Part III. Fannysmackin'
"They're wearing costumes," Sara commented with disgust as she passed Grissom her findings.
He took the contacts in his hand with a shake of his head. "Great. So it's just a game to them."
"How…how's Greg doing?" Sara asked tentatively, as she had yet to see her injured friend since he was taken to the hospital.
"He's pretty banged up," Grissom answered monotonically. "But he saw me, spoke to me…if that's any indication, I imagine he'll be okay."
"You know that's not what I meant."
Grissom sighed. "He's…upset. Understandably so, except he didn't want me to tell his parents, or his mother specifically."
Sara raised an eyebrow as a concerned look crossed her face. "His mother? Why?"
Grissom shrugged slightly. "He doesn't want her to worry about him. I was going to call his parents, but now I'm wondering if I should leave that for him to do when he's ready."
Sara chewed on her lip, looking strangely forlorn.
"What is it?"
"We already contacted Greg's family," she explained. "Or Sofia did, when we were at the scene and Greg was being taken in an ambulance."
"Really? That was quick." He seemed to ponder this for a moment before asking, "do you know when they're coming?"
Sara shook her head. "Soon, I guess."
"Hmm. I only hope Greg tells his mother the truth."
"The truth?"
Grissom nodded grimly. "Apparently he's been telling his family that he's still working in the lab."
Sara was taken aback by that. She'd worked the closest with Greg during his CSI training but would have never suspected he was hiding the job from his relatives. She sighed, baffled by Greg's strangely reticent behavior. "I guess it's like you said—he just doesn't want them to worry about him."
"Are you going to stay with him?"
"Yeah, for a little while at least."
Grissom nodded approvingly. "Good."
"Just call me if you guys get any more leads, alright?"
"I will." He hesitated, looking like he wanted nothing more than to embrace her right there in the hallway. Instead he nodded again and walked away around the corner and out of sight.
Sara watched him go down the hall with a heavy heart before finally turning to the door of Greg's room. She took a deep, calming breath and slowly entered to see Greg lying before her in the bed. She'd been with him in that alleyway after the attack when he was bruised and bloody, but somehow seeing him bandaged and swollen seemed even worse. As bad as he looked, she was more shocked by the sound of Greg's sniffling and labored breathing as his lips quivered and he fought back tears. Her heart broke to see him so upset and as broken as he was. This should never have happened to him—not to Greg.
She pulled up a chair next to his bed and gently grasped his uninjured hand in her own. Tears slipped down his swollen cheeks and he turned his head away from her in the hopes that she wouldn't see them.
"It's okay, Greg," she said softly. "You're going to be alright…"
He let out a shuddering breath in response, his face still turned away from Sara's as he fought back his tears. "I know," he finally whispered in a small voice. "It's just…you weren't s-supposed to…to see…this…"
She shook her head sadly. "I'm here for you Greg, no matter what. It's okay if you're upset—I don't mind."
"I do," he whispered back.
"Greg…"
"Is Grissom still here?" he asked quietly.
"No, he went to work on the case."
Greg swallowed nervously. "Is he…is he gonna call my m-mom?"
"Greg," Sara said gently before answering his question with one of her own. "Why are you hiding your work from her?"
He let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to talk about my mom," he finally muttered.
"Well, what do you want to talk about?"
He groaned. "Nothing. You talk."
She smirked weakly at him. "What should I talk about?"
"Don't care. Anything. You and Grissom."
"Why…why would I talk about me and Grissom?" she said as she felt a slight flush rise in her cheeks. She didn't think anyone knew about her relationship with the senior CSI. "No, don't even answer that. If you can't talk about your mom, I don't have to talk about Grissom."
"Fine," he mumbled, all the while keeping his face pointed away from hers.
"Greg," she started softly. "Greg, I just want you to know that I'm really proud of you. Everyone is. You saved that man's life."
"But I hit a kid, a…a student," he whispered hoarsely. "I hit him, Sara…"
She squeezed his hand ever so slightly. "You did the right thing, Greg. Trust me—if I were in your shoes, I probably would have done the same thing."
He only responded with a sad sniffle.
"Greg…"
Sara wanted to continue trying to comfort him, to make him feel at least a little better in his distressed state, but she couldn't quite find the right words. All she could do was continue to hold his hand and gently caress his uninjured arm. Greg took some comfort in the gesture, as his labored breathing slowed a little at least. He became so quiet and calm, that Sara thought he'd fallen asleep while she watched the gentle rising and falling of his chest. But then they heard the sound of hurried footsteps from outside of the door and Greg immediately jerked to attention.
Sara, figuring it was another one of her coworkers coming to see how Greg was doing, didn't jump to see who was coming. She turned when she heard the door open slowly and was surprised to see an unfamiliar, older woman silhouetted in the doorway by the iridescent hallway lights behind her. Sara was about to address the stranger, when the woman suddenly gasped and brought a slender hand to her gaping mouth.
