Author: Manigault
Rating: R
Category: CRGS
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me. They belong to CBS, Atlantic-Alliance, and Anthony Zuiker.
Grissoms Residence
7:00 am
Entering Grissoms home, Sara felt a calmness wash over her for the first time since Erin Monroe entered her life. Grissom watched her move with familiarity to his room where he knew she would enter the bathroom, fill the bathtub and relax for the next half hour. He would find her half asleep, then he would hand her a towel then...He shook his head. He wasn't letting go of his anger that easily. She could get her own towel. He poured himself a glass of water, then proceeded to pace the kitchen, staring at the clock every five minutes. When forty minutes crept by, he moved slowly to the bedroom, not expecting to find her curled up in his bed. The bathroom light was on and he couldn't resist checking to see if she had bothered to take that bath. She had, by the evidence he found draining from his tub. A damp towel was crumpled in a corner, and he picked it up, placing it in the close hamper before flipping the light out and reentering his bedroom.
"Sara?" He whispered her name softly, not wanting to wake her, but needing to know if she was feigning sleep. One eye opened slowly.
"You still mad at me, Gil?"
"Very."
"Too angry to bring me a towel." She commented. Grissom didn't reply and she continued sleepily. "Too angry to hold me?"
Shifting his feet, Grissom felt himself cave. He reached for the hand she held out to him and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm worried about you, Sara. You have been distant these past two weeks."
Sara opened both eyes. "I'm the one being distant?" She pulled him towards her. "You have on way too many clothes."
"I'm being serious here." Grissom pulled her hands from his shirt, blinking rapidly.
With a sigh, she sank back into the bed. "I really don't want to talk about this right now, Gil. Can we sleep? When we get up, I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"Anything?"
Sara smiled and lifted the blanket for him to slide beneath. "If you take your clothes off." She teased.
Grissoms Residence
4:00 pm
Sara slept with her back against his chest. He could feel the steady rhythm of her heartbeats as his arm wrapped around her waist. He hardly dared move. She was a light sleeper on a good day, but he could feel her exhaustion. He knew that this case was the reason because he felt it himself. That elusive killer that he couldn't identify. Could not stop. Sara felt the heavy arm wrapped protectively around her and sighed with contentment. Reality didn't intrude when she was here, in his bed. Without warning an image of Erin Monroe flashed through her mind and she lit out a groan. It usually didn't intrude.
"What's wrong?" Grissom leaned over her and touched her chin.
"I was thinking about Erin Monroe.That poor woman."
"You could say she is the lucky one. She's alive."
"Her baby ripped from her. Literally, despite how surgically precise it happened to be. I wonder how lucky she feels."
Grissom sighed. He could argue all day with her that Erin Monroe was alive and possibly so was her baby, but that didn't help either one and it certainly didn't help Sara. "Why is this case affecting you so deeply?"
Sara kept her back to him, and she spoke so low he had to strain his ears to hear what she said. "It could be me lying in that hospital bed, you know?"
A frozen second elapsed and she felt his arm loosen. "You're not."
"No." Sara turned over so that she could see him. "But what if I was?"
"I don't see that it has any similarities."
"Why not?"
"Because..."
Sara watched him search his mind for the right compartment to open. "I'm single. I live alone. I have no one to speak of."
With this Grissom sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and searched for his discarded boxers. "This is ridiculous." He pulled his boxers on and glanced at the clock. Sara watched him while leaning on her elbow. "You have me." He said so softly it was her turn to lean forward. He turned to look at her and they locked eyes for a meaningful heartbeat.
"The boyfriend!" Sara sat up quickly, and touched his shoulder. "Each of the women had no one step forward to claim paternity. No one knew who the boyfriend was. Did you ask Erin who her babies biological father was?"
It took Grissom a few seconds to catch up with her train of thought. "She claims that she wasn't sure who he is."
"She slept with someone she didn't know? More than one man? IVF?"
Grissom handed her his shirt. "I don't know. We never finished questioning her because she fell asleep. Catherine and I are going back to the hospital this evening."
Sara fingered the buttons on the shirt, thoughtful eyes trained on his face. "I would like to go with you."
Grissom took a deep breath and looked around for his jeans. "I'm taking a shower now."
"That means that I can go with you?"
The shrill of the phone interrupted his reply and he took advantage of it by picking up on the first ring. "Grissom."
He heard Catherine's concerned voice on the other line. "I took Sara home and plan on driving her back to work." He explained when she told him that Sara's car was at work, but nobody had seen her. "I'll check on her." Grissom looked at Sara who had scooted over next to him sporting that smile he found so adorable. "I'm sure that she is fine." He made an excuse to hang up then asked softly. "Are you okay?"
Sara ran her hand over his face tracing his jaw from the ear to the chin. "I'm fine when I'm with you."
"Are you with me?" He asked, thinking of the past two weeks when she had been everywhere but with him. He was almost relieved when he discovered her preoccupation with Jane Doe before worry took the place of whatever other emotion it was he had been feeling.
"You tell me." The smile faltered and he sensed layered questions that he couldn't put his finger on.
"We are going to be late." He kissed her lightly
on the lips, then stood. "I'll call Catherine when I get out of the shower
and ask her to meet us at the hospital."