Chapter 5
Catherine walked through the gym doors, two kits in her hands, unsure of what she was going to find. The stale smell of dust and sweat assaulted her; her brain worked through all the different types of bacteria that were growing in the facility. Glancing over the counter she saw Brass hovering over some paramedics. Preparing herself for the worst, "Brass?"
The older man turned toward her, his expression serious. His movement revealed a young man, gash on his forehead, clearly unconscious. Brass merely pointed to the opening of the gym.
The blonde made her way to the main area, and stopped dead in her tracks. Grissom was standing next to a shape that was suspended in mid air by ropes. Catherine slowly got over the shock of the sight before her, and realized it was Sara, and she was alive. Slowly walking up to the pair, she set the field kits down.
"Sara, Cath is almost here, just hang on. Are you still ok?" Grissom's voice had an edge neither woman had ever heard before.
"Grissom," the blonde began quietly, not wanting to startle either of her colleagues. He turned toward her, but Sara's eyes remained fixed on him.
He looked like he had aged in a matter of minutes, "Catherine. Please…" he swallowed painfully, "…process Sara as quickly as you can. We need to get her down." It pained him to treat her as evidence, but he knew that was the only way he was going to handle the situation. He grabbed his kit, and walked toward the front of the building, "I'll be back in ten minutes."
Catherine watched him retreat, and turned toward her 'crime scene'. She winced at the thought. "Sara?" she started unsure of herself. Rarely did they have a live body, at a crime scene to process, not only that, it was Sara.
The brunette rested the side of her head against her right arm, fighting back her tears. "Just get every piece of evidence you can."
Laying a tarp underneath her, blood drops slowly fell on the white plastic. Concerned, she followed the trail, and realized the rope securing the left ankle had broken the skin. She began snapping photos, and Catherine wondered if Sara wanted her to talk, or process in silence. Stopping to assess the younger woman's state of mind, "Sara, if at any point you feel uncomfortable, or pain, say the word."
Sara didn't trust her voice to speak, and merely offered a nod.
Snapping a shot of her waste band, Catherine swallowed hard, "Sara did he rape you?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, and whispered, "No. He… touched me."
Not wanting to push the issue while she was still hanging, Catherine quickly finished up her evidentiary photos, and took out a razor blade. "Sara, I can collect the rest of the evidence just as easy with you sitting on the tarp. I'm going to cut you down," her voice was low, and calm, as if she were trying to calm Lindsey.
"He wore gloves. You won't get his epithelials from the rope," she informed the blonde. "I scratched him." Squeezing her fist, she reminded herself that her attack was going to lead to Kelly James' arrest.
Sizing up her task, Catherine realized she was going to need help. She looked up and found Sara watching her.
"Please don't leave," she pleaded, ashamed of her fear. "Grissom will be back soon."
"Ok, do you want to talk?" the older CSI started slowly.
Sara exhaled a small chuckle, "Yeah so I thought I'd have peanut butter and jelly for lunch tonight."
"I'm sorry—" she started to apologize, but Sara stopped her.
"Cath, don't apologize. I just need to get down. My shoulders are starting to hurt, and it's hard to breath." Sara looked toward the entrance, and breathed out a sign of relief as Grissom started walking toward them. "Catherine, can you pull my sweats up?" she asked urgently, suddenly feeling exposed.
She quickly did as she was asked, feeling bad she hadn't thought to take care of her before she had to ask.
Grissom hesitated, allowing Catherine to take care of Sara's request. Once he was satisfied that Sara would be comfortable in his presence, he continued and stood near her, "Are we ready?" The whole situation unnerved him. It went against every bone in his body to allow Sara, or anyone for that matter, to remain suspended by ropes, but he knew her, and she would never forgive him if the evidence was compromised.
Catherine bent down, ready to cut the bottom ropes. Grissom stepped forward slowly, letting Sara adjust to his closeness. "I'm going to wrap my arms around you ok? Relieve the pressure on your shoulders as soon as your legs are free," he waited patiently for permission.
