Journey Through the Past- Chapter 37
Sara silently watched Nick and Warrick make their way down the hall to visit Grissom. After a moment, she stood up.
"Catherine, I really need to check on Scott. The doctor indicated that he would be out for a while, but he could wake up any moment. I should go see how he's doing."
Greg immediately stood up. "I'll go with you. I'd like to get to know Grissom's son a little better. I didn't really get to talk to him much when we were all on the helicopter."
Sara gave the young CSI a wide smile. "Greg, I think that would be great. He could use someone to connect with."
Greg shrugged. It was the least he could do. Not having any siblings, Greg could easily connect with Scott as a younger brother. He was eager to find out if the son was a chip off the old block so to speak.
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Sara entered the room first. She asked Greg to wait outside the room initially. As she tiptoed quietly into the room, Sara noted that Scott's eyes were closed. The tall brunette studied the young man for a moment. Now that she had a quiet moment to really study Grissom's son, she could see Grissom clearly in the young man's features. He had his father's curly hair and shape of face. Scott's mother was probably shorter and more fine boned than Sara as her son was not quite as tall as his father, and he did not have his father's muscular build. Scott stirred slightly as if sensing her presence.
"Scott?" Sara whispered softly.
The young man turned his head towards the voice and opened his eyes a crack.
"Hey there. How do you feel?"
"Head hurts. My shoulder and chest feels like they're on fire," he said tightly.
"You're at Desert Palm Hospital in Las Vegas. You've been here since last night. Lucas Mallory shot you through the shoulder. Apparently you sustained a concussion when you were thrown against a boulder, but you should heal just fine," Sara gently told him.
Scott nodded his understanding. "And what about Grissom? My father….How's he doing?"
"He's in ICU on the next floor. He's stable and holding his own right now. When you're up to it, I'm sure the doctors will allow you to visit him," explained Sara.
Scott pursed his lips and furled his brow. "So he's awake? The last thing I remember was that Mallory had him on the ground and was kicking and screaming at him. I vaguely remember pulling out the gun, and Mallory stopping when he heard me cocking the gun. After that, everything is blank."
"Uhm…no, Scott, he's not awake. Grissom was able to get to Mallory in time for the shot to be off target or we wouldn't be talking right now. Anyway, your father and Mallory fought for control of the gun," Sara paused.
"and then what happened?" asked Scott anxiously.
"He…got the gun away from Mallory, but not before getting shot himself. Scott, I don't know how he kept going, but I believe that the only thing that kept him standing was you. He only allowed anyone near when he realized that you needed help," explained Sara.
"So, Sara, how bad off is he? What...uhm…he's not going to die, is he?" asked Scott haltingly, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"I'm not going to lie to you. The doctors have done everything they could do. Like I said, he's holding his own, but right now they have him deeply sedated. Partly because of the injuries and partly because of the physical withdrawal from the drug cocktail he had been given. The sedation is suppressing the withdrawal, but they are lowering the dosages of the sedation incremently to allow his body to fight the withdrawal. Right now he's too physically weak to handle it fully, and if he is kept under for too long, the risk is brain damage. They are slowly decreasing the sedation, but the longer it takes him to wake up, the more likely it will be that he will have some residual effects."
Scott looked away from Sara and blinked back the tears that threatened to overtake him.
"How about you? Shouldn't you be lying down or something?" Scott asked suddenly as he observed Sara unconsciously holding her left side.
Sara gave him a small smile at his attentiveness. "I've been cleared by the doctors as long as I take care of myself. I've been splitting time between you and your dad. Right now the Catherine and the rest of the team are with your father. I'm just very sore."
The young woman glanced up and noticed that Greg was still waiting just outside the door.
"Listen, I want to go back up stairs and check on Griss, but I brought a friend down to keep you company for a while. Maybe you remember him. I don't think that you were ever properly introduced."
Sara called out just loud enough to grab Greg's attention, "Hey, Greg. C'mon in."
Greg Sanders sauntered in, hands in his pockets, and a sheepish grin on his face. "Hey, I don't think that I ever really told you my name."
Scott stared at the young CSI momentarily, and then a spark of recognition crossed his face. "Yeah, I think I remember you. Weren't you…uhm…on the helicopter that picked us up from the clinic."
