"Grissom!" Sara called from the bedroom, trying to get him to get everything ready so they could leave for work.

"Grissom!" Sara yelled again, quickly becoming exasperated.

Two weeks had passed since Grissom had gone to the doctor, and the week he still had to wait for his hearing aid seemed like a lifetime away. Despite the fact that Grissom didn't want to tell the team about anything, some of them had begun to notice and had already confronted Sara about it. Trying to honor his wishes, Sara hadn't divulged any information, but she was quickly approaching the frayed end of her rope. The stress of dealing with pregnancy and work was constantly leaving her exhausted, and she didn't know how much more she could deal with before snapping and losing her temper. Grissom constantly dismissed any suggestions regarding his hearing, and Sara somehow felt left out of his problem, like he wouldn't let her or anyone else help him. Sara took her jacket from the bed, slipped it on, and grabbed her keys off of the side table. She waltzed out to the kitchen and planted herself in front of Grissom. When he saw the look on her face, he knew that his hearing must have failed him once again. "Sara…" he started, but Sara was overwhelmed and nearing her breaking point.

"Don't," she snapped harshly, "if you can't hear me in our own house, how the hell do you expect to hear a suspect at a crime scene? This has gone on long enough Gil, you need to tell the team what is going on, and you need to get this straightened out!"

"Sara, everything will be fine by next week," Grissom replied, just wanting to get out of the house and off to work.

"And in the meantime? I can't take this anymore Gil, I can't keep worrying about whether or not you will make it back home in one piece."

"Sara, you don't need to worry unnecessarily. There are always risks at crime scenes, and I could pull the same thing and say I'm worried about you being at scenes because you are pregnant."

Sara turned around and took a step toward the door. "It's not the same thing, and you know it," Sara snarled.

"Sara, if you're going to say something, you need to turn around," Grissom reminded.

Sara flipped back around and a fire sparked in her eyes. "Understand me loud and clear Gil Grissom," she growled, "I can't take this anymore!"

Before Grissom could react, Sara strode to the door, flung it open, and slammed it closed behind her.

When Grissom walked into the break room to hand out assignments, Sara did everything she could to avoid his eyes. It wasn't a very difficult task, for Grissom was adept at his own form of aversion. He paired Sara with Nick, and Catherine with Warrick, and left himself to work on a BE. As soon as he finished his task, Grissom left the break room and headed for the parking lot. Catherine shot a quick glance over to Sara, but she was looking at the side wall. Resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to get any information out of Sara at the moment, Catherine turned back to Warrick and tilted her head toward the door. "Let's go," Catherine stated, getting up from her chair, Warrick following.

On the way out, Warrick made eye contact with Nick, and an unspoken message drifted between them. Nick nodded slightly, and Warrick left the break room. Nick turned his attention to Sara, who still appeared to be staring out into space. "Are you ready to go?" Nick asked, breaking her from her reverie.

Sara faked a small smile and nodded. Nick and Sara vacated their chairs and walked out into the parking lot. The two were inside of the vehicle before either of them spoke again. "Do you want to talk about it?" Nick asked.

"What?"

"Sara, the tension was palpable. What is going on between you two?" Nick pried, trying to gain some insight on the situation.

Sara shook her head and gathered her words. "Nick, I don't want to talk about this right now. Let's just get to the scene and do our jobs."

Knowing that pushing any further would just make her more agitated, Nick redirected his attention to the road and turned the key in the ignition.

Grissom had already processed the house where the crime had taken place, and when some footprints caught his eye, he started to follow them with his flashlight. He was lost in his world of silence and solitude, just trying to follow the evidence, when a hard blunt object pummeled him from behind. In a split second, Grissom was sprawled out on the ground, his luminous partner rolling away from him.
"Sara, do you want to get something to eat?" Nick asked, walking into the break room.

"Not now, I don't really feel like it," Sara said, looking up from some papers she had sitting in her lap.

"I can go and bring you back something if you don't want to come."

"No thanks."

"What are you so engrossed in that you don't want to eat?" Nick asked, glancing down at her papers.

Sara moved to pull them away, but then decided against it. If he isn't going to say anything, I'm sure not going to keep this guarded anymore. "ASL?" Nick raised an eyebrow, some of the pieces falling into place.

"Yeah, I'm just doing some research," Sara replied.

"Is Grissom alright?"

Sara smiled a sad smile and turned the papers over in her lap. "Yeah."

"Do you…" Nick started, but Sara's ringing cell phone interrupted their conversation.

Sara pulled her cell phone off of her belt and answered it. "Sidle."

Nick watched as the color drained from Sara's face and listened to her monotone monosyllabic replies. When she was finished with the call, she closed her cell phone and slowly reattached it to her belt. "Nick, I need to leave," Sara stated, her voice devoid of emotion.

Sara made no move to get up, and she seemed to be in a trance. Nick got up, knelt down to her level, and rested a hand on her knee. "I told him to stop doing this, I told him to say something," Sara's voice broke, and she struggled to keep tears from her eyes.

"What's going on?" Nick asked.

"Grissom's hurt, I need to get to the hospital," Sara managed to get out.

A determined tear streaked down Sara's face, and her shoulders began to shake. Nick helped her up from the chair and pulled her into a hug, trying to support her. "He's going to be alright," Nick assured, rubbing her back, "come on, I'll drive you to the hospital."

Nick slowly led Sara out to the parking lot, hoping, for the sake of all of their sanity, that Grissom would be alright.

When a nurse finally came to talk to Sara, Nick wrapped his arm across her back in a comforting gesture. It had been over two hours since they had arrived at the hospital, and Sara had been struggling to keep herself together. "Mrs. Grissom, we're getting your husband settled in a room now," the nurse explained, "the doctor would like to keep him here for a twenty-four hour observation. The doctor will be out in a few minutes to explain everything to you."

