A/N: I do not own the game Mad Gab…I have one…but I did not come up with the idea, I don't own the hotel, or Starbucks, and I don't own Ewan McGregor… (Obviously since he's a real person and that's illegal…) I own Kris and Hannah…that's it, no one else.
And I don't own Lindsey Willows, and her and Catherine's relationship is kind of OOC. Just because it breaks my heart how much they hate each other and I want them to get along…can ya guess why?...Because it's my book :)
Spoilers: Pilot, Anonymous, and Identity Crisis. (None of which do I own.)
Chapter 3: New Discoveries
December 7, 2004
Quality Inn Massena
Grissom-Sidle Room
5:02 p.m.
"Come on Sara…please? Just one more time. It'll take your mind off the hunger." Grissom informed her and she sighed.
"Griss…I'm tired of this 'game'…it's no fun."
"What are you talking about…it's loads of fun!"
"So says the entomologist."
"Well we are at an entomology seminar."
"No, we are snowed into our hotel and can't go anywhere! God! When did you become Mr. Optimistic?" Sara snapped and saw the hurt look on Grissom's face.
"Since I saw you were really stressed by this." He answered softly and she sighed.
"Griss…I'm sorry. I know you'retrying your hardest to keep me occupied…thank you for that. I just get really cranky when I'm in one place too long."
"I know…that's why I was trying to take your claustrophobia off your mind by diverting you with a game…"
Sara looked at him perplexed. "I never told you I had claustrophobia."
Grissom met her gaze and shifted uncomfortably. "Well…whenever we went into elevators you seemed to," He coughed, "ya know, get nervous and twitchy. And whenever we were in one room for a long time you'd get cranky and…uncomfortable…and quiet."
Sara looked at him in amazement. She knew that he was keen and observant…but she hadn't known it was towards her. She blushed and picked at the loose strings on the comforter of the bed. He coughed to try to resolve the awkwardness.
"Hey, I have a game we can play." Sara said suddenly and went to her bag and pulled out a small box that said Mad Gab on it. Sara smiled, "Do you know how to play? It's easy."
"I think so…"
"You know how to play Mad Gab?"
Grissom chuckled and nodded. "Catherine taught me to play it once…I was pretty good at it."
Sara chuckled and opened the box. "Okay, here we go." She pulled out a card and held it up for Grissom.
He studied it a moment. "Ewe Han Mag Ray Gore." He furred his brows and said it quicker. "Ewe-han-mag-ray-gore. Ewehanmagraygore. Oh! Ewan McGregor!"
"Wasn't he Christian from Moulin Rouge?" Sara asked and Grissom nodded. "Okay, one point for you. Next one."
Grissom looked at it. "Pie rate softy care hip bean." He smiled instantly. "Pirates of the Caribbean."
Sara shook her head, "Man you're good."
Grissom chuckled. "You can have a turn." Sara smiled. He held up a card and she furred her eyebrows.
"Hive bin gunnel lung thyme. Hmm, hive bin gunnel lung thyme." She thought for a minute. "Oh, I've been gone a long time." Grissom nodded and held up another. "Easel Aid Ease Man….what?"
Grissom chuckled.
"Don't laugh at me." She shoved him slightly. "What…Easel Aid Ease Man…this is hard."
Grissom chuckled. "Do you want a hint?"
"No! No, I can do this." She said stubbornly and Grissom laughed. "Okay…stupid card…Easel Aid Ease Man…" She sighed and gave Grissom a puppy dog look. Grissom smiled.
"Nick."
"He's a Ladies Man!"
Break Room
8:13 p.m.
"He's a ladies man."
"I know."
"I mean big time."
"I know." Kris agreed and rested her head in her hands. "What do I do?" She pressed her cell phone closer to her ear, anticipating her answer.
"Get out." Her friend Hannah joked. Kris laughed and reclined against the cushions of the sofa. She rubbed her temples. "He sounds like an ass."
"Yeah…pretty much."
"And who was the other one that bet on you?"
"Greg…he's not that bad. He's funny and smart…and cute."
"Ooooh! Like…beach boy cute or puppy dog cute?"
"Hmmm, puppy dog with a dash a beach boy. There's no denying he's hot, all the guys here are, but-"
"Even the ass?" Hannah asked and Kris moaned.
"But…Greg has that adorable, good boy thing that makes shim adorable."
"Ah, the dreaded good boy." Hannah joked.
"Shut up." Kris laughed as she examined her cuticles. "So seriously, I can't just quit. What do I do?"
"Tough it out. If you like the job and everyone else is cool-"
"Plus I love Vegas."
"So…stick it out."
Kris sighed. "That wasn't what I wanted to hear."
Hannah chuckled. "Well what'd you want to hear?"
"I don't know." Kris pouted and put her boots up on the table. "That I have your blessings on killing Nick and hiding his body where no one will find it?" Kris joked and Hannah laughed.
"I have a problem with that." Nick replied nonchalantly as he walked in and got himself a cup of coffee. Kris moaned in depression.
"What's wrong?" Hannah asked.
