A/N: It seems I always apologize for the delay and this time will be no different. I'm going through a lot in RL at the moment so please bear with me. Writing comes when it comes and the last few months it hasn't be flying out of my fingers sadly. I will get there eventually so hopefully at some point in the future I can really concentrate on getting back to what I really love doing.

So, let's just get on with it and here is a new chapter. I will be getting an IAFU2 chap up to hopefully as well in the next few days.

For now, I hope you enjoy this new one. Evil hat may be back for a short spell. Shout loud enough and he may go away :)

On we go…

Chapter 21

Keep back? Who were they kidding? His wife was in agony, bordering on screaming. There was no way in hell he was keeping back.

Grissom reached for Sara's hand and gently clasped it. Maggie flashed him a quick glance of narrowed eyes but didn't argue. That's right. No argument. The problem was obviously with her legs and he wasn't in the way.

Well, not yet.

"Sara, Doctor Jones is on call and on his way, all right?" Maggie said. "Can you tell me exactly what you're feeling?"

Slamming her cast down onto the bed, Sara groaned. "Burns so much. Jesus it burns."

Grissom felt her hand tighten around his and he scanned her face. She was sweating and her cheeks were glowing.

"It's going to be okay," he soothed, taking a quick look over his shoulder to check on Michael, thanking up above that his son could sleep through anything.

"We're going to take the bandages off your legs, Sara, so we can take a look. Okay?" Maggie said. "Can you tell me exactly where the pain is? Is it both your legs?"

Tightly clenching her eyes, Sara tried to breathe. "Left," she gasped.

"Okay," Maggie replied softly, nodding to her co-workers who went to work removing the bandages.

"Can't you give her something?" Grissom asked, his tone desperate.

Maggie shook her head. "Not until the doctor gets here as we'll need to identify what the issue is first and if it means surgery we'll need to be very careful."

Grissom's eyes widened at that comment but he kept his mouth shut. Sara didn't seem to be listening and him rambling on about the possibilities or more surgery would probably upset her further. Reaching for her hair, he brushed his fingers through it smiling as she looked at him.

"Just breathe and try to relax," he urged.

She laughed which surprised him. "Easier…said than…done," she complained.

Luckily, it only took a few minutes for Jack to arrive and he rushed into the room.

"What have we got?" he asked of his nurses.

"Intense pain in the left leg," Maggie answered, carefully pulling free the last of the bandage around Sara's knee.

"What kind of pain are you having, Sara?" Jack asked, slipping on gloves.

After licking sweat from her lips, Sara huffed a long breath. "Burning. It's really bad."

"Okay," he replied with a nod. "Any particular area? Is it both your legs?"

"Just the left and…worse around my knee."

Nodding again, he visually inspected her leg. "I'm going to have a feel around," he told her. "I need you to tell me if it feels any different when I touch you. Can you do that?"

"Yeah," she grunted.

Sara closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Grissom's hand as he watched Jack begin to feel Sara's leg, starting at her thigh and working down.

"Any difference in your pain, Sara?" the doctor asked.

She shook her head. "Just feels the same," she gasped.

Working down to her knee, he carefully squeezed around it. "How about now?"

"Same," she mumbled.

Moving downwards he asked two more times, receiving the same response as before.

"Okay," he said, pulling off the gloves. "Let's give her 20mg of fentanyl and see how we get on with that."

One of the nurses nodded and moved away to get the requested medication.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Grissom asked needing answers.

"I'm seeing some slight redness, more than usual, and extra inflammation," Jack replied.

Grissom's eyes worked in a circle. "And that means?"

"I suspect one of two things," Jack continued as Sara's eyes opened to settle upon him. "It could be compartment syndrome or Osteomyelitis.

"That doesn't sound good," Sara said, wincing again.

"First of all we need to make you as comfortable as we can and then we need to do a biopsy so we can verify exactly what the problem is. It's vitally important we get that done now. I can explain why afterwards."

Sara sighed, her eyes catching the nurse as she returned with a needle. "If the pain goes away you can tell me whenever you want."

Jack smiled, tipping his head towards Maggie. "Let's get the biopsy sorted and I suggest we bend her knee a little and add some padding. I think she'll be more comfortable."

"Yes, Doctor," Maggie agreed. "Right away."

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It had been just an hour since Grissom had awoken to his wife's cries and a quick look at the clock informed him it was 5am.

The biopsy on her leg hadn't been as painful as it could've been what with the amount of pain relief Sara was on. He was thankful for that, at least. She'd fallen asleep not long after and before the doctor could explain his theories more thoroughly.

After taking a moment to check on Michael, he'd sat back by Sara. As soon as Jack stepped back into the room, he was up from the chair and approaching the doctor.

"How long until we get results?" Grissom asked.

"A few hours," Jack replied, taking Sara notes. "I've made it a priority."

Rubbing his chin, Grissom nodded. "Do you think it's serious?"

