This story is based on characters created by Anthony E. Zuiker for the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Ghost (Part 25/26)
by Cheers
Monday Night 11:02 PM
There was something about being in a hospital. Sara hated how it made her feel. Unhappy things, hard things, scary things went on in hospitals all the time. The worst thing, by far, was how helpless she felt. There was nothing to do but wait. Wait and pray.
He had felt so hot. Sara closed her eyes. For the first time since this case began, she felt tired. The image of her boss floated in her mind. He had been so still – unconscious, his eyes sunken and his skin so pale. The hushed anticipation in the waiting room bore down on her. What was happening? How was he? Sara needed to know. They all did.
The group that waited with her had increased steadily over the past hour. Nick and Warrick took turns pacing around the waiting area. Jim Brass sat with his head back and his eyes closed. No one made the mistake of assuming he was asleep. Greg Sanders kept silent vigil over the emergency department door for any signs of a doctor. The wild card of the lot was Sheriff Mobley. He wandered into and out of the waiting area, keeping tabs on the goings on in the department by phone, while the occasional uniform arrived to give the Sheriff a message. The Sheriff had made sure the doctors knew how important information about Grissom's condition was to the whole department. The team waited with varying degrees of patience. The only member of the team that seemed to be preoccupied with anything other than waiting was Catherine.
Sara watched from up the hall as Catherine spent the last hour playing phone tag with God only knew who and why. Catherine hadn't been sharing with the team and none of them felt like it was their place to ask. Of all of them, Catherine seemed to be taking the situation the hardest. Perhaps it was the extra responsibility that she carried. Perhaps it was something else. Sara didn't know.
Hanging up from yet another mysterious cellphone conversation, Catherine was headed back to the waiting room when a doctor came through the emergency room door.
"Are you all here for Mr. Grissom?" the doctor asked.
The physician was almost immediately surrounded by the waiting throng. Sara and Warrick, Nick and Jim Brass, Greg Sanders who hugged the wall silently, the Sheriff, and Catherine, all approached the doctor. "What can you tell us, doctor," Sheriff Mobley asked.
"We think he's going to be okay," the doctor began. This news was followed by an immediate collective sigh of relief from the group. "But, his condition is still serious."
"How serious?" Catherine wanted to know. Her expression mirrored everyone's. Serious was too elastic a term for her liking.
The doctor, whose identification badge told them that his name was Dr. Harrington, put his hands in his pockets and looked from face to face before addressing himself to Catherine. "We've treated him for severe shock. He is very dehydrated. We are giving him fluids, but if we rehydrate him too rapidly we could cause more problems than we solve. Additionally, we found two broken ribs and compound fractures of his left wrist. He'll need surgery to reduce the wrist when he's more stable. He has a slight concussion and with the dehydration it may be a while before he regains consciousness."
"How long?" Nick asked.
Dr. Harrington met Nick's eyes. "We don't know. We'll be sending him up to ICU soon. We'll continue to give him fluids and monitor him closely tonight. Maybe by morning." He looked back at Catherine and the Sheriff. "Mr. Grissom is a lucky man. He came very close to dying tonight. I understand he had been missing for some time."
Sheriff Mobley nodded and glanced back over his shoulder at the team gathered behind him. "He had a dedicated team looking for him."
The doctor smiled. "I'm pleased for him," he told them all gently. "You saved his life. Dehydration is nothing to take lightly, especially in the desert."
Sara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She asked what they all wanted to know. "Can we see him?"
Dr. Harrington thought about that for a moment. The patient wasn't going to know they were there, but this visitation wasn't so much for the patient as it was for the spirits of these people. "I think I can arrange that," he told them. "I'll send a nurse out for you as soon as possible."
"Thank you, doctor," Sara said.
There were multiple thanks all around as the doctor moved away.
Sheriff Mobley turned to Catherine and they stepped away from the rest of the group a few paces. "Do you know what our ETA is?" he asked.
Catherine looked at her watch. "An hour or so," she informed him.
Brian nodded. "I'll have everything ready."
"Thanks," she said softly.
The rest of the team present had no idea what Catherine and the Sheriff were talking about. They eyed the duo with a mixture of interest and confusion. Whatever was happening, they were all sure it involved Grissom in some way. Unless and until either Mobley or Catherine was willing to tell the team anything, they would all just have to wait to find out what was up. For now they would content themselves with the chance to see Grissom alive with their own eyes – something that would go a long way toward soothing their hopeful hearts and weary minds.
Monday Night 11:30 PM
The nurse had informed them that they could see Grissom as a group but that he was still not awake. The small group filed quietly through the door and into the trauma bay where Grissom was awaiting his transfer to ICU. The room was large and filled with emergency equipment and supplies. The lights above the gurney where he lay were bright. Some of the dirt that had covered his face had been cleaned away to allow the medical team to assess the extent of his injuries, but he still had some dried blood and dirt in his hair and beard.
His left arm was in a temporary cast and propped up on a pillow, the elevation was to reduce the swelling the nurse informed them all. A heart monitor blipped steadily. His heart rate was rapid and his blood pressure was still a little on the low side. They were told this would improve with the fluids they were giving him through multiple IV lines. He was still on oxygen which would help give his vital organs the support they needed to recover from shock. An empty Foley catheter bag hung at the bottom of the gurney. Despite all the care he had received, Grissom still appeared very pale.
His clothes and other belongings had been removed and placed in a bag. These Warrick took. They were evidence.
Catherine stepped up close to the gurney. She looked at Gil's face. This was the first time she had seen him since last Friday. The difference in her friend was a shock to her even though she had been prepared by the doctor and the report she had received from Warrick and Sara.
Grissom's visitors stayed only a few minutes. He was alive and in good hands. This was all any of them could hope for at the moment.