Title: It's never too late
Notes: Nothing special...
Chapter 3
Saturday, General Hospital, 3.40 a.m. ICU
Catherine went to the nurses' station and asked: "Hi, my name is Catherine Willows. I've got a call from you and wanted to talk to the doctor in charge."
"Name of the patient please?"
"Gil Grissom."
"A moment please." The nurse called the doctor. "He's coming. You can wait down the hall in the waiting room."
"Thanks."
But none of them wanted to sit down and so everybody was up in a different direction.
"Ms. Willows?"
Catherine turned around. "Yes?"
"My name is Dr. White. I'm in charge of Mr. Grissom. Are you related?"
"No, but I'm authorized by him to act in his name. It's all in the patient record."
"You understand that I have to check this first, don't you?"
"No problem."
He went to the station and came back soon. "Ms. Willows...can we talk in private?" Dr. White looked at the others.
"Everything you tell me, you can tell the others as well."
He hesitated and said: "Allright then. First Mr. Grissom went through the surgery, which was almost a miracle. He lost a lot of blood because of an injured artery. Because of that, he collapsed two times in the car, which caused a standstill of his heart. We could reanimate him."
The faces were shocked.
"One bullet missed his heart only by inches, but damaged the muscle. The other went through the left lung and damaged the artery as well as the collarbone before she left the body. The next 24 hours are very important for his healing."
Catherine wanted to know: "Can we visit him?"
"Yes, but only a few minutes, everything else is too much for him right now."
"Thanks, Dr. White."
As the four entered the room, it was filled with mechanical noises. Catherine went slowly to the motionless figure in the bed. She was on the right side of it. There he was. If it weren't all the machines going on, she would have said he was dead. Grissom was hooked up on several machines and IV's. Tubes everywhere. His face was pale and through the hospital gown peeked the large bandage that covered most of his chest. She took his right hand carefully and went through his hair with her other hand. Then she bend down and said softly: "We are here with you Gil. You have to be strong and fight. Can you do that for me?" She kissed his forehead gently and went back to the others. Everybody talked a few moments with him and then all of them went silently out.
On the hallway Nick said angry: "Gil doesn't deserve this! Hell, he didn't even drew his gun!"
Warrick laid a arm on the shoulder of his friend. "Life's not fair sometimes. Why aren't we getting some fresh air?"
"What's next?" Sara asked.
Catherine sighed. "Paperwork."
Saturday, C.S.I. Headquarter, 4.20 a.m. Gil's office
Catherine sat motionless on Gil's desk for the last minutes. She watched all of his creepy things he had gathered through the years and thought of all the cases they solved together. Never before Gil had drew his gun without cause. He only used it to save someone others life. He was the watcher. He loved to study the people instead of causing violence. Maybe this time it was a fault. A deadly fault. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else. Someone cleared his throat. She was scared and opened her eyes again. "Nicky! What's up?"
He watched her helplessly. "Day shift has arrived."
She checked her watch. "This soon?"
"Mobley called Ecklie. We can go home and catch some sleep."
"Oh man. Right now I don't want to run into Ecklie. He's probably a pain in the ass."
"He's alright. Met him a few minutes ago."
She stood, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to go home.
Nick seemed to read her mind. "How about something to drink?"
"I'm on it."
"Warrick and Sara are already waiting in the car. We wanted to stop at Wil's bar."
"Good idea. The night was a mess."
Will's bar, 5.00 a.m.
Catherine, Nick, Sara and Warrick found a quiet place in a corner. Nobody spoke after everyone placed the order. As the waitress brought the beers, Nick held up the bottle.
"For Grissom. Wish he will get well soon."
The others did the same. "For Gil."
"Holy shit", Warrick mumbled and took a big draught.
Sara looked at Catherine suspiously but stayed silent.
"What?" Catherine laughed, who noticed her look.
"Nothing...I...I just...forget it, it's nothing important..." she tried to aviod the subject.
"Just ask."
"You are authorized to act in Gil's name? Since when?"
"Since he's authorized, too. Long time ago, let's say about 10 years back, Eddie and I had a really big fight. I got beat up and then he ran away. Just before I got unconscious I was able to call Gil. Without him I wouldn't probably be here right now. The nurses had to work pretty hard because of him. He was furious and acted like this. This caused much more trouble because he was not authorized. And in order to avid such situations we made this deal", Catherine explained.
"Did he fobit being hooked up on machines?" Warrick asked.
"No."
Everybody was silent again.
Nick looked at his watch. "I'm beat. Do you call me if there are any news about Grissom?
"Sure thing."
"So long."
Short time later the rest of the team left the bar and everybody went home.
Saturday, CSI Headquarter, 10.30 p.m. Breakroom
The night-shift had started 30 minutes ago, but Catherine was nowhere to be seen. Sara, Nick and Warrick sat silently in the breakroom.
