I'm Back
Chapter 8
Julie took her in her arms and whispered in her ear, "Sweetie I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression. She's alive but during the surgery she slipped into a coma." Julie released her from the hug and sat her down in the nearest chair. She watched as her words sunk in. and Nancy smiled.
"She's alive?" She asked unbelievably. "She's really still alive she's ok?"
"Yes she's alive but we're not sure about the ok part." She realized the rest of the people in the room didn't hear what she whispered to Nancy. "During the surgery they were able to stop the bleeding but Catherine slipped into a coma. All of the tests show that the level of brain activity is exactly where it should be which means that there doesn't appear to be any brain damage. Her body responds to stimulus so it seems there is no reason to not expect her to recover completely. This may just be her body responding to the trauma and shutting down. We'll just have to keep an eye on her. They moved her to the ICU and you can go back shortly Nancy."
"Can I visit Sara too so I can tell the guys how she doing?"
"You can visit Catherine but if you happen to accidently walk into room 6 instead of 7 who's going to stop you right?"
Nancy turned to the guys. "I'll visit Sara first so I can come back to let you know how she's doing and then I'll call my mom and go sit with Catherine. I'll be back soon ok"
Warrick stood up and walked to Nancy and gave her a big hug. "Thank you Nancy we'll be waiting. Give her a hug for us ok?" One by one the guys gave her a hug and more or less said the same thing Warrick had said. Noticeably absent from the lineup was Grissom, he just sat in his chair and seemed to be in his own little world and didn't appear to hear anything going on around him. Nancy gave him one last look before she left the waiting room heading to the ICU.
She looked into Catherine's room and gasped. She wasn't used to seeing her strong, independent older sister in such a helpless state. "I'll be back soon baby." She whispered and then turned to the room next door. She walked into the room and pulled a chair up to Sara's bed and took her hand. She knew that it would be a little while before Sara was fully awake but spoke anyway. "You better not do this again. My sister is too in love with you to take much more of this kind of thing. She's going to need you to be strong for her through the next few weeks. She's not doing very good Sara and I don't know what to do. She's always been the strong one and I don't know if I can be strong enough for both of us. She's always told me that you were the strong smart one and that you completed her. She always glowed when she talked about you, it was so fun to tease her about it. She didn't know how to tell you how she felt because she was so afraid of being rejected and then there's Eddie. Do you know the creep still hasn't shown up here? We've been here for hours and as her husband he was called but he's apparently too busy to answer his phone. I'm going to have to call my mother and tell her what's going on and I know that's one call I'd like to put off as long as possible."
"She loves me?" Came the quiet whisper from the bed.
"Oh shit you weren't supposed to hear that from me. You were supposed to be out for awhile and I just needed to talk."
"But she loves me?" The smile on Sara's face told Nancy that the feelings were definitely mutual. "Where is she can she come visit me, I supposed they won't let her in because she's not family. Well tell them to let her in I want to see her. Is she ok?"
"Boy when you wake up you wake up fast don't you?"
"Yeah, they always told me I responded well to anesthesia and come out fast. I had lots of surgeries as a kid. So, where's Cat?"
"She always liked it when you called her Cat did you know that? She felt it was a special coming from you. Did you notice you were the only one she let call her that? She hated when anyone else called her that and she would bite their head off. But when you called her that she said it made her melt."
"Nancy, you're rambling and starting to worry me. Where's Catherine? Is she ok?"
"No she's not." Nancy couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "She's in the room next door."
"What happened, she seemed to be fine?"
"That's what the guys said too but apparently she was feeling worse than she let on. After they brought you guys in she passed out in the emergency room. They couldn't revive her so they did a CAT scan and found bleeding around the brain."
"A subdural hematoma?"
Nancy laughed a small laugh. "She said you were smart. Yeah that's what it was. They took her into surgery and were able to stop the bleeding but during the surgery she slipped into a coma and she's in the room next door." She pointed to her left to indicate the room to her left as the room Catherine was in. Nancy forgot she had been holding Sara's hand but was reminded when the grip on her hand became painful. "Sara ease up on the hand I need it to do my job."
"Sorry." She let go of her hand. Sara was crying by that time. "I love her too but I didn't have the guts to tell her. I thought she was straight because she's married."
"Well you'll have to talk to her about that but I don't think that will be a problem for long."
"When can I visit her? Can you sneak me into her room? I just want to sit there."
"Whoa girl, you just had major surgery and you won't be able to move around for a day or two. I might be able to talk the doctor into letting you stay in ICU for an extra day or so and maybe then I can sneak you in. But there are some guys out there in the waiting room that are anxious to visit you and they can't come in here so they were hoping they'd move you into a private room."
"I don't care about them, I want to be able to visit Cat and if they move me to a private room I can't do that."
"Let me see what I can do ok? First I have to go let the guys know that you're doing fine and then I want to visit Cathy for a little while. I'll be back soon ok?"
"I'd like that. Thanks for being truthful with me I appreciate it."
"No problem see you soon." She surprised both of them by bending down and kissing Sara on the forehead. She also didn't see the small smile on Sara's face as she left the room.
Sara wasn't used to someone showing that they care in the ways the Flynn family apparently did. Catherine was a tactile person and secretly Sara liked the way Catherine touched her arm when she talked to her. Well maybe there will be more touching in the future. And there will be a future, she refused to think that Catherine was not going to wake up and be ok. She tried to sit up but the pain in her side prevented her from moving. "Ok I'm going to have to work on that if I want to sneak into Catherine's room. If I can just get out of the bed I could make it to her room and just sit in the chair. Come on Sidle you've been in worse shape." She tried sitting up again and almost made it to a sitting position before the pain made her fall back.
"Are you crazy? You should not be trying to sit up this soon. Nancy said you were just as stubborn as her sister but I didn't realize just how stubborn you were."
"And who might you be?"
"My name is Julie and I will be your nurse for the day and I am Nancy's supervisor. She's been pretty worried about you and Catherine. Seems like the two of you have had quite an adventure."
"Is Catherine really in a coma? Will she be ok?"
"I see Nancy is starting her new outlook on how to deal honestly with family members. I didn't expect her to start so soon. But you're one of the scientists so I guess you can handle it. Yes she is in a coma but we expect her to make a full recovery. When she will wake up is up to her. We just have to wait and see."
"When can I visit her?"
"I can see you are already trying to do that on your own. Am I going to have to keep an eye on you or will you behave."
"It all depends on what behaving will get me." Sara smiled at her.
"Oh you are a charmer, if you behave I will help you visit her later today."
"Can you move my bed into her room and just let me sleep there?"
"Now you're pushing your luck young lady. We do have two person rooms upstairs so we may be able to accommodate you later but not in the ICU. Now I have other patients to check on. Can I count on you to stay in bed and stop trying to sit up. If you keep doing that you could rip out the stitches and that would delay being able to see Catherine."
"Well as long as you lay it out like that I guess I have no choice do I?" Just as she said that there was a commotion in the hall way and she heard machines beeping frantically in the room that Nancy had indicated was Catherine's room. Julie immediately left the room and turned right to Catherine's room.