Title: I'll Wait For You
Author: mbinc
Pairing: Cath/Sara
Fandom: CSI
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CSB and Jerry Bruckheimer.
Author’s Note: written in response to Hells Angel’s challenge. Lyrics are from Joe Nichol's 'I'll Wait For You' –some parts adapted to fit the story.
WARNING: D.O.C. -tissue alert.

***


The lady at the counter said, 'There ain't no flights'
And so she called her on the telephone

“Your flight's cancelled?” a voice asked.

“Yeah, they just told me,” Sara sighed into the phone as her hand went through her hair, combing it back.

“Can’t you book a flight on another airline?” The voice –though trying to stay calm- seemed to fill with worry.

“No, can’t.” the brunette answered, getting more and more frustrated as time passed.

Why did she decide to lecture at this stupid congress? –Because Catherine had told her to go. Of all the places she could go to she had to pick Bozeman. And why did this stupid blizzard have to hit now? Lindsey had called her yesterday telling her Catherine had to go to the hospital. All she wanted was to get home, to be with her wife.

They’d been together now for about twenty years –married for nineteen of those years. After they’d been married for half a year Sara had asked Catherine to have a baby with her. The strawberry blonde had immediately replied with a whole-heartedly yes. Three months later they were pregnant, Sara being the one carrying the baby.

Nine months later, their daughter Caithlin was born. Dark hair, just like her birthmother, with a pair of striking blue eyes –resembling those of Catherine. The now eighteen year old was currently talking to her mom on the phone, explaining why the older woman was still in the hospital. Lindsey had told her yesterday Catherine had to go in for her monthly check up.

Three years after Caithlin’s birth they found out Catherine had breast cancer. The tumor found in her left was successfully removed and after chemo things seemed to improve. For the next fifteen years the strawberry blonde had been clean –no new cancerous cells developed.

But five months ago fate struck again. What started as a normal cold turned out to be a tumor in the strawberry blonde’s left lung. Apparently the cancer had found a new spot to attach itself and start a new wave of destruction.

This time though, surgery was not an option. And so, chemo therapy started again.

“Hand the phone to your mother, please,” the brunette said.

“You need to get here, mom. She needs you. We need you,” Caithlin said, a pleading tone in her voice. She needed both of her mothers, together.

“Yes, Caithlin. I’ll do my best,” she sighed in a reply to her daughter’s request to get home ASAP.

“Love you, mom.”

“Love you too.”

After some rustling from the other end of the line she heard Catherine’s frail voice.

“Sara?”

“Babe, I’m on my way home,” Sara said, tears welling up in her eyes as she wished to be at her woman’s side already.

She said, 'I'll rent a car, and I'll drive home'

The brunette knew she had to get home, no matter what. There was this nagging feeling deep inside her that told her she had to get to her wife. She had to see Catherine as soon as possible.

And she said, 'I'll wait for you
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

The frail voice of Catherine had Sara worried. She could hear it in the strawberry blonde’s voice –she was giving up, no longer able to fight. As she finally reached the rent-a-car desk she had to end her call.

“I got to go now, Babe. I’ll see you soon. I love you, Catherine.” She waited for the strawberry blonde’s reply, almost afraid the older woman had hung up already as she was quiet for some time.

“I’ll wait for you, Sara.”

Fifteen minutes later she had managed to rent one of the last SUVs the company had left. She would drive to Boise, and from there she would be able to catch a plane to Vegas. Keys in hand, suitcase in the other she headed towards the exit of the airport. The weather was bad, very bad. In any other situation she would never have left the airport, but this time, necessity knows no law. She had to get to Catherine.

As she got in the car after she had managed to get the snow chains on, she revved up the engine and left the parking lot, heading for Boise.

After about an hour of driving in silence she turned on the radio, seeking some sort of company for the rest of the long trip that was ahead of her. Settling on an unfamiliar radio station, the sounds of a country song filled the car –some guy singing about how his love was waiting for him:

His heart is breakin' 'cause she's there alone
Her heart is achin' 'cause she wants him home

Sara’s eyes filled with tears again as the words of the song started to sink into her mind. She wiped at her eyes furiously as teardrops threatened to fall.

