"I was walking the floor in the waiting room of the ER at Desert Palm
when the gang walked in.
"Any news?" Catherine asked me, her face full of worry. I shook my head, but I didn't trust myself to speak. I glanced at Sara, Warrick and Greg.
Sara was still looking a little dazed, Warrick looked plain worried and Greg, well it was almost as if he had become Grissom. He was hard to read.
I was wondering where Grissom was, when the doors to the waiting room opened and he walked in. "Any news on Nick?" he asked me, his expression reflected worry, and exhaustion. Catherine glanced at me before she answered the question.
"Nothing yet Gil."
I was pacing pretty good by now and I think I was on my way to wearing down the tiles.
"Tessa, how are you holding up?" Warrick's voice was soft, and I could see the look of worry etched on his face,
"I'm makin' it." I managed. Trying to keep my emotions in control.
"Ms. Matthews." At the sound of someone saying my name, I turned around.
"Yes?" I asked stepping forward. The doctor said to me; " I'm Doctor Hennessy, could you come with me please?"
I followed him down the hall. "Is he going to be alright?" I asked the doctor.
"He may have to have surgery. To repair a torn ligament in his shoulder. His gunshot wound is pretty serious, but it could have been a lot worse. Had it been any lower it could have killed him."
This news was a shock. "Can I see him?" I managed. "Please?"
The doctor nodded. "Of course."
As I was turning to go into Nick's room, I said "Can you go let our friends know? Our supervisor is there too. He should know."
The doctor nodded and disappeared down the hall. I pushed open the door to the ICU, then walked up to the window of his room. I watched him for a few minutes, then pushed open the door and walked into his room. The door whooshed shut behind me as I entered.
I walked over to the side of the bed and took his hand in mine. "Nick." I whispered softly. "Can you hear me?." I knew that he must have sensed in his sedated state that I was there, but I got no response. "I'm so sorry." I said, and I could feel the tears coursing down my cheeks.
I stayed only a few minutes. My friends were waiting in the waiting room for me.
Taking a deep breath, I said: "I wanted you all to know, that I have accepted a job in Boston, supervisor of a nightshift team. Gil is the only one who knows. I was going to tell you all at work tonight. I leave the day after tomorrow." I said calmly.
The look of alarm was evident on all of their faces. That is except Grissom's, he after all had already known and had time to "adjust", whatever that had meant in Grissom's terms.
"You're leaving?" Sara asked me. I nodded. "Yes I am. I've been thinking about this for a while now. And by the way, I don't want any going away party." I said. I turned and walked down the hall to the doors. Once outside, I took in deep, long breaths of fresh air. Sucking in as much as I could. "Behind me I heard Catherine calling my name.
"Tessa, you can't go." She said her voice was shaking.
"I have to go, Cath. I can't stay . I love it here, really I do, but I need to move on."
"What about Nick, Tessa?" Her question was like a slap in the face, but pushing that aside I looked at her; "he doesn't want me Cath, he made that perfectly clear. So what do I have to worry about?"
I didn't wait for her answer; instead I turned and headed for the bus stop. I would have to go and pick up my SUV. Then I would have to go home and finish packing.
I had packed up, mostly everything I was going to take with me, the rest I wasn't even going to bother with, right away. I would lock up the house and return to pack it up once I got settled into a regular routine.