Title: Fear 23/29
Author: CSIphile/Stepf
Notes: I got nothing. Seriously. Unless you want to hear me complain about this stupid cold I have? Didn't think so. More to come, hopefully soon, I was even nice on the ender today, blame (or thank, depending on your take) the cold.
Thanks: Never ending, heart filled ones to those who have reviewed, I love you guys! Thank you. Of course to Meg the beta, you are fabulous, girl and Dev, equally fabulous.
Grissom passes by his butterfly collection for the thirty-fourth time; he knows because he has counted every pass so far. Catherine had dropped him off just over two hours ago and then promptly left with his vehicle, so he wouldn't go back to hospital until she returned for him. Catherine had, in her best don't-mess-with-me voice, directed him to shower, eat and sleep; then he could go back. He has already showered and managed to eat half a sandwich, but sleep is not forthcoming. Every time he lies down he can smell her hair, feel the heat of her body curled into his. The thought of her lying alone in that hospital bed raises Grissom's anger another notch; he's determined to find Harrington and remove him from their lives any way he can. On the thirty-sixth pass past the butterflies, he gets a sinking feeling in his stomach and the urge to be at the hospital increases tenfold. Grabbing his cell phone from the charger, he deftly punches in the speed dial number he knows so well.
"Willows."
"Catherine, come get me," he says quickly, tumbling over the words.
"What? You can't possibly have gotten any sleep, Gil." She talks to him like she would an impatient child.
"Catherine, I am not debating this with you. Come and get me right NOW." Something in his tone tells Catherine to just do it instead of arguing.
"Ok, I will be there in 15 minutes," she says and hangs up the phone, grabbing her keys and thanking god Lindsey is with Eddie.
A very long forty-five minutes later, at least it's long in Grissom estimation, they are approaching the nurses' station. Without even stopping, he walks past the semicircle and heads to Sara's room, then shows his ID to the guard placed there and opens the door. First concentrating on Sara, Grissom sees that she hasn't moved an inch since he saw her last, a few hours ago. Her linens don't even looked disturbed, but standing there, Grissom gets a strange feeling. Scanning the room, with Catherine looking on from the door, his heart stops as it gets to a small table provided for the nurses on the opposite side of the bed. Walking around the foot of the bed with trepidation, Grissom looks at the gift, but doesn't touch it. Being a scientist first, Grissom examines the small brown bear with his eyes before confiscating a pair of latex gloves from a box by the bed. Picking it up, he notices a note underneath with Sara's name written on it in unfamiliar handwriting. By now Catherine is standing directly behind him, watching with morbid fascination as Grissom picks up the note and reads it aloud.
"Sara, I'm sorry, but I did what I had to. You don't seem to understand who is in control. I am. I control your life, Sara. I regretfully put you in this situation. Don't forget it. Joey."
"Catherine."
"Yeah. Hand it over, I'll call Warrick. Harrington admitted to it. Now we just need to find him. I will also call Brass and have some detectives down here interviewing possible witnesses. Someone had to have seen him." She takes the bear and note in her now latex-covered hands. Looking around, she finds a hazardous materials bag to place it in. Turning back to him, she is surprised to see the amount of anger openly displayed on his face. "Grissom?"
"He was in this room, Catherine. With her.alone. How did he get this far?" he asks through clenched teeth.
"I don't know," she answers honestly.
"Well, I'm going to find out." He heads for the door, ignoring Catherine calling his name.
"Who's in charge here?" he asks brusquely as he gets to the counter of the nurses' station. Slamming his hands loudly on the counter, he waits for a response.
"That would be me, sir," a pretty redhead responds. "Annie Cahill."
"Well, Miss Cahill, would you care to explain to me how the man that put Sara Sidle in that hospital bed waltzed in here and was in her room?"
"Excuse me?" she asks, unaware that anyone had even been in the room. Behind her however, and not outside Grissom's view, Dana Leslie begins to squirm.
"You." He points at her. "Do you know what I am taking about?" His tone is that of uncontrolled fury.
"Yes. A young man came in and asked for her. Said he was her brother and had just flown in from San Francisco. I let him in for not more than five minutes. The guard wasn't here yet."
"Not more than five minutes? Great. Do you KNOW what kind of damage he could have done in five minutes? She could be dead. Do you understand? DEAD." As he is talking, Grissom voice is getting steadily louder, attracting the attention of most of the ward. "From now on, NO ONE goes in that room, or Nick Stokes', unless they show police or forensics ID, understand me?" All the nurses nod in acknowledgement.
Cautiously, Catherine approaches him and places her hands on his back, whispering for him to relax. Moving him back into Sara's room for privacy, Catherine is about to chastise him for his actions, but Grissom cuts her off.
