DISCLAIMER:Don't own it... No money made... Just for fun and enjoyment.
SUMMARY: Sequel to Displacement. The CSI team and their recently hired coroner Stephanie are back to work solving cases, sharing companionship and generally making their way through the dire world of criminal investigation with humor and friendship... This one will show the development of the relationship between Grissom and Sara and there should be some other surprises down the road as well. Romance/Drama/Angst/Mature Situations
RATING: M for Mature - I'm starting this one out at "M", since we won't be waiting quite so long for the smut this time out ;) Also, there is a sprinkling of language throughout the story.
A/N: And just to prove that nothing will keep the scheming from going on...
REVIEWS: I am always looking for ways to improve my writing, and your reviews let me know if I am hitting my mark. Thank you in advance for the time you take to read & review this story.
Chapter 52
Within ten minutes of Sara's arrival, as they sat in the room waiting for the folks from respiratory medicine to come up to transport her, Stephanie had slowly turned into a trembling mess. Catherine and Elizabeth were both becoming very concerned, but Sara appeared to be oddly calm in the face of this obvious setback. As the trembling turned into tremors Elizabeth disregarded Stephanie's wishes and called the nurse.
"Mo-o-om… it'ssss… not… thhhhhhhat… bad." Stephanie was bravely trying to struggle through the tremors.
Sara smiled and walked over to the bed. "When did they start the oral prednisone?"
Stephanie looked up into her eyes with gratitude, knowing that someone understood, "Jussssst… bbbbbefore… you… ggggggot… here."
Her knowing smile helped Stephanie to calm down just a bit. And when the nurse came in to respond to the call, it was Sara who spoke, "She's just reacting to the prednisone… Can she get some juice or some broth or something? Her blood sugar is probably low." The nurse gave her a knowing nod and went off in search of some juice.
Catherine threw her hands up in defeat and had to ask, "Okay, I give… How'n the hell did you know that?"
Sara rubbed Stephanie's back, as she sat on the edge of the bed beside her and shrugged her answer, "Ah, well, um, one of the girls at the group home had really bad asthma and they'd put her on that stuff all the time." She looked at Stephanie as she spoke, so as not to see the expressions of the others in the room, "And I guess I just got used to it."
The nurse returned with a couple of juice boxes and Sara helped Stephanie to hold one while she sipped on the straw. Elizabeth relaxed a bit more, and sat back down. She picked up her cross stitch, and began to work the needle and floss again when she finally spoke, "So, how long was it for you?"
Sara looked up from Stephanie, and frowned at the question. "I'm sorry?"
"I was there from five until almost nine, so I had nearly four straight years… Parochial school for the remainder." Elizabeth spoke with a language only a few understood. Sara was one of those few.
"Almost six… Did a few months in foster, at first." Sara's answer was quiet, and Catherine dropped into the chair behind her with disbelief.
"I was fortunate in that respect… I was taken in by one of the teachers at the school. Very progressive for its time, since she was a single woman." Elizabeth never looked up from her stitching as she spoke, granting Sara a modicum of dignity, as they shared stories. "I had the standard Benedictines… And you?"
"Ah, Sisters of Notre Dame… Until high school, and then they sent me to the Jesuits." Sara kept her voice down, and her gaze on Stephanie. Catherine could not fathom how she had been around Sara for more than six years, and never knew about her childhood. She decided the woman had actually been better at hiding things than Grissom ever was.
"I didn't know the Jesuits started taking girls-…"
"Oh no… I took the bus over there every day… Sister Genevieve didn't figure I'd make much of a school teacher, or a secretary," Stephanie nearly choked on her juice when Sara said that. "So, she made arrangements for me to go to the Jesuit prep school during the day." She looked at Stephanie and had to smirk at the expression she found on the woman's face. "Stop it… I'm not that bad."
"Depends entirely on the subject." Grissom and Warrick came walking into the roomm and brought the conversation to a standstill. "What were we talking about?"
Stephanie smiled with a mischievousness that would have melted metal, "Misss… Sidle the… sssschoolteacher." Grissom visibly shuddered at the implication as he came to stand beside Sara at Stephanie's bed, and she nudged him with her elbow for good measure.
"That would mean we have progressed to the nun stories, already… You must be bored." That one earned him another shot to the ribs. "Okay, what are we doing now?"
"Waiting for someone from respiratory to come and get her." Catherine spoke with a nervous timber in her voice, as Warrick came to stand beside her chair.
