Title: Entreaty

Thanks for reading this and thankyou to the person who reviewed my last chapter-your comments always make me smile.

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By the time Elaine and Nan arrived at the hospital, Mattie had woken up and left for the cafeteria with Sara.

Grissom, Tom, Alex and Claire were sitting in the waiting room when Elaine breezed into the room and made a beeline for Tom, ignoring everyone else, much to Grissom's relief. Nan trailed in after Elaine and smiled weakly at Grissom before falling into the arms of her son Alex.

"Where is Andy?" Elaine asked Tom with a hurried air. "Has he gained consciousness yet?"

"Calm down, Elaine, take a deep breath," said Tom as he took her elbows in his hands and stared into her eyes. "He has not gained consciousness, but the doctors think that he looks good considering what he has been through. He is going to pull through this without a doubt."

"I want to see him," insisted Elaine. "Take me to him, Tom."

Tom let go of her elbows and looked over to Nan. "I'll take both of you in to see him, but I want you to be prepared for the lines running all over him."

"He's alive, that's what matters," Nan said with shaking voice. She reached up and touched Alex's face and did not stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks. Elaine looked over at Alex for the first time since entering the room and her face paled.

"I don't think that it's a good idea for you to be here, Alex. It could be confusing for Andy," Elaine could not keep the irritation from her voice as she stared at Kyles' identical twin and added as almost an afterthought. "And Mattie."

Alex frowned and weighed her words. "Mattie has already seen me and appears to be okay with my presence," Alex did not add that it had been hard for Mattie when he first saw him, but that since then the boy did not appear to have any problem being in the same room with him. "I'll stay away from Andy until he asks to see me."

Claire wrapped her arms around her husbands waist and gave Elaine a hard stare. It was hard enough for Alex to lose his twin, but for Elaine to speak to him in the way she had was too much for her to endure. Alex squeezed her waist and gave her a warm smile.

"I know that it's hard for you to see me, Elaine, and I respect that emotion. Claire and I will leave as soon as we know for certain that Andy is going to be fine." He watched Elaine nod and leave the room with Tom, who patted his back on the way from the room. Nan hung back and hugged Alex close to her and whispered in his ear.

"I'm glad that you are here, son, and I hope that you don't leave until I can spend some more time with you and Claire."

"Thank you," Alex replied and wiped at the corner of his own eyes as Nan followed after Tom and Elaine.

Turning to Grissom, Alex shrugged his shoulders. "Family."

Claire laced her fingers with Alex's fingers and smiled warmly at Grissom. "Would you like to come with us to the cafeteria to grab something to eat?"

"No thanks. I'm going to wait here for Sara and Mattie to return. I'm really not hungry."

Grissom settled back into his chair with a newspaper and the crossword puzzle and pondered the fact that Elaine had not even asked about Mattie and how he was doing with all of this.

"Hey there, Gris."

Grissom looked away from the puzzle to find Sara, holding a wrapped sandwich and a fountain drink, one eyebrow arched and her head tilted to the side. Holding the sandwich and drink out to Grissom she smiled.

"Roast beef with the works," Sara said to him with a small roll of her eyes. She did not eat the stuff, but she could buy it for Grissom who did. Mattie had spent the whole lunch time quizzing her about being a vegetarian, a fact that he had learned from Greg earlier that evening. She had given him honest answers and found herself amused that he was so fascinated with her choice.

"Thank you Sara," Grissom took the sandwich and smiled up and into her eyes. Shifting his weight he placed the drink on the small table on his right side and was about to place the newspaper aside when he felt it snatched from his lap. Startled, he held the sandwich in the air and gave Sara a questioning look.

"I'll do the puzzle while you eat," Sara informed him with a smirk. She was not good at waiting in hospitals and the only thing keeping her from losing her mind was being with Grissom and Mattie. "You want to give it a try, Mattie?"

"No way," Mattie pointed at the paper and asked softly. " Is it okay if I read the funnies, though?"

"Sure," Pulling the cartoon section out of the paper Sara handed it to the little boy and smiled fondly at him before turning to the puzzle that Grissom had started. She looked back over at the scowling man. "Pen?"

Without a word, Grissom handed her a pen and mumbled something about her taking away his puzzle. Hiding her grin, Sara tried to read the first line, but thoughts of the past few days kept swimming past her minds eye.

A soft whisper broke into her reverie. "You want me to help you with this puzzle, Miss Sidle?"

Sara smiled and turned her head slightly to look into Grissom's smiling face. "No, Dr. Grissom, I can manage while you finish eating your sandwich."

Holding up his empty hands, Grissom shook his head. "I finished eating," he pushed a strand of her hair away from her face. "You have been staring at the paper with a far away expression. I was almost afraid to disturb you."

Sara did not have the chance to respond when she heard angry voices coming from the corridor. She recognized one of the voices as both she and Grissom moved quickly to the doorway to peer out into the hall where they witnessed a red faced Elaine poking the chest of an equally flustered Scott Hanson. Tom and Nan looked on helplessly as the confrontation grew louder.