"I'm sorry Cath. But he was here.right HERE. I can't stand the thought of losing her. She is the only woman I have ever loved." Catherine is startled at his admission; she isn't surprised at the sentiment, but surprised he said it to her. The fiercely private Gil Grissom admitted something highly personal to her.
"She's fine, Gil. Yes, he was here, but I think she is safe for now. If he wanted her dead, he would have killed her then."
"He doesn't want her dead yet, Cath. He wants to posses her. But sometimes that need for possession takes over and the stalker kills the object of his obsession. The old 'if I can't have her, no one will' thinking. He thinks that by being violent he is stripping her life away, and that she will come around to him when there isn't anything or anyone left to go to."
"We will get him, Grissom. That I will promise you." She gives him a smile and indicates the hazmat bag still in her hand. "I'm going to the lab. I'll be back later to get you, I think you scared the nurses enough that they will let you stay a while."
"Thanks Catherine," he says and hugs his friend. After she leaves, he pulls up the chair closer to Sara's bed and holds her hand delicately in his, finally resting his head on her bed and falling asleep.
A light squeeze on his hand brings Grissom out of his exhaustion-induced sleep. Momentarily confused, he looks around before realizing Sara's eyes are open and looking at him with confusion.
"Hey. Let me get the doctor, ok? Don't fight the ventilator." Receiving a slight nod, Grissom is opening the door as a younger man walks in.
"Mr. Grissom? Hi, I will be Sara's doctor for the rest of her stay. Dr. Carter." He extends a hand and receives quick handshake from the older man.
"She's awake," is all he says to the doctor.
"Really?" he says and walks to the head of her bed, smiling when he sees the brown of her eyes. "Good morning, Miss Sidle. Give me a minute and I will remove the ventilator. Just don't fight it, let it do the work." As the doctor talks he unhooks the respirator from the tube and removes the tape from her mouth. "Ok Sara, I am going to count to three. On two, I need you to take a deep breath, as deep as you can. On three, I need to you exhale, not too hard though; we don't want to have to back in there and repair damage. Got it?" At her nod, the doctor starts the count and in short order the tube is pulled out of Sara's throat, much to her great relief. After she coughs for a few moments, Carter checks her breath sounds and sits her up in the bed.
"We weren't planning on bringing you out of sedation until this afternoon, but you pushed up our schedule, Sara. Is she stubborn by any chance?" He directs the question at Grissom.
"Just a little." Grissom looks at Sara and receives a scathing look.
"Well, that will help with recovery," the doctor says and quickly reviews with her the injuries she sustained and how to care for herself. "You are going to need help for a while, Miss Sidle. Your lung needs time to recover. No physical activity for three weeks. Are we clear?"
"Yes, I understand. Nick, how is Nick?" her raspy voice asks with a hint of desperation.
"Looks like he will be fine. The surgeons did some major repair work, but he should be fine in a few weeks."
"Can I see him?" Sara ignores the look she is getting from Grissom. "Please, he's my friend, and he almost lost his life because of me."
Grissom starts at the tone in her voice. He can tell she blames herself for this. "Sara."
"No, Grissom. I want to see him."
The doctor watches the interaction between the two, and he knows she will be in good hands. "How about a compromise? You relax until this afternoon and then I will get a nurse to help you into his room for a bit. Ok?"
"Thank you," she responds quietly.
"I'll be back in a few hours to check on you. Rest, no food yet though, and you will be out of here in no time."
"Thank you, doctor," Grissom says as Carter leaves the room.
Grissom moves back to his position beside her bed and grabs her hand, reassuring himself that she is fine, that she is breathing and alive and in one piece.
"There's an APB out on Harrington; they're running his face all over the news. The problem is that he could be at any one of the hotels in Vegas and no one would recognize him. We will find him, Sara, and he will pay for this. You need to know he was here, in your room while you were sedated. He left you a small gift, and he's real apologetic about the accident." The last sentence is dripping with sarcasm.
Her eyes widen at this and she nods silently at him and closes her eyes, not wanting to think about it. The only thing she can think of is that Nick almost died for her, that he is lying in a hospital room because of her. "Nick..oh God, Gris," she suddenly says.
Grissom carefully slides onto the bed with her, gathering her in his arms and whispering in her ear. "He will be ok, Sara. You are both alive and we have Nick to thank for that."
After several minutes, her breathing regulates and he looks down to see her starting to fall into sleep.
"Sleep, Sara. I am going to check in with Brass and Catherine, but I'll be back. There's a guard at the door. I love you." He receives a slight murmur in response and gets off the bed, giving her one last glance as he closes the door.
tbc.....
