Chapter 11: Separated
A moment later, I heard noise in the hall, "You can't bring a baby into the room," a nurse said.
"I'll wait out here, you go in and see him," I recognized Atanvarno's voice.
"NINYA," I called, as she walked in, "Where is, Nilde?"
"The nurse wouldn't let me bring her in, Atanvarno is in the hall with her.
"I want to see her, Nilde is my goddaughter," I said.
"Nilde has been asking for you, since you left last time, that's why we brought her,"
"Bring her in, bring her in, I don't care, what the nurses have to say," I told her.
Ninya went out to the hall, and came back in a minute later, carrying Nilde, 'ada ada' Nilde said, reaching out, from where her mom stood holding her.
"She's been doing that all week, at first we thought she was asking for her dad, but, when he was holding her, she just called louder," Ninya said, "And she reaches away from him, the other day at the same time as the explosion, she was sleeping, she woke up, and wouldn't stop crying, I was ready to take her to the doctor, when she stopped, suddenly,"
Ninya handed me Nilde, I balanced her lightly in my right arm, using just the fingers of my left hand to keep her steady. "I've missed you, girlie, where have you been hiding?" I asked, then babbled to the three month old in my arms.
"Grow up, Nick," Ninya said.
"No, Nilde, Alatos, and Arcon keep me like a child," I told her.
Half an hour later, Ninya took Nilde from Nick, and left, to go home. Grissom turned back to Nick, "Tim was telling us more about the clans, I think that's all we'll need, thank you, Tim, I have to get back to the lab," Grissom said, he and Danny left a few seconds later. I looked at Tim, and he said, "She looks almost exactly like you."
"I know, her older brothers do to, their father, couldn't have children, but they wanted some so bad, they asked me to be their biological father," I said.
"But the donations didn't take, medical procedures to have children don't work for us."
"Right, so we tried a few different ways to for it to take, they have three of my children, I won't go into the details of how we finally got it to work," I said.
"I don't care, but it's obvious to almost anyone looking in on them." Tim replied.
"I know, but it's what they wanted, who am I to destroy someone's dreams, when I have the means to fulfill them?"
"You also have the means to protect yourself, and this greatly diminishes that ability, when you are protecting someone, Nick, you can't protect yourself," Tim said.
"Who said I was protecting anyone?" I was getting angry.
"People protect their children, whether they consider it like that, or not, Nick,"
"How does it go, a parent has the inherent right to protect it's young? So do I."
"At your own expense, don't hurt yourself to protect someone, Nick."
"You would, and we both know it," I pointed out.
"You're not immortal, and you can't put yourself at risk, you're to important to the clans,"
"Who says I'm not immortal? We don't know if I'm immortal I haven't died yet, we don't know enough about me, the Oracles agree on the fact that I should be on the council, even though I've been scarred, my father mentioned some of them thinking it's not worth the trouble, I'd say that my conditions aren't worth the trouble, which means that they don't care about what my conditions are, as long as I rejoin the clan."
"I know what they want, I'm not worth the trouble, one way or the other, and if that's what you want, it depends on which way they decide, I'm not worth it, Nick, are you gonna stick your neck out for me?"
"Always, just like you did for me, when this happened," I slapped the side of my face, with my right hand, "there are more than enough times when you stood up for me, sticking your neck out, sometimes at risk to your own life, protecting me, yes, I have three children I will protect, but you are the only person who I have ever been willing to risk my life for, the only one I have risked my life for, we both saved each other that day, you know it, I know it, if we had allowed ourselves to be separated, we would have died, the chances of both of us surviving even staying together, were slim, but we both did what we could, I remember that day clearly, we were scared, I know I was more scared you would be killed, than I would be, and I'm sure you felt generally the same way."
"You're right, I was scared, for you, we need to catch this guy, Nick, but we also have to deal with our problems, being accepted to return, and merge with your father's clan will only make it worse," Tim said.
"You're right, but you're still mad about something, maybe we should start with that."
"We should, I'm mad about what you did, with that woman, when we last saw each other, you gave me the impression, that you had no interest in that sort of thing, but it seems it didn't take long for you to change your mind."
