A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope I didn't leave everyone hanging too long. I really didn't mean to have such an evil cliffhanger ending on the last chapter. It just kind of worked out that way (grins sheepishly) . I hope no one is too mad about how I left chapter 6 hanging. Anyway, here's what happens next. Enjoy everyone! Oh, I just wanted to add: Denese25, it's not awful at all to find it 'refreshing' that Grissom is the injured one this time. Some of us kind of like it that way! It's only fair that he get some comfort, too. For more wonderful and evil Grissom h/c, you should check out the fics by my buds, Grissom (the other Grissom) and DaVinci13! They're great at that stuff! Also, I tend to seriously damage Gris in everything I write, too! So, here we go…
Chapter 7: No News
Sara had been on the verge of losing her last thread of logic and control when, finally, the paramedics had burst through a door and rushed around the corner toward her and Grissom. They reached them, and began immediately working on the still entomologist.
"Hurry! You've got to help him! Sara yelled hysterically. "Do something! He's not breathing!"
The two medics sped around him in a whirlwind—checking vital signs, inserting IVs, tending to his leg, placing a rescue mask over his face and squeezing the bulb to force breath into his lungs.
Before Sara could even react to what was happening, Grissom was lifted onto a gurney and whisked away amid the paramedics' urgent shouts: "Run those IVs wide open!" "We need pressure on that leg!" "We're losing his pulse! Go! Go!"
The other CSI remained there, barely registering the fact that the gunshots had finally stopped. She looked around in a daze, and then glanced down at herself; all she saw was red—the crimson of Grissom's blood covering her clothes and skin. She stared at her hands, saturated with scarlet smears, and she began to shake. Then the tears came, and she lifted her hands to her eyes to try to contain them.
"Sara?" Brass called, jogging towards her. "Sara, are you okay?" He had just gotten off the radio after learning that the police had finally nabbed the sniper, clearing the area.
"You okay, kiddo?" he asked, reaching her. He got no response, and she looked hopeless and lost, so he put his hands on her arms and tried again. "Sara?" he said softly. She still didn't say anything, but he pulled her into a tight embrace and she gave into it, collapsing against him. "It's okay, honey. It's okay," he reassured. "Everything will be fine now."
He thought he felt her shaking her head, not believing his words, but he just kept holding on. She sobbed silently against him until she was spent; he just waited her out, not making a sound, rocking her slightly. When she had calmed down, she pulled away and their gazes met. "He'll be all right, Sara," Brass said, trying to sound confident.
"You…didn't see him," she whispered hoarsely. "He looked…he wasn't breathing, Jim. They rolled him away and…"
"I saw the paramedics working on him," Jim explained. "They were moving really fast, Sara, and they took him to the hospital. I'm sure he's all right. Why don't we head over there and see?"
After a moment of hesitation, Sara nodded.
"Okay. Good. Let's go," Jim said. "They took him to Desert Palm." He helped her up and put his arm around her as they began walking. As they left the alcove, he couldn't help but notice the large smears and puddles of drying redness spread all over the asphalt in the small area. He had already seen the amount of blood covering Sara, and thinking that it had all flowed out of Grissom scared Brass badly; but he tried to think positively as he helped Sara across the parking lot.
They were met at the perimeter of the yellow tape by three worried criminalists rushing towards them.
"What happened? What's going on?" Catherine demanded.
"We heard that an officer was down," Nick put in quickly. "Who was it? What…?" He stopped abruptly as they all noticed Sara's appearance.
"Oh, my God," Catherine gasped. "Sara…"
Warrick silently stepped to Sara's other side, taking her free arm.
"Sara, are you okay?" Nick asked nervously. "What happened?"
She stared blankly, remaining unresponsive.
Catherine and Nick surrounded her, and they all moved together, continuing toward the cars.
"Sara?" Catherine tried again.
"Come on, talk to us," Warrick pleaded. They all couldn't help but stare at the red stickiness all over their friend.
Brass was about to explain the situation, when Sara finally blurted, "It's not my blood."
The other CSIs exchanged puzzled glances as Sara's words slowly sank in.
"Grissom…" Catherine breathed; the way she said his name wasn't quite a question, but her reluctance to believe that he was the victim was obvious.
Brass nodded solemnly.
"Where is he? What happened? Catherine added immediately.
"He's at the hospital," Brass explained. "We're heading there now." He deliberately left out the details of Grissom's condition.
"Well, we're all coming with you," Catherine stated, speaking for the group.
"Sure. He's at Desert Palm. How did you guys hear, anyway?"
"It was all over the police frequency," Nick answered. "But we didn't know who got hurt. We came here as soon as we figured out where everything went down."
"Didn't Ecklie tell you guys?" Brass wondered.
"No," Catherine replied bluntly.
"Well, he knew about it from the beginning. He knew it was Grissom who'd been hit," Jim pointed out. "I would've thought he would have let you guys know."
"Well, he didn't," Catherine said, her ire rising. "I can't believe Ecklie! He's such a…" She left the rest of the sentence hanging, allowing the others to fill in their own colorful phrase. Then she calmed down, the anger draining away, her concern for Grissom filling the space her fury had left.
Warrick had been nodding along with Catherine's tirade. "Let's plot our revenge on Ecklie later, huh?" he suggested. "Right now Gris needs us."
His simple sentiment served to immediately sober the small group and focus them on what needed to be done.
"Right," Brass agreed. "Let's go." He protectively tightened his hold on Sara's shoulders. "You're with me, Sara." As he expected, there was no response from the shell-shocked CSI, but she didn't resist as he kept them moving to his car.
As they drove in silence, getting closer to the hospital, Brass looked over at Sara. She was sitting there silently, staring down at her blood-stained hands as they lay in her lap.
"No news is good news, right, kid?" he said in an overly optimistic tone. Getting nothing from her, he picked up his cell phone and shook it a little, hoping to get her to look his way. "I told them to call me right away if anything happened to Gil, and there's been no calls, so that means he must be okay, right?"
"I hope so," she whispered, her eyes still trained downward.
Brass nodded, and then turned his gaze to the road and drove off.
To be continued…