Title: Returning Home
Author: Elizabeth Kelly
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.
Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?
Chapter Eight
Dr Peggy Winters, had just come on the early morning shift in the ER at Riverview County Hospital, and as usual it was very quiet.
"Hey, girl, how've you been?" Susan Jefferies, one of the night shift nurses asked her.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Robbie has his recital coming up and he is so nervous, and Molly's come down with a cold. She hasn't been sleeping well, and poor Ray has had to stay up with her," Peggy replied, placing her bag under the counter and grabbing a cup of coffee.
"Oh, the poor little thing, I'll make some soup for her to have."
"Susie, you don't have to do that." Peggy pulled on her white coat and places the stethoscope around her neck.
"Uh-uh I insist," Susan replied, handing her a clipboard.
"Thank-you, how are Max and Martin?"
"Max's carpentry business is doing well. They're hoping to get the contract for the new shopping mall in town. Martin's driving me crazy in his retirement; he just can't seem to sit still. He started whittling wooden animals, and if he doesn't stop soon, I'm going to be living in a zoo!" Peggy laughed.
"At least he didn't take to renovation, like my father did. It drove mum to distraction. One night they had to set up the tent in the living room, because Dad had decided to re-roof the house." They both laughed.
"Men!" Susan muttered a smile on her face.
"So, what have we got tonight?" Peggy asked.
"Little Tom Baker, fell off his bed last night. Broken arm and slight concussion, Dr Roberts just wanted to keep him in tonight," Susan began handing Peggy a clipboard.
"That's the third time this month!" Peggy replied while Susan shook her head chuckling.
"I think Jack and Tina need to invest in bars to put around his bed." Peggy nodded in agreement.
"Wesley Harris, and Jessica Redgraves, had a bit too much to drink at the Henderson's party last night, came in an hour ago, both with alcohol poisoning." Susan passed two more clipboards to Peggy.
"Anton Fletcher…" Susan began but was cut off by the sound of the front door, bursting open.
In walked a man carrying what looked to be an unconscious child.
"Help!" he yelled. "Help me!" Peggy dumped the clipboards, and raced to the man's side.
"Susie, can you get trauma one ready please. Excuse me, sir? I'm Dr Winters; can you tell me what happened?" She asked him pressing her stethoscope to the girl's chest.
"She just fell asleep and I couldn't wake her!" he replied. Dr Winters took in the girls, small build and thin frame. The girls face was white, and her breathing shallow. Her eyes traveled to the roughly bandaged hand of the man carrying her.
"Sir, I need to take a look at her," she said leading him towards the trauma room.
The man placed the girl down on the bed.
"Honey? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me," Dr Watson instructed to the girl.
"She's deaf, she can't hear you!" he yelled, tears pouring down his face.
"Sir, I need you to calm down. Tell me what happened."
"We were driving, and I stopped for a bathroom break, I tried to wake her and she wouldn't wake up. Please, you've got to help my daughter. Please!" he repeated over and over again.
"I'm going to do my best, sir. Can you tell me her name?" Dr Winter's asked calmly.
"Abby, Abigail Isaacs." Dr Winters looked over at Susan, wondering if she too caught the name. Susan looked over to Peggy, and waited for her reaction.
"Susan, can you call Michael Watson for me." Susan nodded and left the room.
"Who's he?" the man asked, looking quickly between the nurse and the doctor.
"I need him to help me, help your daughter," Dr Winter's replied evenly.
Susan rushed out of the room. Abigail Isaacs. The name had been all over the news that night. She hurried over to the phone, and snatched it up. Punching in the number she waited for the other person to pick up.
"Sheriff Watson? It's Susie Jefferies, from the hospital… yes; I need you to get down here right away… a man just walked in with his daughter, one Abigail Isaacs."
"Are you sure? Yes, of course we'll be there as soon as we can," Andrew closed his cell phone with a snap. "They've found her," he said to Catherine and Brass, before turning and heading for his car.
"Brass, you take the brother, I'm going with Andrew," Catherine told him and ran after Andrew before Brass could respond.
A couple of hours later, Timothy Isaacs was sitting in the interrogation room of the Riverview County Police Station. Catherine and Andrew stood behind the one way mirror watching him as he fidgeted in his seat. His right leg kept bouncing up and down, and he seemed to be unconsciously rubbing the ring finger on his left hand, just above his wedding ring.
The sound of the door opening brought Catherine and Andrew out of their solitary musings. Sheriff Watson of Riverview County Police Station was tall with a lean build. His face was kind and friendly, framed by short, slightly graying light brown hair.
