Recovery

by: Liv-x-Case-Benson

Ch. 1: Hope

Sara smiled a bit as she walked into the hospital in San Diego. Though, she had no real reason to be upbeat or even happy. Sure, Winthrop had been brought down, but the families of the victims wouldn't see that as justice. Justice would truly be served when the needle was in his arm.

Of all his victims though, none had broken the CSI Las Vegas Crime Lab up inside as much as the attempt at CSI Julie Finlay's life. And it had almost been a funeral. Sara sighed. Burying family - even work family - was never something she wanted.

Especially not again.

Sara walked into Finn's room, not at all surprised to see Russell sitting beside her bed. "Any change?"

"No, sorry. Wish there was."

Sara stood beside him. "Coffee?" she offered, handing him the second cup.

He sighed. "You know what, I might take a break if you don't mind? I've been here all night."

"Her exes weren't notified? Or her mother? I don't think she has any kids."

"All notified, and no, no kids."

"Hey Russell..."

"Yeah?"

"There's nothing to say she won't...wake up, right?" Sara asked, stroking the blonde's cheek, an affectionate gesture she'd been careful not to do around work, lest it create problems. She doubted anyone knew, even Russell, that they'd began seeing each other in their off time.

"No. The swelling has gone down, and are hopeful she'll wake soon," he replied, pausing to watch her.

Sara smiled, kissing her forehead, before sitting in the chair her supervisor had vacated, holding her hand. "Even when she does, there's no telling of the damage. It was stupid. But it wasn't your fault, anyone's but his. If she'd been thinking clearly, after Shaw took that bullet for her, realized she was the target - the actual target - she wouldn't have left. She wouldn't have gone home. She...she would've thrown him off, used her key to my place."

"She has a key to your place?"

Sara turned her head, looking at him as she drew a breath. "Yes. We've done a very good job of acting around everyone, haven't we?"

Russell nodded. "Were you happy?"

The brunette nodded. "Yes. She saw me sign my divorce papers. One thing lead to another after shift and suddenly we were out drinking, like we were toasting it. We...talked all into the morning. She drank so much she staggered when she stood, so we walked back to her place, slept it off. After that, it happened again, and again... Just friendly chats. We had breakfast a few times, talked a lot more. Found things in common..."

"I'm happy for you," he smiled, "I'll give you some time. You want anything from the cafeteria?"

"Salad?"

"You got it," he replied, leaving.

Sara smiled, turning back to her. "Looks like it's just you and me for a bit, huh?" she asked, rubbing circles in her hand, feeling her pulse quicken a bit, then go back down. "It's okay," she said, kissing her hand. "Just rest. We'll be here when you want to wake up."

It sped up again, then calmed a several times over the next few minutes as Sara held her hand.

"You remember me, huh?" she whispered, holding Finn's hand in both of hers, kissing it again. "You don't have to rush to wake up, okay? We'll wait for you."

Finn's finger twitched as Sara finished her sentence.

'Come back' Sara text Russell. "Finn?" she asked, kissing her hand. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Sara, what's happened?" Russell asked, entering a few minutes later, a little out of breath.

"Come here," she said, "take her other wrist, feel her pulse," Sara said, kissing her hand. "Come on. Give us a little more hope, Finlay."

Her pulse quickened again, then slowed as her eyelids flickered open.

"Hey sleepy head. You're going to be okay," Sara said, hugging her gently. "We've missed you."

Finn's lips quivered as she attempted to speak, but nothing came out.

Sara shook her head. "It's okay. Don't worry," she said, pushing the 'CALL' button. "Stunned, Russell?"

"Possibly," he replied as the doctor rushed in.

Sara took a step back. "She can't speak."

Assessing her quickly, the doctor pulled them to one side. "It could have something to do with her brain injury. Her reflexes aren't reacting as they normally should either."

"But you can do a scan for the activity, right?"

"I'll organize one. Keep doing as you're doing, talking to her and that sort of thing."

Sara nodded, going to sit beside her again. "Hi."

The blonde smiled softly.

She smiled, kissing her cheek.

"Wh... wh..." she stammered, frowning when she couldn't form the word she was attempting to say.

"Go slow. 'What...'"

"Ha... hap..." she continued, sighing.

Sara sighed. "You don't remember?"

She frowned again, shaking her head. That wasn't what she was trying to say.

"You want to know why you're here?" Sara asked.

The blonde nodded.

Sara sighed. "Want to take it, Russell? You were there."

Russell nodded, explaining briefly, not wanting to go into too much detail.

Finn nodded as he finished speaking, looking upset.

The brunette hugged her tightly. "But you're going to be okay. I'll make sure of it, even if I have to drive up every day after shift. I promise."

Finn tried to move to hug the brunette but her body wouldn't allow it. Sure, everything hurt, but why couldn't she move?

Sara sighed, wishing she could explain more, but she didn't know enough yet.

"We're ready to take Finn down for her scan," the doctor said from the doorway.

She nodded. "Would you mind if I went with her?"

"No problem. But you can't go in the scan room itself when the machine is on."

Sara nodded, walking with her.

Finn constantly looked to Sara for reassurance.

Sara held her hand as they walked, kissing her cheek. "It's ok."

The doctor pulled Sara to one side as they began the scan. "How has she been since I left you?"

"Uh, ok, I guess. Upset and frustrated that she can't seem to form the words to talk. Worried about why she's here, scared."

The doctor nodded, watching the screen as the scan images appeared minutes later.

Sara stood back, waiting.

"Talk you through it?"

"Sure."

"Here is the area of swelling causing pressure on her brain, but it has significantly reduced since she came in. These patches here show she decreased function."

"What areas are they pertaining to?"

"Movement. Anything from walking, to moving her hands, and that sort of thing. The swelling is near the area controlling speech. Hopefully when that goes down she'll be able to talk a bit better."

"Will all of this come back? What type of therapy will she need?"

"Intensive physical therapy. We think she'll have to relearn to feed herself, clench her fist, walk..."

Sara nodded, sighing. "That'll take a while, but it's not impossible."

"We anticipate she'll be here for months, Sara. I'm sorry it's not better news."

Sara shook her head. "No, it's ok. What happened could've been much worse. I'm just happy she'll be okay sometime."

The doctor nodded. "We're all done if you want to walk back with her."

"Sure. And, I hate to ask since you're already doing so much, but I'm going to be up here a lot, so, if it's not much trouble, is there anyway I could get a bed or a chair to sit in while I'm here? I work nights so..."

"Absolutely fine."

"Great, thanks," she said, walking out and taking her hand as they went back to her room.

Finn mainly slept over the next few days, only waking when she heard Sara's voice.


Okay guys, I know I really don't have room for a new story with so many unfinished, but after seeing the s15 ending, this needed to be written.

More to come!