Author: CSIphile/Stepf
Notes: I got nothing. Seriously. Unless you want to hear me complain about this stupid cold I have? Didn't think so. More to come, hopefully soon, I was even nice on the ender today, blame (or thank, depending on your take) the cold.
Thanks: Never ending, heart filled ones to those who have reviewed, I love you guys! Thank you. Of course to Meg the beta, you are fabulous, girl and Dev, equally fabulous.
Grissom passes by his butterfly collection for the thirty-fourth time; he knows because he has counted every pass so far. Catherine had dropped him off just over two hours ago and then promptly left with his vehicle, so he wouldn't go back to hospital until she returned for him. Catherine had, in her best don't-mess-with-me voice, directed him to shower, eat and sleep; then he could go back. He has already showered and managed to eat half a sandwich, but sleep is not forthcoming. Every time he lies down he can smell her hair, feel the heat of her body curled into his. The thought of her lying alone in that hospital bed raises Grissom's anger another notch; he's determined to find Harrington and remove him from their lives any way he can. On the thirty-sixth pass past the butterflies, he gets a sinking feeling in his stomach and the urge to be at the hospital increases tenfold. Grabbing his cell phone from the charger, he deftly punches in the speed dial number he knows so well.
"Willows."
"Catherine, come get me," he says quickly, tumbling over the words.
"What? You can't possibly have gotten any sleep, Gil." She talks to him like she would an impatient child.
"Catherine, I am not debating this with you. Come and get me right NOW." Something in his tone tells Catherine to just do it instead of arguing.
"Ok, I will be there in 15 minutes," she says and hangs up the phone, grabbing her keys and thanking god Lindsey is with Eddie.
A very long forty-five minutes later, at least it's long in Grissom estimation, they are approaching the nurses' station. Without even stopping, he walks past the semicircle and heads to Sara's room, then shows his ID to the guard placed there and opens the door. First concentrating on Sara, Grissom sees that she hasn't moved an inch since he saw her last, a few hours ago. Her linens don't even looked disturbed, but standing there, Grissom gets a strange feeling. Scanning the room, with Catherine looking on from the door, his heart stops as it gets to a small table provided for the nurses on the opposite side of the bed. Walking around the foot of the bed with trepidation, Grissom looks at the gift, but doesn't touch it. Being a scientist first, Grissom examines the small brown bear with his eyes before confiscating a pair of latex gloves from a box by the bed. Picking it up, he notices a note underneath with Sara's name written on it in unfamiliar handwriting. By now Catherine is standing directly behind him, watching with morbid fascination as Grissom picks up the note and reads it aloud.
"Sara, I'm sorry, but I did what I had to. You don't seem to understand who is in control. I am. I control your life, Sara. I regretfully put you in this situation. Don't forget it. Joey."
"Catherine."
"Yeah. Hand it over, I'll call Warrick. Harrington admitted to it. Now we just need to find him. I will also call Brass and have some detectives down here interviewing possible witnesses. Someone had to have seen him." She takes the bear and note in her now latex-covered hands. Looking around, she finds a hazardous materials bag to place it in. Turning back to him, she is surprised to see the amount of anger openly displayed on his face. "Grissom?"
"He was in this room, Catherine. With her.alone. How did he get this far?" he asks through clenched teeth.
"I don't know," she answers honestly.
"Well, I'm going to find out." He heads for the door, ignoring Catherine calling his name.
"Who's in charge here?" he asks brusquely as he gets to the counter of the nurses' station. Slamming his hands loudly on the counter, he waits for a response.
"That would be me, sir," a pretty redhead responds. "Annie Cahill."
"Well, Miss Cahill, would you care to explain to me how the man that put Sara Sidle in that hospital bed waltzed in here and was in her room?"
"Excuse me?" she asks, unaware that anyone had even been in the room. Behind her however, and not outside Grissom's view, Dana Leslie begins to squirm.
"You." He points at her. "Do you know what I am taking about?" His tone is that of uncontrolled fury.
"Yes. A young man came in and asked for her. Said he was her brother and had just flown in from San Francisco. I let him in for not more than five minutes. The guard wasn't here yet."
"Not more than five minutes? Great. Do you KNOW what kind of damage he could have done in five minutes? She could be dead. Do you understand? DEAD." As he is talking, Grissom voice is getting steadily louder, attracting the attention of most of the ward. "From now on, NO ONE goes in that room, or Nick Stokes', unless they show police or forensics ID, understand me?" All the nurses nod in acknowledgement.
Cautiously, Catherine approaches him and places her hands on his back, whispering for him to relax. Moving him back into Sara's room for privacy, Catherine is about to chastise him for his actions, but Grissom cuts her off.
