A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews! Please keep them coming, they encourage me to update!
"There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of happenings."
--Dorothy Thompson
"May I help you?" A woman in white scrubs asked skeptically as she poked her head through the door.
"Ummm, yes." Catherine replied. "I'm here to see Sara Sidle."
"And you are?" The woman asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Catherine Willows, LVPD CS--… I mean coworker and friend."
The woman's eyebrows went even higher.
"I'm sorry I'm used to rattling off my title. Look I don't have a lot of time. I need to get into work. I was with her when she was checked in, I know I'm approved."
"Oh I already knew you were." The woman answered, eyeing Catherine with extreme dislike.
Catherine was starting to become irritated.
"Can I just see Sara?" She asked impatiently.
"She isn't here."
"What?"
"She's not here right now."
"She checked out?"
"No. She went out."
"She went out?" Catherine wanted to strangle the woman.
"With her half-brother."
"Sara doesn't have a half--" She stopped mid-sentence, remembering what Grissom had told her earlier. If the woman's eyebrows could have went any further up her forehead they would have disappeared under her hairline.
"Well just let her know I stopped by then." Catherine said quickly.
"Will do." The woman answered shutting the door in Catherine's face.
"Geez!" Catherine muttered under her breath. How the hell did Grissom ever get past that bitch?
She walked over to the elevator and was about to push the button when the doors opened.
"Grissom! Sara!" Catherine cried in surprise as they walked off the elevator.
"Hey Cath…" Grissom looked confused.
"I was going to visit Sara but it looks like you beat me to it." Catherine explained. "Hey aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"Aren't you?" Grissom replied.
It was then that she noticed the identical grins on both his and Sara's faces.
"What is with you two? You both look like you got plastic smile surgery or something."
Grissom looked offended but Sara just laughed. "Come on Gris, I'm already late enough."
He nodded and turned to Catherine.
"I'll see you in the lab in 15 minutes."
Catherine walked off shaking her head and Grissom escorted Sara to the doors of the psych unit. Before ringing the bell he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. She smiled into it and pulled him into a hug.
"I'll see you in the lab tomorrow afternoon." She said as she released him.
He smiled. "If you're ready. But don't hesitate if you need some more time."
She shook her head. "I want to be as close to you as possible."
He pressed the bell and watched as the obnoxious woman in white scrubs opened the door and began to scold Sara on her lateness.
'You will be." He mouthed as he waved goodbye to her.
It wasn't until Grissom was unlocking his car that he remembered what the next day would bring. He felt his throat choke up as he realized that Sara would be there when his ex-fiancé and supposed son arrived. He had been counting on her being in the hospital or at home resting. Swallowing hard, he got in his car and headed towards the lab. He tried his best to push it out of his mind, at least until the morning; otherwise he knew he would never be able to do his work.
--
Grissom spent the next day on edge, pacing his office nervously. At exactly 10:45 A.M. he left to go pick Sara up from the hospital. He didn't bother to go home and change or shower. Instead he drove her to her apartment and helped her get settled.
"Hey shouldn't you be at home getting some rest before shift starts?" Sara asked him as he flitted about her kitchen, brewing coffee and putting together a lunch for them.
"I'm fine." He replied trying to sound at ease and failing miserably.
"You are as bad as I am when it comes to lying about how you feel." Sara responded, chewing nervously on her lower lip. "Is it us? You know we don't have to say anything to the team… it would probably be best if we kept things a secret, anyways. Otherwise Ecklie will spilt us up…" Her voice trailed off as she stopped babbling.
Grissom appeared not to have heard her.
"Grissom!" She cried loudly, causing him to jump in surprise and bang his head on the top of the cupboard he was searching through.
She couldn't help but laugh at him.
"Are you okay?" She asked more seriously, getting up from her seat and moving towards him.
He rubbed the top of his head and stared at her, seemingly spaced out.
"Yeah, I'm fine… and I agree, lets keep 'us' between 'us'.
Reaching him, she stood on her tiptoes to examine his head.
"Where does it hurt?" She asked him.
'Everywhere' He wanted to say but instead he just pointed to a spot on his head. She elevated herself a little higher in order to give him a light kiss in the direction he was pointing.
"All better?" She asked as she let her heels drop back down to the floor.
"All better." He lied throwing her a fake smile. He cursed himself inside his head for not having the strength to tell her where it really hurt. 'Just tell, she's going to find out in a few hours anyways and then it will be too late!' He desperately tried to convince himself.
But he had a plan. Sara would be out in the field. The DNA test would be quick. And if the results proved the kid to be his… well then he would tell her. He had already hurt her enough. Why cause her more pain for nothing? That was the excuse that he gave himself.
TBC…
