Chapter 29
An hour later, the first doctor emerges from the ER.
"Mr. Grissom?" the doctor asks.
"How is she?" Grissom asks as he stands to meet the doctor.
"She's ultimately going to be ok. Once we got the brain matter and blood cleaned off enough to see her wounds we were able to quickly ascertain her injuries."
"Which are?"
"She has a concussion. We found evidence of several blows to the head. From the looks of the bruising, we're guessing the guy's fist. She has a great deal of bruising around the rib and chest area. There are no broken ribs, but she does have several cracked ribs on the left side of her body. I see the same thing in football players when they're sacked hard. She has a great deal of inflammation in her lungs. Now the paramedic said something about a struggle in the bathtub and bath salts in the water?"
"Uh yea. I guess the guy forced her head under water a few times."
"Yes, well, the salts have inflamed the lung tissue. We have her on oxygen to help compensate for that. We will have to keep an eye on her lungs. Foreign matter in the lungs usually always leads to complications, but nothing we can't take care of. We've also got her on some antibiotics to help prevent pneumonia. We have wrapped her ribs tightly to help prevent too much movement."
"What about the concussion?"
"It's a moderate one, nothing too serious. We want to keep her for a couple of days to make sure her lungs are going to be ok so we'll keep an eye on her brain as well. The initial CAT scan didn't show any signs of hemorrhaging so that is a very good sign. She's a strong woman, Mr. Grissom. She'll be just fine."
"When can I" looking at Warrick, "We see her?"
"We'll be moving her to a room in about an hour. She's stable now, we just want to make sure we don't have any surprises. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go."
Reaching out to shake the doctor's hand, "Yes, Sir. Thank you doctor."
The doctor walks down the hall, leaving Grissom and Warrick wordless.
"I sure would like to know what went on in that apartment" Warrick says.
"Me, too. Let's hope the news about Cath is good."
Seeing the worry and tiredness of the situation weighing heavily on his boss, Warrick speaks up. "Hey, how about a cup of coffee? I can go to the cafeteria and grab some before the doctors finish with Cath."
"Huh? Oh, sure. Thanks Warrick.
Grissom sits outside the room Catherine is in, anxiously waiting for any word.
Just as Warrick returns with the coffee, another doctor emerges.
"Family for Catherine Willows?"
"Yes" Grissom and Warrick approach the doctor.
"How is she?"
"She's going to be ok. She's been beat up quite badly with the focus of the damage on her torso and back. No broken ribs, although she does have a broken arm right above the left wrist. It's a spiral fracture. Somebody twisted the hell out of it. They probably didn't even know they broke it. Those take the longest to heal so she'll be in a cast for quite some time. Right now we've got it in a cast to above the elbow just to make sure there is absolutely no movement. Now, I have a question about her 'habits'. The tox screen shows a rather large dose of crack in her system. Is Ms. Willows a daily user?"
Trying hard to keep the anger from his voice Grissom answers. "She is a recovering addict. She has been clean for about seven years. We were trying to get to what exactly happened on the scene but she wasn't able to talk about it yet. I can assure you Doctor that she didn't voluntarily smoke that pipe."
"I hear the passion in your voice Mr. Grissom. What you have just said confirms our thoughts that it was a forced dose. When you see her you will notice some definitive bruising on the under side of her chin and the sides of her jaw. There is also evidence that someone held her nose shut. My theory is that whoever did this to her held her nose shut and held the pipe in her mouth by forcing her jaw shut. The only way for her to breath then was to breath through the pipe. I hope you can nail the bastard that did this to her."
"Ironically, he overdosed on the scene." Warrick stated.
"That's a shame." The doctor says flatly.
Probing further, "So she's going to be ok? Nothing else was damaged?" Grissom asks.
She does have a few rather nasty knots on her head. Her pupils are reacting nicely. I'm going to keep her for 24 hours for observation nonetheless. She will be in a room in about twenty minutes. You both can see her then."
"What about the reaction her body's going to have to the crack?" Warrick asks.
"We'll have to see how she fares. She's not likely to have a problem though. She will be on a good pain killer for her arm so that will help. We'll keep an eye on it though. Please excuse me."
"Thank you doctor." Grissom and Warrick said in unison.
