Ovarian Grievance
Pairing: Sara and Nick
Sara gets the anticipated phone calls and information about the surgery. Nick has a special night at the Venetian planned for her.
Spoiler: a hint of 'Last Laugh'
A/N: This is based loosely on what happened to me the past three months.
A/N2: My mom and I created the concept for Sara's entree!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sara, Nick or any other CSI character. If I did own the show, the final scene from 'Way to Go' wouldn't exist. I only own my original characters and this story plot.
The Phone Call and the Date
About a Week Later
Sara was still sleeping in the warmth and comfort of Nick's arms in their bed. She didn't care about the important phone call she was about to get at any given moment. At this point, the ovarian teratoma didn't affect her much. Sleep was very blissful, especially with the handsome young man lying next her and embracing her. Unfortunately, that blissful feeling and moments came to an abrupt end with the sound of the telephone ringing. She felt Nick releasing her from his embrace to pick up the phone since he was the closest to it.
"Sidle and Stokes Residence," Nick answered the phone. "This is Nick Stokes speaking."
"Mr. Stokes, is a Ms. Sara Sidle there?" a woman's voice asked.
"Yeah, she is," he responded. "Who is calling?"
"This is Chloe," the woman replied. "I'm Dr. Calabrese's assistant."
"I'll see if she's awake," he told her. "We work in the Graveyard shift. Could you hold on for a moment, please?"
"Sure," Chloe said.
"Sara, are you awake?" he asked.
Sara moaned, fluttered her eyes open and gave Nick one of her famous glares. Nick looked at her apologetically and she softened her glare considerably.
"Nick, who is it?" Sara asked.
"A Chloe from Dr. Calabrese's office is on the phone," Nick said.
"I'll take it," she smiled as she snatched the receiver from Nick's hand. "Chloe, this is Sara Sidle."
"Sara, I am calling on behalf of Dr. Calabrese," Chloe said. "We had contacted the surgical schedulers at Desert Palm Hospital. Dr. Calabrese performs surgeries Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at Desert Palm. We looked into available dates on her schedule and the schedulers gave us the following possible dates. Do you have a pen and paper with you? A calendar with a pencil would be better."
"Hold on a moment," Sara held the phone between her ear and shoulder. "Nick, could you bring that Texas landscapes calendar with a pencil here?"
"You got it!" Nick smiled as he went to get the calendar and pencil.
"Thanks, Sweetie," Sara winked at him and resume her call. "Chloe, I have a calendar and pencil. Tell me the possible dates, please."
"We have a June 8 at 9:45 AM," Chloe read off the list of dates and times. "Another possibility is June 12 at 11:30 AM or June 16 at 2:00 PM. We'll contact you with the next two days for a definite day and time. On the day we contact you for the actually date and time for your surgery, we'll give you a briefing on what you need to do. We're going to mail out the package of information and forms as soon as we have a date and time scheduled. You also need to make an appointment with Desert Palm for a preadmission registration so on the day of your surgery, it's one less headache to deal with. The number is in your booklet. If you have any questions, feel free to call us."
"I will," Sara smiled.
"Have a nice day!" Chloe said.
"Thanks, you too," Sara replied and the two women hung up.
"Do we have a definite date and time for your surgery?" Nick asked.
"Not yet, but there are three probable ones," Sara smiled showing him the calendar.
"I am going to call my mom," he said as he took the phone.
"What about your dad?" she asked.
"He's in Austin hearing a case," he replied as he dialed a number.
"Hello!" a woman's voice answered on the other end.
"Olivia, where's mom?" Nick asked recognizing the voice as one of his sisters.
"She has the day off from work," Olivia said. "She's tending to the horses and the garden. Chuck, the girls and I are staying with mom and dad for a few days as our house is being fumigated."
"Don't tell my boss that," he chuckled. "His area of interest is insects."
"How's Sara doing?" she asked. "Mom told me about what happened to her."
"She's okay, but she has her days," he said. "We met with her surgeon about a week ago. The doctor is a woman and she's very nice. Just a while ago, her assistant called to give Sara a few possible dates and times. We won't know a definite one until she calls back in a day or two."
"Olivia, who is calling?" Jillian Stokes asked on the other end.