"It depends," Jack replied, folding his arms. "If one of my theories is correct, it could go either way. Osteomyelitis is less serious than compartment syndrome and much easier to treat."

Grissom's eyes worked around. "Osteomyelitis is a bone infection, right?"

Jack smiled. "Yes, it is and usually treatable with antibiotics. With the type of injuries Sara has it's not uncommon for this to occur."

"And what's compartment syndrome?" Grissom asked.

"Compartment syndrome is a potentially serious condition caused by bleeding or swelling within an enclosed bundle of muscles which have been severely injured. The bundle is also called a compartment, hence the name." Grissom swallowed as the doctor continued. "Each group of muscles in the legs, together with nearby blood vessels and nerves, is contained in a space surrounded by tissue called fascia. Compartment syndrome occurs when the pressure within a compartment increases, restricting the blood flow to the area and potentially damaging the muscles and nearby nerves. Both these conditions can cause severe pain."

Inhaling a silent breath, Grissom glanced at Sara for a second. "What makes compartment syndrome worse?"

"It can only be treated with surgery," Jack answered. "And if not treated quickly enough can result in permanent damage."

Eyes shooting back to the doctor, Grissom felt his heart sink a little more. More surgery meant more problems and a slower and harder recovery. Sighing, he ran a hand over the back of his neck but didn't really know what else to say. He really had to try and not think the worst and, until the results came through, there was no point in guessing what would be next.

Jack dropped a hand to his shoulder. "Why don't you try and get some sleep. Sara will probably be out for a while and were going to keep her as highly medicated as we can. Plus, I'm sure Michael will be up in the next few hours as well. You need to rest."

"Yeah, maybe," Grissom mumbled, torn as to whether he'd be able to sleep or not but he knew exhausting himself wouldn't do anyone any good.

"I'll wake you if anything happens," Jack reassured.

Sucking on his lip, Grissom nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "I guess I'll try."

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Grissom did try to sleep but it didn't come easily. He probably managed about half an hour before he was back by Sara's bedside, biting heavily on his thumbnail and praying for good news. He really didn't want her to have to undergo another surgery so soon. While they knew more could be a possibility if her legs hadn't healed adequately, additional issues on top of that was not filling him with glee.

Softly sighing, his eyes worked over her face as he gently held her hand. At least she was asleep and that meant she wasn't hurting. Then, his head snapped around when he felt a pressure on his knee and found Michael standing there looking right at him and smiling.

"Hey," Grissom whispered, carefully putting Sara's hand down. "I didn't hear you get up."

"I sneaky," Michael replied grabbing onto his father's legs with the intention of climbing up.

"You sure are," Grissom agreed, helping him up and onto his lap. "And I've never come across anyone who wakes up as happily as you do. Nothing like your mother, she's always grumpy when she wakes up."

"I heard that," came Sara's soft voice.

Eyes widening, Grissom looked back towards Sara to see her staring at him. Her eyes lazily blinked and she managed a smile.

"You're certainly as sneaky as he is," he accused. She scoffed and then winced. "Hey, take it easy," Grissom urged, retaking her hand. "No moving or anything."

"Yeah," she agreed, clenching her eyes.

"Is the pain still really bad?" he asked.

Her head shook. "Not as bad. I can't say I was expecting to wake up in agony." She looked back at him. "Have you been up all night?"

Sucking on his lip, he shrugged. "Most of it."

"Sorry," she apologized.

"It's fine," he said sincerely.

"I bet you slept right through though, didn't you?" she said to Michael.

Michael nodded. "I like sleep."

"Sleep and food," Grissom added. "Heaven on a plate for you."

Exhaling a long breath, Sara closed her eyes as the repetitive burning in her legs continued. "Do they have any idea what's wrong?" she asked, gritting her teeth.

"Maybe," Grissom replied quietly and she opened her eyes with a frown. But before they could get any further into conversation, Jack stepped in. "And maybe we're about to find out."

"Morning," Jack greeted. Michael waved and Jack smiled at him. "How's your pain, Sara?" he asked as Maggie appeared behind him.

"It still hurts," Sara replied.

Jack nodded and then looked at Grissom. "I need to take a look at Sara's legs. Do you…um…want to see if Michael would like a tour around the nurse's station for five minutes?"

"Oh…yeah," Grissom agreed knowing this would not be a sight for his son's eyes. "Would you like that, Mike? Go and take a look at all the cool equipment the nurses have while Mommy gets checked?"

Michael thought for a second. "Then breakfast?"

Grissom smirked. "Then breakfast."

"Okay," Michael agreed.

Lowering Michael from his lap, Grissom watched as Maggie held out her hand.

"Come on young man," she said. "You can tell Christine what you want for breakfast."

"Oooh," Michael cooed, quickly taking Maggie's hand.

Sara smiled as he waddled away. "I wish everyone was so easy to please."

