Crimson Puddles

Summary: Once Nick wakes up Catherine and Lindsey go in to see him. Nick's father arrives at the hospital. Meanwhile, Sam Braun talks with Lindsey and Catherine's mother in an attempt to finally try to undo his mistakes.


God, Pancho… what's happening to you? How could this happen? Why is it always you? None of your siblings have had a gun shoved in their face… had a stalker… why is it that it's always you? How much more are you going to have to face? How much more are you going to have to suffer through?

His eyes slowly fluttered open as he felt more intense pain shoot through his entire body. When is it going to end? Why don't they just end it for God's sake… Why can't it just go away? I don't want any more pain… I don't want to suffer anymore… I don't want to be the goddamned victim…


"Miss Willows?" She turned quickly as Dr. Hawkes addressed her. Her stomach tightened when she saw the guilt etched in his face. Without hesitating she rose from her seat in the small waiting room.

"Is… is Nick ok? Please… please tell me he's going to be fine…"

He sighed when he heard the simple begging in her frail voice. "He's fine, for right now, he is completely stable, and his test results aren't back yet. I… I just came to apologize… Dr. Mitchell… from before; he's new, and some things happened that truly shouldn't have. First, I promise you there is going to be hell to pay for whoever screwed up with his restraints. There is simply no excuse for those bruises, and as far as diagnosing him… It'll be months before he can be even semi accurately diagnosed with something as serious as PTSD, and we simply don't know enough about his condition as of yet…"

"I… I don't know what to say…" Her watery eyes slowly made contact with the doctor standing near her as she subconsciously wiped her nose with a tissue. "I… I need him to get better…"

"Listen… in all honesty, I've never seen anything like this happen before. And, I promise, no… I swear, with all my heart, that there won't be any more mistakes concerning your friend… and, if there are, I'll make sure that it is properly dealt with…"

"So… wait… he could come through all this, and not suffer from… depression… or…"

"I'm sorry, Miss Willows, but I… well, for the sake of avoiding any more problems I'm not sure if it's right for me to… well, for me to speculate here."

"I… I suppose I can respect that… I guess it's for the same reason we try to avoid going after suspects without enough evidence…"

"Yeah, I suppose it is… a lot of people learn the hard way that jumping the gun on serious situations can cause a lot of harm."

"S-so… how is he right now?" Her eyes once more fell to the floor as she waited for an answer.

"As of right now he has been sedated, and we're keeping the oxygen mask on as a precaution. His entire body has been seriously weakened, and we want to make sure that his organs continue to function as best as they can. We should be done with all his tests for a while, and they're moving him back to his room now, so you'll be able to see him once they get him settled in again. Are your friends still here?"

"Uh… Warrick and Greg… they went to get some… some food… and Gil… and Sara… they went to… call in a favor. They should all be back soon…"

"That's good… now I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but make sure you get something to eat, and that you all get some rest. You can't help your friend if you're all running on empty…" He offered her a weak smile before he turned and headed back down the hall. I'm sorry. I wish I could have brought you the news you wanted… I wish I knew if he was going to be ok or not… I guess all I can do is work my best to make sure he has the chance to recover…

Somehow it was easier for her. It's too early to diagnose him… The mere thought that they hadn't said he would suffer from PTSD gave her hope as she silently prayed that he would find a way through this. Suddenly she thought back to the previous summer. Her mind replayed all the cases they Nick had been on since they had rescued him. Images of the dark and forlorn bunker flashed through her mind as she mentally berated herself for even allowing Nick within a hundred yards of that building. How could we have been so stupid? Why did we let him go through so much?

"Mom!" Catherine's head snapped up when she heard Lindsey's voice, and she gave her daughter a small smile as she watched her running down the halls with Lily following as quickly as she could. She quickly lowered herself, and pulled Lindsey into a tight hug.

"How are you?" She asked as she used her free hand to wipe any remnants of her tears from her eyes, and forced her voice to sound a bit more lighthearted.

"I couldn't sit still all day… I need to know if he's ok… he has to be, Mommy. He has to be…"

"Shh… everything is going to be ok… I promise…"

"I'm scared… he… he didn't leave me… he put me in the backseat… but… he… he made sure I was safe… he made sure that… that I was gonna be ok… Why… why did they do this to him?"

