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Chapter 7

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The first thing Grissom saw once he was in the room was the curtain around the bed partially pulled back. He could hear a heart monitor singing it's lonely tune and Sara's slow, steadybreathing, meaning she was probably asleep. Pulling back the curtain, he was surprised how much she had changed. In her month and a half away from Vegas, her hair had grown longer and darker, but her complexion was paler.

'That may just be from the lighting, though,' he thought.

His eyes darted around like he was at a crime scene. He noticed the IV in her right arm and her broken left wrist wrapped in an ACE bandage. She had bruises on her arms, cheeks and neck. What worried him the most was the gauze covering her left temple, which had not been changed for he could only guess how long. It broke his heartto see her like this, laying helpless in a hospital bed hurting. He sat in the chair next to her bed and put his head in his hands, mad at himself for making her leave her home in search of the love and acceptance she didn't know she had.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a low groan and a whimper. He looked up to see Sara tossing and turning in her sleep. She shifted again, wincing in pain, this time whispering something so softly that he couldn't quite make it out. He moved his chair closer to the bed and took her hand in his, hoping to calm her. Instead, she called out louder, shifting back and forth as if trying to escape some dangerous fate. He let go of her and stepped back in guilt and shock at her words.

Again, she cried out, "Grissom!"

A tear escaped as he sat again in the chair. "I'm here," he whispered. "I'm right here, Sara."

"It's strange, isn't it?"

Grissom whirled around to see Susan Barnes standing in the doorway. Coming in and adjusting Sara's IV, both watched as she began to calm.

"She was unconscious when the paramedics got there. Someone had found her on the side of the road, lying in the snow with no jacket. Her clothes were torn and she was covered in bruises, bleeding from the temple. They still don't know how long she was lying there... Anyways, she's been here for three days and she still hasn't woken up, but every once in a while she'll have these fits. Adjusting the morphine is the only way to calm her."

When a million different possibilities came racing to his mind, Grissom had to push his investigative nature aside. Never taking his eyes off of Sara, he took a deep breath and asked, "Who found her?"

"The police officer at the scene said that a couple traveling through had stalled their car. Whe they got out to check under the hood, they saw her in the ditch."

He sighed, sinking deeper into his chair. This was too much to handle.

"She has a concussion, doesn't she?"

Susan nodded.

"So she may never wake up..."

The nurse gave a sad smile. "There's always hope."

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Days passed. Grissom slept in the chair by Sara's bed, no longer bothered by the constant ins and outs of the doctors and nurses. If anything, it was comforting to know that she had so much attention. He passed the time by talking to her, telling her stories of things that had happened while she was gone, and sharing memories of what now seemed so long ago.

It was now the third day since he'd arrived. He'd been comfortably sleeping in his chair when he was awakened by movement beside him. Blinking a few times to adjust his eyes to the light in the room, he looked over to see Sara growing restless agin. As the nurses had taken to letting him try to calm her, he knew they'd be alone. He took her hand and stroked it, coupling the action with words of comfort, hoping to God that this time she might awaken.

"It's alright, Sara. I'm here," he whispered. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

For a while, it seemed to be working. Her shifting slowed and became less violent, her breathing relaxed, her heart rate dropped, and her whispers faded, leaving Grissom relieved and filled with hope for the coming days.

But a few minutes later it started again, worse then before. Her head turned back and forth, her body thrashed as if she were having a siezure, and her whispers turned into cries so loud that he was surprised they couldn't be heard down the hall. Nothing he tried worked. His words of comfort were lost in the din, and every time she called out, his heart broke a little more. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled back, but her hand clenched so tightly to his that he couldn't let go. He moved to adjust the morphine. He didn't get the chance.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright, eyes wideopen and breathing heavily, only to fall back onto one elbow and grasp her wrapped wrist in pain. Looking around wildly to try and firgure out where she was, she was taken by surprise when she finally realized that someone else was in the room. When she saw who it was, her heart wrenched and her brain went haywire.

"Grissom?" she gasped, still trying to control her breathing. "What the hell are you doing here? ... And where the hell am I?"

He managed to move away from the IV and sit back down in the chair. "Mercy Hospital in Richmond," he said quickly swiping at a tear of mixed emotion. "You've been here for almost a week. They'll want to know that you're awake..."

"No," she said quickly, reaching out her good hand to stop him from pressing the call button. "Not yet... I know what happened was terrible, but you don't belong here, and I just want to go home, okay?"

At this Grissom perked up. "The team will be thrilled. They miss you so much, Sara, and-"

"Vegas is not my home anymore," she cut in, her voice cracking. "I'm fine here. My handler trusts me, and I am this close to solving the biggest case of my career..."

Grissom was hurt. Again, the trust issue had reared its ugly head and opened up the chasm between them even wider.

"Sara..."

"No, Grissom. I don't want to hear it! Just answer my question... What are you doing here?"

All emotion draining from his face, he answered sofltly, "Nurse Barnes called me, saying that I was the only listed next of kin."

She sighed. "I knew I forgot something."

"Sara, please, just listen-"

"No, you listen: I came out here to heal, to put the whole thing behind me. But I can't do that with you here... Just- Please, just go."

Grissom was cut to the core. Happiness he could have handled easily, even being unwelcome was expected, but to be completely shunned was beyond his power to understand. But, he'd promised to end the hurt, and if this was what it would take to make her happy, he would do it.

"Alright," he sighed. "I have my cell... You know the number."

Getting up from the chair, he took the letter from his breast pocket and laid it on the bedside table. The tear that graced his cheekbone went unnoticed; she had turned her back to him, and was now staring resolutely out the window.

On his way out the door, he took one final bacward glance, and though he couldn't see her face, he knew there was a tear in her eye as well. With a broken heart and a deep breath, he uttered the two hardest words he'd ever had to say:

"Goodbye, Sara."

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