Once Grissom had his diminished team in the break room, he took a quick glance around the room. "Before I hand out assignments, I have to talk to the three of you," Grissom spoke.
They waited for him to speak, not really knowing what was on his mind. "When you drive to a scene, you are to go the speed limit or under. If it is important you get there quickly, turn on the flashers. Dead bodies can wait, there is no use getting yourselves killed to get to the scene slightly faster."
Grissom stared at each one of them to make sure his point sunk in. Following his short statement, he started handing out assignments. "We have to cut back our concentration on the conspiracy case. Greg, you're coming with me to check out Elias Thompson's house. Sara, Nick, you've got a B&E. We're cut short right now with both Warrick and Catherine out, but we can manage. Please drive carefully," Grissom spoke, addressing the team in the break room.
The four of them left the break room and headed to their separate scenes.
"Are you feeling better?" Nick asked Sara while driving to the scene.
"Yes, much better. I finally got the chance to just relax for a little while, and Griss and I had a nice lunch together," Sara replied.
"That's good," Nick spoke.
"Yeah, I think we both just needed the time to talk to each other."
Nick nodded. "What do you think will happen with Warrick?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, day shift is investigating the accident. They're trying to determine what happened."
"Oh, well, I suppose whatever evidence they find will determine what happens. Why, did Warrick do something wrong?"
"No, I don't think so, I was just thinking about everything. Griss seemed all business before, like Warrick had done something to cause the accident."
"Griss is just concerned. He doesn't want anything else to happen to anyone on the team."
"Yeah, I guess so. I sure hope Cath wakes up soon, her condition is making everyone crazy."
"Yeah, it's horrible for everyone to be sitting in the hospital on Christmas Eve, hoping that she'll open her eyes."
"Maybe we can all go back after shift, be there for Christmas morning."
"That would be a good idea."
Sara and Nick continued the rest of their drive in silence.
"There is absolutely nothing here," Greg spoke after searching for any clues that would connect Elias Thompson to the conspiracy.
"Everything was cleaned up," Grissom spoke, "there aren't any prints anywhere. Someone else involved must have come back here and cleared up any trace of inhabitance."
"Yeah, it has been a while," Greg spoke, referring to Elias Thompson's death.
"Let's go back to the lab and get all of the paperwork finished up with this. There is enough evidence to connect Robert Lancaster, Eric Miller, and Jason Taylor. Your DNA results will give us more of an idea of what actually happened. Apart from that, with the mayor dead, we have nothing to go on."
"It's cold."
"Yes, another one to tack to the board. Let's get back to the lab."
Greg nodded, and the two of them headed to the car to leave the premises.
Around eleven thirty at night, a nurse ventured out into the waiting room where Catherine's sister and Warrick were still awake. Although it appeared that Lindsey was sleeping against Warrick's shoulder, she too was awake. "It appears that Ms. Willows might be close to waking up. The doctor wanted to let you know so you could go sit with her."
They thanked the nurse and walked down to Catherine's room.
Grissom had just gotten back to his office when his phone rang. "Grissom," he answered.
"Dr. Grissom, I wanted to let you know that we have completed a preliminary investigation into the accident that two of your CSIs were involved in," the day shift supervisor spoke.
"What are your conclusions?"
"The driver that crossed into their lane caused the accident, but evaluation of the skid marks from the department vehicle show that it was traveling at a speed of about eighty miles per hour."
Warrick was driving that fast? Was he trying to get the two of them killed? "I am recommending punitive action against Warrick Brown," the day shift supervisor spoke, "although he did not cause the accident, the car probably would not have flipped, and Ms. Willows' injuries may not have been as severe if he had been going the speed limit."
"What kind of punitive action?"
"A week's suspension without pay, and a letter of reprimand in his file. Any other punishment is up to your discretion, for you need to make it clear that this sort of incident should not happen again. I will be presenting my findings to the board, and I will let them know that you are taking the appropriate actions."
"Thank you," Grissom spoke before hanging up the phone.
Grissom leaned back in his desk chair and tried to control his anger before going to talk to Warrick. Wonderful decision he made. Went eighty to get to a scene and almost killed his coworker in the process. This sure as hell is not happening again. He's lucky they didn't try to fire him.
