Chapter Three
I own nothing but this ridiculous story. Please R&R. Kind of different, maybe off character. Let me know if I should continue; would Gil react to Ecklie with physical anger or with reserved fury?
Sara bolted upright in bed, her heart racing as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. The thundering in her head brought her back to reality as she slowly realized where she was; Gil's bedroom. As her mind slowly adjusted to her surroundings she felt a wave of melancholy wash over her; she hadn't slept in his bed in over a month and it was somewhat poignant that she was there under the current circumstances.
She swallowed, the agonizing pain causing her to wince. Glancing at the bedside table, she noted that it was just after 2:30 AM; she had slept for a solid 6 hours. The soup Gil had made for her sat on the table, cold by this time without ever being touched; she shivered as the memories of the previous evening flooded in around her.
Throwing the covers back, she made her way towards the bathroom, intent on washing the lingering feeling of Ecklie off of her skin. She stopped abruptly as she passed the mirror, staring at herself in shocked horror. Reaching out, she slowly placed her fingertips to the mirror, softly touching the reflection of her cheek. As if watching through a camera lens, her fingers played across the mirrored image of her bruised face and again she felt her stomach lurch and she bent over the sink to heave dryly before splashing cold water over her face.
'He will not make me a victim' She told herself as she held her cool wet hands against her skin. 'I am not a victim'
Oh, but you are. The voice inside her head taunted. She shook her head slightly, felt the tears burning her eyes and so she splashed more water over her face.
'No' She insisted. After all, in her line of work the victim was almost always killed by their assailant. 'I am not a victim'
She showered. A scalding hot shower that burned her skin as she sobbed under the spray. She could not believe this had happened; she could not believe she had allowed Ecklie to touch her, to feel her, to... She shook her head, trying to clear the images from her mind. She should have known, she should have seen it coming. She should have done anything...anything...to stop him; she was, after all, a criminologist. Shouldn't she have seen it coming?
She left the shower when the water ran cold, wrapping a towel around herself as she found an old sweatshirt of Gil's and some boxers to wear; she had no clothes left at his house having taken everything when they had parted. Grabbing the tray of soup, she decided she would warm it up and try to eat a little of it before heading to her apartment.
A banging on the front door made her jump and she lost her grip on the tray, sending it crashing to the floor at her feet. As she froze in place, she could hear sounds emanated from the front foyer. 'It's three in the morning' Sara thought briefly. 'Who the hell would be here at three in the morning?'
She felt the panic rise in her stomach as her mind played back the events of the previous evening. No one knew she was there, did they? Did Ecklie somehow find out she was staying at Gil's place? She remembered her car parked out front and realized that it didn't take a genius to track her down. Gil had told her he would be at the lab for only a few hours; perhaps Ecklie had sent him on some complicated case just to keep him away?
'Okay, that's enough Sidle' She told herself as she felt gripped to the spot. 'Quit acting like a wuss' Glancing around the room, she looked for anything she could use as a defensive weapon. Generally, the CSIs were issued handguns, but normally had to check them at the gun depository at the lab; she knew that Gil did not have a gun in his home.
Rushing to his closet, she grabbed the old aluminum baseball bat that he stored there and wielded it over her shoulder as she cautiously exited the room. As she broached the final stair, she carefully peeked around the corner to the front bay window; the curtains were drawn yet she could still see the shadowed silhouette of a figure on the other side.
As she left the stairwell to lean against the wall, she looked towards the kitchen, calculating how fast she could get out the back door and to her car before he could catch her. She reached down for her phone, slowly realizing that she'd left it upstairs 'Perfect' she told herself 'Real genius, Sidle'
She could feel her heart pounding against her chest as she slowly approached the front door, waiting for any sign of him. Shadows played across the room as headlights scanned the driveway and Sara thought she heard the sound of footsteps around the back of the house. The door suddenly opened and Sara swung her arms around, nearly making contact with Gil's head with the side of the bat.
"Sara!" He yelled, his reflexes causing him to both duck and reach up to stop the bat at the same time.
Sara let out a gasp as she lowered the bat her body beginning to tremble as the adrenaline left her system. "Shit, Gil!" She exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" He nearly scolded. "You just about took my head off!"
"God, I'm sorry Gil!" She exclaimed as she dropped the bat on the floor. "I'm sorry...I thought you were..."
"Who?" He asked as he bent to pick up the bat, tossing it over to the couch across the room. "The man who attacked you?"
She stared at him before dropping her gaze to the floor and he could see that she was trembling. He felt his own adrenaline begin to subside as he went to the couch and sat down, wiping his eyes as he stared at the floor. He had been so vehemently angry just a few hours before; angry at her deception, his failure to protect her, and especially angry with Ecklie.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He said quietly at the floor as if talking to himself in an empty room.
She opened her mouth to reply, unsure if she had heard him correctly, when he looked up at her his eyes full of an emotion she could not read. He stared at her taking in her appearance as if seeing her for the first time and swallowed hard at the sight of her. "You should have told me."
"I..." she began, fumbling on the words that she was trying to form. "Gil-I..." She stopped, wringing the long sleeves of his sweatshirt she wore into tight coils in her hands. "Please don't..." She began, feeling the tightness in her throat. "Please don't look at me like that..."
"Look at what he did to you." He nearly whispered, his voice cracking. "Why didn't you tell me Sara?"
"I don't know what you're talking about..."
"You lied to me!"
"No..."
"You knew I was going to process the evidence." He stated softly. "How could you let me find out like that?"
"What?" She could feel something that felt like a mixture of anxiety and anger building in her as she whispered: "You had no evidence...what did you process?"
"How could you not tell me?"
"Gil...please..." She took a step forward, but stopped as he glared at her.
"You knew who it was...you knew..." He shook his head. "How..."
She felt the tears in her eyes and tried desperately to keep them from falling. "Please..." She begged. "Please just stop..."
"Is it true?" He begged. "Was it Ecklie, Sara?"
Sara brought her hands up, closing her eyes as she pressed her fingers against them to keep the tears in. Her head throbbed, her throat hurt, and she felt like she was in a very bad nightmare. "Gil, please..."
"No, Sara." He pushed. "Did Ecklie do this to you? I need to know...."
Her reaction told him everything he needed to know "I can't..." she nearly gagged as she turned and rushed to the kitchen, where she bent over the sink to wait for the intense nausea to subside.
"Sara?" He was behind her, his hand gently rubbing her back.
She was crying, her body wracked with sobs as she realized that nothing would ever be the same again. He reached out, turning her to face him as he pulled her to him. "You need to tell me." He said, trying to keep his voice low "Did he do this to you?"
She was quiet as her sobs subsided. After a few moments he felt her nodding against him "Please tell me what I am supposed to do."
Her arms were around him before she finished speaking and she held him tightly, almost painfully as he buried his face in his hair, allowing himself to succumb to the overwhelming despair he felt.
And for the first time in his life, Gil knew what it felt like to have a rage capable of murder. It would be easy, he thought. No one would ever know
Gil was, after all, a lead CSI.
