A/N: New chap afoot :) Will the good news continue or is Grissom going to push too hard too soon? Evil hat may be lurking :P Thanks for all the reviews and as always to calim for the beta.

On we go….

Chapter 9

Sitting there watching him sleep, Sara sighed happily. It was a surreal feeling. He was actually smiling and it had been a long, long time since she'd seen that while he slept.

They'd been back from the hospital for almost an hour. Thankfully, they hadn't waited too long for Grissom's second stint in radiology. She remembered holding her breathe as Donald read out the results and then a sudden state of euphoria when he revealed the median nerve had held and there wasn't any sign of rupture.

The unbelieving look on Grissom's face stuck in her mind when the news first came out. It was as if he didn't trust what he was hearing. But as Donald happily confirmed, a smile caught his lips. He didn't jump up and down. He just sat there looking relieved.

They both knew they still had a long way to go but this was the positive news they needed to be able to really move forwards… at least, physically. Sara hoped Grissom would enthusiastically embrace his physiotherapy as he'd done before. In doing so, that could be the distraction he'd really need to keep the demons at bay. Major details about the next steps were put on hold due to Grissom's flagging state but would be taken up when they returned in 48 hours.

Feeling something drop on her leg, she looked down to see Buddy plonk his chin on her knee. Once eye contact was made, he let out a soft whine. Smiling, she ran her hand between his ears.

"He's okay," she soothed. "I know you were worried but you were such a good boy."

Buddy's tongue lolled out his mouth as he lifted his head to look at her and panted happily. She smiled down at him only to turn her attention to the doorway when she heard a light knock, seeing Brass standing there.

"I'll be right back," she told the dog and headed toward the captain

"How's he doing?" Brass asked after a quick glance at the bed.

"Good," Sara breathed. "Out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow. Not surprising. The medication, all that stress…knocked him for six." She folded her arms. "But for once, I think it's a happy sleep."

Brass smiled. "I'm so happy for you guys."

She let out a sigh. "Well, we're not there yet. Long way to go still."

Chewing on his lip, Brass nodded. "Do you think he'll make a good go of physio considering his other problems?"

"I really hope so," she said. "He finally has a goal that we know can be achieved. No more guessing or false hope. Plus, concentrating on his hands may well take his mind off the other stuff although I just wish he'd let that out."

"You think he'll be better for it?"

"It goes deep, Sara," Brass said in a serious tone. "It could send him down the rabbit hole, bring on more seizures."

Taking a quick look at the bed, she sighed. "Keeping that horror inside is eating him up, Jim. I can see it, feel it. And I think he wants to be rid of it. If he does that then we can deal with it properly together and try to move past it."

"I didn't want to mention it," Brass continued rubbing his chin, "but the DA is still pushing for that statement. I gave half a promise I'd ask if Gil seemed a bit better."

Sara's eyes widened at the thought. There was no way she'd let Grissom give a statement even if he wanted to. Not yet.

"He can keep pushing," she grumbled. "He isn't ready yet, Jim. And if he isn't opening up to me he certainly isn't going to open up to you."

Brass held up a hand. "Point taken and I thought you'd say that."

She nodded. "Good."

"Well, I, er, I'll leave you to it. Let me know later how he's doing and call me if you need anything."

"Thanks," Sara said with appreciation.

Smiling and squeezing her arm, he turned and left.

Heading back to the bed, Sara looked Grissom over. He still looked happy and peaceful and that made her feel good. Knowing she had to call Betty with the news, she took her cell from her pocket and moved to the corner of the room so as not to disturb him.

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After finishing her call to Betty, Sara grabbed her laptop and made herself comfortable by the bed deciding to update Catherine, Russell and Nick. She knew Russell would update the guys at the lab.

Since it was his day off, Nick spent a little more time chatting. He'd be their taxi tomorrow so that Brass could get a break and because he still felt badly about being Basderic's stooge. It didn't matter how often Sara told him it wasn't his fault, he still took the blame. Perhaps one day he'd let it go. She hoped so because she'd come to realize that life was just too short to waste on what if's.

After Nick signed off, Sara closed her laptop and stood, stretching out with a yawn. Buddy took it upon himself to head her way, merrily wagging his tail.

She smiled down at him as he sat and raised a paw toward her.

"You want to go out?" Instantly Buddy got up, his tail going crazy now. "Okay, okay. Come on."

