Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

Help Me

Chapter 3

Grissom paused just outside Sara's door, causing Brass to slam into him.

"Sorry Gil," Brass apologized for not paying attention.

Grissom spun around to face him, "Can I go in by myself?"

"Sure thing Gil, I should get to the lab anyway. Shall I tell them you won't be making it in tonight?" Brass offered.

"Yes please," Grissom flashed him a brief smile.

"And what should I say about Sara?" Brass asked.

"Don't tell them where we are, they'll all try and rush over here, they need to finish shift without being distracted. Say Sara called in sick and I had family business to attend to," Grissom said, "they'll believe that for a night right?"

"Probably, but they are CSIs they'll figure it out if you both miss more than one night," Brass smirked.

"You let me worry about that Jim," Grissom said, "I think I should be the one to let the rest of them know what's going on with Sara. I want to make sure she is okay with letting you guys know what happened. She wasn't happy telling me, so I feel inclined to keep it quiet for now."

"Fair enough, I'll hope to see you tomorrow Gil," Brass turned to leave.

"Look, I'll call you after I am through here and explain it to you, you helped me out and you deserve to know what the heck is going on," Grissom stated.

"Sure, I'll be sure and keep my cell nearby," Brass pushed the button for the elevator.

Grissom turned to face the door again. He was for some reason afraid to go in, and so he just stood frozen outside the door for a moment. He began to wonder if Sara would be upset to see him. Then he realized he was the only one who know what happened to her and she was probably more afraid than he. So, he pushed the door gently open and moved into the semi-darkened room. Sara appeared to be sleeping, so he moved to the side of the bed quietly and took a seat in the battered chair next to her bed. She looked very pale next to the white sheets, her face nearly the same color.

"Gris?" she called out weakly.

"Yes Sara, I'm here," he replied, standing up.

"Good," she mumbled tiredly.

"Do you know what happened to you Sara?" Grissom inquired.

Her face showed no emotion, "Yes. I had a miscarriage. I'm so tired Gris."

"I'm sorry Sara," Grissom whispered, "you look so...so. My God, Sara, you scared me."

"I'm scared too," she whispered, then added grimly, "at least this matter has been decided."

"Don't think about that now," Grissom said softly, "I'm just glad that you are okay."

"Was it really that bad?" she asked alarmed.

"Let's just say that Jim Brass' head must be spinning right now. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to explain the story to him, he gave me a ride here because I was too freaked out to drive."

"I trust him," Sara said.

"I won't tell the rest of the gang, I took the night off, I had Brass give them a story about me having a family emergency and you calling in sick," he explained.

"They'll be so suspicious," Sara narrowed her eyes, "if I know them, they won't buy that for a second. You're going to have to tell them the truth tomorrow."

"Well, for now, you just let me worry about that. You need to get some sleep sweetie, you must be exhausted," Grissom scanned her face.

"Okay. I am tired," Sara yawned, "and thanks Grissom." Her mind was still moving slowly, but she could swear that Grissom had just called her 'sweetie'. He never said anything like that to anyone, let alone her. She was so tired, she didn't have much time to give it second thought, as she drifted off to sleep. The last day had been emotionally draining and then she woke up alone in the hospital. At least Grissom was at her side now.

Grissom sat back down in the chair that looked as though it had been used thousands of times. He studied her face while she slept. Even in her current state, she looked beautiful. Her skin was frighteningly pale, but still her features were the same as always. Grissom sighed deeply and wished he wasn't such a chicken when it came to emotional matters. He wished he had been brave enough to admit his feelings to her before. He couldn't understand himself sometimes. He had feelings for her and she had clearly had feeling for him, yet he pushed her away. He did not do well with his emotions and sometimes it really screwed important relationships in his life up. The only woman in his life he had ever really said 'I love you' to was his mother.

Sara hadn't been upset with him when she saw him. That caught Grissom by surprise somewhat. She had after all, informed him just hours ago that he was part of what set her into this downhill spin. He was just glad that she was giving him a chance, she was letting him be there for her in her time of greatest need. A lone tear slid down his cheek as he sat lost in thought. He wiped furiously at it, angry at himself for letting his mind wander too far.

