TITLE: THE PAIN IN GRISSOM'S...

AUTHOR: MSCSIFANGSR aka NoHayRemedio

PAIRING: GSR and Gil-Catherine friendship

RATING: PG-13 for brief nudity and unfortunately not who you might think and slight sexual innuendo.

SUMMARY: Grissom has injured his himself.

DISCLAIMER: I am just playing with them.

NOTES: Another challenge from Lynn Fox at the Improv. First and Last Lines Provided. Giwu quickly beta'd this, so many thanks to her for the rush job and for the title.

SPOILERS: None really, but GSR is canon and team doesn't know.

"I sprained my back, and now I have to crawl to the toilet." Grissom's voice sounded weak in Catherine's earpiece as she listened to him explain why he wasn't coming into work that night. A sly smile covered her face as her thoughts were invaded with images of him crawling on all fours down the long hallway of his townhouse. She was currently in the gym riding a stationary bike, with the earpiece to her cell phone stuck in her right ear.

"What did you do to hurt it?" She pushed the thought of him crawling to another part of her brain, as the concern for her friend took precedence over her exercise. She stopped pedaling, got off of the bike, and began walking to the showers.

"Well, I was getting out of bed," she heard him reply, as she pushed a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Was Sara there?" Catherine Willows threw him a bone, hoping against hope that the man would finally admit to her that he and Sara were involved. All of their co-workers suspected they were together, but there was no specific evidence to support their theories, but they knew. She waited for an answer, she thought maybe the call had been dropped, but she could still hear him breathing in the background. She cleared her throat: "Gil?"

"Yeah?"

"Was Sara there or is she there now?" Catherine opened the locker, pulled out her gym bag which contained fresh clothes, shampoo, soap, and a rather large fluffy towel. The gym bag matched the New Balance tennis shoes she was wearing.

"Yeah."

"Gil Grissom, yes to the first one; the second one or yes to both?" She was enjoying this discussion tremendously. She absolutely loved to push his buttons.

"Both," came his eventual response.

"Did Sara have anything to do with your injury?" Catherine reached into the shower to turn on the water, then sat down on a bench to remove her shoes.

"Not directly, no."

She smiled at the turn of his phrase, wondering what exactly had transpired between the two of them that had changed the dynamic of their relationship. She had known since the first time she had seen Sara Sidle there was something going on between them. A short time after Grissom had given a seminar on two murder victims in a garage, out of state, he came back to Las Vegas, smiling of all things. On occasion, Catherine had heard him mention in passing, a CSI named Sidle, with whom he corresponded with from time to time. Catherine had long suspected Gil's involvement with a woman named Sara, because she had seen a funny birthday card signed 'Love, Sara' when she had looked in his desk for the extra set of keys to the storage closet. But she had never met this 'Sidle' or 'Sara', until Grissom brought her in to investigate the Holly Gribbs case. Catherine didn't even know that Sara and Sidle were the same person, until Gil had mentioned her name as someone he trusted.

"Have you been to the doctor yet?" The concern in her voice was evident. "Have Sara take you to the doctor."

"Catherine, I have an appointment with Dr. Wallace in an hour. Sara is here to drive me, but Catherine, I can't straighten out. And it hurts." She could hear the pain in his voice.

"Gil, I'll take care of work. Let Sara take care of you. And do whatever Howard Wallace tells you to do, he's the best in Vegas."

"Do you know everyone in Las Vegas?" She heard him attempt to laugh, when it turned into gasps of pain.

"Gil? Are you okay?" She heard the phone hit the floor, she heard Sara's voice asking him if he was okay. Some muffled noises, then she heard:

"Hello?" Sara Sidle's soft voice replaced the pain-edged timbre of Grissom's.

"Hi, Sara, it's Catherine. Gil called to tell me he wasn't coming in tonight." Catherine had removed all her exterior clothing and was clad only in a white sports bra and white bikini panties.

"Yeah, he's hurting pretty bad."

"What did you do to him?" Catherine laughed into the speaker.

"Nothing, I just called him down for breakfast and when he was getting out of bed, he started hollering for me to help him. Then, when I got there, he was bent forward and unable to straighten himself out. When he sits, he's okay, when he tries to lay flat or stand up straight, he's in some serious pain."

"It sounds like more than a strained back, he might have ruptured a disk or something." Catherine really hoped Gil hadn't injured his back that badly.

"Anyway, I've got to figure out how to get him in and out of the car and how to get him in the doctor's office. So, I'll call and let you know after we get back."

Catherine ended the phone call, took the earpiece out of her ear, removed her remaining clothes and stepped into the hot shower.

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Dr. Howard Wallace, a slightly balding man in his mid-50's, with a slight paunch, stood looking at the MRI results on the computer screen. Sara was standing along side of him while Grissom lay in agony on the open air Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine.

"See right there," he said, pointing to a spot on the screen, Sara anxiously looked at the image but couldn't quite make out what the doctor was showing her. "He has a slight anterior budge at L-3. It's rather uncommon to have an anterior budge of the nucleus, but the annulus fibrosis is intact. I will write him a prescription for physical therapy and for a pain pill and a muscle relaxer. I suggest he begin therapy as soon as possible."

"How long before he can go back to work?"

"What does he do for a living?" The man pushed his glasses up on his nose, as they had slid down a bit while he studied the results.

"He is the night shift supervisor for the Las Vegas Crime Lab." Sara said proudly.

"Dr. Gilbert Grissom?" With his eyes raised in question, Sara nodded in the affirmative. "I read a few articles he has authored in some recent publications. That man does know his bugs." He smiled up at Sara, as he stood a few inches shorter than her 5'9" frame, noticing for the first time, her honey colored brown eyes. "I know of him, I know one of his co-workers."

"Catherine Willows?" Sara smiled into the man's deep blue eyes.

"How did you know?" The doctor questioned.

"She mentioned it to Gil when he called in for tonight's shift." Sara paused. "How do you know Catherine?"

Howard Wallace became somewhat uncomfortable but answered truthfully: "I met her in the course of her previous employment. She was a beautiful woman, still is for that matter."

Sara laughed, but her eyes quickly noted the tech helping Grissom up from the hard surface of the medial equipement. "What can I do to help him?" She wondered aloud.

Wallace knew the woman standing before him loved the man hampered by pain in the adjoining room, as they watched him straighten to an approximate 45 degree angle with his head bent forward, his posture reminded him of a crumpled scarecrow.

"I would say if he only does desk duty he can safely return to work tomorrow, but he cannot do anything other than sit at the desk and work. No undue exerations. You can help him by not allowing him to get lost in the pain, since he is not having any radiating pain, I can safely say, he will only need to go to therapy for a couple of weeks before the heriation is resolved on it's own."

Sara breathed a sigh of relief.

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Grissom awoke with a stab of pain. He looked to his right and saw Sara sleeping soundly. He shook her slightly, "Honey?"

She opened her eyes immediately at the sound of his voice. "Yes?"

"Isn't it time for another pain pill?" Grissom spoke as a tinge of pain gripped his low back.

Sara quickly looked at the green numbers on the clock beside their bed. "You should have had one two hours ago." She got up quickly and went into their bathroom, getting the orange pill bottles and a half a glass of water. Coming back into the room, she noticed his eyes. The sapphire orbs were trained on her movements. "What are you looking at?" She asked, concerned.

"You." He answered quickly.

"Do I have something on me that I shouldn't?"

"That nightgown." His voiced was laced with passion. Sara walked toward him with the medicine and water.

"Easy tiger. You take your meds and maybe when they take effect, I might consider removing the offending nightgown." She raised her eyebrows flirtatiously.

"Your wish is my command."

END