Title: Day After Day
Chapter: 12
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Well I promised this would be the last chapter-but I lied. It will take a little longer than I thought to finish this story. But we are nearing the end.
Birds were singing a peaceful tune just outside her window. The morning sun was shinning brightly, illuminating the white marble farce of the building. Sara Sidle awoke to find herself in a hospital room not a cold, dark, shack. None of it had been a dream. She was alive and fairly well. Grissom had told her he loved her. Everything was right with the world or so it seemed. Yes, there was still a madman loose and his mother had tried to end her life the day before but the tranquilly of the new day was bringing calmness to her.
She had slept fairy well that night thanks to the medication she had been given. She had had several dreams. They all involved Grissom. Going on a date with Grissom, kissing him, making love for the first time...she was sorry in some ways that she woke. In her dreams there were only the two of them. Problems didn't exist. All that did was their love for each other. If life was only like a dream.
She noticed her door opening slightly as if the person were seeing if she were awake or not. Soon he entered holding a paper cup with steam flowing out of it.
"Is that for me?" she asked.
"Sorry, doctor's orders: no caffeine." Grissom grinned.
"Which doctor, you or Pearson?"
He paused for a second. "Both."
He pulled a chair over to her bed. After the shooting the medical staff deemed it necessary for her to get a new room. She was revealed.
"How's the patient this morning?"
"Okay. Good now that you're here."
"Well, your parents will probably be up in a minute. Maybe I should get going." He stood.
"Don't leave just because things are starting to get personal." Can he handle a relationship, Sara thought.
"I'm sorry," he took his seat, "I'm not use to this."
"Of what?"
"Of being in love." His eyes darted from hers to the hot liquid in his cup.
She smiled broadly. "I haven't said something that I should say. Grissom look at me."
Her voice was low and he was beginning to strain to hear her. He put his cup on the floor and moved the chair closer.
"I love you." She said the words so easily. They had always been there waiting to come out. Waiting for Grissom to show he cared. She moved her head so that it was close to his. He made no move. God, do I have to do everything, she thought. But she went ahead anyways and kissed him.
Her lips were chapped and she imagined her breath was funky but she had waited too long to let the moment pass. He responded and kissed her back at first lightly and then harder. Her heart monitor made an odd noise and they pulled back.
"Are you okay?" Grissom asked worried.
Sara had to laugh. "Yeah, I think my heart rate accelerated too quickly."
"I'll be right back," he began rising from his seat.
"Where are you going?" Panic rose inside of her, did the kiss not go well?
"I have to get paper towels," looking at the quizzical expression of her face he added, "I knocked over my coffee cup."
A knock on the door turned their attention to the Sidles. The color was back in Laura's face and Dan was carrying a Get Well balloon.
"Are we interrupting?" Dan asked looking at the new couple.
"No, keep Sara company while I grab some paper towels." Grissom smiled at Sara as he left the room.
"How's it going sweetie?" her mom asked enjoying seeing her daughter happy.
"It's going good. I...I told him I loved him, too."
"Oh, honey, that's wonderful." Her mother hugged her the best she could with the equipment attached to Sara and her various injuries.
Grissom returned with a wad of towels in his grasp. With Dan's help the mess was picked up quickly.
"I'm glad that you came here but you need to go back home." Sara addressed her parents.
"We're not leaving." Her father shook his head. "Don't try to push us away."
Sara twirled her fingers around the end of her blanket. "I'm not but you can't lose money by having the B&B closed down."
"Don't worry, Betty is running it for us while we are here with you." Dan said.
"Betty! Dad she's 76 she shouldn't be directing guests and cooking them breakfast."
"We could care less about the business, Sara. We care about you and we are staying put until you're better." Her mother showed Sara's stubborn glare.
"Fine," she started, "When can I get out of here?"
"Dr. Pearson said in about a week." Dan smiled.
Sara closed her eyes. "Great, a week more of being cooped up. I just want to go back home to my apartment."
Laura was aghast. "Why would you want to do that? Sara, you will find a new apartment."
Before an argument could start Grissom deemed himself peacemaker. "I have a compromise. While Sara is recuperating she can stay at my place."
Three heads turned to look at him. He could see Sara swallowing nervously.
"Mr. and Mrs. Sidle you can stay there with Sara. I'll be over at Sara's apartment and I'll clean it up for when she's strong enough to go home."
