A/N: Hey y'all! I know I left you hanging on that last one...kinda. But here is what was supposed to be the rest of that chapter. I just cut it up to give everyone a break from the long...long...long chapters. But...no break here!This is a pretty long one.LOL Enjoy!!
------------------------------------------------
Sara woke up when the doctor put a hand on her shoulder.
"Miss Sidle?"
"Huh? Oh, yes doctor?"
"I came to tell you that Hannah can have visitors when you're ready."
"Sara?" Greg opened his eyes and spoke groggily.
"Ah Mr. Sanders, you're awake."
"Hello. Are you here to say we can see Hannah now?"
"Well, Miss Sidle can, but you have to stay in bed."
"But I'm fine." He said sitting up. "Please, you have to let me see her."
"Okay, but I wanted to tell you a few things first."
"What is it?" Greg asked worriedly.
"It's nothing to be alarmed about." The doctor said opening his folder. "After we operated on Hannah, a nurse took photographs for the police department. I don't know anything about the scene, maybe you can help me out so I can accurately make my report."
"Sure. I didn't see much. I was trying to get Hannah out, I didn't take the time to look around too much."
"Well, let's just see okay?" He said as Greg nodded. "Alright, on her back there were several lacerations. In some of them we found tiny pieces of glass imbedded in the wound. Do you know what may have caused that?"
"Well, when I first found her, she was laying on her back, on broken glass. It must have been from a glass or a vase or something."
"Well, there are some bruises on her back, arms and legs, but closer to the lacerations there is one that is larger than the others. What do you think?"
"I honestly don't know. She wasn't able to tell me anything. I arrived to her house after getting a call from her friend. I helped her to a chair and I went to get some of her things. I was upstairs when her father returned with a gun. I think you know what happened next."
"Yes, I think I do. What about the smaller bruises I mentioned?"
"I'm not sure. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I know you probably don't-"
"Wait a minute." Sara interrupted. "You said you have pictures? How much bruising did she have?"
"Well, there was very little bruising on her face. The more extensive bruising was on her back, arms, and legs." He said handing the pictures to Sara.
"Oh my God." She said as her eyes widened. "I remember when I ran into the house, I saw a bat or something near Hannah's body. He must have hit her at least 30 times with it. She must have been so scared." Sara said as tears welled in her eyes. Greg was there as fast as he could reach to wipe them away.
"She has two broken ribs. Another three have only hairline fractures. There was some minor internal bleeding. Luckily she got here just in time for is to stop it. With the extent of her bruising, it is a miracle that the internal bleeding wasn't much worse." The doctor said putting the pictures back into his folder. "She is a very lucky girl."
"Yes she is." Greg said sitting up more. "I want to see her. Please. I want her to know that I'm here and that I'm okay."
"Greg, the doctor doesn't think it's wise for you to move around that much right now."
"Sara you don't understand. She was so worried about her father coming home and finding me, she didn't even think about herself. She wanted me to leave her there alone so her father wouldn't find me. I have to see her so she knows I'm okay."
"Okay, doc what do you think?" Sara said turning to the doctor.
"Well, if he is careful, he can see her."
"Okay. Thank you." Sara said as the doctor left. "Alright, come on Captain Genius. Let's go see Hannah."
"Okay. Can you help me?"
"Of course. One...Two...Three." She said pulling him up to his feet. He sat in a wheelchair so she could push him to Hannah's room.
"Are you Greg Sanders?" A nurse asked as Sara opened the door.
"Yes. The doctor said I could see Hannah now."
"Yes. He told me you were coming."
"How is she?"
"She is still unconscious. She won't wake up for a few hours or so, until the medicine wears off. If you'll excuse me I have to finish my rounds. I'll be back in a while to check on her."
"Okay. Thank you." Greg said watching her leave. Sara pushed him next to the bed.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" She asked placing a hand on his back.
"No, that's okay. You can stay."
