Chapter 9
Grissom's phone chirped, causing him to jump.
"Grissom."
"You'd better come back to the lab, I found out some interesting things about the prints at the Mackenzie place."
"Now's not a good time Catherine."
"Well, I have to go back out there, it's a two person job. Can I pull Sara off her case for a couple hours?"
He remembered Sara's weakness, best to not force her to endure Catherine at the moment. The last thing he needed was another opportunity for the two of them to go at each other's throats. "No. I'll call Nick."
"He's off tonight."
"Wait for me to call you back."
He disconnected with Catherine and pressed 6 to speed dial Nick.
Nick's eyes creased deeply and tears slipped from their corners so helpless was he from laughter. Luna, the girl he had been dating for a month now is sharing stories from work, stories that anyone else would tell, but Luna's spin can make anything hilarious.
A woman who can make him laugh this hard is a woman who might be able to help him unwind and forget after long shifts of looking at things no one should have to see. He reached out for her hand and caressed it, the mood in the car immediately changing. Luna leaned closer; Nick ran a finger across her jaw, down her neck, slipping his hand under her hair. The moment their lips touched he felts a tingle at his thigh.
"Ah…Damn, that's me…my phone. I'm sorry." Nick sat back and pulled his phone from his jeans.
"Grissom, what's up?"
"I need you to help Catherine at the Mackenzie house."
"I'm off tonight Boss."
"Don't think of it as work. Think of it as a personal favor to me, with pay."
This flustered Nick. Grissom had never called on him for anything personal before, but had been there for him when all hell had broken loose. He certainly wasn't going to disappoint.
"Is Catherine there already?"
"No, but she'll meet you there."
"Got it."
"Nick? Thanks."
Nick snapped his phone shut and turned to explain to Luna who stopped his apology with a kiss that nearly made him forget he had a job.
His crew settled, Grissom once again opened the door to the hallway.
"I'm going to head over to the hospital." He told Brass.
"What do you want me to do with the room? Did you want to take the letters?"
"Treat the room like a crime scene, and I'm the only CSI working it. The letters can stay put for now."
Brass just nodded as Gil started down the hall.
"Uh, Brass? Did anyone actually read those letters?"
"I don't think so. My men said they just saw your name and called me. I called you."
The emergency room at Desert Springs was familiar territory, though he'd rarely been there on anything but business. At the check in desk he gave the overworked receptionist Kerry's name and was told she was in Curtain area three. He considered asking if her sister had arrived but decided not to bother. He'd know soon enough, and no amount of prior warning would be enough to prepare him to face Selina.
He was buzzed through the doors separating the working part of the er from triage and was stopped dead in his tracks by the familiar lilt of her voice behind a worn peach sheet on a sliding metal track. The lightening fast crash of memories associated to the pitch and tenor of it took him by storm and he physically stepped backward, taking a moment, in time and space to collect himself.