Greg couldn't believe it. He had asked Sara out and she FINALLY said yes. He ran out from his apartment to his car. He was one of his tight blue t-shirts, jeans, and Converse All Stars that were classic black and white. He quickly shoved his arms through a black hoodie. He zipped it up and shuffled through his pant's pockets for his keys. With a jingle he pulled them out and opened the door, sliding into his car. He checked himself in the mirror. His hair was spiked up, choppy, and all over the place like he used to have it. Ironically enough, this was at Sara's request. He started his car and started on his way to Sara's apartment.
He felt like he was touching God. He felt invincible, like nothing could stop him, or even touch him. He was high, but not on drugs, on life, on love, on Sara. He kept on imagining what she would look like, what she would be wearing. They had made it clear to each other that this was nothing fancy. He wanted to take it slow with her. Simple movie and a dinner, nothing more to it. But still, he was excited. In fact, he was excited to the point of being nervous, and nervous to the point of feeling like he was going to through up. He took a deep breath. The butterflies in his stomach were zooming around like Kamikaze planes. He could feel the sweat on his palms as he gripped the steering wheel. What if she didn't have a good time? What if he screwed up?
Is train of thoughts roared to a stop as he pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex. He sighed, shaking his head. He was going to do this. He was going to take Sara Sidle out to a movie, and then to dinner. He was going to do it; he was going to do it.
They were driving through a wooded area, taking the long way back to Sara's apartment. Greg looked across the car to Sara who was smiling and looking back at him. They were rocking out to a song by Brand New (which was ironically both of their favorites.) They saw 'Tim Burton's: Corpse Bride.' They both thought it was great. Then dinner they discussed on how they didn't like the ending. They both agreed that Johnny Depp should have married the corpse bride in stead. But after that they're conversations were good and enjoyed mutually. Greg was still embarrassed about how once, when he was coming back from the bathroom, he missed his chair and landed on his ass. Sara got a good laugh out of that. He was glad he could make her laugh so easily. He was glad she was so comfortable around him. He was glad that she felt like she could let her guard down around him. He was glad.
The conversation fell silent. Sara looked at him, then looked away, then back at him, then away again.
" What?" he asked.
" Oh nothing, it's not important." She shrugged off.
" Sara, c'mon. If it's coming from you it's gotta be important, right?" Greg reasoned.
" I just…I just had a really good time tonight. A great time, actually. Better than I've had in a long, long time, and I have you to thank."
Upon saying that, Sara looked up at Greg and gave him a loving look. Greg could feel it again. He was touching God again. He smiled, his invincibility back. Sara had a good time with him, him, Greg Sanders, the once goofy lab tech that everyone was annoyed by. He looked at Sara, sharing the same loving look.
" Sara, if I died right now, I'd die happy. And I have you to thank. I'm so glad that I'm here with you know. It'll let me be a peace forever." He said as he looked at her, forgetting he was driving. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. But the connection between them was short lived.
Suddenly he saw Sara's eyes get wide, her face suddenly bathed in a pale light. He narrowed his eyes, looking ahead of him. He heard her scream his name as he swerved.
Sara weakly opened her eyes. She saw a tree in front of her, on the outside of the car. Steam rose up from under the hood. Sara looked closer, through the cracked windshield of the car. Red and blue lights were bouncing off of the tree. She lifted her head slightly and turned it towards the door on her side. There was what she could only assume to be an EMT. Suddenly a female paramedic ripped her door open. She carefully unbuckled Sara's seatbelt and dragged her out of the car and onto the ground outside.
" Miss? Miss? How many fingers am I holding up? Can you tell me that? Can you speak?" came her concerned voice.
Sara opened her eyes again. She looked at the woman hovering above her. Her vision was blurry, she couldn't see it that clearly, and so she guessed. " Three…?"
Suddenly Sara could suddenly feel herself being lifted up and placed on what she thought was a gurney. She was wheeled over to the ambulance, she could tell because the lights got brighter. But then she remembered.
