A/N: The action is moving forward …your reviews have been amazing and as usual make the writing a pleasure….this one's a bit longer to make up for the shorter one today…hoping to post again tomorrow depending on the strong storms they are forecasting…thanks again for the reader support of this story…all mistakes are mine…take care…Kathy….
Gil Grissom walked through the hallways towards Sara's room carrying his parcel carefully.
It had been two days since her admittance and, with the drugs finally filtered out of her system, she was characteristically annoyed that Dr. West insisted on 'just a few more days'.
Insisting on not repeating the mistakes of his past, Gil had eased up his more obvious hovering and was allowing Sara more say in the hours he kept at her bedside.
While he adamantly refused to leave her alone during the night ( she secretly was relieved to have him nearby to help ward off the night terrors), Grissom did allow Greg and Brass to take turns sitting with her for an hour or two while he went home to shower and change before heading back to her hospital room.
Finding himself alone in the an elevator with Ian on this sunny afternoon, the doctor praised him for his efforts to making himself available to Sara while allowing her some time to transition into her everyday routine.
Before the doors opened on their floor, the doctor placed his hand on Gil's forearm.
"I, um, will be stopping by to see Sara later. There's something that I'd like to discuss with her, and I feel it would be best if you were present."
Gil's heart race increased even as the doctor assured him that there was nothing 'serious, but definitely something he wanted to discuss with them'.
Nodding in agreement, Grissom began chastising himself for leaving the hospital, as his mind looked for "obvious signs" by the trauma surgeon's remarks that something indeed had to be seriously wrong with Sara.
His feet moved at a faster pace then halted abruptly as he noticed the empty chair that should have held the guard to Sara's room.
Almost dropping the small bag he was carrying, his mind was racing with the possible scenarios.
Nearing the door, he heard an obvious distressed Sara almost shouting, "No! Get that away from me!"
"Sara!" Gil shouted as he pushed the door open with such force as to almost knock over Greg who had been making his way out of the room at that exact moment.
Surveying the scene, nothing was making sense to Grissom's analytic sweep of the room.
Sara sat propped up on her bed, her arms firmly folded over chest, with a look that would make lesser men retreat.
But Dr. Scott felt himself perfectly capable of handling this difficult patient who had made his ER rotation hell from the moment she was admitted.
Had Gil arrived one minute earlier, he would have heard their earlier exchange:
"Either relax and let me finish this blood work, or I'll have you restrained, Ms. Sidle," the resident intoned with his impatience showing.
"It's Mrs. Grissom, and I told you no more tests…I'm not a pincushion!"
The refusal of this patient to yield to his demands angered the doctor who was not going to allow this lanky snip of a woman to cause any additional ill will with Dr. West who had ordered him to continue with the lab workup.
"Enough of this," Dr. Scott muttered with annoyance as he grasped her arm and jerked it flat onto her blanket as he pulled out a patient restraint in a practiced move.
His movements were halted, however, by the commotion at the door and the blur of motion which seemed to have a voice of its own.
"Get your hands off of her!"
Before he even had time to react, Dr. Scott found himself thrown across the short distance to the windows as his back was unceremoniously crunched against the half-opened mini-blinds.
"You don't restrain my wife. Ever! You got that?" Gil was shouting as he mentally calculated in what position this jerk's body would land if he was pushed from this third floor window.
Strong arms tugged at him as Brass' voice overpowered the situation, "Gil! Calm down! Let me handle this…Gil!"
Grissom continued to hold this terrified resident in a death grip as Brass continued his efforts.
In a calmer tone, he spoke again.
"Gil…take care of Sara…Gil…Sara needs you…"
And in a breath, the drama was over as Grissom released the doctor with a glare and pivoted to find Sara staring at him as her lower lip quivered despite her desire to put on a brave face.
Oblivious to the three men in the room, Gil quickly covered the distance that separated him from Sara and sat down only to twist and pull his legs onto her bed before pulling her tightly to his prone form.
If Sara was shocked at her husband's uncharacteristically bold move, she didn't show it as she pressed herself so tightly to him as if she wanted to disappear inside him.
"I want to go home, Gil…please…" her voice the only sound she made although he could feel her tears soaking the front of his shirt.
"Shhh…it's okay, honey…everything's okay, Sara…" he cooed into her ear as she continued to hide her face against his shoulder.
Grissom made eye contact at Greg who had been acting a bit strangely today, and Gil lifted his chin to ask him for some privacy right now.
Greg opened the door as Brass proceeded to calm the hot-headed doctor as he led him through the opened door where the officer was now sitting.
Sensing her calming somewhat, Gil increased his hold on Sara as he murmured 'I love you's as he stroked her back soothingly.