Greg grinned," That's right." Taking his right hand out of his pocket, he thrust his hand out towards Scott. "My name's Greg Sanders."
Scott gave him a small smile back. "Nice to meet you…and thank you for all that you've done." The younger Grissom took Greg's hand and shook it warmly.
Greg just shook his hand and simply said, "Just doin' my job, ya know? Glad to do it. Didn't know that Grissom had a son."
Sara gave both young men a small smile, "I think I will go upstairs and see how Grissom is doing." Looking pointedly at Greg and then at Scott, she continued, "Greg, don't tire him out. Scott, I'll be back down in a little while and let you know if there are any changes."
Greg gave her a smile, "I'll be up in a bit. I want to see Griss, too."
Greg sat down to make himself comfortable. Scott looked at the young CSI curiously. "You work for my father? He's your boss?"
"Yeah, he is. He changed my life. I was just a lab tech, and he allowed me to go into the field. I'm a CSI now, thanks to your dad."
Scott looked away from Greg with a distant look on his face. "I don't really know a lot about him. I know that he is a scientist and that my mom loved him and never stopped loving him. She told me a lot about him, but it was all so long ago."
Greg cocked his head to the side and asked softly, "What do you want to know? I'll tell you what I know."
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By the time Sara made it back to the third floor, she was starting to tire. Warrick and Nick were quietly conversing in the waiting room. Brass and Catherine were apparently in with Grissom. Sara flopped gratefully into one of the hard plastic chairs.
"Sara, you need to get some rest. You're not going to be any good to Grissom if you're flat on your back in bed," Nick said gently.
Sara gave the tall Texan a wan smile. "I know Nick. Dr. Taylor and Dr. Evans have it arranged for me to stay in ICU with Grissom. I'm probably due for some pain meds and I have antibiotics to take. As soon as Brass and Catherine come out, I'll go lay down for a bit. Will that do?"
"Yeah, we'll bring you something to eat too. Anything's got to be better than the hospital food," Warrick said with a grin.
Looking through the entry way of the waiting area, the three CSI's watched Jim Brass and Catherine Willows make their way to them. The serious expression on Grissom's second-in-command showed her obvious concern over Grissom's condition.
"How long do they expect him to be life support? I thought he was holding his own," asked Catherine.
"It's just for the next 24 to 48 hours. The life support is to help him get some strength back. They're slowly easing off the sedation that's keeping him under. The withdrawal from the ecstasy/pcp cocktail has been suppressed with the sedation. He needs to be strong enough physically to withstand the withdrawal," said Sara with a sigh.
"Catherine, would you do me a favor? Could you go to the townhouse and bring me some clean clothes? I'd really appreciate it. The hospital gave me some scrubs to replace the patient uniform I had from the clinic, but I really think I'll feel more comfortable in my own things. No rush…just whenever you get back over here," asked Sara.
"Sure thing. I need to go home and see Lindsey and get some sleep. Will tonight before shift do?" asked Catherine.
Sara nodded and yawned widely.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who could use some sleep. Get some sleep, Sara. Guys, you too," said Catherine turning to Warrick and Nick.
"Yeah, right. Nicky and I will pick up Greg from Scott's room. We'll see y'all tonight," said Warrick around his own yawn.
Giving each of them a gentle hug with a promise to let them know of any changes in Grissom's condition, Sara bade each of her colleagues good-bye. Taking Sara firmly by the hand, Brass led her down the hall towards Grissom's room.
"Okay, kiddo. You're home. I'll alert the nurses that you're back so they can give you your meds," said Brass as he led her to the cot that had been placed near Grissom's hospital bed.
Sara sat down and sighed. She studied the man lying so still before her. He lay beneath a jumble of tubes and wires. His face was bruised and battered; the right side of his face was swollen and sported varying shades of purple and black. His severely abused left arm was elevated on a stack of pillows. Dr. Taylor was distressed that the broken wrist he had set a couple of weeks before was now more severely damaged. Now, not only was the wrist broken, the bones that had started to knit themselves back together were shattered worse than before. Both the radius and ulna were fractured in three places. It was impossible to cast the arm because of the amount of swelling. More surgery would be required anyway before the arm could be cast, and the patient, at the present time, was in no condition for such a procedure. Dr. Taylor had instead inserted a series of screws and wires to a light weight frame that surrounded the arm to stabilize the arm and prevent the bones from shifting further.
