• 1-And then the petals fell
• 2-Chapter 2
• 3-chapter 3
• 4-chapter 4

Title: And
then the petals fell …

Author: Mary Eve
Parker ms.parker@gmx.at

Spoilers: “Lady
Heater’s box”

Rating: not sure yet … gimme an R for
now, imagination may be a little higher …

Disclaimer: I
borrowed them for a little bit, their actions and dialogues are mine!

Note: thanks to
Karen for the beta, her ideas and the big help! *smack*

This is my first
attempt on CSI Fanfiction, so don’t be too hard with me!

Can be found at: www.thesedays.org/stories

XxXxXxXxXxX

AND THEN THE
PETALS FELL …

Part 4/?

“War, go home and sleep
for a couple of hours and take a shower. I will wait till she wakes up again
and call you then. We need to be strong then …,” Nick said a hand on the black
man’s shoulder.

“Yeah you are right. But I’ll
just take a couple of hours. I’ll call Grissom when I am home, check up on how
Lindsey is doing.”

“I spoke with him
already. Grissom and Lindsey seem to be getting on really well. When I saw her
she was sleeping on the sofa apparently tired from a trip the two of then had
taken. Grissom took her to meet with a friend of his who collects butterflies;
I think they had a ball.”

While they are talking,
Catherine began to stir. She has been here more than a week now, ands till she
refused to let Lindsey come to visit. She couldn’t let Lindsey see her like this, she couldn’t bring her down to this level. She felt so
ashamed that she had let it come that far.

The strawberry blond
opened her eyes, trying to force a smile when she registered her visitors. But
then she remembered, there was nothing to smile for
anymore.

“How do you feel Cath,” Nick asked her and sat
down on the other side of the bed, softly touching her hand.

“Fine, I am fine … just
feeling like a truck RAN over me but much better THAN the days before.” She
looked around the room, a little confused. “How is Lindsey?”

“She is with Gil and both
are doing fine.”

Gil,
a chapter on its own.
Warwick wondered all the time what had happened that she absolutely didn’t
allow Gil near her. Grissom hadn’t come to the hospital but talked to Nick.

“Are you okay with Nick,
Cath?”

“Sure, go head home War,”
she said with a soft, little smile playing on her lips.

“Okay, see you later,” he
replied and placed a kiss on her forehead. “And you take care of her, do you
understand Nick?”

“Sure War, shut up and
head home,” he joked back.

As if they could do
anything funky, crazy or funny.

“So how is Lindsey
Nicky?”

“Your little girl is
doing absolutely fine. Gil has been taking really good care of her, he’s got
her doing fun stuff to try to keep her happy. Or maybe to
keep you happy, Catherine.” He took a deep breath, “He’s been looking
after her like a parent, like they are father and daughter.”

“But they aren’t Nicky,
they aren’t.”

“Sure … if you say so.”

“I am sure about that,
100 percent and I should know it.”

“Hopefully…. Cath, you
know I know about what happened between you and Gil but I never dreamed of …I
mean that it would end like this.”

“What do you mean,” she
sat up, her face showing astonishment.

Nick got off from his
chair and set down on the bed, his hands holding Catherine. He already felt
that this wasn’t going to be easy, for both of them.

“You remember the day I
startled you in the locker room when you changed?” She only nodded …

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

FLASHBACK

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now he was sure about
what was going on. It was all about love, she loved him, with every piece of
her soul.

~*~

“I don’t want to see Gil
Grissom and that’s the last time I tell you this Warwick.”

“But he wants to talk to
you.”

“And? If I remember correctly, it’s my life and if
I don’t want to talk to him, I haven’t. Or am I wrong?”

Catherine had only to
stay two more days here. She had already written the papers she needed to
change to another city. She only had to hand them to Gil, on Monday – four more
days left to think about how.

“Mum,” Catherine heard
from the door and turned around. Her little girl was standing there in new blue
jeans and a kewl t-shirt with a big bug on it. She had to smile about it.

“Oh Linds, I missed you
baby.”

“Mum,” she moaned.
Catherine smiled about it.

“So tell me everything,
little one.”

 
p>

And so the girl started
to tell her about all the stuff she had done with Uncle Gil – from the small
trip to Los Angeles to see a bug exhibition up to a visit to Lake Meat to rent
a boat.

