Famous Last Words, Chapter 4
Nick woke slowly, groggily. It was still dark. He shifted slightly, feeling someone next to him do the same. A look of dread sprouted on his face. C'mon memory, work with me here. If there was one thing he would change about himself, it would be his memory's lag after waking. That really sucked. On one hand, he really didn't want to open his eyes and see who it was, but on the other, he couldn't resist much longer. He felt a hand slide across his belly and over his side and breathed a sigh of relief. At least he still had his shirt on. His brow furrowed as the memory kicked in. He looked down at her and rubbed his forehead, not knowing what to do. He knew he had to take pictures while the injury was still fresh, but she wouldn't agree to it. She hadn't gotten to the point where enough was enough, and no matter how much he hated the idea, he knew he had to respect that. He couldn't make her press charges, no matter how hard he tried. A heavy sigh.
He slid off the couch, careful not to wake her. As he headed down the hall, he glanced at his watch. Eleven pm. Cath would still be up. Once inside the bedroom, door shut, he picked up the phone and dialed Catherine's cell phone, jiggling his foot as he waited for her to answer.
"Willows," came her professional voice.
"Cath. It's Nick."
"Hey Nicky." She paused. "I thought we had the day off."
"We do. I need a favor."
"Sure. What is it?" He heard just a little concern in her voice. She didn't know it, but she was almost every nightshift CSI's mom.
"Can you come over and pretend you need to talk about the Jackie Moore case? If you're not busy, I mean. I don't want to keep you up or anything." Catherine paused again.
"Nick, what's going on?" He sighed. "Is everything okay?" He quickly relayed what had happened only hours before.
"I can't convince her to do anything about it."
"Nick, you don't really think she'll listen to me and not you, do you? I mean, I'm a complete stranger to her."
"Yeah, but you're a woman. She just might do it if it comes from you."
"I don't know, Nicky…" she trailed off, and his spirits fell.
"Please, Cath. I'm begging you." She sighed. He waited, hope dissipating with every tick of the clock on his wall.
"I'll call Greg and see if he can come over for a while and stay here with Lindsay. I'll page you as soon as I get off the phone with him."
"Thanks, Cath. You're the greatest."
***
Kaylee woke with a start, bolting upright and giving herself a massive head rush in the process. She scrunched her eyes shut as she brought her hand to her forehead, leaning against the back of the couch. Nick gave her knee a gentle squeeze and went to the front door. She heard voices and started getting nervous. Nick appeared in the doorway with a wide grin on his face, a thin redhead in tow. She was just a little shorter than Kaylee, and looked to be in her mid to late thirties. Nick knew she was wondering, but didn't let on.
"Kaylee, this is Catherine Willows, she works with me." Kaylee nodded, her eyes questioning Nick, but she just stood and shook the woman's hand politely, managing a small smile. She caught Catherine examining her black eye, but nothing was said.
"Nick's told us all a lot about you." Kaylee's eyebrow rose, and she looked at Nick. He just smiled and shook his head. "He talks about you all the time."
"Hopefully nothing bad?" Kaylee asked with a devilish grin at Nick, hoping the conversation would stay superficial.
"Not at all. He says you work with Mell and Ray Parker." Kaylee nodded.
"You know Mell and Ray?"
"Yeah," Cath said with a smile. Nick was right. This Kaylee girl was a pot of gold. "Met them shortly after I moved out here. Mell was the ADA back then, and I had a few cases with him before he got his own place." Kaylee nodded.
"He's an odd one, let me tell you," she said with a slight laugh.
"No joke." An unsettling silence ensued, and Kaylee knew she was dying to ask, but hoped that if she avoided her eyes, Cath wouldn't ask. No such luck. "Can I ask you something?" Kaylee finally looked at her, and Catherine's heart broke. Yeah, she'd taken a few hits. You could just see it in her eyes. "How long ago did he start hitting you?"
"Who?"
"Husband, boyfriend maybe?" Cath tried not to seem like she was prying, but she
knew she was going out on a limb. She just hoped Nick didn't pay for it later. "This isn't the first time, is it Kaylee?" Kaylee shook her head. All of a sudden, she felt so alone, so cold. "Did you ever tell anyone about it?"
"Once, when it was really bad, I told Sean about it." Cath looked at Nick. "I work with him. He's Mell's paralegal. I don't think he ever told anyone about it, but he let me stay at his place for a couple days so David could cool off."
