Grissom arrived at Catherine's house and found it empty. He vaguely remembered her saying something about Lindsay spending the night with her aunt. The solitude was a mixed blessing. There was no one to fuss over him, but there was also no one to interrupt his thoughts and recollections of the event. He had visited Catherine's home on numerous occasions and he easily maneuvered his way around. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He couldn't remember the last time he ate, and he could almost hear her voice urging him to eat. But he just wasn't hungry. Images of the blood pooling on the floor of his townhouse kept obscuring his vision. He shook his head, trying to shake the images out of his mind. Closing the fridge, he found his way to the bathroom. He opened the glass shower door and turned the water on. He ran it as hot as it would go, and an immediate cloud of steam billowed up from the shower floor. The sound of the water was a welcome distraction, but it was not enough to keep him from thinking about Beth and Greg in the hospital. Fresh tears brimmed in his eyes and he let them fall. It was as if a dam had burst. He collapsed against the wall and slid down to the floor. He sat there for a few minutes, trying to purge himself of all that he had kept concealed.

It was a little while before the doctor returned to the small gathering in Beth's room. When he spoke, he addressed everyone, making eye contact with each individual. "First and foremost, I came to let all of you know that Mr. Sanders pulled through the surgery and he's doing just fine." There was an audible sigh of relief that arose from the small crowd. "There are a few things that I feel I should point out. First of all, although both Mr. Sanders and Ms. Morstan made it through their surgery, they may have a difficult time returning to their normal lives. Trauma like this affects different people in different ways, as I'm sure you all know. The best thing that you folks can do is to be supportive but don't smother them. They're both adults and they will need their space if they are to get back into the swing of things. The second thing is that there were physical repercussions of the incident. We felt that it in Ms. Morstan's best interests if we left the bullet in her femur. It would have caused more damage if we had tried to remove it. This may leave her with a slight limp, but other than that, she will heal fully. The bullet that hit Mr. Sanders shoulder caused severe tissue damage. Wewere able to rebuild much of his shoulder, but there will be a good deal of scar tissue. He may not have the same range of motion that he had prior to the incident, and he may have to go through physical therapy if he wishes to restore it. Again, the best that you folks can do for them is to be supportive. And finally, on a lighter note, we decided that it would be in both Mr. Sanders and Ms. Morstan's best interests if we placed them in the same room. They should be just finishing up in the ER, so I'm going to have to ask all of you to move into the waiting room while we relocate Mr. Sanders." He scanned the room, seeing how much these two individuals had affected the small gathering of people. There were tears in almost every eye.

Catherine was overjoyed to hear that Greg was alive and well, as were the others. As they exited the room, they talked about little things that Beth and Greg had done to impact their lives. Catherine wanted to join them, but she knew that she had to call Grissom. She walked down the hallway, away from the waiting room, so that she could have some privacy. She called her home number, but there was no answer. She decided to call his cell phone number and he picked up on the first ring.

"Catherine?"

"Yea Gil, it's me."

"What's the word?"

She could sense something in his voice. It seemed as though he was a little less tense than before. "Gil, he's fine. His surgery went without a hitch, and they're moving him out of the ER as we speak. They're going to put him in the same room as Beth."

"Thank God he's okay. I was really worried."

"It's okay Gil, they're both fine." There was a short pause, and Catherine was sure she heard Grissom sniffle. "The question is, are you okay?"

"Yea, yea…I'm fine. I'll be over as soon as I can."

"If you feel fit to drive, you can take my car. The keys are hanging up by the fridge."

"Thanks again Catherine."

"No problem. I'll see you soon." She shut the phone and rejoined the others in the waiting room.