"Nick, do you have some time to make a stop before you take me home?" Sara requested.
"Where to?" Nick asked, thinking that she would have just wanted to go home and curl up in bed.
"I would like to go to the hardware store to get a few things to put up in the house."
"Now?"
"I want to get some things done before Grissom comes home."
"Which one?"
"There's a large one about ten minutes from our house, I'll show you the way."
Nick pulled out of the hospital parking lot and followed Sara's directions to the hardware store.
"Why did you want to come here anyway?" Nick asked Sara once they stepped inside of the hardware store.
"I want to rewire the house before Grissom comes home," Sara replied, striding to where she knew the electronic safety devices were housed.
"The whole house?" Nick questioned in surprise, "What exactly do you want to do?"
"You'll see."
Nick continued to follow Sara through the store, for she seemed to be intent on where she was going. Passing through an aisle of smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms, she halted at the end. Nick scanned the titles of the devices on the packages and turned to Sara. Before he could ask another question, she answered it for him. Picking up a device in plastic packaging, Sara turned it toward Nick. "I want to hook up everything in the house to this. He can carry the remote around in his pocket and be alerted if needed."
"You're going to need help setting this up."
"I can work on it."
"Nope. While you lay down, I'll get to work on it. What do you want connected to it anyway?"
"Doorbell, telephone, smoke alarms, alarm clock. I want to look for a baby monitor that will hook into it, and I also want to get some new strobe light smoke detectors."
"Well, the smoke detectors are right here," Nick pointed back down the aisle they had traversed.
"The special baby monitors are right here also."
Sara picked up a few things that she knew she would need, and Nick took them from her. "With you, shopaholic Sidle, we should have grabbed a cart," Nick joked.
"That's what you're for. The only things I still need to grab are the smoke detectors, and then we can get out of here."
After Sara retrieved the smoke detectors, they headed toward the checkout. "He's lucky to have you, you know that?" Nick stated while they walked.
"Yeah," Sara replied, momentarily lost in her thoughts.
"You know he wouldn't do this," Nick reminded.
"He would do it for me, but he wouldn't do it for himself. That's why we're taking care of this."
Their conversation fizzled as they approached the line at the checkout.
After Nick pulled in Sara's driveway, Sara walked ahead to open the door, and Nick grabbed the couple of bags they had collected from the hardware store. Entering the house, Nick set the bags in the living room and sat down in a chair across from Sara. "Can I get you something to eat?" Sara asked.
"No, I'm fine," Nick stated, "you, however, need to eat something. Express from your husband, instruction numero uno: get you to eat something."
"Ha ha," Sara said sarcastically, "I think I can manage that."
Sara got up from the couch and walked out to the kitchen. She returned to the living room a few minutes later with a salad and two bottles of orange juice. Handing one of the bottles to Nick, she sat down and set her salad on her lap. "Thanks," Nick stated, opening the bottle and taking a sip of the juice.
"You're helping me out, it's no problem."
"Where do you want me to set up the central command center for all of this?"
"Next to the door, just as you come in. That way it's easy to connect the doorbell and the phone, and it can also be connected to the floor lamp if needed. Everything else is wireless, so there shouldn't be any problem communication wise. The second terminal can be set up in the bedroom."
"Okay. I think I'm going to start by mounting the box to the wall and connecting the doorbell."
"Alright. I can help with some of that stuff, you know."
"Finish eating and go lay down for a little while. That's the second thing on the list."
"Great."
"While I'm here, do you want me to move the bed out of the guest bedroom? I know you asked me about that last week, but we just didn't get to it."
"You can't do that by yourself."
"I'll call Warrick and see if he'll come over. That way everything will be cleared out of there for you."
"Nick, don't go to too much trouble, you've done plenty for me already."
"Sara, it's nothing. Let me go get started with the doorbell so I'll have enough time to fix up everything else."
"Go ahead, knock yourself out."
