Disclaimer: CSI is still not mine, please don't come after me, I
don't have anything good anyway I'm just a poor college student.
Author's note: Thanks so much for the positive feedback. Here is chapter two, yay! You know the drill, please read & review
***** Sara woke up and looked at the clock, 4:30pm, plenty of time before she had to be to work. Definitely enough time to kill this hangover, she though to herself as she pushed the covers off and started on her way to the kitchen. Sara started the coffee pot and grabbed the bottle of aspirin off the counter, she did not have a bad hangover, nothing a couple aspirin chased with coffee and a hot shower wouldn't cure, but none the less her head was pounding.
Sara sat down at her breakfast bar waiting for the coffee to brew and tried to replay the events of earlier that had delivered her to the current state she was in. Sara remembered stopping at the bar on her way home, and she remembered having a few drinks and making her way home, a routine that was becoming an all too familiar part of her life. The coffee had finished brewing and Sara poured herself a mug full and walked to the bathroom to start the water in the shower.
Sara's head was still pounding when she stepped in the shower, but the almost scalding water was definitely helping dull the pain. Sara tried to clear her mind, but there was something that was bothering her, she just couldn't put her finger on it though. Sara's mind raced as she tried to remember, was there something she had forgotten to do, somewhere she was supposed to be?
Suddenly it hit her like a bullet straight to the heart, "Oh my God," Sara put her head in her hands, "Grissom." The water from the shower pounded on her body as she crumpled to the floor of the bathtub. Sara remembered how cold she had been earlier, and felt the guilt and remorse creeping up on her as she wiped at the mix of tears and water droplets that had begun to roll down her cheeks. The decision Sara had made had been in haste and alcohol, she knew that as strong a woman as she was, she was still not strong enough to let go, not now, and not yet.
Sara had finally gotten out of the shower, the water had started to run cold, and she knew it was getting late. Sara got dressed and gathered all her things together and got ready to head off to work. She stopped off in the kitchen and grabbed her travel mug out of the cabinet, Sara started to fill it with coffee when something caught her eye. Sitting on top of her refrigerator, Sara saw her half-empty bottle of Vodka. Without a second thought, Sara reached for the bottle and topped off her mug with the liquid.
Sara brought the bottle to her lips and tipped it, pouring the clear alcohol into her mouth. It burned, it brought her back to her senses and Sara leaned over the sink and spit the Vodka out. Sara reached for the coffee mug and emptied it down the drain, followed by what was left in the bottle.
She knew she was stronger than this, stronger than the liquid that was pouring from the bottle, so what happened to her? Why, after all that she has been through and everything she has seen, is it all just now catching up to her? No, it was just that the last straw had been placed, the straw that screamed at and taunted Sara, "See, you did have a chance, and you blew it, good for you, alone still."
"Damn it!" Sara screamed as she threw the empty bottle against the wall. The bottle shattered into a thousand pieces that sprinkled themselves on the floor.
Sara slowly gathered herself together but left the broken bottle on the floor, it would be there when she got home, right now though she had to get to work. Sara took a deep breath and grabbed her keys off the counter, she glanced at her watch, she was definitely going to be late.
*****
Sara finally made it to work, she was close to a half-hour late, but once you are late, how late really just became a technicality. Sara made her way down the hall and she saw that everyone else was still in the break room, she hoped they were not all waiting for her, that would surely be the icing on this cake.
There was no sneaking into the room, as soon as she opened the door to the break room everyone turned to look at her, well almost everyone. Sara could not quite decide which was worse as she took a seat on the couch, Warrick, Nick and Catherine staring at her, or Grissom, continuing on with handing out assignments like she had been there the whole time.
"Catherine, you and Warrick have a double homicide at the Three Aces Hotel," Grissom started, "and Nick you are with me, it's a DB out at Lake Meade. You go ahead out and I'll meet you there, I have some business to attend to first. OK guys, have a good night." And with that the room cleared out.
"What about me, Gris?" Sara asked standing from the couch.
"Sara, why don't you come to my office for a minute, I think we need to have a little talk." Grissom walked out of the break room and Sara hesitantly followed.
Shit. Sara was sure she knew what was about to go down. It wasn't like she could actually be in trouble though, Sara had not done anything wrong, on second thought, maybe she did not really know what this was all about. Maybe Grissom was just trying to be her friend, because he is such a friendly guy. Sara rolled her eyes at that thought as she walked in to Grissom's office and stood in front of his desk.