"Alright." She said pulling a chair behind Greg. She watched carefully as Greg leaned forward and spoke into Hannah's ear.
"Hey Hannah. I want you to know I'm here okay? I'm fine, and I'm not leaving you. You're safe now. I'm safe and you're safe." He said wiping his tears away. "And I swear to you, I will never let anyone hurt you ever again. I swear to God nobody will ever hurt you again. I promise." He said leaning down and kissing her cheek as he brushed a few stray hairs from her face. "I hope you know how much I love you." Greg whispered as the doctor knocked on the door.
"Excuse me, Mr. Sanders? I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to bring you back to your room. You have to get some rest."
"Can't I stay here?"
"I'm sorry. You can come back in a few hours. The nurse has to change your bandages and she is waiting for you." The doctor said as Sara stood up from her seat.
"Come on Greg. I'll bring you back later."
"Okay." He said leaning back to Hannah. "I'll be back soon. I promise." He said as Sara pushed him out of the room.
------------------------------------------------
A few hours later.........
"Excuse me? I'm here to see Hannah Carson."
"What is your name young man?"
"Aaron Micheals."
"Okay. Come with me please." Aaron followed the nurse to Hannah's room. He walked in and sat down next to her bed.
"Hey. Look at you, you really know how to draw attention to yourself Hannah Carson." He said smiling to himself. After sitting with her for a half an hour, Hannah started to look uncomfortable. Her monitor beeped softly as her heart rate went up. Aaron stood up to see if she was okay, and her eyes shot open. She was breathing heavily as a tear rolled down her cheek. She began to cry heavily as Aaron placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hannah. Hannah it's okay. You're safe. Calm down it's okay." He comforted as she looked up at him.
"Aaron? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I got wind of somebody having a party and I wanted to check it out." He said smiling. "Ya know Hannah, next time don't start a party without me." He noticed she only smiled slightly. "I'm sorry. I know my sense of humor really sucks in situations like this."
"It's okay. I actually feel better already."
"Well, I guess I'm just that kind of guy."
"Yeah you are." Hannah said noticing something on her stomach.
"Lindsey was in here earlier."
"She saw me like this? She must have been scared."
"The doctors brought her in earlier so she would see you before...before the rest of your bruises began to show."
"I'm glad for that." Hannah said picking up the small dog.
"So what's the deal with this?"
"It's Tiger. She helps when you have a bad dream."
"Uh huh. Right."
"No really, it works. Well most of the time." Hannah said thinking about the nightmare she just had. "Where is Greg?"
"He's okay. He's resting right now. I think he was here earlier."
"Resting? What happened? My dad didn't hurt him did he?"
"Hannah, Greg was shot too."
"Oh God."
"He's fine. It was in the shoulder. He is alright though." Aaron said as Hannah started talking a mile a minute.
"No but I told him to leave, I told him that my dad would hurt him. And he didn't listen. God, he never listens to me and-" Hannah was silenced when she felt Aaron's lips touch hers. She pulled back and Aaron sat down. "Where did that come from?" Hannah asked still in shock.
"Well I had to get you to shut up somehow." He said as his smile straightened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"It's okay... I uh don't really know what to say. But as for shutting me up, well, it worked. Very well in fact." She said smiling.
"Trust me, I hadn't planned on it, it just kind of happened." He said blushing. Hannah gave him her 'uh huh, right' look which made him blush even more. "Okay, so maybe I had planned it...a little. But I didn't plan on it to happen here, at this moment, or in this kind of situation..." Aaron said trailing off.
"Aaron! Man, you're lucky it's so hard for me to move. Or I would have to return the favor." She said blushing. "It's okay really."
"Why are you so cool about this? If I had tried that last week you would've chewed my head off." He said looking straightly at her as a deep blush rushed to her cheeks. "Uh huh, you liked that didn't you." He said giving her a sly smile.
"Well....I ...uh..."