"The ass just walked in." She mumbled and Hannah laughed.
"Ha! Sucks to be you."
Kris scoffed, "You're supportive."
"I know." Hannah joked causing Kris to chuckle. "Well…I could always fly out to Vegas, help you kill him, cover it up and create an alibi for you."
Kris laughed. "Yeah, fly in for the murder, stay for the Ben and Jerry's." Hannah laughed and Kris joined in, grabbing Nick's attention. He looked over slyly at her and saw her laughing about something…he had a suspicion it had to do with killing him, then celebrating with ice cream.
He sighed and leaned against the counter and watched Kris. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and sighed. She turned to face him. "Nick, I'm gonna explain this one more time, I. Do. Not. Like. To. Be. Watched." Kris said and Nick nodded.
"I know. It's one of the things that annoys me about you." He finished his coffee, crumpled his cup, and threw it away.
She rolled her eyes and listened to what Hannah was saying. "Was that him? He's southern? What ever happened to chivalrous cowboys?"
"Got me."
"Where's he from?"
"I don't know…probably Texas." She mumbled and picked the fuzz off of her hunter Green long-sleeved shirt, with a lighter green shirt beneath it.
"Dallas actually." Nick replied while flipping through a magazine.
Kris looked up at him for a moment and returned to her conversation. "He says he's from Dallas."
"He's in the conversation now?"
"No."
Hannah chuckled. "Okay…so how did you sleep?"
"Hanns, you know the answer to that."
"Eh, I was hoping you made a change…how do you function without sleep?"
She chuckled. "Coffee."
Catherine's House
9:24 p.m.
"Coffee?" Catherine asked Warrick as she felt strong arms slip around her waist.
"My name's Warrick, but I prefer Chocolate Man if you're gonna give me a nickname because of my race." He joked and she chuckled.
"If I was gonna give you a nickname because of your race…it wouldn't be Chocolate Man." Warrick smiled at her knowing where she was going with this.
"What would it be?"
"Ah, I think we should leave this conversation for tomorrow since there are little ears just down the hall."
"Linds is here? Didn't she have a slumber party?"
"Yea but she couldn't sleep so Alexis' mom brought her over. She kept on holding her abdomen so…I figured it was womanly problems. I made her some tea and tucked her in bed."
"How are the two of you doing?" Warrick questioned, knowing that their relationship was shaky.
"She was…different today."
"Different?"
"Yeah…she was…quiet."
"Well that doesn't sound like her."
"No…I asked her and she said she was just tired. I tried to push it more and she snapped at me…so I figured it was just the sleep because that last part sounds like her."
"You mean like you?" Warrick joked and Catherine rolled her eyes. "Don't worry baby. She'll be fine in the morning." He assured her and she nodded.
He leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips, and a shuffling noise caught their attention. Lindsey rubbed her eyes and looked at the adults tiredly. "Linds?" Catherine looked at her daughter in worry. He face was red and she was breathing heavy, beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and her eyes were glazed. "Lindsey." Catherine and Warrick pulled away and Catherine rushed to her daughter with fear gripping her heart. Before she could get to her, Lindsey collapsed to the floor. "Lindsey!"
Catherine and Warrick rushed to her and lifted her head off the ground. Warrick wiped out his cell and called 911. Catherine moved her daughter's head into her lap and brushed the blonde bangs from her face. "Hello? This is Warrick Brown; we need an ambulance to 325 Academy Drive. A young girl has fainted. She's got a fever, glazed eyes and racing heart." Warrick informed them. "Thank you." He hung up and looked at Catherine.
Suddenly Lindsey rolled over and emptied her stomach on the floor. "Lindsey…honey." Catherine said helplessly and looked at Warrick, scared. Warrick met her gaze. "How much longer will that ambulance be?"
At that moment, the sound of sirens and a knock on the door sounded. Warrick rushed to the front door and let them in. "Brown, Willows." he greeted and went over to Lindsey.
Catherine looked at Warrick distressed, then back to the EMT helping Lindsey onto a stretcher. "Hank." She said and stood as they raised the stretcher. She walked with it and climbed in the ambulance as it was being loaded in. Warrick got in after Catherine and held her hand as a tear slipped down Catherine's cheek. Warrick squeezed her hand and sighed.
Catherine stayed oddly silent, and in a trance like state. Hank looked up at them and saw their entwined hands. He looked up at their faces, Catherine's broken, distorted, and stained with tears; Warrick's pained, hard, and sorrowful. Hank put his head back down and worked with the other EMT to save Lindsey Willows' life.
Grissom's Office
9:41 p.m.
Greg walked into Grissom's office and sighed. Work started in about fifteen minutes and he was bored out of his mind. He had seen Nick earlier, but he had run out to get a muffin and coffee from Starbucks. He looked at the desk in front of him and saw that paperwork was still piling over top. He sat down at the desk and began to fill out forms and sign documents. A shuffling in the corner of the room drew his attention.
He looked up to see Kris sitting comfortably on Grissom's couch reading a book. He smiled at her. "What're ya doin?"