"What are you doing here?" Elaine was shouting at Scott as he tried to explain his motives. "How dare you show up here, where my son is lying in a hospital bed because of your horrible son and ask me how he is doing?"

"Elaine, please, I'm sorry, I had no idea that Paul and his cousins would do such a thing to Kyle and Andy," Scott made a motion to touch her face and several eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"What's he doing here?" Mattie asked. He moved in between Grissom and Sara but made no move to fly into the middle of the argument like he did only a few days before when they had brought him home from school to find Scott and Elaine in a similar situation. Grissom placed a hand on the boys shoulder and worried about his lack of emotion.

Noticing Matties presence, Tom moved forward to stand between the arguing duo and politely asked Scott to leave. "This isn't the place or time for you to be here, Hanson, and my family would like some privacy."

Scott appeared to notice the bystanders for the first time as he took in the faces of each one before turning back to Elaine. "I hope that Andy recovers and that you will forgive me someday." With those words, he fled the hallway leaving a shaken Elaine staring after him.

There is a story there. Sara thought to herself as she placed a hand on Matties other shoulder.

Nan had spied Mattie when he walked from the waiting room and hurried over to give him a big hug. "Hey sweetie! Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Mattie said wrapping his own arms around Nan. "Did you see my brother?"

"He looks really good, Mattie. I'm sure that by morning he will be waking up and asking to see you." Nan assured him. She glanced over her shoulder at Elaine who had moved over to speak with Tom, her attention not focused on her younger son.

"Why don't you say hi to your mom, Mattie? I'm sure that she would like that." Nan lovingly squeezed his shoulders and nodded towards Elaine.

Frowning slightly, Mattie shook his head. "She's busy. I'll see her later on."

Catching Sara trying to stifle a yawn, Grissom made a quick decision. "I'm taking Sara and Mattie home so they can get some solid sleep. Nan? Would you like to come with us?"

Nan gave him a quizzical smile. "No, thank you dear, I would like to spend time with Alex." She looked at Mattie and her smile faltered. "I think that it would be good idea for you to go home with your Uncle Gil." She did not bother glancing over at Elaine. Her daughter-in-law had not been herself for some time now and it was probably not in Mattie's best interest for him to stay with her at this time.

"Elaine? Is that okay with you if I take Mattie home with me and Sara?" Grissom asked the distraught woman who had yet to acknowledge her middle child. He watched Elaine flick her eyes over to her son as if seeing him in the room for the first time and she nodded.

"That would be a good idea. Thank you," Elaine turned away from them and left the room without a word to Mattie who looked like he was struggling to keep his composure.

"Call me if there is any change?" Grissom asked Tom as they each tried to push Elaine's treatment of Mattie to the back of their minds for his sake.

"Sure thing, Gil. Goodnight Sara, Mattie," Tom hugged the little boy and tried to assure him that Elaine was in a emotional distress and it had nothing to do with him.

They left the hospital and were walking towards the parking deck when Mattie tried to lighten the mood. "Do you have any clothes that fit me Uncle Gil? I kinda forgot to pack a bag when I left."

Sara chuckled and reached over to punch Grissom lightly on the shoulder when he tried to sputter a response. "It's okay, Mattie, I know of a store that's open twenty four seven and we can stop to pick up a few items for you." Sara tosseled the boys hair as she spoke and shot a grin over at a relieved Grissom.

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Walmart was a busy spot and a place that Grissom had never stepped foot inside of before tonight. He looked befuddled by the activity and so unsure of himself that Sara felt the urge to grab hold of his hand and lace his fingers in her own.

"We should get a buggy," she suggested. They weaved their way through the store until they found the childrens department and the boys clothing section.

Watching Sara pick up a t-shirt and ask Mattie what he thought, Grissom shook his head at how naturally she fell into the role.

"I like that t-shirt," Mattie was saying as she placed the shirt in the buggy and reached for another one. "I only need one to sleep in and maybe I could wear it tommorrow?"

"It's no problem," she assured him as she spied a rack of nicer dress shirts and made a beeline for them. "You'll need several shirts if you stay here in Vegas for the next few days."

Mattie gave Grissom a helpless look which the man shrugged away with a smile as he advised. "When a woman decides to buy you clothes then you shouldn't stand in her way."

Mattie stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and tried to smile. "You don't have to buy me anything but the basics. I really could have slept in one of your shirts and washed this one."

Grissom started to reply when his attention was captured by a t-shirt with a big spider spread along the front. "This is a wolf spider, a ground dwelling hunting spider," Grissom smiled slightly and held the shirt up towards Mattie who was peering at it with interest. Grissom launched into a short lesson on the habits of the spiders as Mattie peppered him with questions.

Returning to the buggy with an armful of shirts and jeans Sara kept her amusement in check and waited for Grissom to finish explaining about the female egg laying habits before she interrupted.

"Dr. Grissom, could you spare Mattie for a minute?" she asked with a teasing smile.