"Oh, Gregory," the stranger moaned, taking slow and shaky steps towards his bedside as she took in his battered appearance.
What little color was left Greg's face turned ghostly white as he stared back at her through heavily lidded eyes. His expression was one of almost horrified shock, much like hers was. "M-mom…mom," he whimpered. "…'m s-sorry…"
She leaned over him and put her gentle hands on either side of his neck, as they seemed to be the only places on his upper body that weren't visibly bruised. "My poor baby," she said softly while she planted a light kiss to his bandaged forehead.
Greg didn't try to say anything else—he didn't even try to be brave for his mother's sake like he had after the explosion over three years ago. He finally broke down and openly sobbed in her gentle and loving embrace, obviously no longer caring if Sara saw him cry or not. He kept trying to mutter apologies between shaky sobs but his mother just continued to hold him close while she whispered "shhh, it's okay…I'm here…"
The emotion of the scene moved Sara deeply, and she knew she should probably leave, to give them a little privacy at least, but she found she couldn't leave Greg's side. To both women it was as though the other wasn't even there—all they were focused on was the young man lying in the hospital bed, who was steadily losing his battle with unconsciousness as he sobbed himself to sleep in his mother's arms. She continued to hold her son even after his crying had ceased and all that could be heard was the sounds of his deep, somewhat raspy breathing.
The caring mother caressed her son's head for a long moment before she finally looked away from him and seemed to notice for the first time that Sara was in the room with them.
The CSI took the initiative and introduced herself to the woman. "Sara Sidle. I work with Greg."
She smiled sadly. "I might have guessed," she said slowly, her voice still thick with emotion as she stared down at her son. "I've heard a lot of nice things about you, Sara Sidle, from my Gregory. He's lucky to have such good friends. You know, the last time my son was in the hospital here a beautiful woman he worked with sat with him, too. I see now why he is so adamant about keeping this job."
She absentmindedly brushed a curly lock off Greg's bruised face. He was breathing deeply in what both women hoped was a restful sleep. When his mother turned to the CSI again, Sara saw fresh tears streaking the woman's face.
"Who hurt my son?"
Sara wasn't sure how much Sofia had told Greg's mother over the phone, and then she wasn't even sure how much information she should be passing along. The case was still open, after all.
"We're…not entirely sure," the CSI finally said. "There have been a number of beatings in the city since last night. The victims were all random, and we know it's a group of people that are doing this. We've got a suspect in custody, so it's only a matter of time before we get the rest of them."
"So…so this was random?" the other woman asked in shaky disbelief. "My Gregory was hurt for no reason?"
Sara hesitated again, now wondering how much of Greg's secret she should keep for him. "Not exactly. Another man, a tourist, was being attacked while Greg was on his way to a crime scene. He saw what was happening and tried to stop the gang from killing the man. Then they pulled him out of his car and did this."
"He saved that man's life," the very proud mother whispered sadly.
Sara blinked. "Um…yes. But how did you know…?"
"I didn't. My mother did. Or at least she alluded to it. Said Gregers was a hero, but at a terrible price."
"Oh, yeah," Sara commented with a weak smile. "Greg's mentioned his psychic grandmother before."
"He has?"
"He speaks very highly of his family around the lab. You, his grandmother, his Papa Olaf…"
The older woman's gaze faltered at the name. "They would have been here, too, but my father's been…sick." At the look that crossed Sara's face, she added, "nothing life threatening, I hope. But I…I haven't told Greg yet. He'd be devastated."
Sara nodded her understanding and the two women were silent again, their eyes locked on the injured young man before them. They were like this for a few minutes at least until Greg's mother spoke up with a question that Sara was dreading to have to answer.
"He was…going to a scene…" she started slowly. "Why was he going to a scene if he only deals with things in the laboratory?"
The CSI wasn't sure how she should go about answering the question, so she responded with the honest truth: "I'm sorry, it's not really my place to say…
The older woman sighed. "I already suspect he's been trying to become one of you CSIs."
Sara blinked. "You…you do? I thought Greg didn't tell you…"
"He didn't," his mother replied. "But I could tell something was different. His working hours were changing, he's been so busy these past few years…and he's even changed his appearance. You know, before a year or so ago I hadn't seen Gregory in a nice blazer since he was in school?"
"I guess he has matured his taste in coats, at least," Sara commented with a chuckle.
A soft smile grew on the other woman's wrinkled face and she suddenly started rummaging through her purse. "Would you like to see a picture of him?"
Perplexed, Sara nodded.