Catherine had always been such a strong woman –even those years ago when the breast cancer had just been discovered she had fought it head-on. And after she beat it, she got out of it all even stronger. But now she had sound so hopeless, she sounded like she had no energy left –she was giving up on it. On life.

This scared Sara. It scared her to the core of her being. What am I going to do without her? –was the thought that filled the brunette’s plagued mind.

“No,” she said out loud. “This is not about me. Catherine needs me.”

She turned down the volume of the radio, pressed a button on her cell enabling her to call hands free, and dialed a number.

After a few rings it was answered.

“Hello?”

“Linds?”

“Yeah?”

“How’s mom?”

“Sleeping at the moment. How are you?” the blonde asked.

“I’m ok, bit tired. Listen, I managed to rent a car and I’m on my way to Boise right now. From there I’ll fly to Vegas.”

“Alright. So then you’ll be here...” Lindsey inquired.

“Tomorrow, around midnight. Alright, now, when Catherine wakes up, please call me, alright? No matter what time.”

“I will, Sara. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Lindsey.” And with that she ended the call.

Lindsey. The girl had become a beautiful woman, had become a lawyer and established a law firm together with Jack Robberts. Jack had been one year behind her in law school. And though he had been interested in her from the first day he started law school, they only started dating when Lindsey had been in the last year of her study.

Sara remembered Lindsey’s wedding day, seven years ago. That day had been wonderful –Catherine giving their daughter away at the altar, an eleven year old Caithlin loving the role of bridesmaid, while Sara (best ‘man’) was intently watching her wife and daughters.

After the ceremony, they had celebrated at Sara and Catherine’s home. The back garden of their new house changed into one big party. After the bride and groom had their first dance, Sara and Catherine headed for the dance floor, renewing their personal vows as they danced the night away.

After driving for hours on end, she finally reached Boise and boarded the plane that would bring her home.

She didn't stop all day to eat a bite
And she finally got there around midnight

Reaching her car she quickly placed the suitcase in the back and headed out off the parking lot. She grabbed her cell, wanting to call her daughter, but noticed the battery was dead.

“Fuck,” she cursed as she threw the phone onto the passenger’s seat. What if Catherine had tried to call her? Or Lindsey or Caithlin?

She sped away to Desert Palms, driving through a red light. No time to waist, the brunette thought.

As she reached the hospital she left her car in the ambulance bay, quickly walking into the hospital. She waited for the elevator to arrive to take her to the third floor, but this took too long for her. So, she headed for the stairs –taking two steps at a time as quickly as she had done twenty years ago.

When she headed down the halls of the hospital and neared Catherine’s room she was met with the sight of Caithlin walking back and forth in front of her mother’s room. As the girl spotted her mom, tear-filled blue eyes focused on Sara’s Hazel ones. The dark-haired girl shook her head, then bolted towards her mother falling into Sara’s strong arms.

Looking over her daughter’s shoulder, Sara saw Catherine lying peacefully on a bed. Lindsey was sitting in a chair next to the bed, bent over, head in her hands, her entire body shaking. Jack stood behind her –a sad look in his eyes, hands on his wife’s shoulders as he tried to console her.

The doctor said, 'She's in a better place
She said to give you this note just in case'

Pulling Caithlin close, she walked into the room. Catherine’s eyes were closed, a serene expression on her face. Her hands were lying on her stomach, something clasped in them.

Sara took a step closer, reaching for her wife’s hand. It still felt warm. Her other hand reached up and cupped the strawberry blonde’s cheek. She leaned down and kissed Catherine’s chapped lips, a tear falling from her hazel eyes.

Carefully, the brunette reached for what Catherine was holding in her hands. As she took the pieces of paper, Sara noticed they were pictures. One made at their wedding ceremony all those years ago, another of Caithlin’s birth, a third of Lindsey and Jack’s wedding, and the final one of Jason, their first grandson, born two years ago.

As she placed the photos on the bed she noticed another piece of paper –her name on it in Catherine’s handwriting. She opened the note and read it, tears falling unstoppably, making it hard for her to read the last words Catherine had written to her.

Catherine was gone. Her wife was gone.

Her Catherine.

Suddenly, anger arose inside of her. She had been too late. Why did she go to that damned congress?

Why did you make me go? Why did you go? You promised you’d wait for me. Why didn’t you wait for me? –Those irrational questions went through Sara’s head.