Jim Brass arrived at the Las Vegas Crime Lab a little late for his normal shift. He knew that everyone was going to be waiting in the lounge for assignments. They were bound to be worried because Gil Grissom was never late. He walked in to find Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown, Catherine Willows and Greg Sanders pacing around the lounge. They all swung around to face him expectantly.

"Hey guys," Brass greeted.

"Where's Gil?" Catherine blurted out.

"He had some family business come up that he said he had to attend to tonight," Brass waved off the question like it was no big deal.

"And what about Sara?" Greg asked, "she should have been here hours ago. She's always here before everyone else."

"Grissom said she called him earlier and she had the flu or something. She's not going to be here tonight either," Brass lied.

Catherine scrutinized Brass' face as he spoke, she sensed he wasn't entirely telling the truth, but decided to let it drop for the moment, "That leaves us awfully short-handed tonight. Maybe we could call Sara in anyway. She's never been too sick to work."

"No," Brass said a little too quickly, "I mean you don't even know how busy you are tonight, maybe it's a slow night. Besides, someone from dayshift should be on-call in case you need an extra pair of hands."

The four people in front of him eyed him suspiciously. They could all tell when someone was lying and Jim Brass was most definitely covering for someone. They weren't entirely sure who he was lying for, whether it was Grissom or Sara. Neither of the two CSIs missed work very often. They each made a separate decision to try and question him when they got to him alone. Brass instructed Catherine to go get the assignments from Grissom's desk and hand them out. He slipped away while she was out of the room to head to his scene of the night. He felt he had dodged the bullet for the time being, but he felt they all knew he was lying. He made a point to try to avoid them for the night.

Several hours later, Brass' cell phone rang. It was Gil Grissom finally calling to tell him the story of what had happened to Sara.

"Hey Gil," Brass answered his cell, careful to make sure none of the CSIs were around.

"Hello Jim. She is going to be okay," Grissom started.

"Thank goodness," Brass smiled into his phone, "did you get to talk to her?"

"Yeah, she was awake when I went in to see her. Very pale and tired, but she was awake. We talked a little and she said it was okay for me to tell you the whole story. So as I said, she showed up at my door looking very upset. I let her take her time to tell her story to me. What she said is very private and she told me she trusted you with it," Grissom started.

"I'm glad she feels she can trust me. I won't say a word to anyone," Brass promised.

"I trust you too, Jim," Grissom assured, "just beware that this story is upsetting. She told me that during her vacation she went out one night and got drunk. So this guy started coming on to her and she agreed to let him drive her home. Of course, he had other plans, she was just too drunk to realize it. He took her back to a remote area and raped her."

Brass slowly processed this news, "What? Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?"

"She was too upset and ashamed to tell us about it. She reported it to the police in California, but they had no evidence to find the guy and she couldn't remember him. Anyway, she found out later that she was pregnant from that. She has spent the last few months trying to hide it and decide what to do about it. So she came to me, as a cry for help," Grissom finished.

"Wow. On the one hand I am so mad, I want to go find the guy that did this to her and beat the stuffing out of him," Brass snarled.

"But you can't Jim, it's too late now, she has had a miscarriage," Grissom explained.

"Oh my God! Poor Sara, but she's going to be okay?" Brass was shocked.

"Yes, and that's what is important right now. Did the team buy our little lies?" Grissom inquired.

"I got the feeling they knew I was lying, but they didn't press the issue," Brass said.

"That's good, I guess. I will probably tell them the truth tomorrow, but not the rape part, they don't need to know that. I am afraid how they would react to that. They may not take it as well as we have, I know we're both mad about it, but they're younger and they may not take it as calmly as we have," Grissom yawned.

"Go home and get some sleep," Brass directed.

"I'm not going home for a while, but I'll try to sleep," Grissom said.

"Good night, Gil," Brass finished.

"Good night Brass," Grissom hung up his cellphone.