The ambulance ride to Cannon Medical Center is most decidedly the longest 20 minutes of Gil Grissom's life. It's as if the world outside the transport ceased to exist and all that matters in the world is the now unconscious form of Sara Sidle resting on a gurney in the center of the vehicle. The two EMT's made a constant effort to monitor Sara's vitals and, sitting at the end of a bench lining the right side of the vehicle Grissom feels nothing short of helpless noticing her skin had paled quite a bit since they left the scene, presumably from blood loss he projected, and her unconsciousness was probably a result of the same. The thing he hadn't anticipated, however, was his deep burning urge and need to touch her; to reassure himself that her fair pallor and lack of motion is not a his deepest fear coming true.
Arriving at the hospital, Grissom makes quick motion out of the Ambulance as the doors are pulled open, ensuring the EMT's adequate room to remove the gurney from it's confines and usher Sara into the hospital where she can receive treatment and then come back to him. Once Sara is ushered beyond the doors which stand as barrier, keeping him from proceeding further, causing a multitude of emotions to erupt from somewhere deep within him that he hadn't known existed as he watches her retreating form. He would follow her to the depths of Hell, he realizes ironically, yet somehow 6 inches of plastic, metal, and plexi-glass are managing to keep them apart.
In the waiting room, Grissom begins to pace the stark white tiled floors to a messy rut, attempting to push the images of Sara's helpless figure from his mind. 'Sara is not a victim' his mind screams as images of her strong, determined, beautiful self are replaced by images of a woman victimized, a woman made prey, a woman momentarily made into something less than she was ever supposed to be Sitting abruptly, Grissom's hand comes unconsciously crashing down on the small wooden table beside him, a small strangled cry escapes his lips as his usually stoic countenance is replaced by one of a man filled with grief. 'If only I had arrived earlier'.
Grissom's attention is diverted from his own internal beratement, however, as a voice, more so reassuring by it's quality than the words spoken reaches his ears, "You're going to have to be careful or I'll have to bring you in for destruction of public property." Lifting his gaze from the floor before him, Grissom finds Jim Brass standing before him, his own face a mixture of concern and fear. Walking over, Jim claps a strong hand to Grissom's shoulder before taking up residency in the chair besides him. "Have you heard anything yet?"
Jim hadn't really expected much of an answer. In all honesty, the simple shake of the head he received was far more than he had anticipated. In all his years knowing Gil Grissom he had discovered that the man had two weaknesses. The first was children. All of the CSI's have their hard cases, the ones that for some reason or another seem to hit home more than others, with Gil that always seemed to be kids. The other weakness though, the one that had honestly surprised the living hell out of Jim when he had put two and two together, was none other than Sara Sidle. As far as Jim could ever tell, that girl had taken up residence in Grissom's veins long before she had ever moved to Vegas.
With a slight squeeze to Grissom's shoulder, Brass stands up muttering about seeing "what a little 'Brass' can do around here" and walks up to the nurses station. Flashing his badge at the nearest nurse he offers her his kindest but most effective 'I'm in no mood for games' smile. "I'm here about CSI Sara Sidle. What information do we have?"
The nurse takes a moment to walk to a table behind the station and grabs a file. Turning around she takes a moment to look over its contents while she walks back over to him. "Sara Sidle, right?" She waits for Brass to nod. "Looks like most of her wounds were superficial. She may have sustained a concussion and a few broken ribs but most of the cuts and bruises will heal without much issue." She puts the file down and looks at him. "I'll let the doctor know that LVPD is here regarding her condition and I'm sure he'd be happy to talk with you."
Brass flashes her a genuine smile now, happy with her information and begins turning back to Grissom. On second though, he turns back around though and reverts his attention to the nurse. "I've got a CSI Supervisor in your waiting room that appears to be wearing some of the evidence from the crime scene still. Can you see about getting me some scrubs to have him change into?" The nurse nods and turns away for a moment, walking into a back room. Returning, she hands Brass a set of bright blue hospital issue scrubs.
Flipping open his cell phone Brass makes a quick call in to Catherine, letting her know that he's with Gil and that she may want to send a member of her team over to process Grissom and get Sara's affects. Satisfied that he's done everything he needs to for the moment he makes his way back over to his friend, this time taking a seat across from him. "Catherine's sending Nick over to process both you and Sara," he makes a show of his meaning by gesturing toward the clothing in his hand, "I know it's rough Gil, I mean, believe me, I know. She's important to all of us. I talked to the nurse though. She's going to be okay. Most all of the injuries she sustained were superficial and she's a real tough kid."
Nodding, Grissom looks up and makes eye contact with Brass for the first time since he arrived. "If anybody knows how tough she is, it's me. I put her through more things . . ." his voice trails off for a moment, "it's one of the things I love about her." Standing, he grabs the scrubs from Brass and looks up toward the doctor as he approaches them. "How is she Doctor?"