She gestured to her book and he nodded. "Too crowded in the break room." She said simply and softly. Greg looked at her curious. She smiled and shrugged innocently. Suddenly Greg understood.
"Nick."
"Yeah…"
Greg chuckled. "I think you are one of the first women to really not tolerate him. I mean, there have been some who he annoyed, most of 'em didn't really hold it against him because of that 'Southern Charm' thing he has going."
Kris nodded slowly, "well…I've always been one to go against the grain. Maybe I just see something in him that everyone else doesn't."
"He's actually a really nice guy."
"So I've heard."
Greg sighed. "You should give him a chance. You don't have to be his best friend or girl friend or anything…but he's a great listener and he'd do anything for his friends. He's very loyal."
Kris groaned and put her head back. "Not you too. Everyone's trying to convince me to give him a chance. Catherine called last night to see how I was doing and making sure I was okay and asked me how I liked Vegas and everyone…we got to talking about that. She said Nick's really nice and I should give him a chance…but I already did."
"When?"
"When I said 'Hello'. He blew it and I don't give second chances."
"Wow…strict."
"Yeah."
"But I made the bet too."
"I know but…you don't have that little quality that annoys me."
"That's a shame."
"And childish. I know it's stupid but…there is just something about him…" Kris shook her head and chuckled. "So what are you doing?" She asked wanting to change the subject. Greg looked down.
"I am trying to do some paperwork."
"Want some help?" She offered becoming bored with her book and looking for a distraction.
Greg nodded. "Sure…if you want. Um, not to be bossy but, ya kinda have to let me guide you with these because they're really important and I don't want you to get into trouble."
Kris nodded and pulled up a seat next to him. "Alright."
"First, start with these." He handed her a folder of several case over views. "Just compare the notes the CSI that worked the case took to Grissom's." Greg instructed. "Make sure they match up and anything that seems peculiar, highlight and ask me about."
Kris nodded and got started. "Got it."
"And anything that needs Griss' signature," He handed her a blown up copy of Grissom's signature. "Forge the best you can. Don't make it exactly like this beca-"
"Because no signature is exactly the same twice. I know." She smiled and Greg nodded.
"Ask me if you need help with anything." She nodded and pulled a scrunchi from her pocket to tie her hair back with. She sighed and got started. Greg looked over at her quickly, several times.
She didn't look up at him when she said. "I don't like to be watched."
"Sorry."
"You can watch my work…but please don't watch me work…if that makes sense."
Greg nodded. "Alright…sorry."
Kris nodded and smiled as they went back to work. Kris furred her eyebrows and looked up at a previous paper she had been reviewing. She reached across the desk to retrieve it, accidentally blocking Greg from his paper in the process. "Sorry." She said absently and held the two papers side by side and shifted her eyes between them. "Greg…"
He looked up at her. "What?"
"These case over views, it's the same case…"
"Maybe the case was reopened."
"But the pictures are different and it's a different CSI, MO, and signature…"
"What do you mean?"
"The notes are exactly the same. Both signed by the same officer." She looked at him perplexed. "The cases look similar enough…but looking at the pictures of the crime scene, they don't match the notes for the second case."
Greg raised an eyebrow and took the papers from her. He studied them himself, and Kris scooted next to him so she could see the papers also. "What the heck?" Greg asked as they both reviewed the cases.
"Greg…" She began and widened her eyes. "Look." She pointed to the bottom right corner of the page and Greg furred his eyebrows together. The shading in the bottom of the corner signified that the bottom half of the document had been photocopied to it. "There's a line up top too. It looks like someone picked a case at random, and copied the notes and paperwork to the bottom half of the paper." She held up the two papers so that they both could see. She leaned across him and shifted the lamp so that it was pointed at the papers. She leaned in closer to the documents, and so did Greg.
"But why?"
She shrugged. "Maybe…someone didn't want the real case to be figured out…faulty arrest possibly." She looked over to him and he met her gaze.
"We need to call Catherine." Greg said and the office door opened. The two looked at the door and Kris scooted away from Greg. Nick looked at them with one eye raised. Their closeness wasn't lost on him.
"You do realize that bet is over, right Greggo?" Nick said dryly as he banged the folder he was holding on his hand.
Kris rolled her eyes. "Get over it Stokes, we were looking at a case."
"Sure." Nick said and walked up to the desk and set the file down in the 'finished' pile. "I just got a call from Warrick, he and Cat are at the hospital."
"Oh my God." Kris breathed.
"Are they okay?" Greg asked concerned.
"Wh-what happened?" Kris questioned forgetting her and Greg's dilemma.
Nick held up his hands, "They're fine…Lindsey collapsed and is having trouble breathing. They took her to the ER."
"Oh my God." Greg said and Kris looked over at him confused. "Lindsey is Catherine's daughter."
"Oh." Kris said and they looked back at Nick for more information.
"They don't know what's wrong with her but Cath's a mess. Warrick asked us to hold down the fort while they were there, but if things got outta hand we're to call him immediately. Greg, he left you in charge of paperwork and Anderson and I are in the field. He's gonna stay with Cat for a while. Warrick said they were about ready to move Linds to ICU." Nick replied.
