Point of View - Catherine

I knew something was wrong the minute I saw Tara walk through the door into the breakroom.

She had a long sleeved jacket on, a turtle neck, long pants, and A LOT of make-up, considering the temperature outside was 97 degrees. I decided not to approach her directly about this, as I was aware that Tara was still angry about what happened yesterday in the lab.

Nick came to me with the story of yesterday earlier.

Tara had walked out on Greg, and she gave him no obvious hint as to why she left, or where she was living now. Greg needed to talk to her and she didn't want to talk. Greg tried to ask what was wrong, but she screamed at him to either give her something to analyze, or leave. He didn't leave, so she just screamed at him louder to get out. Nick overheard and saw her shove Greg out the door to her lab when he still didn't leave. Greg walked away and went to ask Nick for some help, but there was nothing Nick could do to help.

I knew that that wasn't the reason for Tara's sudden change of fashion, but I also knew she wasn't going to tell me.

I decided to do a little snooping of my own...

I told Grissom that I wasn't able to go out in the field today, and told him that I was working on a more 'personal' case.

He didn't ask, because he knew quite well that that was all the information I was going to give him.

I followed Tara around the lab all shift, and wrote down everything she did, and everywhere she went. I realized that the lab is one of the best places in the world to eavesdrop and spy, as it is filled with millions of hiding places.

I looked over my notes at the end of my shift, and I tried to draw a conclusion from this:

Tara walks into Break room, she is unusually well-covered. (suspicious, but useless...)

She spoke all day with a raspy voice, similar to victims we see with throat injuries. (she was choked? Or maybe she just got hit in the throat be something, or someone...)

Tara walks into locker room, takes of jacket, revealing large bruises on her arms and shoulders, though primarily around her wrists. (defensive wounds perhaps? Unlikely still...)

Tara leaves locker room in lab coat. (she definitely doesn't want people to see her injuries...)

Tara goes into restroom and examines her face in mirror. She washes all her make-up off, as it is too itchy. She uncovers a black eye, and recovers it with more natural looking make-up. (she is hiding something important. She probable has a broken nose...)

Tara leans over to get a pen she dropped, and is not able to bend all the way down because of an unknown injury to her stomach area and knee. She goes into restroom again to examine her wounds and reveals (1)an obviously broken rib with a seemingly infected gash below it, and (2) swollen, bloody gashes all up her shinbone. (this is really big, she needs to go to the emergency room.)

I then made a list of all the possible reasons I thought Tara would come into work with wounds that required serious medical attention.

(1) She has been in an accident of some kind and doesn't have enough insurance to cover her bad wounds.

(2) She has been in a fight/accident with a loved one, who will be charged with assault if she seeks medical attention.

Those were all the possibilities could think of, and I realized that I needed help if I was going to solve this puzzle unfolding before me.

"Grissom! Grissom, can we talk?", I said, jogging into his office. It was after shift, and everyone had left except for us, as usual.

"Do I have a choice?", he replied.

"No. Gil, I was worried about Tara this morning. She was dressed very strangely and was acting equally strange. So, I followed her around today, secretly, trying to draw clues form her as best as I could.", I said to him sitting down in the ugly chairs in front of his ugly desk.

I handed him my notes of what I saw today, and I watched his expression as he read my horrific notes.

He looked at me, mouth slightly agape, as he said, " And she worked in that condition? Why didn't she go to the hospital?"

I nodded at him and handed him my two possible reasons.

"I need you to talk to her Catherine. Talk to her and then call an ambulance, and force her onto it, if you have to."

"I would, but after she left Greg, she hasn't told anyone where she went."

"Except me. She has to tell me, because I need to know how to contact her in case I need her to come into work.", he said to me as I scratched down the address he read out to me on my notepad.

"Got it. I'll call you when she's at the hospital."

I stormed up to her doorway and knocked on the door so loud it echoed through the well lit hallway.

"Who is it?", I heard Tara shout from another room.

She probably wanted to know if it was someone she knew so she could cover up...

"Catherine!", I said to her as innocently as I could.

"Oh, I'll uh- be r-right there!", she stuttered as I could hear her scamper through the apartment.

"It's okay, I can let myself in!", I said, hoping to catch her in the act.

"NO! I mean, the door is, um, locked!", she lied with a hint of panic in her voice.

I knew she was covering her tracks when she opened the door in long pants and a bathrobe.

I took a deep breath and said as calmly as I could, "I know. I know what you are trying to hide, Tara. I saw the gashes, the bruises, the black eye. I am taking you to the hospital. Now.", I said firmly in the same strict voice I used to punish Lindsay.

"No, Catherine you can't! I'll tell you everything I swear, just don't make me do anything that Greg might find out about!", she panicked, the fear and pain in her eyes stabbing me like a rusty knife.

"OK. But you have to promise to take an anonymous visit to the ER. You could get infected from those wounds. You cant work in that condition. Grissom is the only other person who knows about your wounds, and he can keep a secret."

She sighed with a sad shudder as she sat down on the couch. She motioned for me to sit in a chair next to her.

"I was raped."