Ch. 4: Lulling by on Time. [cath pov]
"Come on Nick, I think we're all a little tired of playing poker." I say keeping my eyes closed and my head back. I do believe I'll need a designated driver tonight. The headache I had all day is thriving quite nicely with the four glasses of wine I had in addition to the lemon vodka.
"Okay, what do you suggest?"
"Sleep." I mutter. "This is the first day off I've had since Christmas and I'm exhausted."
"Jeeze tell me about it."
I open my eyes in time to see Warrick plop down on the carpeted floor beside my chair. "We're a lively bunch." I say smiling at him.
"Hey did y'all hear about the murder down in Florida back in August?" Nick asks sitting on the opposite end of the couch where Grissom still seems to be fighting with his thoughts.
Nick clears his throat to get our attention. "Well this older woman down in Florida was found dead in her bedroom..."
Sara comes in from the kitchen with a modest glass of white wine in her hand halting Nick's story.
"Party's in here Sara." I call to her as she passes the poker table. "Where did you get the wine?"
"Oh...Nick found some chilled in the refrigerator." She looks at the spot between Grissom and Nick unsure of its security. Before she can pull up a chair, Nick pats the seat by him on the sofa.
"Come sit so I can tell them my story."
She acts like the seat will bite her if she sits down. It's just a seat, Sara.
"Sara?" Nick asks touching her arm. "You okay?"
"Uh...fine." She answers. Realizing that it would be worse if she sat anywhere else when Nick clearly suggested the seat next to him, she slowly took her seat next to Grissom and Nick. Grissom snaps out of his current daze and tries to make more room so they don't touch.
What the hell happened to you two?
"Anyhow," Nick starts again. "this older woman was found dead in her bedroom with no sign of forced entry or struggle. With really nothing to go on except for an empty beer bottle by the bed and the strange fact that the deceased is slightly damp and the bed sheets are wet, they begin to believe the case will remained unsolved."
"She was wet?" Sara asks, confused and still nowhere near Grissom despite the fact that they are on the same sofa.
Nick's eyes light up. "Strange, I know. They send a sample back to the lab and it's identified as a simple mixture of perspiration and water. Then a few days later the coroner's report comes back saying she died of exposure."
"Was she moved?" Grissom now asks, peering beyond Sara to Nick.
"No. She just seemed to died peacefully in her sleep. On a whim, the investigator ordered a tox screening to see if someone didn't poison her beer. Guess what he finds? The active ingredient in sleeping aids --the woman was a life long insomniac."
"So it was poison." Warrick says cautiously. "How did she die of exposure then?"
"No it wasn't poison. The dosage was the same she's been taking for the last fifty years or so, which was prescribed by a doctor. So, now the investigators are stuck." He holds up a hand. "But they also overlooked the obvious. The woman drank the beer with her medicine to ease her into sleep a little better and this was verified by her children when they were interviewed. Secondly the day she was found, it was almost one hundred degrees Fahrenheit outside, and her apartment/condo was about the same inside. The thermostat was set at roughly sixty degrees but it never kicked on. No one thought anything of it. They just figured the old maid was too hard up for money to get it fixed. That wasn't the case. When they checked the surrounding apartments the whole place lost air conditioning sometime the night before."
He pauses and looks around before continuing. "It turned out the air conditioning unit in the DB's place went haywire where the temperature possibly plunged below freezing. Add the presence of alcohol and sleeping pills..."
"Human popsicle." Grissom smirks. "And the heat from the next day melted her, leaving behind wet sheets and damp skin."
"Exactly." Nick's grin stretches almost ear to ear. "Weird case, huh?"
"I would have got it." I say halfheartedly. "Where was this in Florida anyway? It wouldn't be Miami by any chance?"
"Yeah, but how did you know?"
"Never mind." I just let my head fall back again with a smile on my face. Before too long in the lapse of silence now filling the room, I begin to think once again of the year already gone. It can get really depressing if you've got nothing to look forward to. I'd hate to be that way. I've always loved the holidays though and New Year may be my favorite next to Christmas. Yeah, I think that sounds right...
Something nudges my leg. "Got much on your mind?"
I look at Warrick with honest eyes. "Nope, just thinking about this passed year."
Grissom shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Sara refuses to notice his presence right next to her. I think I'm not the only one running over the events of the year.