"It's my baby brother and your youngest child, Nick," Olivia announced.
"Why the hell didn't you run out and get me?" Jillian hissed. "He could have some news about Sara."
"Mom, Olivia, don't fight about Sara and me," Nick tried to calm the situation on the other end of the line.
"Nick, this is your mother," Jillian said after she took the phone from her daughter. "How are you and Sara doing? You said something about Sara meeting with her surgeon."
"Mom, take a breather," he said. "I am fine! Sara is doing okay considering she has a tumor in her ovary, but it's not bothering her so much now. I'll give the phone to Sara, she can explain meeting with the surgeon better than I can."
"Hello Mrs. Stokes, this is Sara," Sara greeted her future mother-in-law.
"Sara, you are going to be part of the family in about a year," Jillian told her. "Call me Jillian. I was just wondering how the meeting with the surgeon went. Did they set up a date for your surgery?"
"The meeting went well and I liked the doctor," Sara smiled. "She's very sweet. Her assistant called just before we called you and they gave me three possible dates."
"Let me hear them," Jillian calmly insisted. "I still have to make travel arrangements for Bill and myself."
"She gave me June 8, June 12 and June 16," Sara read off the calendar. "In about a day or two, she will let me know when I'll be scheduled."
"Do me a favor," Jillian said. "As soon as you know, give me a call right away. You can call me at work, home or my cell. Nick has the numbers in his address book if you didn't add them to yours."
"Jillian, you will be the first person I contact after I find out," Sara smiled. "Do you want to talk to Nick again?"
"No, I will speak to him some other time," Jillian replied. "I have to continue tending to the horses, the garden and make dinner for seven people. We'll talk soon. Bye!"
"Bye!" Sara smirked and they hung up.
"So, what did my mom tell you?" Nick asked.
"She told me to call her right after Dr. Calabrese's office calls regarding the surgery," she said.
"You asked her if she wanted to talk to me," he said. "What did she tell you?"
"She told me that she would call you," she replied.
"I just wondered if there was any private future mother-in-law/future daughter-in-law conversation between the two of you that I shouldn't know about," his curiosity piqued him.
"Nick, there wasn't anything of the sorts," she smiled and reassured him.
"Good, now we are going to shower and dress up casually," he announced. "We have the night off thanks to Catherine and Grissom. I have planned a night at the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes. We are going on a private and romantic indoor gondola ride. That will be followed by dinner which the restaurant will be a surprise, but I can assure you they do have vegetarian options. However, we won't have dessert there because I am taking you to Häagen Dazs for ice cream sundaes."
"You don't have to do that for me, Nicky," she said.
"I enjoy spoiling my fiancée rotten," he smirked as he stripped down. "I am going to spoil you even more now."
"Just go and shower," she chuckled. "I'll watch 'The New Detectives' on the Discovery Channel."
"Couldn't you watch something in the Food Network?" he smirked and received a glare from Sara. "Okay, you win. I'll take my shower."
Nick had disappeared into the shower. Sara turned on the TV and with the remote control she changed the channel from ESPN to Discovery. The episode of the New Detectives was about the Texas Rangers, she immediately put a tape in the built in VCR and recorded not knowing if Nick had seen it or not. About ten minutes later, Nick emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist. His wet hair was slightly spiked.
"Sara, I left plenty of hot water for you," Nick smiled. "What is this episode about?"
"Something that you should know about coming from Texas," Sara beamed. "No, it's not about the Dallas Police Department, Cowboy."
"Oh, this is about the Texas Rangers," he smirked. "A brother-in-law works in their San Antonio office. Another one works in the Houston office. Amber works in the crime lab in their Headquarters. I didn't see this episode and looks like you're taping it. I'll watch it anyway. Go to the shower and use that cherry blossom shower gel that you bought from Bath and Body Works, it's has a soft and pretty scent. I'll be here dried, dressed and wearing that aftershave you love so much."
Sara smiled and chuckled as she entered the bathroom. Nick dried himself, got dressed in a casual suit (slacks and jacket) and shirt. He put a small amount of aftershave and combed his hair. He sat on the foot of the bed and watched the program. He was so absorbed with the show that he wasn't aware that Sara was finished with her shower. Nick almost fell off the bed when he saw her with her hair wrapped in a hair towel and wearing a bathrobe.