"And wonder-… wondering… how it… it went." Stephanie gestured at Warrick for an answer.
"Don't ask." The expression on his face told her a lot, but she was not budging. "I'm serious… Don't ask."
"Okay… But can I sssay… one thhhing?" He rolled his eyes and then nodded show she could, "Dayum!" She shook her head at him and then her hand with a bent wrist to show her appreciation for his appearance. "Good thing for Thomasss I met… himmm before… you." She was coughing a little as she finished, but the real effect was on Warrick, who was blushing over his whole head.
"Obviously you're feelin' better." Warrick tried to play off the compliment, and hide his embarrassment, but it was not working.
"Well, gimmmme a couple… daysss and… ditch the… football hero… and I'll ssshow you." She was enjoying teasing her friend, even if it was making him blush all over, and the rest of the room was laughing at his predicament.
"What's all this laughing about? Don't you know hospitals are serious business?" Thomas came blowing into the room, and Sara moved herself and Grissom away from the bed to make room for him. He immediately went to his wife and gave her a kiss before he spoke again. He stood back a second to get a better look at her, and then tilted his head down to ask, "Prednisone?" She nodded meekly and he wrapped his arms around her for a quick and comforting embrace. "The rest of you should watch out, though… She gets a little racy when she takes that stuff…" He looked around the room at the other faces there and stopped when he found a deeply blushing Warrick, "But I can tell I'm a little late with that warning, huh?" Everyone laughed again and Warrick nodded with his complete agreement. "Don't worry, man… I'll protect ya." Thomas winked to add emphasis to his joke, and the room was in full laughter again.
"So, why were you not here taking care of her?" Grissom was ribbing the young doctor.
"Ah, well, I was sent on a secret and terribly important mission… And to show the severity of my assigned task, I had to take Carter with me." Thomas flashed a devilish smile around the room as he took on a comical stance. "We had to traverse the rush hour traffic of Vegas, scale the arrivals platform at McCarran, conquer the beast that is baggage claim, and then slay the evils of airport security, to capture our most precious prize!"
Stephanie shook her head at his obvious embellishments. "But here you are… And no prize."
He shrugged and dropped down onto the side of the bed, as he wrapped an arm around her back and said, "Yeah, well, she ran into someone she knew down in the lobby, so Carter hung back, while I came up here."
"Here?" Stephanie was very confused with his answer.
"Yeah… A customer… Client... Whatever they call 'em… And you know Carter, he loves to schmooze with those artsy fartsy types." Thomas pulled her in closer and saw that she had an unfinished juice box in her hands, "Finish that… It'll help with the shakes."
Grissom had gotten his fill of the suspense, and so he felt compelled to ask, "So, who did you pick up at the airport?"
Thomas looked at Grissom with a surprised expression on his face and then turned quickly to his wife, "He doesn't know?" Stephanie shook her head and he dropped his jaw in response. "You're kidding, right?"
Shaking her head, she answered, "You think he'd be asking… if he did?"
"You are sooooo busted." Thomas just kept shaking his head in disbelief.
"Shut up… and help me… into the chair. I'm tired of… waiting for them." Stephanie finished the last of the juice and set it down on the table as she tried to turn in the bed. He got up and then grabbed her legs to bring them around to hang from the edge of the bed.
"What's going on?" Grissom was growing very concerned about what was transpiring, but he was not getting any answers. "Elizabeth, what has she done?"
Elizabeth had moved over to grab the tubes and wires as Thomas leaned down to get a good hold around Stephanie before lifting her from the bed. "I can honestly say, I have no idea."
As Thomas and Elizabeth worked to get Stephanie into the wheelchair, Grissom turned around and glared at Catherine, "And what about you?"
Catherine looked like a deer caught in the headlights when his gaze fell onto her. "Don't look at me!… I'm out of the loop on this one."
He sent his gaze across the room and eventually back to Stephanie who was moving her hands around in a peculiar fashion. And so he focused his attention on her, but she was looking out of the door, still moving her hands around.
By the time it registered in his mind that she was actually signing to someone, he pulled his gaze back to capture the rest of the room, but his eyes were drawn to the doorway where Dr. Wilbanks stood with an older woman on his arm.
Grissom's jaw practically dropped to the floor, his face gone completely white. "Mom!" And then, as though in honor of the guest, the whole room went silent.