Not wanting to leave Grissom without at least one of them in the room, she hurried toward the back door only to have Buddy beat her to it. Grinning, she opened the door and leaned against the doorframe, watching as he ran into the garden. Looking up at the darkening sky, she could see clouds coming in. A storm was coming. Good old Vegas.

Barely a minute later, Buddy trotted past her and into the kitchen, had a quick drink from his water bowl before heading back to the bedroom. Closing and locking the door, Sara glanced at her watch noting it was about dinner time as she followed after him, making sure the drapes were tightly closed. No flashes of lightning would be making an appearance in this bedroom.

"I'm going to go and make dinner, okay?" she told Buddy. His head shot up causing her to smirk. "Yes, and yours, too. Look after him, all right?" A soft whine left his lips and she gave him a pat before heading back to the kitchen.

Reasonably assured that leaving her husband in Buddy's care was acceptable, she headed into the kitchen. He hadn't eaten much today and might just appreciate a nice dinner. Who knows? They could have a pleasant evening.

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Lowering her head over the pot of stewing vegetables, Sara inhaled. Hmmm, it smelled so good. Vegetable stew and dumplings for her and she'd add some chicken in for Grissom. Some nice crusty bread on the side would be prefect to hide away the chilly storm that was currently pummeling the house. No thunder or lightening as of yet but that would probably come.

Just as that thought passed through her head, Buddy barked. Her head snapped back and her eyes widened. Heart thumping, she threw down the spoon and ran to the bedroom. Nearly falling through the doorway she came to a grinding stop when her gaze fell upon an empty bed. Turning toward the bathroom, she hurried toward it and grabbed the doorframe to steady herself upon seeing Grissom, pj's around his ankles, sitting on the toilet.

"What?" he questioned with a confused tone at her open-mouthed stare.

She blinked then looked over her shoulder before back at him.

"What?" she gasped, trying to get her breath. "Jesus, Gil, I thought something had happened that's what."

His eyes flicked to Buddy. "Your fault," he accused only for the dog to bark again.

Sighing loudly, Sara shook her head and irately folded her arms, giving him a death stare. "For one, why is he barking and two, why are you out of bed?"

His eyebrows soared. "I needed to piss," he said flatly fighting the smile that tried to spread across his lips.

It had been a while since he'd teased her and, for the first time in a long time, he actually felt like doing so.

"And I asked Buddy to pass the toilet paper," he continued. "I think he refused."

Her eyes narrowed. "Very funny," she grumbled, picking up a towel and throwing it at him. "Do you want me to have a heart attack?" As the towel fell onto his bare legs he stared at it. "You should have called for me," she complained. "Do you want to hurt yourself?"

"I apologize," he said, sensing she was actually quite annoyed and maybe even right.

Shaking her head, she rubbed her forehead realizing how ridiculous a place this was to be having a little tiff.

"Fine," she said. "I'm not trying to be a nag but you're probably still unsteady and…and you got your bottoms down?"

Now he smiled and looked quite proud of himself.

"Do not push it too soon," she warned, stepping into the room and stroking Buddy then looking directly at him. "And you need to make sure he behaves."

He barked again and Sara rolled her eyes. But, her husband seemed to be in a good mood and in reasonably good health so she shouldn't really complain. Well, apart from almost crapping her pants.

"So, you're feeling okay?" she asked softly.

Nodding, Grissom stood up. "Could use a little help though."

She smirked. "So now you need my help, huh?"

He shrugged. "Easy to get them down but not so easy to get back up."

Obliging without a fuss, Sara quickly crouched, pulling up his bottoms and making him decent. Planting a soft kiss on his lips, she smiled.

"Hungry?"

He yawned and then nodded. "A little bit."

The hospital had left his braces off due to swelling so she carefully lifted his left hand and inspected it closely.

"Swelling is almost gone," she said happily. "Still sore?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

His lips twitched. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

"Probably not."

"Still a little sore," he admitted. "But it's okay."

"Should we put your braces back on?"

"Maybe later," he said softly. "I'm kinda enjoying the freedom."

"Okay," she agreed. "So, dinner is about ready. Shall we get you dressed and then eat?"

He thought for a second. "I don't get to act like a bum for the rest of the day?"

She smirked. "You can if you want I suppose. We won't be going anywhere."

"Then a bum it is."

Sara truly giggled. He really was in a good mood, a better one than she'd seen in, well, she didn't know how long. Nodding, she took his arm and left the bathroom, Buddy following along behind them.

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Food happily consumed by all, the trio settled in the lounge.

