Here it is, the last chapter! It's also the longest, I think. I hope you like it. Again, thanks for RRing, and I hope to write more when I have the free time. Spring break is only a week away! Thanks!

Theresa Dunnict

Part Seven

Sara yawned, toweling off her wet hair and making her way toward Grissom's guest bed.

"Sara?" came a voice from outside the door. "Can I come in?"

She buttoned one more button on her pajama top. "Yeah. Come in."

"Do you want some pasta?" he asked, brandishing a kitchen spoon.

Sara shook her head and yawned again. "I, uh, I ate at the hospital. I'm just…not hungry, I guess."

"All right. I'll put it in the fridge if you change your mind." He walked out of her room, raising his voice to continue the conversation from the kitchen. "It'll be weird sleeping through the night, huh?"

"Yeah," she called back. "Aren't you going in tonight?"

"Nope. Ecklie says I can't work it; they took my statement and gave the case to days."

"Witness bias."

"Mm-hm." He returned to her doorway, empty-handed. "So, I'm going to do some paperwork, look over some old cases, you know. Wild Saturday night."

The corners of Sara's mouth turned up a bit. "Don't get too rowdy and turn on that Discovery Channel."

"Well, it is Shark Week."

They both looked off into space for a moment, smiling weakly, until Grissom sighed and started backing away. "I'll try to keep it quiet. You need to get some rest."

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't you? Catherine said you hadn't slept in two days."

"I'll be fine. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay. And Grissom?"

"Mm?" he asked, replied, turning around

"Thank you. I know this is probably, uh, outside your comfort zone."

"I'll be the judge of that. Good night, Sara."

Sara turned off the light and walked carefully back to the bed, wrapping herself in the blankets and watching Grissom's silhouette as he walked out of sight.

OOO

Sara coughed once, her body remaining perfectly still in sleep.

She coughed again, a bit louder.

Suddenly, a series of coughs shook her entire body, forcing Sara to sit up straight, breathing heavily and gasping for air between each cough.

Seconds later, Grissom entered the room quickly, carrying a glass of water.

"Hey," he whispered, sitting on the side of the bed and holding out the glass.

Sara nodded her thanks as she drank it down. When the glass was empty, Sara leaned her back against the headboard and closed her eyes, breathing heavily. A few sputtered coughs still emerged, but the fit had subsided.

"Thank you," she said, her breath returning to normal.

"Your doctor said you might have a little trouble breathing. Your trachea…" he trailed off. "I'll get some more water."

Sara shook her head. "I'm fine." She paused for a moment, setting the glass down on the end table. "It's scary."

"What is?"

"Not being able to breathe."

Grissom's eyes fell to his lap. "Sara-"

"He strangled me, didn't he?"

"Sara, you've been through a lot…" Grissom shifted uncomfortably and began to stand up.

"I have no idea what I've been through, Grissom!" Her voice was strained but forceful. "Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? That's what I do every day of my life! I figure out what happened to complete strangers in places I've never been, and I give them peace of mind. Do you have any idea how strange it is to see these bruises, to feel these pains, and to not know what happened? It happened to me, Grissom! I was there! I'm sitting here analyzing my own wounds trying to figure out what he did to me, because nobody will tell me what happened."

"They're still processing everything, Sara. The report will-"

"I don't want to read it in some report, Grissom," she said with a hitch in her voice. "I want to hear it from a real person. I want to hear it from you."

Grissom's eyes grew wide. "I don't know if that's-"

"Please," she begged, clasping her hands in her lap. "I know you know what happened. I know you're the one that figured it out. Please tell me. You're the only one I trust to tell me the truth here. And believe me, nothing can be worse than what I've been imagining."

Grissom sat on the side of bed, his elbows resting on his knees. He didn't say a word.

"Pretend it's someone else, Grissom. Just pretend we're talking about some other woman's case. It's not me. She's a stranger. Just give me the evidence, like we're in court. I know you can do that."

Taking a deep breath, Grissom closed his eyes. "Okay."

Sara pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. Her eyes were wide and attentive, and her brow was creased with worry.

Grissom opened his eyes. "Upon closer analysis of the evidence, Officer Fromansky became a suspect, and I requested a welfare check on…the victim's apartment."

Sara swallowed as he continued.

"I arrived at the scene with two officers, who picked the lock and entered the apartment with me. I…uh…went to the bedroom first, where I found Officer Fromansky sexually assaulting the victim, who was naked and unconscious."

Her eyes grew wider.

"The tox screen later indicated that Officer Fromansky made tea for the victim and drugged it with rohypnol, and the water drips on the carpet show that she was most likely dragged from the shower when the drug took effect. She was…" he paused a moment to swallow and take a deep breath. "She was being strangled with her blanket, which was wrapped around the neck once and pulled in opposite directions."

Sara's eyes began to well up with tears as she saw Grissom shudder ever so slightly.

"You were turning blue, Sara. You were so blue…"

She took his hand in hers and dipped her head, trying to look him in the eye. "It's okay, Grissom. You can stop," she said, her voice catching a little bit on the last word.

He shook his head. "The other officers detained Office Fromansky, and I performed CPR in an attempt to resuscitate the victim. She regained lung function, but not consciousness, and she was taken to the hospital minutes later." He stopped, nodding, as his eyes searched the room. "I'll have to tell that to a jury at some point, I suppose."

