Ch. 6 wow! This chapter was easy and hard at the same time. It picks up right where I left off, at "What did Catherine tell you?"
"Nothing, I just thought you seemed a little down recently, and I don't know what it's about, but I want you to know, whatever it is, I'll always be here for you." Sara told Nick, partially telling the truth.
"Thank you. I don't need any help though."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Thanks for stopping by."
"I'll see you at work tonight."
Nick closed the door. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he knew Catherine had told Sara. How could she do this to him? He trusted her, and she went behind his back. She was the only one he trusted, and now he didn't, he couldn't trust her.
How long has Sara known? Did she know before he interrogated Laura? Did Catherine just tell her? Did Greg know too? Nick kept asking himself these questions over and over again, only not to be given an answer. He didn't know Catherine's reasoning for betraying him, and he knew whatever reason she would give him, wouldn't be good enough for him.
He decided to open a beer. His thoughts were killing him, and he didn't want to deal with all of this right now. He drank until he passed out. This time, he didn't break any bottles. He was just as mad as he was last time, if not more mad, but he managed to show just a little self-control. He passed out on his couch, and didn't wake up until five minutes before he was supposed to be at work. He couldn't go in, not now that Sara knew along with, who knows who else. He couldn't face it, and he picked up the phone to call Catherine.
"Hey Cath, I'm not feeling too well right now. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it in to work today. Sorry."
"It's okay. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Just not feelin too hot, that's all.
"I hope you feel better Nicky." Catherine said before hanging up the phone. She was disappointed in him, but at the same time she understood he needed to take some time off. She announced to Sara and Greg, "Nick just called in sick. I guess we're working with three today." Her phone went off, and she looked at it. "Brass just picked up Ben Thomas and Richard Alvarez. He's bringing them in now."
They interrogated the suspects for hours, but neither were talking. They searched through both of their histories, but found no ties to Laura or either of the victims. Richard was a restaurant manager from southern California. He got in trouble with the law when he was younger, but he swore he had been making a better life for himself. He proved that with the restaurant.
Ben was a car salesman from North Dakota. They didn't know what it was about him, but they couldn't seem to trust him. He had gotten into trouble his whole life. He had a serious drug addiction, and many rehabs later, and he still wasn't completely clean.
It was a few minutes after their shift ended, and their final lead, and they had to let them go. They couldn't find any evidence against them besides the DNA in the hotel room they had both stayed in, within the last week.
It was about an hour later, and everyone was still at the lab. They weren't doing much. They for some reason thought, the longer they sat there the case would eventually be solved.
Catherine then got a call from Nick, she quickly picked it up hoping he had some good news for her. But instead she just heard, "Cath...Cath... I can't... I need..."
"Nicky, what's going on?"
"I... I can't..."
"Nick, talk to me. Where are you?" She said getting up and running out the door, to her car. Before she left she yelled to Sara or Greg to call for an ambulance at Nick's house.
"Home."
"You're at your house? I'll be right there. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"He... I..."
"Nick you need to keep talking." She paused for a moment to listen for him to say something. "Nick! Say something! Let me know you're okay!"
"I... I'm... I'm not."
"Okay, just hold on, I'm almost there." She recklessly pulled into his drive way, and ran in the front door that was already open. She found Nick lying on the floor of his living room, shot in the stomach.
"Cath... Cath... I..."
"It's okay. You're okay. It's going to be fine."
"He... he..."
"Who? Who is he?"
"Ben." Nick said just before passing out.
"Nick? Nick say something. Talk to me. No, no wake up Nick!"
She was in tears when the paramedics entered. They quickly got him into the ambulance, and Catherine got in the back with them. She watched Nick as he struggled for his life. She could tell he wasn't doing well, but the paramedics weren't telling her much. They were focused on keeping Nick alive.
It didn't take them very long to get to the hospital. When they got there they took Nick into immediate surgery. They couldn't waste any time. Catherine ran with him until he went to restricted area, and she was stopped. Tears were streaming down her face as she stood alone in the hospital.
Catherine was lead to the waiting room where she sat in the corner seat, curled up in a ball, covered her face and cried. She couldn't take the guilt. He said Ben had shot him, and he was right there in front of her an hour earlier. She kept thinking of what she could've done differently to stop this from happening. She blamed herself for this, and she would never forgive herself.
A few minutes later, Sara and Greg joined her in the waiting room. Before they came over Catherine was sure to wipe the tears, and sit up straight. "How is he?" Sara asked.
"I don't know. They haven't told me anything." Her voice was shakier than she had hoped.
Sara took note, and tried to comfort Catherine. "Nick is tough, he'll be alright."
"Yeah, Catherine, it'll be okay." Greg added.
They all stayed there for another hour, still having heard nothing. The silence was killing them. They hoped for the best. Every so often they would say something like, "No news is good news, right?" or, "It means he hasn't gotten worse, right?" or "Maybe the doctor is stitching him up right now, and he wants to talk to us himself." They said these things to comfort themselves, and each other while they were waiting for someone to give them news of any kind.
Two hours went by. Still no word. They felt like the doctors were keeping something from them. Greg walked up to the desk and asked one of the nurses, "Is there any word on Nick Stokes? We've been here for two hours, and we haven't heard anything yet."
"I'm sorry, I, I don't know, what's he here for?" The nurse asked.
"He was the gunshot victim. They took him in for surgery two hours ago, and we haven't heard anything yet."
"That's normal. I wouldn't worry too much. Sometimes the doctors don't like nurses running in and out of the operation room. I'll see if I can find out what's going on, but if we find out anything we'll be sure to let you know."
"Thank you." Greg said, and reported the news to Sara and Catherine.
When the nurse came back, she said there was still no word on Nick.
Three hours later. Still no word.
Please let me know what you think! Suggestions are welcome. I love hearing from you guys so, please review, I want to hear from you more! I'm excited for the next chapter, I don't even know what's going to happen next!