"But you never called the police." Kaylee shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Catherine lean forward in her chair. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, looking back at Nick. "Can you give us a couple minutes, Nicky?" He nodded, and Kaylee felt him leave the room. "Kaylee, I know this really isn't any of my business, but I've known Nick for a long time, and I really hate to see him so worried. He really cares about you, you know that?" A slight nod. "Do you want to press charges for this?" Kaylee shook her head no. Catherine sighed. "Would you let me take a couple of pictures in case you change your mind later?" No response. Catherine moved to the couch and sat next to Kaylee, gently draping an arm around her shoulders. "I can tell you right now, he's not going to stop, even if you move, unless you make him. And if you decide to press charges the next time, it'll be more convincing if you have documentation from other times." Still no response. "I can't make you do anything about this Kaylee. I can't make you let me take pictures, and I can't make you report this. But I can tell you I've seen cases that started out like this, and they didn't end up living happily ever after. You're the only one that can change the ending." A tear slid down Kaylee's cheek, still stained from earlier. Catherine noticed her trembling slightly and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back slowly. Like Nick, she noticed Kaylee tense up. It had to have been worse than she was letting on.
"Two years ago I got a call from someone telling me that he was sleeping around. I didn't really think anything of it until he started staying out all night. He told me he was falling asleep at work, and that he was just really busy. We'd only been married six months." Catherine shook her head, listening intently. "The rumors went around and I finally accused him of it. I mean, it was obvious. He just denied it and got mad. That was the first time. I stayed at my sister's for a couple days and went back. He apologized up and down promising he didn't mean it and he'd never do it again. I believed him." Kaylee shook her head, fighting the sobs. "He filed for divorce last year and we split up. He moved in with her, and I thought it was all over, but he kept coming by, wanting to see how I was doing, and could we just be friends and all. Then he came by this afternoon and I told him I was selling the house and moving somewhere closer to work. I've never seen him so mad. He asked me if I was seeing someone, if I was moving in with him. I told him it was none of his business, and that just made him angrier. Nick called in the middle of it, and he went crazy. He didn't even know who it was, guy or girl. I was so scared." She finally broke down, and Catherine just held her.
"Do you have kids?" Kaylee shook her head. Thank God, Catherine thought. That'll save at least a little trouble. She lifted the girl's head. "I'm gonna tell you something. You deserve better. No one deserves this, sweetheart, and the longer you let it go on, the worse it'll get. Now, there's a guy in the other room that's crazy about you. And I can promise you he'd do anything to protect you, but he can't do it without you. You've got to do something about this before he kills you. You're better than this, Kaylee." After a few moments, Kaylee nodded, and Catherine let her breath out. "Will you let me take the pictures?" A nod. "Will you file a complaint?" A nod. "Will you look at me and tell me you're okay?" Kaylee's eyes met Catherine's for the third time that night and she nodded with a hint of a smile.
Nick had been standing in the kitchen for a half hour, listening to the refrigerator hum. Just as he was about to go in there and find out what was taking so long, Catherine walked into the room.
"I'm gonna go get the camera out of my car and take a couple photos. I'll let you know when I'm done." Nick nodded. Catherine gave him the thumbs up and a pained smile. "Nick, it's not good. She's pretty messed up. I'm guessing she's probably had a couple broken bones." Nick put his hands on his hips and started pacing, but Catherine reached out to grasp his arm. "She'll be okay. It'll take a while, but she'll make it." He nodded.
"Thanks, Cath," he whispered, on the verge of tears as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. She just nodded.
***
Nick looked like hell when he dragged himself into work the following day. Catherine said nothing to him about Kaylee, just nodding slightly as he walked into the lounge. He knew what she meant, and he smiled slightly. Grissom, who was sitting at the table, saw the exchange and cocked his eyebrow.
"Am I missing something?" he asked, his eyes darting between the two. Nick just looked at him.
"Not at all," Catherine said quickly. "Just saying hi." He knew she was lying, but didn't say anything. So she just shrugged and left, heading toward the DNA lab. Nick quickly followed. "How is she?"
"I don't know. She left a few minutes after you did."
"Did she say anything?" Nick shook his head.
"No, just that she needed to go." Catherine nodded. "Cath—"
"Just give her space, Nick. I can tell you right now she's not ready for anything serious. She just needs someone to rely on. Just let her take the time she needs to," Catherine advised. He nodded. "But call her and make sure she's okay, will you?"
"I was just about to," Nick said, turning on his heel to find an office that wasn't occupied. Cath watched him go and turned to go into the DNA lab.
"Greg. You get those results back?" He nodded, handing her a sheet of paper. She looked down at in and her eyebrow rose. "You're kidding."
"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "My machines never lie. Sorry." She nodded, turning to leave the room, almost knocking Nick over in the process. She took a few steps back.
"I thought you were, uh…" she stopped, turning to look at Greg.
"I know all about it, Cath," he said with a wink. She looked back at Nick.