"I never changed my mind, even when we were kids, I tried to show you, that there was only one person who I would love, but I guess that didn't work, because you never saw it, everyone else did, but you're to blind."
We continued to argue, until a nurse came in, and said, "Would you two keep it down, there are other patients here."
We sat silently for about two hours, but after awhile, Tim turned to me, and said, "I'm still pissed."
"Get over it, I hadn't seen you in years, I wanted to do something for a friend," I said.
The argument started up again after that, a nurse came in again and said, "If you don't keep it down, I'll put you in separate rooms."
"Good," Tim said, "Get him out of here."
The nurse looked at me, and I said, "Yes, get me out of here."
The nurse left the room for a second, with a nod, and came back with a wheelchair, she loaded me into the wheelchair, with my crutches on one side of the chair, and with the few things I had with me, on the other side, I was brought out of the room. The nurse pushed me into the next room, and I spotted Greg, "Hey, Nick," he said.
"Hey Greg,"
"What were you two arguing about, we could hear your voices, but not what you were saying?"
"He knows how to hold a grudge, is all I'll say," I told Greg, "he met my goddaughter today, and he's like all annoyed, about something, probably stems from our childhood."
"Is either of you willing to share a room with this, Tim guy?" The nurse asked, "We don't need yelling and screaming disturbing the other patients, though I was just bringing him in here so that I could prepare a room for him, if one of you is willing to switch, it'll make life easier."
"I'll switch," Greg said, "No problem with that."
As soon as the trade had been made, and I was settled in the bed, Tony said, "Nick, you and Tim really gotta work out whatever it is that you were fighting about, I saw it, when we first got here, the look on your face when you saw him, the look on his face, when he saw you, yeah, you have your problems, but everyone does, and twenty years, problems you had, were forgotten, but new ones have sprung up, how can they not, you've led your lives, had girlfriends, had boyfriends, but is it really worth losing your best friend, over a petty argument."
"He's pissed because I gave a couple children, that they wouldn't have been able to have otherwise, and he doesn't believe something that I told him about it, which I won't go into," I said.
"He thinks you had an affair, and that you got her pregnant?"
"That, and that I'm in love with the woman, which I didn't, and I'm not, they came to me, as a couple, and I agreed to help them, because children were, are, so important to them, and I knew they would take care of my baby."
"But you think of it as your baby,"
"I think of Nilde as my daughter, yes, but the boys are Atanvarno's sons, if not by blood,"
"And what of , Nilde? Is it?"
"Nilde is the youngest, a little girl, Atanvarno was sent on a business trip, that he couldn't get out of, right around the time that Nilde was born, since Ninya was due right away, I was staying with her and the kids, to help with the kids, she had planned a home birth, and of course, as tends to happen, she went into labour while her husband was away, I had participated when the boys were born, but the way the plan went, Atanvarno was to deliver the baby, the midwives were only there to assist, once again, that's what they were there for, now, Atanvarno had shown me how to deliver a baby, I had taken the classes with him, before their first son was born, and I knew what to do, so it wasn't a big deal, when I held her for the first time, though, Nilde just gave me this look, and I haven't been able to forget it, Atanvarno told me, that there was no way he could claim to be her father, as soon as he held her, in eight weeks, I'm getting custody of her, or, I was, now it may be a little different, with the explosion," I said.
"It'll be fine, so what, they just don't want a daughter?" Tony asked.
"Never did, my dad has six brothers, I have one, and six sisters, and I only have nephews, they were hoping for boys, both of them, Ninya doesn't mind having a daughter, but she won't argue with Atanvarno on the point, beyond keeping her, until she was weaned, she had been hoping that he would be willing to keep her, after she had been with them for awhile, but he decided he still didn't want her, when I found out, I told him, that I would take my daughter, he was just going to give her up to child services, without a care, not happening."
"You're a good father, even if they don't know it," Tony said, "Even if Tim doesn't want to admit it."
Three days later, Nick went home, he spent two more days, not doing much of anything, then he picked up the phone, and dialled Warrick's number.
"Hey, Warrick, it's Nick, what's up?"
"Just sending the last of our guests home, Jack is taking his friend Bobby back to Washington, tomorrow morning, Kate and Tony are on the same flight, so we all went out for a celebratory dinner tonight," Warrick said.
