Thanks to all the people who reviewed, and especially to all those who forgave me for not updating for so long.

I am so sorry for leaving this so long again. I get very easily side tracked! I handed my final year project in today. So relieved that it is all done! Just another ton of coursework, too many exams and a whole lot of stress and then graduation! Then the real stress starts – job hunting! :( I'm rubbish at proofreading so I apologise for any mistakes.

Fragility

Chapter 6

"Sara, sweetheart?" He asked desperately.

She squeezed his hand again slightly.

"I'll go and get the doctor." Catherine said, watching Sara's hand move. She dashed out through the door and ran past the rest of the team as they waited in the corridor.

"Catherine? What's happened?" Nick called down the corridor as she disappeared.

She returned moments later with a nurse and a doctor, stopping outside the door as they continued on through.

"What's happened? Has she got worse?" Greg asked. They had all stood when Catherine had come running out of the room, fearing the worst.

Catherine shook her head, she was breathing heavily with the excitement and exertion. "She moved her hand. Sara squeezed Grissom's hand."

"That's good right?" Greg asked anxiously.

"I think so. It can't be bad, can it?"

CSI

"She moved her hand." Grissom said jumping up as soon as the doctor and nurse entered the room.

The doctor was instantly at Sara's side. "Miss Sidle? Can you hear me?"

Sara groaned slightly, twisting her stiff neck away from the sound of his voice.

"Nice to have you back with us, Sara." He said smiling as she blinked cautiously. "Mr Grissom, if you could leave us for a few minutes to examine Miss Sidle."

"Yes, of course." He bent over and kissed Sara gently on the forehead. "I love you." He murmured quietly so only she could hear.

CSI

"What's happening, Gil?" Brass asked as soon as he left the room.

"She seems to be waking up." Grissom said shaking his head in disbelief.

"Thank God." Nick said with a sigh of relief. They waited for several moments in awkward silence. No one really knew what to say. There were no words to express how any of them felt.

They crowded around in a semi circle when the doctor left the room, he stopped to talk to them as a group.

"Sara is starting to come around, she's now breathing on her own and seems to be aware of what is going on around her. However, she is very drowsy, her temperature is still too high and she is still very sick. She's not out of the woods yet but it's looking positive. We'll take her for another scan in the morning. You can go back and sit with her Mr Grissom."

"Thank you." Grissom said sighing, the tension he had felt for the past few hours seemed to ease slightly. "Thank you."

Grissom stepped away from the group and stood with his back to them for a minute as he rubbed his eyes and took a few shaky breaths. He opened his eyes and turned back to face them. He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out.

"It's ok Gil. Go back to her. We'll be right outside if you need us." Catherine said gently, placing a hand on his back.

Grissom nodded wordlessly and returned to Sara's room.

"He really loves her, doesn't he?" Greg said as the door closed.

CSI

Grissom smiled at the nurse who was still stood beside Sara. She stood back and let him sit down next to Sara again. The blinds had been closed to darken the room to a level that was more comfortable for her.

"Hi, sweetheart." Grissom said as the nurse left.

"Gil?" The voice was muffled but he could still hear her.

"I'm here."

"Want to go home." She muttered.

He laughed slightly. "Not yet, darling. Soon. And I'm not going anywhere."

She let out a small contented sigh and allowed herself to drift back off to sleep, comforted by the feeling of Grissom gently stroking her hand with his thumb.

Exhaustion won over and he soon followed her and fell asleep.

CSI

He woke up to Catherine gently shaking him. "What is it?"

"You need to go home, Gil. Get some proper sleep and eat." She whispered.

"No, I'm not leaving her."

"I'll stay here. You need some sleep."

"I was sleeping until you woke me."

"Go Gil." Sara had apparently woken up and had an opinion on the matter.

"No, I don't want to leave you."

"'m fine. Don't want you to make yourself ill. Please, go and get some rest."

Grissom still looked unsure but Sara had done a lot to convince him. "Brass is outside, he'll take you home and then bring you back in the morning. We checked, they're not going to do Sara's scan until at least nine am."

"Ok." Grissom nodded. "But you call me if anything changes."

"I will."

Gil looked hesitantly back at Sara once more before nodding again, kissing Sara on the forehead and leaving.

"Thanks Catherine."

"What for?" Catherine relied sitting down beside Sara.

"Looking after Grissom."

"That's no problem Sara. Don't worry about Grissom, we'll keep an eye on him. You just rest and get better." She took Sara's hand in her own and held tightly onto it.

CSI

Catherine looked over from the magazine she was reading a few hours later when she felt Sara stirring slightly beside her. Sara's fists were clenched tightly and she seemed to be fighting off some unknown threat.

"Sara? It's ok, you're just having a nightmare."

Sara's eye jolted open suddenly and then shut firmly against the light. She blinked a few times to allow her eyes to adjust to the light level.

"It's ok, it's just a nightmare."

"It was so real. The screaming was so loud."

"It's the fever causing it. But you're safe."

"Where is Grissom?"

"He went home to sleep. Do you remember? Brass took him home."

"Oh yeah."

"He'll be back in a few hours."

Sara nodded, wincing when it hurt her stiff neck. "I want to go home." Sara muttered forgetting that Catherine was there.

"You can soon. And we're not going to leave you by yourself." Catherine replied, reaching over and gently taking hold of Sara's hand. "Go back to sleep Sara, you need to rest."

"Will you talk to me, the dreams are so vivid I get confused over what is real and what's not."

"Sure, what do you want me to talk about?"

"Anything."

"Well, we all know about you and Griss, that was quite a surprise." She watched Sara blush and grin. "Not that you'd got together, we'd all be expecting that, just that you had managed to keep it a secret from us."

"Didn't want Ecklie to know."

"Well, he's not going to find out from any of us."

"Thanks. I don't want to mess this up." Sara said as her eyes drooped again.

"Go back to sleep Sara. When you wake up Griss will probably be back."

Sara subconsciously squeezed Catherine's hand as her eyes closed again.