"What do you think? Should we call her on the cell phone?" Nick asked Warrick.
"Don't know, man."
Just then Catherine entered the room. She looked sad and exhausted.
The others stood.
"Which one do you prefer first? Good or bad news?"
No answer.
"So it's the good one first: Charlie Biggs made on confession. Case closed."
"That was fast. Why?" Warrick said. "After all, he had no other choice. First, his fingerprints on the weapon. Second, Nick saw him shooting Grissom, third, Brass did some more research on Bigg's background and talked with him again", she answered. "And the bad one?" Nick asked.
Catherine took a deep breath. "Gil's not doing good. His condition isn't stable. The doc's are believing it would be better to put him into a artificial coma. I'm not sure how to react to this situation. Chances are there are resulting damages. On the other hand I don't want him to suffer. I would like to discuss this with you first."
"We accept your desicion either way", Sara said after a short talk with the team. Nick and Warrick confirmed this nodding with their heads.
Catherine took her cell phone and dialed a number. "Catherine Willows. Dr. White please." A moment later she was talking again. "Hello, Dr. White. You can prepare everything, I'm on the way." Then she hung up and looked to the others. "I'm excepted at the hospital. Do the paperwork in the meantime. And Warrick?"
"Yeah?"
"Someone should feed Grissom's bugs."
"The ones in his office?"
"Yes."
"Already done by Greg."
One hour later Catherine was back. Nick and Warrick were in the lab to examine tire tracks. Sara was lost in the archive. Greg, well Greg had closed his lab and reopened a disco in response.
Catherine sighed and entered the lab, went to the disc player and pressed the STOP-button. Greg stopped what he was doing right that moment and looked horrified at Catherine.
"Boy! Did you scare me!"
"If the music had been a little bit lower, you could have aviod this scary moment."
"I was just thinking..."
"You wanted to enjoy Grissom's abscence?"
"No way! I...I'm not...geez, maybe a little bit", he said embarrassed.
"It's okay, Greg. But just on a normal level. I don't want to say this again."
"Alright. You came from the hospital?"
"Yep."
"And? How's he doing so far?"
"Not very well. The doctors created an artificial coma in order to stabilze him and his conditon. All we can do right now is wait."
"Will he make it?"
"I'm convinced by that. He's a fighter." This wasn't the truth, but she decided to leave Greg believing this. He was as much concerned as the others. And she too needed something to believe in.
Notes: Nothing special...
Chapter 3
Saturday, General Hospital, 3.40 a.m. ICU
Catherine went to the nurses' station and asked: "Hi, my name is Catherine Willows. I've got a call from you and wanted to talk to the doctor in charge."
"Name of the patient please?"
"Gil Grissom."
"A moment please." The nurse called the doctor. "He's coming. You can wait down the hall in the waiting room."
"Thanks."
But none of them wanted to sit down and so everybody was up in a different direction.
"Ms. Willows?"
Catherine turned around. "Yes?"
"My name is Dr. White. I'm in charge of Mr. Grissom. Are you related?"
"No, but I'm authorized by him to act in his name. It's all in the patient record."
"You understand that I have to check this first, don't you?"
"No problem."
He went to the station and came back soon. "Ms. Willows...can we talk in private?" Dr. White looked at the others.
"Everything you tell me, you can tell the others as well."
He hesitated and said: "Allright then. First Mr. Grissom went through the surgery, which was almost a miracle. He lost a lot of blood because of an injured artery. Because of that, he collapsed two times in the car, which caused a standstill of his heart. We could reanimate him."
The faces were shocked.
"One bullet missed his heart only by inches, but damaged the muscle. The other went through the left lung and damaged the artery as well as the collarbone before she left the body. The next 24 hours are very important for his healing."
Catherine wanted to know: "Can we visit him?"
"Yes, but only a few minutes, everything else is too much for him right now."
"Thanks, Dr. White."
As the four entered the room, it was filled with mechanical noises. Catherine went slowly to the motionless figure in the bed. She was on the right side of it. There he was. If it weren't all the machines going on, she would have said he was dead. Grissom was hooked up on several machines and IV's. Tubes everywhere. His face was pale and through the hospital gown peeked the large bandage that covered most of his chest. She took his right hand carefully and went through his hair with her other hand. Then she bend down and said softly: "We are here with you Gil. You have to be strong and fight. Can you do that for me?" She kissed his forehead gently and went back to the others. Everybody talked a few moments with him and then all of them went silently out.
On the hallway Nick said angry: "Gil doesn't deserve this! Hell, he didn't even drew his gun!"
Warrick laid a arm on the shoulder of his friend. "Life's not fair sometimes. Why aren't we getting some fresh air?"
"What's next?" Sara asked.
Catherine sighed. "Paperwork."