"They're leaving, did you catch the guy?" I asked.
"Yes we did, three hours ago, why do you ask, no one called you?" Warrick asked.
"No, I've been sitting here all day, I was only on the phone for ten minutes tops, to a friend, and I have call waiting, who was supposed to call me?"
"Grissom, he called Tim, then I was called away, something for another case, that came in, and I thought he called you, funny thing is, I was there, and I don't remember anything, from the time Bobby pointed out to me who the guy was, in the crowd, and the time they put him in the squad car," Warrick said.
"Did you get hit?" I asked.
"NO, I swear, it's just gone, Bobby said it was no big deal, but I don't know, it's weird to me."
"You accept any drinks from either Bobby or Jack?" I asked.
"No, wait, yes, Bobby and I went out for coffee, he went up to the counter, I got us a table, why?" Warrick asked.
"Is he there?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's right here,"
"Can I talk to him please?"
Warrick handed over the phone, I could hear it exchange hands, "Bobby here," his accent was pleasant to my ears.
"Who gave you the vial?"
"What vial?"
"You know which one, the one you put in Warrick's coffee."
"I got it from your place, why?"
"You gave him the wrong one, I have more than one vial in my house Bobby, the one you gave him, what colour was it?" I asked.
"Red," Bobby said, "The same colour as the one you gave me."
"Yeah, I told you to take that one three days after you agreed to undergo the test, the first day I gave you the blue one, and I asked," I pointed out, "You ever wonder why I asked you not to touch my stuff?"
"Did I do anything that will..." Bobby trailed off.
"I'll have him over soon, and fix your mistake, but never try it again," I said.
"I won't, I won't, so it wasn't normal?"
"For what he got, yes, it is normal," I said.
The phone was passed back to Warrick, and I said, "I didn't call to talk to Bobby though, I called to invite you over tomorrow afternoon, I've got a few things I want to talk to you about, and something I could use a hand with," I said.
"You want something from me, what do I get out of the deal." Warrick asked.
"I'll make you supper," I said.
"Make or buy, cuz buy, isn't worth it," Warrick said.
"I'll buy you supper when you come, and when I get the cast off, I'll make you supper."
"Alright," Warrick cheered, I'll be there tomorrow at four," Warrick said.
"Thanks Warrick," I smiled.
After I got off the phone, I called a cab, knowing that Jesse and Jason Maverick were captured, gave me that freedom. I had ordered all the furniture I would need, and it had been delivered the day before, but there were still a few more things that I wanted to get. "Where to?" the cabbie asked, after I had gotten settled in the passenger seat, I named the specialty baby store that I wanted to go to.
Once there, it took me nearly five minutes before I could get out, and away from the car, so the driver could pull away. I hobbled on my crutch into the store, and pulled a cart awkwardly from the others. "Let me help you with that," a young girl said, taking the cart.
"I've got it, thanks," I said, looping my left arm over the handle, using the crutch to lever myself forward, I moved slowly through the store, towards the small items, the ten minutes on the phone had been Ninya telling me that Atanvarno was going out of town on business, he had told her, that if I didn't take the Nilde before he got back, she would be going to social services, as a child abandoned on their doorstep.
I loaded the cart with the things I would need, and made my way to the till, another, older woman was there, as I unloaded the cart, she smiled at me, as I placed the last of the things on the conveyor belt, and pulled out my cell phone. "Calling your wife?"
"Calling a cab, I'm not married," I said.
The cab arrived after I had been standing outside, bags at my feet, for twenty minutes, the cab driver got out, and put them in the backseat. I gave him my address, and he helped me bring the bags into the house, I thanked him, as I paid him, and he left. It was a painstakingly slow process, getting my things put away. The night passed slowly, as I didn't sleep, until shortly after ten. At three thirty, I got up, and went into the bathroom, to get cleaned up. Warrick showed up shortly after four, I invited him in, hobbling out of his way, "this is an incredibly awkward mode of transportation, so you know," I told him, slowly pacing down the hall, "Would you like something to drink?"
"Sure,"
"What do you want?" I pulled out two glasses, and opened the fridge.
"Whatever you have is fine," Warrick said.
