Chapter Four

Blindsided

"For the love of God Gil, will you just calm down!" Catherine pleaded.

"How can I calm down when you refuse to tell me anything about Sara? I need to see her Cath."

"There's nothing more to tell. Sara got out of surgery a few hours ago and is still in recovery. Nicky and Warrick are up there. The doctors said that everything went well. After a week or two here in the hospital, she's expected to make a full recovery.

"I swear, if I don't see her in the next few minutes, I'm going to-"

"No one can see her yet! How many times do I have to tell you that? Now, if you don't stop taking off that oxygen, I'm going to asked the doctors to intubate you."

Grissom flopped back on his pillow and rearranged the extra pillows beneath his leg. Luckily, the break was clean and did not require surgery. Other than a broken leg and distressed lungs, Grissom had pretty much walked away, well was carried away in tact. Which was more than he could say about Sara and the officers that died. Sara. He had prayed that she made it out in time, only to discover that she had been impaled in the process. He damn-near had a heart attack.

"Look Gil," Catherine started in a sympathetic tone. "I know you're worried about Sara. We all are. But I would never keep anything from you. Doctors said she's so heavily medicated right now, she probably won't wake up for a day or two. She needs the rest and so do you. What good will you be for her if you're exhausted? Now, get some rest."

Three days later…

Sara groaned, her body ached all over. The distinct smell of hospital antiseptic roused her further. Slowly she opened her eyes. White ceiling, white walls. Yep - hospital. Why oh why? Didn't they know hospitals warehoused too many germs? Why was she here anyway?

Goosebumps rose on her arms when she sensed that she wasn't alone. Turning to her left, she met intense blue eyes.

Grissom.

Grissom? She must be pretty bad off for him to be there. He looked tired and his mouth was moving. "What are you doing? And why am I here?" She asked.

He raised an eyebrow and his mouth started moving again. Maybe he was eating something. But most likely, Sara deduced, she just couldn't hear him. She moved the hand that wasn't being used as a human pin cushion to her ears but she didn't feel anything covering them.

She really was deaf. Sara closed her eyes fighting the panic she felt rising. Opening her eyes again, she found Grissom very close now, wearing a concerned face. His mouth still moving, but all she could hear was a distant ringing and a whooshing sound like she was under water. That's it! She thought in relief.

"Grissom? Is there water in my ears?"

The sound of Sara's voice startled him. He'd been watching her drift into wakefulness for over an hour. The doctor told him to expect for her to be slightly disorientated, so he was prepared for her confusion. What he wasn't prepared for was how loudly she was speaking. She hadn't responded to anything he had said to her thus far, so he wasn't even sure if she was fully conscious until she asked him about water in her ears.

Then it hit him. She couldn't hear. It was another thing the doctor warned him about. He had said that temporary hearing loss was common, but temporary none the less after being in close proximity to a bomb blast.

Sensing her anxiety, Grissom moved closer and tried to explain what as going on. It didn't help. Two seconds later she was in the throes of a full blown panic attack and the monitors connected to her went crazy.

She couldn't hear. Sara knew for a fact that Grissom was talking to her but she couldn't hear it. Maybe she couldn't speak either? So she called out his name a few times but he only stared at her. Now she couldn't breathe and she seriously needed to get up from the bed.

Suddenly, Sara remembered and the memories hit her like a blow to the chest.

Explosion at the restaurant. Pain. She was stuck to a door or something. More pain. Grissom never came out before the building fell. He and the officers were dead. Grissom was dead. The realization made her nauseous and dizzy. There's no way he would've been able to survive that. Maybe he wasn't really there? Probably why she couldn't hear him.

She threw a quick glance to her left again. Yeah, he was still there. Oh man, what in the hell was going on? "I've got to go." She said out loud.

Pushing the covers back then sitting up, Sara tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed but was tangled in wires. She fell back into the pillows as she was blindsided by another flashback.

Sara felt weightless as her body was thrown several feet by the force of the blast then an explosion of pain. The air was hot and thick with ash, stealing her breath…She could taste the smoke as she choked for air and tried desperately to stand. Grissom was still in there! He was trapped. She screamed his name over and over…She couldn't loose him! She couldn't stand up but she couldn't get down either. She couldn't breathe.

"I gotta go!' She said again and began pulling at everything that was attached to her. She had to get out of there.

Someone was pushing her down and she felt like she was drowning. Darkness threatened as Sara tried to hold on to something, anything for leverage but her hands were too slick with her own blood. An incredible burning, that started in her stomach, moved through her entire body overwhelming her. It was unbearable. She knew she was dying. Finally, Sara gave in and welcomed the darkness.

Grissom held her down the best he could with one leg in a cast. He frantically pressed the call button again then fought with Sara as she began ripping the IV line and electrodes out and off while trying to climb out of the bed.

By the time help arrived, Sara was screaming his name and claiming that she was drowning. Her eyes had long glazed over and she was having difficulty breathing. Grissom almost passed out when he realized that she was bleeding from her injured side. When her doctor arrived, she was injected with a sedative. He felt sick to his stomach as he watched the drug take effect. She whispered his name before she lost consciousness.