When Grissom had struggled with Mallory over control of the Glock, the bullet that had hit him at close range had done the most damage. When the bullet had entered the upper part of his abdominal cavity, its trajectory was slightly downward. The bullet ricocheted off two of the broken ribs, shattering the bones. Having the trajectory slightly changed, it proceeded to lacerate his liver and rip through his large intestine before exiting out his back. Grissom was fortunate in that the major artery and vein leading to and from the heart were spared. He had suffered internal bleeding but other than the intestine and liver, the rest of his major organs had escaped major injury. The doctors had been able to stop the internal bleeding, but his injury was complicated by the broken ribs on both sides of his torso. The doctors not only had to contend with the bleeders created by the passage of the bullet, but also the havoc caused by the shattering of the two ribs. The other ribs that were broken, either by Mallory's kicking action or by the wild ride in the jeep, also made it difficult for the surgeons to work at finding the bleeders.
Sara stared at the gentle rise and fall of Grissom's chest as the respirator regulated his breathing. The steady beep of the heart monitor was of little comfort at the moment. Grissom had never given her power of attorney. Instead, he had insisted that he had wanted Brass to make those decisions, wanting to spare her the agony of having to decide. Now as she watched the monitors, she wondered whether she should approach Brass. The Gil Grissom she knew would not want heroic measures taken to keep him alive.
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He was floating on a dark sea of gentle waves. He could hear faint murmurings, familiar voices, soft and encouraging. Grissom couldn't quite understand or make out the words that were being spoken, but the urge to seek out the voices was strong. Inwardly, he sighed and tried to find his way to the voices, but he was so tired and weak. His tired mind refused to work and slowly a dull ache started to wash over him. The murmurings seemed to be drifting away. Grissom wanted to shout, "No, wait! Wait for me. I'm coming. I just need to rest." He just to keep the voices near, but he was too weak to even move. Grissom let the darkness slowly pull him back into oblivion.
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Nick Stokes walked into the crime lab. It just before shift the next day, and he had just come back from the hospital after bringing Sara some food and checking up on Grissom. There was little change in Grissom's condition since the team had seen him the night before. Feeling well-rested, the tall Texan entered the break room for a cup of coffee before going to the layout room. Passing the trace lab, Nick took note that Hodges was busily engaged entering data into a computer and then checking the results on a clipboard. Turning into the layout room, he found Catherine already busy laying out photos of the clinic and of the desert crime scene. She looked up and gave Nick a small smile.
"Just come from the hospital? How's Grissom?" she asked softly as she continued to lay out photos.
"No change, Cath. I guess that's a good thing, right? I mean, Sara said he didn't have any setbacks in the last twenty-four hours," Nick said hopefully.
"Yeah, Nicky. He's holding his own. We keep holding on to that. Sara doing okay?"
"Just worried about Grissom. I don't think she's been getting much sleep, but other than that, she seems to be doing okay," Nick said with a shrug.
"For Sara, that goes without saying. I think she and Grissom could go days without sleep," said Catherine shaking her head.
"Where do you want me to start?" asked Nick as he stared at the various photos of the crime scenes.
"Well, we know that Grissom was subject to drug experimentation by Mallory. What we don't know is what exactly Mallory was using and the dosages. The only thing we know at this point is that they were highly addictive. We'll have to wait until Henry comes back with the tox panels. I promised Dr. Taylor that as soon as we get the results, we could give them the data so they would know how to proceed in treating Grissom. Dr. Jones actually would be the most qualified to treat the physical addiction, but I don't know if we can twist the system so he would be allowed to do so."
"Where is Jones anyway?" asked Nick.
Scanning the photos, Catherine replied, "Brass's got him in a safe house, and before you say anything, I'm pretty sure that it is really safe. However, I have a hard time believing that Pritchard and McKeen were the only ones on the take. I'm sure that once this investigation ends, we're going be ferreting out more bad cops. Jim did handpick the officers to guard Jones, so I'm pretty sure the guy is safe."
