"Do you see any problems with this scene Greg?" Sara asked, looking around the mayor's living room.
"Yeah," Greg answered, "there's no gun in the mayor's hand. That, plus the angles are all wrong for suicide."
"This isn't a suicide scene," Brass interrupted, "we've got his wife in police custody."
"What?" Nick stated.
"A neighbor called in hearing shots fired. We got here and his wife was sitting in that chair," Brass pointed, "she still had the gun in her hand."
"She saying what happened?" Sara asked.
"When we asked her about him she started spurting out streams of curses. Something tells me she found out about her husband's extramarital activities," Brass stated.
"Damn," Greg blurted, "we're never going to find out what went on with the conspiracy."
"One thing at a time Greg," Nick stated, "let's get this scene processed before we start jumping to any conclusions."
"Mr. Grissom," a doctor stated, entering the waiting room.
"Yes," Grissom looked up, "how are they?"
"I can just tell you about Mr. Brown. He's got plenty of bruises, but the only major injury was a broken ankle. We're ready to release him now."
"Oh, is he coming out here then?"
"He wanted me to ask you if you could get some coveralls for him. His clothes were pretty messed up."
"Okay, I'll run out to my car and bring them back," Grissom stated, "you don't have any news at all about Ms. Willows?"
"No, I'm sorry Mr. Grissom. All I know is that her injuries were more severe than Mr. Brown's."
Grissom was slightly disappointed and extremely worried that there wasn't any news about Catherine. "Thank you doctor," Grissom stated.
Grissom went out to his car to get a pair of coveralls, and he brought them back into the emergency room. "Can you get these back to Mr. Brown?" Grissom asked a nurse at the desk.
"Sure Mr. Grissom. As soon as he gets changed he'll be out and you can talk to him," the nurse replied.
"Any news on Ms. Willows yet?" Grissom asked again after handing over the coveralls.
"I told you Mr. Grissom, a doctor will be out to talk to you as soon as there is news."
With a slight nod of his head, Grissom retreated to a chair in the waiting room once again.
About twenty minutes later, Warrick emerged from the emergency room, propelling himself forward with crutches. He made his way over to where Grissom was sitting and plopped himself down next to him. "Have you heard anything about Cath?" Warrick huffed, angry that he still hadn't found out any news.
"Warrick, they haven't told me anything yet either," Grissom stated, getting down to business, "where are your gun and badge?"
Warrick was momentarily startled by his question. "The nurse took everything and put it in a paper bag."
Grissom vacated his seat and went back to the nurses' desk. "I need Mr. Brown's belongings," Grissom stated.
"Would you like Ms. Willows' too?" the nurse asked.
"Yes."
The nurse handed over two paper bags, and Grissom walked back to his seat. "Warrick, you're suspended until further notice," Grissom spoke.
"Are you even going to ask what happened?" Warrick spat.
"Warrick, it doesn't matter, you'd be suspended either way."
"Wonderful Griss, you pick now to start being political."
"Warrick, I suggest you drop the subject."
"Griss, that's Cath in there. Do you even care that she is hurt?"
"You know something Warrick, I'm going to ignore that comment and say you're emotionally maxed out. What happened to cause the accident?"
Warrick took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "I was trying to get to the scene, and the other driver crossed into my lane. I veered right, the car hit me, we spun and flipped. Griss, she was unconscious, there was so much blood."
"How fast were you going?" Grissom asked, trying to stay objective.
"I don't know," Warrick replied, rubbing his temple, "I was just concerned with getting to the scene quickly. What happened anyway?"
"This isn't the place Warrick," Grissom stated, "you know there is going to be an investigation into the accident."
"Griss, I really don't want to talk about this right now, I just want to find out about Cath."
"Alright, but you're going to have to talk to Brass later and give him your statement. You can go home now."
Warrick looked at Grissom in shock. "You think I'm leaving with Cath in the condition she's in? You may be that way Griss, but there's no way in hell you're getting me out of here!"
Grissom sighed and leaned his head against the back of the chair. He's only upset, I'm not a heartless person. I'm not, I really do care. I want to know how Catherine is doing.
