Homecomings
Disclaimer: I still don't own them.
A/N: This story was written primarily because I wondered what Sara might say to at least one of her well-meaning visitors while under the influence. Takes place between 8x01 ("Dead Doll") and 8x02 ("A La Cart")
One of the things that had always fascinated Grissom about Sara was the way she could surprise him – just when he thought he knew everything about her, she would spring something new on him.
For instance, in the last twenty-four hours, he had learned that Sara had absolutely no tolerance for pain medication.
The orthopedic surgeon who had performed surgery on her arm had also given her a prescription for some fairly strong pain medication, a prescription that came with a long list of warnings about things you should not do while on this medication – no operating heavy machinery, for instance. As the medication started to take effect, Sara went… well, the only word he could think of to describe her was loopy. It was as if she had let a few glasses of wine go to her head. But if she was no longer in pain, he didn't mind. Besides, it was nice to hear her laugh, especially after all that had happened. Even if it was drug-induced.
Less than twenty-four hours after her surgery, she was released – the surgeon had assured them that was the normal recovery time.
"We don't usually extend the stay unless there are complications," the doctor explained, "And there were none."
Grissom was slightly skeptical.
"Are you sure? She's been through quite a bit in the last three days."
"She's doing quite well, though, and generally we don't extend beyond an overnight stay for a fracture repair. She'll be much more comfortable at home," The doctor assured him, and there wasn't much more he could say. Especially since Sara agreed.
"I want to go home, really, I do. I hate hospitals," She said.
So, armed with a week's worth of painkillers from the hospital pharmacy, a long list of aftercare instructions, and the four bouquets of flowers she had received during her brief stay at Desert Palms, Grissom brought Sara home.
"Where's Hank?" Sara asked as Grissom led her through the front door.
"At the sitter's, remember? She agreed to keep him for a few days." He was sure he had told her this.
"Oh, go get him," Sara said, "I miss my puppy."
"Tess will be bringing him by later," He assured her, "Now you need some rest."
"No I don't," Sara protested, "I'm fine."
"The doctor said you need to take it easy."
"Yeah, well, that doctor was a jerk."
Grissom raised his eyebrow at Sara, who laughed.
"He was," She said, "He may be a good surgeon, but he was kind of arrogant, don't you think?"
"I think you really need to get some rest," He said, trying to lead her towards the bedroom. Sara rolled her eyes, but she followed.
As he was settling Sara in their bedroom, Grissom heard a knock on the front door and glanced at the clock.
"It's Tess," Sara started to get up, but he held one hand on her good shoulder.
"I'll get it," He said, "You relax."
He headed for the door, fully expecting to see Tess and Hank – instead, he opened the door to a smiling Catherine, who held up a box.
"Hi," She said, sounding both nervous and cheerful, "I knew you'd be bringing Sara home today, and I wanted to drop by. I brought cake."
"Thanks," Grissom took the box she handed him, and Catherine stepped into the apartment and started looking around.
"This is a lot nicer than your old place. I can't believe I haven't been here yet." She commented. Grissom put the cake on the kitchen counter, and Catherine turned and looked at him.
"So, how's Sara?" She asked.
"She's resting," He said, hoping his tone would send Catherine a message, "Doctor's orders."
Catherine nodded, but she didn't head towards the door. She clearly intended to stay, at least for a few minutes.
"Gil?" Sara appeared in the hallway that led to the bedroom, "Is it… Catherine?"
"Hi," Catherine said, tilting her head towards Sara, in a tone that was both sad, happy and sympathetic, all at the same time. Sara gave her a tight lipped smile and looked over at Grissom, who shrugged.
"How are you?" Catherine asked, "You look…"
"Terrible?" Sara asked, and Catherine shook her head.
"No," She said, "Of course not. I was about to say you look… better."
Sara gave her another tight lipped smile, "Thanks," she said. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and a look came over her face that Grissom could only
describe as… devilish.
Uh-oh, he thought, and he started to walk towards her.
"So," Sara said, looking at Catherine, "What do you think of the new place?"
"It's very nice," Catherine nodded, and Sara smiled – wider this time.
"Thanks," she said, "It's more feminine, don't you think?"
"It is," Catherine said, "It definitely feels different."
"So, Catherine," Sara continued, stepping closer to Catherine, glancing at Grissom's raised eyebrow, "Do you remember what we talked about last week?"
