Title: A Close Call
Author: Smokinhottie
Disclaimer: Yep...still don't own anything.
Chapter 6
About half an hour later, Grissom and Catherine were at his house. Nick and Warrick had dropped them off and had gone back to the lab. Now Grissom was shuffling around the house trying to straighten a few things. Catherine smiled as she watched him from the couch.
"You really need to take it easy. Don't worry about anything." she said.
"I'm fine Cath, really." he said. However as he said this, he bent down to pick up some mail that had dropped. As he stood back up, a wave of dizziness washed over him. He swayed a bit as he felt faint. Catherine knew something was wrong and leapt up from where she had been sitting. She grasped his arms to help steady him. Grissom closed his eyes as he fought back the dizziness. He felt hot all over and his head was throbbing, as he struggled to keep from getting sick to his stomach.
Catherine studied Grissom's face for any clue as to how he was feeling. She could tell he wasn't feeling right and put a hand to his face. He was deathly pale and warm to the touch.
"Grissom? Are you ok?" she asked full of concern. All he could do was shake his head.
"Ok , " Catherine said as she helped him to the couch. "You sit down and take it easy. Ok?" She sat him down and went to get a damp cloth. Grissom closed his eyes as he struggled against the waves of nausea. Having Catherine here helped tremendously. Her palm had felt warm and comforting when she had put it to his cheek. By now, Catherine had come back with a damp cloth and she sat down beside him on the couch.
"How are you feeling?" she said "A little better," he said softly. He had tilted his head back against the back of the couch. Now he wearily looked at Catherine.
"Come on Gil. You need to lie down for a while." she said as she gently tugged on his sleeve.
"I'm ok. Don't worry. I'll be fine, I just need a few minutes." he said and Catherine sighed at his stubbornness. Again she tugged at his sleeve until he was lying with his head in her lap. He sighed and closed his eyes, while she gently began to dab his face. He relaxed some as he cooled down and felt less dizzy and sick.
"Thank you Cath." he said after a few moments of silence.
"It's ok... It's just that I worry about you. You haven't been taking very good care of yourself lately." she said softly as she lay the washcloth across his forehead.
" I'm fine. There's no need to worry..." he said as he tried to reassure her.
"But Gil...I do worry. I worry that you will work yourself to death. When was the last time that you took some time off?" she said and Grissom sighed knowing that she was right. He had been pulling double overtime lately and it was starting to catch up with him. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't as young as he used to be.
"I'll take a few days off and rest some. How does that sound? You don't need to worry about me. You've got enough to worry about with Lindsay." he said gently.
"I...just...don't want anything to happen to you." she said as she looked away from him. Grissom gently took her hand, that had been resting on his chest, and tenderly kissed it.
"Cath, honey, look at me." he whispered. Catherine sighed and wiped away a stray tear before looking at him. "I'll be fine...everything will work out...don't worry, ok?" he told her softly and Catherine nodded. She'd worry no matter what happened, but she decided to drop the subject. Grissom had taken the pain medication from the hospital, as soon as they had gotten to his place, and was now starting to feel sleepy.
"Cath...if you want to just sleep upstairs in my bed...I'll sleep on the couch." he said as he began having trouble stifling yawns.
"No, that's ok. You need to sleep in your own bed. It's fine, I'll sleep on the couch." she said as she got him up off the couch and led him to the stairs.
"Look I don't want you to be uncomfortable sleeping on the couch." he said while he shook his head. He had stopped climbing the stairs and now looked at her. "We can both sleep in the bed. It's a big bed and I promise to behave myself." he said and Catherine couldn't help smiling at his attempts to stay awake.
"All right Gil, you win. I'm sure you'll behave because you're looking like you're ready to go to sleep on me right here and now." she said as she helped him up the rest of the stairs and into the bedroom.
"Cath..." he mumbled as she put him in the bed. "We still have to talk...about Nick..."
"Don't worry, we'll talk in the morning. You just get some sleep." she said. She was about to go change and get ready for bed, when he spoke again.
"Cath..." he whispered
" Yeah..." she said as she looked at him drifting off to sleep.
" I love you..." and with that he was fast asleep. Catherine was shocked. 'Did he really mean that?" Unfortunately, she would have to wait until the morning to find out.