Author's Note: I'm so sorry! If you forgive me for the length of time it has taken me to get this update done, I will send you a lovely fruit basket! Seriously, I do apologize; the last month of the summer is always crazy hectic at the pool so I have not had a lick of time. But the story is almost done! I am hoping to wrap it up before I go back to school on Monday. All conflict should (hopefully) get resolved. So while you are reading this, remember: I own nothing! No lawsuits!
* * *
The team sat in shocked silence for a long moment after Greg had walked away. They didn't know what to say. The outburst had come as a complete surprise to them. They had thought everything was okay. They had thought that they were ready to move on. They thought that they could turn all of their concern and attention over to Sara.
They thought wrong.
"What the hell just happened here?" said Nick finally. He looked at his colleagues hoping they would have some sort of answer for him.
"I have no idea" responded Catherine, dashing Nick's hopes that someone could explain Greg's sudden mood swing.
"I wonder what he meant by that 'bandwagon' comment" mused Grissom.
"I don't know, but you think he'd be a little more grateful that we are so understanding. A lot of people wouldn't be, you know" said Nick crossly.
They sat around and commented on Greg's lack of gratitude for the next couple of minutes, until a doctor emerged. Grissom was on his feet almost immediately which could only mean one thing: this man was Sara's doctor.
"How is she?"
The doctor smiled at their expectant faces. "She's doing remarkably well. She's in considerable pain, so we have her on some pain medication. Much to her chagrin, I might add. But overall she is doing far better than I think any of us had expected. We're going to keep her in Intensive Care for at least another day or two, and then we'll move her to another room. We'll probably keep her in the hospital for another two weeks, which I know is longer than our original prediction. We want to err on the side of caution since internal injuries are so tricky. But it looks as though there will be no long term problems. She's a lucky young woman."
"Can we see her?" asked Catherine.
"Of course. But I will ask that only one person go in at a time. You can have about ten minutes with her. If she starts to get overwhelmed, I will temporarily suspend her visitors, as she is still in quite serious condition."
The group didn't even ask who was going first. It was simply known that Grissom would go in to see her. As everyone else went back to sit in the chairs to await there turn, Grissom began to make the seemingly endless trek through the Intensive Care Unit. He tried hard not to look, but found he was unable to suppress the urge to survey the people around him. He tried to be discreet as he looked at people who were at the very apex of illness and injury. It was hard to believe that only hours ago Sara had been among them. She had been clinging to life and they had wondered whether or not she would even survive. But as always, she had pulled through. She was a fighter, no doubt about it. Grissom reached her bed and sat down on the chair that a nurse had provided for him. Sara's eyes were closed.
He opened his mouth to speak but found that he didn't know what to say. He was immensely relieved that she was okay but he was also incredibly disappointed that she had been the driver of the car. It had been almost easier when he had thought Greg was responsible. He could lash out at him more easily then he could Sara. Plus, she was still in serious condition and he knew that any reprimand would have to be reserved until later. He sat quietly for a moment trying to formulate an appropriate greeting. When her eyelids fluttered, he knew that he had to say something, whether he was ready or not.
"Sara?"
For the first time in two days he saw her eyes open. They blinked a couple of times and focused in on him. A small smile creased her face, though the effort seemed to exhaust her. The smile slipped away before he truly had time to absorb the beauty of it. He had always taken her smile for granted. Now he wished it could stay on her face forever so that he could drink in the loveliness of it. He forced his eyes away from her lips and up to her eyes. They were tired but they still carried that same old flash of determination. He held her gaze for a moment.
"How are you feeling?"
She sighed. "Like I was hit by a truck". Her voice was quiet.
"Nope, just by a tree." He tried to keep his tone light.
She looked at him with a seriousness that ceased any attempts at humor. "I think we both know that I hit the tree, not the other way around."
He had to force himself not to recoil at her words. It still seemed unreal that she was the one who had caused such a devastating accident. He wanted more than anything to not think about that at the moment.
He touched her hand. "We'll talk about that later" he said. "Right now I just want to know that you're okay".
