Brass and Grissom turned in unison towards the pained screeching of wheels, both startled to see a familiar car swerve up the curving driveway and grind to a halt just behind the trio of police cars.
Catherine leapt out, leaving the door open, and jogged over to them breathlessly.
"Where is she?"
Jim managed to catch her arm before she could clatter into them and she took a second to steady herself before scanning the scene.
The gothic building towered over them; the horror-movie vibe only exacerbated by the black clouds hanging overhead and a light drizzle creating the impression of a faint mist. Blue lights flashed in the gloom, periodically illuminating the dark brick of the psychiatric hospital and reflecting off the barred windows, sending the light refracting upwards into the dark sky.
An ambulance was abandoned at a peculiar angle, the rear doors open and nobody inside.
As Catherine surveyed the scene though trained eyes, gradually catching her breath back, she was completely oblivious to Grissom's surprised gaze scrutinising her.
"How did you know about this?" He asked.
"Greg called me." She answered absently, still searching for any sign of the brunette. "Where's Sara? He said she was attacked?"
"She's still inside." Jim answered. At the horrified look that crossed Catherine's face, he realised how that must have sounded to the criminalist and quickly corrected himself. "The paramedics are with her; she's a bit out of it but she is alive."
Cath dragged a hand through her hair, feeling it stick to her fingers with the dampness hanging in the air.
"What the hell happened? Why wasn't someone flanking her?"
The question was directed at Brass, but it was Grissom who cleared his throat nervously.
"I'd gone to find a key."
"A key?" She raised her brow, not quite sure whether he was being literal or cryptic.
"We were in the nurses' station and the cupboards were locked, so I went to find someone who could open them and ..."
"And what?" She pressed, becoming increasingly agitated. "What happened to Sara?"
"One of the patients locked himself in with her." Jim answered when it became evident that Grissom was struggling to form the words out loud. "He attacked her with a blade of some kind and he ..."
His sentence was cut off by the clattering rumble of narrow wheels on concrete and they all whirled around to see two paramedics wheeling a stretcher out of the tall double doors. Catherine pushed past the men towards her stricken friend. Sara was barely conscious, struggling to even open her eyes.
"Hey, hey it's alright." Catherine gripped her hand where it lay over the blanket, but Sara jerked it away violently.
"I'm sorry ma'am." One of the paramedics said, the firmness in his voice tinged with sympathy. "We need to get her to the hospital."
Understanding the request, Catherine stepped back and let them load her carefully into the ambulance.
"Greg's already en route to Desert Palms." Grissom answered as they watched the vehicle pull away from the building, the siren emitting a sharp wail that seemed to reverberate around them long after the bus had disappeared from view.
"I'll meet him there." Catherine exhaled at last.
She didn't wait for further instruction or argument as she strode to her car and climbed back in.
"She's not done with me, is she?" Gil asked despondently. Brass quirked an eyebrow at him, shaking his head slowly.
"Wait until she hears the full story."
Catherine had barely rounded the corner when Greg was on his feet and had thrown his arms around her.
"Is there any news?" She asked, clinging to the young man for a minute longer than necessary.
"Not yet." He pulled back and wiped his eyes, which were already red and bloodshot. "They won't tell me anything because I'm not family."
"They'll tell me." Cath asserted, stalking down the corridor to the nurses' desk.
He remained where he was, watching from a safe distance while she argued her case with the staff. For a moment, it appeared that she was getting somewhere; before she seemed to recoil. Even from where he was stood, Greg could see her visibly pale and he scampered over to catch her as she carefully lowered herself into a chair.
"What is it? She's going to be alright, isn't she?" He practically begged, his earnest brown eyes searching her face for some sign of hope.
Catherine shook her head slowly; although it wasn't so much in response to Greg's question as a delayed reaction to what she had just been told...
"Oh, man." Warrick exhaled, dragging both hands over his cropped curls. Nick was unable to form sentences, but he managed to express his opinion by slamming his fist into the counter with a painful crack.
This was exactly why Grissom had not wanted to tell them what had happened. He was notoriously bad at breaking distressing news; even when it was cutting through him like a knife, he still managed to come across as cold and emotionless and that was only exacerbated by the boys' heartfelt reactions.
"Greg and Catherine are with her at the hospital, we're still waiting for news." The boss continued sombrely.
"So, what actually happened?" Nick croaked, having finally found his tongue. "In a place like that, surely someone must have been keeping an eye on her?"
"You son of a bitch."
Grissom would have been relieved not to have to answer Nick's question, if not for the thundering of heels behind him as Catherine stalked into the room. The callous interruption had startled them all, but it was Gil that her irate gaze had fixed itself to.
"Cath, is she okay?" Warrick asked, but the question went unheard.
"You didn't tell me that she was raped!" She demanded of Grissom, placing her hands on her hips.
"I..." Gil opened his mouth, but nothing else came out as he remained utterly at a loss of what to say. Not that she gave him much time to explain, anyway.
"What the hell were you thinking, leaving her alone in a place like that?! Surely to God you must have considered that something like this could happen?"
"That's a good question." Ecklie chimed in from his position leaning against the doorframe. Nobody had noticed him loitering there, but his expression suggested that he'd been there for long enough to hear the heated exchange.
Grissom rolled his eyes tiredly, the weight of the day's events dragging his whole body down until he sank onto a nearby stool.
"Conrad, if you're going to condemn me for this can you at least wait until Sara's out of the woods and we've closed the case."
"No." The lab director asserted, walking into the room. "You left female CSI alone in a psych ward filled with rapists and sexual deviants. As the team supervisor, you should have at the very least performed a risk assessment before letting any of your team inside the building."
"I know." He sighed. Ecklie looked like he wanted to continue, but paused for a moment and his features softened ever so slightly.
"Is there any word from the hospital yet?"
"She's in recovery. She suffered a head injury and, given her recent gunshot injury, they want to keep an eye on her for a few hours." Cath explained, her own voice lowering as the topic of conversation shifted. "Greg's staying with her."
"Good. In the meantime, I want that hospital scene going over from top to bottom and background checks on every patient in there."
"What's the point in that?" Nick scowled. "I mean, it's not like he's going anywhere."
Grissom and Ecklie shared a look that did not go unnoticed by the others in the room.
"Wait," Warrick straightened up, trying to decipher the silent messages passing between the managers. "You do know who attacked her, right?"
"I only saw him from the back as he ran away from the scene." Gil admitted. "By the time we realised what had happened, it was too late to catch up to him."
"Oh my God." Cath rolled her eyes, shaking her hair out in frustration.
"Obviously, the hospital want this matter closing as soon as possible; but it is important we find out who did this so that they can treat him accordingly." Ecklie turned his back to Grissom and placed his hands on the bench, facing the boys. "Nick, Warrick – I want you two to catch up with Brass and then head back out to the scene. Catherine, you and Grissom are going to have a de-brief about the case so far, then I want you to head back to Sara. Presumably they've already run a rape kit, we need to get it to DNA asap."
"Um, Conrad," Grissom frowned. "This is a Grave case. I can call Sofia and Greg to go back to the scene."
"Not anymore." Ecklie asserted. "Sara's on your team and she was attacked because of your failure to put safeguards in place. I can't possibly let you anywhere near this investigation. From here on, this is a swing shift case."