Sick of surprises
By Dany
Summary: Grissom has a surprise for Sara, but she doesn't take it as well as he had hoped.
Rating: T
A/N: Grissom's sabbatical is getting my writing juices flowing again. My mind can't help but map out the different scenarios, and this my outlet.
I hope you'll like it .
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.
xxxxx
"Grissom's prolonging his time out."
Those were the words that sent chills down her spine, followed by an almost unbearable pain that spread within her.
Catherine had announced the news to everyone at the beginning of the shift, unaware that this caused one particular heart to break. Sara had not known that he would not be home by Saturday.
Hurt, anger, humiliation and betrayal tore through her and suddenly everything in her seemed to shut down.
Why was he doing this?
He had said that his leaving had nothing to do with them and now he didn't have the guts to tell her in person that he wasn't coming back in person?
They had talked, emailed or at least texted almost every day and now he had shut her out without warning. Her pain at being left behind had eased a bit with each call; each word from him and their frequent contact had reassured her that Grissom had not left her and their relationship.
Now with just one sentence, her world had shattered. How could he do that to her?
Suddenly, she felt sick to the core. She couldn't contain it and jumped up, rushing to the sink to actually be sick.
She wretched until nothing more came out, still dry-heaving until she couldn't breathe properly anymore. Breathing took precedence and her body stopped trying to purge all of her pain out.
Only then did she feel the soft pats on her back and the hands on her arm, steadying her. "Sara, are you okay?"
The voice was Warrick's, as was the hand on her back, but Nick was the one by her side, holding her up. A glass of water appeared, another kind gesture from Warrick.
She rinsed her mouth before she swallowed carefully, still wincing at the acidic taste in her mouth. "I guess, I shouldn't have eaten that last bit of pasta salad before coming in."
Sara tried to stand up straighter, but felt herself wobble just before small black dots appeared in her field of vision.
"Whoa there, easy." Nick and Warrick were gripping her tighter, still making sure she didn't fall.
For a moment, she felt like being sick again, but this time she got it under control.
"Nick, get her home. She can't work like this and she shouldn't drive either. If it gets worse, make sure she sees a doctor."
She knew she should have been mad that Catherine treated her like a child, but she just didn't have the energy.
Everything seemed to be hazy. She just watched as Warrick packed up her stuff, and when Nick led her out to his car, she didn't resist. It was as if she couldn't do anything on her own anymore.
She was so out of it that she didn't see Greg and Catherine exchange worried glances or hear Warrick advise Nick to get to the bottom of this before he left her alone.
xxxxx
"Nick, put me on speaker."
Nick was still at Sara's apartment when her cell phone had rung. He had been surprised to hear Grissom's voice and even more so when his boss wasted no time in getting to the point.
Given the current situation and the strong suspicion that Grissom was the cause of Sara being sick, he hesitated.
"Nick, this is a misunderstanding, trust me."
Still a bit unsure, he did what he was told, hoping it would help Sara.
He had brought her to her bedroom where she had lain down and hadn't moved since.
"Sara?"
Nick saw her stiffen, but she didn't respond otherwise.
"Sara, please listen. I didn't know you were staying at your apartment. I thought you were home and had gotten my message."
This time, she moved her head, looking at the phone with wide eyes.
She was still hurt, Nick could see that, and as the clues were finally falling into place, he understood what was going on.
He had been right - Grissom had a woman in his life and that woman was none other than Sara.
"Honey, please believe me."
Grissom didn't seem to care that Nick was listening, for he was so focused on getting through to Sara.
Sara was more alert now and she wiped away some of her tears with the back of her hand. Not being able to stand to see her cry, Nick sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
While he was mad at Grissom for doing this to her, he also hoped that there really was a good explanation and he could make it right for Sara.
"You're not going to come back." Sara's voice was weak and tearstained, but what frightened Nick was the finality in her statement.
"What? No, Dear. Of course I'll be back. The message…Sara."
She pressed herself further into Nick, needing something to hold on to.
"Just because you might have told a machine that you were going to stay for what – another month, two, three, forever - doesn't make it better."
Silence greeted them from the other end of the line and Nick wondered if that had been the final words of their relationship.
Just as Sara reached out to turn the phone off, Grissom spoke again. "I'm coming back in two weeks."
Strength and conviction swung in his voice and Sara's hand stopped short. "The message I left you, I was asking you to take a couple of days off. Next week. I wanted you to meet me in Marina del Rey. I wanted to spend some time away with you, proving to you that I didn't leave you."
Nick felt Sara stiffen again and saw that her tears were flowing freely now.
Jesus, they were in deep. If what Grissom said was true, the whole fiasco was one big misunderstanding. Grissom could have planned it all a little bit better, but hey, he was still Grissom and this was huge for him.
"I'm coming home."
Nick could hear some shuffling and guessed that Grissom was already packing up all of his belongings. For the first time since this mess had begun, Sara looked at Nick and he could see the spark returning to her eyes.
He didn't know what had transpired between them before Grissom had left, but he believed that this hadn't been an on-the-whim decision. They must have discussed it, and although Sara had obviously suffered from his absence, she must have agreed to it. She had probably held on because his absence had a fixed time frame, but when that had been broken, she hadn't been able to take it anymore.