"Gil…you can't…" she'd started, and his brows crunched as he tried to figure out what she was trying to say.
"I can do whatever you need, honey…I love you…everything's okay…" he tried to reassure her.
Sara rolled onto her back to stare into his eyes.
"What do you need, dear?" Gil asked tenderly as his free hand dried the tears that remained on her cheeks.
"Don't leave me."
The statement caused more confusion as he wondered if she was recalling the events at the restaurant, or if was talking about her hospital stay.
Reassuringly, he smiled and said, "I love you, Sara. I will never leave you. And if you don't want to be alone here, I'll just ask Greg to bring another change of clothes for me. Okay?"
Her smile made his day, and his chest puffed up slightly that, for all her protests, his Sara really did receive some comfort from the way he hovered over her.
They lay quietly for a while before Gil remembered the package he had tossed onto the chair when he first entered the room.
"Sara? Did you eat today?" he asked, and again his chest puffed up slightly when she groaned and simply shook her head.
"Well, we can't have that," he smiled as he hugged her and made his way from their bed to the chair.
Dragging her patient table over to the bed, he produced his prize with a flourish and the action caused Sara to giggle – a sound that made his heart swell with love.
"Could I interest madam in a bowl of Francoise's famous-"
"Tomato Basil Bisque!" Sara interrupted with a small squeal.
"Only the best for you, Mrs. Grissom," he smiled as he handed her the soup spoon and two packages of the homemade oyster crackers that were her secret indulgence whenever they dined there.
As he watched her eat with obvious delight, his thoughts wandered to the events of the morning, and his anger started to surface again.
As if on cue, Brass entered the room and smiled at the sight of a happy Sara enjoying her meal.
"I must say, Gil, you sure know how to put on a great floor show. This whole place is buzzing."
Afraid the conversation might upset Sara, Grissom glared at Jim.
His head turned swiftly as Sara added between sips from her spoon, "Bet most of them want to pin a medal on you for taking down that pompous ass."
Her gaze locked with Jim's and both enjoyed a silent communication that brought comfort to both.
Gil, however, was far from appeased.
"What the hell happened, Jim? Where was the guard? I thought you were-"
Jim's hand shot up, "Whoa, cowboy. The situation was covered. Samuels stepped out for a moment so I was right up the hall outside the nurses' station in full view of the room at all times."
Smiling at Sara again, he winked, "I'd never let my best girl down."
The two men grinned as they heard a very unladylike slurp followed by an ahhh before Sara set her very empty bowl onto the table.
"Mr. Grissom…you really know the way to your wife's heart, you know?" she said, and Gil found himself hopelessly lost in the Sidle Smile she reserved just for him.
"Well, I've lived on this earth long enough to know that three is definitely a crowd, so I'll just be going…take care, doll…" Brass said to Sara as he moved towards the door.
Gil watched as it closed before jumping out of his chair to pounce on his giggling wife.
With a quick kiss before he scooted her over to make room for him as he leaned back on the pillow, he stroked her hair as she settled down against him.
After a few moments, Sara spoke again. "I meant it, you know."
"Hmm?" he quizzed distractedly as he was concentrating on not revealing his body's response to having her so near.
"When I said you know the way to my heart."
He pressed his lips to her hair, but hoped she would continue to speak. While he was away, he had missed hearing her talk about the everyday nothings.
Yet his heart lurched when she began to speak again.
"I know…uh, that you've been worried…about me…"
His silence was punctuated by an increased pressure as he held onto her still form.
"The night I was…attacked..." she turned her head to look directly into his eyes.
"Gil…I'm not crazy."
His face registered the shock of her pleading with him to believe her, and then he leaned forward to kiss her soundly before hugging her tightly to his chest.
"I will never think that of you, Sara…never!" he spoke quietly but forcefully as he felt her relax in his arms.
"Gil…it was Natalie."
She felt his body tense before he consciously made himself relax while she continued.
"Everything…was just like that night…" Sara paused to breathe deeply and relax as her counselor had urged during their most tumultuous early sessions.
"I heard her voice calling my name, and …before I could turn-" her voice squeaked and she stopped to compose herself, grateful for Gil's silence.
"She pushed me down and shoved this…something, I don't know, a bottle maybe?...it was filled with that same vile tasting liquid she squirted on my face and into my mouth after I was recaptured and lying in her backseat…"
Gil allowed the silence until he was sure she was finished.
"Sara…Natalie is dead. The prison records show it. I had them double checked myself," he said, hoping to reassure her.
"You don't believe me," the small voice echoed loudly in the quiet.
Pulling himself upright, he caught her by the upper arms to put them face-to-face.
