Chapter Fourteen â€" The Visit

The third shift CSI crew was sitting in the break room when someone knocked on the open door.

"Is this what you do when the boss is gone?"

They turned to see Gil Grissom standing at the door, balancing himself on a cane.  

"Hey, Gris," Warrick said as he stood up and walked over to greet him. "Come in and sit down,"  he said as he pulled a chair up for him.

There were smiles all around the table.  It was good to see him back at the lab, even if it was just for a visit.

"What brings you here tonight?" Catherine asked.

"I was over at the hospital; signing papers. We're turning off the machines tomorrow at 10:00."

"You're going to let me take you, right?" Catherine asked.

"Yea, come by about 9."

"I'll be there." she assured him.

Silence followed this as the other's did not know what to say, until Nick finally spoke,  "So Gil, how did you get here?"

"Sr. Laura drove me."

"She'll be there too, won't she?" Nick asked. 

"Of course." This was still something he found hard to talk about so he changed the subject.  He realized that the team had been sitting around an uncut cake. "So what's the occasion," he asked referring to the cake.

"Nothing special," Catherine answered. "Lindsay's school had a bake sale and I baked a cake for her.  I decided to make one for this gang. We were just waiting for the coffee to boil, which looks like

it's done."

Catherine stood up to go get the pot, but Sara stood up and said she would get it.

Sara walked around the table and poured everyone a cup. When she got to Gil she said, "Coffee?"

"Sure, that would be fine," he answered her.

She poured without saying a word.

While Sara was pouring the coffee, Catherine was cutting the cake and passing pieces around the table.  The cake was cut and the coffee was poured, but no one was eating or drinking.

"Okay people," Catherine said, "dig in."

They joked with each other while they ate.  The guys told her how good the cake was and Catherine asked why they were so surprised. 

Sara and Gil added very little to the conversation.  They would occasionally make sideways glances at each other, but they quickly turned away before actual eye contact was made.

Then Greg Sanders came in.  "Hey Gris, I heard you were here."  Gil stood up and shook his hand.   He instructed him to sit down and join them.  Greg was glad for the invitation.  He really missed having Gris in the lab.   Greg spent the next five minutes giving him an update on his latest case breaking discovery. 

Gil then complimented Greg on whatever formula it was that he used to clean the blood off his carpet.  He suggested Greg look into getting a patent as he could make a fortune with his formula. 

Then to everyone's surprise Gil started to talk about his relationship with Jenna.  He started out by telling them how sorry he was that they didn't have a chance to meet her.  Then he told them about how they had meet and why she left. 

Most of his conversation centered on their reunion.  He found it very easy to express to them the love he felt for her, but he could not share with them the pain he felt with losing her again.  He also relayed the story he had already told Catherine on why he was responsible for what happened.  He wouldn't allow them to try and convince him that he had no control over what happened. 

After about an hour of sitting around, an assignment came in, causing the reunion to come to an end.

Gil stood up to say good-bye.  First to Nick and Warrick who both told him to be sure and call if he needed anything; to which Gil told them not to worry about him, he would be fine.  He also thanked them for cleaning up the house.  They did an excellent job; no one would have known anything ever happened. 

Catherine was the next to say good-bye.  She said she would dropped Lindsay off at school and be by his place sometime after 8:30, if that was okay with him.  It was.

While everyone else was saying good-bye Sara was cleaning off the break room table; something she normally would not have done.  Greg knew that she was just stalling for time, so he offered his good-byes next and left. 

Greg was right.  Sara was just stalling for time.  She wanted to take part in the good-bye's, but she didn't know how.  This was the first time she'd seen Gil since the day Dr. Donovan informed them that he didn't want any visitors.  She had been fighting the urge to go and visit him.  Part of her was mad at him because he never called her.  The other part of her was made at herself for not calling him.  

After placing everything in the sink, Sara washed and dried her hands and then announced she was ready.

"Sara, could I have a minute with you before you take off," Gil asked.

"We'll get the equipment and wait for you," Catherine told her.

The two of them stood together like young teenagers trying to figure out what to say.  Gil was the first to speak.  "How've you been Sara?"

She laughed at his effort to break the ice. "I've been fine."

There was so much that she wanted to say to him, but she did not know how to start.  She found herself offering to drive him home and meet the team afterwards.  Gil declined her offer. 

Once more she was offering her help, and he was turning her down.  "Listen Sara.  I know when I was in the hospital you were there for me and I was kind of a jerk to ask you to stay away, but I really appreciate all that you did and that you gave me some time alone.  I really needed to be by myself to think things out and make decisions about my future and Jenna's.

"And have you made all those decisions?" she asked.

He nodded his head and simply said, "Yea, I have."

There was something in the way he answered her, that gave her a chill, "What are you going to do Gris?" 

"Don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing."  He didn't want to be grilled by her regarding his plans so he pointed out that the team was waiting for her and she should probably go. 

They stood motionless, she knew she should leave, but she couldn't.  She needed to know what he was planning.  He's going to leave town she figured.  She was sure he'd never come back to work, with them.

Then he said to her, "You should go before Catherine sends the bloodhounds for you."

"Okay, I'll be in touch."  She told him. 

She found that it was hard to walk away.  Then to her surprise he brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen over her left eye and then he caressed the side of her face; just as she had once done to him.  Sara closed her eyes at his touch.  It was something she had wanted to feel for a long time now.  Then with her eyes still closed she felt him kiss her lips.  She wasn't expecting that.  She opened her eyes and found herself looking directly into his.  Before she had a chance to say anything more, he said, "They're waiting for you, you should go."

And she walked away without saying anything more.