Don't Walk Away
By: Emmithar
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything...
Summary: Compromising situations leave both Greg and Sara lost and confuse as they try and sort out everything that's happened.
A/N: Another new story, when I still have a lot of others going on. What am I thinking? Well, this idea came up, and it wouldn't go away, so I've started it. It's a bit different than what I normally write, not as much angst.
Chapter One: The Beginning of Troubles
It was either late at night, or early in the morning; she couldn't tell for sure. Her hands gripped the wheel as she drove along, willing them to stop shaking. She was afraid, but wasn't sure why. In her head a mental note told her that the next turn would be left, and that she was almost there. Wherever there was, she hadn't a clue where she was going.
It was unclear to her on how long she had been fighting this haze, a foggy anonymity that had settled about her. There were warning bells going off in the back of her head, telling her that she shouldn't be driving, it wasn't safe. But she couldn't hear them, and even if she could, she probably wouldn't have listened.
Pulling to a stop in an unoccupied spot, the car was turned off, and slowly the person stepped out. She made her way to the stairs, climbing without hesitation, knowing it was the third door from the left. Two flights up, three doors in…he would be in at this time, he should have been home hours ago. Maybe he would be asleep.
Coming to a stop in front of the door she considered this, and to a point, nearly turned around. Until he laughed. He was awake. It would make her feel less guilty if she didn't have to wake him up. Gingerly she knocked on the door, and added a few sharper raps in case he hadn't heard the first round.
Her gut feeling told her it was a bad idea as soon as he opened the door. He had been laughing, had been smiling, but when he saw her, all of that disappeared. Maybe she should just go, pretend that she was never here…
"Sara?"
Sara…yes, that was her name. Sara. She gave him an awkward smile, muttering something as she glanced down. She felt like crying all of the sudden, the fear of not knowing anything was starting to eat her away. His hand on her shoulder was warm, guiding her in gently. Sara followed, even if she didn't know this man, he certainly knew her, and she felt safe with him. That's all that mattered now, safety.
There was someone else in his apartment, another woman. Another young woman, like herself. When she stood she was nearly as tall as the man, her short blonde hair stopping sharply below her ears, her eyes were a liquid green. There was a gallon of makeup on her face, dark-blue shaded eyes, thin red lips, a heavy blush. Eyelashes long enough to suggest that they weren't real…and further down her breasts…they couldn't have been real either.
The tank-top, the shorts, the sunglasses on top of her head all suggested she had been out earlier in the day, when it was warmer. Flip flops on her feet, showing her freshly painted toes, a small handbag in her arms. Sara looked back at the man as he sat her down on the bed, he was talking, but Sara was finding it hard to concentrate.
"Greg? I think I'm going to just head out now…" the other woman said.
The man looked up at her and nodded. Sara found herself smiling a little. That was his name…know she felt a bit better. Once the woman was gone Greg turned back to her, watching her closely.
"Sara…what happened to you?"
"I don't know…"
It was the first time she had spoken, and Sara let out a frightened sigh. What did happen? She couldn't remember…well, at this point she couldn't remember very much at all. She didn't even know why she had come here.
"I'm going to get something so we can clean you up, you stay here, okay?"
Sara nodded, obeying like an obedient child, her fingers playing with the comforter underneath her. The walls were colorful around her, posters of music groups, names, all sorts of odd pictures spread across the room. The lamp near the head of the bed was the only light…until he flipped the switch near the bathroom.
Greg sat back down in front of her, jostling the bed some as he put the first aid kit down next to them. He had a towel in his hand, and he pressed it slowly against her lip, gently dabbing the cut that was there. Whimpering she turned away, sucking on her lower lip in vague attempt to rid of the pain. He muttered a few apologies, pressing the cloth back against it once he turned her face to the front again.
"Talk to me Sara."
Each time he said her name it made her feel wonderful. It was indescribable feeling, a warmth that spread throughout her body, a slight tingle. And looking at him she could tell why. A gentle face, caring eyes…luscious lips.
They were kissing; she had wanted to taste him and had moved without reasoning. For a moment he was stunned, but she felt his lips part, and the kiss deepened. Then all of the sudden he pulled back, shaking his head.
"What's wrong with you Sara?"
It was almost a plead, and she felt idiotic. She would have figured that he would have liked it, but more so she needed to be loved, wanted to feel affection. He was talking again, but she wasn't listening, not until he grabbed her shoulder.
"Sara…tell me what happened?"
"I can't…"
Sara let out a groan as the pounding in her head became even worse. You would think that it would only reach a certain level before one's head exploded, but apparently she was wrong. She reached up with a hand, massaging it tenderly as she tried to sit up.
"Take it easy," she felt a hand pushing back down.
"Greg?"
She opened her eyes to see him smiling, and his hand moved down to wrap around her own fingers. Relaxing back into the pillows she returned his comforting squeeze, letting out a sigh.
"How are you feeling?"
Sara laughed bitterly, "Like I've been ran over…what happened?"
He didn't seem happy with that answer, a grim expression crossing his face as he titled his head. "What do you remember?"
She struggled to think for a moment, before shaking her head. "I don't know…but I can tell what I do know, my head's killing me."
"The doctors say you have a concussion, it'll hurt for a bit. Just try and remember for me, tell me what you know."
"The doctors? Where am I?"
"You're at the hospital, remember?" Greg tried to jolt her memory, "I told you that I was going to take you here, and you said that was a good idea."
"I don't, actually," Sara let out a pained sigh, holding a hand against her face. This was starting to scare her now. Her mind was a jumbled mess, somehow running faster than she could keep up with. "I remember a lot of things…but they don't make any sense."