"Give me some warning that you're here," Nick protested. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"I am so sorry, Nicky," Sara was on the defensive. "You were so engrossed in watching 'The New Detectives' and I tried to get your attention."
"Sara, I apologize for yelling at you," he smirked. "I just want you to make your presence known in the future."
"I'll make a note of that," she smiled and gave him a passionately kiss. "Does this make things better?"
"Yeah!" he happily sighed. "Now get dressed and make yourself gorgeous. You are very beautiful, but this is a special occasion that you need be gorgeous."
"Butter that toast, Nicky!" she giggled as she prepared herself for the night out.
Nick chuckled and reflected upon the first time she told him that. It was when they were investigating a suspicious death that Brass had originally declared an accident. He and Sara were trying to reconstruct the events in a model home. He paid her a compliment and she told him to 'butter that toast'. Now, Nick was still sitting on the foot of the bed waiting for Sara to finish dressing and making herself gorgeous. About half an hour later, Sara emerged wearing aslightly formalblack dress with matching pumps. Her makeup was simple, but very elegant. She had put on the perfume that Nick gave her as a birthday present. Her hair was in a bun.
"Wow, you look gorgeous!" Nick beamed.
"I thought I would render you speechless," Sara chuckled.
"No, you deserve a compliment," he pointed out. "There have been moments that you did render me speechless, but this isn't one of them. Let's get out of the house. There's a night at the Venetian that's calling our names."
"I remember your plans for a gondola ride, dinner and ice cream," her eyes showed excitement.
"One more thing, I ordered a limousine to take us to and from the Venetian," he grinned.
Now. Sara was rendered speechless at the mention of a limousine. In fact, her mouth was opened in disbelief.
An hour later – The Venetian
Nick and Sara were sitting in the gondola as their gondolier was singing as he paddled them down the indoor canal. The gondolier felt warmth as he saw Nick gentle snake an arm around Sara and pulled her closer to him. Sara kissed Nick lightly and he kissed her. It was a relaxing and fun way to start off their evening.
Dinner was at a casual eclectic restaurant. They split a large green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and topped with candied pecans. Nick had a filet mignon that was cooked well done with rice pilaf. Sara had a baked polenta stuffed with roasted red peppers, smoked mozzarella cheese and black olives and topped with a light tomato sauce and shave parmesan cheese. Both entrées were served with sautéed seasonal vegetables. Nick gave Sara a spoonful of his rice and she gave him a small amount of her polenta. They each had a glass champagne that they nursed slowly. The conversations ranged from Sara thanking Nick for making her feel special to the latest complaint from Hodges about work to Grissom's latest addition to his specimen collection. When their waiter asked if they wanted any dessert, they politely refused. Nick asked for the check, paid it and left a generous tip.
After walking around the Grand Canal Shoppes area for about an hour, they went to Häagen Dazs. Sara had a sundae with cookie dough and cookies and cream ice creams, hot fudge sauce, whipped cream and cookie crumbs. Nick's was made with triple chocolate and dulce de leche ice creams, caramel sauce, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. Sara laughed when Nick tried to take a small amount of her sundae and tried in vain to get the perfect balance of cookie dough and cookies and cream. He made a slight mess, but was able to get a little bit of both while leaving Sara more than plenty to enjoy. Sara on the other hand, managed to get the balance of Nick's flavors in her spoon without making a mess. There wasn't much conversation, but when there was, it was about how delicious the ice was and that while it wasn't Ben and Jerry's, but it was good enough. As soon as they finished, they placed the cups, spoons and dirty napkins into the garbage and left to do some more walking in an around the Venetian.
Two hours later, the limousine picked them up and took them home. Once they were at home, they played briefly with Sphinx and Nefertiti and fed them. Nick put on the television and DVD player. He placed Monty Python's The Life of Brian DVD and they watched the movie. They were looking forward to going to work so they could tell their colleagues about their night out. Sara was temporarily able to put the stress of her pending surgery date out of her mind to have a splendid time with her fiancé.
TBC