"Well, I called, but she didn't answer. I'm kinda getting worried."
"Don't, Nicky," Cath said quickly, leaning on the counter. "Uniforms were gonna pick him up earlier this morning."
"Did you hear anything?" She shook her head. "You're sure." She nodded, looking confused. He looked at the door and then back at her. "I'll be back in a little bit," he said quickly, rushing out of the room. Cath looked at Greg, who just shrugged.
"He's whipped," Greg said with a twisted grin. "What can you say?" Cath just shook her head with a slight laugh and went to find Warrick.
***
Nick nodded at the security guard and stopped, rolling down his window. The guard moseyed over and leaned in the window.
"You were here with Ms. Marshals the other day, right?" Nick nodded, watching the guard look over the clipboard in his hand. "Go on in." He waited for the gates to open and pulled away, praying he remembered which house was hers. Her Rav4 was in the driveway, which seemed a little odd, considering it was Monday. Nick hopped out of the Blazer and jogged up the walkway to her door, knocking loudly. He heard the locks turn and stepped back a bit.
"Nick," she said, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I was, uh, in the neighborhood," he lied. "Thought I'd stop by and make sure you were okay." Her eyebrow rose.
"You're a horrible liar." He cringed, trapped.
"I was worried. You didn't answer the phone. Cath told me he was gonna get picked up this morning. I just wanted to make sure you were all right." She nodded, stepping back to let him into the house.
"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" she asked, closing the door behind him.
"Um, yeah, actually. Took my break a little early." She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. Nick noticed she was in her pajamas and kicked himself. "Did I wake you up?" She shook her head.
"I was just taking a day off to start packing. I get to move into my new apartment this weekend, and wanted to get a head start." He nodded with a smile.
"That was fast." She smiled back.
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's nothing big, but it'll be fine." He didn't ask, so she volunteered. "You know where Crystal Cove is? Crystal Waters and Desert Inn?" He nodded. "Yeah, they had a two-bedroom open. Garage and all. I got lucky."
"Need some help moving?" She thought for a minute. "There's a couple guys at work that would be more than happy to help you out."
"I don't know yet. I'll let you know." He nodded. She seemed a little put off by his being here.
"Is everything okay, Kaylee?" Her eyebrow rose. "I mean, with us. You seem a little pissed off at me." She focused on the carpet.
"I'm just a little preoccupied is all." He waited, but nothing followed.
"I should get going," he said quickly. "I've got a big case I'm in the middle of." She nodded, watching him reach for the door handle. She jumped slightly as he closed the door a little harder than he meant to and just stared at it for a second before wrenching it open and following him.
"Nick?" He turned, key poised to be stuck in the door of the car. She stopped, fidgeting with her hands, squinting in the sun. "Thanks for everything. I mean, you know, calling Catherine and all." His eyebrows shot up. Did Cath tell her that, or was it just obvious?
"How did you know I called her?" She smiled slyly.
"I'm not dumb, Nick." She looked away again and sighed. "I'm sorry about all of this. I didn't mean to get you involved." He took a few steps toward her and reached out, taking her hand in his and squeezing gently.
"Don't apologize." She shook her head.
"I just don't know if I can do this right now." He just looked at her, obviously not following. "This." She removed her hand from his and wrapped her arms around herself. "Us." He looked like he'd been slapped. "I just…" she met his eyes. "Fresh wounds, you know? I'm just really confused and I don't really know where I'm going or what I'm doing."
"I didn't mean to push you, Kaylee," he said gently.
"I know that. I just want everything to be straight." She forced a slight smile. "I mean, I've screwed up plenty for the rest of the world. I just want a clean slate. Start over." He nodded. "I need some time, Nick." She saw his jaw tighten and cringed a little.
"All the time you need," he promised quietly before smiling weakly and climbing into the Blazer. She watched him drive away, hoping he understood as much as he seemed to.
***
Catherine looked up as Nick strolled into the lab, shoving his keys back in his pocket. He managed a small smile. Grissom was in the room, so no words were exchanged. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't know why they were keeping it from him. It's not like Grissom was cold enough to fly off the handle at Nick for wanting to help a friend in need. So Nick nodded at him.
"Gris?" he said quickly, avoiding Catherine's eyes. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure." Grissom looked at him expectantly, and Nick cleared his throat.
"Alone?" Nick nodded at the door, and Grissom nodded, his lips forming a silent "oh" before standing to follow.
"What's up, Nick?" Nick took a breath and started the story.
"I just wanted you to know, in case anything happens," Nick said slowly, watching for a reaction from Grissom.
"Whatever you need to do, Nick," Gris said calmly. "Just make sure it doesn't interfere with work and it won't be a problem." Nick nodded and went to find Greg.