Title: In Shock
Author: Nicksfriend
Rating:k+
Spoilers: For Gedda
Disclaimer: Bottom line...they belong to CBS and to those who make millions
Author's note:This is my fifth CSI fic. I actually jumped when the undersheriff shot Warrick; I did not expect it...but I could see that it could have been survivable
Thank you for the great reviews! I hope I don't let you down.
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Jeffrey McKeen approached the crime tape and started to cross to get to Grissom but he suddenly stopped,"What are you doing Grissom?"
Grissom was flashing his light around looking for the bullet that had not been found by Nick yet. He continued doing his job as he answered,"My job."
" Shouldn't dayshift should be handling this case? It's too close to nightshift." His voice angry as he admonished his night shift supervisor.
Grissom continued looking around, the morning light assisting him in visualizing the scene better."We were first on the scene, we wanted to make sure no evidence was lost." Giving Mckeen a look of confusion.
"Listen, I want Ecklie's team on this case,they are just as capable as you or your CSI'S." McKeen's voice had risen in pitch and his tone seemed angrier than normal.
Grissom looked up,"I don't understand Jeff,one of my CSI'S has just been shot, possibly dying and you are wanting me to wait until dayshift gets here, possibly hours from now,that doesn't make sense." The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end,something was not right about the order he had just received.
The Undersheriff stood his ground,the lines on his face pulled tightly together, creating what looked more like a scowl than concern,"I will not repeat my orders Gil, I need you to leave the crime scene area now."
Jim had overheard the Undersheriff and reluctantly left Nick at his SUV, he was still removing the bloody clothing. He walked over the to the continuing confrontation between Gil and McKeen,"I use to be head of the CSI's, I will take over until Ecklie can get here." Offering a solution to the problem, seeing that Gil nor Jeff were going to stand down.
They both turned to acknowledge Brass's voice,and nodded in unison. Gil moved towards Brass, a look of confusion crossing his face,"We haven't found the bullet yet and the car needs to be sealed until trace can go over it."
Jim nodded,"You take care of Nick and I will take care of the scene." Slipping off the old gloves he was wearing and pulling on a fresh pair,he pulled out his flashlight, ducked under the tape, and started searching for the missing fired bullet.
McKeen did not move, it was if he was going to make sure that Grissom or Nick would not enter back under the crime tape. McKeen's behavior was not lost on Grissom who had started towards the front where Nick's SUV was parked.
The first thing he noticed when he arrived to the front of the building was that Nick was missing, his car still parked in the same space he had parked earlier that night,and it was locked.
Grissom looked around, thinking that one of the officer's might have taken him to the hospital when he saw the red headed waitress appear at the door of the diner waving for him to come to the restaurant.
Grissom quickly made his way to the door, "Can I help you?" Concerned for the young woman, given the look of fear that was now on her face.
"My name is Stephane, the waitress that served your group earlier." Her speech was fast and winded, she was definitely scared about something.
"I remember, is anything wrong?" Grissom followed her into the restaurant, passing the table that still had the dishes from their earlier dinner, Nick's jacket still lay on the back of the chair.
"The man who was sitting with you earlier, the dark haired man. He came in, his hands and arms are covered in blood, he went in there."Pointing towards the men's restroom, fearing that he might be injured, that he could be bleeding to death in the bathroom.
Grissom's look of concern developed into fear for his CSI. Had the person who shot Warrick come back and injured Nick? He entered the bathroom,the sight of Nick washing his hands with such vigor stunned him, he was attempting to remove Warrick's blood,lost to the world around him,only focusing on getting his friend's blood off his skin.
He did not want to startle Nick, it was evident that Nick was deep in thought. He knew that his team would take it hard, that each would blame themselves for Warrick being shot but he knew that Nick , being the last to be with Warrick, would find it more difficult to deal with the situation.
He walked over to the paper towel holder and grabbed a handful of towels,then handed them to Nick.
Nick looked up, his beat red arms and hands looked as if they could blister from being tormented by the harsh scrubbing and the hot water. He turned off the hot water, taking the offered towels.
Not saying a word, he dried off his arms and hands and tossed the used towels in the trash. His face was void of emotion,doing his best not to look at his supervisor.
"I am going to the hospital, Brass is taking over the crime scene until Conrad's team can get here this morning." Grissom explained in a calm voice.
"What the hell are you talking about Grissom? That is our crime scene, our victim, what the hell is Brass doing?" Nick exploded, feeling as if they might miss something.
"Warrick is your friend Nick. We can not mess it up, it could compromise the evidence and right now we need to find who did this to him." Grissom kept his voice low and soothing so as not to push Nick over the edge.