An hour later, the first doctor emerges from the ER.
"Mr. Grissom?" the doctor asks.
"How is she?" Grissom asks as he stands to meet the doctor.
"She's ultimately going to be ok. Once we got the brain matter and blood cleaned off enough to see her wounds we were able to quickly ascertain her injuries."
"Which are?"
"She has a concussion. We found evidence of several blows to the head. From the looks of the bruising, we're guessing the guy's fist. She has a great deal of bruising around the rib and chest area. There are no broken ribs, but she does have several cracked ribs on the left side of her body. I see the same thing in football players when they're sacked hard. She has a great deal of inflammation in her lungs. Now the paramedic said something about a struggle in the bathtub and bath salts in the water?"
"Uh yea. I guess the guy forced her head under water a few times."
"Yes, well, the salts have inflamed the lung tissue. We have her on oxygen to help compensate for that. We will have to keep an eye on her lungs. Foreign matter in the lungs usually always leads to complications, but nothing we can't take care of. We've also got her on some antibiotics to help prevent pneumonia. We have wrapped her ribs tightly to help prevent too much movement."
"What about the concussion?"
"It's a moderate one, nothing too serious. We want to keep her for a couple of days to make sure her lungs are going to be ok so we'll keep an eye on her brain as well. The initial CAT scan didn't show any signs of hemorrhaging so that is a very good sign. She's a strong woman, Mr. Grissom. She'll be just fine."
"When can I" looking at Warrick, "We see her?"
"We'll be moving her to a room in about an hour. She's stable now, we just want to make sure we don't have any surprises. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go."
Reaching out to shake the doctor's hand, "Yes, Sir. Thank you doctor."
The doctor walks down the hall, leaving Grissom and Warrick wordless.
"I sure would like to know what went on in that apartment" Warrick says.
"Me, too. Let's hope the news about Cath is good."
Seeing the worry and tiredness of the situation weighing heavily on his boss, Warrick speaks up. "Hey, how about a cup of coffee? I can go to the cafeteria and grab some before the doctors finish with Cath."
"Huh? Oh, sure. Thanks Warrick.
Grissom sits outside the room Catherine is in, anxiously waiting for any word.
Just as Warrick returns with the coffee, another doctor emerges.
"Family for Catherine Willows?"
"Yes" Grissom and Warrick approach the doctor.
"How is she?"
"She's going to be ok. She's been beat up quite badly with the focus of the damage on her torso and back. No broken ribs, although she does have a broken arm right above the left wrist. It's a spiral fracture. Somebody twisted the hell out of it. They probably didn't even know they broke it. Those take the longest to heal so she'll be in a cast for quite some time. Right now we've got it in a cast to above the elbow just to make sure there is absolutely no movement. Now, I have a question about her 'habits'. The tox screen shows a rather large dose of crack in her system. Is Ms. Willows a daily user?"
Trying hard to keep the anger from his voice Grissom answers. "She is a recovering addict. She has been clean for about seven years. We were trying to get to what exactly happened on the scene but she wasn't able to talk about it yet. I can assure you Doctor that she didn't voluntarily smoke that pipe."
"I hear the passion in your voice Mr. Grissom. What you have just said confirms our thoughts that it was a forced dose. When you see her you will notice some definitive bruising on the under side of her chin and the sides of her jaw. There is also evidence that someone held her nose shut. My theory is that whoever did this to her held her nose shut and held the pipe in her mouth by forcing her jaw shut. The only way for her to breath then was to breath through the pipe. I hope you can nail the bastard that did this to her."
"Ironically, he overdosed on the scene." Warrick stated.
"That's a shame." The doctor says flatly.
Probing further, "So she's going to be ok? Nothing else was damaged?" Grissom asks.
She does have a few rather nasty knots on her head. Her pupils are reacting nicely. I'm going to keep her for 24 hours for observation nonetheless. She will be in a room in about twenty minutes. You both can see her then."
"What about the reaction her body's going to have to the crack?" Warrick asks.
"We'll have to see how she fares. She's not likely to have a problem though. She will be on a good pain killer for her arm so that will help. We'll keep an eye on it though. Please excuse me."
"Thank you doctor." Grissom and Warrick said in unison.
