"All rise."

The bailiff gave the order, and everyone in the small family courtroom stood up. Nancy and Rick Greene were seated at a table to one side, with their lawyer. On the other side, Gil Grissom, uncomfortable in a gray suit and blue silk tie, sat with his. The judge looked over his glasses at the parties and scowled.

"We're here in the matter of Willows v. Grissom," he said. "Is Miss Willows here?"

Nancy's lawyer stood up.

"Your honor, Ms. Willows is still recovering from a breakdown and is on bed rest. This petition for a restraining order is being brought by her sister, Nancy Greene, and brother-in-law, Richard Greene. We are seeking to prevent Mr. Grissom from contacting Ms. Willows for the duration of her illness."

The judge was still frowning. He looked to Gil's lawyer, who also stood up.

"Sir, we are opposing this petition, for two reasons. First, Ms. Willows herself has not and would not seek such a petition against my client. Second, a restraining order is only issued where a party poses an imminent threat of harm to another. No such case exists here. My client has never done anything to harm Ms. Willows...."

"Yeah, right," Nancy said under her breath.

The judge raised his hand to silence her.

"If Ms. Willows is incapacitated, why has she hired her own lawyer and entered an appearance?" he asked. "And where is she?"

The parties looked at each other, stunned.

"I assure you," Nancy's lawyer said. "Catherine Willows is on bed rest."

The judge suddenly looked enlightened.

"Ah," he said. "Catherine Willows is the subject of this petition."

Everyone nodded.

"Well, then, who is Lindsey Willows?" he asked.

"I am," said a young girl's voice, from the back of the courtroom, as the door closed behind her. "And this is my lawyer."

Nancy spun around and gasped. Rick stared. And Gil couldn't stop himself from grinning. His eyes met Lindsey's, and she ran up the aisle and into his arms, giving him a big hug. He hugged her back and kissed her three or four times on the forehead.

"I missed you, Uncle Gil," she said.

"I missed you, too, honey."

"Your honor," Lindsey's lawyer stated, "I'm sorry for the delay in getting here. I was stuck at another hearing." He took a seat next to Grissom's attorney.

"She can't be here," Nancy said, objecting. "This is some kind of trick."

Nancy's lawyer agreed. Addressing the judge, he stated, "Your honor, this child is... a child! And she doesn't have party status."

"Well," the judge said, "she hired an attorney and filed a motion for party status, and I granted it. I understand the petition to include restraining the defendant from associating with Miss Lindsey Willows, as well. She's here, and I want to hear what she has to say."

"Thank you," Lindsey's lawyer said.

"Young lady, would you please take the stand?" the judge asked.

Lindsey smiled and obliged, her eyes never leaving Grissom. She was sworn in and stated her name, age ("I'm almost fourteen"), and address.

"Lindsey, do you know why you're here?" the judge asked.

She nodded, nervously settling into the big chair.

"You have to say yes or no, honey, so the tape recorder can hear you."

"Yes," she said, leaning into the microphone.

"Tell me why you're here," the judge instructed.

She took a deep breath and launched in.

"My Aunt Nancy is mad at my Uncle Gil, and she doesn't want him to see my mom or me, but we love Uncle Gil and we want to see him. Especially me. And I know my mom's been sick and can't be here, but she's getting better, and this is all wrong. And I miss my Uncle Gil. And my mom does, too, but she's too sick to talk about it. But she'd get better of she could talk to Uncle Gil. I just know she would. And I don't think all those pills are good for her, either, cause they make her mind all fuzzy and she won't get out of bed."

It all seemed to pour out of her in one breadth. Gil pressed his hands together as if praying, and held them to his lips. He ached to hold the child, and the image she painted of an ailing Catherine cut through his heart.

"Is there anything else?" the judge asked.

Lindsey thought a minute.

"Yes," she said. "Uncle Gil isn't really my uncle. He's mom's boyfriend. And if they got married, we could all live together and be happy, and then we wouldn't have to worry about mom being sick or Aunt Nancy being mad or anything. Isn't that right, Uncle Gil?" She looked Gil straight in the eye.

He smiled.

"That's right, Lindsey," he said. He knew he was making her a promise. He hoped he could keep it.

Nancy was turning bright red with rage.

"Oh, and one more thing," Lindsey said.

"What's that?" asked the judge.

