Finale: Old Friends and Good News

Emergency Room
St. Sebastian's Hospital
3 Hours Later

Detective Andy Aikers, Jessica Trent, and Melanie were all taken in separate ambulances to Saint Sebastian's Hospital. Everyone in both the Las Vegas Police Department and the Crime Lab had all heard about the events that had transpired, and as such, the Emergency Room's waiting area was swarming with people associated with Las Vegas area law enforcement who were all concerned about the condition of the injured detective.

Sheriff Sofia Curtis, Catherine Willows, Morgan Brody, and Dr. Al Robbins sat in the front row of seats in the waiting room, surrounded by a multitude of uniformed officers and other detectives. Chatter amongst the group was minimal due to everyone's mutual fretfulness regarding the seemingly tragic situation.

Catherine and Dr. Robbins both happened to look up at the same moment, and were momentarily stunned to see Dr. Raymond "Ray" Langston, a longtime physician and former CSI, coming toward them. Langston was a 6' African-American man in his early 50's who was dressed in a white lab coat with his name and the St. Sebastian's logo embroidered across the right-side pocket and a stethoscope around his neck. He gave a warm and welcoming smile to his friends and former colleagues once he locked eyes with them.

Curtis, Catherine, Morgan, and Dr. Robbins all stood up from their seats. "Oh my God!" Catherine exclaimed as she reached her arms out for a hug, "Doctor Ray! How are you?"

Langston wrapped Catherine in a big hug. "I'm doing great, Catherine" he replied, "I'm so sorry for these grim circumstances, but it is good to see you guys again."

The physician then briefly shook hands with Sheriff Curtis for a moment before embracing Dr. Robbins in a hug, this time being slightly more one-sided due to Robbins needing to stand up on his one forearm crutch. "Hello Al," Langston said to him, "Long time no see, old friend. How've you been?"

"Good," Dr. Robbins replied, "But I have to say, I miss dissecting corpses with you in Autopsy."

Langston chuckled. "Right back at you, Doc" he said, "Honestly, though, I think working part time here in the ER is a better fit for me these days."

Catherine smiled before gesturing to Morgan. "Ray Langston," she said, "This is Conrad Ecklie's daughter, Morgan Brody. She joined the team not long after you left."

Langston shook hands with the attractive blonde CSI. "Ah," he replied, "Hello Morgan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's such a pleasure to meet you as well, Doctor Langston" Morgan said, "I've heard great things about you."

Sheriff Curtis then saw her cue to politely interject. "I'm sorry to interrupt this impromptu reunion of yours, guys" she said, "But we'd all really like to know. How's Detective Aikers doing?"

Langston held his hands up for a second. "My apologies for not leading with that, Sheriff" he said, "The stab wound to his chest was deep enough to cause a slight puncture in his lung as well as a small nick in his intercostal artery, so we rushed him into the Operating Room. Our vascular surgeon was able to seal the bleeder without any issues and the pulmonologist was able to successfully close the lung puncture. However, we were worried about the blow to his head."

"How so?" Curtis inquired.

"He was showing signs of retrograde amnesia upon arrival," Langston explained, "So I ordered a stat CT of his head and it showed signs of a moderate concussion. Amnesia is a very common symptom with concussions of that type and it usually lasts anywhere from thirty minutes to twenty-four hours."

"You sent him to surgery with an apparent concussion?" Robbins asked.

"I made the call that his arterial injury was more life-threatening," Langston replied, "But I had one of our neurology residents sit in on the surgery with the vascular team and the pulmonologist. Thankfully, there were no other complications."

A now solaced Curtis took a deep sigh. "That's a relief," she said, "What about our suspect, Melanie Wickens?"

"The four bullets are still embedded in her hands," Langston explained, "A hand surgeon is on his way in from University Medical Center to remove them and he should be here within the next half-hour. Once that's done and we can clear her to be discharged, we'll make the arrangements to have her escorted to Clark County Jail."

"And Jessica Trent," Catherine asked, "How is she holding up?"