When Warrick, Lindsey, and Catherine's sister entered the room, Catherine still looked the same. However, when they ventured closer, they could see that the fingers on her right hand were moving slightly. Lindsey grabbed a hold of her hand and started talking to her. "Mom, we're here for you, and we're waiting for you to wake up. It's almost Christmas mom, you have to wake up."
The three of them tried to coax Catherine back to consciousness, and they were delighted when her eyes started to open about an hour later. A doctor was standing by so he could evaluate her condition. Lindsey smiled when Catherine squeezed her hand. Catherine's eyes darted around the room, and she began to fight the tube in her throat. "Cath, don't," her sister spoke, resting her hand on Catherine's arm, "it's helping you to breathe."
The doctor ventured closer to the bed so Catherine could see him. "Ms. Willows, don't fight the ventilator. If all goes well, we should be able to get that tube out of your throat within the hour."
Catherine's left hand reached upward toward her neck where the cervical collar was still in place. The doctor caught her hand and took it in his. "Ms. Willows, do you know where you are?" the doctor asked.
She tried to speak, but the doctor quickly corrected her. "You can't speak with the ET tube in your throat. Just squeeze my hand if yes, let go if no," the doctor explained.
Catherine squeezed the doctor's hand. "You have sustained a severe concussion Ms. Willows, and we're concerned about a possible neck injury. We'll evaluate you for that soon enough. Please do not try to move your head."
Catherine squeezed his hand as if to say okay. "Are you in any pain?" the doctor asked.
Catherine loosened her grip on his hand. "Okay, that's good. We have you on several medications right now that should counteract any discomfort," the doctor spoke, "can you give me your other hand?"
Lindsey let go of her mother's hand, and Catherine slowly reached across the bed. The doctor held her other hand in his free hand. "Squeeze both of my hands as hard as you can," the doctor instructed.
Catherine did as he asked, and the doctor returned her hands to her sides. Lindsey quickly grabbed her hand again. The doctor walked to the end of the bed and picked up the sheet. "Can you wiggle your toes for me?"
Catherine did as he instructed, and the doctor seemed satisfied. He covered her feet back up and returned to the head of the bed. "Ms. Willows, I'm going to leave you with your family for a little while. The respiratory specialist should be up soon to evaluate your inspiratory effort, and hopefully be able to take you off of the ventilator. Until then, try to relax."
Catherine appeared to understand, and the doctor left the room . Warrick made his way up to the head of the bed, and he was finally in Catherine's line of sight. "Everything is going to be okay Cath," he spoke, patting her shoulder.
Catherine's eyes closed, and she started to fight the ventilator once again. She swatted at Warrick's arm and tried to get him away from her. "Cath, don't," Warrick rested his hand on her arm again.
Catherine swung her arm out and fought to get him away from her once again. A nurse appeared in the room and noticed Catherine's distress. "Sir, I think you need to leave," the nurse spoke, "you are clearly not helping the patient."
Warrick pulled away from her as if he had been burned. "Catherine, I could never hurt you," Warrick spoke.
Warrick retreated from the room, the soft clicking of the crutches resonating on his way out. Both Lindsey and Catherine's sister were attempting to calm down Catherine as the nurse approached the bed. "Ms. Willows, you have to stop fighting the respirator," the nurse stated.
A few tears streamed from Catherine's eyes, and her eyes reopened. Lindsey ran her hand up and down Catherine's arm in a soothing motion, and Catherine ceased her battle with the respirator. "Ms. Willows, a doctor will be by soon to take that out for you. You need to stay calm and rest until he gets here."
When the nurse was satisfied that Catherine's vital signs had returned to normal, she left Catherine's sister and Lindsey alone with her. "Mom, what's wrong?" Lindsey asked, still rubbing her hand up and down Catherine's arm.
Catherine made a writing gesture with her hand. Her sister grabbed a pen and a piece of notepaper from her purse. Catherine rested her hand on top of the paper and started writing. 'Too fast. His fault.'
Her sister looked at the piece of paper and frowned. "He's been sitting here waiting for you to wake up," she spoke.