"Your husband is the expert in that field," Nick joked.
Sara shook her head, and Nick started going through the bags to find the parts that he needed to work with.
When Warrick came over to the house later that afternoon, Sara was still sleeping, and Nick motioned for him to stay fairly quiet. "How is she?" Warrick asked.
"She's working through everything. That would explain all of the rewiring I did for her in the house, and we're going to clear out the guestroom so that's done. She's sleeping right now."
"How did Grissom seem?"
"Tired and pained. I don't think he can hear very much of anything right now."
"Did Sara tell you anything?"
"No, but she had me set up a whole bunch of hearing impaired devices around the house."
"Ah, getting ready for Grissom to come home."
"That's what she said."
"Let's get the guestroom cleared out so I can take everything over to storage for them. Sara already gave me the information, and I would like to finish up so I can run home and get a little bit of sleep before shift."
"Yeah, Catherine made it a point to remind me to be there on time because we are going to be shorthanded."
"Let's go then."
Nick and Warrick headed into the bedroom to start disassembling the bed so they could cart it out of the house.
Once Warrick and Nick had finished, Warrick left, and Nick walked back into the house to talk to Sara before he left. Although she was still sleeping, Nick sat on the edge of her bed and tapped her shoulder. "Ugh, what?" Sara groaned.
"Everything is set up, and the guest bedroom is cleared out. The remote is in the holder by the door, and it's programmed and ready to use when Grissom comes home."
"Thanks," Sara spoke.
"I need to go home and catch some sleep before shift. Is there anything else you need done before I go?"
"Can you somehow get my car back here so I can drive in to get Grissom tomorrow?"
"Sure."
"My keys are right there on the table," Sara pointed.
Nick picked up the keys and put them in his pocket. "Take it easy Sara, get some more rest. I'll be by after shift."
"Thanks Nick."
Sara squeezed Nick's hand and watched as he left the room.
The entire drive home from the hospital, Grissom was very quiet. Sara could tell that his head was still bothering him, but they had already given him a fresh dose of acetaminophen at the hospital, and she knew there was nothing else she could do. She led him from the car into the house, and Grissom looked around once he got inside. "What's different in here?" Grissom spoke for the first time since they had left the hospital.
Sara closed the door for him and picked up the remote from the base charger. She slipped it into his hand and waited for him to look at it. There were labels down the left hand side of the small device, and corresponding lights were on the right hand side. "What is this?" Grissom questioned.
Sara made sure she was standing in front of him and that he was looking at her before she spoke. "I want you to be safe in our own house. Keep that in your pocket, it vibrates when someone's at the door, when the phone rings, and when the smoke detector goes off," Sara explained.
Grissom raised an eyebrow and continued to inspect the remote. "I get what clock is for, but what is baby for?" he asked, reading the labels.
"I got a baby monitor that will alert you when the baby cries."
Grissom nodded and turned around to return the remote to the base charger. "I'm going to leave this here for now. I'll look at it again later," Grissom stated.
"Gil, you should take it with you."
"I'll look at it later. I'm just going to lay down for now."
Slightly hurt, but not wanting to show it, Sara nodded. "Okay, get whatever rest you need."
Grissom walked slowly away from Sara and disappeared beyond the bedroom door. Great, he really seemed to like that.
Grissom had been sleeping peacefully when the movement of his pillow woke him up. Puzzled as to what the disturbance was that halted his sleep, Grissom sat up and looked around. Looking toward the base that sat on the side table, he saw that the light was flashing for phone. He could faintly hear the phone ringing, and his pillow still shook. Reaching his hand inside of the pillow, Grissom took out a device that vibrated in his hand. He pressed the notification button on the base on the nightstand to acknowledge that he got the message, and the device stilled in his hand. Not very happy that his sleep had been interrupted, Grissom charged out to the living room. Sara was sleeping on the couch, and the call had obviously gone to the answering machine, for he no longer heard its incessant ring. Feeling dizzy from his bout of movement, Grissom slid into a chair and set the device down on the table. Knowing he would have to wait to talk to Sara about her renovations, Grissom quickly drifted off to sleep.