"But I was also stuck on my love for New Year and Christmas." I add looking back to Warrick. "Christmas has always been a favorite and New Year appeals to me because of the 'out with the old, and in the with new' theme."
"Sounds like you." Nick says. "Let's see you're bossy and sometimes headstrong. Keep moving forward no matter what is your motto. That fits you perfectly."
I chuckle at this, because I guess he is right and for good reasons. I got this far didn't I? Hell yes I did. Sometimes I know I may be sliding a toe or two over the line, but I do what needs to be done when I want it done. Nick and Sara, especially Sara, made me realize how far I got while overstepping in the high profile case just weeks ago. I tried to explain to Sara, to make her see where I was coming from and I don't think I got exceptionally far. The case seems to have placed a building wedge between us. Yet I have always been this way: push forward, get things done, and never look back.
"What about you Grissom? Any favorite time of year?" Nick asks breaking me out of my spell.
Grissom looks around. "I guess I like this time of year since I have to choose."
"Thanksgiving is definitely a favorite for me." Nick says with a smile. "Between the best southern food and the time spent catching up with family, it is my favorite."
Warrick laughs. "It's funny, but I can see you as playing Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny."
"Hey a few years ago it just so happened that I was the Easter Bunny. I remember roasting alive in that darn suit. The kids were hyped up on pounds of sugar, so you can image how miserable I was. It wasn't that fun for me to say the least. Besides, Thanksgiving really is the start of the whole holiday sequence." He nods at Warrick. "You haven't told us yours."
"I don't really have a preference, but every year I kinda look forward to Fourth of July hot dogs, hamburgers, casseroles, fireworks, and hot summer days."
"Sounds great." I say blinking slowly. I glance over to Sara, who has her head slightly down and averted away from Grissom. "What's your favorite holiday Sara?"
She twitches to life. "I'm not a big fan of the holidays, Catherine."
"Why?" Nick asks before I can.
She stares off for a moment before saying, "I never really liked them to tell you the truth."
"How could anyone not like the holidays?"
She looks at Nick with tired eyes and complies by pressing on. "When I was younger the holidays were always pretty bad. My parents couldn't decide what religion, if any, was right for them so we usually didn't celebrate on the right days or about the traditional things. Come to think of it, Christmas was the only one we celebrated annually and with something of a tradition. But I think they did it because of me and my brother."
"What about now?" I prod.
She finally looks at me. "Now? Now, I don't really think about it."
For some reason I don't think that is the case at all. I see Sara as someone who would think about passed events a lot more than I would, and the holidays are when we think the most. Maybe it has nothing to do with willpower but everything to do with not knowing how to forget.
"Oh you have to have one favorite holiday." Warrick insists.
"Or at least a good memory of one." Grissom says chancing a long look at her.
Her eyes lock with his for a second or two and she really hesitates.
"Okay. It was during Christmas break at my grandmother's when her part of California got a freak snowfall. I was about..." She squints. "Ten or eleven? I remember the weatherman saying it was the coldest year in a decade. Anyway, I couldn't wait to get outside no matter how cold it was. I do remember being really hot and claustrophobic in all the snow clothes so when I stepped outside, the cold hit my face in a great wave and some kind of relief washed over me. We played all day until we were called in for the night. I lingered behind unable to bring the day to an end. All the sound died and I...I just fell back in the cold snow. I could hear my mother's voice in my head telling me I was going to get sick, but I didn't care. I was trying to hold on the last patches of snow that created such a perfect day. It was too wonderful to let go." She glances around to each of our faces finally resting on Grissom's. "Is that good enough?"
"Perfect." He says simply.
Personally, I think she was rushing through it and she didn't seem too enthused but who am I to judge? Anyway, it seems to soften her somewhat towards whatever happened earlier in the kitchen, because she smiles ironically while turning away from him.
"Hey Catherine, do you think we can watch Dick Clark without any comments about him or his balls?" She asks trying to get back to a safer lighter subject.
"Yeah, sure." I say with a smile. "Turn the television set up, Nicky. It's almost time anyway."
The volume goes up. Forty-three minutes and counting folks. I look around the room and realize that maybe this year will hold something a little brighter for each of us. I hope so anyway.
_tbc_