Gil Grissom was lying flat on his stomach. He did not notice the twenty or so people around him trying to move the red mustang or the moving in of heavy moving equipment. He didn't notice the police officers taping off the scene or the flashing lights of waiting police cars and ambulances. Or his team and Brass who were all standing off to the side with varied feelings of anxiety, relief and shock. No, Gil Grissom only had eyes for Sara.
Grissom lay on his stomach with his arm stretched out holding Sara's hand. He talked of everything and nothing. About the way Bruno was scared of flies and darted out of the room whenever one went near him, about the first article in the journal he was currently reading, about what colour they should pick for the tiles in the bathroom they were finally renovating. And every time Sara slowly slurred a response a momentary feeling of relief washed over him.
'Sir… Sir…' It wasn't until the officer tentatively shook his arm that Grissom moved his focus from Sara, 'Sir we're ready to get her out'.
'Do you hear that hon, we're going to get you out now.' And quite suddenly with a great lurch the car was lifted away. In a great flurry ambulance officers moved in to treat Sara but Grissom maintained a hold of her hand and she squeezed faintly back as she was placed on a gurney and moved towards the waiting helicopter. As Sara was placed inside the helicopter Grissom was forced to let go of her hand and as he let go the same fear that had engulfed him for the past 24 hours, the fear that he had lost her stole through him for a split second but then Catherine was at his side leading him to the Denali.
Catherine took over. 'Nick, Greg, Warrick can you make sure day shift is fine to take over this scene, we've got enough to get Natalie without this scene anyway, then go home and get some sleep. I'm going to drive Grissom.'
Catherine climbed into the drivers seat of the Denali, Grissom was already in the passenger seat anxiously waiting for her to take off. Catherine took a quick look at Grissom he had a far off look on his haggard face.
'We should drop off at your place so you can get some dry clothes, you're soaked through', Grissom looked down in disbelief, he hadn't realised he had been lying on wet earth from the torrential rain of the past day.
"No, no I've got to get to the hospital'.
'Well' Catherine tentatively replied, 'I could go to your place after I've dropped you at the hospital and pick you up some clothes.' But Grissom didn't seem to be listening because he was now mumbling about feeding Bruno and Sara wanting her pyjamas.
'Who is Bruno?' Catherine asked curiously, this brought Grissom out of his reverie,
'Oh, um he is our dog and he hasn't been fed since I was last home.' Grissom replied distractedly.
'Well' Catherine ploughed on through the shock that they shared a dog, replied a little louder this time, 'I could go to your place after I've dropped you off and get you some clean clothes and feed your dog.'
'Yeah, that would be good, can you also get Sara's pyjamas and her toothbrush. Her pyjamas are in the top draw of the chest of drawers, her robe is in the wardrobe, her toothbrush is the blue one, Bruno's food is in the bottom of the pantry and can you just get me a clean T Shirt and pants.
'Yes sure, all at your townhouse?' she asked to just confirm the fact that they lived together.
'Yes, our townhouse,' they fell into silence until Catherine realised that nothing had been said about Sara's family.
'Gil' Catherine said loudly to bring him out of the reverie he had fallen back into, 'have you contacted Sara's family.'
'She has no family,' of course she has family, everybody has family Catherine thought.
'Are you sure Gil?'
'Huh, oh, yeah of course I'm sure, she spent most of her childhood in foster care.' This night was just full of surprises Catherine mused, although all the surprises seemed to fit perfectly. There were clues for each surprise but without context she had never placed them, she suddenly felt that she was not a very good investigator.
They arrived at the hospital and Grissom had darted out of the car before she could even fully stop the car. She quickly had to yell at him to give her his keys, he quickly threw them at her before disappearing into the hospital.
Catherine slowly got back into the car and just sat for a few minutes catching her breath from the events of the previous 24 hours, before pulling out and heading to Grissom's townhouse. Well Grissom's and Sara's townhouse she reminded herself.
When she opened the door of the townhouse she was immediately bowled over by a large boxer, 'hello there, you must be Bruno, are you hungry?' The dog looked at her quizzically and she took this moment to step fully into the townhouse. A lot had changed since she had last been here. The townhouse no longer had a sterile feeling, the stark white walls were now a warm cream with a deep moron feature wall, there were knick knacks on the shelves and walls and the single small couch was now replaced with a comfy L-shaped lounge that gave the whole room a homely feel. Catherine went to the pantry and fed the dog. She then walked towards the bedroom with a feeling of apprehension as though she shouldn't, even with permission, be entering the room of two people who were so intensely private that they had successfully hidden the fact from their co-workers that they were living together. However Catherine was extremely curious to enter the room and therefore opened the door.