Catherine underlined the words 'his fault' to emphasize her point. "Lindsey, stay here with your mother," Catherine's sister spoke, "I need to go make a phone call."
Lindsey nodded and her aunt left the room. She proceeded to start telling her mother about what she had done in the past few days to try and keep her occupied.
Catherine's sister made her way down to the opposite end of the hall from the waiting room so she wouldn't have to encounter Warrick. When she got to the payphone, she dialed the number for the crime lab. "I'd like to speak to Gil Grissom," she spoke.
"Just a minute," the operator answered, "let me see if I can patch you through. What is this call in reference to?"
"I am Catherine Willows' sister. I need to speak to Gil Grissom."
"Okay, just a minute please."
Grissom frowned when his office phone rang, for he was about to leave for the hospital. "Grissom," he spoke.
"Dr. Grissom, I've got a woman on the line who says she's Ms. Willows' sister. Should I put her through?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"Mr. Grissom, you need to come down to the hospital," Catherine's sister spoke, "it's important."
"What happened?" Grissom asked, concerned.
"Catherine's awake. However, as soon as she saw Warrick, she got really agitated. She wrote 'too fast, his fault' on a piece of paper."
Grissom sighed. "I was just about to come down to talk to Warrick anyway. If he is upsetting her, just keep him away from her for now. I'm leaving now, I'll be there soon."
"Okay Mr. Grissom."
Grissom hung up the phone and left the lab for the hospital.
When Grissom arrived in the ICU, he found Warrick, Catherine's sister, and Lindsey, all in the waiting room. It was eerily quiet, and the tension was palpable. When Catherine's sister saw Grissom, she spoke. "The doctor asked us to leave the room for a few minutes. He's determining if he can do the extubation."
Grissom nodded. "Warrick, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Grissom asked.
Warrick grabbed his crutches from their resting place against a nearby chair and followed Grissom out of the room. They headed down a hallway, away from the waiting room. "Warrick, the day shift supervisor called me with the findings from the accident scene," Grissom spoke.
"And?"
"He said that your vehicle was going about eighty miles per hour when you slammed on the brakes," Grissom stated.
Warrick leaned his head against the nearby wall. I knew I was going fast, but I didn't realize I was going that fast. Grissom continued speaking when Warrick didn't say anything. "He determined that the other driver was at fault for crossing the center line, but he feels that the car wouldn't have flipped, and Catherine's injuries would have been less severe if you hadn't been speeding."
"Griss, I was trying to get to the scene as quickly as possible," Warrick tried to defend himself.
"Although you can go over the speed limit with your flashers on to get to a scene quickly, you endangered your lives and other innocent bystanders' lives by driving as recklessly as you were. You know full well you shouldn't have been going eighty."
"Griss, what is this about, pinning blame? Cath is in that hospital room no matter what, fingers don't need to be pointed," Warrick growled.
Grissom ignored Warrick's comment and continued on. "The dayshift supervisor reported his findings to the board. He is recommending a week of suspension without pay and a letter of reprimand in your file."
"Great, now I'm getting punished for trying to get to the scene in a timely manner," Warrick scoffed.
"Warrick, you're lucky you're not being dismissed. This can't happen again. Take the week to try and reflect, and we'll discuss this further when you can return to work."
Warrick ran his hand across his eyes and tried to assess his current predicament. "Griss, she freaked out when she saw me," Warrick stated.
"Warrick, she was in a traumatic accident, you can't expect her to act normally right away. It's Christmas, and she's stuck in a hospital. The last thing she probably remembers is racing down the highway toward the mayor's house."
"Great, she blames me too."
Warrick adjusted his crutches and made his way back to the waiting room. After a minute, Grissom slowly started his way back.
Twenty minutes later, a doctor emerged in the waiting room. "You may go see Ms. Willows now. I was able to remove the ET tube, and she is now able to talk to you. However, I do not want any of you to do anything to upset her. You may visit with her for a little while, and then she needs to get some rest."
They all nodded, and the doctor left the room. Grissom, Lindsey, and Catherine's sister exited the waiting room, leaving Warrick behind. Warrick sighed and rested his head against the wall. What have I done?