Sara nodded in reply and put her free hand on her breastbone. "You know, when you give CPR, you really put your back into it."

He looked over at her. "Do I? I'm sorry. Does it still hurt?"

"A little bit. Don't apologize. You saved my life."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Sara still holding Grissom's hand.

"That's it?" she asked flatly.

"That's it."

"I know we're not supposed to ask why…"

Grissom turned sideways to look at her again. "He wasn't after you. He was after me, in a sick sort of way."

Sara raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"I talked to Brass while you were in the shower. Fromansky was given his two-weeks' notice last week. Budget cuts. He blames the internal investigations for tainting his record, and he blames me for the internal investigations."

She nodded in understanding. "So he figured he'd torture you with an unsolvable puzzle and a lifetime of guilt."

"He got your middle name from the employee database, made up some clues, and figured he could hurt me the most by hurting you."

Suddenly, Sara inhaled sharply and let go of Grissom's hand, using her hands instead to cover her mouth. "We don't have evidence," she gasped. "He didn't kill me, and I'm the only victim with proof. We can't put him away for homicide; he'll just go in for sexual assault, attempted murder, maybe. Grissom, he'll-"

"Sara, Sara," Grissom said reassuringly. "He confessed to Brass earlier. He owned up to the other two murders. He's pleading guilty. He'll get life, Sara. He'll get life."

She let out a deep breath and dropped her head to her knees.

"Come on. You need your rest." He stood up and grabbed the glass. "I'll get some more water."

"Grissom?"

He stopped and met her gaze. "Yes?"

"Could…this is going to sound stupid…"

"What is it, Sara?"

"Could you stay here, just until I fall asleep?"

"Of course." He pulled a chair from the corner of the room over and sat next to her bed.

"Thank you," she whispered as she sank back into the blankets, her eyes closing slowly, and his eyes never leaving hers.

OOO

Grissom's eyes were drooping and his head lolling forward slightly when Sara's sharp intake of breath caused him to sit upright.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked at her still form in the bed. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. She was motionless and peaceful, not making a sound.

Grissom shrugged it off and stood up, pushing the chair back into the corner of the room. As his back was turned, he heard Sara gasp again. Turning back toward her, he saw that her face was taking on a more pained expression. Her eyes still closed, Sara's breathing was becoming more rapid, and she was beginning to writhe and twist her body beneath the sheets.

"Sara?" he whispered, taking a step closer to the bed.

As her breathing grew more and more frantic, she began to mumble quick, panicked words. "No," she gasped. "Stop." Tears began to run down the crevices of her eyes, which were squeezed shut. "Please. Stop."

Sara's writhing had moved her to the far side of the bed, and she was close to falling off. Grissom climbed up onto the bed, resting on his knees. He reached out for her arm.

"Sara. Sara, wake up."

The moment that his hand touched her arm, Sara lashed out, her arms flailing wildly. "No!" she screamed. Before Grissom could step back, she sat straight up, her eyes still closed tightly, and shoved him face-down onto the mattress.

"Sara!" he pleaded, muffled, as he hit the mattress. He rolled onto his side and grabbed her wrists with his hands. "Sara!" She lost her balance and fell back down onto the bed.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped again. Grissom was lying next to her on the mattress, and she was facing him, his hands still securing her wrists. Their faces were only inches apart, and Sara was trembling.

For just a moment, they stared at each other in silence. Finally, Sara broke the stare, letting her head drop and shutting her eyes. Grissom released his grip on her wrists and pulled his hands back cautiously.

"I'm-" Sara began, her breath hitching in her throat. "I'm sorry." She covered her face with one hand and began to sob uncontrollably.

Without a moment's hesitation, Grissom pulled her to him and put his arms around her. One hand held her head against his chest, softly stroking her hair, and the other wrapped around her back. "It's okay," he whispered. "It's just me."

Sara took her hand away from her face and locked her arms around Grissom's waist. "I see him," she gasped into his chest. "I don't remember it, but when I close my eyes, he's there. Nothing I do…can make him leave."

"He's gone, Sara," whispered Grissom. "He's gone. He can't hurt you."

Sara clutched him more tightly and sobbed. "I could smell him. I could feel him."

"I know," he replied, his arm moving up and down her back. "I know."

Her breathing gradually slowed as her shaking subsided. "It's stupid," she said, still pressed against his chest. "I know it's irrational, and I shouldn't-"

"Never apologize for this, Sara," he pleaded. "Never."

She nodded silently and sniffed.

"Sara, I want you to do something for me."

She sniffed again. "Okay."

"I want you to say the words 'This was not my fault.'"

"Grissom, I-"

"Please, Sara."

She took a deep breath, her chest pressing against his stomach. "This was not my fault."

Grissom sighed. "Thank you."

Sara swallowed and bit her lip. "Now I want you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"Say the same thing."

Grissom nodded, his chin coming to rest on the top of Sara's head. "This was not my fault."

They both smiled faintly and exhaled deeply.

"That does feel better," Grissom said, taking his hand from Sara's back and pulling the blanket back up to cover her.

"Yeah," she said, covering him with the rest of the blanket. "I think we're going to be okay."

Silent and still, they lied there in each other's arms, their eyelids drooping with fatigue. Finally, as the minutes passed and the heartbeats slowed, Grissom and Sara fell into a deep sleep.