I pulled the bottle of pop out of the door, and handed it to Warrick to open, reaching into the cupboard, after pouring the pop, I slipped a thin vial of blue liquid into my pocket, Warrick took the glasses so we could go to the living room.
"What's in the vial?" he asked.
"I was hoping you hadn't noticed that, oh well, Bobby gave you something, that he took from my house, without my permission, I will add, for clarification, this vial is it's counterpart, normally taken three days before the one he gave you, now, I'll give you a choice, since it isn't exactly the way this normally goes, you can take the blue one, and complete the entire vaccination, or you can take the green one which will remove the problem entirely," I said.
"Vaccination?"
"Bobby brought you on that sting, so he wanted to protect you, if he had asked me, I would have said 'no' you don't need the trouble, but the vaccination is to protect you from people like Maverick, the blue one protects you, the red one protects people who can't afford to be exposed," I said.
"There is a but there, isn't there."
"For most people, the vaccination has no adverse affects, but I with our job, I checked a long time ago, if it would have an affect on you, see the thing is, there are some people who have latent abilities, and the vaccination brings them out, and you're one of those people, if you take this," I held up the vial, "it will affect your life, and this choice will lead to another which will lead to a thousand more," I said.
"And the other one?" I asked.
"It will negate the things you learned because of the one Bobby gave you," I said.
"So I'll lose more time than I already have?" Warrick asked.
"No, I will be sure that you only lose maybe ten minutes." I said.
"How?"
"Not much to lose, Bobby only gave it to you yesterday." I said.
"I think I'll take my chances with the blue one, if you don't mind?" Warrick said.
"Good choice, it won't take affect right away, so we'll order pizza, and then will you help me with something?" I asked
"Of course,"Warrick smiled, I handed him the vial.
"You might want to put it in your pop, it's pretty vile tasting," I told him.
"Really?" Warrick asked.
"Trust me," I said.
Warrick took it alone, followed by the rest of his pop, instead, "You're right, that was foul, so what is it you want my help with?"
"Something I haven't told you, I've got three kids, they all have the same mother, but she's decided that she can't take care of all of them, I'm getting custody of the youngest, this weekend, so I need to get her room set up," I told Warrick.
"A kid? Three kids?" Warrick said.
"Don't get mad, and don't tell people, I've got everything arranged, and even have a nanny coming for when I'm at work," I said.
"And what about the time while you're off work, you only have one arm that you can use right now, and you're on crutches," Warrick said.
"Not for long, I'm getting a walking cast tomorrow, and Nilde doesn't come until Sunday."
"You really think you can do this?" Warrick asked.
"Why not, she's my daughter, and there are some things I can tell you now, along with people with Latent abilities, there are some who have abilities they're born with, I was born with some, including the use of telekinesis,"
"How old is your daughter?"
"3months," I replied, "I've got everything I'll need, I've been expecting this for months, and I've been preparing, but now I need your help to set up the furniture."
"Alright," Warrick sighed, then said, "But I get to help, and I'm 'Uncle Warrick' Got it?"
"Thanks War, you're the greatest."
"I know," Warrick smiled.
"So what do you want, Pizza, Chinese, Italian, Thai?" I asked.
"You know a good Thai place?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah, there's one in the plaza, down the street, so close, they walk my orders over," I told him.
"Good, exhaust fumes make it bad," Warrick joked.
"What do you want?" I asked.
Warrick gave me the order, and I dialled. "Hey, Kim, who's on this afternoon?" I asked, when the phone was answered.
"Mica's working, Nick," She replied.
I placed Warrick's order, added mine and something that I knew Mica made really good. Warrick and I went upstairs, after the Nigel Crane incident, I couldn't live in the bungalow anymore, and got a new place, with a second floor, I showed him the room, it was painted in a pale pink, it was a fairly large room, with boxes piled up under the window, there was a set of shelves on one wall, with a picture of me holding Nilde, right after she was born, the smile on my face was a mile wide, there were also pictures of me holding the boys, right after they were born, all in one frame, I hadn't noticed before, but the only difference in the picture of me and Nilde, and the ones of me and the boys, is that my smile wasn't as big, in the pictures with the boys. "Alatos, and Alcarcalimo, I pointed to each of the boys in turn, though officially Alcarcalimo is Robert Alcarcalimo, because, that is one huge name for a little kid."
