Grissom and Sara pulled up first at what was once Carley's house. They both felt the heat as the flames leapt up into the lightening sky. The fire engines could be seen sitting down the road and in front of the blaze. Nick almost rammed into the back of Sara's he was driving so fast. Both him and Warrick jumped out and made their way to the taped off area.
"We're from the crime lab, he one of ours!" Nick shouted to the officer as another explosion went off.
"Right, keep as close to the tape as you can and head off to the ambulance." The officer shouted back. Doing as he said the four of them ducked underneath the police tape and covered their faces as more smaller explosions erupted from the top of the roof.
They hurried to the back of the ambulance in time to see Greg on a spine board being lifted up on to a stretcher with an EMT holding an oxygen mask over his face. Catherine stood behind them and ducked as a louder explosion went off. Wood splintered from the doorway and spread near to them.
"We'll have to move. Does he have any family?" An EMT asked, checking Catherine over.
"No! That was the last of his family…in there." She said back to him as he dragged her towards the ambulance.
"Right. We're going to need to check you and the officers over at the hospital. Is there anyone who can go with you?"
"Yes we can!" Grissom answered as he came up to the EMT. "Were all friends." He added.
"Right we have three ambulances. One for the officers, one for Ms Willows and one for Mr. Sanders. One person could join Mr. Sanders and another Ms Willows and the rest can follow."
"Nick. Go with Greg. Warrick, go with Catherine. Sara and I are going to wait here for Brass and find out the story." He ordered. "Call me if anything changes." He added before heading to where Catherine's and the officer's cars were moved.
"The cops say no one to the house and she came in from work after they drove her here. They searched the house and then left her to her privacy." Brass appeared from behind the officer guarding the tape and keeping the arriving media and nosy neighbors from crossing into the danger. "They said Greg came and just as Catherine was about to drive off the house blew and Sanders flew out the window, hit the bonnet of their car and rolled off to the other side. EMT's aren't sure on his condition." He explained, looking more grim than usual. "Hope the kids gonna to be okay." He shook his head.
"Yeah, so do we." Sara answered.
Catherine sat in a small hospital cubical and followed the light with her eyes. Her hands were clenched on her lap and her lip quivered every so often.
"Okay, no concussion and that wound on your head is clean, it won't need stitches." The doctor stood back and watched her carefully. "Do you want some water?"
"P…pl-please." She stuttered, knowing fine well she was in shock. The doctor smiled understandably and nodded. As he left Nick stepped in past the curtain. Catherine jumped off the bed and grabbed his arms. "Is he okay?" she asked, her voice shrilled slightly.
"I don't know Cath! I was told to wait, he's in surgery." Nick guided Catherine back to the bed and made her sit back down, just as the doctor walked back in.
"It's good to know Ms Willows has some friends to look after her." Nick turned to face him and flashed him a small and tired smile. "I wanted to keep her in to make sure she didn't go into major shock, but if you and the young gentleman out there will look after her for the night then I'll be happy to let her go. As long as you call the hospital if there are any problems, what so ever."
"Of course." Nick nodded vigorously, passing the plastic cup of water to Catherine. The doctor waited till Catherine had taken a slow sip before he nodded, said good-bye and left. "Warrick is outside the hospital waiting for Grissom to call."
"Right, shall we wait by surgery?" she asked. "Oh, Lindsey?"
Nick smiled. "One of your neighbors dropped her off, she's outside with Warrick, entertaining him with some Greg style jokes." Catherine chucked, her own laugh sounded strained.
"I kept telling him not to encourage her with his jokes…" She stopped, feeling her eyes well up. "We can't loose him." She chocked. "But what will he do when he gets better?" she asked, a tear sliding down the side of her face and reaching her lip.
Nick sighed, brushed away the tear and pulled her into a hug and she released her guilt and pain for Greg. "He manage…because we're there for him." He pulled Catherine and held her by the arms, bending slightly to look her in the face. "This is no ones fault but Martins." He told her firmly. Catherine swallowed the lump from her throat and nodded in acceptance.
"You're right. Your right." She gasped. Nick just smiled, threw a protective arm around her shoulder and led her to the waiting room where he had sat for half an hour before coming to find Catherine.
The two sat for nearly an hour when Warrick and Lindsey came back in. Lindsey let go of Warrick's hand and ran to Catherine, hugged her mum and them Nick.
"Grissom said there were several bombs around the house. Best guess is that the guy was up in the attic when the cops checked the place out. Then when they left he attacked her and placed the bomb underneath her. Coroner report is just being done, and the house is totaled, no way any evidence survived." He sighed and sat down heavily next to Catherine. "I've been told to ask you what you saw. If that's okay?"
"Sure. Nick can you take Lindsey to get something to eat?" she asked, just looking for an excuse so her daughter didn't have to hear anything.
"Yeah. Lindsey, we gonna grab some food for you and your mum." He asked the young girl who nodded her head enthusiastically and skipped off, holding Nick's hand.
She sighed again and started her story. She told Warrick that she dropped Greg off and just as she was about to leave she spotted Greg at the window by the mantle piece and told him that Greg picked up a silver blade of some type. Warrick informed her that they had found a letter opener in the middle of the lawn and it could have been that.
