Hidden Depths part 3

 

Warnings, some spoilers for the season finale. 

 

Nick and Gil’s sleep was interrupted by several nightmares, surprisingly not all of them were from Nick.  Dinner time found them sitting around the table eating a re-heated lasagna.  “Nick, wow, this is really good!  Why haven’t you eaten it before now?”

 

“It’s pretty simple Gr-Gil, during the week I’m usually too tired or too busy to make anything involving, so on my day off I fix a bunch of food so all I have to do is re-heat.  We can have the chili next.  One of these days I’m gonna hafta bring some in for Sara.”

 

“Sara?  She’s a vegetarian isn’t she?”

 

“That’s why, its vegetarian.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Look, Gil, you really don’t have to baby-sit me.  Not that I don’t appreciate having someone here, I do, but you’re entitled to your own life.”

 

“Nick I hate to break it to you but I have no life.  Today is actually my day off you know.  Haven’t taken it in ages, I was thinking I would today though.”

 

“Gr- I mean Gil, you should go into work if you want to.”

 

“See that’s just it Nicky.  I don’t want to.  I think I’d rather hang out here with my friend.”

 

They spent the rest of the meal in companionable silence with the dishes from dinner being cleaned and put up quickly and efficiently.  There was little need for talking as the two coordinated around each other like they had all the times before at crime scenes.  Eventually they found themselves sipping coffee in the living room.  This time is Gil scratching T.S.  “So, Gil, I talked about myself a lot last night.  Maybe you could share a story from your past?”

 

Gil debated within himself.  Was Nick, trustworthy?  Yes, of course, but could he burden his friend with his own problems?  “My mother is deaf.”  Nick blinked in shock, all that talk of sign language last night and that never came up?  ~Well, the evidence was there, Grissom recognized the sign I used so he must have known some.~  Not wanting to interrupt  Nick just inclines his head hoping Gil will continue.  “She wasn’t always, but she started losing it when I was 6.  We both took sign language classes together.  When I was 8 she had completely lost her hearing.  I remember going shopping with her so I could interpret.  I knew there was a chance it would happen to me and it’s been hard to accept, but I’m slowly going deaf, just like my mom.”  Gil fell silent at this.  There really wasn’t much left to be said.

 

Nick stood up and shooed T.S. off from beside Grissom and sat down next to him, saying nothing.  ~It was there the whole time.  We just didn’t see it.  The court room, not hearing Sara that time, it really isn’t that surprising.~  “Gil, I know that it’s not the same, but having lived like a deaf person for years and not even realizing it, it’s only a handicap if you make it one.  I know that reading witnesses and suspects is an important part of the job, but really something could be worked out.  Even deaf, mute and blind you’d still probably be the best investigator they have.”

 

For no reason that Gil could think of, it was comforting.  Unburdening himself to someone that could possibly comprehend what it was like, and having them support him.  It seemed unreal.  He never had been very good with people.  It seemed like Nick was changing all that.

 

“So, are you up for a game of Scrabble?”  Nick asked grinning like a manic and seeming like Gil hadn’t just revealed the biggest secret in his life.

 

“Oh I wouldn’t be so eager to play, because I do happen to play a mean game of Scrabble.”

 

77777777777

 

Over at CSI lounge  the night shift converged, missing two members.  “Okay people, since Grissom actually took his day off and Nick’s out on leave I’m in charge and we’re going to have to work extra hard to make up for the slack.  Fortunately it’s been a slow night so far and we only have a B & E.  Warrick and Sara I want you to take it.  I’m going to stay here, if I need you for a call I’ll page you okay?  Now that business it out of the way.  I was thinking, after shift we might want to get together and visit Nick and Grissom.  Grissom already called and said that he was staying over at Nick’s.”  A grin spread across Catherine’s face, “last I heard Nick was kicking his butt at Scrabble.”  They all grinned at that and nodded their heads in agreement to the plan before dispersing on their assignments.

 

They spent the night collecting evidence processing the crime scenes that came up, but their hearts weren’t in it.  With one of their own out of commission they just couldn’t fall into the cases like they did before.  They were all grateful for the shift change and to find themselves ringing the door bell to Nick’s house.

 

No one was quite sure what they were expecting, but a smiling Nick answering the door wasn’t one of them.  “Hey guys!  C’mon in!  I’m just re-heating some chili and cooking some rice while Gil tries to rescue his score in Scrabble.” 

 

The group on the porch exchanged surprised glances before entering the house.  “Yeah we heard you were beating him,” Sara said.

 

Nick snorts ineloquently, “yeah, but that was like three games ago.  I keep beating him but he just won’t give up.”