"Honestly… life isn't fair Lindsey, unfortunately you know that as well as anyone… those men wanted to hurt you, to take you away so your grandfather would give them money. And… when Nick saved you… it made them mad… because they saw that some people's lives aren't about money, but about… well, about life. Nick… he's a good man… probably one of the last ones in Vegas…"

"I… I need him to be ok…" Lindsey confessed as she felt more tears fall from her eyes. And, even though she could rarely stand her mother's presence at times she had never been gladder to see her. Catherine clung tightly to Lindsey as she felt tears silently begin to fall down her cheeks. "I… I love you, Mom…"

"I love you too… more than you can even know… I do…" Catherine whispered as she gave Lindsey a quick firm squeeze before she moved back to face her. She offered Lindsey a small smile before breaking down and pulling her into another hug. "He's the strongest person I've ever met… if anyone can make it through this… it'll be him."


He felt more tears fall from his eyes as more intense bursts of pain erupted through him. He felt his body slowly relax as the pain seemed to ease up a bit. He slowly forced his eyes open, but he couldn't focus on anything in the bright room. No… this isn't right… it's too… wrong…

"Miss Willows… he's waking up again… we were hoping you might be able to get through to him this time. If you can keep him calm… then we can get those restraints off, and get him a bit more comfortable…"

"T-thanks… I'll be right in…"

"I… I want to see him, Mom…"

"I… I guess… if it's ok… with the doctor…" Catherine responded, suddenly unsure if his was a good idea.

"As long as she is sure she can handle it… I can't see there being any reason for her not to… you may want to explain the… err… tubes… and… Miss Willows… keep her calm…"

Catherine slowly opened the door to let Lindsey enter the room. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw Nick lying in the bed with his entire body limp. Her mouth opened slightly as she saw him sobbing quietly. And though she wasn't sure she thought she could hear him speaking.

"I'm sorry… let her be ok… I'm not ready… I don't want to… to die…"

Without hesitating she quickly moved past Lindsey and moved across the room to stand next to Nick's feeble body. I'm going to help you Nick… Her mind raced as she remembered how Nick had reacted when Greg had grabbed his hand. Well, if that won't work I have one advantage left…

Without really thinking she leant over the side of the bed and gently she felt her hand gently pulling the oxygen mask down.

Nick's mind was racing when he felt the slight pressure around his mouth gone, and his eyes suddenly seemed focused when he felt something familiar touch his lips. He tried desperately to remember what the sensation was when he suddenly saw her.

Catherine slowly pulled back, and placed the oxygen mask back over her friend's mouth. She subconsciously put her hand to her lips when she realized what she had done.

"C-Catherine… is… is t-that… you?"

"I'm right here Nick… y-you're going to ok… you're going to ok, I… I promise…" She whispered frantically as she let one of her hands gently grab hold of Nick's, while she gently ran her other hand through his short hair.

"L-Lindsey… is she… ok?" He could barely hear the words he was managing to choke out, and his head sagged back into the pillow from exhaustion as he felt himself starting to sweat profusely.

"She's fine… you saved her Nick… y-you're my… our hero…" She smiled as she wiped a few tears from his eyes, and for the first time in the past few weeks felt herself truly relax. He recognized me… he knows who I am… he… he's going to be ok… he has to be…


He watched in surprise as she removed the oxygen mask. If he hadn't been so shocked he would've intervened immediately, and when he saw her kiss him he was waiting for the man to immediately flip out. But he was even more surprised when he had suddenly recognized her. He quickly searched for something that might explain the injured man's reactions. I… suppose it could be that all his captors were men… and that course of action would perhaps help him realize that he's out of danger…


"Oh, Nick… we… we were so worried about you…" Catherine spoke softly as she gently wiped the tears from his pale face.

"I… I s-s-should've… done… more…" Nick muttered solemnly as his weary eyes gazed at the woman standing next to him. He felt a sudden slight tension around his wrists, and for a moment he couldn't see anything again, but he allowed himself to slightly relax when his vision refocused and he once more saw her standing there. "Am… am I… am I… dead?"

"No… you're going to make itNick… you're in the hospital… you're safe… it's all over… there's nothing to be afraid of… everyone is fine…"

"N-Nick… I… thank… thank you so much…" Lindsey quietly piped up as she moved to stand next to her mother.

