Thicker than Blood Part 6
"Willows"
"Hey Cath."
"Grissom! Where the hell have you been?!"
"I drove, that's all I did, and I ended up here."
"Here? Where is 'here'?"
"I'm in Virginia visiting my friend Roger LeBlanc. And I'm helping out them at the lab for a little while but I doubt I will be here long. So you won't be stuck with all of my paperwork, just most of it."
"Yeah well I won't have to deal with it when the temp arrives."
"Wait what, Ecklie is actually hiring a temp?" Grissom sounded amazed.
"Yeah she is coming from–"
"Catherine, I'm sorry but I need to know some information soon and this is kind of a sensitive question. Do you know who picked Sara up from the hospital?"
"Uh yeah, I believe Nick did?" Catherine's curiosity kicking in.
"I was just wondering because she had asked me to pick her up. Do you know if she was taking any medications after she came out of the hospital?"
"No she wasn't. We've been hanging out a lot on days off over the past two weeks and I haven't seen her take a single medication."
"Okay, thanks Catherine. I should be back in the next month or two."
"A month or two!"
"Yes Cath, I need a break from Vegas." And with that Grissom hung up.
"Ready to go Gil?"Roger asked holding keys in his hands.
"Yeah, Did the ambulance already leave?"
"Yes, they left about 5 minutes ago."
The drive to the hospital was silent. Roger was driving as fast as he could without hitting anything. Arriving at the hospital in under 15 minutes, Gil and Roger both ran from the car to the ER.
Arriving inside Grissom saw Hank leaning against the reception desk talking to the nurse.
"Hank, as far as Catherine knows Sara hasn't taken any meds in the past few weeks."
"Well she's going to be alright. I thought that she was taking medication that reacts badly when drinking alcohol."
"Well she hadn't had any, so I could have ruled that out for you. What was wrong?" Gil asked genuinely concerned for Sara's well being.
"The stress from the previous weeks, the fact that she was extremely dehydrated and the alcohol she had ingested on the plane caused her to pass out. She had regained consciousness for a few minutes but now I think she is sleeping it off. Her doctor will be in to talk to you. He said that you and her friends can go in to see her."
"Thanks Hank." Grissom responded walking down the hall.
"Room 309b" Hank shouted from the reception desk.
Gil acknowledged with a wave of his hand over his head without turning around.
Looking at her sleeping peacefully he didn't want to disturb her.
"You going to go in?" Hannah questioned as she approached his side.
"I don't think I can."
"Why not?"
"I left I just left. I didn't mean to hurt her, I shouldn't have left but I just drove."
"Go in," Hannah said holding the door open. "She loves you, she has waited for you, I don't think you leaving will matter. The fact that you're here with her now, that's what matters to her."
Gil nodded and walked in, he was having trouble holding back the tears that threatened to spill over. He sat down on the side of the bed and held her hand, leaned closer to her and whispered his plead in her ear, "I never meant to leave, I just drove. I didn't plan on staying wherever I ended up. All I could think about when I was at this lab is how much I must have hurt you by leaving. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just left. Honey, am I too late?"
He stared at her face for a good five minutes and her eyes didn't flutter and her breathing had the same rhythm as before. Gil couldn't hold back the tears any longer.
Sara could feel the warm tears falling on her arm. She had heard everything Gil had said and she could tell that he was really confused about what to do and really hurt by the fact that she was in a hospital bed.
Gil couldn't just sit there and do nothing waiting for her to wake. He jumped up, letting go of Sara's hand in the process and started pacing back and forth through the small hospital room.
"Why did you let go?" Sara's strong voice filled the room.
Gil spun around so fast that he almost fell over. "I'm so sorry I left. I shouldn't–" Sara silenced him by holding her hand up.
"Gil, I heard what you kept whispering in my ear. I heard it at the house, then I got scared because I didn't hear it for a while," she paused to gauge his reaction to what she revealed then proceeded "I want you to come home, everything just happened so fast that I didn't know what to tell you or what to do for that matter. I want you to come home, "she paused and looked into his eyes before saying the last two words, "to me."
Gil didn't have time to respond to what Sara said because doctors have the worst timing in the world!
"Hello Sara, I'm Dr. Jordi Calvin. Would you like to talk about what happened today?" he asked grabbing the chair and sitting down opening her chart.
"Um, well not really but I doubt that I have a choice."
"You've been in a similar situation like this before?"
"Yes, several times. You don't have my file, do you?"
"No, it's not necessary since you aren't in severe danger and don't need surgery."
"Okay well I had a few drinks on the plane to loosen me up since I dislike flying, and then we were arguing at my friend's house and I passed out."
"That shouldn't have happened unless there is something you aren't telling me. The EMT informed me that you had a miscarriage and you were admitted into the hospital before that for alcohol poisoning." Dr. Calvin said as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"And who is this EMT?"
"Hank." Grissom said looking Sara dead in the eye.
"What?! Is he stalking me now!" Sara shouted.
