Fear Itself

Chapter Two

Grissom was sitting in the waiting rooms on the floor that Sara was on, impatiently waiting on news about Sara. She was in complete and total shock, and her blood pressure became severely low. Grissom couldn't forget her eyes; they were distant and unblinking. He attributed it to the shock from the entire situation. Sara also suffered a cut on her forehead, and she had bruises, cuts, and abrasions on her arms and hands. Her ankle was a bit swollen from a small sprain, but it wasn't broken. Over all, she and few other people were lucky.

"Hey you," Catherine said rather cheerfully, despite the circumstances.

Grissom looked up at her.

"Hey," he said.

"How's Sara?" She asked, sitting next to him.

"I don't know yet," Grissom answered. "All I know is that she's in shock."

"I'll bet," Catherine said solemnly. "Poor thing. First the lab explosion, now this, just over a year later," Catherine said, the guilt evident in her voice. "That girl has been through so much. I hope she's going to be okay."

"I called her parents," Grissom said. "Her mother was hysterical. They're going to be here in a few hours."

"Well, this is going to be all over the news," Catherine said. "Nick and I saw the two semis. Completely destroyed by explosions."

"Intentional?" Grissom asked.

"Definitely," Catherine said. "All I can think about is what if Lindsay was on the bus to my sister's when all this happened…"

"Don't think about that," Grissom said.

Grissom buried his face in his hands and sighed.

"Her eyes," he started. "They were so hollow and distant. I'd never seen her eyes like that before…not even after the explosion."

After a few more minutes, a doctor came out of Sara's room.

Catherine and Grissom stood up.

"Sara's doing fine," the doctor said. "She was very shaken up. We gave her some medication for her low blood pressure. She's sleeping right now, but when she wakes up, don't expect her to be lively. She's responsive, but she won't speak at all. I can't even tell if she feels pain anywhere else."

"Is she going to come out of it?" Catherine asked.

"Eventually," the doctor said. "But one never can tell. She's going to suffer some PTSD which is not uncommon behavior after times like these."

"Thank you doctor," Grissom said.

Grissom and Catherine walked into Sara's room. Her back was to the door, and they could hear her heavy breathing from sleep.

"Wow," Catherine chuckled. "I've never actually seen Sara sleep."

Grissom smirked as he approached Sara. She looked peaceful for the moment in her sleep. Grissom took her hand and squeezed it.

"Your parents are on the way to see you," he whispered. "Thank God you're okay."

He knew that Sara could hear him and she could.

Sara had retreated so far into herself, that she felt like she was a prisoner of her own subconscious. She wanted to say something, but the words never came. She felt like after what she witnessed, words were not enough anymore, and she abandoned the idea of communication all together.

Grissom pushed a strand of hair from her face before getting ready to leave.

Catherine and Grissom walked out together.

***

Mark and Terri Sidle walked through the halls of Desert Palm to get to their daughter. They were both nervous about seeing their daughter. For one, they had not seen their daughter in years, and two, they did not know in what condition Sara was in.

"Sara Sidle," Mark said.

"Room three eleven," the head nurse said.

Sara's parents rushed to the room. They found Sara with her arms wrapped around her knees and her chin placed on top of her kneecaps.

"Sara," Terri whimpered. "My baby."

Sara didn't even flinch when she heard her parents come in.

"Hey kiddo," her father said. "We're glad that you're okay."

Terri kissed Sara's forehead and smoothed down her hair lovingly.

"Sara, it's mom," she said.

Sara just kept staring forward.

"Honey," her mother cried. "Please look at me," she pleaded tearfully. "What's wrong? What happened? What happened to you?"

Sara still did not say anything. She just laid back down, and turned away from her parents.

Terri couldn't stop the tears that threatened to spill over. She did not know what was wrong with her daughter.

"What happened to her Mark?" She cried woefully. "What happened to my baby?"

Grissom came in and saw the scene.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sidle?" Grissom inquired.

Mark and Terri turned to him. Grissom noticed that Sara had both of their features, and it was hard to tell who she looked like the most. He could tell that she got her eyes from her mother, there was no mistaking that. As far as her father's contribution, she had his nose and mouth. Terri had long hair that traveled down her back and it was naturally curly like Sara's hair was.

"Yes," Mark said. "Are you a doctor?"

"Um, no, not a medical doctor," he said. "Anyway, I'm Sara's colleague," he said, deciding not to mention the fact that he was her supervisor. "I'm Gil Grissom."

A hint of recognition crossed Terri's face.

"Have we met somewhere before?" She asked. "Your name sounds familiar."

Grissom thought back as hard as he could, then he remembered and grinned.

"Sara's graduation," he said.

"Oh, that's right," Terri said. "Honey, don't you remember Gil Grissom?"

Mark furrowed his eyebrows. "No, must have been at the buffet," he chuckled. "Either way, it's nice to see you. Can you tell us what's going on?"

Grissom could not tell them because he himself did not know.

"Sir, to be honest, I really don't know," he said. "There was an explosion on the highway here, and Sara was injured. She hasn't spoken since yesterday."

"Oh God," Terri said in a trembling voice. "What's wrong with her?"

"Well, she only had a few minor cuts," Grissom explained. "But, as far as her silence, I don't know."

"Well, is she going to be okay?" Mark asked. "Is she going to talk?"

"I don't know," Grissom said with a sigh. "I don't know."

The air in the room was thick with tension and fear on Terri's part. Grissom was beginning to worry about Sara as well.

A nurse walked in with a tray of food for Sara.

"Sara," she said quietly. "Sara, you're going to have to eat something."

Sara did not stir.

"Come on Sara," Terri begged of her daughter as she stroked her hair. "You have to eat something sweetie."

Sara did not move a muscle and she continued to stare at a spot on the wall. Terri leaned her head against Sara's and bawled for her distant daughter.

"Come back to us Sara," she cried. "Please come back to us."

***

It was the hardest thing Grissom had to do, but it was necessary. He put his signature on papers to admit Sara to a psychiatric facility.

It had been over two weeks since the explosion, now deemed a terrorist attack, and Sara had not spoken a word. She was responsive to voices and touches, but she still would continue to stare at whatever she was transfixed on. She barely ate, and she was extremely pale and frail looking. Grissom tried several times to get her to say one word, but his attempts were unsuccessful.

Sara's parents had to go back home to run their business. They gave Grissom permission to sign what ever he needed to in order to get Sara some help, and that's exactly what he did. His heart couldn't bear it, but he knew that he had to for Sara's sake. Sara was slipping away, and he wanted to save her because he couldn't think of losing Sara to herself.

Her eyes were now fixed on his as the doctors rolled her gurney into the facility. He could see absolutely no emotion in her eyes; it scared him to death and he had to look straight ahead. He could feel her gaze burning a hole right through him. He held her hand tightly.

"Everything's going to be okay," he assured her while stroking back her hair. "You're going to be fine."

She blinked slowly, then she turned her head away to stare at something else. When they got to the facility, he had to let her hand go.

"Bye Sara," he said.

The doctor stayed behind with Grissom.

"How long do you think she'll be like that?" Grissom asked, a little fear seeping into his voice.

''It depends on her," the doctor said. "It could take days, months, or in some cases, even years before she utters another word. She's been through a rough time. All she has is time. She's not violent…yet. That's usually the next step."

"Can they help her?" Grissom asked.

"Maybe, but with this kind of condition, it really depends on her," the doctor