"Hey… it's good to… s-s-see that… you're… ok…"

"T-thanks… I'm sorry… that… this happened…"

"H-hey… it isn't… your fault… I… I should've been… quicker…"

Catherine nearly winced at the obvious guilt in Nick's voice, and she could feel the tears building up again. He's felt guilty for his entire life… no. He's felt guilty since he was nine… He can't let it go… he can't find a way to move on… He actually thinks this is his fault…

"Nick… I need you to listen to me, and to listen carefully… you promise?"

"I… I p-p-promise…" He was struggling more and more to form words, and he knew she could barely hear him through the thick plastic mask.

"This was not your fault, Nick. For God's sake… you saved my daughter's life. I will never be able to repay you for that… never. You… you're undoubtedly the… the most wonderful person… that I've ever been given the chance to meet. You're stronger… braver than anyone I've ever known. I know that there isn't another living being that could've made it as far as you did, Nick… If you hadn't… given yourself up… they would've found her… you saved her life, and that is something I can never repay. So, please… promise me… promise me that you won't blame yourself for this… promise me that you'll give me the chance to help you… promise me…"

"I… I promise…" He whispered before he finally felt the rest of his strength give out and his eyes slowly closed as he tried desperately to cling to the image of his friend.

Catherine gave Nick's hand a final squeeze as she allowed herself to let out a deep sigh. She gently rubbed the bruises on his freed wrist. So much has happened to you that you didn't deserve Nick… I swear I'll do whatever it takes to help you through this… no matter what it is…

Lindsey quickly followed her mother from the room. She had only seen one other person who had been paler than him, and she had quickly left Catherine behind in the morgue. He isn't dead though… you heard him talking… he's going to be ok…


"What in the hell is going on here!"

Catherine and Lindsey both jumped at the sharp yell, and Catherine sighed when she saw Nick's father heading towards them from down the hall.

"What happened to Nick? Is he alright?" He asked gruffly as his eyes tried to see into the room behind them.

"Listen, it's a long story… just let me call my mother up so she can Lindsey to go eat something…" It was all she could offer him, and her mind raced to recollect all the events that had transpired. Twenty minutes later they were both sitting alone in the hallway as Catherine started to tell him what had happened.

"Ok… this all started when my car got rammed on my way to a crime scene… Nick had the day off, so he came to see if I was ok, since he heard about the wreck on his police scanner. Afterwards, he offered to help me with a crime scene, so we were searching this old woman's house, and Nick pushed a button that released a trapdoor in the floor, and he… he fell in. By the time we managed to get the door back open, and I had jumped in to help him he was covered with bugs… Naturally, he was scared, so I had the officers lower some ropes while I flung the insects off him, and later he said he owed me. Since he wanted to do me a favor I sent him to pick up my daughter while I filed the accident report. Well… when he got to my daughter's school he saw a guy trying to kidnap her…"

"Oh God… he... saved her didn't he?"

"Y-yeah… your Honor… he saved her. He knocked the guy over, and got Lindsey into his Denali when the other man shot him in the leg just above his ankle. He managed to get into the car, but the guy shot him in the arm through the windshield. Somehow he managed to drive the car while the other guy, and some others chased him. Eventually they ran him off the road a few miles out of Vegas. His car flipped, and he managed to lift Lindsey out the passenger window before pulling himself out. Then… they… chased them for about eight miles in the woods…"

"H-how? How did he make it… so far?"

Catherine slowly shook her head as she saw how distraught the man sitting next to her was. "I… I don't know… but he did…"

"He's never known how to take care of himself… for him… everyone else comes first. W-when he was a cop… back in Dallas… Jillian would sit up with me… waiting for him to come home. He took all sorts of risks if it meant keeping his partner and other officers safe… No matter how hard we tried to get some sense into him it never worked. We even asked him to get counseling once. That was probably the first time I've ever seen him really furious. He told us that we needed to accept that it was just who he was… and now… he goes and gets himself in the middle of this…"

"He's a good man, but you're right… he doesn't worry about himself as much as he should. Then again… if he did… it's possible that I'd no longer have a daughter…" She stopped as she let the words sink in. If he hadn't done this… I might have never had the chance to see her again… She wiped a tear from her eye as she thought of how close she had come to losing Lindsey a second time.

