Chapter 4

Gil paced frantically. Everyone had begged him to sit down, him wearing himself down wouldn't improve Sara's condition. The other 4 sat on a long couch as he paced a rectangle shape around a waiting room in the Desert Palms Hospital. Catherine was chewing on her water's straw; Warrick's hands were clasped tightly on one of hers. Nicky was talking rapidly to his wife, Lynn, on his cell phone, Gil listened to them all and was proud of everyone, but ached ahis voice low and thick. Greg had his eyes shut and was leaning back, his feet tapping the floor nervously.

Grissom went over the past hour in his head as he paced. They had all watched Sara leave, and his co-workers had shot daggers at him with their eyes until he had changed the subject. They talked about Nick's little boy, Greg's wedding plans, how Lindsey was doing in college. She was interested in law enforcement, much to her mother and Warrick's delight. They were all so tied up in family and rather like a timeline; Greg was just beginning a family, Nick was in the early stages of his small one, and Catherine and Warrick were in the later stages. Everyone had somebody to come home to.. but him. It had to change, it really did, he vowed to himself.

They had all left around the same time, about 20 minutes after Sara had, and had pulled into bumper-to-bumper traffic. He called Cath, a few cars ahead of him, on her cell. "Can you see anything? It's way too late for rush hour."

"I think there's been a car accident."

The line of cars began inching forward.

"Oh my God, Gil," he heard next. "Oh my God," she repeated. "It's Sara's SUV, I can see the plates." His blood ran cold and he nearly dropped the phone.

"We should get to the station, see if anyone knows anything. Gil, her car doesn't look too beaten up, I'm sure she's okay." In the background he heard her instruct Warrick to turn right in the direction of the LVPD. "Gil?"

"Call the boys...I'm pulling over."

"Where?"

"At the crash site."

"And --what? Process the scene? You're not on shift yet, you can't just start--"

"No, Catherine. I can see--" his voice cracked; he could see the scene now, and what was the most painful sight he'd ever witness; Sara being gently lifted out of the car by paramedics. "I can see her. The ambulance hasn't left yet and I intend to ride along."

Catherine was silent for a few moments. "Okay... would you like me to drive your car to the hospital?"

Oh. He hadn't thought about that. Naturally, he couldn't leave it in the middle of the road. "Yes.. thank you."

"Anytime." And with a click, she was gone. He veered his Denali off the busy street and jumped out, leaving his keys on the floor for Catherine to find.

"Sir? Do you know either of the victims?" asked a medic as Gil strode over.

"Yes, I am.. close with the woman, Sara Sidle."

The paramedic squinted, and then smiled. "Hey, Mr. Grissom," she said, recognizing the night shift supervisor. "Well, Sara should be fine. She's bruised and battered pretty much all over, but her legs took the brunt of it. The doctors will be able to tell you the rest after they've been able to examine her further. I suppose you'll ride along?" Grissom nodded wordlessly. The young woman smiled soothingly and led him over to the ambulance.

As soon as he could, he reached out and took her hand in his. It was warm. She was still unconcious. It sent daggers of pain through his heart to see her bruised forehead with blood trickling out of a cut. She was cut up pretty badly all over; the party dress that had made her look so stunning earlier was ripped everywhere. Her legs were bruised so badly he couldn't even look at them.

The ride to the hospital was tense. He sat wordlessly at his love's side, lightly rubbing her hand with his thumb, gazing at her face, willing her to wake up. The paramedics stabilized her condition and set about cleansing her wounds to prevent infection.

When they reached the hospital, all the paramedics but one quickly rushed her down a hall. The last ushered him to the waiting room. Eventually, the rest of them trickled in; Catherine first, then Nicky followed closely by Greg. Finally Warrick came along and announced that two of the day shift CSIs were on the scene, and first reports indicated that there were no signs of foul play; it appeared just to be a freak accident.

So here he was, giant butterflies flitting around in his stomach. His blue eyes were watery but he fiercely blinked back tears. He wasn't going to cry, not now, not here. They said she'd be okay. He'd be strong for her.

