Chapter Fourteen:
Sara smiled wide.
"I really died, right?" she asked. "We're not really having this conversation, are we?"
He stiffened.
"Griss?"
Sara gasped when he pulled her closer to his body.
"I'm sorry," he choked. "Did I hurt you?"
"No…I think I hurt you," she whispered. "It was a bad joke."
He nodded.
"I didn't mean to poke fun at you," she said now wishing she had not bothered to make light of the needed conversation.
"It's not that," he said softly.
"Then…what's wrong?" she asked.
"I don't ever want to joke about death with you," he admitted.
He rolled so they could face one another. "Sara, do you know how close you came to death?"
"Yes…I do. I wanted it."
He acted as though she had struck him.
He scrambled from the bed, sitting up and thrusting on the light.
"What do you mean…wanted it?"
"The pain…was unbearable at times. I wanted to let go but you wouldn't let me," she explained.
"I didn't know you were aware I was there…or heard anything I said," he admitted.
"I felt your hand…heard your voice….I knew you didn't want me to…let go…so I didn't."
He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.
It was soft and gentle but was followed by an urgency to drown himself in her.
He wanted nothing more than to make love to her at that moment but he knew she was not well enough.
Despite the good effort she presented she was still quite weak.
She couldn't hide the pain from him either.
Slowly he withdrew even though she held on to his neck.
"We need to sleep," he said.
"Haven't we waited long enough?" she asked.
Oh, how he wanted to give in.
"Don't tempt me," he growled. "You need to rest."
She seemed flustered when he disappeared from the bed.
He returned with pills in hand.
"Take this," he ordered.
"I don't…"
"Sara, you're in pain. I can feel it. I'll be here when you wake," he promised.
She woke hours later to the sound of voices in the next room.
She sat up in the bed and grimaced at the soreness.
Her abdomen hurt like hell.
Suck it up Sidle…
You could be dead right now…
By the sound of the voices, she knew that it was Doc and Brass with Grissom.
She was not prepared when two very large eyes appeared at the end of the bed.
The dog must have been sleeping and was now eyeing her as if she was a nice morsel to eat.
"Good dog…don't eat the house guest," begged Sara.
The dog barked.
Sara tried to inch away from the dog.
The bedroom door opened.
The dog wagged his tail at Grissom. "Hey Bruno, did she wake up?"
"That was supposed to be you…here…not…a dog," she declared.
"Jim and Doc brought Bruno home," he explained.
"Bruno? You have a dog?" she asked.
"He's still a pup…only eight months old," explained Grissom.
"He's big."
There was a tap on the door.
Doc and Brass entered the bedroom.
"I was going to keep the dog longer but my wife threatened to throw me out of the house if Bruno stayed another day," whined Doc.
"Good thing he couldn't get me to keep the mutt," chuckled Brass.
"He's a full blooded boxer," retorted Grissom.
"He's a walking, eating machine that cries when he's not with…you," snorted Doc. "The first night the neighbors complained when we tried to keep him in our garage."
"Bruno is used to sleeping…with me," explained Grissom.
"With you?" asked Sara.
"At the end of the bed," huffed Grissom.
"Right," stated Sara.
"This has been fun but we've got lives," muttered Brass. "Alarm system is fine. Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?"
"Good," she announced.
"I'll see about that," replied Doc as he sat down on the edge of the bed and began examining Sara.
Doc eyed her. "Hurts like hell, doesn't it?" he asked.
"It's not as bad," she lied.
Doc glanced at Grissom. "Grissom gave you quite a tackle…probably saved your life by the looks of the walls in the guest room. Remind me not to stay as a guest here," teased Doc.
"How does it look?" asked Grissom.
"It's healing," replied Doc. "She's going to be a bit sore for the next few days. It would be good for her to get up and walk around. Warm bath would probably feel good. Rest…nothing strenuous."
Brass leaned in to whisper to Grissom. "That means no sex yet."
Grissom gawked.
Sara gasped when Bruno licked her toes.
"He won't bite," assured Grissom.
"He'll just eat you if he gets hungry," teased Doc.
"Thanks, Doc," grinned Sara.
"Remember, rest Sara. You're still healing."
She nodded.
Bruno stared at Sara as the men disappeared into the other room.
She glanced at the side of the bed.
Bruno wagged his tail as he laid his head on the edge of the bed.
"You want to sit by me?" she asked.
Bruno leaped onto the bed, curling up next to Sara.
Gently, she patted the dog.
He lifted his big head and looked at Sara.
"You get your way a lot, don't you?" she asked.
The dog licked her face.
She laughed.
Grissom shut the bedroom door.
"How is she?" asked Grissom.
"Were you not listening?" asked Doc.
"Is there any infection? Do you think we should…"
"Gil, there's no infection. She just needs rest….looks like she got some," he stated at he headed for the door. "Keep her calm…no worrying about this psycho that's out to kill her."
Brass shook his head. "Now you know why he's a coroner and not a doctor. He has no bedside manner."
"Any progress?" asked Grissom.
"It seems Sidle is hanging around," said Brass as he ogled the contents of the fridge and cabinets.
"Catherine told me he inquired about Sara's benefits."
"Did Sara say anything…to you about him?" asked Brass.