"Well…I guess we shouldn't call them then." Kris sighed.
"What?" Nick asked confused.
"Kris and I found something wrong with these over views." Greg said handing Nick the papers. "Look at the notes and paperwork for each case."
Nick looked at the papers. "The notes are the same…are these two separate cases?"
"We think so. Someone photocopied the notes from the first case; paper one, onto the second case, paper two. Greg and I think it was to cover up a faulty arrest or bogus 'free-walk'." Kris answered referring to the instance that a prisoner was deficiently released from prison.
Nick nodded. "Looks like it…should we call Grissom?"
"Well what can he do? He's in New York." Greg stated.
"Well do we handle it ourselves? It says the first case was…" Kris took the paper from Nick and read over it. "…worked by Grissom, and then over-viewed by, again Grissom. And the second case was worked by…Catherine, Sara, and Grissom. And over-viewed by…who's CSI Millander?"
Greg and Nick looked at each other confused. "He's not on Nights." Greg replied.
"That name sounds familiar…is it someone from Days? What's the first name?"
Kris looked at the document. "Paul. Paul Millander." Kris read looking up at the men. Greg and Nick looked at each other in shock.
"Paul Millander." They said in unison and Nick shook his head.
"How did he get into the evidence? He's not a CSI." Greg asked.
"The third time he killed he took Grissom's name tag and made a copy of it for himself."
"Who's Paul Millander?" Kris asked confused.
"But everyone here knows Grissom." Greg replied ignoring the red head.
"Yeah, but not at the courthouse, and that's where the evidence box was at the time. He could have easily snuck in there and switched the notes before he left."
"But why…he killed himself afterwards."
"Who's Paul Millander?" Kris asked again becoming frustrated.
"He's a serial killer who was basically stalking Grissom. He killed three separate men and played with our heads the whole time. He pretended to be innocent and know nothing and acted like he was helping Grissom when the whole time, he was conning him. He ended up killing himself after his third victim." Nick carefully explained and Kris raised her brow.
"If he's killed three times shouldn't we be looking for a third case file?" Kris questioned and Nick and Greg looked at each other. The trio dove for the desk and looked through the files. "Found it." Kris announced and held it up. "Guilty, Paul Millander." She read the tag and Nick and Greg stood behind her so they could look over her shoulder.
"That's it." Nick nodded.
"Do we go with it?" Greg asked and they all looked at each other. Kris bit her bottom lip.
"Yeah…but I think we should still call Grissom."
"He'll want to come back." Greg informed her and she shrugged.
"But he can't. When Catherine called me last night she said that Sara called to tell her that she and Grissom are snowed in at the hotel."
Nick sighed. "That's gotta be pissin Sara off."
"Poor Grissom." Greg shook his head. "He can't go to his bug seminar and he's stuck in a room with a pissed off Sara."
"And this on top of it all." Nick commented.
"So do we call him?" Kris asked again.
They three of them exchanged looks. "He deserves to know." Greg said and Nick and Kris nodded.
"I agree." Nick drawled and they all nodded. Nick pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial 1. A female voice answered and Nick raised his brow. "Sara…where's Grissom?" Nick questioned and put the phone on speaker so that they could all hear.
"He's stuffing his face. Very out of character if you ask me, but we've been holed up in this Hell for hours with no food. Room service finally came." She laughed. "'So how are things goin?"
"Uh, Sar…is Griss really stressed?"
"No, he's pretty much relaxed. He's just pissed that we can't go to the bug seminar till they clear the roads…why?"
"Well, we've got a problem and it concerns him, you, and Catherine."
"Well what's wrong?"
"Remember Paul Millander?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, Greg and the new girl were looking over the files and they found something wrong with the over view of the second case."
"What kind of wrong?"
"Well…we found some paper work that's been messed with. It looks like someone photocopied the notes and paperwork from the first Paul Millander case, to the papers of the second and third cases. We checked the name of the CSI that over-viewed the case…it says CSI Millander."
Sara was quiet for a moment, "Whose signature is on the evidence box for the date of when the case was over viewed?" Sara asked and Nick pulled the phone away from his mouth.
"Greg, go to the evidence locker and find this box, make sure you wear gloves and sign your name on the form. Bring the box back here." Nick instructed and returned the phone to his mouth. "We're sending Greg to check on it right now."
"Okay, I'm gonna put you on with Griss. Do you want to tell him or should I?"
"I think you should."
Sara sighed, that wasn't the answer she wanted. Nick and Kris could hear Sara's muffled, calm voice relaying the information to Grissom. Grissom's voice was heard. "Nick?"
"Yeah Griss?"
"When Greg gets back I want you all to call Catherine. Someone form the original case needs to be there and Sara and I obviously can't."
"That's the thing Griss…Catherine's at the hospital with Warrick."
"What!" Came Grissom and Sara's unison yell. Nick winced and sighed.