Saturday, C.S.I. Headquarter, 4.20 a.m. Gil's office
Catherine sat motionless on Gil's desk for the last minutes. She watched all of his creepy things he had gathered through the years and thought of all the cases they solved together. Never before Gil had drew his gun without cause. He only used it to save someone others life. He was the watcher. He loved to study the people instead of causing violence. Maybe this time it was a fault. A deadly fault. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else. Someone cleared his throat. She was scared and opened her eyes again. "Nicky! What's up?"
He watched her helplessly. "Day shift has arrived."
She checked her watch. "This soon?"
"Mobley called Ecklie. We can go home and catch some sleep."
"Oh man. Right now I don't want to run into Ecklie. He's probably a pain in the ass."
"He's alright. Met him a few minutes ago."
She stood, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to go home.
Nick seemed to read her mind. "How about something to drink?"
"I'm on it."
"Warrick and Sara are already waiting in the car. We wanted to stop at Wil's bar."
"Good idea. The night was a mess."
Will's bar, 5.00 a.m.
Catherine, Nick, Sara and Warrick found a quiet place in a corner. Nobody spoke after everyone placed the order. As the waitress brought the beers, Nick held up the bottle.
"For Grissom. Wish he will get well soon."
The others did the same. "For Gil."
"Holy shit", Warrick mumbled and took a big draught.
Sara looked at Catherine suspiously but stayed silent.
"What?" Catherine laughed, who noticed her look.
"Nothing...I...I just...forget it, it's nothing important..." she tried to aviod the subject.
"Just ask."
"You are authorized to act in Gil's name? Since when?"
"Since he's authorized, too. Long time ago, let's say about 10 years back, Eddie and I had a really big fight. I got beat up and then he ran away. Just before I got unconscious I was able to call Gil. Without him I wouldn't probably be here right now. The nurses had to work pretty hard because of him. He was furious and acted like this. This caused much more trouble because he was not authorized. And in order to avid such situations we made this deal", Catherine explained.
"Did he fobit being hooked up on machines?" Warrick asked.
"No."
Everybody was silent again.
Nick looked at his watch. "I'm beat. Do you call me if there are any news about Grissom?
"Sure thing."
"So long."
Short time later the rest of the team left the bar and everybody went home.
Saturday, CSI Headquarter, 10.30 p.m. Breakroom
The night-shift had started 30 minutes ago, but Catherine was nowhere to be seen. Sara, Nick and Warrick sat silently in the breakroom.
"What do you think? Should we call her on the cell phone?" Nick asked Warrick.
"Don't know, man."
Just then Catherine entered the room. She looked sad and exhausted.
The others stood.
"Which one do you prefer first? Good or bad news?"
No answer.
"So it's the good one first: Charlie Biggs made on confession. Case closed."
"That was fast. Why?" Warrick said. "After all, he had no other choice. First, his fingerprints on the weapon. Second, Nick saw him shooting Grissom, third, Brass did some more research on Bigg's background and talked with him again", she answered. "And the bad one?" Nick asked.
Catherine took a deep breath. "Gil's not doing good. His condition isn't stable. The doc's are believing it would be better to put him into a artificial coma. I'm not sure how to react to this situation. Chances are there are resulting damages. On the other hand I don't want him to suffer. I would like to discuss this with you first."
"We accept your desicion either way", Sara said after a short talk with the team. Nick and Warrick confirmed this nodding with their heads.
Catherine took her cell phone and dialed a number. "Catherine Willows. Dr. White please." A moment later she was talking again. "Hello, Dr. White. You can prepare everything, I'm on the way." Then she hung up and looked to the others. "I'm excepted at the hospital. Do the paperwork in the meantime. And Warrick?"
"Yeah?"
"Someone should feed Grissom's bugs."
"The ones in his office?"
"Yes."
"Already done by Greg."
One hour later Catherine was back. Nick and Warrick were in the lab to examine tire tracks. Sara was lost in the archive. Greg, well Greg had closed his lab and reopened a disco in response.
Catherine sighed and entered the lab, went to the disc player and pressed the STOP-button. Greg stopped what he was doing right that moment and looked horrified at Catherine.
"Boy! Did you scare me!"
"If the music had been a little bit lower, you could have aviod this scary moment."
"I was just thinking..."
"You wanted to enjoy Grissom's abscence?"
"No way! I...I'm not...geez, maybe a little bit", he said embarrassed.
"It's okay, Greg. But just on a normal level. I don't want to say this again."
"Alright. You came from the hospital?"
"Yep."
"And? How's he doing so far?"
"Not very well. The doctors created an artificial coma in order to stabilze him and his conditon. All we can do right now is wait."
"Will he make it?"
"I'm convinced by that. He's a fighter." This wasn't the truth, but she decided to leave Greg believing this. He was as much concerned as the others. And she too needed something to believe in.