A few hours later Sara woke, and sat up on the couch. She removed the blanket that had been covering her and stood up to stretch. Then the realization of where she was hit. Just as she was about to go to the nurses station Lucas walked in with a cup of coffee.

"Hey, your awake."

"Yeah, where's Grissom? What's going on with him?"

"Relax. He's still in surgery."

"Surgery!"

"Yes, they are trying to repair the damage done to his ears. Chill out will you. It's only been two hours since he went in and the doctor said it would be at least four."

"Four hours!"

"Sara, calm down please. He'll be alright. Now how did last night go?"

He tried to change the subject. The suggestion that she take off work early and go talk with Grissom was his idea. Sara didn't respond but smiled.

"Well that looks like things went well."

"Not that well. Get your mind out of the gutter would you."

They both laughed. Sara had to admit that it felt better to think about something else.

He sat with her until Dr. Karen Roth entered the room.

"Ah, you must be Sara."

Confused she smiled, "Yes."

"Gil used to talk about you during his testing. I must say you have made quite an impression on the man."

Sara blushed.

"I'm sorry, my name is Karen Roth. I'm Gil's physician. He's out of surgery and in recovery. I'm afraid we won't know anything until he regains conciousness."

"What are the chances that he will be able to hear again?"

"In a case like this it's hard to say. Most likely he will wake up with little or no hearing. But over time it will slowly come back. He will never fully regain all of his hearing again. Too much damage has been done. Gil's going to need to be surrounded by a lot of support and his friends to help him get through this."

"When can he come home?"

"In a few days. But he will need to return weekly for more tests."

"Thank you. Can I see him?"

"Sure, follow me."

Sara turned to Lucas. But before she could speak he stopped her.

"I'm going to go move my things out and into my new place. If you need anything just call."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Sara followed Dr. Roth until they reached the recovery rooms.

"It may be several hours before he wakes up. But you can sit with him until he comes to. If any of the nurses give you a hard time just tell them that I told you that you could stay." She smiled and walked away.

Sara slowly walked to Grissoms bedside. She pulled up a chair and sat to his left taking his hand in hers. There were things that she wanted to say, but the chances that he couldn't hear her stopped her from speaking at all.She remained at his side and like the doctor said after a few hours he began to wake up.

Sara stood and leaned over so he could see her face when he gained back his sight. It took several minutes, but when his eyes were fully opened she looked deep into them. She didn't like what she saw.

His eyes were blank. She couldn't read them. He looked at her with no facial expression. No smile or even a rise from the corner of his mouth. It was if he wasn't expecting to see her. And the first words out of his mouth shocked her just as much.

"Why are you still here?" His voiced cracked. Dry from the lack of moisture.

"Why? Because I love you. That's why."

"Can't hear you."

"But you can understand me right?"

"Yes." He coughed and quickly both of his hands flew towards his head. He placed a hand over each ear as he coughed. His face showed the pain he was suffering from.

Sara grabbed a small plastic cup and put some water in it. She moved the cup to his lips when the coughing had subsided.

"Drink."

He took the cup and let the soothing liquid slide down his throat. When he finished he looked at her.

"Sara you don't have to babysit me."

"I'm hear because I want to be. Besides you need me."

"No I don't." His eyes widened the minute the words left his mouth.

Sara's eyes got just as big, but hers filled with hurt.

"Fine." She stood and quickly walked out.

Walking as fast as her legs could carry her, she made it to her car. But instead of opening the door, she kicked it. The force she put behind the kick left a dent in the side of the truck.

"Shit. Oh well."

She climbed in and drove to the lab. With every passing block and with every stop light changing as she approached her temper flared. When she finally reached the lab she never attempted to calm her self down. She never said a word as she walked into the break room and sat down.

Nick looked at Warrick. Warrick looked at Greg. Greg looked at Catherine. They all knew the volcano was going to erupt, the question was when. Then the answer walked in.

"Ok. Well I guess Catherine you are now officially supervisor of the night shift. Congratulations. Here are the assignments for tonight. I'm sure that we will all miss Grissom. It's too bad about what happened."

The three turned and looked at Sara. It was like watching a train wreck. No one wants to see it, but you just can't look away. Sara stood firm as she approached Ecklie.

"Too bad hun. Well for your information Conrad, The chances that he will regain his hearing are better than fifty percent."

"Yeah, well that's not saying much. Besides you should know that in order to be a CSI in the field you need to be able to hear. It's not rocket science Sara."

"No, cause if it took rocket science to be a lab director you would of stood no chance. You may have a political brain, but when it comes to people Ecklie you suck. How's that saying go, oh yeah. 'When they were handing out brains you thought they said trains, and was last in line"

"Sidle, your on one month, unpaid suspension. Maybe with no paycheck you'll change your attitude."

"Attitude. You want to talk about attitude." She stepped into his face. "I'll show you an attitude."

Catherine nodded to Nick who quickly jumped up to haul Sara out of the room. But he was too late. Sara swung and caught Ecklie off guard. He stumbled back into the chair witch caused him to fall to the ground. Nick was taking Sara out of the room when Ecklie got back to his feet.

"Sidle your fired. I don't ever want to see your face in this lab again. You got that!"

"Go fuck yourself Conrad!"

Nick held his firm grip on her as he escorted her outside. And once outside Sara wasn't done venting.

She kept ranting and raving about Ecklie. Nick stood and watched her pace, point, and yell. But once she was done commenting on him, the issue turned to Grissom. Now the truth came out. Nick held her as her body shook with fear.

"What happens if he doesn't recover? I don't think he'll love me any more."

"Sara, he does love you. He's got to be scared out of his mind right now. If I was in his shoes I would be terrified."

He wrapped his arms tighter around her and she held him.

"Why don't you go home and try to get some rest. Your mind has been working overtime and it's beginning to wear on you physically."

He walked her to her car.

"Sara. I can understand why you hit Ecklie. But the Denali? What did it ever do to you?"

She smiled as she opened the door and climbed in. Then headed home.

TBC