"Are you ready?" he asked them. They nodded and silently exited the room.
Timothy Isaacs looked up as the three entered the room.
"What am I doing here?" he demanded. "I need to be with my daughter, she is sick and she needs me. She'll panic when she sees that I am not there!" he yelled.
"She has been given some medicine to help her get better. She's not expected to wake for another couple of hours," Sheriff Watson answered, trying to calm the man in the chair.
Timothy looked at the face of each of his interrogators, upon seeing Andrew's stern face he twitched, visibly.
"A-agent Charlton, you're just the man I need to talk to. My eldest daughter, Rebekah, she had gone missing," he said sitting up straighter.
"She's dead," he replied emotionlessly. Timothy looked up into his eyes, as if trying to determine the truth of that statement.
"No, no, she can't be. She just ran away. She'll come back when she realizes she was in the wrong."
"Mr Isaacs, Rebekah is dead, along with Abigail and your wife. They died in an explosion five and a half years ago," Andrew repeated, running a hand through his wavy dark brown hair.
"No, you must be mistaken Mr Charlton, Abby is in the hospital, and Becky ran away last night." Timothy looked at Andrew as if he had gone crazy.
"I'm not mistaken Mr Isaacs. The girl in the hospital is Madeleine Grissom. She had been missing for the last five years. The girl who ran away is Emily Guthrie. She has also been missing for five years. Both were taken from St Michael's Elementary School, the same school that your daughters attended. Emily ran away and called the police, telling them that you had kidnapped her and Madeleine."
Timothy stared open mouthed at Andrew.
"I remember you talking to me about the missing girls, but I can assure you Agent Charlton my girls are not those girls. Rebekah is being a typical teenage girl, and I can assure you that she will be punished for lying. Ask Abby, she will tell you that I am their father," Timothy insisted pounding his hand on the table.
"Mr Isaacs, we can run a DNA test to prove that they are not your daughters, but we don't need to. We have proof that your daughters died in the explosion," Catherine explained, as she opened a folder and took out a series of newspaper clippings and death certificates.
"3/4 Family Killed in Church Tragedy"
"Local Man Loses Family in Explosion"
"Church Bombing Kills 3"
"Playtime Snatcher Strikes"
"School Playgrounds, No Longer Safe"
"Give Back Our Girls!"
Timothy stared at the documents in front of him, silent tears slipping down his cheeks. Catherine watched as he read through all of the documents and articles that were placed in front of him. The room was silent and he absorbed everything in front of him. Finally, he picked up a clipping showing pictures of Madeleine and Emily. As he stared at the piece of paper in front of him, his body began to shake and his sobs grew louder.
"I don't believe you!" he yelled through his sobs. "You're all lying. Let me see my daughter! I need to see Abby!" Andrew leaned across the table.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Mr Isaacs." He turned and walked out of the room closely followed by Catherine and Sheriff Watson.
"We're going to need a psych consult," Catherine told Sheriff Watson, he nodded and left to call the town's resident psychologist. Catherine turned to look at Andrew. His shoulders were slumped; his dark brown eyes looked tired.
"Are you alright?" she asked, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, it's just a tough case. This was my first high profile case. I let it get to me way more than it should have."
"We all have cases like those. We just have to work through it one at a time." Andrew looked at her and smiled appreciatively.
"Listen, I know you feel like I've stepped on your toes and all…"
"No, it's fine really. I'm just glad we've found Grissom and Sara's girl." Andrew nodded smiling softly.
"Have you told them yet?" he asked. Catherine's eyes widened in guilt, grabbing her cell phone out of her pocket, she dialed a familiar number.
Sirens, all she could hear were sirens. Light's flashed all around her and people rushed past her. It was chaos, well organized chaos. She felt her knees give way, and a strong set of arms caught her, preventing the fall. She could smell him all around her. She buried herself into him, hoping to drown out the sirens' wails. Yet it didn't seem to provide any relief. Then through the silence she heard the scream. "Mommy!"
Sara bolted upright.
"Maddie!" she called out, the only reply that came was the grunting of the man next to her and the phone ringing on his bedside table.
"Gil!" she called, prodding him. When he didn't move, she crawled over the top of him to reach the phone.
"Gil Grissom's phone," she answered.
"Sara?" Catherine's voice answered.
"Yeah, Cath what's up?" She asked, gently running her hand through Grissom's hair.
"We made a lot of progress last night," she began.
"And…" Sara prodded.
"We found her."
Grissom woke to the sound of Sara crying.
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. The next chapter is just about finished, so it shouldn't be too long before it is posted.