"I agree, what's with the strange names?" Warrick asked.
"My middle name is Turelio, and their mom's middle name is Ninya," I told Warrick, "It's a cultural thing, but now that times have changed, names like that, barely raise eyebrows." I said.
"What does Nilde mean?"
"A direct translation, I'm not sure, but an English equivalent is Friend, we considered both Manon, and Mellon, but decided that Manon was just a little dull, and Mellon sounded like she was dull, so Nilde."
"And what do they mean?"
"Oh, they all mean friend, but Nilde sounded the best."
"You were teased, as a kid, weren't you?" Warrick said, pulling the first box away from the wall.
"Yeah, and there isn't even much you can do with Nick, my sister got it worse, her name is Shelley," I said.
"Right, Smelly," Warrick said.
"Exactly, so I didn't want something like that for my kid."
The doorbell rang, and Warrick ripped the box, "That was fast," Warrick said.
I shook my head, "it's not the food,"
I went down the stairs, Warrick following, the doorbell rang again. Warrick moved ahead of me, in the hall, and opened the door, "You're not Nick, where's Nick," I recognized a neighbour's voice.
"I'm right here, Mrs. Harley, what's the matter?" I asked, hobbling forward.
"Harold was home from school sick, you know, he's fourteen, and old enough, but when I got home, he didn't answer me, the other kids went to Mable's house after school, but I came home to check on him, he's not breathing, Nick, he's been stabbed," she was crying now.
"Warrick, can you call HQ, I'm going to take Mrs. Harley into the kitchen," I said.
Warrick pulled out his cell phone, and I heard him talking, "Maria, please, I know it's an unusual request, but would you have Brass, and one of either a member of swing shift, or Graveyard shift answer a 404 at Nick's house? Thank you, Maria, we owe you one."
"Why a 404," I asked.
"Because, 419 would have a random CSI assigned, chances are, at this time of day, it would be Ecklie's team, and right now, neither of us need that trouble," Warrick said.
Swing shift was just gearing up to go to the first crime scene of their shift, when the supervisor's phone rang, she spoke with the person on the other end for a moment, and then hung up. "CSI Brown, from the Graveyard shift just called in a 404, to the desk, I want Dennis, and Claire to take that, the address is 4405 39th street," she said. The pair left, the rest of the team heading out the same way, the three of them would be investigating a 419 at treasure Island. The silver Tahoe, indicating the case had been given to swing shift pulled into Nick's driveway, the pair carried their cases up to the door, there were kids running up and down the street, "Not quite the neighbourhood I would have figured for him," Dennis said, he had a distinct Canadian accent.
"You wouldn't figure much of the guy, you consider him a player," Claire said.
"Well, he did ask both my sisters out."
They rang the doorbell. A few moments later, Brass pulled up, "What's up?"
"No answer, but this is the address we were given."
"I was woken up, so whatever Brown wants, it better be good," Brass said, then added, "or is it Stokes, this is his house,"
"Stokes never seemed like the family type either," Dennis said.
"Cuz he didn't ask either of your sisters out," Claire said.
"Exactly, Claire, you're catching on," Dennis said, ringing the bell again.
Three deadbolts were let go, and the door opened, Nick had one crutch under his right arm, "What took you guys so long?" he asked, hopping back, "Come in."
"What's going on?" Brass asked.
"Sensitive situation, three quarters of the neighbourhood have police scanners, the other quarter listens in on the others' we've got a DB, in one of the neighbour's houses, a fourteen year old boy, mother's in the kitchen with Warrick."
The trio followed Nick, Brass pulling out his phone, to call the coroner. "Don't bring the marked van, and don't let it out over the radio, most of the neighbourhood has scanners," Brass said.
Warrick was sitting at the table, he had a bottle of coke in his hand there was a bottle sitting on the corner of the table, and a woman sat next to Warrick, a bottle of coke in front of her, untouched, her face was red, and tear streaked. "Mrs. Harley, this is Detective Jim Brass, and these two are from the crime Lab, where I work, Dennis Conrad, and Claire Jamison."