"Hey guys." Catherine said poking her head in. "Wow, it's wicked serious in here."
"Hi Catherine." 'Thank you Catherine! Yes I'm saved!' Hannah thought as she smiled.
"Hey. You're awake."
"Yes. Can you thank Lindsey for me? For Tiger I mean."
"Sure. Grissom took her home to get some sleep." Catherine said as Aaron stood up.
"I'm gonna get going. Hannah, we can finish our conversation later." He said smiling.
"Bye Aaron." Hannah said as Aaron left.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing." Hannah answered quickly.
"Oookay." Catherine said as Sara pushed Greg's wheelchair into the room.
"Hannah. I passed Aaron in the hall and he said you were awake. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Uh, I'm going to leave you guys alone to talk." Catherine said walking to the door. "You get some rest."
"I'll come with you." Sara said turning around. "I'll come back in a bit."
"Okay. Bye Sara." Hannah said as Greg pulled his chair next to her bed.
---------------------
Meanwhile in the hall......
"Aaron! Hey Aaron hold on a second!" Catherine called down the hall.
"Oh, hey Catherine. What's up?"
"I want to talk to you about Hannah."
"Okay. What about Hannah?"
"Can you come down to the station with me? Please? This is an ongoing investigation and I need to make this official."
"Investigation? Don't you already know what happened?"
"Yes, but we have to file papers and make everything legal. Please Aaron, it would really help."
"Okay. If it will help Hannah, I'll do it." Aaron said as he left with Catherine and Sara.
-------------------------
"Greg, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt." Hannah said reaching up and putting her hand on his sling.
"It's okay. It wasn't your fault."
"But Greg, he could have killed you. I couldn't live with myself if that had happened." Hannah said as she started to cry.
"Shh, it's okay. It's okay." Greg said taking her in his arms...arm... and comforting her. "It's all okay. I promise."
"I'm so scared Greg. What if we don't catch him? What if he tries to hurt me again? He didn't kill me this time, but he probably will next time. I'm so scared."
"Hannah, there's no reason to be scared anymore."
"What are you talking about? Did they catch him?"
"No. Hannah, your dad... he's dead Hannah."
"What? How?"
"Sara told me after she and everyone else found us, Brass and Warrick found your dad. After he shot us, he...he turned the gun on himself."
"Oh God." Hannah said with a blank expression on her face.
"Hannah? Are you okay?"
"I don't know how to feel right now. I'm almost...glad. He's my father and I'm glad he's dead. Is that wrong?"
"No, it's not wrong. I think you are just relieved. You know he can't hurt you anymore." Greg said as a worried look spread across Hannah's face. A woman came into the room and introduced herself.
"Hannah? I'm Diana Brooks. I'm a social worker for the hospital. May I talk to you for a minute?"
"Okay. Can Greg stay with me? Please?"
"Uh...alright." She said sitting down. "Hannah, as I'm sure you've been told, your father died. I looked at your file, and I see that you have no other family to speak of. That means that you will have to be placed in foster care until we can find permanent arrangements for you." She said as Hannah started to breathe heavily. Tears welled in her eyes, and it didn't go unnoticed by Greg.
"Ms. Brooks, can I talk to you outside for a second?" Greg said backing his wheelchair away from the bed. He turned to Hannah. "Don't worry." He whispered as the two adults went out side.
-----------------------------
Meanwhile......
"Aaron, how long have you known about this?" Catherine asked handing him a glass of water.
"Hannah told me when it first started."
"When was that?"
"It was just before Jeremy died. Jeremy was more of a father to her than a brother. He protected her."
"Aaron, I have Hannah's laptop here with me. I wanted to try to keep everything to myself or inside the team since Hannah works here, but I can't do it confidentially without her password. I wanted to ask you before I took it to one of our techs, do you think you might know her password?"
"No. I'm sorry. But knowing Hannah, it is something obvious, but something her father would never think of."
