I Cannot Believe This Is Happening
Chapter 3
(AN: Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review. It really means a lot to me. Disclaimer: I do not own CSI)
Sara sat and watched with tears in her eyes as the organized chaos surrounding her son continued. She couldn't move. There was nothing she could do to help him, but she truly believed that if she moved away from her tiny son bad things would happen.
Grissom couldn't let go of his wife. He knew if he let go he would fall to the floor. How could everything change so fast? A few weeks ago they were happy, truly happy. They had only just begun to decorate he nursery, after all they thought they had plenty of time. There was still almost three months before the baby was due. Now here they were, first he nearly lost his wife and now his newborn son was in the fight for his life. He would give anything to trade places with him, anything to make him better, and anything to make him safe.
After what felt like a lifetime later the people around Sammy dissipated. The doctor came over to speak to Sara and Grissom. "Unfortunately, this will happen from time to time. His lungs are not fully developed yet and as a result he ends up in distress from time to time. I can't make you any promises, but he is doing much better than I would have expected." His words alleviated some of their fears, but both were afraid to submit to the fact that everything would be alright out of fear that it wouldn't be.
Grissom shook his hand, "Thank you."
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Over the next few days, the two took turns making sure that one of them was with Sammy as much as possible. When he was four-days-old, Sara was taken for x-rays on her left leg. She was grateful when she found out that surgery would not be necessary after all, but she would have to stay in a wheelchair for at least another week, and then crutches until it could bear all of her weight.
She would probably be discharged from the hospital in the next day or two. It didn't really matter to Sara. She was not going to leave without her son. It was hard enough to be in a different hospital room than Sammy, but she couldn't even imagine being across town from her baby. An orderly pushed her through the doors to the neonatal unit.
"So, what's the verdict?" Gil Grissom asked his wife.
"No surgery and I'll be discharged in a day or two."
He gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. She grabbed his hand, "How is he today?"
He could hear the fear in her question, but he tried to alleviate her anxiety by giving a little smile. "He's still doing better than they expected. His lungs are better than they originally thought." He squeezed her shoulders for emphasis, and she leaned into his embrace. They sat for hours watching their son, talking to their son, and just enjoying being a family.
They spent the next two days like that as well. Occasionally friends would drop by, but they could only watch through the window. Parents only were allowed in with the babies.
Then the day Sara dreaded. She was discharged from the hospital. "I'm not leaving." She demanded as she sat in the wheelchair.
"Sara, we'll be back in just a few hours."
"Do you know how much can happen in a few hours?"
"Sara, he is doing very well. Let's just go home, wash up, get changed, eat, and we'll be right back."
She just stared him down.
"Sara please, this is hard on me too. I don't want him to be alone either, but we need to take care of ourselves if we want to care for him. Two hours, I promise." His eyes pleaded with her to agree.
"Two hours, promise?"
"Promise."
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When they got home, they realized for the first time that the townhouse was not set up for a wheelchair. Stairs led up to the front door, so it was decided that Grissom would carry Sara from the car to the couch, and they would leave the wheelchair in the car. He would then bring her clothes from upstairs and she would change in the living room. If she were going to be in the wheelchair too much longer they would have to make some serious changes to their home, but thankfully soon the wheelchair will just be a memory.
Less than two hours later, they were driving back to the hospital. Sara felt so much relief when she saw that Sammy was doing just fine in her absence.
Their days all went pretty much the same way. They would leave for a while so they could take care of themselves, but then would return within a few hours.
Sara was happy the day her wheelchair was left in the past and she moved on to crutches.
When Sammy was two weeks old, he was finally able to suck, so the feeding tube was removed. His lungs were also doing really well. He was taken off of the ventilator, but he still needed oxygen, but at least it was much less intrusive on his little body. The best news of all was that for the first time little Sammy was rocked in his parents' arms.
Sara sat crying tears of joy as she did something once thought impossible: She sat in a rocking chair giving her son a bottle. Even Gil got a little teary-eyed at that sight. A couple hours later it was his turn to do the same. It was by far the happiest moment of his life. They finally were beginning to believe that everything was going to be alright. They were now counting the days until he could come home.
TBC
(Sorry this was a little short, but please let me know what you think. I can take it.)