I made my way into the lab a good three hours before shift was scheduled to
start. It was no surprise to me when I walked into the break room to get a
cup of coffee that Nick was already there. A couple of years ago it might
have surprised me to see him in that early, but I'd noticed a change in him
since he had been a suspect in his friend Kristy Hopkins' murder. Before
that, I used to tease him about his flavor of the month, but after that he
didn't seem to date much. Oh, sure, he'd still go out with his buddies and
he and Warrick had actually convinced me to go out with them a handful of
times, but the thing I noticed was that even though these girls would hit
on him, he just didn't seem that interested. I asked him about it once,
and he'd told me that Kristy's death had caused him to take a look at where
his life was going. He wanted something that was going to last a little
longer than the relationships, if you could call them that, he had in the
past. He wanted something special and realized he wasn't going to find it
in a bar. So he'd thrown himself into work. He worked nearly as much
overtime as I did on a regular basis.
"Hey, Sidle, you're here early." Nick chided me with a grin.
I laughed at him and just shook my head. "You're one to talk, Stokes."
Working with Nick was easy. With Grissom, I was always trying to prove myself. With Catherine, well, we had just gotten off on the wrong foot when I first arrived in Vegas, and we'd had a few rough patches. Warrick, well, I came here to investigate Warrick; things between he and I could be described as a mutual respect, with a hint of suspicion, but I think we'd finally become friends. Nick though, we hit it off right away and in the midst of all of our flirting, we became fast friends.
We made our way down the hall, coffee in hand, to find Greg Sanders and see if he'd had any success with any of the samples we'd left with him.
He was a bit bleary eyed, and hunched over a scope as we walked in. As I sipped my coffee, I realized that it actually tasted good, meaning that Greg had most likely not gone home when the rest of us had.
"Greg, how long have you been here?" I queried him.
He glanced up at me and smiled a little too big. "Well, Sara, thanks for asking. I've been working day and night on your case." It was no secret that Greg had a crush on me. At first I'd found it slightly annoying, but as I had gotten to know him, I had found it a bit more endearing, even though I still wasn't interested in him.
"Sanders, do you have anything for us?" Nick sounded slightly amused and at the same time a little annoyed at Greg.
Greg smiled at Nick. "You know how I like to make a presentation." Greg held the test results in his hand.
Nick grabbed them before heading out the door. "Sorry, man, but this case is priority one and we've all already logged too much overtime."
I glanced at Greg sympathetically and went after Nick. "Nick." I'm sure my tone was a little too sugary.
Nick slowed down, but didn't stop as he headed down the hall. "Yeah?" He sounded a bit distracted as he read the lab report.
"You didn't need to be so short with Greg you know." I was just as anxious as he was to know the results of the tests, but didn't think it merited being impatient with our best lab tech.
Nick stopped and turned toward me. "Sara, that's the third time I've been in there since I got here."
"Ok, didn't know." I raised a curious eyebrow at his irritated tone.
Nick let out a deep breath and put a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, Sar. I just couldn't sleep so I came back in about two hours after I left."
"You wanna talk?" It wasn't like Nick to lose sleep over a case. That was something I seemed to have cornered the market on.
He let out a deep breath and nodded silently and we made our way back to the break room to finish our coffee and look over the test results. "There is just something about this that doesn't set well. I'm not sure what it is, but my gut is telling me that we might have missed something." He handed me the lab report.
What I read was disturbing. "Hydrochloric acid?" I glanced up at Nick. "A burn over four percent of your body with this can be fatal, not to mention what it will do to your lungs and circulatory system by inhaling the fumes."
Nick nodded. "Yeah, and she had burns over much more than four percent of her body."
"Thirty-five percent to be exact." Grissom stood in the doorway of the break room.
Nick and I both turned our attention to our supervisor.
"That was most likely the cause of death, but it doesn't explain why she just lay there. The burn pattern on her body suggests that she was prone when she was burned, but there are no ligature marks." Grissom continued.
I let out a curse under my breath.
Nick glanced at me with his brows knit together. "You can say that again."
