About twenty minutes after the phone call, Jim pulled up in the Hospital car park; he hurried in and went to the front desk, 10 minutes after that he was outside Sara's room.
He knocked on the door, and stepped in, expecting to see Sara looking sad and defeated, so he was very surprised to see her standing near the window swaying gently to the quiet jazz that filled the room.
'Sara?' he called gently not wanting to startle her
'Jim!' She called excitedly turning around 'Come look at this view! It's so beautiful, come on!' she walked over and pulled him into the room towards the window. Brass was now even more confused, but followed anyway. Sara was right, the view was nice, and the colour of the sky just added to it.
'Are you ok Sara?' he asked after they had been standing looking out the window for a few minutes
'Yes, I'm fine…' Sara paused, remembering the conversation that he seemed like a lifetime ago, but had only really been about 40 minutes 'Oh… The tablets kicked in, and my hormones are on an up at the moment…' she explained 'Sorry…Thanks for coming though…You've caught me in a good mood… I never knew they could be so extreme, so up and down…' she said all of this with a smile on her face.
'Sara, sweetie, I don't think they should be this…changeable…' he said taking her hand gently, pulling her towards the bed
Sara just shrugged 'Probably not, but right now I'm too happy to care' she sat on the edge of the bed 'They said I could go home soon, tomorrow perhaps'
'I know, that's why I'm here…Remember?'
'Of course I remember, I asked you to come, I've got depression not dementia Brass' she said with a slight edge to her voice.
'I know…' Jim paused. He knew he needed to talk to Sara, but he didn't want to cause her mood to drop 'How's the baby?' he asked, when he saw her hands rest over her stomach
'Good…Good…' Sara said smiling a little
Jim just nodded, and then sat in the chair, he pulled something out from his jacket pocket 'Wanna play a game?' he said, showing her a deck of playing cards 'I always keep these with me, don't ask why, we could play jinn-rummy or black-jack if you like?'
Sara giggled a little and nodded 'Sure, you can deal, I just need to pop to the bathroom' she jumped up from the bed, and walked into the little bathroom attached to her room. When she returned the cards were dealt, and they began to play.
For a long time they said nothing beyond the words needed for the game they were playing. They got through 7 quick games, but before Jim could deal another round, Sara placed her hand over his.
'I'm sorry, for not listening to you, back when you first questioned me. Forgive me?' she asked, trying to make her voice sound as confident as possible
'I can't Sara, there's nothing to forgive. We can't change what you already did, or what I didn't do to help, so let's not dwell on it, ok'. He twirled her fingers in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand
'Why don't you ask me what you bought me here to ask?' he said a smile on his face.
Sara hung her head, wanting to pull her hand away, but she didn't. If Jim could be so good about all of this, she could try and show him a little respect back. To be honest with him.
'I need the counsellors agreement to leave this place…Sylvia is nice, I guess, but given my…history, so to say, the events that bought me here…I've got 3 options… a half-way house, being committed – which both have a high change of my baby being taken away…' she choked back a sob, took a deep breath, and started again 'Or staying with someone that I trust, that could look after me, and support me through all of this…' Sara swallowed again, and looked up to Brass '…Can I come and stay with you Jim, please? Can I stay with you?'
'No'
Xxxxx
Catherine knocked on the door and waited for the voice to call her in, she stepped into the room, and closed the door behind her, and took a seat in front of the desk.
'Catherine, what can I do for you?' Ecklie asked
'It's about Sara' She asked trying to put as much strength as she could in her voice.
Ecklie sighed and placed his pen on the table, and leaned back in his chair arching his fingers together, but didn't say anything just yet.
'I um…I heard that you went to see Sara in the Hospital…about your very…generous… offer, and terms for her to come back to work…I appreciate it, she appreciates it…'
'But?' he asked, knowing that Catherine hadn't just come by to thank him.
'But, although Sara realises you are being very generous and kind, that she understands just how…badly… she messed up, that she appreciates the offer to help with the bills and finances… '
'The compensation?' Ecklie cut in, not in the mood to deal with Catherine beating around the bush
'Yes' Catherine looked at him, questions in her eyes 'Who's going to pay for it…I…I…' she didn't want to be selfish, but she couldn't afford to pay the money herself, not without some serious loans, and she didn't know the labs policy for such payments.
