Chapter XIV
The Calm Before the Storm
He finally went home. Warrick went home for the first time since that fateful phone call. His key still opened the door...that was something at least. The inside of what was once his home was dark and empty. It looked like Tina hadn't been home, either. He went to their bedroom. He was instantly struck with many beautiful memories of carnal pleasure and whispered promises of devotion. The other side of the coin was there too, though. Long days and nights spent apart from each other...work schedules that always left the bed half empty. He opened the closet door and was saddened to find that it too was half empty. Only his clothes hung there...on the left side of the closet. He sighed once more and scrubbed his hands over his unshaven face.
He began removing his clothes, he couldn't live here...not in the empty shell of what had once been his home. Slacks, shirts, jackets, he removed each article and threw the clothes in a duffel bag. In the dim light of the single bedside lamp he'd switched on, his wedding band winked at him, reminding him of his failure.
Catherine rolled over and sighed. Her ceiling had exactly twenty-seven cracks in it. She'd stopped counting sheep years ago, afraid that she would develop some kind of strange fetish. She threw an arm over her eyes and sighed once more.
Insomnia drew her from her bed and to her feet. She wandered her home. Lindsey was in school, but the messy bedroom was a testament to her teenage presence.
The washing machine thumped away in the laundry room and Catherine wandered into her living room. she sat on the couch and let out yet another sigh. Her eyes scanned the room and stopped on one of the shelves. There, prominently displayed beside Lindsey's last school portrait was the picture snapped at the lab's last Christmas party. Grinning at her from the picture was Warrick. They stood close to one another, his arm around her shoulders. The others were there too, Grissom, Nick, even Sara, but Warrick held her gaze. The married Warrick Brown was her obsession, and had been for years. Thinking about him would not cure her insomnia...or her sore heart.
Sofia slammed the clip into her Glock and pulled the chamber back, loading her first bullet. She adjusted the course required safety glasses and pulled the ear protection on, muffling all sound. All that remained in her world was the solid, familiar weight of her gun and the paper target ten yards in front of her. The muscles of her arm bunched and she pulled the trigger. The recoil of the pistol in her hands was expected, welcomed, comforting even. The repetitive routine of adjusting her aim and firing cleared her mind. Emptied her thoughts of all pain, fear and anger. The case, Jim's shooting, her growing attraction to a certain brunette, all of it ceased to matter...All that was important was the herself, the target and the bullets that flew between them.
Jim Brass looked up from his unappealing lunch to find Sara Sidle standing in his door way. "Hey kiddo." She held up a bag from his favorite deli and smiled, "I'm not interrupting, am I?" He smiled and shook his head. She came over and sat in the chair by his bed. He had not been short of visitors since he'd come to the hospital, Gil, Sara and Sophie were among his most frequent visitors. Now he was never one to send away a beautiful woman, especially one of his favorite girls...but Sara was tired, he could see it in her eyes, in her stride. "Thought I might come and see how they're treating you." He smiled and moved his various IV tubes around, "I'm all right, tired of the hospital, but the doctors won't send me home yet." He shifted around in his bed and winced a little as his chest muscles tightened. She removed the tray of "healthy food" and opened the paper bag to reveal a hearty roast beef sandwich and greasy fries...his favorite. "The nurses are gonna kill you, ya know." Sara grinned, "Yeah, well, at least I'm in the right place." He chuckled and took a big bite of the sandwich. When he'd chewed and swallowed, he looked around, "So where's Sofia today?" He expected the shrug Sara gave, but not the slight blush and little smile. "She had better things to do the come see a grumpy old man." Jim let out another chuckle. "So what's your excuse?" Sara only smiled, "I happen to like grumpy old police Capitans."
