CSI Carter (under major editing)

Home is Where Hell is

Once we are in the parking garage, I text Russell to let him know I am borrowing one of the SUVs. I could tell that she was coming down from the adrenaline rush. Allison gets in the back and lays against the door with her head leaning on the window. Every few minutes, I look back to check on Allison. Just as Allison throws up in the back, I run a red light and get pulled over. To say that this evening was a disaster would be an understatement. I pull over, rolling down my window, waiting for the officer to pull up. I turn back and hand Allison an evidence bag which is the only thing I have on.

The officer walks up and shines the flashlight in the car. He asks," license and registration, please" I answer, " sure thing, officer, I want to let you know that I am a CSI with the crime lab and I am currently armed; my id is in my bag" the officer nods I reach for then show it to him. Allison throws up again; the officer gives me a sympathetic look, " get her home and watch out for the reds, I'll let you off with a warning this time" he turns to walk away " thank you, officer." Once we get back to mom's house, she has managed to stop throwing up. I think it was just car sickness. I send Allison right up to her room to lie down and get some sleep. The paramedics were not worried about a concussion, so I hope she gets some rest tonight as I walk into the kitchen to make food for her if she gets hungry later.

I hear the front door swing open. I know this is not going to end well. My mother stumbles in with a 46-ounce bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand. She trips on Allison's shoes as she's falling. I reach to catch the bottle so it doesn't shatter. Not even bothering to try and catch my mother. I put the bottle on the counter, feeling bad watching my mother struggle to get off the floor. I hold my hand out to help her up when I looked down to see five or six little plastic baggies with a white powder in them. My mother always had a thing for a coke when I was a kid.

I can feel the anger bubbling up inside me, and I start screaming, " what the hell is wrong with you? Bring cocaine into the house with I am a cop, for god sakes. " my mother manages to get off the floor. Hey, eyes go dark, the look on her face makes me feel 17 all over again, utterly powerless watching my mother slowly kill herself while I try to stay afloat. . It quickly turns into a screaming match. My mother yells at me, " you have no right to talk to me like that. I am your mother I fed you to let you live here" trying to calm the growing urge to shoot, I yell, " you didn't do anything for me when dad died so did you left us to fend for ourselves while you got drunk and snort coke" she comes at me, I give her a light shove, she falls back. 

I grab the Jack Daniels bottle and baggies of cocaine off the floor and walk into the kitchen. I dump the liquor down the sink, and I open the first bag, then dump it down the sink. Before I even get a chance to think, I feel a hand grabbing me by the hair and yanking me back. Mother slams me into the table set. I feel a sharp pain in my ribs. I know at least one is cracked. It takes everything I have not to shoot her right there. I know the best thing to do is to leave before it gets worse. I don't even make it to the front when the door she grabs my hair again. I manage to push her away from me before she can get a good grip. I see my mother hit the ground as I am walking out of the house. I see Allison looking out through her bedroom window. I nod to Alison and have always had the ability to communicate just through looks, so I know she got the message to lock her bedroom door.

Once I get back to the lab. I run to my locker, grab my bag then duck into a side washroom that I found on my first day. I locked the door and warp up my ribs and put an ice pack over where it hurt the most. I had done this enough times when I was younger. Next, I start to put makeup over my eye to cover up the bruise that's starting to form. In my head, I know I could tell resale what's going on but, I have to get Allison out first.

I See Fin, and she fills me in on the case "we have a suspect and video of her at the crime scene. All we need is a DAN sample to confirm" I nod as we walk in the viewing area for integration 1. Brass is stepping into the room, and I turn towards Fin. We look at each other I ask, " you or me?" she smiles " you go, I will see Hodges about some trace" I walk into interrogation and sit beside Brass. After about 25 minutes, the suspect confesses to killing our victim. As I stand up, I try not to show how much pain I am in. I feel a bruise starting to form on my ribs; if they're not broken, it's going to be one hell of a bruise.

A few hours later, my shift ends. I check in with Allison to make sure she's ok. Even though I feel like I have been hit by a bus, I sit down in the lunchroom to fill out all the paperwork that my lawyer gave me. After an hour, I finally finished the paperwork. I see Judy packing up her bag " hey Judy is there a fax machine I can use?" She

And ask for an envelope, put the paper in, and ask Judy to mail it for me. She puts it with the rest of the mail from the lab. One of the first things that Danny tough me was Never to piss off the receptionist walk out of the lab. I fax the papers off to my lawyer and pictures of my ribs, Allison's current x-rays and some older photos of injuries. After that, I go directly home feeling exhausted.