Sometime during the time that Grissom was sitting in the waiting room, Catherine had arrived. Wow, am I so out of it that I'm not even noticing my surroundings? "Cath, how long have you been here?" Grissom asked.

Catherine walked over and sat next to him. "I've been looking for you. They've been giving me the runaround because I'm not family," Catherine started to ramble, but got back on track, "any news yet?"

"They took her into the operating room about an hour ago. She's got two bullets in her shoulder and one in her wrist, they're worried about nerve damage."

That SOB. "Everyone else is back at the lab trying to sort through this mess of a case. Jim has the sheriff detained in his office."

Grissom looked up at Catherine. "They're questioning him about harboring a murderer, saying that he may have been in on Ecklie's plan," Catherine recited.

"Not likely. There will be some kind of problems with the stalling he pulled though."

Catherine noticed that Grissom was incessantly tapping his foot. She rested her hand on his knee and looked him in the eye. "She's going to be okay Gil, we have her, she's safe."

Grissom shuddered and looked away, trying to conceal tears of anguish. "Cath, she was almost raped and murdered, and she is in surgery to have three bullets removed from her. She most definitely is not okay, and I almost lost her. He could have killed her."

Grissom finally choked up and succumbed to his tears. Catherine slid across the chairs and pulled him in for a hug. "She's safe, he can't hurt her anymore," Catherine whispered in comfort.

After a minute, Grissom pulled away from her shoulder and looked at the wall clock. "Cath, I need to go for a walk. The nurse said it would be a while yet, but I'll be right around the corner if anything comes up."

Catherine nodded and sighed. You just can't let us in, can you Gil? We know you have feelings, and we're here to help you, but you won't let us. At least she can get through your thick skull.

Grissom walked down the hallway to the bathroom and ran his hands through his hair. Looking in the mirror, he noticed how dark the circles under his eyes were, and realized how tired he was. He threw some water on his face to wash away the tears, and he took one more glance in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. He tried to clear his thoughts and returned to where Catherine was sitting.

About three hours later, Grissom started when a nurse entered the waiting room. "Mr. Grissom, please come with me, Ms. Sidle is asking for you."

"She's one stubborn woman," the nurse continued as they walked down the hall, "she's in a lot of pain, but she said she wouldn't take the pain medication until she got to speak to you."

"How is she?"

"The doctor will speak to you after you see Ms. Sidle. He wants to give her the medication so she can rest."

Arriving at her room, the nurse opened the door and allowed Grissom to enter. "Five minutes," she spoke.

Grissom nodded and walked over to Sara's side, taking her left hand. She opened her eyes and gave him a half smile. "Hey," she spoke.

"Hey yourself. How do you feel?"

"I think my adrenaline wore off," she winced.

"Well, you'd already be feeling better if you let the nurse give you the morphine," he chided.

"I wanted to see you first, that stuff will knock me out."

"Well, I think that is the point," he spoke, brushing her hair away from her now bruised face, "I love you honey, and I'm glad that you're safe."

Grissom briefly kissed her, trying to be careful not to hurt her. "I love you too," Sara whispered, "thank you."

"For what?" Grissom looked puzzled.

"For saving me. He would have..." Grissom cut her off as she started to tear.

"Shh, don't worry about that now," he soothed, wiping the tears away from her face, "you're safe, he can't hurt you anymore."

Sara nodded and the nurse reentered. "Ms. Sidle, I need to give you that medication now," she stated.

"Griss, please stay until I fall asleep," Sara whispered.

"I won't leave you honey," Grissom whispered, squeezing her hand.

I'll never leave you.

When Sara fell asleep, Grissom kissed her forehead and left with the nurse. She led him to a small office down the hallway where the doctor was sitting behind the desk. "Dr. Grissom," the doctor spoke, "please have a seat."

Grissom sat down and eagerly broke in with his questions. "How was the surgery?" he asked.

"Dr. Grissom, just wait a minute," he spoke, "I have a lot of news to report."