She sat up. " Greg? Where's Greg?"
" Miss, lay back."
" Where's Greg?"
" Lay back, miss!"
" I need Greg."
" She's not laying down. Should I?"
" Do it."
Suddenly Greg appeared. Sara relaxed and laid back. " Greg."
He smiled down at her. She looked in his eyes. They looked odd…sad, dull even. But she didn't care, she was just so happy to see him.
The paramedics kept rattling off annoying things about Sara's condition. She probably should have been listening, but she wasn't. She was too focused on Greg. She was holding his hand now. Then suddenly she wondered why they weren't looking over him. In fact, Greg didn't have a scratch on him. The only thing new about him was the paleness of his skin and the sad kind of happiness in his eyes. She could have sworn she saw a tear roll down his cheek. She reached up to wipe it away from his face. As her hand touched him, he put his on hers. He was so cold. Icy to the touch. She couldn't hold it in anymore. She cried.
They put Sara in a hospital room right next to the waiting room. The paramedics had no problem taking her away from Greg. They ran her off on the stretcher as is he wasn't even there. He followed her in, but dared not come in her room while anyone else was there. She saw him from her window, hunched over, elbows on his knees, face in his hands, on the edge of his seat. He was rocking back in forth, shaking and shivering, maybe even crying.
It hurt Sara to see him like that. He didn't mean to hurt her, she knew it. Suddenly she could feel the guilt creep in to her system, as well as exhaustion. She didn't want to fall asleep, though. She didn't want to leave Greg behind in the world of the living. If she had only known then, that it might have already been to late.
Sara opened her eyes. She looked around and saw Catherine in her room. She looked out the window, but didn't see Greg.
" Cat?"
" Oh, sorry, Sara. I was hoping you were still awake."
" It's fine. What are you doing here?"
" I, uh, I'm sorry Sara. I know this is the last thing you need right now, but…I need to ask you some question about what happened tonight."
Sara sat up. " Why?"
" Just to get a better idea of what happened. To make sure that it was, in fact, an accident."
Sara sighed. Slowly, she replayed the whole thing in her head. " We were having such a good time. It was just a normal date, well, as normal as Greg can get anyway…"
Catherine smiled at this, but not a normal smile. A kind of, sadly happy smile. She had the same kind of look in her eyes that Greg had in the ambulance. Sara thought this was odd, but she continued anyway. She figured Greg would tell her later. " He was driving me back home. We decided to take the long way back. We were driving through the woods. I told him how much of a good time I had. He said that if he was to…" Sara's eyes widened as she realized exactly what it was that he had said.
Catherine looked intently upon Sara. " Said what? He said what?"
" He said that if he were to die right then, that he'd die happy. And that he had me to thank. He said that knowing that he was there with me, would let him be at peace…forever…" her eyes welled up with tears. But she blinked them back. She had to be strong, for Greg. " Then he kissed me. I looked away because I was embarrassed, and that's when I saw the truck…" she swallowed hard, feeling like she was swallowing a stone. " He swerved, but it hit us. He swerved just enough though, that it only hit his side of the car. It was like he was protecting me. It happened so fast. The kiss was over, and then the swerve. It was like he knew it was going to happen. Then the car hit a tree, and that's the last thing I remember."
Catherine nodded her head slowly, her eyes welling up with tears. Why was she so sad? What did she have to be sad about? Suddenly Catherine's cell phone rang. She answered it, and Sara listened.
" Willows…. Hey, did you find anything… A note? Is it addressed to anyone?" Catherine's eyes got wide as she looked to Sara. " I'll be right there." She hung up. "Listen, Sara, I've got to go back to the scene to get something. But I'll be right back, okay?"
"Alright."
Catherine sped over to the scene. She didn't know how many accidents she just narrowly avoided, but at the moment she didn't care. She pulled over to where Greg's car still was. She sighed and rolled down her window. Grissom walked over.
