Chapter 3

Maggie fell asleep in the back seat of the Tahoe, riding home from the lab. A large pink stuffed bunny, named BooBoo, was wrapped up in her arms. Grissom intended to pick up the girl and carry her into Sara's apartment, but Sara beat him to the task. She insisted on carrying Maggie into the house, only pausing long enough for Grissom to unlock the door. He waited for her in the living room while she laid the exhausted girl down on her bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked when she entered the room.

"About what?" Sara knew perfectly well what he was talking about, but wasn't ready to discuss anything.

"About Debra, about you, about your mom." He moved into the kitchen briefly and returned with two bottles of water. Removing the lids, he handed one to her.

"There's nothing to talk about. Debra's at the hospital, getting treated. We will find the guy who did this to her. Until then, Maggie is staying here. Anything else is in the past, and doesn't matter." She downed the bottle of water quickly, as if trying to put out a fire inside herself.

"It's not as simple as that. 'The past remains integral to us all... it is assimilated in ourselves and resurrected in an ever-changing present.' "

"I'm not in the mood for questions, and definitely not in the mood for your infernal quoting. Just leave it alone, Griss."

"Fine." For now, he would stop pressing her. But sooner or later she would have to talk about it. It was obvious to him that today had brought up some unresolved issues, even more so then her more difficult cases at work. He had thought Kay Shelton and Linley Parker had been bad, but never in the course of those investigations had she mentioned her past. For her to actually admit that she was thinking about her mother, it was a sign that all was not well.

"I know I'm supposed to work tonight, but I need to take off." Sara was sitting on the couch now, flipping through the pages of a magazine but not looking at it. She needed to do something with her hands, and the magazine had been the first thing she picked up.

"Certainly. I'm sure your boss will understand," he joked. Joining her on the couch, he pulled the magazine out of her hands, replacing it with his own hands. Squeezing them gently, he waited patently until she made eye contact before speaking. "I know that you don't want to talk about it now, but I want you to remember that when you're ready, I'm here to listen."

Sara didn't say a word, just leaned in a buried her head in his shoulder. It still astounded her sometimes, when he said things like that. After six months you would think she would be used to this more open and honest side of Grissom, but she wasn't. Not completely. Sara breathed in deep, taking in the smell of Grissom, letting it seep into her pores. Maybe if she surrounded herself with Grissom, she could push away everything else. The images of an abused Debra and a frightened Maggie still circled in her head, warring with older images of her mother and herself as a child. Closing her eyes she focused solely on the man holding onto her. With her hand on his chest she could feel each beat of his heart. Slow and steady it thumped, and she tried to imagine the rhythm of her own heart matching his. Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump...

Grissom looked down at the woman asleep in his arms. Her hand clenched the fabric of his shirt. Her face was hidden by her hair, and he lifted one hand to push it aside. In sleep the features of her face had relaxed. He was reminded of the first time he had ever seen her asleep. They had gone out for coffee after one of his lectures that first summer they met. He had excused himself to go to the bathroom, and when he returned it was to find an exhausted Sara asleep, with her head pillowed against the window. It was five years before he saw her asleep again, this time in the break room at the lab after working a double. Each time he would stop and take in the sight for a minute before waking her up. He never suspected then that the day would come when Sara asleep would become a common sight.

She sighed softly, nuzzling a little closer to him. Carefully he scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom, laying her next to Maggie on the bed. Entering the kitchen he picked up the phone hanging on the wall. He first called and left a message with the receptionist at the lab to say that Sara would not be coming into work before asking to be transferred to Brass's office.

"Know anything yet, Brass?" He didn't bother identifying himself.

"Sure. I know a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of nails."

"Jim." Grissom was well aware of the fact that Brass used his warped sense of humor as a coping mechanism, but he wasn't in the mood today.

"Yeah. So about Debra... turns out she has an ex-husband with a record. Wesley O' Shannon. Assault and battery, drunk and disorderly. Graduated to armed robbery about eight years ago. Spent some time in the pen. Here's the kicker. He was released two weeks ago. Time off for good behavior."

"Any priors for spousal abuse?" He hated to ask the question, and was grateful that Sara was sleeping in the other room.

"No, but I called Desert Palms. This makes her fifth visit to the emergency room. The other visits were all for suspicious accidents. I'm heading over there now to talk to her."

"I'll meet you at the hospital. I want to be there when you question her."

"Fine. I'll see you there."

Grissom hung up the phone and debated whether or not to wake up Sara to come with him. When he looked into the bedroom he decided against it. She was sound asleep and curled protectively around Maggie. Fully aware that he might have a pissed off Sara to deal with later, he made the decision to let her sleep. Writing a brief note letting her know where he was and leaving it on the table, he left the apartment.

Sara woke up to find the room cloaked in the fading hues of twilight. Maggie was asleep beside her in the bed, and although she knew she had not fallen asleep there, it was easy to surmise how she had gotten there. Sara left the bedroom, fully awake after her nap. Walking into the living room, it was immediately apparent that Grissom was not there. Finding his note, she discovered why. Damn it, he knew that I would want to go to the hospital too. She still could. A quick call to the hospital revealed that Debra had been moved to a room. She was being admitted overnight for observation. Visiting hours were from five to eight o'clock. It was now six thirty.

"Hey, Maggie." Sara shook the girl gently to wake her up. "Do you want to go visit your mom?"