Grissom pulled his cell phone off of his belt and called Brass. "Jim, I need you to send an officer to Desert Palm to pick up some evidence to bring back to the lab."
"Alright Gil, he'll be there in a little while."
"Thanks Jim, anything new with the scene?"
"No, nothing yet. I'll let you know if we find anything. How are Warrick and Cath?"
"Warrick has a broken ankle, and we haven't heard anything on Cath yet."
"Alright, keep me updated."
Grissom closed his cell phone and waited for news and an officer.
After the officer took away the bags with Warrick's and Catherine's belongings, Warrick and Grissom sat in an uncomfortable silence. Three hours later, a doctor entered the waiting room. "Mr. Grissom, if you would come to my office, I'll tell you how Ms. Willows is doing," the doctor spoke.
Grissom glanced at Warrick, and Warrick nodded his head in understanding. Grissom followed the doctor to his office and sat in a chair across from his desk. "How is she?" Grissom asked.
"Mr. Grissom, you need to call her family and get them down here. Ms. Willows suffered some very serious injuries."
"How serious?"
"She has a grade three concussion. There is swelling pushing against her brain, and we administered medications to try and bring the swelling down. If this does not work, we are going to have to perform brain surgery to relieve the pressure. She has a broken nose, and she will need plastic surgery to realign it. Although we were not able to detect any fractures in her neck, we have reason to believe that she may have suffered some soft tissue damage. We're going to have to evaluate everything when she wakes up."
"What is her prognosis?"
"If we can keep the swelling down, and she regains consciousness, she should be able to fully recover. It's going to take time though. She is in the ICU right now, and I would like to have her family see her before anyone else."
"Okay doctor, I'll get a hold of her sister and have her come down."
Grissom accepted the doctor's information and made his way through the waiting room to exit the hospital. "Griss, where are you going?" Warrick asked as Grissom passed him.
"To call Catherine's sister," Grissom kept walking, "stay where you are."
Grissom walked outside and pulled out his cell phone. He called the lab to have a secretary look up Catherine's sister's phone number, and then dialed. After a few rings, Catherine's sister picked up. "Hello," she stated, her voice masked by sleep.
"Hello, my name is Gil Grissom, I am Catherine's boss at the crime lab," Grissom stated.
"Catherine should be at work, why are you calling at this hour?" she asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Catherine was in a car accident, and she's at Desert Palm now. The doctor says that her injuries are quite severe, and I thought you would want to know. She's in the ICU."
"I'll get Lindsey and be right down," Catherine's sister said, hanging up on Grissom.
Grissom looked at his cell phone, closed it, and reattached it to his belt. He walked back into the waiting room and stood in front of Warrick. "She's in the ICU, it's not good. They're trying to reduce the swelling on her brain."
Warrick placed his head in his hands. "Damn," he cursed, "can we see her?"
"No, not until her sister gets here with Lindsey. We can go up to the ICU waiting room though."
"Alright," Warrick mumbled, getting his crutches and moving toward the elevator.
Grissom followed close behind and went up to the ICU waiting room.
"Grissom," Lindsey called when she saw him in the waiting room.
Grissom looked up when he heard her voice, and stood up when Lindsey ventured nearer. Catherine's sister took this chance to go speak with the doctor. "Is my mom okay?" Lindsey asked, previous tears evident on her face.
Grissom wasn't exactly sure what to say. "She's resting right now, she hit her head pretty hard."
Lindsey nodded and seemed to process the information. Lindsey hesitated, but wrapped her arms around Grissom. "I need my mom to be okay," Lindsey spoke into his chest, tears streaming down her face once again.
Grissom was shocked that Lindsey was trying to find comfort in him. Grissom rubbed his hand up and down her back. "She's going to be okay," he whispered, trying to console her, "she's going to be okay."
Lindsey nodded and pulled away from Grissom. "Where did my aunt go?" Lindsey asked.
"I think she went to go talk to the doctor," Warrick spoke.
Lindsey nodded and sat down next to Warrick. Grissom sat on the other side of Lindsey. "What happened to you?" Lindsey asked Warrick.