"Sara, honey, calm down, he's been here before you even got here. He said that he needed to get out of Vegas." Gil said in a soothing tone.
"Oh." Was all that Sara could say.
"Ok, once that IV bag finishes you are good to go. But I would advise you to stay away from alcohol for a while." Dr. Calvin said and opened the door to walk out but turned around and said, "It was good to see you again Sara."
Sara whipped her head around to look at the doc. "What?"
"I said, it was good to see you again Sara."
"Yeah I heard that, but what?" Sara said again, confusion masking her face.
"You don't remember me?" Jordi paused, thinking of getting her to remember somehow. "Come one Sly, think!"
"Jordi Donohue!" Sara exclaimed.
"Wait wait wait. When did you change your last name? Dye your hair? Get so fricken tall? Get a medical degree?" Sara said extremely fast.
"Lets see, two years after you left the group home, I was placed with a foster family, and they wanted me to change my name, of course I was going o do it willingly. I haven't dyed my hair, it's natural, I always dyed my hair when I was in the system. And I'm only three years younger than you Sara, when was the last time you saw me?"
"Shut up!" Sara said jokingly.
"Yes I know, it's been a while. I have to get back to work, it's good to see you Sara."
"Bye Jordi."
The hold time Gil had his eyes on Sara.
"Hey, come here." Sara said as she caught Gil's gaze. "Come sit." Patting the bed.
Gil walked over to the bed and sat next to Sara, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. They stayed like that for two hours in silence. She was discharged from the hospital when the IV dip finished.
The drive back to Roger's house was very quiet. Hannah noticed as she drove that Sara kept whispering quotes and phrase in Gil's ear, and he had smile every time. Hannah couldn't hear everything that was being spoken but she noticed that Sara was extremely happy.
Back at the house Michael had gotten a call from Roger, informing them of what happened. Michael was relieved that she wasn't in an incredible amount of danger. He also knew that if she had to stay overnight that would drive her insane. Since he had time on his hands before they came back from the hospital he decided to prepare the turkey and get it start cooking, while Warren and Michelle play card games with Mel and Maria.
When Sara, Gil, Hannah, and Roger arrived back at the house, Sara was immediately relieved to be able to rest comfortably. Everyone left her alone to rest while they prepared the rest of the dinner.
Maria came into the living room with tearstained cheeks, "I thought I was going to lose you." Maria whispered in Sara's ear.
"Come on up here sweetie, you can rest here with me. Maybe Hannah and roger will let you put on a movie."
Before sitting on Sara's lap, Maria ran into the kitchen to ask Hannah and Roger if she could watch a movie. Seeing their heads bobbing up and down, Maria ran out of the kitchen back into the living room. Placing the DVD on the tray and watching the movie come up on the screen, Maria gathered her blanket and bundled herself up in Sara's lap.
About an hour later Gil entered into the living room her saw Sara and Maria, and his heart just melted. He noticed that Maria was already asleep and Sara was struggling to keep her eyes open so he knelt down on one knee, "Rest sweetheart, I'll wake you when dinner is almost ready." He whispered in her ear then kissed her temple. "Mmmm…." was all he got for a reply.
Gil hadn't noticed Michael standing in the entryway who was observing the sight before him. When Gil got up Michael finally said something, "You love her, don't you?" Michael asked still staring at Gil.
"Yes I do, I love her a lot more than she will ever know." Gil responded, and with that Michael left the room.
Maria started to squirm in Sara's lap, which instantly woke her up. "Maria, calm down, shhhh…." Sara said trying to soothe her. But Maria kept letting out little whimpers which alerted Mel as well, who was still sitting in the recliner. "Shhhh, Maria you're safe, it's me, Aunt Sara, you're safe, he isn't going to hurt you." Sara tried to reason with the nightmare that was replaying in Maria's mind, and winning. A few minutes after that Maria stopped squirming and her eyes fluttered. "Honey, you're alright, see he isn't here. He can't hurt you anymore." Sara said making sure Maria understood. And yet suddenly realizing that what she is saying to Maria is what her brother Eric use to say to her whenever their father had hurt her. Maria had buried her face in Sara's hair against her shoulder.
Gil stood in the entryway of the living room watching this with amazement. She's going to be an excellent mother. Gil thought to himself even though they are on kind of thin ice at the moment, he knew things could only get better.
"Hey," Gil said placing a hand on Sara's shoulder.
"Everything is okay, she's calming down."
"You alright though?"
She could hear the concern in Gil's voice, "Yeah."
"Well dinner is almost ready, do you want to go sit down?" Gil paused to see if she would respond. "Warren and I set the table so that you could sit next to Maria and me, Mel will be on the other side of me. If that's okay with you?"
"Why wouldn't it be okay Gil?"
They got up, and Maria wrapped her skinny legs around Sara's waist as she walked into the dining room with Gil behind her.
"Maria, do you want to sit down next to me?" Sara asked kissing Maria's cheek.
"Yeah," she mumbled into Sara's shoulder.
"Okay, I'm going to put you down, ok?"
