SUMMARY: Grissom's been hiding a secret. He cant swim and turns to his girlfriend for help. There's never any doubt that Sara would there every baby step of the way.
"HELP ME!"
"Get yourself out you little brat." The young boy disappeared briefly before pulling himself above the surface.
"PLEASE!" His mother burst through the sliding door. She screamed at her husband but he couldn't make out what was being said. His arms gave up and he slipped unconscious below the pool surface.
"Hey Gil, you still with us?"
"What?" Gil Grissom had been staring at the water for the last ten minutes. A warm hand touched his shoulder but his gaze never faulted.
The 419 was a young boy. Daniel Redford, 7. His parents had found him face down in the neighbor's pool and called 911. Unfortunately, neither parent could swim and no one could hear his mother scream for help.
"You want me to do this?"
"No I'll be fine. Thanks though."
"You'll tell me if it gets too much wont you? Cause I'll never hear the end of it after last time."
"I'll be fine. Promise."
"Don't make promises you know you cant keep Gil."
After an exhausting shift, Gil Grissom collapsed on the comfort of his bed. It was a horrific reminder of the incident from his own youth. The young child died while his father stood back and laughed. Little shit had to learn to swim some time. I was just saving time and money. Grissom had walked out of the interrogation while Brass read the bastard his rights. He neglected his reports and drove home, stopping briefly at the bar located close to their apartment. Knowing the dangers of driving home in such a state, he'd walked, giving him time to sober up. The body beside him moved and he jumped.
"Gil, is that you?"
"Yeah hon, its me."
"Have you been drinking?" his silence and the lingering scent of beer confirmed that he had. She wasn't mad or upset. It was a small ritual for him. Only when a case really bothered him, he would go and have a few drinks but never got wasted. "Rough case?"
"A 7 year old drowned, while his father stood and watched." She curled himself into his side, followed by silence until he blurted out, "I can't swim." She shifted on his chest to look at him. "I was six and my dad was drunk. I was bouncing a ball against the wall when he took it and threw it in the pool. Then he told me go get it. So I stood by the edge with the pool net and tried to fish it out. Even though he knew I couldn't swim…he pushed me in. told me to get myself out. I remember my mum coming out and yelling, but I must have passed out cause I woke up in hospital."
"Whenever there's a body in a pool, you always get someone else to go in. everyone figured it was a supervisor's benefit." More silence.
"Would you teach me? How to swim?"
"I'll do anything for you."
"You don't have to do this you know." They'd been stood by the pool for nearly twenty minutes. In answer, Grissom pulled his shirt over his head, and waited for Sara to do the same. She led him down each step, allowing him to take things at his pace. Before starting anything serious, she decided to guide him around the wall of the pool, so he could grab the wall if he needed to. Once he insisted for the fourth time that he was all right, she attempted to get him to duck below the water. He looked skeptical and uncomfortable.
"I understand if you cant."
"Its just this feeling that I wont come up. Its just unnerving that's all."
"We can try again tomorrow if you want."
"Its fine. Just promise you wont let go."
"I promise." Many deep breathes of confidence later; he managed to convince himself he could do this. Holding his breath and screwing his eyes shut, he disappeared under water, Sara's hands reassuring that he would resurface again.
He felt lost. All sounds from above were muffled. He even dared to open his eyes. All around was blurry and blue but the skin of Sara's stomach. Feeling uncharacteristically daring, he placed a soft on what he figured was her belly button before pulling himself up and finding her face mere inches from his own, a wide smile plastered there. Her arms wrapped around his neck, a lingering kiss on his lips.
"I actually did it."
"I'm proud of you babe."
Three hours later, they called it a day. It would take time for Grissom to regain confidence around water on his own, but there as no doubt that Sara would there every baby step of the way.