"Even after everything I've seen over the years… knowing the danger he's in… seeing him suffer… it's… so hard… I can hardly stand it when he tries to hide the pain from me. I've told him that no one will think any less of him, but… he doesn't listen… I just want him to be safe."

"We all want him to be safe."


"Hello, Lily."

"Sam… I didn't expect to see you here." She replied quietly as Lindsey came from around the corner.

"Hello Lindsey. How… how are you?"

Lindsey quickly looked down and sat in the nearest chair making sure she didn't make eye contact.

"Sam… why are you here?"

"We already discussed this, Lily. I want to make things right."

"Ok. Then do it."


"Oh dear… you look so nervous…"

At any other time she would've laughed at the older woman's high pitched, stereotypical grandmother voice, but at the moment she couldn't fight off the images of her son in that coffin.

"I… that's got to be the biggest understatement of the year…" She replied revealing how shaky her normally steadfast voice was.

"Well, it's gonna be a fairly long flight… perhaps you'd like to talk about it."

"I… I don't know if I can…" Tears finally managed to fall from her eyes as she subconsciously pulled a picture of Nick from her purse and clutched it to her heart as if it would heal his wounds. Oh Nicky… I… I need you so much…

"So, is your son ok?"

"What… h-how did you know?"

"Well, I saw the picture you're holding… the way you're holding it… and you have a strong family resemblance…" She offered a small smile as she shifted slightly in her seat.

Jillian Stokes gawked at the woman in surprise. She slowly took in the frail woman's aged features before she slowly nodded. "I… I suppose you're right."

"Mm… He's a handsome young man. You must be proud of him…"

"I am… I've been such a nervous wreck… I'm a Public Defender… and… they told me… right in the middle of a court session… He went into a coma about… a week ago…"

"I'm so sorry…"

"I… I feel like such an idiot… this whole week… I was worrying about all sorts of little things while he was lying in a… a hospital bed… What… what kind of parent am I?"

"No one ever realizes how much they have until they think they're going to lose it. Judging by the fact that you're on your way to see him tells me that you love him. And I think that makes you a good parent to start with."

"Mrs. Stokes?"

Jillian looked up nervously at the flight attendant standing in the aisle in surprise. "Yes…"

"Um, well… your secretary called ahead, and explained your situation. So, we've arranged for you to call your husband…"

Jillian immediately nodded, and waited patiently while they gave her the needed equipment, and she sighed slightly with relief when she hear her husband pick up.

"How is he Bill? Do you know what happened?"

"I haven't actually seen him yet Jillian, but… but I got the full story…"

"Oh my God…" Jillian whispered once he had finished. "H-how could he run that far… with a bullet in his leg? It… it isn't possible…"

"I don't know dear… but… he did…"

"I… I can't believe he did all that for her…"

"I… I'm going to go in and see him, Jillian… there'll be someone waiting to pick you up at the airport to bring you over here..."

"I… I'm so scared…"

"It's going to be ok… I swear… he'll find a way through this; I know he will. It may take a while, but he'll find a way…"

"I… I hope you're right Bill…"

"I am… I… I have to be… now, I'm going to go, I love you."

"I… I love you too… and… if he… t-talks to you… tell him how much I love him…" She whispered before hanging up, and collapsing back into her seat and breaking down into tears.

"I-I'm sorry… I hate seeing bad things happen to good people… Perhaps you'd like to talk about it? I have decades of experience with listening…"

Catherine sat quietly by Nick's side when she noticed his father slowly enter the room. She sighed quietly when she noted his shocked reaction. He looks like he's disgusted… of course if I had to see Lindsey like this I'd be sick to my stomach… Her grip slowly tightened on Nick's left hand as she went back to watching his pale face. You can do it Nick… you can make it through this… I know you can…


To Be Continued…


Notes: Wow, these chapters seem to be taking longer to write, but they're coming along… Thanks for the great reviews, and I hope I got everything pretty much right in this chapter. As always, please review!


Next Chapter: Catherine talks with Sam Braun, while Nick's mother arrives at the hospital. The team does their best to help Nick recover…