"You'd do that?" Sara liked this new side of Grissom that he was opening up for her to see.
"Of course."
"Gil, I need to have a word with you." Jim Brass was standing in Sara's room. How long he had been there was anyone's guess.
"Sure, Jim. I'll be right back."
Once they were securely out in the hall Jim produced a photocopy. "Eckley's crew found this inside a diary of Beverly Raymond's. Read it."
Grissom quickly scanned it. "She killed her husband?"
"That's what it appears. According to the diary page she wanted him dead for cheating on her and attempting to leave."
"Alright but do we have any evidence proving she did?"
Brass wrinkled his forehead. "Seven years ago when Bradley Raymond died, Eckley investigated. In his notes Conrad believed that Bev had killed her husband but he could find no hard evidence. Wanna know how Bradley died?"
Grissom shook his head.
"Lethal overdose of morphine."
Grissom's chest momentary seized.
"It was stolen from Desert Palm but no proof that Beverly Raymond was the one who stole it."
"One psychopath begets another." A chain of events that effected Grissom's life and so many others.
"Isn't genetics grand."
"We have to find this guy, Jim. He won't stop until Sara's dead."
The Sidles walked past Grissom and Brass just barely missing the conversation between the two men.
"Are you leaving?" Grissom asked.
Dan pointed to the door. "You two need some time alone. You better take good care of my daughter." Dan had a smile on his face.
"Well, I better be going. I got a bad guy to catch." Jim patted Grissom's shoulder and exited behind the Sidles.
Grissom took his place back at Sara's side. He hadn't taken care of her. He had let a madman kidnap, torture and nearly kill her. He was at fault but there seemed to be no punishment for him.
"What's up? You seem deep in thought." Sara looked into his blue eyes.
He looked away. "We can't...Sara we don't belong together."
Shook overtook her system. He had waited this long to throw a wrench into what they were building. "How can you say that?"
"This is my fault, I'm to blame for you being here."
"What are you Mark Raymond at night? You're talking nonsense."
"I don't want to hurt you Sara." He started to leave.
"That's what you're doing right now!" She yelled nearly having one of her choking fits. "Do you know how much it hurt to have you say you didn't want to date me?" Her voice wavered. "I've been in love with you for over ten years and sometimes you can be so cruel."
"That's why you're better off without me."
"You don't mean that. You do this whenever we start to get close."
"What am I doing?" he questioned her.
"You push me away." Her voice could not hide the bitterness. "You do it because you're scared. You're scared to give some of yourself to me. You're scared that I will know you too well. You like being this enigma, you've done it for nearly half a century. You're comfortable not living life. When I'm around all the variables change and that scares the shit out of you. You have lost control because a part of you resides in me."
Grissom's dream floated back into his conscious. Sara had said there that he would always hear her because she was apart of him. Reminiscent of his declaration of love, the truth came out. "I'm going deaf," he said letting the statement hang in the air.
Sara did not seem shocked. "I wondered if you were."
"How...how did you figure it out?"
"I didn't know for certain but there were moments when I wondered if you could hear me. I know that your mom is deaf so 2+2 usually equals four." She looked directly in his eyes. "Don't shut me out. You said in your note you were lost without me."
He walked slowly over to her bed. His hand grasped onto hers as if she were a lifeline. "I'm sorry, Sara. I want to be with you but is it really possible?"
She raised one eyebrow. "Anything's possible Grissom. You got to rely on faith."
"I'm not good at that."
"You believed that I would come home. Look I'm here now."
He reached down and kissed her lips gently. "I'm going to need your help in learning how to live again and relying on faith."
Sara smiled, "You won't lose me unless you leave."
"I better not leave then." Grissom had let his fear take over again briefly but he felt recommitted to Sara and this budding relationship. He took his seat again. They discussed the most mundane things and important ones (where should our first date be?) until Dr. Pearson kicked him out.
Mark looked into the mirror at the hideous void on his face. That bitch did that to him and she would pay. Revenge was just a few short days away. She would leave the hospital soon and then she would be unguarded. She would be all alone. He held up the knife and watched the gleam from the lights hit the stainless steel surface. He thrust the knife into the mirror watching it break. The fools he was right under their noses and they had no clue. They wouldn't know until Sara was dead.