"I'll have to admit," she began, putting Grissom's pill bottle and water on the coffee table, "I'm amazed you got through that today without having a - you know what."

"Me, too," he agreed. "I thought maybe I was going to at…" He hesitated then and Sara shuffled around to face him.

Dropping a hand to his knee she offered a loving smile. "He got into your thoughts, didn't he?" she asked trying to save him from having to actually say it.

"Yeah," he whispered.

She rubbed his leg. "But you beat him."

"I guess I did," he agreed but then winced a bit, looking down at his leg.

Sara frowned. "Are you okay?"

His shoulder's rose in a slight shrug. "My leg's aching a bit. It was earlier as well."

"You should have said something."

"Other things were on my mind," he returned.

"It's because of the cold," she said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To get some ointment for your leg," she said rising from the couch.

She'd barely taken a step when the doorbell rang. Buddy jumped to his feet as Sara glanced at the clock. It was almost 8pm and they weren't expecting anyone.

"Who's that?" Grissom asked sheepishly, a bit of fear in his eyes.

Sara gave him a 'how am I supposed to know' look and shrugged. "You stay there and I'll find out."

Grissom swallowed then dropped his arm over Buddy's back watching as Sara moved across the room and over towards the front door to slowly open it. He could hear her talking but couldn't make out the words and leaned a little to the side to see who it was. His mouth dropped open at the sight.

# "Hi," #

Slowly, he rose to his feet as his mother approached, his gaze shifting to Sara who looked a little apprehensive.

Swallowing again, Grissom looked at his mother. "Hi," he croaked out. "Um," he mumbled looking back at Sara for a second, "did I miss something?"

# "No," # Betty said. # "And don't blame Sara. She called me earlier and gave me the good news but I took it upon myself to drop in. I've missed you. I wanted to see you." #

"I've missed you, too."

Sara blew out a silent breath of relief. She was very thankful to hear him say that and not be angry that Betty had turned up out of the blue.

# "Got a hug for me?" #

Without even answering, Grissom nodded and she wrapped her arms around him, carefully, of course. Sara sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand as tears welled in her eyes. It was quite a sweet moment as he did his best to hug her back, his hands rising to just rest upon her back. When they separated, Betty smiled and placed a gentle hand against his cheek.

"How about I make us some coffee?" Sara suggested.

"Sure," Grissom replied as Betty lowered her hand, took his arm and led him to the sofa.

They sat as Sara stepped away and Betty gave Buddy a pat when he bumped into her legs. After petting him for a few seconds she turned her undivided attention to her son.

# "I really wanted to see you. You're not angry I came, are you?" #

"No," he said softly. "I'm not angry."

Smiling again, she glanced over at his hands resting in his lap. # "So, how long before you're playing the violin?" #

As his eyebrows rose, he couldn't help a smirk.

# "Ah, there it is. That lovely smile of yours." #

His smirk turning into a bashful smile, Grissom licked his lips. "I don't have any timing details yet. We just know the nerve held and I'm back there in a couple of days to discuss what's next."

# "I am so very proud of you," # she beamed. # "And I have true faith you will recover from all of this." #

"Thanks," he whispered, looking over his shoulder when Sara whistled and Buddy went bounding into the kitchen only to return with a nice big chew bone.

# "Is he doing a good job?" # she asked, nodding to the dog.

Grissom smiled again. "Yeah. He's pretty amazing."

Betty squeezed his knee. # "And I can see you are already in love with him." #

"Maybe," Grissom agreed.

"Here we go," Sara said, appearing with a tray filled with three mugs of coffee.

# "Thanks," # Betty signed as Sara set the tray down.

"So, what are we talking about?" Sara asked, sitting – as she sat down.

"Buddy," Grissom replied. "Mom thinks I'm in love."

Snickering, Sara reached for his coffee, holding it up so he could take a sip from the straw. "I hope you're in love with more than the dog." His eyes flicked to hers and her lips pursed.

Once Grissom pulled away from the straw, Betty tapped his arm, regaining his attention.

# "So, would you like to talk about anything?" #

Feeling his nerves pinch, Grissom shrugged. "Not especially."

Sara felt the awkwardness of the situation and wanted to ease their conversation over to something less tense.

"Why don't you tell us about this new man in your life, Betty?" she suggested.

Betty smirked. # "Oh, I'm sure you don't want to hear about that." #

Grissom's eyebrows soared and he leaned closer to her. "I'm sure we do."

A/N: Will Sara every get Grissom to open up? Will the doctor? He's back to the shrink next chap so we will see :P