Disclaimer: Sadly enough, I don't own anything. This is written for pure enjoyment only and no profit to be gained.

CHAPTER 3:

As she walked over to Gil's bed, she softly cursed herself.

Great, now what the hell am I suppose to wear?

She desperately wanted to get out of her tight clothes she'd been wearing all day. Unlike Gil, Catherine didn't get a chance to shower or change clothes. Letting out a long sigh, she decided the only thing to do was to wear one of Gil's T-shirts.

Hopefully he won't mind. She thought to herself. "Or more to the point, hopefully he won't see me in this!" She whispered to herself as she walked over to his dresser. A flash of worry spread across her face at the thought of him walking in but it quickly vanished.

After going through a few drawers, she finally spotted some T-shirts folded neatly inside. Grabbing the first one on the top, she held it up and laughed. The shirt read; 'Do I Look Like A Freakin' People Person?' Catherine had bought that shirt for Gil several years back. She spotted it hanging in the window in one of those Big Dog stores and couldn't resist.

I can't believe he kept it this entire time. She nodded her head up and down admirably. This is the perfect one to wear!

Gil felt a little awkward. He had a woman in his bed and he was stuck out on the couch.

"Figures." He whispered to himself.

He made himself comfortable on the couch as best as he could and decided to read a bit. He wasn't too worried about getting sleep since it was Friday. He knew that he didn't have to work again until Monday morning, unless something came up, which gave him to whole weekend to rest. Grabbing a National Geographic magazine from underneath the coffee table, he began to read an article that he had his eye on for a while.

Gil was a fast reader, so it didn't take him long to get through the twelve page article on insects. After coming to the conclusion that he still wasn't tired, he decided to pick up his book he started reading a couple days ago. With everything that happened this past week, he hasn't had a chance to get through more than a few chapters. Reaching for his book, 3rd Degree by James Patterson, he opened the book to where he last left off.

A half-hour later, Gil was quickly reminded why he doesn't wear flannel pajamas in the summer. He was sweating and uncomfortable, but didn't want to go back into his room and wake Catherine just to get a different pair of Pajamas. So he had to improvise. As self-conscious as he was, he quietly sat up and took his shirt off. He immediately let out a breath of air as he felt the fresh, cool air hit his back and chest. Afraid that Catherine might come out and see him like this, he gathered the blanket down by his feet and laid it softly over his chest. Fifteen minutes later, he was fast asleep.

Not having any luck staying asleep, Catherine sat up in Gil's king size bed.

I wonder if he's asleep. She briefly contemplated to herself. She thought for sure she'd get a good night sleep, but her dreams…no, no, no, nightmares, her nightmares kept waking her up. Her mind replayed the recent images of the young girl whom her dad had—had…she couldn't even say it. "Her own father." She kept repeating to herself, "Her own fucking father." Tears began to flow down her face again, edging at her jaw line before splashing onto her lap and onto Gil's bed. Shaking her head, she tried to desperately clear her thoughts. She needed someone to talk to about this, to confide in.

Quietly opening the door of the bedroom, she peered out into the living room where Gil was fast asleep. She looked at him and, not seeing a hint of life, careful walked over to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water while contemplating what to do next.

Thank god I didn't have one of those nightmares where I start screaming in the middle of it. Only god knows what Gil would say about that. He'd think I'm nuts!

As she slowly made her way back to the bedroom she immediately took notice of the half naked form lying on the couch. She gasped slightly and exhaled longer than usual as she noticed a shirtless, Gil Grissom. Catherine had never seen Gil without a shirt on before. He was always so careful around other people and never showered or changed at work while other co-workers were around; so seeing his bare chest was a shock to her. Walking over to where he laid on the couch, without a moments hesitation, Catherine grabbed the blanket that had obviously fallen off of him and onto the floor and gently pulled it back up so it was just a few inches bellow his chin. Catherine took a few moments to stare at his face, noting every curve of his face. She smiled and hesitantly turned and walked back into Gil's bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Gently lying back down on the bed, her thoughts drifted back to Gil. Several thoughts coursed through her mind as she drifted back to sleep.

As fast as the townhouse was surrounded by silence, a sharp cry of help and of screaming awoke Gil from his deep sleep. He jolted up, sitting straight up in the couch. Listening he heard nothing. Slowly lying back down, he figured he was just dreaming until a loud, desperate cry of "NO…STOP IT!" Fully awoke him. Quickly jumping up from the couch, he instantly recognized the voice and ran down the hall and into the bedroom. With several different things running through his mind, the only thing he can be sure of is that Catherine needed him. Bursting into the room with his gun that he grabbed from the table in route to the bedroom, he quickly lowered his weapon as he spotted Catherine sleeping with no one around.

Setting his weapon down, he walked over to the side of the bed as she continued to stir and yell random, unintelligible sentences…most of which, Gil couldn't make sense of.

"Cath, honey, wake up." Touching her on the shoulder briefly while he bent down, hovering over her. With no response, he raised his voice and grabbed both of her shoulders, forcefully, desperately trying to wake her up.

This tactic backfired.

"Get the hell away from us!" Catherine shrieked and immediately swung her arms around, nailing Gil right in the face. This was definitely not something Gil had expected and it caught him off guard as the hit sent him falling backwards and landing hard on his butt, but not before hitting the nightstand next to the head of the bed.

Catherine immediately woke up after hearing an "Oomph" come out of Gil's mouth. Shocked by what happened and a little dazed Gil just sat there frozen in place, not sure what to do. By this time, the room was spinning after the contact with the nightstand and Catherine's fist hitting his mouth.

Catherine looked around the room and then spotted Gil sitting on the floor. Her eyes immediately softened.

