Sorry it's taken ages to update. Writer's block's a bitch! Anyway, officially left high school now, done all my exams AND my dad has blessed me with the entirety of CSI on DVD for my birthday!!! Every season so far!!! The second part of season 6 came out the day before my birthday and he had to run out especially to get it! WOOOP! Ok, back to the story! Rather depressing and we finally meet William.
Grissom and Sara sat in a Starbucks in the airport while they waited for a cab. Neither was talking so they just sat in silence taking occasional sips of their coffees.
"Look," Grissom said after a while when he couldn't stand the silence any more. "I'm sorry I kissed you Sara, it wasn't the best course of action and I just wanted to take your mind of the turbulence. I could have done anything else but that and I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable. I'm here to support you."
Sara could see the sincerity in his eyes and she smiled at him. "Grissom, I know you were only trying to help, don't sweat it. Hey, I think our cab's here." She got up and grabbed her bag from the floor. Grissom followed suit and they headed out of the airport.
They pulled up to an old house in a secluded street and hour later. Grissom was nervous. He wanted to support Sara as much as he could without over stepping the mark. And now he was going to meet the most important person in Sara's life and, even though it was under these circumstances, he wanted to make a good impression. Sara seemed to notice Grissom's nervousness because she patted him on the arm and gave him an encouraging smile.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." She said. Grissom smiled back and they walked to the front door.
The door opened before they got to it and revealed a fiery haired woman with a tear stained face. Sara dropped her bag and embraced the woman, Grissom just stood there watching the touching interaction.
"How is he Carrie?" Sara asked while trying with all her might to keep the tears from falling.
"He's getting worse Sar." Carrie pulled back from her friend and wiped her eyes. "I don't think he'll go much longer." She noticed Grissom who had stood next to Sara and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Oh, this is Gil Grissom, Gil, this is Carrie O'Donnell." Sara introduced the two. "He's here for my support."
Grissom smiled weakly and offered his hand for her to shake, but Carrie hugged him. "Thank you for being here for Sara," Carrie whispered in his ear. "I've heard so much about you, you're a good friend." Grissom was caught off guard as she let go of him but he managed to speak.
"It's nice to meet you too. I'm just sorry it had to be under these circumstances."
They stood there for a few seconds before Carrie picked up Sara's suitcase and spoke.
"Well, I suppose we'd better go and visit the 'old duffer'." She said in an attempt at humour and they walked into the house.
They put the suitcases down in the hallway and Carrie led them into what appeared to be the lounge. Carrie went in first followed by Sara but Grissom stood in the doorway. Sara stopped when she couldn't hear Grissom's boots against the wooden floor and turned to look at him.
"Griss?" she looked at him.
"I don't want to impose Sara, but if you want me to come in I will." He said. Sara thought she saw something in his eyes, but after a second it was gone. She reached out a hand and took his.
"I don't want you to come in, I need you to." And she hugged him. Grissom wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
"Sara? Oh." Carrie came back out into the hall and saw the pair. Sara let go of Grissom and turned to Carrie. "Bill's asking for you and you know how he hates being kept waiting." She smiled and walked back onto the lounge, still holding Grissom's hand.
The first thing Grissom saw was a bed in the middle of the room with an oxygen tank sitting next to it. William Granger was sitting on the bed, leaning against the pillows with an oxygen mask over his mouth. He looked to be about 70 from what Grissom could see, and was extremely thin. Sara stepped forwards, knelt at the bed and took his hand.
"Hey William, you ok?" she whispered.
William reached up and took the mask away from his face so he could talk properly. "I'm fine…darlin'… don't you…worry about me." He brought the mask back up to his face and breathed for a few seconds before removing it again. Grissom noticed he had a very cockney accent. "I though… you were in Las Vegas…for a few…weeks." He coughed slightly and Sara put the mask back on.
Sara wiped away a lone tear but smiled. "I came to see you of course. I was worried about you." She sniffed and Grissom put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"I told you darlin'…don't worry about me…there's life in…the old dog yet." He chuckled but that sent him coughing again and he quickly put the mask back on.
"Calm down a little, ok?" she rubbed his arm and stood up straight. "William, I want you to meet someone." She tugged on Grissom's hand and held onto it. "This is my friend, Gil Grissom. Griss, this is my dad."
William smiled at Grissom and held out a hand for him to shake. "It's…well I was going to say it's nice to meet you Mr. Granger, but under the circumstances I'm not sure. All I know is it's an honour to meet you sir." Grissom said.
"Please…call me William or Bill…and it's lovely…to meet you too...Gil. Sara's told me…so much about you…I feel like…I know you…already." William gasped.
"I've heard a lot about you too William." Grissom told him "I'm glad Sara has you in her life." This made William beam at him. Grissom stepped back and turned to Sara. "I'm gonna put the bags in our rooms, you spend some time with William."
"Ok, thanks Griss." Sara smiled.
"I'll give you the tour Gil." Carrie said. "Come on." She lead him out of the lounge and picked up Sara's bag. They went upstairs in silence and Carrie led him through a door on the right. "He only has one spare room but it's big and got two double beds in it." She explained as she put Sara's bag on the right hand bed. "The right one is Sara's so she'll probably want that one and there's space in the closet next to her stuff."
Grissom put his bag on his bed and looked around the room. "Sara's living here?"
Carrie looked at him, puzzled. "Yeah, has been for weeks to look after Bill. I try and help as much as I can but my job's pretty demanding."
"Well how does Sara manage with her job and looking after William?"
"She doesn't. I mean she doesn't work. She quit her job at the crime lab and moved in here to help Bill about a year ago." Carrie said, curious as to why Grissom didn't know this. "Didn't you know?"
Grissom shook his head. "Well I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her I told you. No offence, but if she'd wanted you to know, she'd have told you." She continued.
"Yeah, sure, I understand." He unzipped his bag. "Well I think I'm going to turn in for the night, if that's ok? Could you show me where the bathroom is?"
Once he'd washed and brushed his teeth, Grissom headed back to the bedroom to find Sara sitting on her bed with her knees tucked under her chin. "Is the bathroom free?" she whispered.
Grissom nodded and was about to ask if she was alright but Sara half ran out of the door and slammed the bathroom door after her. He sighed and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt before getting into bed. He left the light on for Sara but was soon asleep.
Grissom awoke a while later to a muffled sound coming from his right. He opened his eyes and noticed the light was off but he could still hear the muffled noise. He then identified the sound as Sara crying but trying to stifle it.
"Sara?" he sat up and squinted into the darkness in the direction of the sound. The sobbing continued so he got up. His eyes adjusted to the dark quickly and he found his way to Sara's bed. "Sara, what's wrong honey?"
"I'm scared Griss." She sobbed. "I'm scared." Grissom wrapped his arms around her as she cried and rubbed her back, soothing her.
After a while, Sara calmed down and Grissom let go, thinking she had gone to sleep, and stood up to go back to his own bed but he stopped when he felt Sara's hand on his arm.
"Stay with me." She whispered. Grissom turned back to her, pulled down the covers and climbed into her bed. She scooted over to the other side and spooned against his chest with his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Sara sighed and quickly fell asleep.
I apologise for taking so long before updating, I have re-written this chapter dozens of times before I was happy with it and this is the end result. Let me know what you think because it decreases the devil writers block!