The bedroom was just as warm and inviting as the living room, something Catherine assumed was due to Sara moving in. However she didn't feel confident staying in the room, they were just too private. She quickly found a bag and started packing pyjamas, underwear, slippers and a robe for Sara and clean clothes and underwear for Grissom. Just as she was about to enter the ensuite a photo on the bedside table caught her eye and she moved towards it. It was of Grissom smiling as though in laughter looking directly at the camera with Sara in his arms whose head was twisted looking up at him also smiling from laughter. And at that moment Catherine fully realised how much Grissom loved Sara and how much he would have lost if they were unable to find her. Catherine quickly took a shuddering breath for what could have been and walked into the bathroom to collect Sara's toothbrush.
Catherine lightly knocked on the door of Sara's hospital room and entered quickly. Sara lay sleeping in the hospital bed with a drip attached to one arm, the other arm hang out of the side of the bed and Grissom held onto her hand as he sat in the hospital chair beside her bed. 'How is she?'
'She's pretty good, she has some hypothermia, a broken ankle, a cut to the head that they stitched up, bruising all over her body and general weakness from having no food or water but considering pretty good.'
'I've brought you some clothes and I fed Bruno'.
'OK, thanks Catherine' Grissom responded wearily but Catherine knew better than to prod him to go home and sleep.
'You should go and change before you get hypothermia, I will watch Sara while you are gone.' Grissom let go of Sara's hand reluctantly but she did not stir, so Grissom quickly moved away to get changed.
When Grissom returned he quickly resumed his vigil beside Sara's bed and took her hand in his again. Catherine stood ready to leave. 'Gil call me if you need anything, anything at all, at anytime. I'm going to head off now I'm exhausted and I need to see Lindsay, I'll come back in tomorrow morning'.
'Thanks Catherine, thanks for everything, I will see you tomorrow,' Grissom responded.
Grissom soon fell into an uncomfortable sleep in the chair beside Sara's bed.
Sara awoke to the beeps within the silence of a hospital at night time, it took her a moment to get her bearings as she turned to her side and saw Grissom asleep on the chair. She tugged lightly on his hand and he jerked awake.
'Hey you' she murmured softly, he looked at her and smiled, standing to place a kiss on her forehead.
'How are you feeling?'
"Fine, come hop in with me,' she responded while moving across on the bed.
'Sara, are you sure?'
'Yes, I need you next to me,' so he got up and squeezed in beside her and she nestled into his side. She sighed deeply and they both fell asleep instantly.
In the morning Grissom helped Sara into her own pyjamas to which she was eternally grateful and Grissom filled her in on the fact that their relationship was now known about by the team. Neither Grissom or Sara felt worried about this, after the past 48 hours they couldn't care less who knew about their relationship.
Warrick picked up both Nick and then Greg on his way into the hospital. 'So, Grissom and Sara,' Nick broached the subject they had all been thinking about.
'Yeah, do you think they are in a relationship?' Greg asked.
'I don't know but I did think Grissom was in a relationship a couple of months ago, I even talked about it with Catherine', replied Nick.
'Surely they wouldn't keep a relationship secret for that long', queried Warrick.
'but they are pretty private people' Nick supplied as they all fell into silence as they arrived at the hospital.
All thoughts that they were not a couple were quickly forgotten as they turned into Sara's room. Grissom and Sara were both sitting up in her bed talking quietly with their heads close together, both looked up as the boys entered the room. Grissom quickly gave Sara a kiss on the cheek before hoping out of the bed to greet the boys. Grissom bustled around finding chairs and a vase for the flowers they had brought. When they had all sat down and were satisfied that Sara was well, they all fell into easy conversation about their most funny and bizarre cases. They all laughed hysterically over the recent case of the man who was found waste deep in cement next to a dead body.
When Catherine arrived a short time later Sara greeted her with 'I hear you've met our baby' all the boys fell into quick silence and shared confused looks that plainly said surely they couldn't hide a baby as well. Grissom smirked and Catherine quickly caught on.
'Yes, Bruno he is adorable,' after a moment of silence Nick asked,
'Sorry, but who is Bruno?'
'Their dog, I fed him last night.'
'A dog, that you share,' Warrick asked unbelievingly.
'Yes' Grissom and Sara replied in unison.
'Oh, you guys are unbelievable, how did you keep all this from us,' Nick expressed the sentiment thought by all in the room. Grissom and Sara shared guilty glances.
'I guess after all this time knowing each other and there always being that extra something that took us so many years to acknowledge we wanted to keep it to ourselves, we also might be too private for our own good' Sara responded while Grissom nodded intermittently.
'Well I'm happy for you both, you both seem really… happy' said Catherine and everyone else murmured their agreement.
'Thanks everyone and thanks for everything, that means a lot to me, after all you are basically my family,' Grissom moved from his spot perched on the end of her bed to give her a quick squeeze of the arm and with Grissom by her side and the team around her Sara knew that everything was going to be OK.