Author's Notes: Thanks for all the continued feedback. It really keeps my momentum going:) I appreciate all of it. Enjoy the new chapter!
The Invisible Man
by Kristen Elizabeth
It wasn't unusual for Grissom to be woken from a deep sleep by his cell phone. He was so used to it, in fact, that he didn't even have to turn on the light or feel around for the ringing device; his hand just automatically went to it.
"Grissom," he mumbled sleepily.
"Oh, god…I woke you up."
Sara's watery voice had him awake and sitting up in the space of a heartbeat. "Sara?"
"I'm so sorry," she cried. She wasn't the only one; in the background, he could hear a very unhappy baby. "I thought you'd be at work. I wouldn't have called if…"
He cut her off. "Sara, what's wrong?"
"Jacob's sick."
Grissom didn't need to hear anything else. "I'll be right there."
He pulled into her apartment complex ten minutes later, having only paused long enough to pull on an old pair of jeans. Running his hand down his untrimmed beard, Grissom jumped out of his car.
Jacob's screams were audible from the parking lot. As he passed by, one of her neighbors stuck his head out into the hall. "For god's sake! It's three in the fucking morning!" the pot-bellied man cursed. "Somebody shut up that goddamn kid or I will!"
Grissom stopped and turned, his chest rising and falling with each breath. "You'll find that extremely difficult to do with your balls halfway down your throat."
The man's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed. "Whatever," he muttered before slamming his door shut.
Grissom let himself into Sara's apartment and for a moment, he almost wished he still experienced occasional hearing loss. Jacob had a serious set of lungs that he had probably inherited from his mother, and he was doing his very best to test their limits. "Sara?"
She came out from the hallway with Jacob propped against her shoulder. "His fever's gone up. I called his doctor," she said, skipping any sort of greeting. "She says he should be taken to the ER."
"Okay…" Grissom studied her. She was shaky and there was fear for her baby's safety written all over her face. He didn't even want to think about how long it might have been since she bothered to feed herself or close her eyes for a moment of sleep. She needed his help and he knew, deep down, that it was the only reason she had called.
Still, she had called him, not Catherine or Greg or Nick.
He cleared his throat. "I'll drive."
"Sara Sidle?"
Grissom opened his eyes. There was a strange warmth alongside his body. Sara. Suddenly, he remembered taking a seat in the ER waiting room…urging her to try and catch some sleep…offering his shoulder as a pillow…dozing off to the fragrant scent from her hair. Somehow as they slept, his arm had circled her, pressing her close against his chest.
Now, a doctor was calling her name. "Sara Sidle?" he repeated, scanning the myriad of faces waiting for news of their loved ones.
"Sara." Grissom nudged her gently. She let out a moan of protest. "Honey…the doctor's here."
Startled awake by this, Sara sat up with a huge gasp. She looked around for a second before settling an accusing glare on him. "I fell asleep! You let me fall asleep!"
He blinked. "I…"
She launched herself at the doctor. "My baby…" she started, frantic for news.
"Is going to be fine," the doctor assured her. "He has an ear infection. His first, I take it?" Sara nodded tightly. "Well, the first one can certainly scare new parents. We've given him some ear drops, and his fever's broken."
Grissom came up behind Sara; she sagged back against him in utter relief. "Oh, thank you." She covered her mouth with both her hands. "Thank you."
The doctor nodded. "He's sleeping, but you can go back to see him now. The nurses will have his paperwork ready soon."
When the man was gone, Sara turned to face Grissom. "He's going to be okay."
"I never doubted it."
She sniffed. "Will you come with me?"
He was unable to keep himself from brushing a tear off her cheek. "Just try to stop me."
By the time they reached Jacob, he had woken up. The strange environment and the medicine that had been put in his ears had frightened him; he was whimpering and flailing his little fists in the air.
"Sweetheart…baby, it's okay. Mommy's here." She lifted Jacob up and out, cradling him against her shoulder. Grissom stood back several feet, a silent observer to the tender mother and child moment. "I should have been here with him," Sara whispered.
"You know they wouldn't let you," he replied. "I practically dragged you into the waiting room."
"He's my whole life, Grissom." Sara closed her eyes. "I can't ever lose him."
"You heard the doctor. He's going to be just fine. He's strong." He wanted to remind her where Jacob got that strength, but he didn't have a chance to form the words.
"I've lost everyone," Sara went on. "My father, my mother, my brother…" Her wet lashes lifted and he found himself staring into liquid chocolate pools. "You."
"You have not lost me." The statement started out as a whisper, but quickly picked up intensity. "Sara! Do you hear me?" Grissom reached for her, grasping her arms. He wanted to shake her, to make her understand, but she was holding Jacob. There was only one other way to get his point across.
She didn't kiss him back at first, and he tried not to take it the wrong way. He'd caught her off guard, after all. Truth be told, he'd caught himself off guard. Through all the years he'd known her, there had to have been at least a hundred better opportunities, more romantic moments that he could have chosen for their first kiss.