"I'm sorry Cath. But he was here.right HERE. I can't stand the thought of losing her. She is the only woman I have ever loved." Catherine is startled at his admission; she isn't surprised at the sentiment, but surprised he said it to her. The fiercely private Gil Grissom admitted something highly personal to her.
"She's fine, Gil. Yes, he was here, but I think she is safe for now. If he wanted her dead, he would have killed her then."
"He doesn't want her dead yet, Cath. He wants to posses her. But sometimes that need for possession takes over and the stalker kills the object of his obsession. The old 'if I can't have her, no one will' thinking. He thinks that by being violent he is stripping her life away, and that she will come around to him when there isn't anything or anyone left to go to."
"We will get him, Grissom. That I will promise you." She gives him a smile and indicates the hazmat bag still in her hand. "I'm going to the lab. I'll be back later to get you, I think you scared the nurses enough that they will let you stay a while."
"Thanks Catherine," he says and hugs his friend. After she leaves, he pulls up the chair closer to Sara's bed and holds her hand delicately in his, finally resting his head on her bed and falling asleep.
A light squeeze on his hand brings Grissom out of his exhaustion-induced sleep. Momentarily confused, he looks around before realizing Sara's eyes are open and looking at him with confusion.
"Hey. Let me get the doctor, ok? Don't fight the ventilator." Receiving a slight nod, Grissom is opening the door as a younger man walks in.
"Mr. Grissom? Hi, I will be Sara's doctor for the rest of her stay. Dr. Carter." He extends a hand and receives quick handshake from the older man.
"She's awake," is all he says to the doctor.
"Really?" he says and walks to the head of her bed, smiling when he sees the brown of her eyes. "Good morning, Miss Sidle. Give me a minute and I will remove the ventilator. Just don't fight it, let it do the work." As the doctor talks he unhooks the respirator from the tube and removes the tape from her mouth. "Ok Sara, I am going to count to three. On two, I need you to take a deep breath, as deep as you can. On three, I need to you exhale, not too hard though; we don't want to have to back in there and repair damage. Got it?" At her nod, the doctor starts the count and in short order the tube is pulled out of Sara's throat, much to her great relief. After she coughs for a few moments, Carter checks her breath sounds and sits her up in the bed.
"We weren't planning on bringing you out of sedation until this afternoon, but you pushed up our schedule, Sara. Is she stubborn by any chance?" He directs the question at Grissom.
"Just a little." Grissom looks at Sara and receives a scathing look.
"Well, that will help with recovery," the doctor says and quickly reviews with her the injuries she sustained and how to care for herself. "You are going to need help for a while, Miss Sidle. Your lung needs time to recover. No physical activity for three weeks. Are we clear?"
"Yes, I understand. Nick, how is Nick?" her raspy voice asks with a hint of desperation.
"Looks like he will be fine. The surgeons did some major repair work, but he should be fine in a few weeks."
"Can I see him?" Sara ignores the look she is getting from Grissom. "Please, he's my friend, and he almost lost his life because of me."
Grissom starts at the tone in her voice. He can tell she blames herself for this. "Sara."
"No, Grissom. I want to see him."
The doctor watches the interaction between the two, and he knows she will be in good hands. "How about a compromise? You relax until this afternoon and then I will get a nurse to help you into his room for a bit. Ok?"
"Thank you," she responds quietly.
"I'll be back in a few hours to check on you. Rest, no food yet though, and you will be out of here in no time."
"Thank you, doctor," Grissom says as Carter leaves the room.
Grissom moves back to his position beside her bed and grabs her hand, reassuring himself that she is fine, that she is breathing and alive and in one piece.
"There's an APB out on Harrington; they're running his face all over the news. The problem is that he could be at any one of the hotels in Vegas and no one would recognize him. We will find him, Sara, and he will pay for this. You need to know he was here, in your room while you were sedated. He left you a small gift, and he's real apologetic about the accident." The last sentence is dripping with sarcasm.
Her eyes widen at this and she nods silently at him and closes her eyes, not wanting to think about it. The only thing she can think of is that Nick almost died for her, that he is lying in a hospital room because of her. "Nick..oh God, Gris," she suddenly says.
Grissom carefully slides onto the bed with her, gathering her in his arms and whispering in her ear. "He will be ok, Sara. You are both alive and we have Nick to thank for that."
After several minutes, her breathing regulates and he looks down to see her starting to fall into sleep.
"Sleep, Sara. I am going to check in with Brass and Catherine, but I'll be back. There's a guard at the door. I love you." He receives a slight murmur in response and gets off the bed, giving her one last glance as he closes the door.
tbc.....