But when the doctor came out and gave them positive news, it was all he could do not to collapse from joy and relief.

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Sara woke up and blinked a bit before everything came into focus. Where.. was she? Everything was white and pale blue. She turned her head and looked out the window at the streets below; and that was when it all came flooding back. She couldn't feel hardly any pain now, she supposed she was on painkillers. There was soft beeping from a number of machines near her bed. She smiled softly as she surveyed her surroundings; CSI must have pulled strings to get her in a private room.

"Sara?" she heard a familiar voice croak. He sounded so tired. How long had she been here?

"Grissom," she said. Saying his name was like breathing; it came so easily.

"Sara," he repeated, but this time it wasn't as desperately hopeful as well as tired, it sounded more relieved. "Hi, honey. How are you feeling?"

She couldn't help but laugh. In her drug-induced haze, she barely even caught the "honey", he had uttered it so gently. "I don't really know, thanks to the morphine," she admitted.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "We were all so worried, Sara," he said earnestly.

She felt so hazy that this felt like some kind of dream. Surely it was. She smiled up at him, and noticed his puffy eyes. "Grissom!" she said, surprised. "Have you been crying?"

He rubbed his eyes. "No," he lied defensively.

"Okay," she said agreeably. "How long was I out?" At that thought, her breath caught in her throat; Josh and Grace! She gave a pained look. "Josh? .. Grace?"

He patted the hand he hadn't let go of. "You've only been out about 6 hours. Catherine's mother put the children to bed and is listening for them with the monitor. Don't fret over them, she said she and Lindsey will look after them until you can go home."

She relaxed slightly. "How long have you been here?"

He shrugged. "As long as you have. I rode along in the ambulance."

She smiled again. "Thank you." She was feeling really very tired.

Grissom looked at her, so bruised but upbeat and he could feel his eyes watering again. "You look tired. You should probably rest."

Another sleepy smile. "Okay. Will you be here when I wake up?"

He let a tear slip down his cheek; her eyes were half closed already. "Always, Sara."

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The second time Sara woke up, her head was much clearer and she felt the pain a little more. She blinked and winced and smiled at the sight of Grissom speaking softly with Josh as Lindsey bounced Grace on her lap. Catherine was having a quiet but animated conversation with Greg, and Warrick and Nick were examing some kind of video game magazine. Nick's wife, Lynn, was talking softly with Greg's fiancee, Aya. Sara made out some words from that conversation. They appeared to be talking about children, which put a small grin on Sara's face. Greg as a father would be interesting to watch.

It was such a perfect picture that Sara wished she had a camera on hand. As it was, she took a mental snapshot and watched them all with a smile on her face. She shifted a bit, and groaned --apparently every muscle in her body was sore-- which was when everyone's heads' snapped up. They all crowded around her; Josh leapt up on the bed and Lindsey placed Grace in Sara's arms. Grissom stood back a bit. He was pretty sure she wouldn't really recall their earlier conversation, as she had been pretty out of it. She looked more alert now, and, much to his relief, a little better. Both of her legs had casts from the knees down and her upper left arm was bandaged up. Her bruises weren't as awful now and her eyes, so cloudy and tired 10 hours ago, were bright and alert. He had slept in the chair for a few hours while she slept for the solid 10 until a nurse had gently woken him and suggested some breakfast. When he had returned from the cafeteria with a second cup of coffee and toast in his belly, he had found everyone waiting anxiously. He told them she was better and the nurse let them all in, much to their surprise and delight.

"How are you feeling?" wondered Aya.

"Like crap," said Sara truthfully with a smile. "But I'll be fine."

Everyone laughed a bit and nodded. "We were sure worried, girl," Warrick told her. The rest all nodded their agreement.

Just then, a nurse whose nametag read "Jen" came in. "Okay, okay, enough visitors. Sara's doing well, but I don't need all you scamps jeopardizing that."

They all nodded again and filed out. The little ones fussed a bit, but Lindsey promised she and Nana would look after them. Lynn and Aya both promised to check in on the children, too. Sara smiled and thanked them until only Grissom was left with her.

