The Baby Farm
By Bugs & Beauty
AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. As some have noticed this story takes place before anyone knew Grissom was going deaf or anyone knew he had a deaf mother. I do write short chapters.
Chapter Four
Las Vegas Crime Lab
Interrogation Room #2
Las Vegas, Nevada
Grissom almost slammed the door to the interrogation room when he entered it. The file folder on Clara Small was clutched so badly into his hands that a part of it had tears. Seated at the opposite end of the table was a lady in a blouse and suit skirt. Next to her was a man in his late forties wearing a two piece suit. He leaned over to the woman and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Jim Brass nodded at Gil then turned to speak to the couple. "This is Dr. Grissom. He is the lead investigator on your daughter's case. We had some questions about your daughter that might help us find out what happened to her."
Gil nodded to the couple then forced himself to take a seat. He was careful to not show either of them the pictures of their daughter's body. "Our coroner found several incisions around your daughter's ears. From her facial paralysis, we believe that she had surgery for her hearing recently. Is that true?"
The woman cried into her handkerchief but nodded at him. The husband murmured into her ear then sat forward to face Grissom. "That's right. Clara was born deaf. We wanted to give her an opportunity to live like a normal person."
Grissom's hands tightened on the folder causing a new tear to form. He could feel his heartbeat rise until his chest thumped almost painfully in anger. Brass noticed the look on his friend's face. He nodded at the father and continued the Q&A session. "So you just left her there then?"
The man shook his head. "No we brought in for surgery at the clinic. We spoke to Director Nichols and he assured us that she would get the best care. She would hear and we could take her home. She wouldn't have to be in those special classes." He looked between Brass and Grissom. "Our daughter was not 'slow' or stupid. We just needed to fix her."
"Fix her?" Gil queried. "You talk about her as if she were broken Mr Small." His right fist bunched the folder. Inside the photographs twisted in his grasp.
"She was broken. She couldn't do things the other kids could do. She had no friends." He gestured between his wife and himself. "We could not even talk to her. You wouldn't understand. We tried everything!"
Brass interceded at that point. "Did you meet with the doctor before your daughter's surgery?"
The mother shook her head in a negative fashion. "We felt it was best that she recover. They said she needed to rest and not be excited and we would get in the way." The woman started crying in earnest once more. "I killed my baby." She hunched over the table. Sharp in her back pushed her against the table as she cried and kept repeating herself. These were not the tears softly given but the hard jagged kind that leave scars no one can see. Mr. Small pulled his wife into his arms.
"It was the doctor honey. Not you...not my darling." He rocked her back and forth. "Can we go now? My wife needs to rest." Brass nodded at them. Mr. Small pulled his wife close to him and helped her out of the room.
Grissom sat at the table clutching the folder. The sound in the room twisted then faded into silence. Brass spoke to him but the words were gone. Not just muffled like times before but truly gone. When he did not respond, Jim clasped him on the shoulder and left the room. Thankfully he closed the door behind him.
For once the deafness was not a rival to steal sound from his life. He lowered his head and felt the beating of his heart. A racing staccato egging on the panic and anger he felt towards the Smalls. He concentrated on breathing. Not the sound of inhalation and exhalation but the feeling of it. He closed his eyes and felt the air push into his lungs and expand them. He felt them contract as carbon dioxide slipped past his lips.
The pictures slid out of the folder. He arranged each one in the order they were taken at the crime scene. His mind wrapped around the sad fact that this child committed no crime other than being born deaf and she died for it. Not out of choice but carelessness and fear. The fear of being different. The fear of not living up to the standards set by her father. She never got to choose if she wanted to live in a world of sound and disruption.
He thought of Sara. He met her when hearing was something he still took for granted in his life. She brought a light into his life he never believed had ever existed before meeting her. He fought any feelings for her more than he ever fought any battle. She did not get to him because of a dress or how she looked on a particular day. She did nothing spectacular other than be herself with him. He did not need to wonder how she felt because she told him.
She told him.
He closed his eyes. He remembered the case of the murdered deaf boy from the College. Sara and Warrick's anger over being thrown out. She did not understand then and tonight she still did not understand any better than she did in the past. She was drawing lines in the sand. He knew he could not be at her side. He already was part of a new world. One that could not survive without an understanding partner.
Gil Grissom leaned over the table and put his head down on the top of it. Clara Small's pictures cradled him as he choked on his sorrow.
