Catherine straightened, stretching her cramped back, and swiped a hand across her sweaty forehead.

"It must be ten million degrees." she complained, dropping the trace hair into an envelope.

"The bugs like it." commented Grissom from his perch next to the decomposing body.

"I can smell it from here. How do you stand it?" she asked, shaking her head. Gil grabbed a handful of flies from midair and stuffed them into a jar.

"I breathe through my ears."

Catherine rolled her eyes and bent over the muddy sleeping bag the body had been wrapped in. "Are we looking at another 3 day versus 5 day thing, with this sleeping bag wrapped around him so tightly?"

"I dunno, chances are that's a possibility. But we already have the info on it, so we won't have to sit and watch a pig in a blanket decompose."

Catherine laughed dryly, coughing a little, wishing she hadn't left her water bottle in the Tahoe, which was parked on the road about a half mile from their crime scene. The sun beat down on their backs, burning their necks as they struggled to collect all the evidence before the desert heat got to it, and to them.

Her phone vibrated suddenly on her hip and she jumped about three feet in the air, yelping. Gil glanced up and chuckled at her as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell.

"Catherine Willows." she answered.

Gil bent over the corpse again, checking for any other interesting specimens. He stopped when he spotted something odd. Grabbing his tweezers, he made a mental note of the insect's situation in the body before placing it in a container and pulling out his notebook. Acalyptratae Dryomyzidae, a rare insect only found in moist forests. There were no moist forests in or around Vegas, that he knew of. His head snapped up from his writing when Catherine screamed.

"Oh God! Lindsey!" she cried, dropping the phone to the desert soil with a clatter.

"Catherine? What happened?" he demanded, rushing to her side. She looked wildly at him.

Catherine tried to compose herself. "She was playing...and there was a car, it hit her...she's in the hospital...oh God" she said, tears forming in her eyes. "I need to get to her..."

Gil gathered her into his arms, hugging her against him. They made their way back to the Tahoe, her tears finally breaking through the wall of strength she had built up, and breaking his heart.

"We have a car versus pedestrian coming in, doctor Hernandez," called the nurse from the doorway. "Doesn't sound good."

Cora Hernandez, a tall, slim woman, dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail, turned and hurried out of the office, pulling on her green scrubs and latex gloves. The ambulance bay doors banged open, and the paramedics wheeled the gurney into the trauma room, one of them thrusting against the small girl's chest, the other pumping air into her lungs.

"What happened?" asked Linda as the people crowded to lift the fragile form off the stretcher and onto the bed.

"Lindsey Willows, aged ten and a half, ran out on the street, car hit her and ran." said the paramedic, shaking his head in disgust. "She crashed on the way here, we've been doing CPR for fourteen minutes. Multiple lacerations, mainly to the right side, her left leg is..." the paramedic gulped. "...half amputated."

Cora sighed and thanked the paramedic before turning to the small form on the table, now intubated, a machine breathing for her. She held her tears at bay; the children always got to her. She assessed the body, taking in the multiple lacerations along her right side before turning to see the leg, mangled beyond recognition below the knee.

"We need to stabilize her and get her into surgery, stat." she barked, placing a tourniquet around the bleeding leg, praying to God she would be able to save this little girl.

Catherine cradled the coffee in her hands, unable to drink. She sat staring straight ahead in the sterile white waiting room, oblivious to all her surroundings.

They were being vague; Lindsey had run out on the road, and a car had hit her and then taken off. She was stabilized, but had to have emergency surgery for internal and external reasons. They wouldn't tell her more. It had been almost eight hours, and she had cried all her tears away. Now all she could do was hope and pray her daughter would make it out.

Gil wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him for a comforting hug. He hadn't left her side. He had been there for her to cry, whispering soothing words in her ear, rubbing her back, telling her stories. She leaned her head on his shoulder, a shuddering sigh wracking her body.

A weary looking woman came into the room and glanced around before coming to sit with Catherine.

"Ms. Willows? I'm doctor Hernandez." she said, extending her hand. Catherine tried to smile, but couldn't. Gil tightened his hold on her. "Lindsey is out of surgery and in the pediatric intensive care unit. We were able to stop most of the internal bleeding, but had to remove her spleen because of severe damage. She lost a great amount of blood, but we were able to give her several transfusions. There were no major head injuries, apart from a laceration, and no spinal injuries either."

Catherine broke down and began to cry again, but mostly in relief. Her baby was going to be OK. She was vaguely aware that the doctor was still talking and tuned in again.

"...however, the damage was too extensive to repair, and we had to amputate the left leg, below the knee."

Catherine's breath caught in her throat. Amputate? Gil's arms wrapped around her and she stared at the doctor in shock. Her leg...amputate...the words jumbled in her mind.

The doctor excused herself and left, leaving Catherine trembling in Gil's embrace, feeling his tears falling into her hair, feeling her own tears streaming silently down her face.

Time stopped, and silence enveloped her.

"Lindsey...my poor baby."