Time in the Sun.

………

Greg had never run through the halls of a hospital before. As he rounded the corner to the ICU, he slowed to a walk, quickly closing the distance between himself and the others. Grissom was at the desk, trying to bend the no visitors but family rule, Nick was pacing back and forth, weary and tense. Brass had sat down on the couch against the wall, his head in his hands.

"Hey! Where is she?" Greg passed by Nick and Brass, coming to stand beside Grissom. "My girlfriend was brought in, she's a CSI. Sara Sidle." Greg ignored the look from Grissom, and the stunned look from Nick and Brass. The nurse at the desk peered at him, then sifted through her files.

"Gregory Sanders?"

"Yeah. Can I see her?"

"You are listed as her emergency contact."

"Yes I know. Can I see her?"

"Of course. The doctor will be in momentarily to speak with you." The nurse nodded, and stood to open the door to the ICU. Greg followed her, disappearing from the view of the others as he rounded the corner, without a word.

"Oh, Sara." Greg breathed, paying the doctor standing beside her bed no attention. Sara seemed so small lying beneath the thin covers of the hospital bed. He knelt beside her, pushing a curl out of her face, and taking her hand. "Sara, love." His voice hitched, and his eyes watered immediately. He pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek, holding her head with one hand, and her fingers with the other. Her eyes searched him out half open, and she squeezed his hand with her own, gently.

"Greg." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he breathed a sigh of relief, smiling. He blinked away the tears that had welled in his eyes.

"I'm here. I'm right here." He pressed a kiss to her fingers, letting his tears fall to the sheets. "What happened?" Greg glanced at the doctor, turning again back to Sara, stroking her curls.

"Ms. Sidle was brought in by paramedics with a Nicholas Stokes, who told us that the roof of the room Ms. Sidle was processing collapsed, and Ms. Sidle was pinned in the rubble." The doctor spoke quietly. "Mr. Stokes said he had left the room moments before the ceiling collapsed. Put in a call to 911."

"I'm okay, Greg." Sara's soft whisper tried to convince him, but Greg saw through her act.

"What happened, love?" Greg was ignoring the doctor, focusing entirely on Sara.

"Nick only left the room for a minute, we thought it was safe. Metcalf cleared it." Her fingers reached up and touched his face gently. "You're being rude to the doctor, Gregory. Let him finish." She tried a weary smile, and he nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to her head as he stood up.

"I apologize."

"Quite alright. We were able to re-inflate Ms. Sidle's right lung, but it has suffered a considerable amount of damage, which is why she is to lie on her left side. We had to reconstruct her left kneecap. Your girlfriend also sustained a broken rib on her right side, where the lung was punctured, and a bruised hip bone." The doctor flipped through the chart, squinting at a page. "We've put her on demoral, and there was a shot of morphine administered by the paramedics." Greg nodded, thanking the doctor who slipped away, to give them a few minutes of privacy. He took Sara's hand in both of his own, turning it over and pressing a kiss to her palm.

"Are you really okay, Sara?" She nodded only just, and accepted the kiss he dropped gently on her lips.

"I'll be alright. Had better days." He smiled at her, and she squeezed his fingers gently.

"Grissom and Nick and Brass are waiting outside."

"Nicky must be wearing a tread in the tiles."

"Yeah. They were a bit surprised on your choice of emergency contacts."

"Even the best kept secrets have their time in the sun, love."

"Yeah. So much for our brilliant plan." He sighed, resting his forehead on his hand, holding hers with his other. "I suppose they have a few questions concerning your health."

"Among other things." She whispered, and Greg grinned at her, rolling his eyes.

"If this was your master plan of how to tell the guys at work about us, I think you and I need to have a discussion about your priorities."

"I owe you one." She smiled, and he kissed her softly again, checking her over slowly before standing, and making his way back to the three older men in the hallway outside the ICU. Greg quietly told the nurse attendant that he would be right back, and he pushed through the doors, stepping out into the hallway.

"What in the hell was that all about?" Grissom was the first to speak, standing squarely in front of Greg. Nick frowned at his boss, and took in Greg's nervous expression, putting himself between the oldest CSI and the youngest.

"How is Sara?" Nick deflected the attention off of the news of an involvement between Greg and Sara, seemingly bringing both men out of their thoughts, and causing them to refocus on Sara. Greg visibly relaxed, able to handle Nick's inquiry.

"She's going to be okay, they put her in the ICU as a precaution. The ceiling broke a rib, that punctured a lung, causing it to collapse, and the surgeon had to reconstruct her kneecap, and she's got a few bruised bones, but she'll be okay. She's hyped up on demoral and morphine, and she still managed to boss me around." He smiled faintly at Nick before letting his gaze flicker over Grissom, gauging his reaction.

"Thank God." Nick nodded, taking in a deep breath and trying to slow his pulse back to normal.

"She's going to be in a lot of pain for a while, but she'll be just fine. She'll probably talk them into having her released in a few hours." Greg shoved his hands in his pockets, and examined his shoes.

"Is this a tactic you guys have?"

"What?"

"To get past the hospital policies." Grissom's expression was void of any outward emotion, his jaw set firmly as he questioned his level one. Greg glanced from Nick to Brass, to Nick again, before turning and glancing at the door behind him, and turning back to face Grissom.

"No, sir." Greg ran a hand through his hair, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "I don't lie on my tax forms, and I don't lie on my health forms."

"Greg, you and Sara-"

"Yeah, about that, uh, we were careful to avoid the mentor-student scenario. As it clearly states in the Lab's version of the LVPD employee conduct handbook; 'An investigator, while training another investigator, is prohibited from indiscretions with said trainee, and relationships that would otherwise subjectify the trainee's passing of his or her proficiencies in the opinion of the mentor is strictly forbidden. Once the trainee becomes a salaried Level One, regular employee conduct guidelines are in effect.'" Greg shifted his weight uneasily, the silence from the other men starting to get to him. "Can I go see my girlfriend, now?" Nick broke into a grin, and pulled Greg into a hug.

"Tell her I'm sorry." Greg nodded, pulling away from his colleagues and slipping back through the doors of the ICU, relieved that His head was still attached to his body. He made his way to Sara, and sat down again beside her, taking her hand in his once more.

"You're still alive."

"I recited the employee relationship clause, the passage about students and mentors. Then I left. Grissom's going to dismember me." She smiled, holding his hand in hers tightly.

"You're no good to me dismembered. I'll handle Grissom. He's just mad he didn't pick up on it."

"Oh, so all I am to you is a non-dismembered body? I see how it is." Greg smiled, but let it fade quickly, taking a breath before becoming serious. "I don't think it ever occurred to him that you could be lost."

"I'm not lost, Greg, I'm right here."

"No." He shook his head. "Lost to him. He can't have you. I don't think that had ever occurred to him until just now."

"Greg-"

"I love you." Greg shifted forward in the chair, and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. She didn't answer right away, fighting off the pang of panic at first hearing those words in his voice. She couldn't remember what she was so afraid of, looking up at him. It was just Greg. Greg would never hurt her, take advantage of her, use her, leave her. Greg loved her. He said so.

"I love you too."

………

A/N: Just out there… one shot… procrastinating from my work that is due in only a few hours. Had to get this out of my head to make way for academia. Not related to anything.