"I could be better. But I could be a lot worse so you won't catch me complaining." She closed her eyes for a long moment. They opened again with a sense of urgency. "How's Greg?"
Grissom flinched very slightly. She didn't even notice. "He's fine. A few cracked ribs and a nasty bump to the head but otherwise okay. They didn't even keep him overnight."
"That's good. Is he here? Can I see him? Because I really want to tell him how sorry I am…." She trailed off as she watched Grissom's face. His eyes were cloudy and he was trying to avert her gaze, without much success.
"What is it Grissom? What aren't you telling me?" Damn. Even when she was medicated she had enough sense to probe the issue and try and find answers.
Grissom ran a hand tiredly over his hair. There was no point in hiding it. If she was smart enough to deduce that something was amiss, she was certainly smart enough to know when someone was skirting around the issue.
"I'll tell you, but you can't get upset. If you do, the doctor is going to ban the rest of the team from coming in here".
"Just tell me!" she exclaimed softly.
And he did. He told her about Greg switching seats. He told her about the team's reaction. He told her about his reaction. He told her about the investigation. He told her about how the truth finally came out. He told her about Greg's outburst.
When he was done, he looked at her expectantly. He was shocked to find a reproving look on her face. That wasn't what he'd expected. He'd thought she would look surprised, maybe even a little alarmed to learn that Greg had lied for her. Didn't she comprehend that up until fifteen minutes ago, he had believed that Greg was the one responsible for the accident? Why was she looking at him like he was the one who had done something so stupid.
"What?" he asked.
"Grissom, sometimes you have all the tact of a pit-bull. No wonder Greg hauled out of here. Don't you see? Greg must be feeling so hurt right now. You guys were so quick to assume that he was guilty that you never even tried to get his side of the story. He must have felt like the whole world abandoned him."
"We had every right to…"
"Be upset? Yes, you did. But that doesn't mean that you couldn't have tried to talk to him. Instead, everyone turned on him. We are supposed to be a team Grissom. How do you think he must have felt when everyone just accepted his 'guilt' without a second thought? He needed some support and he didn't get it. That's why he snapped at you guys. He doesn't understand how you can just turn emotions on and off like a light switch. You can't be his biggest critic one moment and his biggest supporter the next. You should have known better. You all should have."
Grissom tried to justify his actions. "At the time, I thought he was responsible for almost killing you! I had good reason to act the way I did!"
With some effort, she shook her head. "Then by that logic, you should be in here raging at me for almost killing Greg. Otherwise, you are being a hypocrite."
He stared at her. This was not the way the conversation was supposed to be going. He had only wanted to talk to her and find out how she was feeling. Instead, she was putting him on trial for the way he had acted towards Greg.
"Sara-"
"Grissom, look. I know you were only acting out of instinct. But that doesn't make it right. There are so many more things that we need to talk about but the doctor is going to come and kick you out any minute. We will talk about this, I promise. In the meantime, you can do something for me."
"Name it"
"Go find Greg. Talk to him, try and clear the air. Think about things from his perspective. It may not be a fun conversation, but it is a necessary one."
Grissom nodded. "Alright, as soon as he's had his turn, I will send Nick to-"
"No Grissom. YOU are the one who is going to talk to Greg. You are the leader of this team and it is your responsibility to make things right again. After you and Greg have sorted things out, bring him back here. I want to see him. I need to see him. He and I need to have a long talk about what he sacrificed for me. But I can't do that if he feels like he is an outsider to the team. Please talk to him. Make things right."
Grissom would have stayed and argued with her, but the doctor came and hustled him out into the waiting room. He could only call out a good bye over his shoulder before he was back with the team. Catherine was on her way in when she noticed that Grissom was gathering his things to leave.
"You're not staying?" she inquired.
"I have been sent on a recovery mission. And I have a sneaking suspicion as to where my target is…."
* * *
Across Town……
The young man barely glanced up from his glass. "Bartender, hit me again. I've got a pain to kill"