"Ok," she was touched that he was so concerned. In any other situation she would have felt coddled, but at that moment, she wanted to feel safe and cared about.
Carefully cutting her first ankle free, Catherine winced, hearing the groan from her friend. The rope had been pulled tight, to the point that it must have created a lot of tension on her groin muscles. Cutting away the other rope, she stood.
Grissom watched her face the entire time, every wince, every stray tear that slid down her cheek. Sensing that Catherine was done, he stepped forward, and scooped her up, slowly lifting her. He allowed her to relax her arms at her own pace, and then nodded to Catherine.
She stepped up on a foothold in order to cut higher up on the rope. The blade sliced it easily, finally freeing Sara.
Grissom eased her gently down, on the plastic, and reluctantly backed away. He watched her slowly stretch her arms, encouraging normal circulation to return.
She held her right hand out for Catherine, but found her muscles had stiffened, making it difficult to open it. "Help."
Gently taking her hand, the older woman uncurled her fingers, revealing blood and skin, "Thata girl," she praised the wounded woman in front of her. Collecting several samples she finally asked, "Will this come back as Kelly James' DNA?"
Sara nodded, "I'll need to give you my statement, but he pretty much confessed it all to me."
Catherine smiled at her. "Ok, let's get you some coveralls so I can get your clothes, and get you to the hospital," she suggested carefully removing the last remnants of her bindings, placing them in an evidence bag.
She began to protest, but Grissom interrupted, "Sara, please. Those cuts on your wrist need to be treated, and you look like you have a concussion. Your eyes are dilated."
Looking up, annoyed at him, "I have a gym bag here—" She was going to tell them she could change into those clothes, but her mind immediately flashed to James sifting through the contents. "But, they're evidence too. Can you destroy them when you're done?"
Grissom's fist tightened, he had found the discarded gym bag at the front counter. He had recognized it as Sara's, and felt like he was violating her while he took pictures of her bra and underwear that were obviously handled purposefully.
Both CSIs looked at her with concern. No one was going to relax until they knew the whole story from Sara. "Grissom, can you go out into the truck and get a spare set of overalls, and the sheet we use to change behind?"
Grissom walked away, leaving the two alone again. Catherine searched for words, she settled for a comforting hand on her trembling one.
Sara looked up, "Sorry, the muscles aren't working right."
Her voice sounded steady, so Catherine decided to broach the sensitive subject she had been avoiding, "Sara, I'm going to need to get body shots, and a rape kit."
"I wasn't raped," she answered quickly. Even as she spoke, she remembered his hands on her, and his fingers groping her. "I think I'm going to throw up," she warned her, and pushed away so she couldn't contaminate the evidence.
Grissom came back in time to see Sara dry heaving, and his fear was renewed. He felt rage and frustration. Somewhere along the line he had lost his friendship with Sara, and he wanted so much to be there for her. Instead he had to settle for handing the overalls to Catherine, and backed away to give her space. He walked out into the cool night air, taking a deep breath.
Catherine helped Sara the best she could while holding the sheet up. She was able to see bruising along her midsection, arms, and along her inner thighs. She tried not to jump to conclusions, some of the bruising mostly likely got there in the struggle Sara would have put up.
Once the overalls were up, Catherine dropped the sheet and helped Sara button them. She then led her to a fake rock to sit on, while she bagged the remainder of the clothing. She observed some spotting on the underwear confirming some of her suspicions. She took mental notes, but decided to save her questions for Sara's official statement.
"Do you know what Tucker's status is?" Sara's voice broke the silence.
Placing the final bag containing the plastic tarp in her field kit, Catherine stood, "He was taken to the hospital. We can check on his status when we get there. Deal?"
Sara nodded and stood stiffly. Catherine supported her arm, as they walked slowly to the SUV.
TBC