Grissom became quiet in his chair and allowed the doctor to continue. "One of the bullets that entered Ms. Sidle's shoulder shattered her scapula. During surgery we pinned the bone back together and cleaned up the area as best as we could. The other bullet in her shoulder severed some nerves and muscle tissue. We tried to reconnect the nerves so she could have movement in her arm, but we won't know if that was successful until the pain goes down and she starts to heal. Once that happens, we can test for movement."

"How about her wrist?"

"That was a disaster, bone fragments were everywhere. We had to replace some of the small bones with synthetic materials. Some of the tendons were also damaged, and we're skeptical about how functional her hand will be. Once again, we need to wait until she heals to test function and range of mobility."

"Is that all doctor?" Grissom asked, moving to stand.

"Please Dr. Grissom, sit down," the doctor pointed, "Ms. Sidle has sustained other various injuries as well."

Grissom eyes widened at the prospect of more damage. It wasn't enough that you took away what she needs to work, you had to take more? "She has a large contusion on her back, and extreme swelling is present. She has a strained left shoulder, so her mobility is impaired there as well. We were concerned about a concussion, but the CAT scan came back negative, so she just has one whale of a headache. That contusion on her face, she's got a broken cheekbone underneath. The abrasions on her wrists and ankles have had antiseptic applied and have been bandaged to try and prevent infection."

Grissom sat back in his chair and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, trying to ebb the invading migraine. "How long does she have to stay here?" he questioned.

"About a week," he answered, "we want to monitor her neurological sensitivity and make sure everything in her arm is setting right before she goes home."

The doctor let out a long breath and reassembled his thoughts. "The pain medication should keep Ms. Sidle asleep for about eight hours. You should get some rest so you will be able to function when Ms. Sidle wakes up."

Grissom nodded his head and got out of the chair. "Thank you doctor," he said before returning to the waiting room.

Catherine was glancing at an old magazine when Grissom reentered the room. She looked up when Grissom sat down beside her. "How is she?" Catherine asked.

"Very lucky," Grissom stated, "but she might lose all mobility in her right arm."

Catherine processed the information for a moment before answering, "That would mean she couldn't..."

Grissom cut her off, not wanting to think about that prospect at the moment. "I know Cath. The doctor says they need to wait until the pain goes down somewhat before they do any neurological testing."

"Did the doctor say anything else?"

"Yeah, she has several lesser injuries. He broke her cheekbone, severely bruised her back, strained her left shoulder, and they bandaged the abrasions on her wrists and ankles."

"Handcuffs," Catherine stated.

Grissom nodded and looked at his hands. "I want to go back to the lab," he stated.

"Why?" Catherine whipped around, shocked.

"The doctor says she's going to be asleep for about eight hours. I figured I'd go to the lab."

"Oh no you don't," Catherine mothered him, "you're not working. I'm taking you home so you can sleep."

I was going to sleep. Grissom appeared to be thinking, so Catherine cut in again. "Gil, I've got the keys, you're going home, you don't have any other way to leave."

Grissom contemplated calling a cab, but didn't feel like going to the trouble. Grissom nodded and followed Catherine out to the parking lot.

Grissom lay in his bed awake, staring at the ceiling. Catherine had decided that he shouldn't have to drive back to the hospital by himself, so she had made herself comfortable on the couch. Catherine's cell phone vibrated on the side table, and she picked it up. "Willows," she answered, yawning.

"How is she doing Cath?" Nick asked.

"She's pretty beat up," Catherine answered, "they're worried about her regaining motion in her right arm."

"Damn," Nick uttered, "Is this a good time to go see her?"

"She's sleeping right now Nick," Catherine replied, "I took Grissom home to get some rest."

"Can you ask him to call when it's a good time to see her? We all want to see how she is, but we don't want to make anything worse."

"Sure Nick. Believe me, you'll make her feel better, not worse. She's just in a lot of pain right now."

"Okay Cath. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, bye."

Catherine put her cell phone back on the table and tried to get to sleep on the couch.

Grissom tried to get to sleep, but thoughts of Sara kept entering his mind. He kept telling himself that she was safe, but it was hard to sleep in their bed without her there. Grissom finally started to drift off to sleep when thoughts of Ecklie reentered his mind. He saw Sara bleeding and broken on the floor, and he shuddered once again. His mind shifted back to thoughts of her being kidnapped. Grissom woke up with a start and tears were streaming down his face. He angrily wiped them away and tucked his head further into the pillow. Minutes later he had fallen asleep again.