"Well Martian wouldn't have been stupid enough to stay in the house." She paused to think as to why Greg would have a weapon. "Oh God! She must have been alive!" She stated, watching the color drain from Warrick's face. "He would have tried to untie her. But why? Couldn't he have just picked her up?" she asked to no one in particular.
"Unless she was tied down." Warrick whispered.
"The she might have been alive." Catherine continued, feeling sicker by each word. "Oh Greg!" she cried, the tears coming back. Warrick leant forward and pulled her into a hug, just like Nick had.
"He's strong." Warrick whispered to her. "And he's got us!" Warrick explained.
"That's twice I've been told that." Catherine mentioned pulling back and wiping her face.
Warrick smiled slightly. "Because it's true." He simply stated, causing her to nod in agreement.
"Mum! What do you want to eat?" Lindsey came round the corner with some Styrofoam packages and thrust them into Catherine's arms. "We've got some white stuff and some dinner stuff…" she talked on about what her and Nick had bought as he leant against the corner wall.
"Wasn't sure what people wanted." He explained. Catherine selected the pork and gravy while Warrick picked the Cauliflower and cheese. Nick picked out the chips and Gravy while Lindsey selected the chili concoction. They sat in relative silence, each finishing their meal. No one spoke until Nick realized that Lindsey had fallen asleep in Catherine's arms.
"You two should go home and rest." Nick whispered to Catherine.
"Yeah. We'll call you if anything changes." Warrick agreed.
"No. I want to wait, see him myself." The two men said nothing but sat, staring at the double swing doors.
It had been two and a half hours since they arrived when Sara and Grissom crept into the waiting room. They smiled sadly at the realization that there was no news about Greg.
"What have you found out?" Nick whispered, afraid to wake Lindsey.
"They found a body, but the house is too dangerous to enter for us, so they just gave us the information. We should be able to go in tomorrow. Coroner report…" Grissom paused. "Said she probably was alive when she was killed. The…the explosion damaged her face so death was instantaneous." He explained, sinking into the seat beside Nick while Sara sat beside Catherine.
They had waited another few minutes when a surgeon came out to them. He looked around at the group before speaking.
"Are you here about Greg Sanders?" the surgeon asked.
"Yes. He has no family left that we know of." Grissom explained standing up.
"Mr. Sanders will be okay. He had severe burns across the left side of his body. He had much scaring across his back from a previous accident, which will mean that the new wounds along his back may not heal too well. We have had to do a skin graft down there." The surgeon paused. "We have detected some spinal injury, but we won't know how sever it is until he wakes up. He also has a major concussion and much internal bleeding from the fall. But surprisingly he has no damage to his lungs or vital organs and is breathing fine on his own. We will need to keep an eye on him for a few days to check for after affects, but should be out by next week if his back and left side heal."
"May we see him?" Catherine asked.
"Yes. Mind, he will be groggy from the painkillers and may be upset after…the explosion. I understand he has lost family in that incident. He must be kept calm for a long as possible." He warned. "He's in room 202." And then he left them, letting the information sink in and the shock move on.
"Lets go." Nick said, leading the way towards the reception, after asking where to go, they came upon the room. Nick went in first and felt his heart brake as he saw his friends on the bed. Greg lay on his right side, facing the door. His eyes were closed. He had some dressing on the left side of his neck and at the top of his face near his eye. Both hands clung to the pillow beneath his head, his left one wrapped in a Clingfilm material to prevent from drying out. But his face, scrunched up to suppress the tears as his body shock with the suppressed sobs and tears slid to his half open mouth.
Nick glanced back and shook his head to the others. Grissom peered over Nick's shoulder, met his eye and nodded to Nick to go in. He then closed the door and explained to the others to give Greg sometime to compose himself.
Nick walked in and knelt by the edge of the bed, coming face to face with Greg. The young man opened his eyes and looked at Nick with clouded eyes. "She can't be dead!" he gasped.
Nick gently touched the only part of Greg's arm that wasn't wrapped and spoke. "She is man. I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.
"No!" Greg Sobbed, grabbing Nick and cried onto his shoulder. Nick put an arm around to his back and held him. He heard the door open slightly and was about to tell them to wait when he spotted an arm reach out to Greg and stroke his head. Catherine stood over them both before kneeling down and sharing the hug, with Lindsey in the middle.
Sara appeared above Nick, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbed Greg's back, while Warrick came round to the other side laid a hand on his shoulder. Each of them careful not to hurt his wounds.
Grissom stood in the door; he wasn't much for hugs and was in two minds whether to join them. He was proud of his team, knowing that they were there together for each other. Just as he was about to walk away and give them some space he heard his name.
"Grissom." He turned to the bed and saw Greg staring up at him. Greg motioned him over. He went over and stooped over so he could hear him. "Thank you." Greg said, holding out his hand. Grissom smiled, took it and held it for a moment. He let go and then came round to where Warrick was and sat at the bottom of the bed. He gripped Greg's ankle and shook it reassuringly as the group sat in a comfortable silence. Together, for each other.
Hey hope it not too angsty for people. Oh and wanted to try this riddle out…don't blame me I thought it was interesting.
A son and a Father were driving when they had a car accident (How else could it happen?), sadly the farther died instantly, but the son survived to be taken to hospital. When he was wheeled into the operating theater the surgeon looked at the young man and said, 'I can't operate on this young man because he is my son.' Who is the surgeon?
Will tell you next chapter…if people want me to continue?!