"Our victim Grissom, our victim needs for us to find who did this to him,we are the best, it needs your expertise." Nick continued to talk as if Warrick was not the victim.
Grissom recognized again the symptoms of shock and knew that he needed to keep things calm and not overwhelm his CSI with truths and facts. Right now Nick just needed to get to a hospital. They needed to see if Warrick was doing alright, Catherine had not called with any update which could be good or bad.
"Nick, we need to go to the hospital." He opened the restroom door and waited for Nick to exit but Nick looked as if he was trying to process something in his mind.
"Warrick wanted me to check out the red head, if I don't he is really going to rag on me,I need to see if she will call me sometime. I was going to ask her on a date." Nick was rambling on as if he was talking to himself.
"Nick, we have a job to do, let's go." He was using his most authoritative tone, hoping to break through to his CSI.
Grissom had caught his attention, and he looked up then walked out the restroom door towards the diner's entrance. The red head watching him with intent blue eyes,"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to check on the man she had eyed earlier.
He nodded then walked out the door followed by Grissom who gave a small smile to the waitress and a nod of thanks.
She watched as the older man led the younger to a large vehicle, assisting him into the passenger seat. Stephane could not help but to think that it had something to do with the older gentleman she had talked to earlier. The man had asked her to inform him when they were leaving. He had wanted to give one of them some really good news in private, she had done what he had asked,now she felt as if she could have done something wrong.
As the vehicle drove away with the man she noticed that he had left his jacket still lying on the back of the chair from earlier, she reached down and picked it up, slipping her hand into one of the pockets she pulled out a wallet. Slowly she opened it up to see the driver's license, it read Nicholas Stokes. She would take it to him after work.
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Desert Palm Hospital
Catherine had arrived at the emergency room over an hour ago but still no word on Warrick's condition, he had been taken to surgery immediately upon arrival.
She pulled out her cell phone to call Gil when a man in scrubs entered the waiting area, "Warrick Brown family?"
Catherine stood and walked over, "I'm Catherine Willows, I am with the Las Vegas Crime Investigating Unit and Mr Brown is a member of our team."
"Do you know who his next of kin is?" the doctor's poker face did not allow her to guess what was going on with her friend.
"He has no living family members, we are the closest to family that he has in his life." Catherine explained, not really knowing whom he had placed as his power of attorney in case of an emergency.
"Maybe you can find out who his POA is, or at least who might be able to make decisions for him, he is still in surgery but I will not lie, his condition is critical. We're dealing with a lot of issues and we need to see if he left a living will."
Her mouth opened in shock, why would they need to know if he had a living will, they were for only when you are dying or become vegetative, she thought to herself."I'll find who it is Doctor Blanton. It's probably in his file at work." Noticing his name on the badge dangling from his bluish green scrub shirt.
"Thank you, I will send someone out in a little while to gather the information, anything you can give us will be useful." He turned to walk away but hesitated,"Ms Willows, to be very honest I would say that he probably won't make it,he lost a lot of blood, and if he does I just don't know if he will be the man he was before." The doctor turned and walked away.
Catherine could no longer hold back the tears, as they streamed down her face she pulled her cellphone up and flipped it open, she need to have Warrick's files brought to the hospital.
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Jim walked around Warrick's car, noting the exit of the bullet had to be from the driver's side window. He turned towards the small gated fence that enclosed a dumpster. He shined his light up and down the fence noticing the gaps between each board.
He opened up the gate to the dumpster area, the smell blasted him."Now I know why I don't do this anymore." he mumbled to himself. He continued flashing the light around in the dark, trying to get a good look at the container, looking for any hole or even a dent.
Then he spotted it, the bullet had hit the metal container and fallen to the ground. He took Nick's camera and took several shots before he picked it up and placed it in a plastic baggie. Walking back around he saw Conrad approach.
"What happened?" Ecklie was feeling that he had missed something in his investigation.
"One of our own got shot because we didn't have enough common sense to assign him an officer." McKeen turned to stare at the dayshift supervisor.
"Warrick? Dammit, I didn't think that he would need protection. I thought Officer Daniel Pritchard was probably long gone, knowing that we could id him." Reaching up with his hand he rubbed at his face, attempting to hide the emotion of Warrick being shot had produced, knowing that he would have to follow this up with Grissom and his team. A moment that he did not look forward to at all.
"We can't change what happened, I just need this done right." McKeen barked as he walked away,knowing that Ecklie had a habit of not getting it right most of the time,he felt better knowing that Grissom was not looking for evidence. Knowing that Grissom and his team could find a needle in a hay stack, he wouldn't have had to shoot Warrick if Grissom had not interfered. Damn him and his team,he thought to himself as he entered his car to go to the hospital.
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