"Oh my god, Gil, are you alright?" Catherine spoke softly, sitting up in the bed. She yieldingly reached down to grab his hands.

"Ugh, yeah, I'm fine. I heard you screaming…it woke me up. I—" He stammered to find the words. He still didn't know what the hell happened, it happened so fast.

"I'm sorry Gil, I didn't mean to wake you…or shove you backwards or hit…" She paused. "Oh my god, I hit you didn't I?" She gasped and looked down at her sore, red knuckles.

"Yes, you did, but look on the bright side…you didn't shove me." He said with a sly smile present. "It's no big deal though, really. Are you ok?" Touching the back of his head lightly; then repeating the same action with his lip.

"I was having a nightmare…and like hitting you is any better! Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A nightmare, huh? Must have been one hell of a nightmare!"

"God, Gil, I'm so sorry. I was…well, obviously having a nightmare, it's not going to hurt me."

"Yeah but it might hurt me!" Sighing, Gil got up with the help of Catherine and sat on the edge of the bed. Catherine was still under the covers.

"Let me see that." She whispered as hurt piercing through Gil's ears. "Gil, you're bleeding." She spoke roughly. She hadn't noticed the blood before because he was in the shadows on the floor.

"Of course I'm bleeding, you punched me! What do you expect? I just need to take some of my migraine medicine before my headache escalades." Gil murmurs.

He stood up as best as he could from the bed and slowly made his was over to the bathroom. Opening his medicine cabinet, he quickly grabbed his medicine. Slightly swaying, staggering back and forth, Gil was doing all he could to keep his balance. Walking back to the edge of the bed where Catherine sat, he briefly looked in the mirror as he passed by. Doing a double take, he instantly froze. For the first time since he went back into the bedroom, he realized that he never put his shirt back on. His cheeks were instantly red, matching the shade of a freshly picked, red apple. Not sure of what to do, his instincts kicked into overdrive and he immediately opened his dresser drawer and grabbed another shirt.

"You don't need to do that." She exclaimed, as she studied him. She knew what he was doing.

"Do what?" He nonchalantly asked as he grabbed the first shirt on the top.

"You know what. Now come back over here and let me look at you. You might have a concussion and I'm sure you'll have a fatty lip in the morning."

"I can't imagine why." Gil said half a smile present. Catherine on the other hand had guilt etched on her face. Slowly walking back over to her, shirt in hand, he collapsed down on the edge of the bed. He could see her tears building back up into those beautiful eyes again. "Please don't cry. Whatever the reason may be, we can get through this."

"Let me get you a glass of water so you can take your medicine." Catherine whispered and began to stand up.

Before she had still been partially under the covers, but as she got up to get a glass of water for him, he saw the shirt she was wearing. His shirt. It was the one she had bought for him several years back. It actually made a smile appear on his face, but that quickly diminished as his eyes drifted down to her lower body. Gil saw no pajama pants to follow the shirt; her underwear was the only thing present. By this time, Gil's eyes were as wide as could be, jaw dropped.

The shirt hung down to about the tip of her underwear, just covering her buttocks. Of course when she walked, it swayed back and forth so that Gil could see everything; everything being her underwear. Gil wasn't sure what to do. Quickly, he put the shirt on that he grabbed as Catherine made her way back into the room, glass in hand.

As Gil swallowed the pill, he started to stand up only to fall backwards onto the bed.

"Gil! Are you alright?" Catherine asked.

"Ugh, yeah. Just feel a bit dizzy."

"How hard did you hit your head? "

"Um, hard enough obviously." Gil murmured and closed his eyes harshly.

"Where's your medical kit?"

"Why?" Gil asked confused. He slowly opened his eyes to be greeted with a spinning room.

"So I can at least clean your lip up. It looks like hell."

"Thanks." He growled. "It's over there in the corner of the closet." He said, pointing in the direction of the closet.

Seconds later, she came back with the necessary supplies in hand. She cleaned Gil's cut up as best as she could and then stroked the side of his face. Gil just sat there and looked at her.

"Here…" She said, letting her hand fall from his face. She reached for the covers and pulled the corner back for him. "Lay down."

"No, I'm fine Catherine, really. Besides, I said you could sleep here."

"We can share the damn bed! Gil, I don't care about that. I just want to make sure you're ok. You hit your head hard, and even though you have a 'hard head,' you still need to rest. The punch in the face before the blunt force trauma to the back of the head didn't help either."

"Yeah." Pause. "I hit my head hard, but really, Catherine, I'm Fine—"

"Gil, for once in your life would you just shut up and let somebody help you?" She hissed. At that she walked out of the room briefly and returned a minute later with two ice packs. "Here, these will help with the swelling."

"Thanks Dr. Catherine, but I think I can figure it out."

Gil slowly lied down on the bed. Once he lied down completely, Catherine pulled the covers over him and walked around onto the other side of the bed. Gil followed every move she made.

"Look, Gil, I know you're uncomfortable with another person using your bed, let alone someone else being in bed with you while you're actually in it, but I'm not leaving you alone right now until I make sure you're ok. Got it?" She exclaimed, hands on hips and order in her voice.

"Thanks, Catherine." Gil said. He then closed his eyes, too tired to say anything more.

Catherine was definitely shocked. He didn't even argue with her.

He must really have a bad head ache if he is that willing to stay in the same bed with me.

A/N: Ok, so the "Do I Look Like A Freakin' People Person" actually is from the store Big Dogs. I'm sure some of you have heard of this. I bought a dog collar for one of my dogs there and all around the color, it says that. Kind of reminded me of Gil, so I HAD to use it!

-Snyder-