"Well…ya see…"
Kris sighed, "Dr. Grissom, this is Kristina Anderson, the new CSI, Lindsey Willows fainted earlier this night and Catherine and Warrick rushed her to the ER."
"Is Lindsey okay?" Sara's voice asked.
Kris looked at Nick briefly and then back to the phone, she bit her lip. "We haven't heard word from her. The last thing we knew was that she was being rushed into ICU."
"Oh my God." Sara breathed and Kris sighed.
"Warrick said that Cat wasn't doing too well but to call him if we needed anything…we figured we should get ya'lls opinions." Nick drawled and Kris looked from him, to the phone, to the door. Nick caught her gaze and turned around to see Greg.
He set the box down on the chair they were all huddled around. "I signed the box as Greg Sanders…what do I put for 'reason'?"
"Re-opened case." Grissom answered. The rooms were quiet as Greg signed it and lifted the lid.
"Why is there a hand in the box?" Kris asked curious.
"Paul Millander made Halloween props…the hand is a best seller, he used his own hand for the mold, and that's how his prints were recovered from the first scene before we knew he was the actual killer. He sprayed that mold with cooking spray and printed the scene to make it look like innocent convince." Grissom informed the woman.
She nodded and they continued looking through the box. "I've got the latex gloves from the scene."
"Good, turn them inside out and see if you can get any prints off of them."
"What if they're one of ours?"
"Then they're one of ours."
"Then they're one of ours…just follow the evidence everybody. Call Catherine in a little while-"
"But see how she's doing before saying anything. And ask Warrick, not Catherine because she'll lie. She doesn't need this on top of everything with Linds." Sara intruded.
"Got it." Nick said.
"Call us if you need us. Both of our cells will be on."
"Will do. Thanks guys." Greg said and Nick hung up the phone.
"Greg, you get to work on recovering the prints, Anderson, you review the case files; see if you can find anything else. I'm going over the evidence." Everyone nodded. Greg took the glove and went off to DNA; Kris gathered up the rest of the files and went off to the lay-out room and Nick followed her with the evidence box.
Kris took one table while Nick took the other and they sat with their backs to each other. For the first few minutes there was silence…until Nick heard a slight humming, then a foot tapping. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kris was bobbing her head with her I-Pod in her ears.
Nick turned back around and tried to ignore her…it wasn't going so well. He turned back around and stared at her. She felt his gaze and turned around. "What?" She asked and took the I-Pod out of her ears.
"Can you please stop humming?" Nick said exasperated.
She shrugged and nodded, and went back to work. She turned up the volume and Nick could hear what she was listening to. She was mouthing the words along with Avril Lavigne's CD Under My Skin. Nick looked back at her and gave her a look. She rolled her eyes and turned the volume down. "God you're annoying."
"Me! You're the one who won't be quiet."
"Singing helps me think." Kris stated and looked back at the work in front of her. "What do you do to help yourself think?"
"What?" Nick asked turning around confused.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to be nice and make an effort to be nice to you."
"Yeah, the eye rolling is really winning me over." Nick replied sarcastically.
She glared. "Everyone says you're such a great guy and I should make an effort to be nice…it's harder than it looks." She grumbled and Nick shook his head. "Okay," She said and Nick looked back up. "This is weird."
"You're tellin me."
"No…this paper." She stated and pulled the earphones from her ears.
"How could you even tell what I was saying?"
"I can read lips." She stated and Nick turned his chair around so that he was now sitting next to her. She tried not to show her discomfort but failed. Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. "Would you just look?" She pushed the paper in front of him and began lining up documents. "Look at the upper left hand corner of each document." She handed him the magnifying glass. "Each print is consistent with a hand starting with the pinky, then counting backwards. But each time the 'thumb' should be next…it goes back to pinky." She explained and Nick looked for himself.
"How do you know these are Millander's?"
"I'm physic." She joked dryly and Nick gave her a look and she pushed Millander's rap sheet, including his prints, towards Nick. "They match his right hand to the naked eye." She explained, "We'd have to run it through AFIS to be sure though."
Nick nodded and turned to look at her. "Good job…Anderson." He forced out. She nodded half heartedly.
"Thanks." She mumbled.
Greg walked in and saw them sitting together. "You're next to each other and not killing each other…oh my god a pig just flew by! And look, it's raining cats and dogs!" He joked and Kris rolled her eyes.
"What do you have Greg?" Nick asked impatiently.
"Well, the entire left glove prints were Grissom's and then on the right glove, the only one that wasn't Grissom's was the thumb…weird huh?"
"Whose was it?"
"One guess."
"Paul Millander." Nick said nodding.
"We found prints on the corners of the page and the only one missing was…" Kris began.
"The thumb." They all finished in unison.
"Wait, wait a minute." Nick replied and slid on a pair of gloves and he began to rummage through the evidence box. He pulled out the results for a thumb print hit from the mini recorder used as a suicide 'note'. There were two prints, one was unknown and the second was, "Grissom's." Nick finished his thought out loud. He turned back towards Greg and Kris.
"What?" Greg asked.
