Full Circle
IV
She probably would have found the irony amusing. Sara came to Vegas to investigate the shooting of Holly Gribbs, and now she's laying here on the same table. I hate this part of the job. I hate seeing people I know come through my doors. I saw David wiping tears when he wheeled in her body and now, poised to autopsy her, I feel a few of my own building behind my eyes.
Sara Sidle was a colleague and a friend. She was a good CSI and a wonderful person. It is rare that I recuse myself from a procedure, but staring down at her face, serene in death, I do so. I can't do it.
There are too many memories. Memories of the living woman here, in my autopsy bay. She was never put off by a corpse. If memory serves, she worked with the San Francisco ME once upon a time. She was smart and eager to learn. She shied away from nothing, even the most disgusting of decomps. I can remember her grinning, when I showed her something. I can remember her laughing when I told her about Ecklie's disappearing corpse. I can remember her alive. That's why I can't cut her open. Because unlike every other body that comes through me, she's not just another corpse. Sara Sidle is not just another case. She's a friend, and her ghost will haunt this morgue for a very long time.
She came to Vegas, to this very autopsy bay to investigate Holly's shooting, and as I watch David store her in a drawer for the Day Shift ME, I sigh. Sara came full circle in Vegas.