Grissom woke up about six hours later and jumped in the shower. After deciding that he looked somewhat presentable, he walked down the stairs to start lunch. Catherine was still asleep on the couch. Grissom put bacon and eggs on the stove, and puttered around the kitchen to get some drinks ready. Just before Grissom was ready to sit down, Catherine came into the kitchen looking disheveled. "Mmm, bacon and eggs," Catherine spoke, taking in a deep breath.

"Yeah, sit down and have some," he said, pointing to a matching plate sitting across the table.

Catherine sat down with him and began eating the meal. "I'm surprised Sara lets you have this in the house," Catherine said.

Grissom smiled with the mention of Sara. "I am under specific instruction to keep meat in a special drawer in the refrigerator and only cook it when she isn't around. She doesn't like the smell of it cooking."

"This is good Gil."

"Thank you. When you're finished you're welcome to take a shower if you want."

"Nah," she spoke, "I was hoping to drop you off at the hospital and then go home to clean up. Maybe I'll actually catch Lindsey."

Grissom smiled. "Say hi to her for me, I haven't seen her in a while."

"Well, she's still in that awful stage, I sure hope she gets out of it soon."

Grissom smiled again. "I'm sure you'll get through it."

Catherine smirked at the thought. "Oh, Nick wants you to call him when you think it's a good time for them to see Sara."

"Alright, thanks Cath."

"Sure. Now, let's finish up so we can head back to the hospital."

Grissom nodded his head and they both finished eating their meal.

When Grissom entered Sara's hospital room, her head was shaking back and forth. He quickly went to her side and stroked her uninjured cheek. "Sara, honey, you're okay, I'm here, everything's okay," Grissom soothed.

Sara's eyes shot open, and she suddenly leaned forward. She choked back a scream when she felt the fiery pain rip through her body. Grissom helped her lay back down and tried to calm her down. Tears streamed down Sara's face as she struggled with her emotions and the pain. A nurse came into the room and adjusted her pain medication. "Ms. Sidle, I'm going to hand you a lever that is set to administer you some pain medication. If you are in pain, you can press the button and it will give you the medication up to two times an hour."

Grissom nodded to the nurse, for Sara was still hysterical. "If you need anything, just use the call button," the nurse told Grissom before leaving the room.

Sara started to calm down somewhat and started to breathe a little slower. "Hold me," she hiccupped through the tears.

How do I hold you without hurting you? Grissom slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped his right arm loosely around her neck. He leaned his head down near hers and kissed her cheek. "Please, tell me if I am hurting you."

"You're not," Sara whispered, "I just need to feel you near me."

Grissom nodded his head and kissed her briefly on the lips. "I love you, I'm here for you."

Grissom felt Sara try and put her arm around him, and he grasped her hand with his left hand. Sara started to sniffle again, but Grissom leaned up and brushed her tears away. "Gil," she sniffled, "I need you to tell me what is wrong, what did he do to me?"

Grissom kissed her lips again, but she grasped his hand tighter, expecting an answer. "Sara, you're the one with the injuries, what do you feel like?"

Sara started to take stock of how she felt, but stopped when she realized she couldn't feel her arm. She started to get excited once again and tears began rolling down her face. "Gil, I can't, I can't," she stuttered, "I can't feel my arm."

"Sara, don't try to move it, you suffered three gunshots wounds, you need to heal," Grissom said, trying to hold back his own tears.

Sara's lip started to quiver when she realized what that meant. "Gil, work," she shuddered.

"Don't worry about work right now Sara, just concentrate on getting better," Grissom wiped away more of her tears, "Nothing is definite, you need to heal some more before the doctors can do some tests."

Sara tried to calm her tears, but more kept spilling out. Grissom once again lightly wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. "We'll make it through this, you're going to be okay."

Sara relaxed in the bed and ultimately cried herself to sleep. Grissom stayed with her in the room, eventually resorting to sitting in a chair so he wouldn't hurt her. Thank you for letting me have her, thank you.