"It's not Uncle Gil's fault that grandpa hurt my mom. Grandpa was mean and Uncle Gil wasn't there. But if he was there, he would have stopped it. He'd sick his tarantulas on him. I just know he would. And they don't really bite, you know, unless you get them mad. But grandpa got everybody mad, and now he's dead cause he hurt my mom and Jimmy the cop shot him and my mom is sick."

"Is that it?"

"Oh, and I want to live with Uncle Gil!"

"Thank you, Miss Willows," the judge said. "Do any of the attorneys want to cross-examine the witness?" he asked.

Nancy's lawyer started to stand up, but Rick pulled him back into his seat.

"No?" the judge asked, again, to be sure. "Fine. Miss Willows, you may step down. I want to see the attorneys alone for a few minutes, in my chambers."

Lindsey ran up to Gil and took his hand.

"Did I do okay?" she asked.

"You were wonderful," he said. "But how did you do that? How did you find a lawyer and show up in court?"

"I looked them up on the phone book and kept calling until I got someone," she said. "Mom always said, if you want something bad enough, don't give up. And I would have told you, but Uncle Rick won't let me have Internet, so I couldn't email you."

Nancy and Rick stood up and approached them.

"Let's go," Nancy said, reaching for Lindsey's hand.

But Lindsey's lawyer intervened.

"We're meeting in chambers," he said. "I expect my client to be here when I get out."

Nancy looked about ready to claw the man's face, but when she reached for the child, again, her husband held her back.

"Wrong time, wrong place," he said, compelling her to back off, as the lawyers held a powwow.

Nancy stomped out of the courtroom, leaving her husband behind.

"I'm sorry about all this, Mr. Grissom," Rick said. "She's really thinking of Catherine, you know."

Gil nodded.

"I know. And I deserved it," Gil said.

"That's not true, Uncle Gil!" Lindsey said, near tears.

Gil gently brushed back her hair.

"Honey, I wasn't as nice to your mom as I should have been," he admitted. "I did some stupid things that hurt her feelings, and I'm very sorry. She forgave me once, and I hope she forgives me, again. I really do love her, and I really love you, too, but your mom and I have a lot of things we need to talk about."

Lindsey wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.

"I forgive you, Uncle Gil," she said.

Gil pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes. He didn't understand why the girl was able to cut through all the barriers that seemed insurmountable to the adults in her life. He remembered Sara telling him to take off his gloves and touch living people. At this moment, with his arms around Lindsey, he was finally doing that.

"How is your mom?" he asked, finally letting Lindsey go and glad to talk to someone who would give him a straight answer.

"She sleeps a lot," Lindsey said. "I think she takes too many pills. She cries a lot, too. I wanted her to come, but she was too tired. I wish you were there. I know you could cheer her up. She'd get out of bed, for you."

"I'll see her, soon," he promised her, as the attorneys and the judge returned to the courtroom.

Rick fetched Nancy, and the group settled down for the judge's order.

Lindsey sat on Gil's lap and hung onto him. The judge cleared his throat before beginning.

"First, I want the parties to know that I understand that Ms. Willows, Ms. Catherine Willows, that is, suffered a psychotic episode as a result of what happened with her father and the police shooting, and that Mr. Grissom is not responsible for that. I understand Ms. Willows is recovering, and from Lindsey's testimony, I believe she may be lucid enough to seek this petition, herself, if she wanted it. However, I'm willing to give her sister the benefit of the doubt, on that one. So, with the attorneys, I believe we have fashioned something of a compromise."

Gil and Rick exchanged glances. Nancy sighed. Lindsey snuggled closer into Gil's arms.

"I will allow the temporary restraining order to stay in place for one more week," the judge said. "During that time, I want to see a medical report on my desk detailing Catherine Willow's current mental state. If she is still psychotic, I will issue an extended temporary order for 60 days, pending a further eval. If she is lucid, I will dismiss the petition and leave it to Ms. Willows to file for a retraining order, should she desire."

He turned to Lindsey.

"As for you, young lady, you present a bigger problem. One the one hand, it's clear that Mr. Grissom poses no threat to you whatsoever, and that you love him very much, and I don't see why you can't spend time with him, if you want. However, he is not your father and he has no right to visit you. Right now, your aunt and uncle are your guardians, and they can tell you who you can and can't visit. Understand?"

Lindsey shook her head no.

"You have to live with your aunt and uncle until I know your mom is okay. If the doctor says your mom is okay, and she says you can live with your Uncle Gil, then you can. It's up to your mom."

Lindsey looked at Gil, a little more hope in her eyes.