 

“Three games?  Wo-” Warrick was interrupted when T.S. came running in barking his head off and growling at the group.

 

Singing Nick said, ‘down T.S. down’.  “Here he has to meet you.  Warrick give me your hand.”  Nick extended Warrick’s in front of T.S.’s nose and signed ‘friend’ he proceeded to do the same with Sara and Catherine and just like that T.S. went from viscous to friendly.

 

“Wow, you trained your dog really well.  That’s amazing how you did that.”  Sara backed away little though, in fear, not really comfortable around large dogs.  “So what’s his name?”

 

“Thoreau and Spears, T.S. for short.”  Nick bent down, wincing a little at the pain in his ribs to scratch T.S.

 

 “That’s an unusual name.”

 

Gil walked over from the table.  “Why did you name your dog that?  Oh and it’s your turn.”

 

Nick walked over to the board to study it while he spoke, “I named him after my favorite authors, Henry David Thoreau, Shakespeare and T.S. Elliot.”  He busily rearranged the tiles in front of him to find a good word.  “Ah ha!  It’s the perfect word, man Gil you set this up for me beautifully.  Not only do I get triple word score, I also get 50 points for using all my letters!”

 

The group walked over to see this perfect word, “Didactic?  What does that mean?  For that matter what about cygnet?  This is the most bizarre Scrabble board I’ve ever seen.”

 

Nick drew more letters out of the bag while answering, “Didactic means intended to instruct, morally instructive or inclined to teach excessively.  Gil,” Nick stressed the word hinting that it applied to Gil himself, “came up with the other one but I still know what it means, it’s a swan hatchling.”  Nick reached into the bag for more letters to find there wasn’t any more.  “Well you guys have pretty good timing.  The game’s almost over, we’re out of replacement letters.  I’m going to go check on the chili, you guys are welcome to stay for breakfast if you want.”  With that Nick left the room.

 

“Hey, Gil,” Catherine stressed the word having picked up on Nick’s use of it, “are you letting him win?”

 

Gil looked up distracted by the board in front of him.  “Letting him?  I’m doing my very best and he’s still beating me!”

 

Nick’s voice called out from the kitchen, “that’s because all you know are long, fancy words.  The secret to Scrabble is short point filled words.”  Nick came back out and the game quickly rapped up and he, of course, won.  So the crew of CSI nightshift found themselves sitting around Nick’s kitchen table eating vegetarian chili and talking.  Currently Nick was telling them a story from when he was on the force.  “So there I was in the ER with a concussion and I wake up with the doctor’s standing over me.  First thing he asks, ‘How many fingers am I holding up?’” Nick holds up his hand demonstrating the number of fingers, three, he’s barely controlling his laughter.  “So they’re all worried about serious head injury because I keep saying W.”  At this he bursts out laughing hugh gales with ow’s in between.  Oddly enough Grissom was laughing right along with him. 

 

Eventually the two calmed down, “I can’t believe you told them W!”

 

“It was so funny how the doctor stared at me then at his hand, he was so puzzled!”

 

Sara, Warrick and Catherine all exchanged worried glances, with Catherine finally speaking up, “not to sound obtuse or anything, but what’s so funny?”

 

Nick took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself and then explained, “See in sign language three,” he held up his right hand with the thumb, index and middle fingers held out, “is this and,” he held up his left hand with index, middle and ring fingers out, “is W in sign language.”

 

Light dawned on the faces around the table.  Not that any of them laughed, some how they couldn’t see the humor in it.  After the dishes were done the group found themselves in the living room sipping coffee.

 

“So, Nick, this place has really changed.”  Sara said by way of conversation starter.

 

“Oh yeah after Nigel I had to redo a bunch of stuff.  Reupholstered a lot of furniture, re-painted the walls, sanitized everything.  Just reclaiming my territory, I guess.  That’s one of the reasons I got T.S.  I felt better knowing that he was here in the daytime and that if someone were in my house now he would probably know it.”  He reached down and scratched T.S.  Sara stared a little guiltily at Nick, feeling bad about bringing up such bad memories at time like this.  Nick took in all their expressions and sighed almost wearily.  “Look, I know you guys are worried about me, and you have good cause, but I’m really okay.  Sure I’ll have a few nightmares, be a little jittery for awhile.  I’ll defiantly have to up my appointments with my psychologist, but you know me I’ll be okay in the end.”  Nick got up and walked them to the door, “I really appreciate the concern, it means a lot that I have friends like you guys to take care of me.”  Hugs were passed around and to the people on the porch it seemed like no time had passed at all.

 

Warrick turned to the two ladies, “did you guys know the was seeing a psychologist?”