"When Grissom lifted the print from the mini recorder it was actually two over lapped prints, one was anonymous and the other was Grissom's. Wanna guess which finger print it was?"
"A thumb." Kris stated and Nick nodded.
"Griss said he was trying to tell him something."
"Which was…" Greg began.
"…'I've got you under my thumb'." Nick replied. "Grissom's missing thumb print from the glove was on the mini recorder."
"And Millander's missing print from the pages was on the glove…this guy was smart." Kris finished Nick's thought and he nodded.
Greg looked at the seriously. "What is he saying?"
Kris looked around at them and then to the print. She bit her lip, "'I'm finished'."
Desert Palms Hospital
ICU Waiting Room
11:12 p.m.
"I'm through with these doctors!" Catherine exclaimed as she paced wildly. "I want to see Lindsey now! Why won't they let me see her! Why haven't they told us any news Warrick!" She asked desperately and he grabbed her shoulders to calm her.
"Catherine…she's going to be fine…she's strong."
"How can you say that when you don't even know what's wrong?"
As if on cue, a doctor exited the ICU and Catherine turned to him expectantly. Warrick stayed facing the doors, standing behind Catherine with his hands on her shoulders supportively. The doctor approached them. "Family of Lindsey Willows?"
Catherine nodded. "Yes. So…is she okay?"
The doctor nodded. "She'll be fine." Catherine released a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "We've isolated the cause of her sickness."
"What is it?"
"Ms. Willows, is Lindsey being treated for anxiety or any other psychological disorders?"
"No? Why?"
"Because we found a supreme amount of lorazepam, otherwise known as Ativan in her system."
Catherine dropped her jaw. "She was taking drugs?"
"OTC drugs."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry doctor; I'm a little frazzled right now…"
"It's understandable. Lorazepam is and Over The Counter drug which means that she had to have had it prescribed to her. It can't be bought without a doctor's notice. So, either it was hers, which I severely doubt because of her age; I'd say she got it from a friend or someone she knew."
"She almost died of drug over dose?"
The doctor nodded solemnly. "She's lucky she was brought it when she was or she wouldn't have made it." Catherine shut her eyes tightly, trying to erase that thought from her mind. "As you probably know, Lorazepam is an antianxiety medication in the benzodiazepine family, the same family that includes diazepam, alprazolem, clonazepam, and flurazepam to name a few. Lorazepam and other benzodiazepines act by enhancing the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid, GABA, in the brain."
Catherine sighed as she tried to take in all in.
The doctor waited for her, then decided to continued. "GABA is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that nerves in the brain use to send messages to one another. GABA inhibits activity in many of the nerves of the brain, and it is thought that this excessive activity is what causes anxiety or other psychological disorders. Because lorazepam is removed from the blood more rapidly than many other benzodiazepines, there is less chance that lorazepam concentrations in blood will reach high levels and become toxic. But, considering the amount of it that she ingested…it doesn't surprise me."
"How m-much did she take?" Catherine sniffled.
The doctor sighed, "So far, we've pumped about a half a bottle of lorazepam and half a cocktail from her stomach."
Catherine sighed and buried her head in Warrick's chest. The doctor waited for her sobs to subside before he continued. "You can see her in a short amount of time. We have to run a few more tests, and then a nurse will send for you. She's being moved into the Recovery Room on the second floor, third ward, room 317."
Warrick nodded. "Thank you doctor."
The doctor nodded and turned to leave.
Catherine let her tears fall silently now, she sighed and Warrick hugged her tighter. He placed a kiss on top of her head. He knew she was taking this harder than they thought, and neither of them would be going into work. Suddenly his cell rang, and Catherine looked down at his pocket. He sighed and grabbed his phone, seeing that Nick was calling. "Hey Nick."
"Hey Rick…how's she doin?"
"Catherine or Lindsey?"
"…both."
He sighed as Catherine broke away from him to get herself some water from the fountain. "Lindsey is being moved to the Recovery Room…they found out why she fainted..."
"Yeah?"
"…It was drug overdose."
"Shit." Nick breathed and dragged a tired hand over his face.
"She ingested a half a bottle of lorazepam and half a cocktail."
"Jesus." Nick remarked. "How did she survive, she's so small."
"She had a guardian angel over her man. I'm not a spiritual person but…"
"Yeah yeah I know." Nick paused, "Hey Rick…do you think maybe…Linds knew what she was doing? Like-"
"Yes." Warrick cut him off not wanting to hear the words but knowing it was very possible. "The uh…the thought crossed my mind." Warrick choked back his tears. "But um…I don't think she's miserable enough for that. She might not get a long with Cat but I don't think she's suicidal. If worse came to worse she'd take off and go with Braun."
"Yeah, I'm sorry man. I didn't mean to-"
"Hey Nick…I know, your investigator side got the better of you." Warrick saw Catherine had sat down in a chair and fallen asleep. "Man, I don't think we're gonna make shift tonight."
"I figured."
"I'll try to come in tomorrow."
