A/N: I don't own them. Please don't sue me.
CH.4
"Yeah?" Grissom answered his phone hurriedly as he walked through the quiet halls of the lab.
"Hey, Gris. Just thought you might want to know Sara and Warrick is a no- show. I've been standing here in front of the conference hall with a bunch of angry Ufologists. What gives?" Brass sounded a bit ticked off.
"I don't know, Jim. Did you already try their cell phones?"
"No, I thought I'd try telepathy."
Grissom grinned.
"I'll see what going on." Grissom hung up just in time to hear his name paged over the loud speaker. He hated that thing. He swore softly under his breath, and headed for his office, and a more private line.
"This is Gil Grissom."
"Mr. Grissom, my name's Dr. Lincoln over at St. Elizabeth Hospital. We've got two of your employees here for observation. One is suffering from radiation sickness, and we're waiting on the test results of the other."
"Radiation?" Grissom was floored. "I don't know where they could have come in contact with any radiation, but I'll check all the evidence they brought in from the case they're working. Are they alright?" He knew the effects of radiation poisoning. There was no known cure, and if a heavy enough doses occurred, death was relatively quick and very painful.
"So far, just Miss Sidle shows any real signs of the sickness."
Grissom's heart sank to his stomach.
"It seems mild enough. No permanent damage was done. She's just very weak, and won't have much of an appetite for a few days. We've paced her in a quarantine room for her own safety. In cases of radiation poisoning, the body's immune system is highly compromised. She might not be able to fight off sickness and infection until this works its way through her system."
"Thank you, Doctor. I'll let you know as soon as I look into the case they've been working." Grissom hung up the phone, and took a deep breath, and flipped open his cell phone.
"Brass."
"Jim? How are you feeling?"
"That supposed to be funny?" Brass was not amused.
"Sara and Warrick are at the hospital. Somewhere along the line, she came in contact with radiation. Are any of the people you questioned suffering from nausea? Vomiting? Anything at all?" Grissom could hear Brass asking around in the group he had sequestered.
"Nah. Nothing. Radiation, huh? That's creepy. I'll put a call in to my haz- mat guys. You realize I'm gonna have to call this one in to the homeland security force-local yolkals, right? They're gonna love this." Brass groaned.
"Have them go over that entire auditorium. That's the only room you guys were in right?"
"Yeah. Will do. Tell your guys I hope they feel better." Brass said sincerely as he closed his phone.
Grissom headed down the hall towards the evidence room, but stopped as someone caught his eye in the trace lab.
"Hodges?" Grissom walked into the lab, and around the counter. Hodges was sitting in his chair clutching his stomach and groaning.
"Yeah? Whatta you want?" He looked up to see Grissom hovering over him. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't know it was you."
"How are you feeling?" Grissom stood back, examining his least favorite lab tech carefully.
"Awful. In fact, I was just going to request a bit of sick leave. Otherwise things could get compromised." He gestured around the lab.
"Actually, I'd like you to go to the hospital. I'll call for the ambulance. I think you've got radiation sickness."
Hodges' eyes flew open in terror.
"What? What do mean? Radiation? How?" He tried to stand, but decided against it quickly, as the nausea returned, and his face went white as a sheet.
"Just relax. I need to know what evidence from Sara and Warrick's case you've been processing."
"This is their fault, isn't it?" He growled.
"Hodges?" Grissom tried again to get his attention. "Hodges! What evidence have you been processing? From the MUFON case?"
Hodges nodded in sudden recognition.
"It's about that thing isn't it? I knew there was something weird about it. You probably thought I broke the Mas Spec right? Ohhhhh . . . I think I need to go to the little boy's room." Hodges made an effort to stand again, only to fall weakly back into his seat.
"Ok. Where is the evidence?" Grissom flipped open his phone, and dialed for an ambulance. Hodges pointed to the strange-looking metallic object on the counter top held in place by a vice. "Are you and Sara the only ones to work with it?"
Hodges nodded weakly. Grissom breathed a sigh of relief, and helped the faltering lab tech up, and out of the room, closing and locking the door behind them.