"What's up?" Sara asked as Grissom sat down behind his desk.
Grissom looked at her over his glasses, "Are you OK to work tonight?"
Sara's jaw dropped and she felt the beginnings of anger creep into her, surely he knew her better than this, "YES! I'm fine, you saw me over twelve hours ago, I am completely sober Grissom."
"Exactly, I saw you twelve hours ago, I don't have a clue what you did after you left that bar. Brass told me about your cough drop incident the other day. That's why I have to do this." With that Grissom set a sealed urine sample cup on his desk in front of her, "You will also have to give me a blood sample and I'll need to do a Breathalyzer now. If you pass the Breathalyzer you can work tonight, you have a case you are still working on, you can stay here and work on it. You'll be on-call though if we need you in the field. It is reasonable cause, Sara, I'm sorry."
"You have to be kidding me Grissom, I'm not a drug addict! So I had a few drinks, it's not a crime, I can not believe this. You are treating me like a criminal!" There was that anger that had been creeping into her. "I'm going to pass all your tests, this is unbelievable!" Sara grabbed the cup off the desk and stormed out of Grissom's office.
Sara met Grissom in the lab a few minutes later, sample in hand. She handed the cup over to Greg who immediately began working on it. There was something remotely degrading about having a co-worker analyze your urine sample while your boss gave you a breath test, but she was strong enough to deal with it.
"I'm only doing this because I care about you." Grissom said breaking the silence in the room as he held out the end of the Breathalyzer to Sara.
"Yeah, right." Sara whispered before taking a deep breath and blowing into the tube.
"What," Grissom said sharply before realizing there were other people in the room and took a few steps closer to Sara before lowering his voice," you don't think I care about you? I do. That is exactly why I am doing this, if something happened to you..." Grissom trailed off as he looked down at the results of the test, "you are fine, you can stay."
He just said he cared about me, Sara thought to herself, fine time to admit to that.
"Go figure, I am sober. I could have told you that, wait, I did tell you that." Sara snapped back at Grissom.
Grissom looked back up at Sara, "I am just looking out for you, Sara. I haven't done anything. Go start on that case you are working on, I'll come find you later."
Sara turned and walked out of the lab. "Exactly Griss, you haven't done anything." Sara said to herself as she started down the hall.
Author's note: Thanks so much for the positive feedback. Here is chapter two, yay! You know the drill, please read & review
***** Sara woke up and looked at the clock, 4:30pm, plenty of time before she had to be to work. Definitely enough time to kill this hangover, she though to herself as she pushed the covers off and started on her way to the kitchen. Sara started the coffee pot and grabbed the bottle of aspirin off the counter, she did not have a bad hangover, nothing a couple aspirin chased with coffee and a hot shower wouldn't cure, but none the less her head was pounding.
Sara sat down at her breakfast bar waiting for the coffee to brew and tried to replay the events of earlier that had delivered her to the current state she was in. Sara remembered stopping at the bar on her way home, and she remembered having a few drinks and making her way home, a routine that was becoming an all too familiar part of her life. The coffee had finished brewing and Sara poured herself a mug full and walked to the bathroom to start the water in the shower.
Sara's head was still pounding when she stepped in the shower, but the almost scalding water was definitely helping dull the pain. Sara tried to clear her mind, but there was something that was bothering her, she just couldn't put her finger on it though. Sara's mind raced as she tried to remember, was there something she had forgotten to do, somewhere she was supposed to be?
Suddenly it hit her like a bullet straight to the heart, "Oh my God," Sara put her head in her hands, "Grissom." The water from the shower pounded on her body as she crumpled to the floor of the bathtub. Sara remembered how cold she had been earlier, and felt the guilt and remorse creeping up on her as she wiped at the mix of tears and water droplets that had begun to roll down her cheeks. The decision Sara had made had been in haste and alcohol, she knew that as strong a woman as she was, she was still not strong enough to let go, not now, and not yet.
Sara had finally gotten out of the shower, the water had started to run cold, and she knew it was getting late. Sara got dressed and gathered all her things together and got ready to head off to work. She stopped off in the kitchen and grabbed her travel mug out of the cabinet, Sara started to fill it with coffee when something caught her eye. Sitting on top of her refrigerator, Sara saw her half-empty bottle of Vodka. Without a second thought, Sara reached for the bottle and topped off her mug with the liquid.
