The week passed much the same, Gil wasn't looking very rested Catherine thought, but then she figured he was still healing, the wound was looking better, starting to fade a little more. The time passed easily, entertaining Lindsey, having the team over after shift for breakfast, watching TV. Catherine kept her appointments and felt she was making progress.
Gil was resting a lot during the day, but she figured this was normal. It wasn't until the weekend when Lindsey had gone on a camping trip with her aunt and cousins that she found out differently.
It had been weird at first with just the two of them there alone that Friday evening, almost awkward without Lindsey as they watched television, watching some of the crime shows and laughing at their lack of realism, finally turning it off as the clock struck 11:00 p.m.
They were quiet as she changed the bandages. Something about the intimacy of it seemed to render them speechless almost every time. She had finally gotten to where she didn't cry while doing it, but it was still an emotionally charged moment.
As he laid down to sleep she turned off the light, this time choosing to go back to the living room, not yet ready to sleep herself as her mind was filled with thoughts. Sitting on the sofa in the darkness she reflected over the past weeks, and the past several days with Grissom. She felt as if something was changing between them, but she couldn't put her finger on it. There seemed to be a new tension in the air, something unspoken happening, a new look in his eyes, and hers as well she thought when she would catch herself thinking about him when brushing her hair or applying makeup and looking at her reflection in the mirror.
Her reverie was broken by a faint moan, hearing it again she went to the guest room, surprised as she saw him in the apparent grip of a nightmare. Shaking him awake she looked in his panicked eyes as comprehension dawned and he was awake. "Sorry," he mumbled, looking embarrassed at being caught.
"Gil, you're soaked," she took in the beads of sweat on his brow and the dampness on his shirt. "How long has this been going on?" She questioned, guessing it had been awhile by the way he averted his eyes and looked guiltily at the floor.
"Only at night, since the shooting," he admitted. "I didn't want you to worry."
"I've had them also," she admitted, "but they started going away after that night at the hospital, and then with the therapy. So this is why you sleep so much during the day?" She suddenly realized.
"Yeah, I'll be ok though." He tried to assure her.
"I'll be right back." She said, knowing what needed to be done as she went to her room and changed into a pair of sweats herself before rejoining him in his room. "This is what I do when Lindsey has nightmares." She said as she pulled back the covers to join him in the bed, ignoring his squeak of protest as she curled up to him. They wrestled for a few moments trying to find a comfortable position on the twin bed until finally he sighed and stood up.
"Look I appreciate it, but this isn't going to work." He had to say it.
She felt dejected as she rose to leave, having hoped she could help him. "OK, I'm sorry, bad idea." She quickly headed to her room, surprised as he followed.
"No no, I didn't mean it that way," he explained. "I just meant the two of us on a twin bed, just not enough room to be comfortable." He paused, waiting for her to make the obvious deduction.
"Oh right, my bed, bigger." She finally got the hint as she felt relieved, realizing it wasn't her, but the too small bed he was rejecting.
She felt shy for a moment as she got into the bed and pulled back the covers for him to join her. Even in her sweatsuit and him in sweatpants and a t-shirt the situation suddenly didn't feel quite so innocent. Shaking her thoughts aside and remembering his nightmares she ignored the nagging feeling in her stomach as she scooted up behind him, wrapping her arm around him from behind and pulling him close, feeling him tense for a moment before relaxing in her embrace.
Gil was trying desperately to relax, he knew she intended this as a comforting gesture, but certain parts of his anatomy were being anything but comforted as her hand was gently stroking his belly. That may calm Lindsey, but it certainly wasn't having that effect on him, he shifted slightly, before finally saying gruffly, "Nite Cath," feeling her relax behind him as she started to go to sleep. After awhile longer he was also finally able to succumb to a deep sleep, one fortunately without nightmares for a change.