Rendezvous Part 9

Derrick took a cab back to his hotel and tried to imagine what Natalie must have been going through. Death was a frequent companion in both their lives, but when it was personal the emotions typically hid, surfaced ten fold. Derrick thought about his own relationship. He wondered how he would react to the news of his wife’s death and it saddened him because their marriage was and had been six feet under for years now. He shrugged off the thought and looked at his watch. There wasn’t much time left for him in town and while he didn’t want to leave Natalie at a time like this, he had to get back home. The cab dropped him off at the hotel and Derrick went about getting his bag packed, making contact with the professor, and ordered breakfast in; he wasn’t up for the company of strangers and his mind was still on Natalie. The time passed and the front desk called to say the airport shuttle service was on its way. With little time left, Derrick decided he needed to touch base with Natalie one last time.

“Hey Natalie, it’s Derrick,” he paused. “I’m about to head to the airport and I’ll be on the 10:20 flight with American. I’ll leave my phone on for as long as I can. Hope you’re feeling a little better and I hope to hear from you soon.” Derrick figured she was still at the hospital. He knew death required a lot of paperwork.

When Derrick landed, he called home, but decided to go straight to the lab and drop off the files he’d gathered. The twins wouldn’t be home until 3:30 and he’d be home by then. Seeing his wife wasn’t something he was up for; not that she’d pay much attention to his presence anyway. Derrick wanted nothing more than to feel the warmth of compassion, but home was not where he was going to find it, so he buried himself in the warmth of a death he had something in common with.

Two hours later Natalie called.

“CSU. Parker speaking.” Derrick’s tone, sterile and professional.

“Hey you,” Natalie said softly. “I got your message. I’m glad you made it back safely.”

“Hey Natalie,” Derrick smiled, “good to hear from you. How you holding up?” He asked gently.

A deep sigh preceded her voice. “As best I can I suppose. A harness broke and pinned him to the wall,” Natalie was purposely not saying Lloyd’s name in order to stay detached enough to fill Derrick in.

Derrick ran his hand over his head. “I’m sorry,” was all he could say. There was nothing else he could say even though his scientific mind was screaming out questions.