Chapter 3:

Sara awoke to fuzzy white outlines of strange beeping machines, swirling around a fuzzy white room. Blinking the anaesthetic out of her eyes she struggled to sit up and figure out why she was in this place. Her eyes fell on the sleeping form next to her, and it all came back in a sudden rush. An inarticulate sound fell from her lips and she reached over, as far as she could, to try and wake Grissom. She stopped, however, as she saw him begin to wake up.

"Sara" he mumbled. "Are you alright? Don't let me go, don't...no...Sara...honey ...NO! Where are you!" Her heart skipped many beats as she tried to reach out to his thrashing form, trying to calm him down. Some monitor in the corner of the room began to beep shrilly and a no-nonsense nurse rushed in, cutting Sara's hand off with a snap of the curtain.

She heard the nurse do something to Grissom, and his shrieking stopped. Sara tried to peer around the curtain and flinched when it was suddenly flung back. The strict nurse then flounced out of the room, leaving Sara there surrounded by silence. She looked back towards Grissom and smiled when she saw his azure gaze finally meeting her own brown one. He saw her pale face, and the smile that graced it could not hide the haggard look. "Sara," he whispered in a raspy voice, "Sara, you're all right...I thought...oh God..." She reached over to him and took his good hand in her own.

"Shhhh, it's all right Griss, everything gonna be fine." He looked up at her, and the terrified look in his eyes caused her stomach to tense up.

"Sara, I remember...this happened before...before you were here, same situation..only that time..." he was quiet for a moment, and his grip of her hand tightened. "That time, I couldn't save her. She took a shot to the chest...her name...it was Leah.." His voice gave out, and his eyes, misty with the medications, became over-bright with unshed tears. "I couldn't saver her, Sara, and I thought that you were going to die...it was the worst feeling in the world." Grissom stopped talking, and Sara leaned over. Their beds were close enough together so that she could put her hand on his shoulder.

"Grissom, I'm alive, we're both alright...we made it..." Grissom nodded but didn't say anything. He looked up and into her eyes. Their gazes met, and something inside of them called out to the other. Their heads were drawn together, their eyes locked. Neither of them thinking . The air between them was thick with longing, and they continued to move closer.

Suddenly they heard steps in the hallway and four very familiar faces entered the room to find a very red Grissom and a very pale Sara. The four traded looks, but said nothing about it.

Greg rushed over and hugged Sara. "I'm glad you're back! Never look like you're going to die again, cuz I'll kill you myself!"

They all laughed, and slowly things began to heal

TBC

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