A/N: Chapter 5 will begin to help you see where I'm going with this. Yes, I will leave you with a cliff hanger, but I promise that Chapter 6 will be up within the next two days. Scout's honor!

Chapter 5

The next day Grissom waited in the hotel lobby for Sara to appear. The hotel had a free breakfast for its guests, but Grissom wanted to wait for Sara to come before he went in and started. Instead, he relaxed in one of the oversized chairs in the lobby while he drank a cup of coffee and read a newspaper. He had not had a very restful night's sleep because his mind would not let him unwind. There was too much going through it. He had finished the first section of the paper when he realized it was 8:00, and she had yet to make an appearance. Because this was very unusual for Sara, who gave the word punctual new meaning, he knew he had to go up and check on her.

As he knocked on her door, he could hear her TV on, which relieved him considerably. She opened the door quickly, and with one look, he could tell she was stressed. "I was wondering if everything was okay. . ." his voice trailed off as he looked at her. She was a completely different woman than the one he had seen last night.

Oblivious to his stare, she replied with a sigh, "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on in, and I'll finish getting ready. I overslept my alarm, so now I'm rushing around. I just have to finish putting my makeup on, and then we can go." Suddenly she noticed his intense stare. "What?" she asked.

He shook his head quickly to clear it. "Nothing, I just forgot how curly your hair is," he remarked.

She groaned. "Tell me about it. Since I was running so late, I didn't want to take the time to straighten it out, so this is what I get, frizz."

"No, I like it. I think it softens your face," Grissom could not believe these words were coming out of his mouth. "It makes you look more relaxed."

Sara eyed him. "Grissom, are you feeling okay? I don't think you got enough sleep last night. Here, sit down and watch TV for a minute while I finish getting ready. Diane Sawyer is about to interview Tom Cruise. It'll be educational for you."

"Who?" he asked jokingly. When she spun around to gawk at him, he grinned at her. "I'm kidding. I do know who Tom Cruise is."

Within five minutes she was finished and ready to go. As they walked down the hallway, Grissom realized how much he was enjoying being with Sara, especially away from the lab. She seemed completely different away from work, and he couldn't treat her as he did at work. She also seemed more relaxed and comfortable in her skin. He had noticed that over the last few weeks she didn't seem so tense. He suspected that she'd had an epiphany of sorts after Nick's ordeal. He was sure that they all had. He knew he did. That night, after he had finally returned to his house, he had faced who he was, and how he dealt with others, and he had made a resolution of sorts. Call it his New Year's resolution in the summer. He wanted to stop staying so removed from everyone's lives. That was the reason he had come out here. He wanted to be more involved with the personal struggles his co-workers faced everyday. So, this was his first step, being here with her and for her. It was a fairly new experience, but he had to say, it wasn't unpleasant. He truly enjoyed spending time with Sara.

After a quick breakfast, he decided to drive her over to the hospital. They talked of the mundane on the way over, and he held back slightly as she went to the nurse's station to check on her mom's condition. As his eyes fell on the guard sitting by the door, an idea began to take shape in his head.

Sara headed back toward him. "Well, there's really no change. She had a 'quiet night' which is doctor talk for 'we didn't have to come racing to her room to save her.' You're welcome to come into her room with me even though you're not related. I sweet talked the nurses into allowing it. They really like me," she finished with a smile.

Grissom shook his head at her. "I think I'm going to head over to the prison this morning. My curiosity is kind of piqued about what happened to your mom. You haven't really said anything."

Sara gave a frustrated sigh. "That's because I guess I don't care that much. Don't glare at me like that. Look, it was hard enough for me to come here and face her. I'm not going back to that place. Not ever," she finished vehemently.

Grissom was stunned by the anger in her voice. Calmly he replied, "I'm not asking you to come with me. I'm just curious. Sara, look, I'm an investigator. It's my job to find answers to questions that intrigue me. What can I say, it's in my blood. I'm just going to ask around a little bit."

"Fine," Sara replied. "Whatever you want. Just don't ask me to go back. It was hard enough for me to go there just to meet with that associate or assistant warden, whoever she was."

"Well, why don't I start with her? What did you say her name was?"

"Joan Anderson. But, Grissom, you probably aren't going to get anywhere. No one really cares about convicted killers."

"We'll see," he said as he walked out the door, leaving Sara to stare after him in frustration.

He returned a little bit before two o'clock. He walked into the room just in time to see Sara wipe away tears as she watched A Baby Story on TLC. "Sara, are you okay?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a short laugh. "These shows always get to me. Too much sap, I guess." She wiped away one last tear, and turned to face him. "You were gone for an awful long time. Did you find out anything?"

"Well, enough to piece together what I think happened." He looked down at the notes he had made. "It looks like your mom was an innocent bystander. Apparently, her cellmate and another prisoner got into a shoving match in your mom's cell. She was knocked into a bunk and hit her head on a sink on the way down. Then, a shelf that someone had pulled off to use as a weapon landed on her. They think from her injuries, she was also stomped on and kicked a couple of times. It really is too bad, because she had nothing to do with the disagreement, she was completely innocent. The two women who started it were placed. . ." he stopped when he looked over at Sara whose was beginning to shake. "Sara, what is it?" he asked.

"Innocent!" Sara spat out. "She's not innocent. She's a convicted murderer and a destroyer of an entire family. I ended up in too many foster homes to count because of her. My family may not have been great, but at least I had a family before she killed my dad. No one wants a gangly, nerdy thirteen year old kid. I didn't have anywhere to go. Then, when I had a chance at happiness, she went and killed my baby too!" Sara suddenly stopped; horrified at exposing the secret she had carried for all of these years. You really did it now, Sara, she thought. He's not going to let that one go by without an explanation of some sort.

Grissom stared at her, stunned by her admission. "Your baby?" he asked with amazement. "What baby? Sara, what are you talking about?"

TBC

Come back soon to find out about Sara's secret!