A/N: Okay, first off, I'd like to dedicate this story to everyone out there that has been affected by the 'events' of this story. (I don't want to give it away, but you'll understand what I mean if you read it.) Particularly my Godfather/Uncle Jeff, Grandma Jane, and Aunt Becky, may they be in peace. To all of the survivors out there who made it through and to all of the families and friends of those who were not as fortunate.
Second, I'm sorry for what I did to Sara in this, but the story was in my head and needed to be written.
Third, all mistakes are mine and that of Microsoft Word which has been known to suck royally. If there's anything really troublesome that I missed please let me know. Also, all of my information might not be completely accurate, so just work with me on that one and be imaginative.
And finally, please read and review. I put a lot of thought into this story, so please let me know what you think of it. I always love your comments, good or bad. Be honest.
Disclaimer: Still just a single mother of two, writing fan fiction. But soon, I promise, I'll own CSI and GSR will be consummated with a live action kiss (at the very least they owe us that!)
That's it. My rant is done. Enjoy the story!
-Surviving-
Chapter Seven: The Meeting
Right at 3:30 as planned the door bell rang. It looked as though everyone had carpooled over in just a few of the LVPD issued Denali's, which Grissom wanted to smile at, but he held it in. Opening the door he greeted everyone and let them in. Sara came to join him, starting to feel the tell-tale effects of being 'doped-up' as she had started describing it. Everyone looked on curiously at Sara being in Grissom's home, welcoming them, but no one said anything. The general thought consensus was that maybe that was why they were there, for Grissom and Sara to out their relationship. But then the mood shifted as Sara practically fell into Grissom, her face paling as she clenched onto his shirt and he legs gave way. But as promised, he caught her before she hit the floor.
"I'm sorry." She whispered trying to regain her balance and hold back tears of shame as he and Catherine carefully escorted her to the couch with Lindsey on tow to move the pillows for her.
"Are you okay?" Catherine asked frantically, but only loud enough that the three of them could hear while everyone else watched on in confusion.
"It's the drugs; they're making her really dizzy." Grissom explained to her as he handed Sara the glass of orange juice. "We need to do this quick." He told her after looking into Sara's eyes and her nodding to him in mutual agreement of her increasing fatigue. "She's not going to be able to stay awake much longer."
"Okay. Just hang in there Sar." Catherine nodded in agreement with Grissom before signaling for everyone to come in and take a seat, before taking one next to Sara, holding her hand while Grissom stood up and addressed the large mass of people.
"Uh, hi. First of all, I want to say thank you for coming, it means a lot. I know that some of you probably had plans or at least plans for sleep, so thank you. I'm going to cut right to the chase as Sara is getting very tired. Let me start with the question that's burning on all of your minds. Yes, Sara and I are together and we've made the decision to move in together." Catherine wasn't all that shocked but it did catch her by surprise, she figured that the decision must have been made that day after she left. Grissom, seeing the questions burning in everyone's glares added. "Which I'll talk about later. For right now, there's something more important to discuss with you." He paused as he took a moment to check on Sara, who tried to give him a weak smile. He could tell that she was fighting the drugs. He took a seat on the arm of the sofa next to her and took her other hand in his as everyone watched on anxiously with a mixture of fear, hope and confusion.
"There's no easy way to say this, Sara has been diagnosed…" He paused again, taking a deep breath and seeking comfort from Sara's hand before continuing. "She's been diagnosed with…with…with cancer." Loud gasps of breath were heard from everyone and now teary eyes all turned to Sara, with the exception of Catherine and Lindsey who were just trying to keep Sara calm and from. "I know that this is a shock to you all and that it's a lot to absorb, so without going into the full details, I'll tell you that it's in her bone marrow, that it's very severe and that she's fighting very hard against it. It is Sara after all. But without a Stem Cell Transplant and intense therapy and care, things don't look great for her. We're asking, as our extended family, that you all get tested to see if you're a match. We understand completely if you can't, it's a big responsibility. She's been placed on the National Transplant List but according to her doctor our best odds are with finding someone ourselves." Sensing Sara's grip on his hand loosen he immediately knelt in front of her, placing his other hand on her cheek as she fought to stay awake.
"Sara, honey, its okay. You relax. Go to sleep, don't fight it, you need to rest." He assured her as everyone watched the exchange. Grissom caressed her cheek before helping her to lie down on the sofa, resting her head in Catherine's lap. Within seconds she was asleep. Looking up at everyone he could see the confusion as to Sara's behavior. "She's on some serious medications. Her immune system has been severely compromised by the disease and she can't fight off the infections on her own. But the drugs are having a hard effect on her." He said with a light shrug, watching as Catherine absentmindedly stroked Sara's hair from her face.
"Grissom?" Came the first voice of the crowd since everyone arrived. Naturally it was Greg; he was always one to break the ice.
"Yeah?"
"Where do I get tested? I'll do anything for Sara." He said stepping forward to place a light kiss on Sara's forehead.
"Me too." Nick said, mirroring Greg's actions.
"Same here." Warrick added, stepping forward.
"You don't even need to ask." Brass chimed in.
"I already went and Lindsey's going in a little while." Catherine chirped kissing Lindsey's head, who was sitting on the floor in front of her mother.