She told her about the
fact that Uncle Gil had helped her to redecorate her room because he bought her
a big spider poster. Catherine silently thanked him for not bringing a big
spider into her house.

“And you know Mum; he
said I can have Bubo if you allow it.”

“If I allow it …,” Cath
mumbled.

How should she tell your
daughter that they would move forward, not stay in Vegas, BUT move to
Washington?

“Sure, if you really let
him only be in his box,” she said with a smile.

“Lindsey,” a voice asked
from the door and both girls turned around to see Warwick there, “do you want
to get some ice cream?”

“Can I mummy?”

“Sure, go with him and
let me talk to Nicky.”

She laid her head on the
pillow for a few moments, inhaling his scent before she couldn’t stop herself
anymore. But she had to. So she threw open the window, and began to strop the
sheets from her bed. But it was difficult, and his scent was overwhelming, and
it was weakening her resolve already. She finished pulling the sheets off and
sank with them to the floor, face in her hands again, and started crying.

Nick left her to grief,
acknowledging what the doctor had told him that she would have to face her own
demons if she was going to be well enough to leave town the following week.

~*~

Lindsey came home to find
her mum cooking dinner. Everything from Gil placed in a big box. She has
written his name on it to take it with her on Monday when she hands him the
papers.

Before Lindsey had come
home she had typed them – formally telling that she got an offer from Quantico
and WAS taking it.

Lindsey hasn’t been
asking any questions about the time Catherine wasn’t home nor did she ask
anything about what happened or why Gil wasn’t around anymore.

“Lindsey we’ve to talk,”
she told her little daughter and placed the pudding in front of her.

“Okay,” the girl replied
about to start eating her dessert. ,

“We need to leave Las
Vegas.” Lindsey looked up from her dessert.

“For how long?”

“Forever.”

“No.” She noticed the big blue eyes getting all
watery.

“But we will leave on
Tuesday.”

“No I won’t.”

“No?”

“No.” The little girl
nearly screamed at her.

“Linds, baby, we have
to.” She tried to touch her daughters blond strands, her head, softly. “I have
a good job to go to. I think we can make a good life there, baby. WE need to do
this, I need to do this. For us.”

“I don’t want to leave.”

“I don’t want either but
we have to.”

“No, I am sure that if
you would talk to Uncle Gil, he could give you another job so you can stay in
Las Vegas.”

“Lindsey, look at me.”
She looked deep into her daughter’s eyes, both females nearly crying. “I don’t
want that what happened to happen again and the only way is to leave.”

“But I don’t want to
leave Uncle …”

“Is this all about Gil?”

The Girl was sobbing
freely now, tears running down her face, and dripping off her chin.

“You never ask me … what
I want.”

“I am doing this for you,
Lindsey. I am doing this for a better life.”

“I don’t care, I w
le
leave.” She screamed and then ran to her room crashing the door heavily in its
frame behind her. God, her daughter was so like she was at that age.

Catherine wanted to give
her daughter some time to calm down before talking to her again. Before she
could consider her next move further, there was a knock on the door. Then as
quickly there was a key turning in the look and the door opening.

Gil Grissom was standing
in front of her, exactly what she didn’t want to happen.

She stood nervously in
the middle of the living room, her hands shaking.

“I am just here to pick
up … I can't do that Catherine.”

“Then way are you here? I
will bring your stuff on Monday. You can go.”

“If that’s what you want,
I’ll see you on Monday,” he paused for a short moment. “How do you feel?”

“Stop it Gil.” She
shouted at him. “Let’s not start with that now, we don’t care about each others
feelings, remember? So just stop with that shit.”

Gil just stood there,
astonished at her outburst. Wondering how it was possible that they could have
become so estranged from each other.

He watched her now as she
turned her back to him, attempting to hide her sobs.

He wanted nothing more
than to hold her. To hold her, to tell her that everything
was going to be alright. That he would make everything alright for her
if she would let him.

But she didn’t want that,
that is what she was telling him now.

He had come to try and
make things right – his presence, his offer of apology. But she refused.

He was too late.

XxXxXxXxXxX

End Part 4

More? Mail me: ms.parker@gmx.at