Title: Acceptable Agony
Author: Battus philenor
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any its characters.
A/N: Response to the weekly Unbound challenge where the first and last lines are given.
And so the evening began, with a sticky car door, a sand-covered decomp, and a sudden downpour. With what she had endured already, Sara thought the odds of the day getting any worse were poor.
The bimbo at the drive through had failed to secure the lid on her soda and she had actually managed to spill it in such a way that her car door was now sticky inside and out.
Grissom had assigned her the worst case because she was five minutes late for work. He handed her the assignment sheet with an evil little grin; knowing it was his fault she was late. He was the one who forgot to set the alarm, and then jumped in the shower first.
So it was her out with the decomp which had sand sticking to its putrid form. Thankfully the torrent which had saturated her, started just as she had finished collecting any evidence at the scene. So she and Mr. Mush received a badly needed bath.
Heading back with evidence in hand; completely soaked and in a sticky vehicle, she was looking forward to a nice hot shower. Walking through the halls of the lab everybody stayed clear with her wet straggly hair hanging in her face and an odor of death clinging to her.
Once in the locker room she grabbed her lemon juice and towel and almost ran to a stall. Turning the faucet to the exact point for the maximum amount of hot water she figured she could take; she waited a moment for it to reach the correct temperature.
After stripping, she pulled the curtain and nearly jumped under the stream of water; the anticipation of the warmth and a cleaner odor causing her haste. The shriek that emanated from her slight frame was impressive as the frigid water enveloped her completely.
Goose bumps claimed every inch of her flesh and she couldn't seem to get any air in her lungs. Leaping out of the shower onto the tile floor was not the smartest thing she'd ever done, but all thought had left her brain the moment that first frosty drop touched her skin.
Her foot slid at first contact with the slippery floor outside the shower stall. Momentum from her leap caused both feet to fly out in front of her. Legs spread and arms flailing about, she went down hard on her naked butt with a loud grunt.
With tears forming and pain shooting through her back, the door to the locker room shot open with Grissom frantically calling her name. Seeing her lying there so naked and helpless broke his heart.
He was at her side instantly taking her in his arms. Not able to stop the flow of tears she tried in vain to scootch away from him.
Breath hitching from a combination of pain, cold, and embarrassment all she could say was, "Don't."
"Come here Honey; let me take care of you. You're freezing Sara, did you hurt yourself?"
She pushed him away again as he tried to wrap his arms around her.
"Sara what's wrong?"
""I'm wet and I smell, you don't want this on your clothes." She managed to squeeze out in between sobs.
"Sara, I love you and you need me. I don't care about the other extraneous nonsense. Now let's get you warmed up and dried off. We'll work on the odor later. What happened, I heard you scream?"
"The water was freezing. What happened to the hot water? I was just trying to take a shower to get this stench off me."
"Oh. The hot water heater broke during day shift. It won't be replaced until tomorrow."
The guilt from being the apparent cause of all of her troubles today was weighing heavily on his mind. It was also causing the item in his pocket to start to burn a hole there.
Sitting on the hard tile floor holding the foul, wet, naked woman who he loved on a most horrible day was not how he had planned his next move, but for some reason it seemed so right.
Reaching into his pocket and gripping the box he had picked up the day before; he took a deep breath and positioned himself so he could look into her eyes.
"Sara, this was not how I wanted to do this. I had hoped this would be a day to remember for other reasons, but I find myself needing you to need me right now. It's a feeling that's overwhelming to me."
Opening his palm to reveal the black velvet box; he brought his other shaky hand up to open the lid. Watching her eyes widen, he continued with the speech that he was now adlibbing due to his impromptu inspiration.
"I want to take care of you always. I want to be there for you and have you be there for me. Sara I need you, will you please be my wife?"
With tears resuming she threw her arms around his neck, letting out a small
groan in the process.
"Are you alright Sara?" Concern for her well being outweighed his curiosity in her answer for a moment.
"Yeah, I think I bruised my butt though." she whimpered as a grin started to form on her face.
"What can I do to help?"
"You can start by slipping that ring on my finger, bug man."
After wiping her tears from her cheeks, he slid the diamond onto her finger. Leaning in for a kiss he thought he heard movement behind him.
"Oh! Oh my God! Uh, yeah carry on then." With that, a very red-faced Catherine turned around and flew back out into the hall.
"I guess we have a lot of explaining to do." Grissom sighed as he began gathering Sara's clothes and handing them to her.
"Considering nobody even knows we've been seeing each other, yeah I'd say we do. Especially since the whole gang will now know I was naked on the floor with your tongue down my throat."
"Sara!"
"Well it was. So, do you want to tell them?"
"I think you should do it, Sara."
"Why, you've had a way with words so far today Grissom." She said as she smiled, glancing down at her engagement ring.
A blush started creeping over his grinning face. "Because, I don't think anyone
would believe me."
End
Battus philenor