The New Recruits

Chapter 8

" So what do we have, Alexx?" Raymond asked as he knelt down next to the ME as she continued the preliminary analysis.

Alexx sighed and turned over the body. If there was nothing more that she hated, it was dirty scene. " Well, the obvious cause of death is the gunshot wound on his chest, and it's a through and through. Also, there was a struggle. I'll check under his nails and send it to trace. By the looks of his teeth, it's safe to say that he was a regular friend of Tina. TOD ,I'd say by the lack of rigor mortis and his liver temp, is three hours, five max."

" Any id on him?"

" Didn't find any, but I'll get you a ten card after post," Alexx said as she turned him back onto his back.

" I know who he is," Eric said as he entered the room. Jen followed behind him and sat her kit down.

" Okay, so who is he, Delko," Ray said as he stood up. Calleigh and RJ had also arrived and stood next to Eric.

" Remember, who you came to look for?"

" Yeah , Chaz. What about him?"

" That's him with the bullet hole in his chest," Eric said gesturing down at the body.

" Well, I guess questioning him is a moot point," RJ said as he glanced at the room. Calleigh looked at him with sadness in her eyes and then began to move around the room, careful not to disturb anything.

" Yeah, but I think he still has a lot to tell us," Alexx said as she gestured over to Jen. " You smell anything, hon?"

Jen took a deep breath and thought for a moment, " Yeah, it smells like gasoline. I'm going to need those clothes, Alexx."

"I'll call you when I'm done with him," Alexx said as she stood up. Her job , for the moment was done.

Eric watched as the body haulers cleared the body and then addressed the team. With both Speed and Maddison out of play, Eric was next in line , and he took his job seriously.

" Calleigh, RJ , let's look for the bullet. Jen, I know you are alone on this, but I want you to find anything that can tell us who has been here and who could've done this. I'll look for any workable prints."

" This is going to be a long afternoon," Jen said as she unhitched her kit and snapped on her gloves. The room that she was in was covered in trash and clothes. To find anything would be a miracle.

"I'm going to canvas the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything," Raymond said as he walked to the door. The CSIs had the scene now.

" Good luck, Ray," Eric said as he pulled out his fingerprinting tools. He would be here as long as Jen.

Calleigh and RJ took out their mag lights and started their search for the missing bullet. After going through the room, RJ dropped his light on an object . Crouching down , he picked up a spent shell.

" Calleigh, I've got something."

" What?" Calleigh said as she crossed the room.

" It looks like a 9mm, shell right?"

Calleigh looked at it and nodded her head, " Very good, RJ. 9mm it is. Bag it. We will take it back to the lab.

RJ smiled to himself and walked over to his kit to grab an envelope. Calleigh continued to search for the missing bullet finally finding it in the opposite wall.

" Found the bullet. It looks like a .38 with five lands and grooves with a right hand twist. So there's a gun out there somewhere. Wanna go look for it?"

" You think he got rid of it here?"

" RJ , if there is something that I've learned it is that a criminal is very ignorant. It's probably somewhere in the back". At that moment, she looked up and saw Jacinda as she entered into the house.

" Jacinda, nice of you to join us," Eric had said. RJ turned at the mention of her name and smiled.

" Yeah, I had something to do before I came. What do we have?" Jacinda returned glancing at RJ then smiling.

"The next six hours of your life. Start fingerprinting over by the bookcase and we'll work in a circle," Eric instructed.

" Sure thing." Jacinda said getting to work. She continued to glance at RJ as she opened her kit.

" Um, RJ?" Calleigh asked as she noticed RJ staring at Jacinda.

" Huh?"

" Gun?"

" Oh , yeah. Going out back to look for it," RJ said as he snapped back to attention.

Calleigh shook her head and smiled. She knew once how it felt to be in love with a Speedle.

" So , how was your little chat with Calleigh?" Robin asked as Tim walked back into the living room. Trying to get to Calleigh had awaken the dormant pain in his ankle.

" So, icy... What do you think we were talking about?"

" Tim, don't start with me. I've known how much you have loved Calleigh. I'm not stupid," Robin said with a stern look.

" I didn't say you were. We were talking about RJ and Jacinda, just like I told you," Tim said as he sat down.

" You looked a little cozy to me."

" She's one of my best friends..."

" She used to be your lover."

"Robin, I don't want to argue about this."

" I'm not going to argue about this. I refused to be a pansy. I don't ever want to walk in on something like that again."

" Wait a minute , Robin. Last time I checked , my mother was in Syracuse," Tim said getting upset. " Why are you being so dramatic?"

"Dramatic? You think it's easy dealing with you and your... your ..." Robin said as she erupted into tears.

" My what?" Tim replied as he attempted to calm his temper. He had enough of Robin's theatrics.

" Nothing. I suppose that I should've seen this coming," Robin said as she got up from the couch. As she walked into the other room, Tim could hear her crying. He exhaled heavily and gazed at their wedding photo on the table. He had to hurry up and get back to work before he destroyed his life.

" Uncle Horatio?" Maddison asked softly. She felt as if she could shout , but she realized that she needed to keep herself in check. Although he had awaken, Horatio was still very weak. That weakness was evident as he turned his head to her and tried mightily to give her a smile.

" Hmmmm?"

" I'm glad that you fought to stay with me. I don't know what I would've done if you left," Maddison said with emotion, this had been too close for comfort.

" How long have I been out?"

" Two weeks. It was a miracle that you woke up when you did. They had taken you off of the machines."

" Why did they do that?" Horatio asked hoarsely..

" Because you requested a DNR in your will," Maddison said with concern.

" When?"

" It was in your will, so the doctors have been telling me. Are you trying to tell me that you never requested that?" Maddison asked. Her interest was truly piqued.

" No. I don't recall ever doing that," Horatio returned breathing deeply and closing his eyes.

Maddison noticed and decided that she would not trouble him anymore. " Horatio, don't worry about it. I'll look into it. I'm going to step outside to make a couple of phone calls then I'll be right back, ok?"

Horatio nodded his head and again gave a weak attempt at a smile. Maddison squeezed his hand and got up. Outside the door, Maddison gestured over to the nurse on duty.

" Excuse me, but can you get in contact with my Uncle's doctor? I'd like to talk to him," Maddison said with a certain sternness in her voice.

" Dr. Robinson? He's off duty. I can call him if it's a emergency," the nurse said.

" Off duty? He was just here thirty minutes ago."

" No, Dr. Robinson has been off duty all day. What's the problem?"

" You are mistaken, ma'am. There was a doctor in my uncle's room. He ordered the machines off today,"

" Well he wasn't Dr.Robinson. Did you catch his name?"

" No I didn't. How many doctors are allowed to do that?"

" Only the attending doctor. What's the problem?"

" The doctor that was in the room executed the DNR order today. My uncle says he didn't request that."

" Ms. Caine, there is no DNR on your Uncle's chart. But there is a unknown name signed," the nurse said nervously. A grievous mistake had been made and she was sure that someone's job was in jeopardy. " I can get the nurses that were in there with him, maybe they can identify him Do you remember the nurses?"

" No, but there were two of them."

" I'll get the head nurse and she can go over the shifts. We will get to the bottom of this," the nurse said as she got on the phone.

" You do that. I can't believe that it is this easy to sign someone's life away," Maddison said as she took out her cell phone. She dialed Raymond's number as she walked to the elevator. Horatio's life was still in danger.

TBC...

A/N: It was so hard to get this one out... I hope it was okay.