Quickly everyone else stepped up offering up their support and marrow. Catherine and Grissom both felt a rush of relief pass through them as they listened to everyone.
"How's she doing?" Doc asked Grissom after about an hour of everyone talking about the transplant and answering everyone's question the best he could.
"I don't know. I mean she's scared. But who can blame her? She strong that's for sure. If anyone can do this it's her. I just hate seeing her so defeated." He sighed.
"Understandable. How bad is the medication they've got her on?" So natural for Doc Robbins, looking on the medical side of things.
"She doesn't like taking them. Within minutes she's falling to the floor from dizziness or throwing up from the nausea. Or she'll be awake one minute and crashing into sleep the next, but wakes up in a cold sweat dizzy and nauseous again. I can't blame her for not wanting to take them, but she needs them." Grissom sounded just as defeated as Sara had; he hated seeing her like this.
"If it continues to be really bad, talk to her doctor. I know there are alternative drugs that they could try her on that might not have such a side effect on her. Especially giving how small she is to begin with."
"Thanks Al."
"What are they proposing for other treatments in the meantime?" Doc asked, trying to gain a full knowledge of Sara's complete condition.
"Well, we're meeting with Dr. Wallace tomorrow to set everything up, but from what he's told us so far, she's going to undergo Intensity Modulated Radiation Treatment, fractionated dose chemotherapy, which she's not too pleased about, plus they're starting her on complimentary therapies like nutritional therapy. They're sending a nutritionist on Friday to go over a new meal plan for her."
"Protein shakes." Doc chimed in.
"What?"
"Uh, sorry, just thinking aloud. With the chemo and radiation, on top of the medication and the cancer itself, she's going to lose a lot of weight. I would suggest and I assume the nutritionist will suggest that Sara drink lots of protein shakes. It'll keep up her weight and give a bit more energy."
Doc Robbins and Grissom talked for a while, mainly Doc explaining to Grissom the intricate details of the treatments. All the boys took turns sitting with a sleeping Sara, after Grissom had moved her to the bedroom, talking to her and praying for her. Everyone was still in a state of shock, but as they talked about it, they were each in their own way accepting it. Grissom ordered a bunch of pizza's for everyone to keep their energy levels up, mainly so that they wouldn't pass out when they were having a substantial amount of their blood drawn later, and so that they wouldn't raid his fridge and eat all of Sara's yogurt. There was nothing worse, he'd learned, than a pissed off Sara because he ate her yogurt. There was no way that he was going to let that happen again.
Everyone ate together as they awaited Sara to come back to the word of the living. About two hours after she fell asleep, she emerged from the bedroom with tired eyes and little recollection of the events from earlier.
"Griss?" She called out groggily, and then looked up to see everyone staring at her, all with tear stained eyes and guilt-stricken faces. "Hey guys." She said shyly with a small wave before turning to Grissom. "I fell asleep didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did. But you lasted a lot longer than usual." Grissom said with a smirk, trying to make her feel better. He quickly got up from his seat at the table to encircle her in a hug and place a kiss to her forehead. "How you feeling?"
"Ok I guess. A little dizzy, but it's not too bad." She said into his chest. "What did they all say?" She whispered to him, referring to the group standing behind them.
"Everyone is going to get tested. We were just waiting for you to wake up." He whispered back with a light smile, trying to ease her mind.
"Really?" Her hope was beginning to come back, but she was afraid of letting it get the best of her. He nodded with a smile and kissed her forehead again.
"Yeah, and I was talking to Al and he was telling me about different medications to talk to Dr. Wallace about that won't have such a drastic effect on you." His fingertips gently traced the line of her jaw as he spoke, calming her.
"Well I guess I should thank him, and everyone, huh?"
"I think they're all waiting more to just give you hugs and tell you how much they love you."
"Ah, time to face the music I guess." She chided, trying to lighten the mood. With Grissom's soft chuckle, she took his hand and turned to the very alert group of people. "So, cancer. Crazy huh?" She joked, but the looked or pure horror and disbelief didn't take well to the joke. "Come on guys, you're not getting rid of me that easy. Come on if I'm going out, it's gonna be with fireworks and news footage, not from some disease. Cheer up." She smiled her true Sidle-smile. And again, Greg was the first to break free from the crowd. He scrambled up to her and gave her a fierce bear hug.
"I know you're gonna kick this Sar, cause you couldn't depart from this lovely word without having at least one date with Greg-ster first." Greg joked with her, making her laugh and getting everyone else to loosen up a bit, except for Grissom who shot him a stern 'I'm the boyfriend' look.
"Well, Greg-ster, as tempting as that sounds, and really, I swear it truly does, I think I'm set with my man here." Sara replied with a bright smile, lightly smacking Grissom's chest.
"Alright, well, WHEN you reconsider, I'll be there." Greg retorted, giving her another hug. "Love you Sara." He whispered into her ear.
"I love you too Greg." She whispered back, and then pulling away she eyed the crowd. "Okay who's next? Come on, I know you all want to check and make sure I'm still breathing. You are investigators after all. Except Doc and David, no cutting me open to check that okay?" Everyone laughed and formed a line to get to her. It took about another hour for everyone to get in their hugs with her, everyone feeling the need to say something to her. Which was sweet, she thought, but tiring all the same. She spoke to Doc for a while about his opinions as to her treatment, which eased her worries quite a bit.