"Am.. am I gonna be okay?" she asked then. He would be honest, he would know.

He smiled and it told her everything. It was a smile of relief, mostly. But there was something else in his eyes, something that looked like love. She pushed that thought from her head.

"You'll be in a wheelchair for about 2 months. They want to keep you mobile instead of just confining you to your bed. They know you have a family. But they're concerned that you'll be by yourself... so I ... I assured them I'd stay with you for a few months."

Sara's head jerked up and she nearly choked on the water she was sipping. "WHAT!" she yelped.

"Well, Sara, it's logical enough."

"Screw logic, Grissom. You.. living with.. me? And my two young children? Have you lost it! You volunteered to do that?"

He took a step forward. "Why not? I get along well with Joshua and Grace. I get along fine with you. What's the problem?"

"Well, aloud, it sounds just fine, doesn't it? But can you seriously imagine it?" Sara demanded skeptically.

"Yes, I can. We might as well try it, Sara. If not, we can find alternate arrangements."

His argument was reasonable and she felt her sensible side give in to the logic. But her other side, the passionate, emotional side, was having a harder time of it.

Finally, she said, "I.. guess so. We can try it." How would she ever get over Grissom if he were living with her?

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Sara was discharged from Desert Palms Hospital two weeks later. Everyone --Warrick, Catherine, Greg, Nick and even Brass-- came to congratulate her. They all helped bundle her into Grissom's SUV and saw them off in the direction of Sara's apartment building and exchanged pleased smiles. Every single one of them hoped they'd finally figure each other out.

Grissom carefully lifted Sara out of the car and into her wheelchair. She felt like she was on fire as he held her briefly and settled her in.

"Shall I push you?" he inquired amiably.

"No," she said stubbornly. "I've been practicing." She began steadily wheeling herself towards the door to the inside of the building. Grissom supposed speed would come with time.

"Mamaaa!" she heard her boy shriek with delight and just shut her eyes and grinned. Oh, it was so good to be home.

"Hi, guys!" Sara responded enthusiastically.

"Can I borrow your chair, Mama?" wondered Joshua. "It'd make a nice spaceship." He narrowed his eyes and looked it over to assure himself what a fine spaceship it would make after all.

"I'm sorry, baby, I need it for a month or two." Josh frowned. "But we'll see," she hastily added. It was hard denying him things as soon as she got in the house.

As Joshua greeted her, Grissom put his duffel bag on the pull-out couch in the living room and discovered Nana and Grace napping on the other couch. He smirked at the peaceful sight and returned to the entryway, where Josh was filling Sara in on the past few weeks. This year he was attending Grade 1 and appeared to be enjoying it immensely. Sara's children were as bright as their mother.

"Joshua," said Sara, "have you said hello to Dr. Grissom yet?" She added the 'doctor' acidly, and judging by the look he threw her way, he had caught it.

"No, hello, Dr. Grissom."

"You can call me Gil, or just Grissom. Whatever you prefer, Joshua," said Grissom kindly.

"Okay," he responded cheerfully. "I found a caterpillar on the balcony earlier and Nana let me keep it in a jar," he added thoughtfully. "Wanna see?"

Grissom grinned in spite of himself, much to Sara's amusement. "Sure!"

With the men occupied, Sara wheeled into the living room and kissed Grace on her forehead and brushed some brown curls from her face. The toddler shifted and woke Nana, which in turn woke Grace.

"Mama?" the little girl asked sleepily, rubbing her long-lashed eyes.

"Hey, baby," said Sara gently. "I'm home!"

"Mama!" Grace, now more awake, climbed into her lap and threw her little arms around Sara's neck.

"Welcome home, Sara," greeted Catherine's mother. "I'll head out now and finish that nap. Nice to have you back!" The older woman patted Sara's shoulder and left.

Sara glanced in the kitchen. Grace had scooted off her mother's lap and into the kitchen to see what the boys were up to. As she watched Grissom hoist her daughter up into her booster chair and then explain very basic bug facts to the young children, a smile slowly lit her face. Maybe, just maybe, the next few months could work... and even, possibly, be enjoyable.