"Sara, I'll be there as fast as I can. Please wait for me."
She nodded, but knowing Grissom was unaware of her gesture, Nick took the initiative. "She will. But hurry up."
With that, Nick shut the phone off and tossed it on the night stand. He wrapped both of his arms around Sara and held her tight. "I hope he's worth it."
He could feel Sara nod against his chest and he smiled. "I still think you should kick his ass once he's here."
The comment drew a small smile from her and Nick was relieved that she seemed to have regained her grip on life.
As bad as it made him feel, that was also his cue to exit. After all, they were still on the clock and although no one expected Sara to be back, his presence would most certainly be required.
Sara seemed to know what he was thinking about because when he looked down at her once more he found her nodding.
"Tell me you will be okay?" he still had to ask, although it looked like she was already doing better.
Her small nod didn't convince him entirely and he reinforced his question with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll be okay."
This time he believed her.
xxxxx
Somehow he knew she would still be at her apartment.
He had been so incredibly stupid. He should have made sure she'd gotten the message before he called Catherine.
His sabbatical had been a sore spot in their relationship ever since he had brought it up. Sara hadn't liked it, but hadn't vetoed the idea because she knew that this was important to him.
She had put him first and this was how he had thanked her.
The plan had seemed perfect, and yet it had failed.
He had wanted to take her to the place he grew up, show her around and open up that part of him to strengthen their bond. No, it seemed as if all he had done was split the crack the sabbatical had caused wide open.
There was no one to blame but himself.
These thoughts circled around in his head as the cab neared Sara's old apartment.
He hadn't been there in a while. The past several moths they had basically lived at the townhouse – home. Most of her stuff had wandered over to their house, leaving only the furniture and a few things that weren't in use. The apartment's status had ranked at 'alibi' since then, but nothing more. They hadn't been ready to make things official, so Sara kept paying the rent.
Now, however, he wondered if that had been a mistake.
Sara obviously needed more and maybe so did he. If that was still an issue after Sara was through with him, then they would have to address it.
Sara opened only seconds after his first knock, looking so exhausted that Grissom wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms. He refrained, knowing that they needed to clear the air first.
She stepped aside and let him in.
He noticed that some of her stuff had found its way back to her apartment, and he felt his heart sink. 'There has to be a way to fix this,' he kept repeating in his mind.
They sat down on the couch, leaving some space between them. Neither knew quite what to say, how to start, drawing out the silence until he couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm so sorry. I never meant for you to doubt my return. Sara, please believe me; I had every intention of coming back to you."
She looked down on her folded hands in her lap, not answering him. This was his show.
"All I could think of the last month was you and how good it would feel to see you, hear you, feel you, breathe you again. I know this wasn't easy for you and I wish there had been a way we could have done this together."
Tentatively, he reached out and unclasped her hands to take one into his own. He was relieved when Sara didn't resist, but she still didn't look up.
"I wanted to surprise you, show you just how much I've missed you. That's why I took two more weeks. I thought if you'd take some time off during that period, just three days or so, we could both meet away from here." He didn't know what else to say.
Sara had remained silent, but maybe it was time that he let her take the initiative. Her gaze was still turned downward, but he could tell that she was thinking. His words seemed to have reached her. This thought made him at least relaxed enough to wait until she was ready.
Time seemed to crawl, but he forced himself to let her decide when she was willing to talk.
"I thought you had left me."
Her seemingly simple statement ripped through him. Her words cut him deep, but he could see where she was coming from.
"I couldn't stand to be alone there, so I came back here. Everything at home, you were everywhere. It hurt."
What she didn't say was that his going away had hurt her. He had hurt her.
His instinct was to apologize immediately, but he knew that now was not the right time.
"You always called me on my cell. Why did you just leave a message at home?"
She had switched tracks so fast that he had trouble following her. "I didn't want to risk anyone overhearing what I had to tell you."
And it was true. Their usual phone conversations may have seemed meaningless to anyone else because they never said the words 'I miss you' or 'I love you,' but he used them in his last message for her. That's why he had called home. "I'm sorry."
Her face was more open now and he knew this was the moment. "I'm sorry for giving you the impression that it was our relationship that made me take this sabbatical. Please, let me make it up to you. Let me show you that it was never you."
He bridged the gap between them, but didn't reach out to touch her.
She looked into his eyes before she leaned into him, giving him her trust once more.
"Thank you." He kissed the top of her head, needing to be even closer to her.
Sara seemed to feel that need too, and she put her hand on his thigh, squeezing it softly.
"Don't ever do that again." The anger and disappointment were gone from her voice.
Grissom nodded and silently swore that he would never do something so stupid again.
"Good."
Sara slipped even closer, this time meeting his eyes head on. "Don't think you're off the hook that easily. Nick told me to kick your ass and I will. But, since you went to all the trouble to plan this out, why don't we take that vacation and use the time to sort things out."
Grissom let out a sigh of relief.
"I can still kick your butt when we come back."
The end