Warrick Brown strolled into the room with a file in his hands. The tall African American handed Catherine the file. "Doc Robbins finished the autopsy on McKeen. It's pretty straightforward. Shot through the neck and bled out. Greg recovered two bullet fragments in Mallory's makeshift lab. One I'm assuming is from Sara's through and through and the other from McKeen. We'll know for sure which gun fired which bullet when we get the ballistics report from Bobby."
Catherine nodded. "Internal Affairs will be interrogating Pritchard. The DA is prepared to offer a reduced sentence for additional information on any other bad seeds. Warrick, I'd like you to be in the observation room during the interrogation, but you'd better clear with IA first."
"Right. I'm on it," replied Warrick. "I heard that Brass insisted that Mallory not be put into county lock up. Where did they end up putting him?"
"Actually, he is in county lock up, but they created a maximum security isolation cell for him. Word on the streets is that there is a pretty hefty price on his head from the leader of the Knights. He apparently has quite a few connections as far as the drug trafficking business goes. The DA also wants to cut a deal, but Brass is going to the Sheriff Burdick over that one. After what he did to Grissom, Brass wants to make sure that he never sees the sun shine again."
"Amen to that. Okay, I'm on my way to Internal Affairs. I'll catch y'all later. Be sure to call me if there is any change with Grissom, said Warrick as he ambled out the door.
"Nick, I want you and Greg to process the jeep. It's being towed in and should be here any minute. I've got Sara's and Grissom's clothing and will be processing them. Brass will be here soon to interrogate the two men who were at the clinic posing as guards, Sam Baker and Rick Lopez. At least one of us, preferably two of us, should be there in the interrogation with any reports we get from Trace and Tox. Brass will contact me when he's ready. I'll let you know when Brass is ready."
"Got it. I think I saw Greg in the locker room. I'll grab him, and we'll start on the jeep right away."
Catherine sighed as she watched Nick leave and head to the locker room. They had a mountain of evidence to process. She really didn't expect any surprises. It was just a matter of documenting everything so that they could put the bad guys away for a long, long time.
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It had be four days since Grissom had been admitted into ICU. The doctors were slowly lowering the doses of sedation. The injured man was gradually making signs of returning to consciousness, but the process was excruciating slow for Sara. She noticed slight movements and hints of stirring here and there, but Grissom was mainly unresponsive. They had removed the respirator, and Grissom was now breathing fully on his own. Dr. Taylor was pleased with the EEG readouts which indicated that Grissom's brain function was active despite the injuries he sustained.
The tall brunette stood up and stretched carefully. The stitches in her side were healing but were still a little on the tender side. Sara turned when she heard a slight scuffling of feet behind her. Scott stood at the doorway, giving her a small smile. He wore blue jeans and a loose buttoned down shirt. His left arm was in a sling and his head sported a bandage across his forehead.
"Hey. You're looking good," Sara said with a wide smile. "When your father wakes up, he'll be pleased to see you doing so well. How's it going staying with Greg?"
"Okay, I guess. He just dropped me off on his way to the lab. It's a good thing that we're about the same size. He loaned me some clothes until I can get some of my own things from the clinic, although…," Scott paused, "I'm not really anxious to make it back there anytime soon."
"I see that you have a new pair of hearing aids in," observed Sara. "When did you get those?"
"Um, Catherine knew the otologist who treated my father when he was having trouble with his hearing. She contacted her, and she was able to fit me with a new pair. My hearing loss is minimal, but the aides make things a lot easier. I just was fitted with them before I came by. Dr. Burnett wants to give me an exam to see if my hearing can be corrected surgically. I have an appointment in a couple of days."
A slight movement caught his eye, and his attention was diverted from Sara to the man lying on the hospital bed. Grissom had turned his head to the sound of their voices, and his brow was furled as if he were concentrating on the sounds. Sara made her way quickly to his side and gently picked up his right hand.
"Gil, I'm right here," Sara softly whispered. "Gil, open your eyes for me."
Grissom felt someone take his hand and gently caress his fingers and the back of his hand. He turned his head towards the voice and concentrated on it. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite grasp whose it was. He let out a sigh, and licked his lips. Grissom's eyes remained shut as it was enough at this point to listen to the soft voice speaking directly to him.
A/N: Not a terribly exciting chapter but a necessary transitional one I think. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed. They have kept me going.