When Catherine's sister and Lindsey entered the room, Catherine was still laying practically flat on her back, and her eyes were closed. Grissom stayed outside of the room to allow Catherine's family to visit her first. Lindsey took her mother's hand in hers and smiled when she opened her eyes. "Hi honey," Catherine spoke, her voice slightly raspy.
"Mom, how do you feel?" Lindsey asked.
"Tired. I'm sorry about Christmas," Catherine apologized.
"Mom, don't," Lindsey squeezed her hand, "you're going to be okay, that's all that matters."
A tear dripped down the side of Catherine's face, and her sister wiped it away. "You sure gave us quite a scare Cath," her sister spoke.
"You know me, always the drama queen," Catherine gave her a small smile.
Catherine winced when her facial muscles pulled at her nose. "Don't move around to much," her sister explained, "you've got a broken nose and two extremely black eyes. Add in the concussion and your neck, and you've got plenty of things to give you pain."
"I must look like hell," Catherine stated.
"Pretty much," her sister joked.
"Mom, Grissom's waiting outside to see you. Can I have him come in?" Lindsey asked.
"Sure honey, why don't you give me a few minutes to speak with him."
Lindsey and her aunt left the room and told Grissom he could go speak to her. "Hi Cath," Grissom spoke, walking to the head of her bed.
"Hey," Catherine spoke, "how is the other driver?"
"He's fine, so is Warrick. Warrick's got a broken ankle, but it's nothing compared to what you have."
"Gil, he was driving so fast," Catherine stated.
"Cath, everything is being taken care of. Just worry about getting better. Warrick has been waiting to talk to you, do you think you can let him in?"
"No," Catherine stated, directing her gaze away from Grissom, "I am spending Christmas in this hospital because of him. He says he could never hurt hurt me, but he has. I just can't see him right now."
"Okay," Grissom spoke, squeezing her hand, "is there anything I can do for you?"
"There's a box in the top of my bedroom closet filled with Christmas presents," Catherine spoke, "nothing is wrapped, and there is an MP3 player on top. If you could give that to Lindsey, she'll at least have something for Christmas."
"Are you sure you want me in your bedroom?" Grissom asked, "I could have Sara go."
"Gil, quit being bashful, it's not like you. You know where the key is, just go get the gift for me. It's hard enough on her that I'm in the hospital, it'll help her if she has something to keep herself occupied."
"Okay Cath," Grissom said, squeezing her hand, "I'll make sure she gets it. You get some rest now, and everyone else will probably be by to see you later."
"Gil, what about the case?" Catherine asked.
Grissom debated whether or not to update her. "The DNA analysis is still pending, but other than that, the case is closed, all of our leads ran out. We've got three guys in custody."
"Oh, well, I guess we kind of expected that," Catherine spoke, "how's Sara?"
"Sara is fine," Grissom replied, "you worry about yourself for now."
"I guess I can manage that, it's not like I can go anywhere."
"I'll be by later to see you again Cath, get some rest," Grissom said, squeezing her hand.
Before Grissom could leave, Catherine squeezed his hand back. "Merry Christmas Gil," she stated.
"You too Cath."
Grissom let go of her hand and left the room. Catherine sighed and tried to hold back her tears. Some Christmas this is. I've got all of my friends and family at the hospital instead of home enjoying the holiday. All because of one single moment, an instant of lost control. Tears fell from Catherine's eyes as she struggled to clear all of her thoughts from her mind. I am okay, that's what's important.
Grissom returned to the waiting room and sat across from Warrick. "Warrick, Catherine is really upset about what happened. She says she can't see you right now. Give her a few days to digest what's going on, she just needs time."
Warrick nodded, and Grissom walked over to where Catherine's sister was sitting. "I need to go back to the lab right now," Grissom spoke, "but if you need anything, Warrick has my cell phone number, don't hesitate to call."
"Okay Mr. Grissom. Merry Christmas," Catherine's sister spoke.
"Merry Christmas to you too," Grissom spoke before exiting the waiting room.
Grissom made his way back down to the ground floor and out of the hospital. After starting his car, he began his drive back to the lab. I hope there aren't any new cases when I get back, I really would just like to take Sara home and enjoy some time with her. All of this stress is starting to get to me. I've never much liked the holidays, but I would like to have Sara all to myself for a little while.