To be continued...
Chapter: 12
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Well I promised this would be the last chapter-but I lied. It will take a little longer than I thought to finish this story. But we are nearing the end.
Birds were singing a peaceful tune just outside her window. The morning sun was shinning brightly, illuminating the white marble farce of the building. Sara Sidle awoke to find herself in a hospital room not a cold, dark, shack. None of it had been a dream. She was alive and fairly well. Grissom had told her he loved her. Everything was right with the world or so it seemed. Yes, there was still a madman loose and his mother had tried to end her life the day before but the tranquilly of the new day was bringing calmness to her.
She had slept fairy well that night thanks to the medication she had been given. She had had several dreams. They all involved Grissom. Going on a date with Grissom, kissing him, making love for the first time...she was sorry in some ways that she woke. In her dreams there were only the two of them. Problems didn't exist. All that did was their love for each other. If life was only like a dream.
She noticed her door opening slightly as if the person were seeing if she were awake or not. Soon he entered holding a paper cup with steam flowing out of it.
"Is that for me?" she asked.
"Sorry, doctor's orders: no caffeine." Grissom grinned.
"Which doctor, you or Pearson?"
He paused for a second. "Both."
He pulled a chair over to her bed. After the shooting the medical staff deemed it necessary for her to get a new room. She was revealed.
"How's the patient this morning?"
"Okay. Good now that you're here."
"Well, your parents will probably be up in a minute. Maybe I should get going." He stood.
"Don't leave just because things are starting to get personal." Can he handle a relationship, Sara thought.
"I'm sorry," he took his seat, "I'm not use to this."
"Of what?"
"Of being in love." His eyes darted from hers to the hot liquid in his cup.
She smiled broadly. "I haven't said something that I should say. Grissom look at me."
Her voice was low and he was beginning to strain to hear her. He put his cup on the floor and moved the chair closer.
"I love you." She said the words so easily. They had always been there waiting to come out. Waiting for Grissom to show he cared. She moved her head so that it was close to his. He made no move. God, do I have to do everything, she thought. But she went ahead anyways and kissed him.
Her lips were chapped and she imagined her breath was funky but she had waited too long to let the moment pass. He responded and kissed her back at first lightly and then harder. Her heart monitor made an odd noise and they pulled back.
"Are you okay?" Grissom asked worried.
Sara had to laugh. "Yeah, I think my heart rate accelerated too quickly."
"I'll be right back," he began rising from his seat.
"Where are you going?" Panic rose inside of her, did the kiss not go well?
"I have to get paper towels," looking at the quizzical expression of her face he added, "I knocked over my coffee cup."
A knock on the door turned their attention to the Sidles. The color was back in Laura's face and Dan was carrying a Get Well balloon.
"Are we interrupting?" Dan asked looking at the new couple.
"No, keep Sara company while I grab some paper towels." Grissom smiled at Sara as he left the room.
"How's it going sweetie?" her mom asked enjoying seeing her daughter happy.
"It's going good. I...I told him I loved him, too."
"Oh, honey, that's wonderful." Her mother hugged her the best she could with the equipment attached to Sara and her various injuries.
Grissom returned with a wad of towels in his grasp. With Dan's help the mess was picked up quickly.
"I'm glad that you came here but you need to go back home." Sara addressed her parents.
"We're not leaving." Her father shook his head. "Don't try to push us away."
Sara twirled her fingers around the end of her blanket. "I'm not but you can't lose money by having the B&B closed down."
"Don't worry, Betty is running it for us while we are here with you." Dan said.
"Betty! Dad she's 76 she shouldn't be directing guests and cooking them breakfast."
"We could care less about the business, Sara. We care about you and we are staying put until you're better." Her mother showed Sara's stubborn glare.
"Fine," she started, "When can I get out of here?"
"Dr. Pearson said in about a week." Dan smiled.
Sara closed her eyes. "Great, a week more of being cooped up. I just want to go back home to my apartment."
Laura was aghast. "Why would you want to do that? Sara, you will find a new apartment."
Before an argument could start Grissom deemed himself peacemaker. "I have a compromise. While Sara is recuperating she can stay at my place."
Three heads turned to look at him. He could see Sara swallowing nervously.
"Mr. and Mrs. Sidle you can stay there with Sara. I'll be over at Sara's apartment and I'll clean it up for when she's strong enough to go home."
