wanted to try something completely different - mostly something with more dialogue and less angst. Call it a 'normal' reaction to LTSB. I'm not so sure about the outcome of my little experiment though. Perhaps I should stick with the angsty stuff?


Cause of Death?
by Eve


'Cause of death?'

'Hey, Nick. Not quite sure yet. Broken blood vessels around the iris point towards a brain aneurysm. Put too much pressure on his brain and - boom.'

'Anything else?'

'His heart. I'm still not sure about the who, why or what but there is definitely evidence that he suffered from arrhythmia. I also found some old scar tissue but I don't know yet what caused it and whether it's related or not. In addition to that, his heart clearly shows other signs of abuse.'

'Abuse? Caused by what? Poison, drugs, physical injuries ...'

'No, nothing like that. Tox screen came back negative and there're no visible signs of damage that would point towards a physical struggle. In fact on the outside he's in pretty good shape. But on the inside ... let's just say it's not pretty.'

'That bad a mess, hmm?'

'Yeah.'

'So, no drugs, poison, attacks -'

'I wouldn't quite rule out the possibility of attacks yet.'

'But didn't you just say there were no signs of a physical struggle?'

'I'm not thinking *physical* attacks, more like stress caused by a psychological or probably rather emotional influence. I mean, it almost looks as if his heart was caught up in some kind of constant limbo.'

'Interesting. So, Doc. Any theories at all?'

'Well, it's too early to tell but I'd say that since the damage to the brain and heart happened at the same time they were caused by the same thing.'

'And?'

'And we're talking about long-term exposure. Whatever caused it, he must have been exposed to it on a regular if not daily basis.'

'So basically something or somebody did a number on his head and heart and ...'

'Yeah.'

'I wonder ...'

' ... why he didn't do anything about it?'

'Exactly. Why wait and not do anything at all while he must have known that something was wrong?'

'Denial perhaps?'

'Didn't do him any good, did it?'

'It never does.'

'Word, Doc.'

'So, got any ID yet?'

'Actually we do, don't we, Grissom?'

"Griss? Grissom!"

"What? Oh. Catherine. Hit the lights again, *please*?"

"Sorry. Better?"

"Some."

"Did you turn off your pager? I've tried to call you but you didn't
answer."

"Batteries must have died."

"Sorry I stormed into here like that."

"It's okay. Guess I've fallen asleep."

"Judging from the circles under your eyes you're not getting much of it lately."

"What?"

"Sleep? Have you got nightmares? I saw you tossing around before I woke you up. Bad one?"

"Yeah. So, you came by because -"

"Brass called me after he'd tried to contact you. He's finally got our warrant."

"Great. Go and get it. I'll be with you in a minute."

"Okay."

"Oh, and Catherine? Have you - have you seen Sara today?"

"Down at the morgue with the DB you assigned her to. But from the signs of it Doc Robbins already ruled out murder."

"Why is that?"

"Sara said something about an untreated condition ... Grissom? Everything okay? You look a bit pale."

"I - I have to go and -"

"Sure. Go."

"Hey, Griss. Here's the tox screen -"

"Later, Greg."

"Wow, I didn't even know he could run like that. Must have been a hell of a case break. Uh, Catherine, what's with the Cheshire grin?"

"A hell of a breakthrough indeed."