"She'll let me. I know she will," she said.

He smiled back reassuringly, but he wasn't convinced everything would go as smoothly as Lindsey hoped.

"I expect to see the parties back here in a week, with the medical documentation. Oh, and Mr. and Mrs. Greene?"

The couple looked up at him.

"If Ms. Willows is well enough to make it, I want to see her, too. If not, I expect to see a full medical eval before the hearing. Got it?"

"Yes, your honor," their lawyer said.

"And make sure Lindsey gets here, too," he ordered, winking at the girl.

As the parties dispersed, Nancy and Rick waited by the door for Lindsey, who knew how angry they were.

"I'll see you next week," Gil assured the child, giving her one last hug. "Spider kisses?"

"Spider kisses, Uncle Gil," she said back, kissing his cheek.

When she was gone, Gil turned to Lindsey's lawyer.

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

"After she told me her story, who could resist?" he said, smiling. "Besides, I'm on retainer."

"How much?" Gil asked.

"Sorry, that's confidential, between me and my client."

The lawyer winked and strolled out the door.

*******

Catherine was sitting on the edge of her bed, sweating profusely from weakness, when Lindsey came home. Her daughter ran into the room and threw her arms around her.

"I saw Uncle Gil in court today," she said, smiling. "The judge said I could live with him, if you let me. But I want to live with you, too. Can we both live with Uncle Gil?"

Catherine's hand was shaking as she gently stroked Lindsey's hair. She smiled slightly, then asked Lindsey to help her up.

"I need a shower," she said. "I've been sleeping too long."

Nancy walked in just as Lindsey was helping her mom to stand.

"What are you doing?" she demanded of Lindsey. "Cathy, sit down. My god, you're going to hurt yourself."

Catherine shook her head, but that only served to make her dizzy.

"I need to get up. I need a shower," she said.

"It's okay, Cathy. I can give you a bed bath. You don't have to get up. Rest, now." Nancy carefully lowered Catherine back into the bed and got her some medication and a glass of water. "Here, honey, take this. It'll help."

"No more pills!" Lindsey said. "They're too strong. They make her tired all the time."

"They help her rest," Nancy assured her.

"No!" Lindsey yelled.

Catherine looked at her daughter, as if seeing her for the first time.

"What's the matter, honey?" she asked.

"You gotta get better," Lindsey said, tears streaming down her face. "If you don't get better, the judge won't let Uncle Gil come to see you, and then you can't marry him, and we can't be a family."

Catherine closed her eyes a second, but when Nancy tried to give her the medication, again, she brushed her sister's hand away.

"What's going on?" she asked. "What is she talking about?"

"Cathy, you need to rest," Nancy insisted. "We're taking care of everything. I promise."

"No," Catherine said, pushing the medication away a second time. "I need to talk to Gil. God, he can't see me like this. I need a shower."

She tried to get up again, and ended up passing out on the bed.

Nancy looked at the prescription bottle, a worried expression on her face. Then she went downstairs and called the doctor.

"I think these are too strong for her," Lindsey heard her saying. "Should I bring her in, or can you check on her here?"

A few minutes later, Nancy was back upstairs, Rick in tow.

"Lindsey, honey, we're going to take your mom back to the hospital, okay?" she said. "I think you're right. I think she had too many pills. The doctor is going to help her get better, okay?"

Lindsey nodded.

"Can I call Uncle Gil and tell him?" she asked.

Nancy and Rick exchanged glances.

"You can call him after we get there," Rick told her, over his wife's objections.

He wrapped a blanket around Catherine, lifted her up and carried her down the stairs, with Lindsey following. Nancy went ahead and started the car. Catherine's doctor was waiting for them when they arrived, ready with questions: "What was the last thing she had to eat or drink? How many pills was she taking? Has she had a reaction to any medication before? To your knowledge, does she have any addictions or history with regulated drugs?"

Nancy stopped him at that one.

"Cathy used to do cocaine," she said, "but that was years ago."

The doctor nodded. He ordered up some blood work and put her on a saline IV.

"It's a good thing you brought her in," he said. "She might not have made it through the night. She clearly had too much medication."

Nancy felt the earth fall from under her as Rick helped her into a chair. While they were occupied with the doctor, Lindsey found a phone and called Gil.

"Come to the hospital, quick, Uncle Gil. Mom took too many pills and she almost died," she said.

He hung up his phone and ran out the door.

-- TBC --