Grissom smiled back at her but then flashed Jack a serious look. "So, do we know what's going on?"

"Yeah," Jack said softly.

Swallowing hard, Grissom retook Sara's hand.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Sara asked not knowing anything about the conversation the two men had exchanged in the night.

"You're suffering from Osteomyelitis," Jack told her.

She frowned at him. "Bone infection?"

The doctor's eyebrows soared. "I see you are as clued in as your husband."

"Comes with our line of work," she shot back. "Some medical knowledge anyway."

Jack nodded. "Yes, you have a bone infection and the condition can cause severe pain in your bones which is what you are feeling."

Taking a breath, she looked at Grissom who squeezed her hand. "It will be okay," he reassured.

Swallowing, she looked back at Jack. "So…what do we do? Is it bad?"

"It's usually treatable with medication," Jack replied. "If that fails then we'd have to consider surgery to remove pus which can form around your damaged bones."

Sara chin trembled a touch. "Sounds delightful."

"Hopefully, we won't need to think about that," Jack countered.

"How long before we know for sure?" Grissom asked.

Maggie returned and stepped around the doctor, pulling the sheet away to reveal Sara's legs.

"We should know within 36 hours if the antibiotics are working," he informed them. "At the moment, you still have quite a fever and a deeper redness on your skin. Hopefully, the medication will start bringing down your fever. When that happens your skin color will change. Those two things are telltale signs whether or not we're on the right track."

"More waiting," Sara grumbled, squeezing Grissom's hand tighter as a spasm of pain hit her leg again.

"Maggie's going to give you the first shot of antibiotics and then I suggest we place some icepacks on your legs for a short while. This should help soothe you and bring your temperature down."

Sara nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "Anything cool sounds good to me." Then she frowned, looking back at Grissom. "What about Mike? He can't be in here while my legs are exposed."

"Don't worry, honey," Maggie said as she injected the antibiotics into Sara's IV. "We'll take care of him for the half an hour it should take. Besides, considering how inquisitive he is, he might not want to come back."

Grissom snorted. "He can be your new intern."

Smiling, Sara closed her eyes. What her son would turn out to be when he grew up, she had no idea but, hopefully, it wouldn't involve dead bodies and psychopaths. They'd had enough of that to last them a lifetime.

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One week later

The last seven days had passed by relatively lacking in panic and gloom. The pain in Sara's legs had been very uncomfortable for the first 24 hours but then the antibiotics had kicked in. Her fever dropped and, within three days, the extra pain had vanished. She still hurt but it was way better than before.

The twins were doing really well. Gabriel's heart was holding strong with no more signs of valve issues and he was piling on weight like there was no tomorrow. Sara had nicknamed him 'the little piggy.'

Now that she was feeling better, Sara had insisted that Grissom stay at least one night at home with Michael. Their son needed serious parental love outside the confines of the hospital, she'd told him, and they needed to stop neglecting him. Reluctantly, he'd agreed, walking very slowly toward the door and finally through it. He'd called almost every hour, which had made her smile and, even though she'd missed him, she was glad not to have to worry about him.

Now, a new day dawned but it wasn't going to be an ordinary day. Today, Sara was going to get up. Come what may, she was damned well going to try…

Looking up as the crane for the portable lift was positioned above her, she found she was nervous but slightly excited as well. She'd lost count of the days she'd been stuck in bed and wanted some freedom. And, while they were nowhere near her actually standing, there was a wheelchair ready and waiting for when they hoisted her out of bed. She actually felt a little giddy about it.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Sara?" Steven asked. "Don't forget sitting down will bring a whole new perspective to the feeling and pressure in your legs."

"Yeah," she breathed, first looking at Grissom and then the doctor. "I need to get out of this bed."

Steven nodded then smiled. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do," he continued. "First we need to maneuver the cloth sling for the hoist underneath you." He nodded to Maggie who held up the appliance. "As odd as this may sound it's almost like putting a diaper on you."

Grissom's eyebrow soared as Sara laughed. "Well," he said, clearing his throat, "let's hope we don't have the mess of a diaper, huh?"

"Hopefully not," Steven agreed with a smirk. "After you're in place, we clip on the hoist and carefully lift you from the bed, swing you over and lower you into the wheelchair."

"How secure is that thing?" Grissom questioned sounding rather nervous.

"Extremely," Steven clarified. "We'll ensure Sara is stable in the hoist before we move her. And we wouldn't use the equipment if we weren't confident in it. It's built for this very purpose and I can assure you it's safe."

Nipping on his lip, Grissom gave the hoist another visual assessment then nodded. He had to trust the doctor because he was pretty sure he wouldn't be allowing this if it wasn't in his wife's best interests.

"So, Sara, shall we get started?" Steven asked. "Or would you like to wait a little while longer?"

Sara nodded at him. "I'm ready."

A/N: Well, it started bad but I shooed the Evil one away :P Will she be able to get up? I foresee eyes watering…