The conversation was very brief and to the point, he only having been told that Captain Brass was in an accident and was being taken to hospital, his wounds, especially his head wound, critical. Gil thought that Sara might like to know this little bit of information so as soon as he finished with the medic he called her apartment.
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Sitting at her computer piddling away, waiting for Jim to come back, she nearly jumped when the phone rang. Crossing the floor, she picked up the cordless by the front door to hear the brief relay of information from Grissom. Jumping into a pair of jeans, t-shirt and trainers, she grabbed her wallet and keys and lead-footed it to the hospital. When she arrived Grissom was already there and as they sat in chairs waiting for Jim's prognosis,
Gil comforted a weeping Sara. When she had composed herself, Gil told her what all had happened and that things looked kind of glum.
It wasn't for another hour or so until the trauma doctor cam out and found Gil and now not only Sara but Nick as well. They braced themselves for what would prove to be some very bad news. Pulling up a chair, the doctor introduced himself and began running through the list of Jim's injuries.
"I'm Dr. Maybourne. I was on call when Captain Brass was brought in." he explained "Is it bad?" Sara asked in a squeak of a voice "Well, his left arm is broken in several places, his elbow is shattered. His left femur is broken as are his tibia and fibula. His left clavicle is broken and he's got a depressed skull fracture with a nasty gash on his head. We've got him on the table right now, trying to fix his collapsed lung from one of his broken ribs. When we've done what we can do for today, the next 24 hours will be critical. Are there any next of kin we need to notify?"
No one answered.
"Maybe a girlfriend of wife?"
Sara sat up straight and slowly raised her hand in response. Turning to her, the doctor changed his tone as he enquired about Jim's medical wishes, be it a living will or DNR. To this, she could only answer that she didn't know.
"We'll do all we can to save him, but with all the damage, it doesn't look good. I hate to say it, but you best prepare yourselves." Dr. Maybourne stated
When the doctor had left Gil and Nick had turned to Sara, questioning looks on their faces. Sara wasn't about to go into detail right then, she just sat back in her chair and, in her mind, ran over the events of the past week they'd spent together. Jim said he'd wait for her and it was then that she decided that if he came out of this alive she'd re-accept his proposal. She thought it odd that it would take something ike this, like a near fatal accident for her to realize how much he meant to her and how much she loved him. She loved everything about him...everything from his paunch and broad, furry chest to the way sometimes would snort when he was laughing too hard. She loved him as he was and wouldn't ask him to change a thing.
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Hours passed and when Dr. Maybourne came back it was with a heavy heart that he relayed the upshot of the procedures that had been done to save Jim...for the time being. Nick and Gil had gone for coffee which left Sara sitting alone in chairs waiting for any news, be it good or bad. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she slowly picked her head up and looked at the doctor sitting across from her. With a great sigh, he started.
"We've patched him up as best we can. He's in recovery right now. We've got him sedated so he's not in any registered pain. We've got him in an upper-body cast for his chest and arm and a cast on his left leg. His head wound is what we've got to focus on right now. He had some swelling of the brain, but his skull, the way it broke, split a section from his zygomatic bone to his maxilla, that is helping to quell some of the swelling. We're hoping that those bones that have separated themselves will allow his brain to recover its size and through doing so, as the swelling goes down the bones will reset themselves. I've seen it work before, so there's a good chance it will this time. His head is bandaged up pretty good and we've sutured his cheek and forehead...now its just a waiting game." he explained
"Waiting for him to regain consciousness?" she asked quietly
"Correct"
"Can I see him"
"Like I said, he's sedated, but I don't see any reason not to let you see him. I'm not making any promises...he's not pretty, but when he heals, some minor plastic surgery can correct any scarring that might be left."
Getting up, they both walked down the hall to a cubicle of sorts. Pulling the curtain back, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Jim was in disrepair from head to toe. His left eye was swollen shut and he was hooked up to a heart monitor as well as pulse-ox and was currently being given an EKG. Turning to Sara, Maybourne placed a hand on her shoulder.
"He's got brain activity...that's good, and his heart is strong, but like I said, it's a waiting game now."
Thankful for the encouraging words, she asked to be alone with Jim. Rolling the EKG from the curtained room and sliding the drape closed, the doctor and nurse left Sara and Jim alone. Pulling up a chair to his right side, she took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together, her lips pressed to the back of his hand. She sat with her head on the edge of the bed, beside him, and closed her eyes.
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When Gil and Nick returned and found Sara missing they asked the duty nurse of her whereabouts and were directed to curtain 14. Walking down the hall and approaching number 14, Gil slowly pulled the curtain back to see Sara asleep, her head still on the bed next to Jim, their hands still together and she peacefully snoring. Deciding not to disturb her, they just stood there for a few minutes looking at Jim, their skin crawling from the sight before them.
Scribbling a note on a piece of paper from Jim's note pad that Gil had pulled from the patient property bag, he set it on the bedside table and he and nick left for shift.
When she woke, Sara read the note left by Grissom and called him, stepping out into the ambulance bay, as there was no cell signal inside the hospital. She said she was going to take an extended leave of absence so she could be with Jim when he woke and during his subsequent recovery. Gil didn't fight her on this, he knew how close they were, so he just filled out the proper form, signed her signature in absentia and filed it with HR.
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For the better part of a week Jim was unconscious and the only time Sara left his bedside was to use the bathroom and when Nick would come by to relieve her so she could go home and shower. All other times she sat dutifully at his bedside, waiting for him to wake.
It was on that Thursday, four days after the accident that Jim finally woke in the early afternoon. He couldn't move and he didn't know why. His mind foggy and his vision slightly blurred, he strained to focus on his surroundings. He immediately figured he was in hospital and as he felt pressure on his free hand, he looked down to see the lovely brown hair of Sara's head resting beside him on his bed. Things coming into better focus now, he gave a slight squeeze and offered his best morphine induced smile as she looked up at him, her face streaked from thousands of tears having been cried over days past.
He tried to talk but could not, for the breathing tube down his throat. Immediately, Sara pressed the call button and a nurse came in. Seeing Jim awake, she called for Maybourne who was there within minutes and seeing Jim, he smiled.
"You think you can breathe without this?" he asked, motioning to the tube
Jim blinked his response and within seconds he was divested of his breathing aid. His lips chapped and his mouth dry, he could only mouth the word "water". The nurse returned moments later with a pitcher and a cup which Sara filled and re-filled for Jim until he had had enough. Checking Jim's stats for a few moments, the nurse and doctor did their thing then left Jim and Sara to themselves.
Through tears of joy, Sara managed to speak.
"I...I thought I'd lost you...You...You looked so bad and the doctor said you might not make it. I...I was so worried."
Disengaging their hands momentarily, Jim reached down to cup her tear streaked cheek in his hand, rubbing with his thumb as she continued to cry. He took a few deep breaths and then said those four words he'd said in Tahoe.
"Like I said, "I'm not going anywhere."