What made this one different? He had no idea. But when her tongue tentatively brushed against his, Grissom knew he hadn't made another mistake. He relaxed into the kiss he had initiated, his hand moving up to cup the back of her head.
Their lips parted too soon for either of their liking. Grissom stepped back reluctantly, giving them both space to catch their breath. Just when he couldn't take it anymore, and was about to reach for her again, Jacob let out a little whine, reminding them that he was still there, a tiny, but powerful barrier between them.
The nurse returned right then with a clipboard. "Ms. Sidle, here's Jacob's discharge papers. You'll just need to sign them here and here."
Grissom reached for Jacob. "I've got him." There was no stranger anxiety; Jacob seemed as much at ease in Grissom's arms as he was in his mother's. Grissom offered the baby his finger; Jacob immediately wrapped his entire little hand around it.
Sara briefly touched her lips before reaching for the clipboard. She scribbled her name in the appropriate places and handed it back to the nurse who in turn gave her the written prescription from the doctor. As the nurse ran down a list of instructions for Jacob's continuing care, Grissom could feel Sara's eyes on him.
He wanted to know what was going through her mind. Did she have regrets? To his great surprise, he didn't. In fact, he wanted to do it again. Except this time, he'd do it right. Not in a hospital and definitely not with a sick child pressed between them.
The child in question squirmed in his arms. "I think this little guy is ready to get home."
Sara blinked out of her stare. "Yeah. So am I."
When Sara came out of the nursery, the sun had risen over Las Vegas. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was going a million miles per minute.
He was still there, waiting for her with tea. It was another of her silly fantasies come to life. But maybe it could be more than that. The man in her kitchen…the man she'd tried so hard to get over…he'd kissed her. And he hadn't run away. It was the most hope she'd had to cling to in a long time.
Sara combed her fingers through her hair and approached him. "Hi."
Turning, Grissom handed her a steaming mug. "How is he?"
"Fed and asleep." She took a sip. The liquid burned her tongue, but couldn't wash away the lingering taste of his lips. "Could I have done this to him? All the books say you have to hold them upright while breast-feeding to avoid ear infections. Maybe I screwed up…allowed this to happen."
"Sara." Grissom shook his head. "Don't do that." He drew in a breath. "About what happened earlier…"
She wasn't quite ready yet. "Grissom, I can't even begin to thank you for everything you did tonight. It was above and beyond the call of…"
His ticked-off tone startled her. "I'm a little tired of being thanked like I'm going out of my way or something. That child in there…I care about him as much as if he were…" Grissom stopped. "Sara, why do we have to make this so difficult?"
"Because it's easier?"
"Easier? How?"
"If we make it difficult…" She shrugged. "…we won't actually have to deal with it."
"Well, that's not good enough for me anymore." Grissom took her mug from her. "Sara, I kissed you tonight because I couldn't not kiss you anymore."
She swallowed. "Please don't tell me that, Grissom."
He frowned. "Why?"
Sara stepped towards him. "If you encourage me like that, I don't know that I'll be able to stop myself."
Grissom moved forward a step. "From what?"
They were close enough now that Sara could reach out and touch a place on his shirt where Jacob had marked him with a bit of spit-up. "I had a baby…and I never got to do the fun stuff that's supposed to precede that. My choice, sure. But it's been a long time, Grissom. Encourage me in the slightest, and you might find yourself flat on your back with a mother straddling you."
"That would be a first," he admitted. He took her hand and brought her palm up to his mouth. "But I'm willing to risk it."
"Don't tease me," she implored him, her voice throaty. "I swear, Grissom…if you're going to wake up tomorrow morning and wish this hadn't happened…"
Grissom kissed his way to her wrist. "What if you're the one who wakes up with regrets?"
"Couldn't happen," Sara whispered. "Trust me."
He looked up. "Are you sure about…"
She cut him off by yanking her arm away and seizing his lips with hers. "Please…" she begged him between kisses. "I need you, Grissom…please." As if to prove herself, she reached for the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head, baring herself from the waist up.
"God…Sara." His hands sought out her soft flesh on their own. "Can you even…do this? I mean…is it too soon?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine…" Sara tugged at the button on his jeans. "I told you not to encourage me…"
Grissom stilled her hands. "If we're doing this, we're doing this right." She gave him a puzzled look, her cheeks flushed. "I want to take you to bed, Sara."
She smiled, surprised at the lump that rose in her throat. "Take me to bed, Grissom."
"And when we're there…" He smoothed hair back from her face. "I want you to say my name. My real name."
Sara nodded. "I will."
He didn't carry her down the hall, but when they slipped between her sheets, Sara had never felt more feminine. He covered her body with his and filled her with hard heat. His name was on her lips the whole time.
Even afterwards, it was still there. "Gil," she murmured into his neck. "I wish Jacob was ours."
But he was already asleep and heard nothing.
To Be Continued