Startled, Grissom blushed slightly and nodded. "We can talk about the wolf spider later on."

Mattie was beaming as he walked over to Sara with expectant eyes.

"I need to know what size jeans you wear. I know that you're ten so do you wear a ten?" Sara held up the jeans and arched one brow.

"I'm not sure," Mattie felt for a tag in the back of the jeans and squinted in an effort to turn around and read the tag.

"There is a fitting room over there if you want to try this pair on," Sara pointed to a sign that was a few feet away. "That way we can be positive they fit."

Taking the jeans, Mattie jogged over to the rooms and disappeared inside. Sara frowned. She turned to ask Grissom if he thought the boy would be okay by himself when she felt a hand on her elbow.

"I'll check on him," Grissom dropped the t-shirt that he and Mattie had been discussing as well as several other t-shirts into the buggy, before trailing into the fitting rooms after Mattie.

Sara picked up the shirts and allowed the grin, that she had kept inside when she overheard the lecture on wolf spiders, to erupt. Grissom had picked up two more shirts with various spiders on the front, one with a lizard, and one with a beetle. He was so cute when he was enthralled with answering Mattie's questions on one of his favorite subjects. She could only imagine what it would be like when Mattie saw his collection at the townhome.

A few seconds later Mattie appeared from the fitting room with a wide grin and Grissom only a few steps behind him. "They fit, Sara!"

"That's perfect because I picked out another pair of jeans and some shorts," Sara added the pair of jeans and tossed them into the buggy. "Now we need to find some underwear and socks."

Groans emitted from two directions and she laughed softly. "Briefs or boxers, Mattie?"

"Huh?" Mattie blushed deep enough to match his auburn hair and Sara felt instantly sorry that she had embarrassed him.

"I'm teasing you Mattie, uhm, maybe Uncle Gil can pick out your undergarments while I find some socks?"

"That would be wise," Grissom's lips twitched in amusement as he watched Sara fumble in her own embarrassment. "We'll meet you in the toothbrush area?"

With a playful roll of her eyes, Sara left them to do their own shopping while she quickly found a pack of socks and pushed the buggy towards another aisle in search of the toothbrushes.

They caught up with her as she puzzled over what kind of toothbrush Mattie would like. Who would have thought there would be so many choices for kids? She turned and saw Grissom casually placing a package of boxers in the buggy and smiled. She could imagine Mattie asking Grissom what he wore and going with that when he chose the boxers.

"You want to pick out a toothbrush? I didn't know if you wanted something plain or something more, hmmm, interesting." Sara held up a spiderman toothbrush and saw Grissom's eyes light up. Now that was interesting.

"I'll take a plain one," Mattie shrugged and reached out to pluck a blue toothbrush from the shelf. "This is fine with me."

"Grissom?"

Twisting part way around, Grissom said quizzically. "Did you know they make bubblegum toothpaste?"

"It's nasty," Mattie offered with a quirky smile. "I like the peppermint toothpaste."

Arching both brows, Grissom somewhat reluctantly replaced the toothpaste on the shelf and searched for a peppermint flavor. "This one okay?"

"Yeah, but I can use whatever you have at home," Mattie replied. He looked from Grissom to Sara and smiled timidly. Looking at their smiling faces he decided that they were enjoying themselves, but still he didn't want to overstep his welcome with his uncle and Sara by asking for too much stuff.

Reading his expression, Sara tried to reassure him with by reaching out her hand and smoothing his hair from his eyes. "We like buying these things for you, Mattie, and we want you to be comfortable for the next few days."

Realizing that she had revealed so much of herself by referring to we, Sara shot a glance in Grissom's direction to gauge his reaction. He was smiling so tenderly at them both she felt her eyes tear up slightly.

"I think that there should be an electronic section in here someplace," Sara said to quickly hide her fluster. "We could pick up one of those gameboys for Mattie so he will have something to do when he's in the hospital or at the lab."

Grissom shrugged and mentioned the subject of books. "Do you like to read?"

Stunned by the idea of getting a gameboy, finally, Mattie gulped and shrugged. "I like to read some, but a gameboy? Seriously? Dude! Everyone has them!"

Trying to hide his disappointment, Grissom motioned over to the book section. "I'm going to browse over here while you two check out the games."

After buying the gameboy and several games to go with it, Sara and Mattie met back up with Grissom who had a handful of books and a silly smile on his face. "I decided that you may want something to read when the games get old." He grabbed Sara by the elbow and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "A gameboy?"

Keeping the laughter from her voice, Sara said with mock seriousness. "Dude, every boy has one."

Shaking his head, but not holding back his own amusement, Grissom led them to the front of the store to check out. Turning down Sara's offer to help with the clothes, Grissom pointed at the electronics bag that Mattie held clutched to his chest. "I've got this common stuff," he said as he pulled out a credit card.

Leaning against him, Sara spoke loud enough for only his ears. "You, Gilbert Grissom, are a wonderful uncle."

TBC