" This was in the glove compartment." He was about to hand it to her, when Nick stumbled out of the woods. Catherine saw him wipe the vomit from his face. She felt the tears come back again. She looked down at the letter in her hand. It was defiantly Greg's handwriting. It was addressed to Sara. She looked down at it, then back up to Grissom. He looked so worried, so stressed, so…tired. Catherine looked back over to Greg's car. Things would never be the same again.
Sara was awakened yet again by Catherine. She looked up at the older woman, and she immediately got worried. Catherine looked so sad. She'd never been this sad before.
Catherine handed Sara the letter, a tear streaming down her cheek.
Sara looked down at it. It had her name on it, in Greg's handwriting. She looked up at Catherine, her eyes wide. She opened it and read.
Dear Sara,
I don't think I've ever had such a hard time writing a letter as I am right now. I mean, how do you say goodbye? First thing I want you to know, is that I love you. I always have, and I always will, forever. Ever since the first time I saw you, I knew it. You probably didn't feel the same way, but that's okay. It doesn't matter now anyway. So here it goes…when I woke up this morning, I knew it. I didn't know how I knew it, I just did. I woke up and the scene just played by my mind. I opened my eyes again and I knew it. I knew that today was the day I was going to die. I didn't know it at first, but as the things from my dream started to actually happen in real life, I knew it was true. So that's when I decided, if I was going to die, I was going to die with the person I loved. If today really was my last day on earth, then I needed to spend it with you, Sara. Which is why I'm glad you said yes when I asked you out. And what I said was true. I really was glad that my last moments were with you. It's how I wanted it. So don't be sad. And don't go beating yourself up over it, and don't try to say that you aren't cause I know you are. I know you Sara, whether it feels like I do or not. I don't really know why I'm writing this letter to you. It doesn't matter, what I'm saying. They're just empty words. Or maybe they're more; maybe I just can't see it yet. I mean, here I am, sitting in the bathroom stall of the diner, with you waiting for me. Maybe I don't really believe it myself yet. There are a lot of maybes, Sara. A lot of stuff I haven't seen or done yet. A lot of stuff I'm not sure of yet. But if there's one thing I am sure of, it's that I love you. And that I am ready. I'm ready for death. It's my time and I accept that. So I guess this is my goodbye. This, and I kiss I'm going to try and give you later. I'm sorry if it sucks, I'm not really sure how good I am at kissing. I guess I should shut up now. Can't keep a lady waiting, after all, especially you. Don't mourn me, Sara. Remember me for who I was, who I am. You are my heaven in life and death. Remember that, and keep it with you always. I love you, Sara Sidle. Always have, always will.
See you around…
Greg (Greggo) Sanders
Sara had to read the letter a couple times, to actually understand what he was saying. She her eyes welled up with tears, and she made no effort this time to hold them back. She looked up at Catherine through her tears.
Catherine nodded, seeming to immediately understand. She left the room and went to check Sara out. She only had a mild concussion from when her head hit the windshield. Lucky for her, she was wearing a seatbelt.
The drive over to the scene was quiet. They got closer and Sara tried to stop crying. Catherine hadn't even stopped the car when Sara ran out of it. She walked over to Greg's car. The lights were still on, the engine still running. Sara took a deep breath and walked over to the driver's side. Where she saw Greg, laying face up, his eyes glazed over, his blood still warm as it gushed out of the wound on his head. His eyes were open. Sara dropped to her knees next to him. She looked down at him, and she let it out all over again, crying like no other. She gently took her hand over his forehead. She slowly closed his eyes, putting him at peace.
She suddenly got the urge to look down the road. There was a kind of eerie white fog rising up from the road. She saw Greg there, standing and watching her. He had that goofy smile on his face. It made Sara smile through her tears. She watched as he started to back away, but still faced her. He looked down, then back to her. He waved, and she waved back. He smiled again, as he turned around, walking down the road. Sara wanted to scream out to him, to tell him to wait, and not to leave. But she didn't. It was his time, he accepted it, and so did she. She merely watched him as he disappeared in to the fog.
" See you around…" she mumbled.