"Like what?" Catherine said pulling out a pen and paper.
"Well, I don't know. You could try Jeremy. That might be it." Aaron said as Catherine's head shot up.
"Wait, what is her mother's name?"
"Amanda."
"Okay. Thanks. I have a feeling that might be it."
"Look, I have to get home. That is, unless I have to stay."
"No it's okay. Thank you for your help Aaron." Catherine said as Aaron headed for the door.
"Catherine? Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah sure."
"Why didn't you ask Hannah about this?"
"Because I'm afraid she wouldn't tell everything. I know from experience, even after the danger is over, you still may not feel like talking about it. It's like the person is still there hovering over you. It can be pretty scary."
"I guess so. Catherine? Please promise me that you will do your best to make sure she stays out of foster care. I don't know why, but that is what scares her more than anything. She just... I don't know. I just... I don't want her to be hurt anymore."
"You really care about her don't you Aaron?"
"Yeah. She's my best friend. No matter what her father said, she never deserved it. Not any of it. She is the best person I know. I want to help her anyway I can. I, uh should get going." Aaron said turning around and opening the door.
"Sure. Go ahead." Catherine said trying not to cry. Aaron's care for Hannah reminded her of Grissom when she was still with Eddie. He told her he would go to the ends of the earth to protect her and Lindsey, and he kept his word. She was happy that Hannah had friends like Aaron and Greg to protect her.
--------------------------
Greg was in the hall with the social worker and he looked into the room through the window.
"Ms. Brooks, you can't put her into foster care. She doesn't want to go through that. Isn't there something else you can do."
"Look, Mr. Sanders, I know you care about her, but you can't take care of her. I've done some checking on you too. You have no room in your apartment and you work night shift. You couldn't possibly be able to take care of her."
"I am the only thing she has left."
"Look, unless you can figure something out, I'm afraid I will have to put her in foster care. Even if only temporarily."
"Hey Greg. What's going on?" Sara asked walking up to him.
"Hey Sara. This is Ms. Brooks she is a social worker for the hospital." Greg said as the two women shook hands. "She wants Hannah to go into foster care."
"I know you feel it isn't the best thing for Hannah Mr. Sanders but I assure you it is. We need to talk to Hannah about this." She said as the three turned to the door and saw Hannah on the phone.
-------------------
"Hello? Aaron?"
"Hannah? What's up? Do you miss me already?"
"Aaron this is serious."
"What's wrong?"
"There is a lady here and she says I have to go to foster care. Aaron I don't want to go."
"Well where is she now?"
"She is in the hall with Greg. I think I see Sara too. But it doesn't look good. Aaron, I don't want to go, I would rather be back with my dad again!"
"Hannah, after last night, I don't think you mean that." He said trying to comfort her. "Aaron! Come on! Dinner is ready!" Hannah heard his mother calling to him. "Look, I have to go. I'll take care of it. Don't worry."
"What are you going to do?"
"Just trust me. I'll come by later if I can. If not, I'll see you in the morning. Don't worry. I promise I'll help." He said hanging up. The social worker walked in and Greg and Sara stayed in the hall way.
"Hannah? I need to talk to you."
"What about Greg? And Sara? Is she out there?"
"Yes. They're talking. They will come in, in a minute. Look, Hannah, I know you aren't too keen on the idea of foster care, and I'm sure you have your reasons, but it is the only alternative right now. I'm very sorry."
"Please, I can stay at my house by myself, I can take care of myself."
"Hannah, you aren't old enough to stay by yourself. I'm sorry. But, I have found a couple who is interested in taking care of you until you are out of high school and longer if you need."
"No! Please I don't want to do this!" Hannah yelled as Sara pushed Greg in.
"Hannah, Sara and I have come up with an idea." Greg said pulling himself close to her. "We are going to look for an apartment together. It will be close to school and it will have a room for you too. So the three of us can live together."