"Then tell me what does, the last thing you honestly remember doing."
"Shift assignments," she muttered quietly, "Catherine and I finished that arson case, and I left to go home…"
"That was Thursday," Greg nodded, encouraging her.
"What day is it today?"
"Sunday."
"I've been in here for three days?" Sara cried, alarmed now.
Greg was quick in calming her down, angry at himself for not seeing the possible situation earlier. "No, you've only been in here about two hours now. But when you turned in the case assignment, that was on Thursday, before we got off shift. You and Nick got a new case Friday, and you guys found a lead last night. It's in the morning now. You got to my place about two in the morning, and I took you here about fifteen minutes later. It's almost four-thirty now. You scared me for quite a while there."
"You're scared?" Sara questioned, nearly snapping at him. "Imagine how I feel…I can't remember anything that's happened to me in the last three days…" she drew in a sharp breath, looking at him. "Greg…did something happen to me?"
Greg let out a sigh, hoping that she wouldn't have asked this until later. "The doctors took a rape kit, and documented your wounds. They don't think anything's happened, but I'm going to have it ran just in case."
"At the lab?" she shook her head, growing embarrassed now. "You can't…no one can know about this…"
"They're going to know anyways Sara," Greg held her trembling hand between his, lowering his voice. "I'm going to have to tell Grissom, and Mia will know when she runs the samples. And the others are just going to worry when they find out you're in the hospital."
She looked upset, but more exhausted than anything else. The doctors had also pulled some blood samples; Greg suspected that she had been poisoned somehow. And he would be certain to find out. He kissed her hand lightly, laying it gently across her chest. "I need to be going, the doctors are going to kick me out pretty soon, but I'll come by later on to visit you."
"Later on?" Sara shook her head, "No wait, I'm not staying here…"
"The doctors want to keep you until at least tomorrow, just to monitor you. You weren't communicating with anyone earlier…it's just a precaution."
"But I feel fine," she protested, trying to sit up.
"I thought your head was killing you," Greg threw in, hoping that using her own words would help her understand she wasn't as well as she suspected she was.
"But that's nothing…it's just a headache…"
"It's a concussion Sara," Greg warned, before standing up.
"They don't keep you in hospitals just for a concussion," Sara spat out, which made Greg smile. She was sounding more like her old self, and that was a very good sign.
"Get some rest."
He knew that she wouldn't be very happy, but he couldn't argue with the doctor's orders. Greg actually felt better knowing that she was here, still unable to shake away the uneasy feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach. The only thing that he could be grateful of that was the fact she couldn't remember being at his place. And if she didn't remember even being there, then there was little chance that she remembered the kiss.
Greg was still furious at himself for returning the kiss, for allowing it to happen. Sara had obviously not been in the right frame of mind, and it was cruel to take advantage of her, even if she had been the one to ignite the affection. He wondered dimly what the result would be if she ever did remember…embarrassment, disgrace?
Shaking his head he climbed into his car, setting the kit the hospital gave him on the seat. It was still early, and he was getting tired, unable to fall asleep due to an unplanned visitor. Then everything with Sara, now he was too edgy to sleep. As he turned onto the main road he fished his cell phone out, hitting the speed dial button.
"Grissom its Greg, I'm on my way into the lab…" he nodded as the other man began to speak. "I know that I don't work days…yes I know last was my night off, you didn't see me in did you? I have a case that needs to be ran, it's important." Another sigh as he was interrupted once more. No wonder his cell phone bills were so high, he never was able to finish a sentence.
"Yes I know I'm not working a case right now. Sara's in the hospital…no she's going to be okay. I don't know what's happened, she having a hard time remembering as well. Yes I'll meet you when I get there."
He hung up with a sigh, shaking his head slightly. Grissom hadn't reacted to the news very well, but then again no one would. It would be harder telling the others, and Greg wondered if he should tell them, or just let word get around. It would comfort Sara knowing she had those around her that cared, but also anger her, because he hadn't listened in the first place. Still he hated hiding the truth, and he was a poor liar.
Grissom was waiting up front for him by the time Greg arrived. He had barely gotten out of the car before the older man started bombing him with questions. After his little charade was over Greg went through the painstaking task of relaying every detail to Grissom, only skipping over the part about the kiss. The last person on Earth who needed to know about that kiss was Grissom. Actually he was the second to last; Sara would most definitely be the last.
"But she's doing better now?" Grissom wondered.
"Well, let's say that she's pissed because she has to stay there for the night."
"She's doing better then," Grissom agreed.
"Who's doing better?"
Greg let out a sigh as Warrick caught up with them. Giving a nod to his supervisor he took his leave, not wanting to re-explain everything he just had. Besides, he was at his destination, now all he needed was a pad and a pen…
"Mia?"
She glanced up from her work, greeting him with a quick hi.
"Why are you here?"
"Days called in sick and I already have a lot of work from last night, so I figured I'd just stay and catch up. What do you have?"
"How come everyone from the night crew is still here?"
"Aren't we always?" Mia joked, holding her hand out for the package he held.
"Then how come I'm the only one who gets in trouble for it?"
"Because you're the rookie," she answered simply, "now give."
"Rape kit," Greg handed it over, "Just so you know its Sara."
"Sara? Is she okay?"
Her tone had changed quickly, full of worry.
"She's okay, it's not for certain, but we need it ran. There are some other swabs in there that need to be ran as well, page me when you get the results?"
Mia nodded, moving it to the top of her pile. "Next thing I do as soon as I Catherine's stuff finishes."
"She's working too?" Greg wondered, surprised now.
Mia only smiled, turning back to her work.
TBC
