Chapter Three.
Dani's eyes glanced at Gil, then they turned their gaze to Sara, and didn't look away. Sara was staring back, holding back the surprised look on her face.
"Dani," Grissom started, "I'm Gil Grissom and this is Sara Sidle, we're from the crime lab," he said softly.
Dani's attention was immediately drawn to Grissom as he spoke.
"You were knocked out, that's why you're here," Sara said softly.
"Crime lab?" Dani asked quietly. "Is my family... dead?"
Sara couldn't believe how Dani could say it so simply.
"Yes," Gil said. "Do you remember anything from before you were knocked out?"
"No," Dani answered quickly.
"You don't seem too upset that your family is dead." Sara pressed.
"I'm adopted, I've only lived with this family for three months," Dani explained. Sara decided to stay away from that subject.
"Is it okay if a nurse collects an SAE kit?" Sara asked.
"..Okay," Dani said.
"Don't you want to know what an SAE-" Gil started.
"I know what it is," Dani interrupted.
Sara and Grissom looked at each other, how would she know? She was only 12. Then they both turned back to Dani.
Dani shrugged, "I read."
"I'll go talk to the nurse," Sara said and left the room.
When Sara returned, Grissom was standing outside Dani's hospital room, looking through the window in the door. Sara stood beside him.
"The nurse is on her way, she just has check on another patient," Sara said. "She's also going to take x-rays and I asked for a blood sample that we could send to tox."
Grissom nodded, "Good."
"Did she tell you anything else?" Sara asked, who watched Dani through the door too.
Grissom sighed, "No, actually, she didn't say another word after you left."
Sara shook her head. That was weird.
Dani's clothes were collected after she put on a linen gown. The nurse took a blood sample, then gave it to Sara, who put it into an evidence bag. Grissom stayed in Dani's hospital room while Dani was moved to a different room so the nurse could take the sexual assault exam kit. Sara went with the nurse, so she could collect the evidence found on Dani.
The room they were in was small and purple. The shade of purple matched the mood Sara was in. It was gloomy, and fitted how a victim might feel in this room. The memories that people tried to forget in this room, all of them came to Sara, not just her own, but everyone else's. Sara had always felt that way, for every case, she felt for the victims and could never let go of that, speaking for them and giving them justice meant everything. It was one of the reasons why she loved the job so much.
Sara took pictures of Dani's bruised chest and wrists. She also used the ultraviolet light, which showed her that for the two weeks that this guy had Dani for, he abused her a lot, and Dani had gone through a lot of pain that would never leave her completely.
The nurse checked for signs of trauma, Sara held her breath... maybe he hadn't...
When the nurse looked at Sara with mournful eyes, Sara knew her hoping had done nothing. Dani was sexually assaulted. The bed Dani was laying on had green sheets, that matched the gloomy shade of purple on the walls. The nurse collected nail clippings and scrapings and gave them to Sara. Sara also photographed and swabbed a bite mark on Dani's shoulder. After the nurse collected vaginal and oral swabs, Sara left the room, carrying the evidence with her.
Sara met up with Grissom back in Dani's hospital room.
"I'm going to take the evidence to the lab, get the samples to Greg then take a look at her clothes, are you coming?" She asked.
Grissom sighed then nodded. As they were walking out of the hospital, Sara told him about the exam.
"The nurse found signs of trauma and we found bruises which suggest chronic abuse."
"Poor kid," he managed to say.
"He had her for two whole weeks," Sara said sternly.
"And she was helpless," Gil added.