"I was driving," Warrick stated.
"Oh," Lindsey said, "you've only got a broken ankle."
"I know Linds," Warrick replied, taking her hand, "I can't tell you why things happen the way they do. I just hope your mother is okay."
Warrick squeezed Lindsey's hand and a sad smile appeared on her face. Catherine's sister came back down the hallway and appeared in the waiting room. "We can go see your mother Linds," she spoke, setting a hand on her head.
Lindsey got up from the chair and followed her aunt down the hall. "The doctor said that there is a lot of bruising, and that there are a lot of tubes attached to your mom. He didn't want you to be frightened."
"That wouldn't scare me," Lindsey said coldly, "her dying would."
"Lindsey!" Catherine's sister exclaimed, "You don't have to talk like that!"
"I just want to see her," Lindsey said, "I want her to be okay."
They continued down the hallway in silence, and entered Catherine's room.
Lindsey's eyes widened when she saw her mother's sleeping form. Bruises covered her extremely pale face, and a brace was around her neck. A ventilator protruded from Catherine's mouth, pumping air into her lungs at a steady interval. Lindsey walked over to her mother's side and grabbed her hand. "I love you mom," she whispered, tears springing to her eyes once again.
"Lindsey, she's going to be okay," her aunt stated.
"You don't know that," Lindsey replied.
"No, I don't, but I can hope."
Catherine's sister crossed to the other side of the bed and grasped Catherine's other hand. "You've got to be strong Cath," she spoke, "just concentrate on getting better."
After spending a few more minutes with her, Lindsey and her aunt returned to the waiting room.
"The two of you can go see Catherine," Catherine's sister told Grissom and Warrick.
They nodded and made their way down the hall.
"Oh my gosh," Warrick exclaimed, seeing how bruised Catherine's face was.
Grissom spent a few minutes taking in Catherine's condition, and he decided to leave Warrick alone with Catherine. He squeezed Catherine's hand one more time and turned to leave. "Warrick, take a few more minutes with her," Grissom stated, "I have to get back to the lab to work on the case."
Warrick nodded in understanding. "I'm going to stay here for a while. I want to be here when she wakes up."
"Warrick, it could be days. Make sure you get home to get some sleep."
"I know Griss, I'm just going to be here for now."
Grissom nodded and left the room. Warrick rubbed the back of Catherine's hand and brought it up to his lips. "We're waiting for you to wake up Cath," he spoke, "Lindsey and your sister are here, and we're all waiting to see your beautiful eyes."
Warrick returned her hand to her side, spent a few more minutes with her, and returned to the waiting room. What have I done?
When Grissom got back to the lab, Sara, Nick, and Greg hadn't returned yet. Grissom pulled his cell phone off of his belt and called Sara. "Sidle," she picked up.
"Sara, what's going on at the scene?" he asked.
"We're almost done processing. From all of the evidence that we have, we've determined that the mayor's wife killed him in a fit of rage."
"Anything that will connect him to the conspiracy?"
"Nope. This place is clean."
"Wonderful, we hit a dead end."
"Well, we still have what we found before back at the lab. That probably won't get us anywhere either, but we can try."
"True. Is Brass still at the scene?"
"No, we just have two officers. He said he was going back to talk to the mayor's wife."
"Okay, I'll catch him here then."
"How are Cath and Warrick?" Sara asked, concerned for her friends and coworkers.
"Warrick has a broken ankle, and Cath isn't doing so well."
"What are her injuries?"
"Severe concussion with swelling pushing against her brain. Her neck's in a brace, and she's on a ventilator."
"Wow, it's that bad," Sara stated, "have you seen her?"
"Yeah, she doesn't look good. Warrick is still at the hospital with her sister and Lindsey."
"Griss, do you think we can all get out of here at the end of shift?" Sara asked.
"Yeah, I'm sending everyone home to get some rest. Just a couple more hours. I'll talk to you and the guys when you get back to the lab."
"Okay, Gil, I'll talk to you later."
Grissom closed his cell phone and went on his way to find Brass.