Post-Butterflied

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI and get no profit from writing these stories…yadda yadda yadda.

Chapter Seven

A couple days after Grissom and Sara had spoke, she was on a case with Catherine in the mountains somewhere. Grissom was once again sitting at his desk and catching up on paperwork. Anymore, it seemed he had a hard time keeping up with it, not so much because of the volume of papers he had to fill out but more because his mind was constantly on Sara. They had arranged for a dinner date before shift at the end of the week and Grissom was a little nervous.

Grissom's cell phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts, "Grissom."

"Gil, it's me Cath, I don't want you to worry, but there was a little accident, they're taking Sara to Desert Palm," Catherine blurted.

"What?" Grissom nearly dropped his phone.

"She's going to be fine, Grissom, I promise," Catherine said calmly.

"What happened?" Grissom managed to ask.

"Look, I have to go, I'm sorry, but meet me at the hospital, I'll explain everything there," Catherine said, "she's going to be okay, remember that."

"See you at the hospital then," Grissom hung up. He couldn't move from his seat for a few minutes, his mind was paralyzed. Something had happened to Sara and his mind couldn't process rational thoughts fast enough.

Grissom was amazed at how many fears he managed to entertain on his short drive to the hospital. He knew Catherine said Sara was going to be just fine, but his mind still let him get himself worked up. He worried that something serious had happened and Catherine had told him otherwise so he wouldn't panic. It wasn't working because he was definitely freaking out. About half way to the hospital, he got pulled over.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't realize you were with the PD," the officer said when he ran Grissom's license plates, "where are you going so fast? And why didn't you put your lights on?"

"One of my CSIs was injured at a crime scene, I'm on my way to the hospital," Grissom said hurriedly.

"All right, I'm going to let you go, sir, but please slow it down a little," the officer stepped away.

Grissom took a couple of calming breaths and managed to drive the speed limit for the rest of the way to the hospital. When he got there he found the first available parking space and ran to the emergency room without hardly taking the time to get his seatbelt off.

"Hello, sir, how may I help you?" the woman at the admissions desk asked.

"I'm here for Sara Sidle," Grissom told her breathlessly.

"Okay, just a minute and I'll look up the name," the woman typed something on her keyboard, "I'm sorry, sir, but there's no one here by that name."

"Are you sure? She's a CSI, I got a call saying that there was an accident at a crime scene and she was on her way here," Grissom explained worriedly.

"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about, her ETA is about five minutes from now, you can wait in the waiting area over there," the woman gestured to rows of plastic chairs.

"Thank you," Grissom spun around and found an empty seat. A million thoughts were swirling through his mind and his heart was pounding. He barely noticed when the doors flew open and Sara was brought in on a stretcher.

"Grissom?" she called out.

"Sara! Oh my God," Grissom jumped up, "are you okay?"

Sara nearly laughed, "I guess Catherine didn't have time to tell you what happened?"

"No," Grissom was thoroughly confused.

"There was a mini-rock slide and my foot got smashed under a rock, I'm fine, but my foot is broken," Sara explained as the paramedics wheeled her out of sight.

Catherine came into the emergency room a few minutes later and nearly ran into Grissom, "Gil, you're here."

"Yeah, they just brought Sara in a few minutes ago," Grissom said, "what exactly happened out there?"

"Let's go sit down," Catherine pulled him towards the waiting area, "you know our crime scene was in the mountains, right?"

"Yes," Grissom nodded, "I'm the one that assigned you."

"Well it rained last night, so apparently a lot of the rocks are loose. Sara and I were working on our scene and we heard a weird noise. It was a bunch of rocks tumbling down the side of the mountain. We both managed to get clear of the path pretty much, but one stray rock came and landed right on Sara's foot. I'm pretty sure it's broken, but like I told you, she's okay," Catherine explained, "it was really a freak accident."

"Good, I was so worried," Grissom visibly relaxed, "I had no idea what happened to her. Your call only served to scare me. You have no idea what sort of thoughts ran through my head."

"I'm sorry, Gil," Catherine patted his arm, "I had to gather all of Sara's field kit once the ambulance arrived and I wanted to get going."

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"Hey Gris," Sara smiled at him from her hospital bed.

"It's so good to see you," he approached the bed.

"Were you worried about me?" Sara asked.

"Very much," Grissom sighed, "I was so scared when Catherine called me and said 'there's been a little accident'. I feared the worst."

"I'm fine," Sara assured him, "the cast on my foot will slow me down for a little while, but I'll be good to go."

"I'm glad you're okay," Grissom sat down.

"You were really upset, weren't you?" Sara could see it in his eyes, so she reached out to hold his hand, "it's okay. I wasn't seriously hurt and Catherine helped me ice my foot until the ambulance arrived."

"I don't know why I got so upset, it was just the way she called me I guess. You know I almost got a speeding ticket on my way to the hospital," Grissom chuckled nervously.

"Well I'm glad you were so worried about me," Sara smiled.

"You have no idea," Grissom leaned in to kiss her, "when will you be getting out of here?"

"As soon as they get back with my crutches and release forms," Sara explained.

"Since you're obviously going to be off for the rest of the night, would you like me to take you home, help you get settled in?" Grissom asked.

"Don't you have to get back to work?" Sara started.

"No, I mean, I think Cath, Nick and Warrick can handle the rest of the night by themselves," Grissom told her, "and you might need some help."

"Okay," Sara agreed, "I hate to make you miss work though."

"Sara, you are more important to me than work, I finally have my priorities set straight," Grissom said firmly.

"I'm impressed, you really are changing, Gris," Sara grinned.

"I said I needed to work on changing and I am a man of my word," Grissom told her.

A/N: I have a little more time on my hands than I thought I would. Last night, I nearly broke my toe, so I didn't end up doing a whole lot today. I hope you enjoy this latest installment.