"Don't worry about it. If Cat needs you, then stay with her. I know she's gonna act like she's strong enough…but she's not. Don't let her fool ya."
Warrick chuckled. "I think I know her better than that."
"Yeah, considering you've been dating her for about three months now."
There was silence on the other end. "How'd you find out?"
"Puh-leeze, you two have only been flirting shamelessly for months, you two leave work five minutes apart, arrive five minutes apart, and you barely talk to each other around Grissom and Sara…plus I saw scratch marks on your back and a hickey on Catherine's neck in the locker room."
Warrick chuckled. "And they say you're a bad investigator." Warrick joked.
"Who said that? Did Kris? Has she been talkin shit about me?"
Warrick laughed, "Chill out man! I was jokin…what's the deal with you two anyway?"
Nick sighed exasperatedly. "I can't stand her, she can't stand me. We've come to an agreement that we will only socialize when absolutely necessary."
"So sarcastic comments in the break room count as 'completely necessary socializations'."
Nick sighed, "She tweaks my nerves so bad Rick." Nick said through gritted teeth. Warrick laughed.
"We've all got one of those, man. Every man knows at least one woman who just so easily annoys him…you just got shit outta luck because everyone else likes yours and she just happens to be hot."
Nick scoffed. "How do ya deal with 'em? Like, how'd you deal with it?"
Warrick looked over at the woman sleeping on the chairs, hopefully dreaming of something pleasant. He saw her lips twitch and he smiled. "I dated her."
And with that he hung up the phone.
December 8, 2004
Greg's DNA Lab
1:04 a.m.
Greg sat in his lab with Kris flipping through a magazine, waiting for their results. Greg looked up at her quickly to see her flip her shoulder length auburn hair off her shoulder and sigh. "So Kris," he began. "I was wondering if-"
The whir of the printer cut him off and Kris stood up to grab the paper it had produced. She read it and furred her eyebrows. Forgetting that Greg had tried to ask her something, she walked out of his lab while studying the results.
She walked down the hall still studying the results until she bumped into a 5'11 Texan. "Oops. Sorry Stokes."
"Sorry Anderson." He mumbled. "What's that?"
She handed him the paper. "Greg got the DNA results back from the outsides of the gloves Grissom used in the second case."
"I thought we sent that to trace?"
"Hodges kicked it back to Greg. It was DNA. Hence Greg as the 'DNA Boy'." Kris replied sarcastically. Nick rolled his eyes as they walked into the break room. Kris went to the fridge and grabbed a soda.
"I talked to Warrick." Nick offered absently.
"How's Lindsey?" Kris asked pushing her hair out of her eye.
Nick sighed and shook his head. "Not too well. She OD'd."
"Oh My God." Kris said and leaned against the counter. "How is Cat?"
"Rick said she's not doin too well. They aren't gonna make it for shift."
"Well I figured that. Probably not tomorrow either."
"Probably not."
"So are we ever gonna tell them about this Millander thing?" Kris asked looking at him confused. Nick shrugged.
"I don't know…you're the psychic."
She rolled her eyes and went to sit on the couch. "Ah yes, my psychic abilities…keep that a secret now. I don't want a lot of people knowing." She replied sarcastically. Nick chuckled and followed her. He sat on the couch next to her and she stood up and sat in the chair opposite him. He chuckled.
"Alright…but I've got another secret."
"Well good for you." She said continuing with the book she had left off with earlier.
"You wanna hear it?"
"It wouldn't be a secret if ya told me."
"Fine." He sighed giving up and flipping through a magazine. "Wait till they tell you."
This piqued her interest. "Who's gonna tell me what?" She asked acting nonchalantly.
"No one."
She frowned and looked up. "When are they gonna tell me?"
"Never mind."
She sighed. "Fine…I don't care."
Nick chuckled. "Yes you do."
She quickly sat next to him on the couch. "So tell me."
"But then it won't be a secret." He mocked and she scowled.
"Ooohh, oh you're good." She breathed and smiled despite herself.
"I learned from the best."
"Why thank you." She said sarcastically. "So tell me."
"I don't think I want to. Because once I tell you…my fun is over…no…I get the short end of the stick."
"Please, I barely know you and I can tell you were born that way." She replied.
"Yeah, keep that up. I'll tell ya the secret in no time."
She sighed, but then her face lit up with an idea. "Oh! I know! I know!"
"Wait!" Nick said suddenly. He set down his magazine and straightened his shirt, mocking her like she had done previously that day. "Okay, go ahead."
"What if I was nice to you?"
Nick almost fell over laughing. "You will not! It is impossible for you to be nice to me!"
She stared at him with a disbelieving smile on her face. "I can be nice. Now shut your porky face! Oh!"
"Ha! See! You can't be nice."
"Yes I can…"She cleared her throat and sat with perfect posture. "Nick, you did a really g-good job today. I thi-" She sighed and Nick chuckled, "I think you're really g-" She pursed her lips and scrunched her nose. She cleared her throat again. Nick shook his head and chuckled more. "I think you're really gra-" She frowned. "Okay…Nick, I think you're really gre-" She growled and stood up aggregately. Nick watched in amusement. "Screw this! It's too hard!"