"Don't ever say that! I'm trying to tell you that someone is trying hard to make you believe Natalie is still alive!"
Before he could continue, his hands moved and for the first time he noticed Sara wince when his fingers curled over the short sleeves of her hospital gown.
Immediately he released his grip only to pull her arm forward to inspect the handprint-shaped bruising on both upper arms.
Inhaling angrily, Gil demanded, "How did this happen? Who did this to you, Sara?"
Not wanting to inflame his temper further Sara started to shrink away, but Grissom was not to be deterred.
"Did that doctor hurt you like this? Is this why you didn't want him to touch you?"
Sara could see that Gil was getting himself riled up and, although she would appreciate him flattening that irritating resident with one well-placed uppercut, she knew he deserved the correct answer.
Even if it would stoke the flames of his protective agitation.
"I'm fine," she began, but he was glaring at her again so quickly added, "these are just healing bruises from the lab," she said refusing now to meet his eyes.
"Sara," he started to yell, but closed his eyes and tried for a calmer tone, "honey, these are clearly handprints. Who hurt you like this?"
Thinking of her response, and running various memories through his mind, Gil's eyes opened wider as he barked, "Did Fuller hurt you like this in the hallway?"
Her only response was to lean into him with enough pressure to cause him to recline to their original position.
After giving him a moment to collect himself, she turned to look at him with such love that he could only inhale deeply and keep his gaze locked on those big brown eyes.
"I love you, Gil Grissom." After a pause, "In my whole life, no one has ever worried over me the way you do. I don't deserve you…" her voice petered out as she broke their eyelock.
There were so many things she had kept from him over these last few years.
But finally, it seemed like it was the right time to tell him the truth about her decision to pull out of therapy.
And about her recurring nightmares.
And about the flowers at the lab.
And the missing note.
And the incident in the garage.
And her increasing dependency on alcohol to cope with the stress.
And about Philip.
Yet the perfect opening was slipping away as Gil reacted to her last statement with a punishing kiss that made speech impossible.
A few moments later, he pulled away to gaze into her eyes lovingly.
"I love you, Sara. But so help me, I never want you to ever tell me that you're not deserving! You didn't get any prize when you married me, I remind myself of that every day.
You deserve so much better - the world on a silver platter! And so help me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you understand that simple fact."
His honesty shone brilliantly through those crystal blue eyes and, for the first time in a long while, Sara could almost believe what he was saying.
"Gil –" she started, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.
A nursing aide entered carrying an enormous flower arrangement in a large beaded vase.
Grissom was interested, but Sara was frozen in place as she stared at the arrangement.
"Fire polished prismatic beads…they're beautiful, honey," Gil spoke, oblivious to Sara's turmoil.
"Yes, you are a lucky lady to have such an admirer," the aide spoke as she pulled the red envelope from the front of the blooms.
"Who are they from, honey?" he asked absently as he nodded his thanks to the departing woman.
Sara's hands shook as she held the envelope, as for the first time Gil noticed her distress.
Grabbing the envelope, he pulled her tightly to him and wondered if she were having a flashback, or if there was some perceived current danger to this card.
Encouraged by his soft rocking motion, Sara began to relate the events of the last delivery of such a bouquet.
Remaining silent until she was finished, Gil was already mentally running what if scenarios and to do lists.
Knowing that any prints would be compromised by their handling of the envelope, he asked, "Do you want me to open it, honey?"
He wondered if the shaking motion was consciously made or just a by-product of her trembling frame, but he adjusted her to remain safely in his arms as his freed hands moved to pull the card from its envelope.
Inhaling deeply, he turned the card over as they both silently read the sentiment.
In the cold moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the leaf,
And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief.
"William Cullen Bryant," Grissom muttered, although his mouth was dry with implications of this selection.
"The Death of the Flowers," Sara bolted upright in recognition of the piece from her college studies.
In light of what Sara had revealed about the first flower delivery to the lab, Gil was now more certain than ever that his wife was in real danger.
Her next statement was an important first step forward in her recovery.
"Gil," she began and squeezed his hand until their gazes locked, "thank you…for believing me."
"Honey," he replied and kissed her forehead, "please…you can always tell me anything…I will believe you…because I believe in you."
Her smile made him inwardly cheer for saying the right thing at the right time.
Pulling her to him again, his training brought his thoughts around to how best to begin the investigation into these threats against Sara.
"We'll need to talk to the florist and see if there's any lead about who's sending these flowers," he began but, as with all things surrounding these incidents, Grissom was interrupted by yet another puzzle as the door swung open at that moment.
"Hey, Sara!…oh, I see you got my flowers!"