"My son, he's dead, he was sick, that's why he was home, he wasn't normally home, the house was normally empty," she said.
Ten minutes later, Nick got up again, it was his and my meal, he paid for it, and put it directly in the fridge, it would be just as good warmed up, if we ever got around to it. The day passed slowly, as we answered questions, from everyone who came around, trying to find out what happened. The whole thing didn't stay under wraps for long, and the people just kept coming to the house. I went to work shortly before midnight, nothing had gotten done, but he promised to come over the next day and help with the furniture. Walking in, I went straight to Grissom's office, he was sitting behind his desk, doing paper work, his big mouth Billy Bass started singing, and he looked up. "What can I do for you, Warrick?"
"I was wondering if I could get tomorrow off, a friend of mine just found out he's going to get custody of his daughter, and he needs some help getting organized, and getting used to having her around." I said.
"I'll let you leave early tomorrow, if no cases come in," Grissom told me.
"Alright, thanks, Griss, I just want to help as much as I can," I told him.
Three hours later, Ecklie came wandering into the lab, rumours of his impending promotion had made their way around the lab, and Cath had applied for his position as day shift supervisor, he pulled her aside into the break room, the entire team was sitting in one of the layout rooms, catching up on paperwork, while they had a few hours, Greg and I were joking between each other, but it wasn't the same as when Nick and I joked around while doing paperwork on a slow night like this. The phone rang, as Ecklie pulled the cord to shut the blinds, on the glass wall in the break room. Grissom talked for a moment, then he told me to take Greg to a crime scene, "Maybe you'll be able to finish this thing before shift tomorrow, and you can help your friend, though I don't know what kind of person would want to work at the time of night you're talking."
"He works nights too," I said, "Thank you again, Grissom."
I led Greg out to the Tahoe, and we drove to the crime scene, it was a home invasion, something that was rarely solved in one shift. Greg and I got to work, processing the house, the home owner trailing after us, talking non-stop, "Nick's neighbours ask a lot of questions of the police, there was a murder in his neighbourhood today, we tried to keep it under wraps, to many people have scanners, so we didn't use the radio, to get anyone there, everyone found out anyway, then they started asking questions, I was almost happy for eleven to come around, everyone started going to bed," I was talking for no reason, by the time we finished processing the house, we left the house, and headed back to the lab, to process the evidence we had collected.
I relaxed on the couch, putting my feet up, and turning on the TV, there were still a few things going on in the neighbourhood, but nothing disruptive, at about three thirty, I got up, and hobbled up the stairs, I laid out the pieces of the crib, on the floor, and started sorting through them. Following the instructions, that suggested the setup time to be about two hours, I finished at about ten thirty, and went to bed, the doorbell rang around noon, I got up, and answered the door, it was Ninya, I stepped aside, and she came in, "You have to take her now, I'll take you to the lawyer's today, to sign away my parental rights," Ninya handed Nilde to me, I had to hold her carefully, Ninya walked out of the house, and came back with two bags, and a car seat, a third trip had her bringing a playpen, "You probably don't have a crib or anything yet," she said, in the livingroom, she set up the play pen, with a second bottom high enough up, that I could put Nilde down easily.
"It's not set up, I move a lot slower now, with only one hand and leg available for use,"
Ninya took Nilde from me, and put her in the seat, she carried the car seat outside, "Come on, I've got an appointment with the lawyers in an hour."
I got into the car, and she drove, two and a half hours later, we arrived back at my house, Ninya refused to leave the car, and help me bring Nilde into the house, I made the slow trek up the lawn, halfway up, a brown arm reached out, from behind me, and took the car seat, "why wouldn't she help you to the house with her?" Warrick asked.
"She says she has to get back to the house, and the boys," I said.
Warrick moved in front of me, and opened the door, and held it open for me, "Thank you, Warrick." I said.
Warrick saw my livingroom, and frowned, "What is this?"
"Her way of helping me," I said.
Warrick quickly rearranged my livingroom, so that it was still possible for me to move around. "I'll give you a ride to the hospital, so that you can get rid of the crutch, it's to hard to carry a child with that," Warrick said.
