DISCLAIMER: The usual applies (characters are not mine, no profit, etc). You didn't think I'd forget a disclaimer and let you sue me, did you? *raises eyebrow*

SUMMARY: Post 'Inside the Box'. Here's what COULD happen. ;)

A Sense of Time

By Jane Moss

Grissom realised he was sad to see her leave that morning. Her pager went off and he knew intuitively it was back to work. He only wished she could have had a more comfortable night. If Sara slept very little, this was probably a record for her. He could see how tired she was, before she left.

He found it almost maddening to spend a whole day by himself, when Sara's company was still lingering in the back of his mind as an ironic comparison. Grissom was glad for all the crossword puzzles he had brought with him, expecting to spend time with himself.

At around noon, his doctor came by to fill him in on information that he already had. There was nothing more he could tell Grissom. He couldn't guarantee 100% restoration of his hearing or even guarantee to keep it where it was. Grissom only nodded and thanked the doctor out of courtesy. That was the only eventful thing that day. He had breakfast, he had lunch, but after that the thought of hospital food was repulsive. He found himself yearning for something homemade.

"You've got to eat something, otherwise you won't get better," a tall black nurse explained to him, as if he didn't understand her.

"Alright, I'll have something to eat," he assured her and she watched him closely until he took some rice and bread on his plate. The sauce didn't look too appealing and the meat from a can looked even worse. He couldn't eat more than a spoonful of the dry rice, before he had to put it down and get back to his crossword and puzzles to keep his mind off the hunger.

He hated to admit it, but he found himself waiting for Sara to show. She promised to see him that evening, but he knew that if something came up he couldn't let himself feel disappointed. Gradually, his attention shifted from the word puzzles in his hand, to the door.

When he opened his eyes, he realised he must have dozed off. Sara stood in front of him, smiling. It was such a rare sight. He didn't mind her knowledge of his condition now and had to admit it felt like a weight had been lifted.

"Hey"

"Sara… I thought you might not show…" When her smile faded, he wondered if he said something wrong. May be his tone was too cold? "I'm glad you're here," he added as a means of apology.

"Catherine couldn't make it. I told her you're okay," Sara delivered the news without a hint of emotion. She sat down, as softly as she could. Her jacket smelled of the outside world. Of rain, to be exact. She looked over at his untouched dinner and cringed at the thought of hospital food.

He followed her gaze. "I couldn't eat what they serve here. It's worse than McDonalds. At least there you can't taste that it's bad for you" She smiled at that. She was glad of his good mood. May be that's what isolation did to a man.

"I anticipated this," she shuffled her bags until she brought out a small salad box filled with spaghetti and handed it to him. A second smaller box had salad. "It was the only thing I knew how to make," she offered as he inspected the spaghetti.

"It's very thoughtful, Sara"

"Thanks. Hadn't had a chance to eat either," she said, getting out another box, filled with what appeared to be mushrooms and something else. They ate in silence. It felt comfortable this time. After a while, his curiosity took over.

"Are you going to stay?"

"Yeah" Before he could ask, she continued, "Catherine said they could handle it. We almost got the cases wrapped up."

He looked at her seriously. "Sara, you need to get some sleep tonight"

"I will"

"Not in this chair"

"I'll be fine" he didn't look satisfied. "Hey, I did it last night!"

"You were tired this morning," he said raising his signature eyebrow. She couldn't debate with that.

"Look, if you want me to leave or something-"

"Sara, I don't, but-"

"I'm staying here then"

He let out a breath of exasperation as he once again turned to the ceiling. Sara was not someone who he wanted to argue with, which was mostly due to her inevitable victory. The lights were gone now and the room was once again dark. They sat in silence for the longest time. This was as close as one could get to this man.

Grissom tried to reason. If he could not convince her to go home, he could at least attempt to make her comfortable, as she had done for him the last couple of days.

"Sara…" he tried to keep his voice reasonably quiet, as he moved over to the side of his bed. She looked at him in confusion, before it hit her.

"Oh no, Grissom, you don't have to… I'll be-"

"Sara," he paused, "Please, it's the least I can do" After another moment of her hesitation he made it into a logical argument. "You need your rest"

She took a breath, before slowly and timidly venturing closer. She lay down stiffly, determined to keep some distance between them, but the bed was too narrow for two people and they had to move closer, until their side touched firmly. It was somewhat alien to both to feel that kind of warmth radiating from another human being. Sara felt both exhilarated and unusually calm at a moment like this. Calm, of course, apart from the wild beating of her own heart.

After a while, when they were both considerably relaxed, Grissom realised that neither the anaesthetic nor the morphine could help him now and he was going to have to find sleep on his own. He reached out and gently pulled the covers over Sara and now there was only one layer of clothing between them. He shivered involuntarily and mentally blamed the thin hospital robe he was wearing. He should have really brought a set of pyjamas. She must have felt it, as she reached out and brought the covers up to his neck, tucking him in at the other side, thereby bringing her arm around him in the process. He exhaled at the additional contact and she took it as a sign to leave her arm where it was.

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Yeah…. Sara is being super sweet to him! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! *grin* those things always make my muse super happy! More soon! (promise!) – J.M.:)