6:25AM

"How is he?" The question was from all three men; Catherine couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Dr. Ellison took a deep breath before answering, "I'll start by telling you what we were able to do for Mr. Grissom. The bullet fractured his seventh rib on the right side and punctured his lung, before it exited through his back and fractured his scapula. We've repaired the hole as well as inserted a one-way valve to allow him to breathe without more blood entering his lung. Mr. Grissom's heart also stopped twice during the surgery."

There was a collective intake of gasps among the male CSIs and Brass as well as a whimper from Catherine. "Both times, we were able to bring him back." Dr. Ellison hesitated before continuing. "That's my good news. Unfortunately, Mr. Grissom did lose a substantive amount of blood between when he was shot and when you found him, and as a result, was already in progressive shock at the time he entered the ER. Now we are continuing to give him fluids through intravenous to try and reverse the condition. But because of the trauma his body has already sustained together with the blood loss——"

"You don't know whether you've saved his life or just prolonged it," Nick completed the sentence softly. At Brass and Warrick's sidelong glances, he muttered, "My older sister is a trauma surgeon."

"I'm saying that we've done everything we can," Dr. Ellison said quietly. "And at this point, it's up to God."

There was a moment of stunned silence as the four tried to take in the doctor's words. Finally, Warrick said softly, "Can we see him?"

Dr. Ellison nodded. "We're taking him up to ICU. Ordinarily, it's family only, but under the circumstances, I'll allow it. Give the nurses about fifteen minutes to get him settled in, and then you go ahead. Just no more than two at a time, all right?" Brass and Warrick both nodded. "There's a family room you can wait. Just call the front desk and they'll tell you to come back.

6:45AM

Catherine didn't think it was possible for Grissom to look any worse than he had when they'd found him, despite her colleague's reactions. Knowing they'd never get Catherine out of the room once she entered, Brass and Warrick had gone in first. When they'd come back out, Warrick had been to shaken to speak, but Brass had managed to assert, "I'm getting a confession and I will not be dealing. Not for that." One look from where she stood now in the doorway of the ICU cubicle, and Catherine knew why.

Gil Grissom lay motionless in the hospital bed, a light blue blanket covering him up to his chest. His head was turned slightly on the pillow, in the direction of the ventilator tube that extended from his mouth. On the other side Catherine saw the IV tubing taped securely to his arm and the heart monitor that beeped steadily behind him. Grissom's face had yet to show any color, but there was no sign of pain either, and if she didn't look at the ventilator Catherine could make herself believe he was only asleep. The ventilator and the outline of the bandage on his chest that Catherine could see through the blanket.

Catherine didn't realize her legs had started to buckle until Nick took her arm, gently guiding her to a chair. A quick glance at him showed tears in his brown eyes.

After Catherine was seated, she gently took Grissom's hand in hers, careful not to disturb the IV line. Her other hand came up to gently rub his shoulder. "What happened, Gil?" Catherine said softly. "What went wrong tonight?"

7:30AM

"Tell me where we stand."

Brass stood behind his desk, looking at Detective Amy Andersen and CSI Robyn Mackie.

Robyn spoke first. "In addition to the blood we found in MacLean's car, I just finished printing the Industrial Arts outside door. There were no prints, other than Alexander MacLean. I was also able to get some epithelials off Grissom's clothing and he's working on a DNA profile as we speak. All I need is a swab of that lowlife's DNA to compare it to."

"I've got Henderson PD canvassing the Entomology conference and surrounding area with both Grissom's picture, and MacLean's," Amy added. "Hopefully we can find out how and when they met up."

"Take Gil's picture to the Storms' place as well – the family that called in the shooting," Brass instructed. "I want to know if they saw him at all."

Amy nodded. "Will do. And, Ms. Miller, MacLean's attorney, called. Asking if we'd be willing to deal at all."

Brass leaned forward, making sure he had both women's full attention. "Let's get something straight. When someone puts a parent in the position of seeing their child in that condition...they do not get a deal."

9:30AM

"Excuse me." A young nurse poked her head into Grissom's room, where Catherine was still seated next to Grissom's bedside together with Warrick. The two men had been taking turns for the last three hours.

"Mr. Grissom's mother is here and would like to see her son, so if at least one of you could come out..."

"I'll go," Warrick said and Catherine nodded.

"Gil, your mom's about to come in, so I'm just going to go and meet her, all right?" Grissom's lack of resistance as Catherine slowly slid her hand out of his brought tears to her eyes.

A couple of minutes later, Catherine saw an elderly lady with curly blond hair approaching, uncertainly. Catherine recognized her from when she'd come to visit Grissom several years earlier. Mustering a sympathetic smile, Catherine came forward.

"Mrs. Grissom?" Catherine spoke slightly slower than usual, so that the other woman could read her lips. "My name is Catherine Willows – we met a few years ago. I work with Gil."

"Yes, I remember," Emily Grissom answered. "How is he? How is my son?"

Catherine felt sick. Although she knew Grissom's mother deserved the truth she couldn't stand being the person to give her the doctor's grim pronouncement. "He's still unconscious," Catherine managed.

Mrs. Grissom fixed her with a direct gaze, very much like that of her son. "What have the doctors said? Do they think he'll recover?"

Catherine had always noticed something special about the way Grissom talked to killers he knew were lying – a particularly unwavering glance and uncannily controlled voice. Once she'd even teased him the thought of being the one receiving that treatment during an interrogation gave her the creeps. But that moment in the hospital Catherine realized she would have endured one of those interrogations in a heartbeat rather than have to tell the truth to Grissom's mother.

"They don't know," Catherine admitted. "Because of the trauma and amount of blood he lost they're afraid..." She couldn't complete the sentence. "His room is this way."

Catherine stopped at the doorway of the ICU cubicle and placed a gentle hand on Mrs. Grissom's shoulder. The older woman gasped, but quickly shook her head and strode briskly up to the bed.

"Gil? It's Mom," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. Bending over him she hugged him as best as she could, both hands on his shoulders and pressing her cheek to his, then kissing him lightly on the forehead.

9:40AM

Warrick and Nick were talking softly in the family waiting area when they heard it – the sound of footsteps rushing rapidly down the hall. A minute later they saw Catherine go running past the doorway, away from the Intensive Care Unit, one hand clapped over her mouth.

The only thing that got Warrick out of the room before Nick was the fact that he was standing closer to the doorframe. Within seconds both men were rushing down the hall after their co-worker.

"Catherine? Hey, Cath!" The blond woman stopped at the sound of Warrick's voice and reluctantly turned, showing that her body was shaking with sobs.

Warrick immediately enveloped the woman in his arms when he reached her, with Nick on her other side. Then they just stood there for a long moment, just sandwiching their friend in a comforting hug.

"Grissom's mother – the first thing she did when she got there was try and hug him." Catherine was almost crying too hard to be understood. "As best she could with all the equipment, you know? And all I could think about was that he wouldn't respond...that Gil's mom is probably never going to feel her son hug her again!"

A/N: By the way, this isn't intended as a Catherine/Grissom shipper story. Although I think he'd make a great dad for Lindsey, I've always seen Catherine and Grissom's relationship as like the friendship between Kate and Marcus in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series, and I wrote this accordingly.

Do yourself a favor – when writing a story where Grissom's life is hanging in the balance, do not have a picture of the character out on your desk! I had the cover for the CSI Computer Game out as I wrote the last two scenes, and those eyes were completely unnerving me!

Your teaser for the next chapter:

"That makes this first degree murder, Mr. MacLean."

- Jim Brass