Grissom's timing was just right, and he flagged down the ambulance and an accompanying squad car from the local sheriff's station. As the ambulance parked by the Tahoe and the medical team unloaded the gurney and other equipment, he grabbed a few bottles of water and the extra clothing from Jim's sedan. Then he led them at a brisk hike to their patient. The woman was still sitting next to Brass holding his hand, and both of them wore tired smiles on their faces, waiting patiently. She moved over to relinquish care of the detective to the emergency team, and Grissom handed the shirt and a bottle of water over to her. As he turned back to get an evidence bag out of his kit, he heard the sharp intake of breath from the deputy as the young man turned beet red. The woman had removed Grissom's jacket without bothering to turn away, and blithely put the t-shirt on before opening the bottled water. She didn't appear to notice the deputy's discomfort, gazing intently instead at the injured man being treated. Grissom busied himself with depositing the snake (now no longer twitching) into the evidence bag for the emergency team to take back to the doctors.
Satisfied that the paramedics were treating his colleague, Grissom took his jacket with the woman's thanks and had her lead the way to the body. It was sprawled in the next ravine exactly in a beeline from where the woman had pointed through the hill, as near as he could tell. Child-sized smooth-soled shoeprints led from the hills toward the body and then up the steep hill. It surprised him that a woman who seemed about the same height as his tall investigator, Sara Sidle, should have such tiny feet, but then he remembered a recent amnesia case with similar statistically abnormal foot/height ratio. He grimaced slightly in recollection — the woman from that earlier case currently troubled his life, distracting his thoughts even at work. Pulling out his cell, he reported the location of the body to the day shift supervisor to take over the scene, instructing the local deputy sheriff to stay until the new CSI team arrived to process. He also talked with Brass' department to inform them of his injury.
He and the woman followed the gurney back to the makeshift parking lot. As Grissom gazed at the pattern of small shoeprints unfolding in front of him, noticing that she favored her slightly splayed right foot, the woman's steps faltered. Grissom looked up as her half-turned face lost color, the eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed; he dropped his evidence kit a second time, just managing to keep her head from hitting the rocky ground. Although there was no extra gurney available, the ambulance had a bench that converted into an emergency 'bed,' with safety straps. The professionals quickly lifted her limp body inside and immediately began checking her vitals, radioing in details on the extra patient. The driver swiftly closed the rear doors, hopped into the front and took off down the dusty road. Having discharged the scene to the next shift, Grissom automatically retrieved her nearly full bottle of water that had rolled into the ditch, packed away his gear and followed in his Tahoe.