"Okay."
Sara placed her on the chair, and sat next to her. Gil sat next to Sara. Warren and Michelle were sitting across from them.
"So Warren, how have you been? It's been a long time since we've seen each other." Sara said initiating conversation.
"Everything's been good, I've been taking some time off, thinking of teaching so Michelle doesn't have to leave the lab."
"But I've already told you that I have left the lab, I accepted a job at a different lab." Michelle interrupted the conversation.
"Wait what?" Hannah asked walking in.
"I accepted a temp job as Night Shift Supervisor in Las Vegas." Michelle said coolly.
"WHAT!?!?!" Hannah, Michael, Warren and Gil bellowed, which scared Maria, who started crying.
"Aww, Maria, come here," Sara said standing up and putting her arms out indicating Maria to come up. Sara carried Maria out into the living room.
"I took a job at the Las Vegas crime lab as a temp." Michelle repeated, "and please don't scream again, I don't want a pissed off Sidle after me for scaring Maria."
"Did Ecklie okay this?" Gil asked trying to figure out why Ecklie would do something like that.
"He is the one that asked me, my mother is his cousin and he said that if this works then he wants me to take over the swing shift since that supervisor is resigning or something."
"Oh" Gil remarked not even thinking of who swing shift supervisor is.
"Why?"
"Because I am the Graveyard Supervisor at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, and Sara is the Day Shift Supervisor."
"Wait, when did she leave San Fran?" Michelle asked looking over at Michael.
"She left when Gil asked her to come to Vegas." Michael said
"Wait, Michael, is that why you moved to Maine, and then to Vegas, and then here?" Michelle asked.
"MICHELLE!" Hannah, Roger, Michael, and Warren all bellowed.
"You came to Vegas?" Sara asked trying so hard to contain what emotions that were surging through her at that moment.
And at that question Michael walked out of the dinning room, and out through the front door, slamming it on his way out.
"Sara. Hon, he went to Vegas to win you back." Roger whispered unsure of how much to reveal, "he went to the lab and the receptionist told him that you were in the layout room looking over evidence on a case. When he looked through the window he claims that he saw a guy pinning you to a bloody sheet, hopefully testing a theory." Roger concluded.
"Jeez girl, when someone falls for you, they fall hard." Warren said trying to loosen the mood, which earned him a jab to the ribcage from Michelle.
"Sar, what do you expect? You were engaged to the guy." Hannah finally butting in, hoping that Gil would make a move.
Gil's head slowly rose to look at Sara in the eyes. She had been gazing at him since the beginning of the conversation, with an occasional glance to the others.
So much was conveyed through the mere minutes they held each others gazes. Sara then broke the gaze and looked around realizing that no one was talking. They were all glancing back and forth between Gil and Sara.
"So Sara was engaged to Michael until Gil asked her to come to work in Vegas, and then in Vegas she ends up dating a dude named Hank, who is apparently a huge SOB who got her pregnant." Mel paused trying to figure everything out. "And you're moving to Vegas because you don't have enough guts to work with your ex boyfriend for some stupid reason," now looking at Hannah and Roger, "and Hannah is moving in here since she is engaged to her boss. Did I get it all right?" Mel had a smirk gracing her facial features, and receiving several wicked stares from people she adds, "I'm going to join Maria in the living room."
After Mel walked out to joining Maria in the living room Sara caught Gil's gaze. "Can I talk to you," she asked, "privately."
Without answering Gil stood up and walked over to her, taking her hand in his, "Let's take a walk."
Gil and Sara were walking on the sidewalk in silence. After walking three blocks, Sara rested her hang on Gil's arm before turning herself to look at him. "We seriously need to talk. There were some things said that shouldn't have been said, especially from them. They should have known not to bring it up."
"But I'm glad they did."
Sara was in awe, she didn't know how to respond to that but she knew she had to say something. "I…I..don't ummm know what to say, except why?"
"If they hadn't said anything then I would have gone and made a fool out of myself." Gil responded taking her hand off his arm and proceeded to walk ahead.
"Gil." Sara started, not moving forward. "What do you mean?" Sara voice was getting louder. "Gil!"
Starting to walk again, but not quite catching up, Sara thought about what he could have meant by that. Her mind was racing for ideas, one and only one popped into her head.
No! Oh god, what if that is what he was going to do. But how would that make him a complete fool? Sara stopped her racing thoughts and closed the distance between them.
"I don't love Michael, wait no, that came out wrong. I do love Michael but I'm not in love with him Gil. He is like a brother to me. Yes we were in a relationship and yes we were engaged, but then that was until I fell in love with you."
Suddenly Gil stopped dead in his tracks. Sara kept walking until she realized he stopped, "Gil what's wrong?"
"Just thinking. It's nothing important." Gil responded as he walked towards her, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissing her passionately.
When they broke away for air, Gil brought a hand to her cheek, and the other entwined with her fingers, "Am I too late?"
"Of course you aren't. Why do–" Gil cut her off, by raising her left hand so she could see it.