Title: Eclipse
Author: sidle77
Pairing: GSR – Always!
Rating: T-M (Rating will be adapted accordingly, look out for author's notes.)
Disclaimer: You know the drill: I do not own them, any of them and I will give back once I've finished playing, yada yada... CBS owns all (but not my idea!)
Summary: Grissom and Sara's relationship is truly tested by the aftermath of the kidnapping. With Sara in hospital and the twins critical, the guilt and blame is raging. Can their marriage survive through this true test of pain, regret and love?
Beta: The almighty calim. I thank you so much for sticking with me over the last few years and taking on my new projects. You rule! :)
A/N: This is part four of the "RAGE" series. At last! Yay. Sorry for the delay but with the other two stories I was writing turning out to be a lot longer than expected, it's taken me all this time to get one finished. Finally I have so I can get to this. This follows on from Retribution, Affliction and Guilt and is set in 'my' A/U. It can be nice in there sometimes, I promise, but not always. This story will be quite angsty, so please be prepared for that and may contain certain graphic scenes.
I would recommend that you at least read 'Guilt' before this story or you probably won't have a clue what is going on.
Prologue
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
The noise filtered through his brain and his forehead creased as his eyes slowly opened.
White.
Everything was white.
Puffing out his nostrils as soon as he sensed the cannula, Grissom's head slowly tipped to the left. His eyes followed the IV coming from his arm up to a bag before dropping to the heart monitor parked beside him. Hearing whispers, he frowned then turned his head to the right, wincing at the agonizing throb in his head. Spotting Catherine across the room chatting with a man in a white coat, no doubt a doctor, his frown deepened.
Catherine felt as if she was being watched and looked Grissom's way. Her brows rose when she realized he was looking at her and she moved quickly toward the bed.
"Thank God you're awake," she said with relief, resting her hand on his arm.
He'd been unconscious for almost 10 hours and looked as if he'd been through a war. His entire face was bruised. Two black eyes shone brightly above his swollen and broken nose; the gash on his forehead was covered with three butterfly stitches and his abdomen was wrapped to try and make his four broken ribs feel a little more comfortable.
Blinking, Grissom stared at her, his brain trying to work out what the hell was going on and then, as a clatter sounded out in the corridor, the horror of what had happened suddenly flashed before his eyes.
"Sara," he groaned groggily, eyes working in a circle in thought.
"Just relax, Gil," Catherine implored.
His head shook. "No!" he snapped, trying to sit up. God, it hurt and his hand coiled around his mid-section. But, he tried to brush it off. "Where's Sara?" he demanded.
Nervously looking at the doctor, Catherine tightened her hand on his arm but he shrugged her off and she stepped back.
"Gil," the man started, "I'm Doctor Steven Sharpe. Please, you need to calm down. You have some serious injuries and I need to assess you now that you're awake."
Grissom's head shook again and he reached for the IV. "Fine," he growled. "I'll find out myself."
"No, Gil," Steven gasped, reaching to grab Grissom's hand as he tried to pull the IV line from his arm.
"Where's my wife!" Grissom shouted now, attempting to fight the doctor off but, in his current state, he was no match for the larger man.
"Gil, if you don't calm down I will have you sedated."
Face crumbling, Grissom let out a sob, his eyes scrunching together as he let go of the IV. "I just want to know where Sara is," he whimpered.
Sighing, Steven glanced at Catherine who looked both worried and sad for her friend. "I will tell you but you have to promise me you're not going to try anything stupid again. Okay?"
Grissom nodded and Catherine stepped closer and sat by the bed, reaching for her friend's hand. Grissom certainly didn't like the look in her eyes.
"Sara is in the ICU recovering from surgery," Steven continued.
Grissom blinked. "Her legs?" he asked quietly.
Steven shook his head. "No," he said softly. "She needed an emergency caesarean."
Grissom's heart hit his feet and his chin trembled. Opening his mouth, he tried to get more words out but it took him a few seconds. "Are the babies…?"
"They're alive, Gil," Catherine said as she squeezed his hand. Tears gathered in his eyes as she smiled at him. "They're alive."
His eyes snapped back to the doctor. "Are they okay?" he cried.
"They are both fighting," Steven answered hopefully.
Swallowing hard, Grissom closed his eyes for a second, the throb in his head getting worse. "What are their chances?" he whispered.
"We'll know more in 24 hours," the doctor replied. "They are both in incubators and on ventilators. Being premature is one thing but the circumstances in which they became premature are another. We have many things we need to check for and because they are so week, it makes our job very difficult. However, please be assured we have the best people and equipment here and we will do everything we possibly can."
Grissom's eyes closed as he attempted to fight back the tears. He wanted to ask more questions. There was so much he didn't know but his head was spinning.
"And…what about Sara?" he managed to get out, so quietly, both the doctor and Catherine strained to hear him.
"Do you remember what happened?" Steven asked and Grissom dumbly nodded. "So you know how bad the crash was?"
Grissom swallowed again, his throat so dry now it hurt. "Yes," he breathed, thinking back to the scene...
Flashing lights, emergency vehicles, noisy and hectic. Fire hoses, shouts of command, injured people.
A tanker truck…a fire truck parked besides it, firemen spraying the vehicle with foam. A man on a stretcher being treated, a bandage around his bloody head.
The tanker's cab was crushed….imploded. Windshield smashed, spatters of blood mingling within the cracks.
Three more fire trucks and three ambulances and then…the yellow truck. The truck which had taken his wife.
It's bad.
Those words rung through his ears over and over.
The front end of the vehicle was totally crumpled beyond recognition. The windshield no more after imploding completely under the impact.
His unconscious wife, oxygen mask on her face, multitudes of hands working around her, blood trickling down her face.
She's pregnant.
No good news.
"The impact from the crash thrust the front of the car inwards, the hood, the dash, everything. Sara is trapped. Her legs are crushed; we are going to have to cut her out."
Grissom's hands shot to his face. "It's all my fault," he cried and the pain in his head became unbearable now. "God, my head hurts."
Catherine shot Steven a concerned look and watched as he hit the call button, his hand moving to rest on Grissom's shoulder.
"Gil, you should lie down. I know you what to know what's happening but right now we need to think about you. If you don't rest you'll be in no fit state to help your children or your wife. We can talk again in a little while."
"What do you need, Doctor?" a nurse asked as she came into the room.
"10mg of methadone and 5mg of diazepam," he instructed. Nodding, she hurried out of the room.
Grissom wanted to argue, wanted to keep fighting, but he didn't have the energy or the mental ability to ignore the pain or the darkness that was sneaking up on him and let the doctor lay him back down.
Catherine kept a firm grip on his hand, watching his eyes slowly close as the medication worked through his system. Within five minutes he was asleep.
"Boy, he's a mess," Catherine said quietly, not relinquishing his hand.
Steven nodded. "And it won't be getting any easier anytime soon."
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this little teaser :) Please let me know your thoughts. And be prepared for a very bumpy ride. EVIL HAT is BACK! :P