When Sara woke up, she found Grissom slouched precariously in the chair with his head resting against the arm. Looking at the clock, she knew she should start getting ready for work. Deciding that a few more minutes in an awkward position wouldn't kill him, Sara left Grissom in the living room and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.
Returning to the living room fully dressed, Sara found Grissom sitting up in the chair. He had taken her book off of the tabletop, and he was skimming through it. "Snooping, huh?" Sara stated, sitting on the table in front of him.
"Plain sight," Grissom replied, closing the book.
Sara took the book from Grissom and set it on the table beside her. "Why, pray tell, did you come out here and sleep in the chair? Your head probably hurts worse now."
"Pot, I'm fine, maybe you should try to see yourself to bed more often. This chair didn't bother me, what bothered me was this," Grissom clarified, picking up the device from the side table.
"That's supposed to be inside of your pillow!" Sara reprimanded, slapping his knee.
"What was it doing inside of my pillow? It interrupted my sleep for a phone call!"
"Did you answer it?"
"No!"
"Come on, one of the settings must be wrong on the base. You can turn the alerts you need on and off, so there must just be a simple problem."
Grissom set the device down and rested his hands on Sara's knees. "Sara, I know you mean well, but I don't want this in my pillow."
"What if you're home alone with the baby, the two of you are asleep, and something catches fire? You won't hear the alarm! This way the vibrations will wake you up, and the base will signal that there is a fire," Sara reasoned.
"Sara, the baby isn't even here yet," Grissom struggled to get his way.
"You think it's okay because it'll just be you?" Sara raised her voice, "Gil, I know you're upset because things are out of your control, and you can't do anything to fix your hearing. You're dealing with something you cannot change, but you can change your environment. It's plain stupidity to avoid adjusting our home just because you don't want to accept the fact that something is affecting you."
Grissom took Sara's hands in his and gazed at them. "Honey, I'm not getting any younger," Grissom spoke, his voice suddenly full of emotion, "you shouldn't have to be making so many changes for me."
Sara reached forward and tipped his chin up so she knew he would catch every word she said. "I case you haven't noticed, I'm not getting any younger either. I am not going anywhere," Sara emphasized, squeezing Grissom's hands, "no one else would want to put up with stubborn me."
The corners of Grissom's mouth slightly lifted with Sara's attempted levity. "Come here," Grissom stated, pulling her off of the table and gathering her in his arms on the couch, "you're right, I have been acting like an idiot."
Grissom kissed the top of her head and ran his hand over her arm. "Instead of ignoring your problems, you need to talk to me," Sara reminded.
Grissom pulled Sara to his chest and kissed the top of her head. "I messed up," Grissom admitted, his voice trailing off.
They relaxed in each other's arms for a few minutes before Grissom pulled back. 'When did you start learning?' Grissom asked, using his hands rather than his words.
'Pregnancy project,' Sara joked.
Sara began to elaborate on her answer, and the two chatted for a while before Sara had to leave to go to work.
Several hours after Sara left, Grissom remembered the earlier phone call. Grissom walked over to the phone and pressed the message button. "Gil, it's Jim. If you're feeling well enough, I'd like you to come in with Sara tonight to get your statement. The director also wants to talk to you, so plan on spending a little while here. Give me a call when you get this message."
Grissom heard the click of Brass hanging up the phone. Well, I guess I should have listened to this earlier. Grissom picked up the phone and dialed Brass' cell phone number. "Brass," Brass answered.
"I got your message," Grissom replied.
"You doing okay? I thought for sure I'd see you come in with Sara."
"I was sleeping when you called, and I didn't check the messages until after she left. When do you want me to come in?"
