One short moment
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything
Summary: Sequel to "Demons of the past", about a month after Gibbs tells the team about his son, Kate gets a call at work. When she disappears, her colleagues start to wonder…
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2- Emily
Kate still felt her heart beating like mad. It had been almost 5 hours now since she had bolted out of the office, but time didn´t really matter to her. Straightening her back, she walked into the lobby of the hospital and right up to the front desk. The nurse who sat there looked at her. "Caitlin Todd. Dr. Garner is waiting for me." She said and was sent up to the third floor.
A woman in a blue jumpsuit greeted her at the door. "Miss Todd? It´s good you made it so quickly. Please take a moment to change and calm down." She told her and directed Kate towards the changing room. Kate followed her and found herself changed into a green gown only moments later. The doctor lead her to a small room, which she knew just too well. "We´ve really done all we can, but it´s been five years now and her breathing is getting worse. We suspect a starting pneumonia. It is your decision what to do. EEG hasn´t shown any significant activity since six weeks ago, reflexes are completely missing. It is up to you to decide." She said and left again.
Kate stood next to the bed and just cried. She had been fearing for this moment to come for so many years now. "I always thought you would make it, Emily. I always hoped you would be strong." She whispered as tears rolled down her face. She knew there was no way to turn back, but she had tried to look forward for so long and it hadn´t helped. A few minutes had changed her life so drastically, but it had been so many years she had thought that the demons were gone for good. Right now, she felt them coming back to haunt her again. "I can´t do this, Emily. Help me." She buried her face in her hands and felt memories floating back to her.
"Emily, stay away from the pool, I will come in a moment." A woman stuck her head out from the livingroom and watched the girl who was playing near bright blue. Making sure that the girl was not too close to the edge, she turned back to the house to prepare dinner. "She´s still playing with her stuffed bear." She told the second woman who was cutting up some chicken.
"She really is a sunshine. I can´t remember the time before she came into my life. It wasn´t easy, but yet it´s been the right decision." She replied and put the chicken into the oven. She watched her sister setting the table and washed her hands in the sink.
"Emily? Would you like some juice with your dinner?" The first woman called out into the backyard after setting the table, but there was no sound. When she stepped out to look for her, she felt like dying. A lifeless body floated in the pool, her stuffed animal just inches away from her. A short moment ago, the world had been perfect, but one short moment later, everything had changed.
"Miss Todd? If you would like to stay the night, I can arrange for a second bed in here." A nurse said and made her jump. Kate nodded slightly, feeling numb and exhausted all of the sudden. She wanted to cry, but there were no more tears left. She knew that her sister couldn´t help her with this decision as she had died two years ago. Instead of going to sleep, Kate got up and walked out of the room. As she walked into the fresh night air outside the building, it hit her like a bullet. She had bolted out of the office without any notice, shutting down her cell as soon as she had reached her car. Gibbs was probably putting her picture on a wanted poster right now with the charming line "dead or alive" on it.
She checked her watch -it was almost midnight already, but somehow she had the feeling that she needed to make at least this one call. He would probably kill her anyway, so it didn´t matter if she woke him up after disappearing in the middle of a work day. Looking at her watch again, she tried calling his house, but she only got his answering machine. He couldn´t possibly be at the office or could he? She was about to try his cell, but then changed her mind and dialed his phone at the office. It only rang once. "Gibbs." He sounded anything but sleepy, maybe a bit angry and tired, but she had definetely not woken him up. All the words she had planned to say were gone the same second. There was just silence. "Kate?" She wondered how he knew that it was her.
"Yes, it´s me." She replied and noted that her voice gave away how tired she really felt.
"Kate, where are you? What´s wrong?" He immediately asked, but she couldn´t bring herself to tell him yet. She just didn´t know how. A part of her noticed that he sounded worried, but another part was too tired to get that undertone in his voice.
"I...I need some days off." She finally said and there was another silence.
She heard him take a deep breath. "Kate, where are you? What is this about?"
"Please, I...not right now..." Kate felt new tears rising into her eyes. "Sorry." She told him and shut the phone off again. A little voice in her head told her that she had messed up big ways . He was going to kill her, resurrect her and then kill her again for this.
Half an hour later, she returned into the small room and sat down next to the little girl.Her tears had dried, but she still felt empty. She continued to watch the girl, stroking her head softly until she finally fell asleep, half lying on the bed, her head leaned against the girl´s head.