Chapter Fourteen: Awakening
After Sara began to breathe on her own and slipped back into slumber, it was nearly three hours before she awoke again. During the first hour and a half after her initial breath, her breathing had stopped twice, but she quickly regained it and fought on. The doctor was confident that since she had been breathing strong on her own for the last hour and half on her own, that they would be okay to put her into a private room with frequent checks and someone in the room with her at all times.
Both Grissom and Catherine never left her side while the nurses wheeled Sara's bed down to the second floor to her new room. Once settled, Catherine left briefly to establish a new "message throne" and to call and give everyone her new room number. Grissom, however, never moved farther than their joined hands could reach.
He and Catherine were engrossed in a conversation when she did awake, though, they didn't realize it at first.
"...and when she made you foster that litter of kittens found at that arson scene. That was hilarious." Catherine was saying, in reference to Sara. They had been sharing memories of Sara's stubbornness for quite some time.
"That was priceless. The look on her face though, I was terrified of her. I had never seen her so determined. I knew I had no choice. Bruno hated those cats. Sara, however, loved them. I found her one night asleep on the kitchen floor with a baby bottle in her hands from feeding them. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen." Grissom remembered, a huge smile plastered to his face at the memory.
"Oh my God." Sara gasped as she walked through the ruble left of what once was a quaint little home in the suburbs and came across a cardboard box. "Gil!" She yelled out, bending down to get a closer look.
"Sara! Are you okay?! What happened?!" Grissom rambled on as he ran into the room, fearing that she had been hurt.
"I'm fine Gil. Look." She pointed to the box. He expelled a huge breath in relief as he looked into the box.
"Kittens? You scared the hell out of me for a box of kittens?!"
"Oh hush." She chided, running her finger down the length of one of the six kitten's spine. "The mother is over there." She motioned to the lifeless, burnt body of an older cat laying a few feet from the box. Amazingly all of the kittens had survived the fire.
"That's too bad. I'll put in a call to animal services." He sighed, feeling for the fuzzy little creatures, but more concerned about the dead human body in the other room.
"No you will not!" Sara instructed harshly as she stood back up to face him.
"I won't?" He raised an eyebrow to her in question.
"Gil, look at them! They just lost their mother and now you want to ship them off to some pound? Who knows what will happen to them there!"
"Uh…"
"We're taking them home." Grissom did a double take. Did she just say that?
"Uh, what?"
"We're taking them home Gil. They're so small, they need love and attention."
"Uh, Sara, honey, we can not take care of six cats. We can barely take care of ourselves."
"Gilbert. I'm not asking." Then she gave him the 'Look' and he shut up.
He knew better that to argue with her when her mind was set. She had been known to make his life a living hell if he fought with her after she gave that 'Look'. He cringed at the memory of her refusing to have sex with him for over three weeks. He did not want to do that again.
"Okay. You just tell what you need and we'll stop on the way home. I'll clear it with animal services."
Before Catherine could comment, a third voice broke through the room.
"Gr..iiis..ss..omm?" The voice croaked out. Both heads turned to Sara. Her eyes were still closed, but they could tell that she was awake. Catherine jumped up and grabbed the cup of ice chips for her, while Grissom moved to sit on the edge of the bed and stroke his fingers through her tangled hair.
He was so consumed by her being awake that he didn't notice her use of their last name. Once they were together, she had begun calling him 'Gil' outside of the lab most of the time and then when their relationship was outed, shortly after Gil proposed, she had stopped calling him 'Grissom' completely.
"Hey. Welcome back." His voice was that of love, caring and glee, and for what seemed to be the millionth time, a tear pooled in his eye as he watched hers desperately fight to flutter open.
"Whh...aat...haaap...happened?"
Grissom and Catherine exchanged bemused looks at the confusion in Sara's pleading voice. Grissom placed some of the ice chips on a spoon and gave them to her to help the sting in her throat as her eyes opened. His heart sank at the fear and confusion in her eyes as she looked around the room, taking in as much of herself as her limited sight would allow.
"You don't remember?" Catherine asked when it seemed Grissom was afraid to.
"No." Her eyes were tearing up now, a result of the fear she was portraying.
"Honey, you were hit by a car. You're in the hospital." He tried to say soothingly, hoping both that she'd remember but also that she wouldn't after her reaction the last time.
Nothing happened.
Her face was blank as she desperately tried to wrack her brain for the memories, but none came.
"I...I don't remember."
"It's okay baby. It's okay." Grissom tried to calm her while Catherine whispered to him.
"I'll get the doctor." She quickly rushed from the room.