Sara nodded, signaling she understood. "Thank you," Sara replied.

The nurse smiled. "Don't worry, your husband is doing quite well. He has asked for you several times already. You'll be able to see him soon enough."

The nurse walked back toward her station, and Nick rubbed his hand across Sara's back. "That's good news. If he's asking for you he must be alright," Nick encouraged.

"I hope so."

After another few minutes, the doctor entered the waiting room and sat across from Sara and Nick. "Your husband has a grade two concussion, Mrs. Grissom," the doctor provided, "right now he is experiencing severe tinnitus, and he has one whale of a headache, but he is going to be okay. I've admitted him for twenty-four hour observation as a precaution, and he should be able to go home tomorrow morning if there aren't any other problems. If you'll follow me, I can take you down to his room."

"I'll be alright Nick," Sara stated, wanting to go visit her husband on her own.

"Okay, I'll be right here if you need anything," Nick replied, knowing that she would need some time alone with Grissom.

Sara slowly got up out of the chair and followed the doctor down the hallway.

When Sara entered Grissom's room, she immediately noticed that his face was quite ashen, and he laid stark still on the bed. His arms were at his sides, his fists were clenched, and lines of pain furrowed his face. Sara walked over to the side of the bed and slid one of her hands into his. Grissom squeezed her hand and opened his eyes to see a few tears fall down Sara's face. "Honey, I'm okay," Grissom reassured, trying to pull her closer to him.

Sara kept her distance and subconsciously ran her thumb across the back of his hand. "What happened?" she questioned, wanting to get a better idea as to what had occurred.

"I had finished processing the house, I was following a trail of footprints, and the next thing I knew I got nailed from behind by something hard," Grissom recalled.

"You never heard the guy approach."

"No."

"How is the pain?" Sara asked, noticing how Grissom was intently watching her lips as she spoke.

"It's the ringing, I can't stand the ringing," Grissom replied.

Sara nodded, knowing he was experiencing more pain than he would admit to. "You really did it this time."

"Yeah," Grissom stated, his voice trailing off, not able to think of any better words to describe his thought processes. Noticing that Sara had stopped talking, Grissom took a moment to look her over, and he realized how tired she was. "Honey, come around to the other side of the bed," Grissom stated, wanting her to get some rest with him.

"Why?" Sara asked, but carried out his request.

Grissom shifted over to the other side of the bed where Sara had been and immediately felt disoriented. Sara noticed his change in demeanor and scolded him. "Grissom, stay put, things are bad enough already," Sara chided.

"Get up here and lay down," Grissom ordered, gesturing to the empty space he had created, "I know I've done plenty of things today to make you worried, and you need to take some time to relax."

Although Sara didn't really want to get into the hospital bed beside him, she felt exhausted, and she knew she could use the rest. After taking her shoes off, she curled up next to Grissom in the small bed. Her back leaned against his side, and he trailed his fingers up and down it. "You were right Sara," Grissom admitted, wanting to make some sort of peace with her.

Sara nodded and left out the verbal reply, knowing it was useless. Recognizing that her husband was safe, and no longer having to worry about him for the moment, Sara finally let out the desperation she had been carrying. Her shoulders racked with sobs, and she barely registered Grissom's soft, soothing voice trying to quiet her. Grissom ran his hand across her back, trying to quell her outburst. After a few minutes, Sara stilled beside him, and Grissom assumed she had lost the battle with exhaustion.

Due to the fact that the nurse had to check on him often, Grissom's attempts at sleep were fruitless, however, Sara managed to sleep through all of the disturbances. The third time a nurse came to check on him, he actually had a reply to the nurse's constant question. "Can I get you anything?" the nurse asked.

"Did anyone come to the hospital with my wife?" Grissom asked.

"Yes, a Mr. Stokes, he's still seated in the waiting room."

"Could you ask him to come in please?"

"Sure."

Nick walked into Grissom's room a few minutes later, and Grissom motioned for him to approach the bed. Nick fought to suppress a smile at the sight of Sara sleeping against Grissom. She looks peaceful, something I haven't seen in a while. "How are you feeling Grissom?" Nick asked.

"I'm okay. I need you to do something for me though," Grissom redirected the conversation.

"You name it."

"I need you to take Sara home, get her to eat something, and let her sleep for as long as she needs. I'm sure she hasn't eaten anything in a while, and this hard excuse for a bed sure isn't doing her any favors."

"She's not going to want to leave," Nick warned.

"It's what's best for her."

I need some time to think too. I wish the ringing would stop so I could have some chance of concentrating on what people are saying. When Grissom started to try and rouse Sara, Nick walked around to the other side of the bed so he would be there to help her down. "What?" Sara groaned, starting to pull out of her cloud of sleep.

When Grissom felt Sara start to move, he spoke. "Nick's going to take you home for a while so you can get some sleep," Grissom stated.

Sara turned over to look him in the eye. "Griss, I'm fine, I don't…"

Before Sara could finish, Grissom pressed his index finger to her lips. "I'm fine, I'm not going anywhere, the nurse is in pretty much every half hour to check on me. I'd rather you be home where you can be comfortable, than laying here waiting for me to be released."

Sara pushed his hand away and leaned over to briefly kiss his lips. "I'll be back later to see how you are doing," Sara affirmed, "we have a lot of things to talk about when you're feeling better."

Although Grissom didn't speak, she could tell he understood. "Honey, I love you, get some rest," Grissom whispered.

Sara gave him another kiss and pulled away. She flashed a basic sign in reply, and left with Nick before Grissom could respond.