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Chapter 8: The Surgery
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It was dark outside. The drapes were drawn. The room was silent.
A smile on her lips, Sara moaned and stretched as she awoke, twisting the covers even more than they already were. But suddenly, something seemed out of place… She was cold.
She turned to see that she was alone. In his place on the pillow was a short handwritten note. Afraid at what it might say, she reached over with a trembling hand, and began to read:
Dia duit, a Aliamh.
Please don't take my absence to mean that I regret anything from this morning. I don't. You gave me a gift I thought I would never gain: your trust. I now know how much that means.
Call me when you read this… Get some rest, mo múirnín. I can't get home soon enough.
Forever yours,
Grissom
Lying back on the pillow, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at herself for ever doubting him. She thought back to everything that had happened between them over the years and wondered why it had taken this long. Not that she was ungrateful… She wasn't. She was fulfilling her fantasies just by being here. But why had it taken such a nightmare to bring this dream into reality? He'd had so many other chances…
She shook her head, telling herself that it was useless to dwell in the past if she couldn't change it, though she desperately wished that she could. Pulling back the twisted covers, she managed to get herself up and to her suitcase to change. After all, he'd be home soon.
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He hung up the phone as he walked in the front door, his blue booties making light imprints on the cranberry colored carpet. He heard laughing from the back room and decided to check it out. Moving in that direction, he could make out the voices of Catherine and Warrick, but when he looked into the room he could only smirk at what he saw. Warrick was squatting next to the large bed looking underneath with his flashlight. Grissom could only assume that Catherine was on the other side doing the same thing. Evidently, neither was bothered by being called in early to investigate a 419 related to another recent case. In fact, both seemed to find something extremely amusing.
"Playing Hide and Seek?" Grissom asked, making his presence known.
Warrick spun around at the sound of his voice, causing him to lose his balance and fall over. Catherine popped up from the other side, a shy smile on her face as her cheeks flushed.
Grissom smirked again. "Okay, I won't ask. Just wanted to let you know that the scene is yours from here on out. I have to go take Sara to the doctor."
The smiles faded from the others' faces.
"Why? What's wrong?" Catherine asked, coming around the bed and turning off her flashlight.
"Is she okay?" Warrick added, pulling himself up.
"She's fine," he assured them. "She has an appointment to get her knee checked out. They're supposed to be deciding how to fix it. We'll be back by this afternoon. I'm sending Nick over to help you guys."
They nodded and got back to work. Before Grissom left the house, however, he heard another bout of laughter come from the room.
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"Okay, so here's what we're gonna do, Dr. Grissom," the doctor explained. "We did some tests and it's as we expected: a lot of damage. I don't need to tell you that a kneecap can't be repaired once it's shattered… It looks like we're going to have to repair some tendons and nerves, and then we can put in the plastic kneecap. It will work like the real thing, but it'll take some time for her to adjust to it. She'll have to come in for rehab."
Grissom nodded in understanding. "How long will it take?"
"Well, we had a cancellation that created an opening, and she decided to take it. She's being prepped right now. We should have her out of the OR and into a private room in a few hours."
"How long before she can come back to work?"
"We'll have another look-see after two weeks of therapy and then make a decision… You can either wait here or we can call you when she's out of surgery."
Grissom thought a moment. More work could be done if he was at the lab, but it wouldn't be efficient… His mind – and his heart - would be with Sara. He let the latter make the decision for him.
"I'll stay here," he said firmly.
The doctor nodded. "We'll let you know when she's out." He turned and left.
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Catherine sat in the break room with the rest of the group a few hours later, discussing the most recent case. Taking Grissom's usual seat at the head of the table, she looked from face to face as they reviewed the facts, taking in all the small details and wondering if this was what Grissom saw when he sat here. She watched as Greg leaned back in his chair, his leg bouncing in a nervous rhythm as he listened to the details in this case being compared to another in the recent past. She saw Nick close himself off emotionally as he drew similarities between the two victims. She heard Warrick sigh and watched as his bright green eyes glanced first over the notes and then over the photographs of the scene… They all felt the absence of the others, and their worry for Sara was palpable, but the case must go on, right?
Catherine was just about to share her input when her phone rang.
"Willows," she answered.
"Catherine, it's Grissom. Where are you?"
"I'm in the break room… Why?"
"Are the others nearby?" he asked quickly, ignoring her question.
"Yes. Gil, what's going on?"
"Put your cell on speakerphone."
Sighing, she complied. "Okay, Gill, you have our attention. What's up?"
"Sara's in surgery… Something's wrong."
Instant concern sent shockwaves through the veins of those listening. Worried glances were passed as Catherine spoke for them all.
"How is she? What's going on?"
"I don't know…" It was obvious that Grissom was in a state of panic. "They were just supposed to fix her knee…"
"Grissom, calm down!" Catherine commanded, the mother in her taking over. "We'll be right over." Hanging up her cell phone, she grabbed her jacket and her keys, the rest of them in tow as she headed for the parking lot. Once they reached the Tahoe, she tossed the keys to Warrick, her meaning clear. Maybe for once, his crazy driving habits would come in handy.
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A/N: OK, I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I felt like I had to post something before you thought I dropped off the face of the earth. I've also been working on another story with a friend of mine, so I've been a little distracted. To refresh your memory, "mo múirnín" means "my darling one" in Irish Gaelic, and "Aliamh" means "Bright one". Please review... tell me what you think so I can get the next chapter up quick.
Ace47: If you know my writing by now, you'd know that I would never let Grissom hurt her like that... unless it needed to happen. In this case it didn't. The bond needed to be there for when she went into surgery... I felt like they needed to be on good terms before ... well, I can't give it away. Let's just say that there needed to be the feeling of peace.
All: Many of you have expressed concern about Catherine's character. Let me be the first to say that I love Catherine. I love the fact that she has so many different sides to her character. She's an author's dream... There are so many angles to explore, but I tend to cringe when people turn her into something that she's not. In this story (and all my others), while she may not be the focus of the story, she is definitely a large part of the team and that means that they've all seen her different sides by now. As an honest author, I cannot hope to keep her in character if I don't show them all. That means showing her kindness, her anger, her sympathy, her spite, her joys, her sorrows, her triumphs, and her failures. Please understand that in anything I do, I try to keep Catherine and all the others within character. If I ever fail in this attempt, PLEASE let me know.
Teaser: It was midnight, but Grissom didn't hear the bells chime twelve. He didn't see the stars twinkle in a sky as black as pitch. He didn't hear the cheers of the crowd as they 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the light show overhead on Freemont Street. All his attention was focused on what was happening on the other side of the operating doors as he and the rest of the team looked on through the inch-thick glass window.
He watched helplessly as they pumped her chest, trying to reverse the flatline on the monitor. When that didn't work, the paddles came out...
Finally, the surgeon took off his mask and met the small crowd in the hallway, an apologeic look on his face. ...