"Good. I mean we can do that right? And I don't have to go to foster care right?"
"No. Hannah, it will take some time. We have to find a place we can afford, then there is paperwork to be filled out. And legally you can't stay with us until we have a place with a separate bedroom for you. I'm sorry. It will only be for a little while."
"No! What if the people don't want me to leave? Or what if they are like my dad and they hit me?"
"Hannah that won't happen. I promise."
"How can you be sure? You think I haven't thought about this? I thought about this after my brother died. I read about it and there are thousands of cases of abused kids in foster care. I don't want to go. I won't!"
"Hannah-"
"No! I swear on my brother's grave, I'll never go!"
"Look, if you had a place to stay, where you could have your own room until arrangements could be made for you else where, we wouldn't have to do this. But you don't. Hannah, I'm extremely sorry." Diana said standing up. "I'll leave you alone to talk about it." She said leaving the room. Greg turned to Hannah and saw the tears in her eyes.
"Hannah, listen to me, I know you don't like it, but you have to go. There's nothing I can do."
"Greg, I already told you I'm not going!"
"Hannah please-"
"Just go away!" Hannah screamed as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Fine. Whatever."
"Greg." Sara tried to stop him but he just shrugged her away and rolled himself outside. Sara pulled her chair to where Greg was and stared at Hannah. "Hannah, maybe you should listen to Greg. He cares about you so much. And he would never intentionally put you in harms way." Sara said as Hannah just turned away and looked out the window at the sunset. They stayed silent for a moment and Hannah finally spoke.
"I had a friend. Her name was Mandy. When we were in third grade, her mother was killed in a car accident. Nobody knew where her father was, so they put her in foster care." She said sniffling. "After the first week, she told me they were mean to her and they yelled at her. I asked her how and she said they hit her. Two weeks later, she showed me bruises on her back and arms. I was afraid because my dad was yelling at me more. And I was afraid of him hitting me like that. She told our teacher and two days later she didn't come to school. Everyone was told that she was in an accident with her foster parents and she was killed. But I knew they killed her because she was so scared after she told. When she told me, she said if they found out she told, they would kill her. After Jeremy died, I thought about telling the police about my dad, but I did some reading and there were over three thousand cases of child abuse in foster care in Nevada alone. That is why I stayed at home. I told myself, why tell the police and risk getting hurt by other people, when I can just keep my mouth shut and live with my dad til I'm eighteen."
"Hannah, I'm sorry." Sara said wiping the tears from her eyes. "We will figure something out. I promise. I'm going to see Greg. You get some rest and I'll have Greg come see you later okay?"
"Okay. Thanks for listening Sara."
"No problem." She said walking into the hall way where she saw Greg sitting next to one of the chairs along the wall with is head in his hands. "Greg? Are you okay?" Sara said as Greg just looked up at her.
"A few years ago, well, six years ago, Jeremy and I were working together as interns at the lab. He hated leaving Hannah alone. One day we came home and Hannah's father had her pinned to the couch. We walked in just as he was about to hit her....."
------
FLASHBACK...
"Yeah man. That was a slam dunk case." Jeremy said opening the door. He ran to the living room when he heard ten year old Hannah crying. "Hannah?" He called walking through the house. "Dad! What are you doing? Let go of her!" He said pushing his father away. "What are you doing! Are you crazy? What did she do to you?" He yelled, his southern accent much like his father's, as Hannah jumped off the couch and ran to Greg who was standing in the corner.
"She made a mess all in the kitchen and left it there for me to pick up."
"No I swear! I couldn't reach the broom, and I got a chair to reach for it and I knocked over the cereal."
"Don't talk back to me! You were raised better than that!" He said trying to get to her. Jeremy grabbed his father's arm and Greg stepped in front of Hannah.
"Dad, it was an accident. She didn't mean to do it. Don't worry about it alright? Just drop it okay?"