Catherine thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"No," She said slowly, and Sara jumped in.
"You remember. When we were at the theme park."
"Oh – sure, I remember."
"I bet you feel pretty stupid right now, don't you?" Sara smirked, much to the astonishment of both Grissom and Catherine. Catherine's mouth fell open, and Grissom had to hold back a snort of laughter.
"Sara," He said, stepping towards her and putting one hand on her shoulder, "You really should get some rest."
He started leading her back towards the hallway, but when they got to the door, Sara whirled back around.
"You want to know which one of us wears the chaps?" She asked.
"Okay. You – in there. Go lie down." Grissom took Sara by her good shoulder and gave her a gentle push towards the bedroom. Sara went, but she gave him a triumphant look before she did so.
Grissom turned around to see Catherine, who was standing there, wide eyed and open mouthed.
"What did they give her?" She asked.
"Something a little too strong," Grissom acknowledged as he walked back towards the kitchen.
"Whatever it is, I want some," Catherine said, "Wow."
"Thanks for stopping by, Catherine," Grissom said, trying to get Catherine out of the apartment. This time, she took the hint.
"Yeah, I should go. I'm glad she's feeling… better?" Catherine shrugged. Grissom nodded, and they said their goodbyes.
As soon as Catherine was gone, he headed for the bedroom.
"What were you thinking?" He asked Sara as he helped her position a pillow under her arm.
"You were laughing," She said, "Besides, I'm not the one who told the entire lab about us. But since you did…"
Grissom had to agree with this. Sara smiled.
"And if I ever have to hear Catherine make one more remark about 'fishing off the company pier', I'm going to smack her."
"I hope you don't need these meds for long," He said, "I don't know if the world is ready for your honest opinions."
Sara smiled again and leaned back against the pillows.
And there was another knock on the door.
"Tess," Sara said, sitting up.
"You stay there," He said, "I'll get that."
When he opened the door, however, it was not Tess. It was Greg and Nick, both of them smiling.
"Hey," Nick said, "We came to see Sara."
"Well, she's resting…" Grissom began, but he was interrupted.
"No, I'm not," Sara piped up from the hallway, and Nick and Greg both pushed past him to see her. Sara almost ran to meet them, tossing her good arm around Nick and Greg in turn.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Nick said, putting an arm around Sara's waist. Sara put her good arm around his shoulder again.
"I am," She said, "Thanks to you."
"And an orthopedic surgeon with a generous prescription pen," Grissom added. Sara laughed, and Greg and Nick both nodded.
"How's the arm?" Greg asked.
"Snapped like a twig - in two places," Sara replied, "But he said I'll be out of the cast soon."
Greg and Nick both looked surprised at her description, but they covered well.
"Sara, you should be resting," Grissom reminded her, but Sara ignored him.
"Yeah, we won't stay long." Greg said, "We just wanted to see how you were doing." Nick walked over and stood next to Grissom as Greg spoke, and leaned over to whisper conspiratorially to him while Greg and Sara began talking about the hospital.
"I've seen Sara a little tipsy before," He said, as if he were passing on some essential information, "She gets very… friendly."
Grissom gave Nick a slightly disdainful "really?" look.
"I know," He said, slowly. And I've seen Sara naked before, he thought, I'm way ahead of you, buddy.
Nick nodded, however, as if the two of them were sharing some important secret.
"Do you know what's going to happen, with... you know, work? The situation?" Nick asked, and Grissom sighed. Not only did he not want to think about that yet, it wasn't any of Nick's business either way.
"No. Sara," Grissom interrupted, trying to get himself out of this conversation, "Remember what the doctor said?"
"What?" Sara gave him an innocent look, but after he narrowed his eyes at her, she laughed.
"All right, all right. I'm supposed to rest," She said, "Sorry, guys."
Just as Greg and Nick were starting to say their goodbyes, there was another knock on the door. Grissom rolled his eyes.
"Not another visitor," He muttered under his breath as he went to the door.
This time it was Tess and Hank, finally.
"Hi," The sitter said, looking beyond Grissom into the apartment, "Oh, you have guests. Sorry if this is a bad time."
"No, not at all."
Sara caught sight of Hank and nearly pushed Greg and Nick out of the way.
"Hank!" She called, and the dog gave a joyful bark and ran towards her, pulling his leash out of Tess's hand and dragging it along behind him. Sara crouched down to meet him, and the dog began licking her face as she began petting him with her good arm.