"The ICU team has started her on intravenous chelation therapy," Langston replied, "They've begun introducing EDTA and several types of organic acids into her bloodstream to try and flush the arsenic out of her system. Only time will tell how that'll work out, but she seems to be improving thus far."

"Has her mother been notified?" Morgan asked.

"She has," Langston replied, "Yes. She arrived here not long after the ambulance did and she's in with Jessica now."

"That's good," Catherine said.

Sheriff Curtis nodded. "I'll go tell everybody else," she said as she shook Langston's hand once again, "Thank you so much, Doctor Langston. Like you said, it was great to see you again despite this unfortunate turn of events."

Langston reciprocated the handshake in retort. "Likewise, Sheriff. I'm glad I could be of help."

With that, Morgan and Curtis returned to their seats. Langston then took the opportunity to change the subject. "We all overheard Greg's call for help over the LVPD radio frequency," he continued, "How's he holding up?"

"I thought it best that he not be here given the shooting," Catherine explained, "I sent him home for the night and gave him some time off to get himself together. He's got his formal interview with Internal Affairs scheduled for the day after tomorrow."

"I see," Langston replied, "Give him my best if you would, please."

"Will do," Catherine said.

Dr. Robbins then put an arm around Langston. "I'm interested in what's been going on with you, Ray" he lightheartedly said, "What brings you back here to our fair Vegas?"

"Yeah," Catherine added, "I thought you and Gloria will still be in Baltimore these days."

"We tried to make things work there for a while," Langston began explaining, "But all that seemed to do was remind us of how our original relationship didn't work out. Despite our respective past traumas linked with Las Vegas, we decided to return here two months ago for an even happier and fresher start. I secured a new professorship at UNLV Medical School and I work the nightshift here at Saint Sebastian's every other weekend."

"That's wonderful," Dr. Robbins said, "How's Gloria holding up?"

"Well," Langston replied, "You both know I could never sugar coat things with either of you. Her recovery since our whole ordeal with Nate Haskell was a bumpy one in the beginning. She would have terrible mood swings and we'd argue often. But, when we came back here to Vegas, we found a great therapist who she eventually developed an excellent connection with. She was able to really come out of her shell and she teaches cello at UNLV part time now."

"And how's your recovery journey going, Doctor?" Catherine inquired.

"Honestly," Langston said, "As much as I love you guys and really did value my time at CSI, being surrounded every day by other people's death, gore, and pain really wore me down after a while. Now here in the ER, I think of every life that me and the team manage to save as more light and happiness going back out into the world."

Catherine gave her old friend another smile just as her cell phone rang. "That's awesome, Ray" she replied, "Excuse me."

Dr. Langston turned around and began a side conversation with Dr. Robbins as Catherine stepped away to answer the call. "Director Willows," she answered.

"Hey Catherine," Bobbi Flannery said from her end of the line, "It's Bobbi."

"Hi Bobbi," Catherine replied, "What's going on?"

"I'm at Clark County Jail," Bobbi explained, "The Burglary detectives and I just brought in our trio of suspects from those North Vegas break-ins."

"Oh great," Catherine said, "So I should expect your paperwork by the start of next shift, then?"

"Sure," Bobbi replied, "But that's not entirely why I'm calling. The intake officer just told me that Isaac Matthew Serain has been hollering from his cell for the last hour about how he wants to speak with you."

"Wait a minute," Catherine said with confusion in her tone, "I don't understand. How would Serain have even known my name or that I'm associated with Stephanie Watson's case?"

"Well," Bobbi replied, "The officer told me that he had just wrapped a conference with his assigned public defender about a half an hour ago. I guess the guy showed Serain copies of the e-mails that Morgan and I had sent to you while we were helping Nick Stokes and the Marshals track him down in California. I'm assuming that the lawyer explained who you were."

Catherine then sighed deeply in retort. "So, then I guess he wants to set the record straight," she said, "Okay, then. You can head back to CSI and get started on your paperwork for the burglaries. Tell the intake officer that I'll be there shortly."