"They've not kept in contact with one another," answered Grissom as his eyes remained fixed on the bedroom door.
"Look, stop worrying," sighed Brass. "Doc is right. She looked better."
Grissom nodded. "She barely moved…I kept checking to see if she was breathing."
"You okay? Not suffering from blood poisoning or anything are you?" trying to make light of Grissom's concern over Sara.
"Jim, this guy…I want him caught…soon."
"Just keep an eye on her for us. We'll do the rest."
He returned to the bedroom and gawked when he found Bruno lying in his spot.
"Bruno down," he ordered.
The dog looked at him and then yawned.
"Well trained," smirked Sara.
"I'm working on it," he said as he sat down on the bed.
"Hungry?"
"Griss…I'm fine," she urged. "You look tired. How much sleep did you get?"
"It was the best sleep I've ever had."
"How much?" she insisted.
"Enough," he replied. "Breakfast…you'll be at my mercy if you don't speak up. I have bacon."
She took his hand and kissed the palm.
"It was soothing…when you did that," she stated. "Thank you."
He leaned over taking her lips into his. "Thank you for giving me another chance."
"No bacon," she announced. "Waffles?"
"I can do that," he grinned. "I'll fix the bacon for Bruno."
The dog's ears perked.
She explored his house after breakfast.
He let her roam wherever her feet took her.
Once or twice she sat down as if she were out of breath.
He tried not to hover but he could not seem to stray far.
He wanted to spend every second with her.
Grissom watched as she boldly opened photo albums and glimpsed into his past.
There wasn't much.
He'd never bothered with photos.
His mother insisted on a photo at every visit.
"You don't look like your mother," commented Sara.
"I look like my father," he explained.
"Why are there not many photos of him?" she asked.
"He died when I was nine," he answered.
"Oh."
"Well, you know about my parents," she stated. "Mom…is somewhere. You met my brother."
"Your mom was released?"
"About a year ago…the parole board asked me to come…I did. I'm not sure what I said helped. Jeremy never showed."
"Oh."
She glanced at him. "I didn't expect Mom to come…I'm not sure if she even knew…I keep waiting that one day I'll get the call that she's…dead. I offered to help her…but she refused. I had some contact with her for awhile but then she moved and I never heard from her again. I expect she went back to…drinking."
"Maybe she stopped….prison can do that," he answered softly.
"Mom was never good at facing her demons," whispered Sara. "Well, except Dad. I think she had finally had enough."
She leaned back on the couch.
"Back to bed," he ordered.
She didn't argue.
She was surprised that just the small walks around the house had wiped her out.
Once she was settled in bed, Grissom lay down beside her.
"Griss?"
"Hmmm?"
"Does my past bother you?" she asked.
"No."
She was quiet for a moment.
Her next words were said quite low.
"Why…didn't you want a relationship…with me?"
"Sara, it was never you. It was me. I'm not good with people…much less persons…of the opposite sex."
"You dated," she countered.
"I tried to date. I thought I needed to practice…in case we ever…I wasn't very good at it."
"You could have….practiced…with me."
"I was afraid you would finally see the real me."
"I see the real…you."
"Sara, I've lived alone for years. I'm not used to having someone in my life. I'm not used to this."
"Does my presence bother you?"
"No!" he replied emphatically.
"You don't have to…be with me….all the time. I'm quite capable of…"
"I'm here because I want to be," he interrupted.
"I can go back to the guestroom," she offered as she started to get up only to be pulled back down.
He regretted the action the moment she winced.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," he grieved as he tried to examine her wound but she gently shoved his hand away.
"I'm fine," she insisted. "You didn't really hurt me. It's just…difficult to get up or down," she admitted.
"Sara, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad we're talking."
"Me too."
"Griss?"
"Hmmm?"
"You said you dated…who…did you…date?" she asked.
"Teri Miller."
"Oh."
"Joan…from swing shift."
"Oh."
"Heather….Kessler."
He felt Sara inch away.
"They were just dates."
She nodded.
He didn't like her silence now.
"Sara…you're quiet."
"I saw how you…looked at Teri. I even heard…"
"I think Teri is very talented in her field. I was fascinated with her…work."
"What…about Joan?"
"I asked her out as soon as I heard that Teri had gotten married."
"I didn't think you would…date…someone…in the lab."
"We don't work together…at least on the same shift."
"Of course."
He really didn't like the sound of that.
"She found me very boring. I found her….she wasn't anything like you."
Silence returned.
"You dated…Heather….a long time," she commented.
"I…she accepted me…even though I was different. She didn't expect me to change. I found I was drawn to her more as a friend…than anything else."
"When did you realize that? Was it after you slept with her?"
He looked shocked.
"I never slept with Heather."
"Catherine said…"
"Catherine doesn't know everything," he insisted.
"Catherine said the two of you were….close. She didn't mean it in a friendly way."
Her jealousy took him completely by surprise.
"Are you jealous?"
"I'm….not…jealous," she gritted.
"Yes, you are."
"No…I'm not."
He grinned from ear to ear and she turned red.
"I don't care," she announced.
"Then why are you pouting… about this?"
Note from author:
Well, you knew Grissom would put his foot in his mouth sooner or later...LOL
Take care!