By Bugs & Beauty
AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. As some have noticed this story takes place before anyone knew Grissom was going deaf or anyone knew he had a deaf mother. I do write short chapters.
Chapter Four
Las Vegas Crime Lab
Interrogation Room #2
Las Vegas, Nevada
Grissom almost slammed the door to the interrogation room when he entered it. The file folder on Clara Small was clutched so badly into his hands that a part of it had tears. Seated at the opposite end of the table was a lady in a blouse and suit skirt. Next to her was a man in his late forties wearing a two piece suit. He leaned over to the woman and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Jim Brass nodded at Gil then turned to speak to the couple. "This is Dr. Grissom. He is the lead investigator on your daughter's case. We had some questions about your daughter that might help us find out what happened to her."
Gil nodded to the couple then forced himself to take a seat. He was careful to not show either of them the pictures of their daughter's body. "Our coroner found several incisions around your daughter's ears. From her facial paralysis, we believe that she had surgery for her hearing recently. Is that true?"
The woman cried into her handkerchief but nodded at him. The husband murmured into her ear then sat forward to face Grissom. "That's right. Clara was born deaf. We wanted to give her an opportunity to live like a normal person."
Grissom's hands tightened on the folder causing a new tear to form. He could feel his heartbeat rise until his chest thumped almost painfully in anger. Brass noticed the look on his friend's face. He nodded at the father and continued the Q&A session. "So you just left her there then?"
The man shook his head. "No we brought in for surgery at the clinic. We spoke to Director Nichols and he assured us that she would get the best care. She would hear and we could take her home. She wouldn't have to be in those special classes." He looked between Brass and Grissom. "Our daughter was not 'slow' or stupid. We just needed to fix her."
"Fix her?" Gil queried. "You talk about her as if she were broken Mr Small." His right fist bunched the folder. Inside the photographs twisted in his grasp.
"She was broken. She couldn't do things the other kids could do. She had no friends." He gestured between his wife and himself. "We could not even talk to her. You wouldn't understand. We tried everything!"
Brass interceded at that point. "Did you meet with the doctor before your daughter's surgery?"
The mother shook her head in a negative fashion. "We felt it was best that she recover. They said she needed to rest and not be excited and we would get in the way." The woman started crying in earnest once more. "I killed my baby." She hunched over the table. Sharp in her back pushed her against the table as she cried and kept repeating herself. These were not the tears softly given but the hard jagged kind that leave scars no one can see. Mr. Small pulled his wife into his arms.
"It was the doctor honey. Not you...not my darling." He rocked her back and forth. "Can we go now? My wife needs to rest." Brass nodded at them. Mr. Small pulled his wife close to him and helped her out of the room.
Grissom sat at the table clutching the folder. The sound in the room twisted then faded into silence. Brass spoke to him but the words were gone. Not just muffled like times before but truly gone. When he did not respond, Jim clasped him on the shoulder and left the room. Thankfully he closed the door behind him.
For once the deafness was not a rival to steal sound from his life. He lowered his head and felt the beating of his heart. A racing staccato egging on the panic and anger he felt towards the Smalls. He concentrated on breathing. Not the sound of inhalation and exhalation but the feeling of it. He closed his eyes and felt the air push into his lungs and expand them. He felt them contract as carbon dioxide slipped past his lips.
The pictures slid out of the folder. He arranged each one in the order they were taken at the crime scene. His mind wrapped around the sad fact that this child committed no crime other than being born deaf and she died for it. Not out of choice but carelessness and fear. The fear of being different. The fear of not living up to the standards set by her father. She never got to choose if she wanted to live in a world of sound and disruption.
He thought of Sara. He met her when hearing was something he still took for granted in his life. She brought a light into his life he never believed had ever existed before meeting her. He fought any feelings for her more than he ever fought any battle. She did not get to him because of a dress or how she looked on a particular day. She did nothing spectacular other than be herself with him. He did not need to wonder how she felt because she told him.
She told him.
He closed his eyes. He remembered the case of the murdered deaf boy from the College. Sara and Warrick's anger over being thrown out. She did not understand then and tonight she still did not understand any better than she did in the past. She was drawing lines in the sand. He knew he could not be at her side. He already was part of a new world. One that could not survive without an understanding partner.
Gil Grissom leaned over the table and put his head down on the top of it. Clara Small's pictures cradled him as he choked on his sorrow.