"Okay. But you had better get in there and pick up that mess young lady. Or you'll be sorry." He said walking upstairs.
"Yes sir." She said poking her head out from behind Greg. Once her father was gone, Jeremy walked over to her.
"Hey sunflower. Are you okay?" He said hugging her. She nodded quietly. "Come on. Let's go get cleaned up."
"Hey Hannah, what you say we get some ice cream when we're finished?" Greg asked hugging her.
"Okay."
"Come on. Let's go." He said following his friends into the kitchen.
END FLASHBACK....
-----------------
"After that, he didn't hit her. That is until Jeremy died." Greg said as he saw tears in Sara's eyes. "Jeremy loved Hannah so much. He was more than a brother. He treated her better than anybody else he knew. He was more of a father figure." Greg said wiping away his own tears. "I remember, after the car accident, just before he died, Jeremy told me to take care of Hannah and to make sure nothing ever happened to her. I promised him, but I couldn't do it. After his funeral, his father said he never wanted to see me again. He said I killed his son, he told me that I should have been the one who died, since I was driving. And I think about it everyday. And the more I think about it, the more I think he was right."
"No Greg, he wasn't. Don't ever say that. If you had died, I never would have known you, and we may never have met Hannah. So much would be different. You are the one who told Grissom he should try to get closer to Catherine after Eddie died, and look at how happy they are now."
"My best friend asked me on his deathbed to take care of Hannah. To protect her, and now look at us. She almost died because I wasn't there. I couldn't protect her. I'll bet if Jeremy could come back for just five minutes, he would come and beat the crap out of me for all of this. I broke the most important promise I made to him by letting Hannah get hurt."
"Greg, you saved her life. You have been protecting her this whole time. Without you, she would probably be dead."
"She gets beaten within an inch of her life, she gets shot and almost bleeds to death, and she finds out she has to go to foster care which I might add, she would rather die than have to do, and you call that protecting her? I haven't been protecting her, I've been helping him kill her. Just a lot slower than he would have liked it. Did you know that I am part, no, the whole reason for her getting hurt last night? He hit her because she was defending me." Greg said rasing his voice slightly.
"Stop it! Okay just stop! You can't put yourself down like this Greg! You have done everything you can to protect her. Sure, he still hit her, but you were there to help her get through it afterward. And I know she is grateful for that Greg." Sara said comforting him.
"She's right Greg. I am grateful to you." Hannah said from behind them. She walked slowly over, wincing with each baby step, and stood in front of him.
"Hannah. I'm so sorry. I know you don't want to go through foster care, and I will do everything I can to prevent that. I am so sorry."
"It's okay. I know you never meant for any of this to happen. And I know you are only trying to protect me."
"Hannah, you don't know how much I wish I could go back and make all of this go away. You don't know how much I wish Jeremy was here. I'm positive that none of this would have ever happened."
"Everything happens for a reason, and when it does, we have to hold our heads high and try our best to get through it together."
"Where did you hear that?"
"Someone told me that after Jeremy died. A man that I am proud to call my brother." She said smiling. Greg pulled her into a hug. She winced as he put his hand on her back. He quickly brought it back up. "It's okay Greg." She said as he gently placed his hand on her back. She started crying heavily and Greg whispered comforting words in her ears.
"I love you kiddo. I love you more than anything in the world."
"I love you too." She said as they stayed and held each other close.
Sara watched with tears in her eyes. She had never known about this side of Greg. He was, at work, goofy, loud, and sometimes even annoying, but here with Hannah, he was the most caring and loving person she had ever met. She was glad Hannah had changed her perspective of Greg. If not, she would probably still be making fun of him. She thanked God for letting her get to know the real Greg. She knew how much she loved him now.
-------------------
A/N: So? I now it may sound like it to some people, but it isn't over yet. But, don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen. As far as I know. Most likely not. Anywhoo, I hope you liked it! Check for updates!
Sweet Jorja