A/N-I am SO sorry for the delay. This chapter wasn't part of my original outline, but I agreed with brandie.d that it was much needed. However, writing it was tough-it just did not want to cooperate! Thanks Brandie!

As always-I own nothing of CSI, and make nothing from these stories.

The stars burned brightly overhead, as far up in the mountains as they were the only thing marring the view of them was the smoke drifting up from the chimney. Sara stood in the clearing in front of their rented cabin, her arms clutched tightly about her shoulders, her eyes tilted up toward the night sky. Trees rustled in the wind, but with the stars giving the only light for miles around, only the barest shadows of their tops stood out against the horizon.

Grissom moved quietly up behind his wife, slipping his jacket over her shoulders before winding an arm around her waist. He smiled as her head came down on his shoulder, her free arm moving around him, completing the embrace. He turned his head and let his lips fall into her dark hair, pressing gentle kisses along her scalp. "Happy Anniversary, Sara."

"Mmmm," she smiled, clasping her hands together so she encircled him completely. "Happy Anniversary, Gil."

"Come back inside," he nodded his head back toward the cabin where a soft orange light seeped out from behind the closed curtains. "It's cold, and I got the fire going."

"Finally?"

He laughed as he led her back toward the front porch, "I never claimed I was a boy scout, you know."

"Oh, I don't know, you do 'be prepared' pretty well," the wind picked up as they reached the porch and Sara snuggled deeper into Grissom's arms. He responded with a smile and by pulling her even more tightly against him. He wound his fingers into her hair as he brought his lips to her neck in a gentle caress.

"Come on, I opened the champagne."

The inside of the cabin was warm, the fire crackling in the huge stone hearth sent tendrils of light dancing across the wide beams of the ceiling. There was only one room, the kitchen was tucked into a corner opposite the fireplace, and the bed stood on a slightly raised platform across the back of the cabin. In front of the fire was a huge overstuffed couch with a small end table made of branches from the nearby trees perched near one arm. On this table sat the silver bucket, a bottle of champagne nestled among the ice. Two crystal flutes rested near the bottle.

As Sara shrugged out of Grissom's jacket he poured the drinks, chuckling softly as the bubbles in one of the glasses foamed up and spilled over his fingers. His laugh turned into a soft gasp as Sara's mouth was suddenly there, removing the spilled champagne from his fingers. Still holding the glasses, Grissom had to content himself with capturing her lips with his; reveling in the taste of the spilled champagne that still lingered on her mouth. He pressed one of the flutes into her hand so he could wrap that arm around her waist, pulling her close against him.

Outside the wind howled and began splattering rain against the windows. Sara turned to peek through the nearly closed curtains. "Look at that. The rain is so fierce up here."

"Let it rain, Sara. There is nowhere in the world I'd rather be than right here."

The nurse's shoes squelched against the tile floor as she crossed the room to close the blinds against the driving rain. Wind whipped the awnings over the hospital entrance, but the view was soon obscured from those in the room, replaced by blinds in the customary hospital white.

"There now," the nurse turned to smile at the trio around the bed, "That's better isn't it? Who wants to look at the storm?" She paused by the foot of Grissom's bed, giving his chart a cursory check. "Visiting hours will be ending soon." With a final smile she turned, and left the room.

Sara waited until the door was closed to move back to the window and open the blinds. She stood staring at the sheet of water that cascaded down the glass for a moment, before turning back to look at the man in the bed, "That's better. Grissom…" she paused, taking a steadying breath before going on. "He needs to be connected to the real world. Even if it's only through the window."

"Sar…" Nick moved away from the bed to slip an arm around Sara's shoulders. He didn't seem to notice when her body stiffened at the touch. "Sara…you heard the nurse…visiting hours are almost over. Come on home with us, get some rest. You need it, Sara."

"No. No I'm okay Nick. You go on. The nurses will let me stay."

"That's just it Sara, they've been letting you stay for days. You need to get some rest."

"I rest."

"Not in the chair, Sara! You've been here night and day for ten days! People at the lab are starting to talk. Ecklie's going to…"

"Nick." Sara moved away from the man, stepping closer to the bed. As she reached out to take Grissom's hand in hers she glanced back over her shoulder, "I still have nine weeks of leave on the books, Nick. Nine. Ecklie's just going to have to live with out me for a little longer."

"Sara, sugar, it's been ten days. You need to accept…"

"Nick! That's enough, man." The interruption came from an unexpected quarter. Nick had brought Warrick with him to help convince Sara to go home. He hadn't expected the other man to come down on letting Sara stay at the hospital.

"War…I just meant…"

"We know what you meant, Nick." Warrick rounded the bed to stand next to Sara. "It's good you're here, Sara."

"Warrick…"

"No, man. I'll meet you outside."

Nick sighed, his own footfalls far more harsh against the floor as he crossed to give Sara a quick kiss on the cheek. "You need to take better care of yourself, Sar." When she didn't respond he just shook his head and stalked out the door.

Warrick's hand came down gently on Sara's shoulder, "You take what time you need, you hear? We'll handle things at the lab. We've worked short handed before. You just…you just be, Sara."

"Thank you." Her voice was very soft. Over the years, Warrick had seen Sara in pretty bad shape after cases so horrible he didn't like to remember them. But he had never heard such a lost tone in her voice before. "Listen to me, girl. People wake up from comas, every day. Talk to him, Sara. He'll hear you. People in comas, they hear, they understand. I don't care what the doctors say, Sara…"

"They say they don't know why he isn't awake yet, Warrick. He should be. The swelling is gone…there are no other injuries. He just…won't wake up."

Warrick nodded, and then pulled her closer to him, "Then you just talk to him, Sara. You make him want to wake up."

TBC