Sara brought the bottle to her lips and tipped it, pouring the clear alcohol into her mouth. It burned, it brought her back to her senses and Sara leaned over the sink and spit the Vodka out. Sara reached for the coffee mug and emptied it down the drain, followed by what was left in the bottle.
She knew she was stronger than this, stronger than the liquid that was pouring from the bottle, so what happened to her? Why, after all that she has been through and everything she has seen, is it all just now catching up to her? No, it was just that the last straw had been placed, the straw that screamed at and taunted Sara, "See, you did have a chance, and you blew it, good for you, alone still."
"Damn it!" Sara screamed as she threw the empty bottle against the wall. The bottle shattered into a thousand pieces that sprinkled themselves on the floor.
Sara slowly gathered herself together but left the broken bottle on the floor, it would be there when she got home, right now though she had to get to work. Sara took a deep breath and grabbed her keys off the counter, she glanced at her watch, she was definitely going to be late.
*****
Sara finally made it to work, she was close to a half-hour late, but once you are late, how late really just became a technicality. Sara made her way down the hall and she saw that everyone else was still in the break room, she hoped they were not all waiting for her, that would surely be the icing on this cake.
There was no sneaking into the room, as soon as she opened the door to the break room everyone turned to look at her, well almost everyone. Sara could not quite decide which was worse as she took a seat on the couch, Warrick, Nick and Catherine staring at her, or Grissom, continuing on with handing out assignments like she had been there the whole time.
"Catherine, you and Warrick have a double homicide at the Three Aces Hotel," Grissom started, "and Nick you are with me, it's a DB out at Lake Meade. You go ahead out and I'll meet you there, I have some business to attend to first. OK guys, have a good night." And with that the room cleared out.
"What about me, Gris?" Sara asked standing from the couch.
"Sara, why don't you come to my office for a minute, I think we need to have a little talk." Grissom walked out of the break room and Sara hesitantly followed.
Shit. Sara was sure she knew what was about to go down. It wasn't like she could actually be in trouble though, Sara had not done anything wrong, on second thought, maybe she did not really know what this was all about. Maybe Grissom was just trying to be her friend, because he is such a friendly guy. Sara rolled her eyes at that thought as she walked in to Grissom's office and stood in front of his desk.
"What's up?" Sara asked as Grissom sat down behind his desk.
Grissom looked at her over his glasses, "Are you OK to work tonight?"
Sara's jaw dropped and she felt the beginnings of anger creep into her, surely he knew her better than this, "YES! I'm fine, you saw me over twelve hours ago, I am completely sober Grissom."
"Exactly, I saw you twelve hours ago, I don't have a clue what you did after you left that bar. Brass told me about your cough drop incident the other day. That's why I have to do this." With that Grissom set a sealed urine sample cup on his desk in front of her, "You will also have to give me a blood sample and I'll need to do a Breathalyzer now. If you pass the Breathalyzer you can work tonight, you have a case you are still working on, you can stay here and work on it. You'll be on-call though if we need you in the field. It is reasonable cause, Sara, I'm sorry."
"You have to be kidding me Grissom, I'm not a drug addict! So I had a few drinks, it's not a crime, I can not believe this. You are treating me like a criminal!" There was that anger that had been creeping into her. "I'm going to pass all your tests, this is unbelievable!" Sara grabbed the cup off the desk and stormed out of Grissom's office.
Sara met Grissom in the lab a few minutes later, sample in hand. She handed the cup over to Greg who immediately began working on it. There was something remotely degrading about having a co-worker analyze your urine sample while your boss gave you a breath test, but she was strong enough to deal with it.
"I'm only doing this because I care about you." Grissom said breaking the silence in the room as he held out the end of the Breathalyzer to Sara.
"Yeah, right." Sara whispered before taking a deep breath and blowing into the tube.
"What," Grissom said sharply before realizing there were other people in the room and took a few steps closer to Sara before lowering his voice," you don't think I care about you? I do. That is exactly why I am doing this, if something happened to you..." Grissom trailed off as he looked down at the results of the test, "you are fine, you can stay."
He just said he cared about me, Sara thought to herself, fine time to admit to that.
"Go figure, I am sober. I could have told you that, wait, I did tell you that." Sara snapped back at Grissom.
Grissom looked back up at Sara, "I am just looking out for you, Sara. I haven't done anything. Go start on that case you are working on, I'll come find you later."
Sara turned and walked out of the lab. "Exactly Griss, you haven't done anything." Sara said to herself as she started down the hall.