TBC
CH.4
"Yeah?" Grissom answered his phone hurriedly as he walked through the quiet halls of the lab.
"Hey, Gris. Just thought you might want to know Sara and Warrick is a no- show. I've been standing here in front of the conference hall with a bunch of angry Ufologists. What gives?" Brass sounded a bit ticked off.
"I don't know, Jim. Did you already try their cell phones?"
"No, I thought I'd try telepathy."
Grissom grinned.
"I'll see what going on." Grissom hung up just in time to hear his name paged over the loud speaker. He hated that thing. He swore softly under his breath, and headed for his office, and a more private line.
"This is Gil Grissom."
"Mr. Grissom, my name's Dr. Lincoln over at St. Elizabeth Hospital. We've got two of your employees here for observation. One is suffering from radiation sickness, and we're waiting on the test results of the other."
"Radiation?" Grissom was floored. "I don't know where they could have come in contact with any radiation, but I'll check all the evidence they brought in from the case they're working. Are they alright?" He knew the effects of radiation poisoning. There was no known cure, and if a heavy enough doses occurred, death was relatively quick and very painful.
"So far, just Miss Sidle shows any real signs of the sickness."
Grissom's heart sank to his stomach.
"It seems mild enough. No permanent damage was done. She's just very weak, and won't have much of an appetite for a few days. We've paced her in a quarantine room for her own safety. In cases of radiation poisoning, the body's immune system is highly compromised. She might not be able to fight off sickness and infection until this works its way through her system."
"Thank you, Doctor. I'll let you know as soon as I look into the case they've been working." Grissom hung up the phone, and took a deep breath, and flipped open his cell phone.
"Brass."
"Jim? How are you feeling?"
"That supposed to be funny?" Brass was not amused.
"Sara and Warrick are at the hospital. Somewhere along the line, she came in contact with radiation. Are any of the people you questioned suffering from nausea? Vomiting? Anything at all?" Grissom could hear Brass asking around in the group he had sequestered.
"Nah. Nothing. Radiation, huh? That's creepy. I'll put a call in to my haz- mat guys. You realize I'm gonna have to call this one in to the homeland security force-local yolkals, right? They're gonna love this." Brass groaned.
"Have them go over that entire auditorium. That's the only room you guys were in right?"
"Yeah. Will do. Tell your guys I hope they feel better." Brass said sincerely as he closed his phone.
Grissom headed down the hall towards the evidence room, but stopped as someone caught his eye in the trace lab.
"Hodges?" Grissom walked into the lab, and around the counter. Hodges was sitting in his chair clutching his stomach and groaning.
"Yeah? Whatta you want?" He looked up to see Grissom hovering over him. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't know it was you."
"How are you feeling?" Grissom stood back, examining his least favorite lab tech carefully.
"Awful. In fact, I was just going to request a bit of sick leave. Otherwise things could get compromised." He gestured around the lab.
"Actually, I'd like you to go to the hospital. I'll call for the ambulance. I think you've got radiation sickness."
Hodges' eyes flew open in terror.
"What? What do mean? Radiation? How?" He tried to stand, but decided against it quickly, as the nausea returned, and his face went white as a sheet.
"Just relax. I need to know what evidence from Sara and Warrick's case you've been processing."
"This is their fault, isn't it?" He growled.
"Hodges?" Grissom tried again to get his attention. "Hodges! What evidence have you been processing? From the MUFON case?"
Hodges nodded in sudden recognition.
"It's about that thing isn't it? I knew there was something weird about it. You probably thought I broke the Mas Spec right? Ohhhhh . . . I think I need to go to the little boy's room." Hodges made an effort to stand again, only to fall weakly back into his seat.
"Ok. Where is the evidence?" Grissom flipped open his phone, and dialed for an ambulance. Hodges pointed to the strange-looking metallic object on the counter top held in place by a vice. "Are you and Sara the only ones to work with it?"
Hodges nodded weakly. Grissom breathed a sigh of relief, and helped the faltering lab tech up, and out of the room, closing and locking the door behind them.
TBC