"You'd do that?" Sara liked this new side of Grissom that he was opening up for her to see.
"Of course."
"Gil, I need to have a word with you." Jim Brass was standing in Sara's room. How long he had been there was anyone's guess.
"Sure, Jim. I'll be right back."
Once they were securely out in the hall Jim produced a photocopy. "Eckley's crew found this inside a diary of Beverly Raymond's. Read it."
Grissom quickly scanned it. "She killed her husband?"
"That's what it appears. According to the diary page she wanted him dead for cheating on her and attempting to leave."
"Alright but do we have any evidence proving she did?"
Brass wrinkled his forehead. "Seven years ago when Bradley Raymond died, Eckley investigated. In his notes Conrad believed that Bev had killed her husband but he could find no hard evidence. Wanna know how Bradley died?"
Grissom shook his head.
"Lethal overdose of morphine."
Grissom's chest momentary seized.
"It was stolen from Desert Palm but no proof that Beverly Raymond was the one who stole it."
"One psychopath begets another." A chain of events that effected Grissom's life and so many others.
"Isn't genetics grand."
"We have to find this guy, Jim. He won't stop until Sara's dead."
The Sidles walked past Grissom and Brass just barely missing the conversation between the two men.
"Are you leaving?" Grissom asked.
Dan pointed to the door. "You two need some time alone. You better take good care of my daughter." Dan had a smile on his face.
"Well, I better be going. I got a bad guy to catch." Jim patted Grissom's shoulder and exited behind the Sidles.
Grissom took his place back at Sara's side. He hadn't taken care of her. He had let a madman kidnap, torture and nearly kill her. He was at fault but there seemed to be no punishment for him.
"What's up? You seem deep in thought." Sara looked into his blue eyes.
He looked away. "We can't...Sara we don't belong together."
Shook overtook her system. He had waited this long to throw a wrench into what they were building. "How can you say that?"
"This is my fault, I'm to blame for you being here."
"What are you Mark Raymond at night? You're talking nonsense."
"I don't want to hurt you Sara." He started to leave.
"That's what you're doing right now!" She yelled nearly having one of her choking fits. "Do you know how much it hurt to have you say you didn't want to date me?" Her voice wavered. "I've been in love with you for over ten years and sometimes you can be so cruel."
"That's why you're better off without me."
"You don't mean that. You do this whenever we start to get close."
"What am I doing?" he questioned her.
"You push me away." Her voice could not hide the bitterness. "You do it because you're scared. You're scared to give some of yourself to me. You're scared that I will know you too well. You like being this enigma, you've done it for nearly half a century. You're comfortable not living life. When I'm around all the variables change and that scares the shit out of you. You have lost control because a part of you resides in me."
Grissom's dream floated back into his conscious. Sara had said there that he would always hear her because she was apart of him. Reminiscent of his declaration of love, the truth came out. "I'm going deaf," he said letting the statement hang in the air.
Sara did not seem shocked. "I wondered if you were."
"How...how did you figure it out?"
"I didn't know for certain but there were moments when I wondered if you could hear me. I know that your mom is deaf so 2+2 usually equals four." She looked directly in his eyes. "Don't shut me out. You said in your note you were lost without me."
He walked slowly over to her bed. His hand grasped onto hers as if she were a lifeline. "I'm sorry, Sara. I want to be with you but is it really possible?"
She raised one eyebrow. "Anything's possible Grissom. You got to rely on faith."
"I'm not good at that."
"You believed that I would come home. Look I'm here now."
He reached down and kissed her lips gently. "I'm going to need your help in learning how to live again and relying on faith."
Sara smiled, "You won't lose me unless you leave."
"I better not leave then." Grissom had let his fear take over again briefly but he felt recommitted to Sara and this budding relationship. He took his seat again. They discussed the most mundane things and important ones (where should our first date be?) until Dr. Pearson kicked him out.
Mark looked into the mirror at the hideous void on his face. That bitch did that to him and she would pay. Revenge was just a few short days away. She would leave the hospital soon and then she would be unguarded. She would be all alone. He held up the knife and watched the gleam from the lights hit the stainless steel surface. He thrust the knife into the mirror watching it break. The fools he was right under their noses and they had no clue. They wouldn't know until Sara was dead.
To be continued...