Greg's mother held a small, wallet sized picture in her wrinkled hand and the CSI could not keep the smile from her face when she saw it. It was a photo of Greg, probably no older than ten, standing proudly with a bright, brace infested smile on his young face beneath a short tousle of brown hair. Sara noticed he was wearing a clean cut school uniform, but couldn't quite make out the gold insignia sewn on the breast of the navy jacket. The neatly pressed shorts were navy like the blazer, but the white polo shirt he wore was wrinkled and only partially tucked in, making him look somehow ruffled and refined all at once. And to top it off were his bunched white socks and scuffed Chuck Taylor sneakers with haphazardly tied laces. For all intents and purposes he looked like a sweet, innocent little boy, much like he was still as a young man.
"Aww," Sara cooed. She couldn't help herself, even while Greg was sleeping right there in front of her. If he was awake, she was sure he would be embarrassed, especially to hear his coworker and once supervisor comment that "he was so cute."
Greg's mother smiled proudly at the photo she held lovingly in her hands. "He was, wasn't he? He was always so excited for school when he was a boy. I remember fearing that he would topple over with all the books he carried around in his backpack."
Both women laughed softly, and Sara could easily picture in her head this little version of Greg hunched over with a backpack twice his size full of science books far advanced for his age. She wiped tears of joy out of the corner of her eye while the loving mother placed the picture back where it belonged in her wallet. Then she turned back to her son and the sad expression returned as her eyes glazed over again.
"I hate seeing him like this," she said with a sniffle. "But I know I can't always be there to protect him. He's not my little baby anymore. He's a grown man now, with a good job and good friends to take care of him. I can't interfere with his life choices anymore."
"I think Greg'll be very relieved to hear that," Sara said softly. "He was afraid you would be upset."
"I am upset…but not just because he's been keeping secrets from me. I'm upset that he even feels that he needs to keep secrets from me. He was always such a stubborn boy…"
"Trust me, he hasn't grown out of his stubbornness yet," Sara joked.
The older woman didn't return the smile as she continued to watch over her sleeping son.
"Seriously though," the CSI continued after clearing her throat. "Greg is so lucky to have a family that loves him and cares about him. There are too many people out there that aren't as fortunate." Her voice trailed off slightly as she found herself reflecting on her own train wreck of a childhood.
Greg's mother finally looked up to meet the younger woman's eyes as she said genuinely, "thank you, Sara."
Sara blinked at her in surprise. "For what?"
"For being there when I couldn't. For caring about my Gregory. You're a good person, I can tell."
"Oh," Sara said, a light blush rising in her cheeks at the woman's commending words. "Well, thanks."
Sara wanted to keep talking to the woman—about what she wasn't quite sure—when the little device on her hip suddenly started vibrating. She was surprised she even got service in the hospital room, but there, staring at her from her closed cell phone was one new text message from Grissom. She flipped it open without hesitation and read the short, abbreviated note that to anyone other than a CSI would look like nothing but pointless coded gibberish.
"Oh wow," she commented. When given a quizzical look, she explained, "the one suspect we have in custody gave up another perp, whose car had transfer from Greg's Denali on it and the victim's wallet inside."
This meant nothing to the other woman, who only judged the meaning of the words based on the expression on Sara's face. "So that's…good?"
"Yeah…yeah that's great," the younger woman said enthusiastically as she stood from her chair and finally released the single handed hold she had on Greg. "At this rate we'll have the rest of the gang in custody by the end of the day!"
Greg's mother forced a smile but was nowhere near as excited by the news as Sara was. She was relieved her son's attackers would be brought to justice, but still…catching them didn't change the fact that her only child was lying broken and bruised in a hospital bed.
"Um…Mrs. Sanders?" Sara started hesitantly as the other woman blinked in surprise at the "Mrs." title. "Do you mind if I…?"
"Oh, no dear…go do what you need to do."
Sara nodded. "It was nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise," Greg's mother said with a genuine smile. "And thank you again for everything you've done."
"Anything for Greg."
Sara started to walk out of the room, hesitating in the doorway as she took one glance back at Greg, who was lying motionless on the hospital bed oblivious to his mother's gentle caresses. After a moment, Sara could even hear the woman humming softly some sort of lullaby that the CSI didn't recognize. But it was a nice, soothing sound that brought a warm smile to Sara's face and made her feel good to know that Greg would be safe in the hands of his adoring mother.
END.
Yay! Thanks for all the nice reviews, everybody. It means a lot, really :)
Meh, I never like endings, but here is where I leave it…for now… See, at first I wrote this because I had writer's block on other stuff. But it's been sitting around for so long and I've grown to love Greg's mother so much that I had to finally edit and post this in anticipation for another story with her that I started recently on a whim—a longer, much more entertaining story than this little three shot. Look for that sometime in the future, pending any major school related crises, of course :) Hopefully I'll actually finish it...
