Growing Together

Part 20

Summary: Grissom has to take care of something while somebody should be taking care of him.

A/N: I'm not sure if I can post next week because right now it looks as if I have to take a one week break. I hope you'll keep reading.

xxxxx

"Catherine, I can handle it from here on." The pain behind his eyes intensified as Grissom argued with her.

Catherine had parked in front of his old townhouse and wanted to go in with him to make sure he was alright. Although he hadn't sold it yet, there was nothing in it. They had brought everything to the new house or had it picked up by a charity organization. His old home was completely empty, and he was not missing anything.

Catherine was halfway out of the car but he could see her hesitating. This was his chance.

"I'm just going to bed. The pain medication is taking effect and there's not much you can do."

She still didn't look convinced. "I'll call if it gets worse. I promise."

Grissom winced, feeling as if he was talking to his mother again, but there was no other way to get rid of her. If she didn't believe him no…but she did. "Alright. Do you have some new top secret bugs in there or what?"

He tilted his head to the side, thinking of a comeback. "Something with more legs than you can handle."

He should have thought of that sooner, but his head was still wrapped up in clouds. The most important thing was that she had given in.

Grissom exited the car quickly and waved before Catherine could change her mind. Luckily, he still had the keys to the townhouse and he pretended to go in as if everything was perfectly normal, not wanting to raise any suspicions.

He closed the door quickly behind him, moving to a window to check if Catherine was really leaving. She sat in her car, watching the door, but after another moment of hesitation, she put the car in reverse and left.

Grissom breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.

The pounding in his head intensified again as the stress of deflecting Catherine was looking for an outlet. He was glad that the whole house was dark and chilly; if only he could sit down.

He heavily leaned against the wall and fumbled for his phone. It didn't matter that he had lived here for almost 20 years; right now he just wanted to go home – to Sara.

xxxxx

"Come on, let's get you to bed." Sara helped Grissom up the stairs, knowing how exhausted he was.

This was the first migraine attack she got to experience with him, and already she knew that this was something she wished she could spare him.

He was tense, his whole body heavy and stiff, radiating the pain off in waves. At least that's what it felt like for her, and for him, it had to be even worse.

When he had called her to pick him up, he had sounded so weak that she was scared beyond belief. She didn't know the whole story of why he was at the townhouse, but he was not in a condition to talk. Later, when he was feeling better, she would ask, but now, her priority was to get Grissom to bed.

He leaned heavily on her until they reached the bedroom. Sara helped him to undress, careful to avoid any rash movement, especially of his head, and got him settled in their bed.

"Do you want anything?" she whispered after darkening the room with the help of the shades.

Grissom couldn't even shake his head, but Sara could see that there was something that he just didn't have the strength to ask.

"I…read that a cold compress can help. Is that something that works for you?" His eyes told her that she was right, so she left the room to prepare it.

When she returned, she carefully spread the cold cloth on his forehead. At first he winced, but then the skin around his eyes relaxed and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

He seemed to be feeling better - at least enough to fall asleep, but Sara was feeling worse. She felt so helpless now that she had provided him with the basics. There was nothing more she could do but let him sleep.

This morning had definitely not gone as planned. She had wanted to have a leisurely breakfast with him, discuss the party tomorrow and surprise him with the displays she had hung up in his office. But all of that could wait until he was better.

Sara took the time to sit next to the bed to make sure that he really was asleep and wasn't conscious of the pain anymore. Her left hand kept the compress on his forehead, while the other lay on his hand, for she needed to feel the warmth of him.

It felt weird to take care of someone else who was sick and yet good to know that apparently she was doing something right. This was something that needed practice and something that she wanted to avoid at the same time; one of the paradoxes of life.

Her hand left the compress and traveled through his hair. Hopefully he would feel better when he woke up.

xxxxx

'Only a few minutes more.' That's what Sara had told herself until she had also drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, she found Grissom watching her in the dark, still looking a bit tired and pale, but looking better. It was nothing that wasn't expected after a migraine.

She smiled at him, letting her hand wander to his face to touch his cheek. It was as much a gesture of comfort for him as it was for her. They spent moments in silence, glad that the worst was over.

Content that he was almost back to his old self, Sara leaned over and kissed him gently.

"I'm going to make you a tea."

Grissom nodded, returned her smile and watched her leave the room. He took the time to wash up and dress, grateful that Sara had dimmed the lights in the whole house. It wasn't really dark, but there were no bright lights that hurt his eyes.

Minutes later, he joined her in the kitchen where he found her already sipping a cup of tea. She kept watching his every movement, trying to guess what he needed. He was her priority.

She simply couldn't resist walking up behind him and carefully kneading the muscles on his neck to try to ease the rest of the tension. He groaned, rolling his head from side to side.

"Thank you."

Sara continued the gentle motion, smiling at his obvious pleasure. "Are you feeling better?"

With a last groan, Grissom tilted his head back, trapping her hands. In this position he could look at her, and she could see that the color was returning to his face.

"The head's still feeling a bit thick, but the pain is gone."

She could see that he was being truthful, not putting up a brave front, and was glad that he was really feeling better.

"So?" Sara asked carefully, pulling her hands out and taking a seat next to him.

"Catherine," was his only answer, as if it explained everything, and oddly, it did.

The thought of the person in question alone led Sara to guess accurately what had happened. Of course she was thankful that Catherine was taking care of her friend, but a little less meddling in the lives of others would do her good. She wasn't even concerned that Catherine could have found out today, but she shuddered to think what it would have done to Grissom.

It would have thrown him back quite a bit, destroying what had taken a lot of effort to build – trust and security. Overall, however, it had confirmed that it was high time to do something.

"It'll be okay. And by Sunday, we won't have to stress out over trivialities like that."

Her reassuring voice hit home, and she saw that he was really starting to believe her – and himself.

xxxxx

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, on Sara's insistence. The next day would only bring new stress and they both needed to be rested to prevent a repeat of today. Most of the time flew by as they read their books, each of them soaking up the warmth of the other.

Sara finished her book first and took the time to study Grissom. She wondered if he looked any different.

He should because this was not his old somewhat stark living room. This was theirs. True, they were not finished with the decorations because a few boxes still remained unpacked. She would have never thought that they possessed so much stuff, but they had actually filled the house. It was not cramped. It was just…filled with stuff they needed. And yet, everything seemed so different.

This was her home now – their home – and that fact alone changed everything.

The question was now, did Grissom seem different?

The answer was yes.

They had both changed and it showed.

Unconsciously, she smiled, simply because she was happy.

"I love your smile." Only when Grissom spoke did she realize that she had been staring at him for a while.

Grissom had noticed her being spaced out and in turn had started watching her. When she had smiled, he had to say something.

Sara blushed upon receiving the compliment, but her smile kept growing wider. She put her book away, which she had almost held in a death grip ever since getting lost in her thoughts, and moved around.

She got on all fours and crawled over Grissom's legs until she was face to face with him. "I was worried. But now you're okay and that makes me happy."

He nodded, put his own book away, and pulled Sara closer. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

She shook her head, telling him that he didn't need to apologize. "Let's not talk about that anymore. I didn't want to kill the mood."

When she was about to pull back a bit, Grissom tightened his hold on her, still smiling. "No, you didn't."

He tilted his head and sought out her lips. "Let's just make the best of the remaining evening."

This time he didn't let her go again because there was nothing more to say, except maybe some whispered 'I love yous.'

TBC