"Well, I need to go do an interrogation now. How about around seven? That way when you're done with me, you can go talk to the director. Saves you an extra trip."
"Alright, I'll be in then."
Grissom ended the call and speed dialed Sara's cell phone. "Sidle," she answered.
"How is shift going?" Grissom asked.
"Hi Griss. Shift's kinda busy. What's the matter, did you miss my company already?" Sara joked, grateful for the quick break he provided.
"Although it would be nice to have you here with me, I'm calling to tell you that I'm coming in later, so I won't be home when you get home. Brass wants to get a statement from me, and the director wants to talk."
"I can swing home to pick you up and bring you back," Sara offered.
"Is my car here?"
"Yeah, the guys brought over my car and your car before," Sara stated, "Griss, are you sure you're up to driving?"
"I feel pretty good actually. My head has cleared a bit, and I'm going to get some more sleep before I go in. Where are my keys?"
"In the drawer of your side table. What time do you think you'll be home?"
"It shouldn't be that long. Maybe nine, nine-thirty."
"Okay, take it easy, I don't want to have to drag your butt back to the hospital."
"I'll be fine honey. If you're tired, don't wait up. Do, however, make your way into bed."
"Yes sir," Sara took a quick glance outside the door, "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Go get some rest like the doctor ordered."
"Yes ma'am."
After returning the phone to its cradle, Grissom headed to the bedroom to get some rest.
Following his conversation with Brass and getting his statement in order, Grissom headed to the director's office. Grissom had been ushered in, and he was shown to a chair across from the director's desk. "How are you feeling, Gil?" the director asked, sitting behind his desk.
"Fine. I'll be ready to return to work by the end of the week," Grissom replied.
"That's what we need to talk about," the director said, keeping his statement extremely vague, "you are a valuable asset to the lab. However, I no longer think fieldwork is appropriate. I would like to offer you a permanent position within the lab."
"No," Grissom replied sternly, "that would not be acceptable."
"I'll tell you what's not acceptable. You went out into the field knowing that you had a problem with your hearing and almost got yourself killed!"
"I only sustained a concussion, I would not consider that getting myself killed."
"You are presently a liability to the lab. How can I send you out into the field if you can't hear anything?"
"I can hear you right now."
Faintly, and frequently fluctuating, but I can hear. "I know you're lip-reading, you can't deny that. Are you taking any measures to deal with this issue?"
"I have consulted with my doctor about possible options."
"I don't want to see you back in this lab until you pass a hearing test. Then I'm keeping you in the lab for two weeks. During that time period, Ms. Willows will be in charge of everything that is going on out in the field. You will be available for consultation on cases, and you can use the rest of the time to catch up on paperwork that has lagged behind."
"I can still run the team from the lab," Grissom tried to maintain some authority.
"I would like Ms. Willows to gain some experience in supervising the shift. While you are recuperating, she will have the perfect opportunity."
"I suppose I do not have any choice in the matter."
"No. You endangered your own life, and had others been there, there could have been a tragedy because of your handicap. Had you been a lesser employee, you would have been shown the door. Get everything under control and serve your two weeks in the lab. Maybe then things can return to normal around here."
Yeah, define normal. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to barter for a better arrangement, Grissom stood to leave. "I'll see what I can do."
"I hope everything turns out alright, Gil. Take your time to get some rest."
Grissom nodded and left the director's office.
When Grissom arrived home, he found Sara sleeping in the bedroom. Good, she actually went in to lay down. Grissom stripped down to his boxers and slid into bed next to Sara. Sara stirred and turned over. "How did it go?" Sara asked sleepily.
"Okay, we'll talk about it later," Grissom replied, kissing her forehead.
"Everything is okay, right?"
"Yeah, it'll all work out."
Sara leaned in to give Grissom a brief kiss before turning back over and snuggling into his chest. After a few minutes, Grissom felt Sara drift back to sleep.