"There's something else. Doc Robbins thinks she was in labor when she died." Grissom's voice was soft.
Nick let out a stream of curses and hit the table with his fist.
"Nicky." Grissom's tone was filled with concern.
Nick cursed again. "I need some air." He got up from the table and walked purposely down the hall toward the front door.
I glanced at Grissom and he just nodded at me. I handed him the lab report and followed Nick outside, finding him leaning up against his Denali fighting back tears.
"Hey, Sidle, you're here early." Nick chided me with a grin.
I laughed at him and just shook my head. "You're one to talk, Stokes."
Working with Nick was easy. With Grissom, I was always trying to prove myself. With Catherine, well, we had just gotten off on the wrong foot when I first arrived in Vegas, and we'd had a few rough patches. Warrick, well, I came here to investigate Warrick; things between he and I could be described as a mutual respect, with a hint of suspicion, but I think we'd finally become friends. Nick though, we hit it off right away and in the midst of all of our flirting, we became fast friends.
We made our way down the hall, coffee in hand, to find Greg Sanders and see if he'd had any success with any of the samples we'd left with him.
He was a bit bleary eyed, and hunched over a scope as we walked in. As I sipped my coffee, I realized that it actually tasted good, meaning that Greg had most likely not gone home when the rest of us had.
"Greg, how long have you been here?" I queried him.
He glanced up at me and smiled a little too big. "Well, Sara, thanks for asking. I've been working day and night on your case." It was no secret that Greg had a crush on me. At first I'd found it slightly annoying, but as I had gotten to know him, I had found it a bit more endearing, even though I still wasn't interested in him.
"Sanders, do you have anything for us?" Nick sounded slightly amused and at the same time a little annoyed at Greg.
Greg smiled at Nick. "You know how I like to make a presentation." Greg held the test results in his hand.
Nick grabbed them before heading out the door. "Sorry, man, but this case is priority one and we've all already logged too much overtime."
I glanced at Greg sympathetically and went after Nick. "Nick." I'm sure my tone was a little too sugary.
Nick slowed down, but didn't stop as he headed down the hall. "Yeah?" He sounded a bit distracted as he read the lab report.
"You didn't need to be so short with Greg you know." I was just as anxious as he was to know the results of the tests, but didn't think it merited being impatient with our best lab tech.
Nick stopped and turned toward me. "Sara, that's the third time I've been in there since I got here."
"Ok, didn't know." I raised a curious eyebrow at his irritated tone.
Nick let out a deep breath and put a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, Sar. I just couldn't sleep so I came back in about two hours after I left."
"You wanna talk?" It wasn't like Nick to lose sleep over a case. That was something I seemed to have cornered the market on.
He let out a deep breath and nodded silently and we made our way back to the break room to finish our coffee and look over the test results. "There is just something about this that doesn't set well. I'm not sure what it is, but my gut is telling me that we might have missed something." He handed me the lab report.
What I read was disturbing. "Hydrochloric acid?" I glanced up at Nick. "A burn over four percent of your body with this can be fatal, not to mention what it will do to your lungs and circulatory system by inhaling the fumes."
Nick nodded. "Yeah, and she had burns over much more than four percent of her body."
"Thirty-five percent to be exact." Grissom stood in the doorway of the break room.
Nick and I both turned our attention to our supervisor.
"That was most likely the cause of death, but it doesn't explain why she just lay there. The burn pattern on her body suggests that she was prone when she was burned, but there are no ligature marks." Grissom continued.
I let out a curse under my breath.
Nick glanced at me with his brows knit together. "You can say that again."
"There's something else. Doc Robbins thinks she was in labor when she died." Grissom's voice was soft.
Nick let out a stream of curses and hit the table with his fist.
"Nicky." Grissom's tone was filled with concern.
Nick cursed again. "I need some air." He got up from the table and walked purposely down the hall toward the front door.
I glanced at Grissom and he just nodded at me. I handed him the lab report and followed Nick outside, finding him leaning up against his Denali fighting back tears.