Fear Itself
It was the worst pile up in the history of Las Vegas and Grissom, Catherine, Warrick and Nick stood just twenty feet away, dreading their daunting task, and having to deal with their comrade Sara, who was missing amongst the twisted metal and suffocating smoke.
"What's the plan?" Catherine said over the noise.
Grissom scanned the destruction.
"Just process what you can," he said. "Help anyone that's injured, and do a body count."
Everyone received oxygen masks and then ventured into the makeshift hell before them.
There were cars that were literally flattened by other cars landing on them, there were close to five rollovers and the rest of the cars on the road were going in various directions in order to escape some kind of peril. There was blood everywhere on the cars, and there were still people, long dead, inside of them. Because of the masks, they were spared the coppery smell of the blood and burning flesh.
The further they ventured into the pile up, the more they feared for the life of Sara. Nick found the Denali. It was smashed in on one side, and the windows were completely shattered. One of the tires blew, and it was on one side in the median.
"I found Sara's vehicle!" He called.
Grissom was the first to arrive, followed by the rest of the team.
"Sara!" They all called.
There was no answer from within the truck. Nick climbed up to get a glimpse on the inside. There was no sign of Sara.
"She's not in there," he said.
"I'm going to go check the triage over there," Grissom said quickly. "You guys finish walking through. We've got to figure out what the hell happened here."
***
The makeshift triage was hectic. There were children screaming, people asking the officers where their loved ones were, and people with mild injuries assisted the nurses and doctors on the scene.
Grissom walked through the triage, looking at all of the people. They were in shock, in pain, and scared. People were stretching out their hands toward him, beckoning for help. At this point, his mind was only on Sara. He kept his hope that she was alive. Sara was not one to give up on life easily. She knew how to survive. He prayed that he was thinking was true.
"Sir, unless you're injured or looking for a loved one, you can't be in here," a doctor said, sweaty from running around.
"I'm from the crime lab," Grissom said. "I'm looking for one of my colleagues."
"Okay, go ahead sir," the doctor said and then tended to someone else.
After a few more minutes, he found her. She was sitting on a gurney, and a nurse was taking care of minor wounds. He thanked God that her injuries were only minor. He went up to her.
"Do you know her sir?" The nurse asked.
"Yes," he said.
The nurse finished stitching Sara up then she left to take care of the next patient.
Grissom put a hand on her cheek and looked into her distant eyes.
"Sara," he started. "Sara, are you okay?"
She stared straight at him. Her eyes were full of fear and horror, but she said nothing. She was in a state of shock, just as she had been after the lab explosion. Her skin was clammy, and her face was pale.
"Sara," Grissom said a little more firmly. "Come back to me honey."
Her breathing became harder and shaky hands beckoned him closer. He obliged her. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were completely rounded. She gripped his shirt tightly and she lay her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her rather limp form to him tightly.
"It's going to be okay," he whispered.
The same nurse came back.
"I need to check her blood pressure," she said. "She's still in shock, looks like."
Grissom pulled away and he had to unclasp Sara's hands from his shirt. Her eyes were distant still, and she was like a rag doll, being carried around, turned every which way easily. She was so lithe and slender to begin with that now, she looked half her size.
The nurse was saying something to Sara that she obviously was not comprehending.
"Sara?" The nurse inquired calmly. "Your blood pressure is very low. We're going to escort you to the hospital, understand?" The nurse asked as she stroked Sara's hair. "Can you give me a nod sweetie?"
Sara did not respond.
***
Nick and Catherine finally came upon the source of the chaos.
"Two eighteen wheelers," Catherine started. "Both completely destroyed by explosions."
"Man, this is bad," Nick said. "I'm worried about Sara."
"We all are Nick," Catherine said.
They walked cautiously around the destroyed trucks. There were pieces of metal strewn all over the highway and the medians, both of the trucks were at odd angles, poised to cause destruction, and there was a large blast area.
"Do you think this was all planned?" Nick asked.
"Definitely," Catherine said. "This wasn't some freak accident. This was deliberate."