Not able to control her anger any longer she ran out of the room and into the bathroom across the hall. She slammed her fists against the door of the toilet, repeating this until her knuckles started to bleed –not feeling any of the pain that shot through her hands.

She heard the door open behind her, footsteps coming closer.

“Mom?” Caithlin asked.

Sara turned, seeing both of her daughters standing there, worried looks on their faces. Suddenly she felt a stinging pain on her knuckles and looked down at her hands, noticing the bloody wounds.

Ignoring her hands she walked over to her daughters and opened her arms, pulling both Lindsey and Caithlin as close as possible. They didn’t cry, they just stood there, holding onto each other tightly.

After a few minutes they headed back to Catherine’s room, Sara taking the chair next to Catherine’s bed, taking her hand again and started talking to her wife.

“I’m sorry,” she started.

Caithlin, Lindsey and Jack left the room, giving Sara some time alone with her wife.

((**********))



Two years. It had been two years already. Sara walked across the cemetery, hand in hand with her grandson Jason, Lindsey and Jack walking two steps in front of them, Caitlin and Stella following behind the tall brunette, each of them carrying a deep red rose.

As they reached Catherine’s grave, Sara picked up Jason after he had placed his rose at grandma Catherine’s ‘earth house’ as the four year old called it. She gave him a hug, placed a kiss on his forehead and handed him over to his father.

Lindsey and Jack were the next two people who placed their rose at the grave, taking some time to commemorate Catherine. They were expecting their second child, and were sad Catherine wasn’t there to witness that anymore.

They were thankful Catherine had still been there when Jason was born, and would raise him, just as his sister or brother, telling him everything there was to know about their grandmother.

Putting Jason back down, the three headed back to the car.

Then Caithlin stepped up, her girlfriend at her side.

“Mother? This is Stella,” Caithlin said after she placed her rose at the headstone and reached for the blonde curly-haired girl.

“I know you would have loved her,” Caithlin started. “I know I do,” she said, a small smile on her lips as she locked eyes with the young woman who gave her hand a little squeeze.

After standing there a little longer, just enjoying the peace around them, Caithlin and Stella walked away, Giving Sara some privacy.

The brunette stepped closer to the headstone, kneeling down beside it. She kissed the tips of her fingers, then pressed them against the rose that was engraved in the stone. As she started to trace the engraved letters she recalled the last note Catherine wrote to her.

And it said, 'I'll wait for you at Heaven's gate
Oh, I don't care how long it takes
And I'll tell St. Pete I can't come in
Without my love and my best friend
Oh, this ain't nothin' new
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

“I love you, Catherine,” she whispered as she pushed herself back up. Leaving behind the red rose she had brought along, she turned and, together with Caithlin and Stella, headed back to where Lindsey, Jack, and Jason were waiting.

As she climbed into the passenger’s seat of the car, she noticed how the clouds broke apart –making place for a few rays of sunlight to seep through. It was as if the clouds made way for Catherine to answer her. She heard it loud and clear-

'P.S., I love you, too
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

Catherine wasn’t gone, she was still there.

Waiting for her.

The End

Thank you for reading!


"I'll Wait For You" by Joe Nichols

The snow in Montana was three feet high
The lady at the counter said, 'There ain't no flights'
And so he called her on the telephone
He said, 'I'll rent a car, and I'll drive home'

And she said, 'I'll wait for you
Like I did last year
At Christmas time with your family here
And your truck broke down out in San Antone
And the gifts stayed wrapped until you got home
Oh, this ain't nothin' new
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

Now he's on his cellphone in a Coupe de Ville
Talkin' to the one he loves and always will
His heart is breakin' 'cause she's there alone
Her heart is achin' 'cause she wants him home

She says, 'I'll wait for you like in '68
When our child was due
But I said he'll have to wait
Until his Dad gets here
And stands by my side
Remember dear
Our son's first cry
Oh, this ain't nothin' new
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

He didn't stop all day to eat a bite
And he finally got there around midnight
The doctor said, 'She's in a better place
She said to give you this note just in case'

And it said, 'I'll wait for you at Heaven's gate
Oh, I don't care how long it takes
And I'll tell St. Pete I can't come in
Without my love and my best friend
Oh, this ain't nothin' new
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

'P.S., I love you, too
Sweetheart, I'll wait for you'

***