I nodded, putting the diaper bag over my shoulder, and once again left the house, Warrick expertly buckled the seat into his backseat, and drove me to the hospital, we had to wait five hours, before the ER wasn't so busy, that we could be seen. "What can I do for you?" the doctor asked, as he walked up to the bed. "I'm a single father, I had some help until today, when the person helping me left suddenly, I can't take care of my daughter, if I'm on crutches, I need a walking cast." I said.
"What about your friend here?" the doctor asked.
"If he could help me, I wouldn't be here," I said.
"Alright, I'll have to get new x-rays, before I can agree to that, can your friend watch your daughter, while you get the x-rays done?"
"I can," Warrick said.
While I was in the x-ray room, they decided to re-x-ray my arm as well, an hour and half later, the doctor came up, carrying the x-ray films. Putting them on the light board, he said, "Your arm hasn't healed enough to remove the cast, but the break in your leg is not near as bad, so I will give you a shorter walking cast."
The cast was cut off, and another hour later, I had a new cast, and walked out, Warrick carrying the crutch I had been using, I was carrying my daughter. With a smile, I buckled my daughter's seat into the car, bending my knee for the first time since the bomb had gone off.
We drove to my house, there Warrick and I went upstairs where he was surprised to see the crib frame set up, he gave it a good shake, to make sure it was sturdy, before going to work, I put Nilde in the bouncy seat I had sitting on the floor, near where I would be working. Warrick and I worked together, putting the furniture together, the whole house soon became a haven for me, and Nilde. Over the next month, Warrick came over everyday, during what would be swing shift, to help me with Nilde, including mixing bottles for the whole day, since it was very difficult for me to mix the formula with my cast. The day I was to get my casts off, Warrick picked me up at noon, we went out for lunch/breakfast, before my appointment, the x-rays were taken, and I had to wait for an hour, while the doctor was busy with other patients. Sitting on the exam table, my doctor asked, "any pain?"
"A little in my arm, when I've been busy," I replied.
The doctor held up the x-ray to the light, then motioned me over to the light board, where he put all of them up. "This here is your leg fracture, as you can see, it's mostly healed, however, it isn't to my satisfaction, I would like you to keep the cast for another two weeks, though you could go back to work, in the lab only, no field work, if you hadn't aggravated the fracture in your arm, it also hasn't healed as well as I thought it would have, so I'm keeping you off work for another week, by then, the arm cast should be ready to come off, if you stop using that arm as much as you obviously have been."
"The nanny service I've hired is sending someone for next week, to help me out, until a more permanent nanny can be found, until then, I have to take care of my daughter, and most of the time, that consists of using my arm to balance something," I told the doctor.
"What about your wife?"
"Don't have one, I'm a single father, with a four month old daughter, I don't have time to sit around," I said.
"Well, get some help, around your house, no balancing heavy objects with that arm, no heavy lifting, and definitely don't use your cast as a way to carry bags."
I hobbled out of the office, to the waiting room, where Warrick sat with Nilde, "So what did he say?"
"Another week, for my arm, two for my leg, and no heavy lifting," I frowned.
"Interesting, I hope that your doctor doesn't consider a four month old heavy lifting, because..." Warrick stopped, as we walked.
"He told me to get some help around the house," I said, "I don't want to rely on someone else to take care of my daughter when I'm home."
"Well, I'll help you, while I'm there, like I have been, I can bring the rocking chair downstairs for you, to save on that so called heavy lifting," Warrick said.
We drove back to my house, and Warrick carried Nilde into the house, unlike the last time, where he had let me carry her. Once the house was reorganized, we sat in the living room, "Nick, Ecklie rearranged the shifts, as of tomorrow, I'm on Swing shift, Catherine is supervising, when you get back to work, you'll be working with us too," Warrick said.
"Ecklie just changed the shifts around, without consulting anyone?" I asked.
"Grissom is pissed, he wanted to come over, but I stopped him, I wasn't sure if you wanted people over," Warrick said.
"Thank you, I wasn't sure that you would do that," I told him.
We talked for awhile, and I decided to invite Grissom over, after I got my cast off, it would be easier to explain what was going on, when I could take care of Nilde without Warrick's help, though I would still be getting some help, if he was still offering it at that point.