"There's my puppy! I'm so happy to see you." She said to the dog, who responded with another happy bark.
Greg and Nick both looked surprised.
"We didn't know you had a dog?" Nick said. Greg bent down to pet Hank, who wagged his tail cheerfully at a new person to sniff.
"What a great dog," He commented, and Sara smiled.
"He is," She said to Greg, "I missed you!" She added, now talking to the dog, giving Hank a quick rub behind the ears.
"Yes," Grissom said as he handed Tess a check for dog-sitting, "We have a dog."
"Wow," Nick said, looking around, "It's like you two have a whole life no one knows about."
Sara stood up and looked at him.
"Well, you do now," She said.
Grissom sighed – he felt oddly exposed by these visits, and he hated having people in his home.
But they were only trying to be friendly.
"Guys," He said, his tone lighter than before, "I hate to be the bad guy, but Sara really does need to take it easy."
"Oh, yeah," Greg said, "We'll see you soon, Sara," He said, giving her a hug. Nick waited until Greg had let go, and he gave Sara a hug of his own.
"Thank you, Nick," Sara said, taking his shoulder with her good arm, "I mean it. Thank you."
"Aw, hey, you know," Nick looked slightly embarrassed, "It's all good. It wasn't your day, either."
As the two men headed for the door, Grissom laid his hand on Nick's arm.
"Thank you," He said, glancing over at Sara. Nick nodded.
The two men left, and Sara bent down to make kissy noises at Hank, which made Grissom start laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Sara asked, "Is it so wrong to love your dog?"
"No, I just don't think I've ever seen you cooing at him as if he were a baby."
"He is my baby," Sara said, standing up and smiling at Grissom, "Are you going to send me back in the bedroom?"
"I am." He said, and he was about to follow her when her cell phone started to ring. Sara turned, but he waved her on.
"I'll get it." He said.
"It's my phone."
"I'll get it," He repeated, and Sara shrugged.
"Hello?"
"Grissom? I… I thought I called Sidle's phone."
It was Ecklie. Grissom made a face and wished he'd checked the caller ID before answering.
"She's resting, Conrad. I'll be happy to pass on a message."
"Yeah, I bet you will. Listen, tell her to call me when she's up to it. We need to talk."
"I'll let her know."
"You and I – we need to talk, too, Gil."
Grissom suppressed a groan – he knew what that talk would be about, and he wanted to avoid it as long as possible.
"I'll have to check my schedule, Conrad. I'll get back to you."
He hung up the phone and went back into the bedroom.
"It was Ecklie, wasn't it?" Sara asked.
"How did you know?"
"I could see it on your face. So… I survive being abducted by a serial killer, and now he wants to nail me to the wall for having an affair with my supervisor." She sighed.
"He wants to talk to me, too," He reminded her.
"Yeah, we're both in trouble." She shrugged, "Let's talk about it later?"
Grissom nodded.
"But don't take those pain meds before you meet with him, or you'll get us both fired."
Sara laughed, then sighed. She reached down to pet Hank, who was thumping his tail against the side of the bed.
"I'm so glad to be home," She said, emphasizing the word "home" ever so slightly.
"I'm glad to have you home." He said, reaching over to brush a stray curl away from her forehead.
Sara looked up at him.
"Do you know how much I love this?" She asked.
"This?" He asked.
"This, everything. This room. This house. Hank. You. Everything."
He nodded, but he didn't know how to respond. Why was it he could never find the right words to say to her, even in these circumstances?
"Sara, I…"
"It's okay," Sara leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes.
There was so much that hung in the air between them at this moment, so much that could have been said, that needed to be said, but it could wait.
"You need your rest," Grissom said, but as he started to get up, Sara pulled him back.
"You… don't need to leave, do you?" She asked.
"No," He shook his head.
"Then don't." Sara said, looking up at him.
He moved around to the other side of the bed and lay down. Sara tentatively laid her head on his chest, and he gently brushed her hair back, avoiding the bruises and scrapes that still marked her face.
Sara sighed – but it wasn't a sad sigh. It was a contented sigh.
Despite the fact that her arm was starting to ache again, despite the fact that she knew nothing would ever be exactly the same – at least for now, she was home, surrounded by everything she valued, everything she loved.
It was a wonderful thing to have something to come home to.