Nick laughed. "I told you." He drawled and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Mature."
"Shut up."
"Man…this whole 'not knowing the secret' thing must really be eatin at ya."
She glared and folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, just like how much I despise you annoys the Hell outta you." She snapped smugly and stormed out.
"Ahh! You are the most irritating woman I've ever met!" He growled and she stopped in the door way.
"And you'd be the judge of every woman considering you've slept with all of them!" She retorted.
"BURN!" Greg yelled from down the hall.
"Nice comeback!" Jackie called.
"Man that was harsh!" Bobbie drawled.
"You got that right!" A random voice cried.
"Shut up!" Kris and Nick ordered in unison. And you could hear a pin drop throughout the lab.
Quality Inn Massena
Grissom/Sidle Room
1:56 a.m.
"Shut up! I do not." Sara objected and continued eating a strawberry.
Grissom chuckled and nodded. "Yes you do."
She pouted and Grissom chuckled and continued eating strawberries. Suddenly the lights flickered and the room was bathed in darkness. "Oh Shit." Grissom swore. Several cries were heard from neighboring rooms.
"Power's out." Sara stated and sighed. "Griss…"
"Yes Sara?"
"I'm really trying to make the best of a bad situation…but it's getting really hard."
"I know Sara."
"It's getting colder."
"I know Sara." He repeated and felt around on his bed for something. He pulled off his huge quilt and wrapped it around Sara.
"What about you?"
He took the quilt off her bed and wrapped it around himself. Suddenly a bullhorn screeched. "Attention customers of the Quality Inn Massena, we've just experienced a black out throughout Brushton and Massena. Please remain calm."
Desert Palms
Recovery Room 317
2:24 a.m.
"Please remain calm Ms. Willows. Lindsey is not dead; she is merely experiencing the side effects of OD. She'll be asleep for a while. Don't be alarmed if she doesn't wake up. It's fine. It's good to hold her hand or make skin to skin contact and soothe her. If she does wake up try to reassure her that she's okay. She may not be able to talk, but as her mother, you'll probably know what she's trying to ask." The doctor informed the jumpy woman. He opened the door and motioned for her to go in.
Catherine looked back at Warrick, nervously, who gave a nod of support. She turned back around and walked into the room. The doctor closed the door behind her and Catherine sighed. She looked at her frail and pale daughter in sorrow. This shouldn't have happened to her.
"This shouldn't have happened to you." She whispered. "I'm sorry baby." She wiped the tears from her eyes and went to sit in the chair next to her. She looked at her daughter and smoothed the bangs from out of her closed eyes. She had been meaning to take her to get a hair cut after shift today…a tear slipped down her cheek at the thought of that.
"I'm sorry Linds…I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry you were hurt enough to want to do this…I'm sorry." She sobbed and grabbed the girl's tiny hand with both of hers and rested her forehead on it. She sobbed and cried and let the pained tears stain her beautiful face.
Suddenly Lindsey twitched. Catherine looked up at her startled and saw her eyes flutter open. Catherine wiped the tears from her face and put on a smile. "Lindsey?" She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out and she began to panic. "It's okay Lindsey…the doctor said you probably won't be able to talk for a while."
Lindsey stared at her mother with sorrow. "Do…Do you remember why you're here? Do you remember what happened?" She tried to sound strong, but her voice cracked. Lindsey looked away with tears in her eyes…that meant 'yes'. Catherine closed her eyes, and sucked in her lips trying to maintain control. "You uh…" She pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down. "You took half a bottle of lorazepam…prescription antidepressants…along with a cocktail."
Lindsey looked back at her. "Sorry." Came her scratchy, hoarse reply.
Catherine's face became distorted with sorrow and stained with tears. "I know honey…I am too."
"Why?" She said throatily.
"Because I wasn't there for you…whatever depression drove you to do this…I'm sure I didn't help with. I'm sorry I hurt you enough to make you want to do this."
"I'm not suicidal."
"What?" Catherine asked confused.
"I'm not suicidal…just stupid." She sighed and coughed, and began to pick at the ID band on her wrist. "I…I was hanging out with Alexis and Marissa…it was just for fun."
"Lindsey…" Catherine sat on the bed beside her and put her arms protectively on her shoulders. "Did Alexis and Marissa give you the medication?"
Lindsey looked at her blankly. "No."
"Then who did?" Lindsey looked away and Catherine felt her heart break.
"I'm tired." She rolled away from Catherine and she sighed. Catherine watched her daughter block her from her life and she slowly got off the bed. She nodded and walked solemnly to the door.
"I love you Linds…" Catherine said and waited for a reply. When none came she walked out the door sobbing silently.
A tear fell down Lindsey's cheek. "I love you too Mommy." She whispered.
A/N: I don't own Paul Millander, Lindsey Willows, Jackie, or Bobbie.
Now, I've got like seven reviews on this thing and at least 20X more hits…that makes me sad. PLEASE review! CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WELCOMED!