'Any compensation that Sara agrees to will come from 3 sources, 80% will come from a fund we have set up within our insurance policy, 15% will come from the tax payer, and 5% will come from the person who is ultimately responsible for the incident… in normal circumstances, anyway' he leant forward, and pulled a few pieces of paper from his desk drawer.
'5%?' Catherine questioned, that could have been any amount, depending on how much money Sara would settle on
'Yes, normally'
'Normally?' she questioned again.
'If the compensation paperwork is submitted within 6 months of an incident, yes, between 6 and 12 months the amount drop to 2.5%, after a year the amount is set to zero, and the remaining 5% is split between the first two sources. You don't have to pay anything financially Catherine, I can imagine you're paying enough in other areas.'
Catherine just nodded, but didn't drop her gaze 'Thank you'
'Was that all?' Ecklie asked passing the papers to Catherine, they were papers about starting the compensation process.
'No… how do we, how does Sara, put a price on that? How can she put a price on that…'
'I don't know Catherine, only Sara can decide that…I can tell you that the maximum pay-out we would be covered for is 1.4 million dollars… and given the circumstances, it is highly unlikely the amount Miss Sidle asks for would be denied… but, from a purely… logistical point of view… that amount would cripple us… it would be paid, but it would cripple us….'
'I understand…Thank you…' Catherine stood up, and walked towards the door, and then turned again
'Conrad… you said it was set at 5%... didn't… didn't anyone claim compensation, didn't Greg ask for it… why didn't Sara…'
Conrad smiled weakly 'Greg was offered, he accepted, he took $200 to replace his clothes that were damaged in the blast…as the amount you paid was only $10 we strictly didn't need your approval, and it was just docked from your wages… no one else's injuries were deemed bad enough for the offer. No one knew about…about the miscarriage… we just knew about Sara's hand… I spoke to her the next day, explained the situation, she declined any money… whether she'd had the miscarriage at that point or not, I don't know….but as the circumstances have changed, the offer is open once again…I hope that answers your questions for now…I have paperwork to do, and you should be working…' he looked down at his desk, effectively dismissing her. Catherine mumbled a thanks, and left the room.
Xxxx
Sara's face fall hearing his word. One word, said so bluntly and with such force. She choked back a sob, although she still had two options left, she knew they were both as bad as one another, but she would have to deal with it and consign herself to being placed in an institution. There was no one else she felt she could stay with. She nodded slightly 'I understand' she whispered, pulling her hand away
'I don't think you do Sara. I won't have you coming to stay with me. It won't help your recovery. You need to be somewhere you are familiar with. I will come and stay with you' He reached for her hand again, and smiled brightly.
Xxx
'How do you think Sara is?' Greg asked pouring out some cups of coffee for everyone
'I don't know' Nick said, his mind once again playing over the events in the hotel 'Last time I saw her she wasn't in a good place' he couldn't admit to much more than that. A lot of what had happened in that room would stay between Catherine, Sara and himself. It would be easier that way, in the long run.
'I wish we could go and see her' Warrick said, taking his mug from Greg
'When she's ready, we can, you know what she's like… she hates sympathy' Nick said taking a sip on his coffee
'Yeah, don't I know it' Greg said with a smile 'How's Catherine?' he asked
'She's fine' came a voice from the doorway, they all looked up to see Catherine stood there.
'Glad to hear it' Greg said with a huge smile on his face. 'Sara doing ok?' he asked, knowing that she had been in the hospital with Sara, and with her throughout most of the time in the Hotel 'Better, she's doing better… still up and down, but better. She had her first ultrasound the other day, things are looking well'
'A little CSI in the making' Warrick said with a smile, a small round of giggles filling the room.
Xxx
Sara looked up at Jim in disbelief, not sure if she had misheard his words, so he repeated them
'Sara, right now, you need help, but you also need familiarity and comfort, you won't find that in my sad bachelor pad, but I'd do anything in the world to see you smiling again, to see you happy, to see the beautiful baby you will have, so I will come and stay with you, as long as it takes, no matter what it takes Sara. Let's get you out of this hospital, and let's get you home'
