They had made it to the hospital without incident. As Sara suspected, the boy covering the little boy was not his own. He didn't have a scratch on him and was completely intact physically. Mentally was another matter. He wouldn't speak no matter how the doctors tried. And he wouldn't let Sara out of his sight.
They were sitting on a bed in one of the hospital rooms, waiting for the doctor. The little boy was as close as he could be without actually sitting on Sara's lap and he had her arm in a death grip again.
Sara's cell phone started to ring. She expected that. She hadn't told Greg anything except that she was going to the hospital with the boy. Her kit and everything was still at the house, not that she had actually collected any evidence. She got her phone out of her pocket with her free hand and put it to her ear.
"Sidle," she said
"Hey, Sara it's Greg," said the voice at the other end, unnecessarily. Sara would recognize Greg's voice anywhere.
"Hey, I'm still at the hospital. Waiting for the doctor. The kid won't let me go.?
"Okay. I called Grissom. He and Sophia are coming to help process the scene. Guess that leaves the kid to you."
"Sure. I'll see you Greg."
"Bye"
She hung up. Instead of trying to put the phone back in her pocket she just put it at the end of the bed. She looked at the little boy again. He was still a mess, they hadn't gotten cleaned up yet, but all the blood had dried. He was still staring straight ahead with round, frightened eyes. She could only imagine how distraught he must be.
The doctor chose that moment to enter the little hospital room. He greeted them with a smile neither returned. In fact, the little boy didn't even acknowledge that another person had entered the room.
"Has he told you his name yet," the doctor asked Sara. Sara shook her head.
"He hasn't even spoken."
The doctor didn't seem surprised. "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder"
'Well of course' Sara thought 'Assuming he didn't actually witness the killing, at the very least he saw his mother bleeding out in her bed. Yeah I would say that's a little traumatic.'
"We'll have to clean him up a bit, get him new clothes and such." He moved closer to the boy. Only now did he react. He still didn't look at the doctor but he squeezed closer to Sara and tightened his grip. Whatever feeling Sara had in her hand was lost.
Sara waved he free hand to indicate that the doctor should back away a bit, which he did. Sara turned to the little boy, who looked up at her with those round brown eyes.
"If you go with this nice man here, I promise I'll come back"
The little boy shook his head
"You have to get cleaned up, and so do I. I promise that I will be there as soon as you're cleaned up. I promise."
The little boy remained silent and for a long moment their eyes stayed linked. Then he loosened his grip on her arm. Blood started to flow to her hand again. He still hadn't completely let go.
"I promise I won't leave you," she repeated. The little boy completely let go of her arm. The doctor took this as his cue and picked the boy up. The little boy didn't protest as he was carried out of the room, but he wouldn't shift his gaze from Sara's face.
"Thanks," Sara said to Greg. She had called him to bring the forensics jumper to the hospital. Not the most appealing option, but she wanted to get out of these clothes.
"No problem," Greg said with a grin.
"So where you off to," Sara asked.
"Um…the morgue. Grissom called on my way over.
Sara nodded a little disappointed she wasn't exactly in the investigation.
"How's the kid holding up," Greg asked.
"He hasn't said a single word. He almost wouldn't let them check him out. Physically he fine. Mentally he's a wreck. Understandable."
Greg nodded in agreement. "What about you? How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine," Sara said. Greg didn't entirely believe her but he let it go.
The doctor entered the waiting room and spotted Sara.
"Miss Sidle. The boy is all checked out. He is waiting in the same room."
Sara nodded and the doctor left.
"Alright," Greg said "I'm off. I'll check on you later." He left and Sara walked back to the hospital room. The little boy was sitting on the bed, his legs hanging off the edge. When she sat back down next to him he squeezed next to her and held on to her arm again, but not as tight.
The doctor arrived a moment later. Again the little boy just stared off into space as though he was concentrating on something only he could see.
"He checks out okay. You'll have to stay here for a while though. A social worker is coming to take the kid."
Obviously the boy had understood this. He started shaking his head and squeezing Sara's arm again. The doctor took no notice of this and left. Sara turned to the boy.
"Don't worry," she said to him. "You'll be okay."