A/N: Thanks again to CSIGeekFan for the suggestions and for beta'ing this for me.
Chapter 4
Grissom was slowly making his way back to the land of the living. He became aware of soft murmurings and the quiet shuffle of footsteps. Turning his head towards the sounds he heard, Gil licked his lips and let out a soft sigh. He opened his eyes to see the smiling face of who he assumed was his doctor.
"Hey there….welcome back. How are you feeling? I'm Dr. Taylor and I'm your attending. "
"Groggy…everything's a little hazy. Desert Palm? How long have…"
"Yes, you're at Desert Palm and you were brought in late yesterday afternoon. It's mid morning, and you've been drifting in and out. I was the surgeon on call and so was able to set your fractured wrist and patch up your shoulder wound. What do you recall?"
Gil swallowed. " Nothing really…"
"Well, that's not unusual. Concussions are a tricky business. You sustained a pretty good blow to the head. Actually several good blows to the head. Temporary amnesia is not uncommon. Of course, we did have you sedated. Now, I do want to examine the contusions on your face, especially the one around your left eye."
"What else? It hurts to move much."
Dr. Taylor carefully explained to Grissom the extent of his injuries and what was done medically. The night shift supervisor would recover in due time barring any complications.
"Complications such as…?"
"Well, now that would be up to you. I strongly recommend complete bed rest until those ribs heal up. With those cracked ribs, physical activity could result in a punctured lung should you do something to cause one of them to break completely. Your head will ache for a while even though your concussion is pretty mild. Your memory of what happened to you should come back, but don't worry if it doesn't. It's your mind's way of protecting you. You just need to rest and let your body heal. But I've heard that you are a little on the stubborn side…you don't particularly like hospitals…."
"So, if I promise to be good…..when?" inquired Grissom as his head started to clear.
"I will only release you if there will be some one with you to take care of your needs. My preference would be complete bed rest here in the hospital. However, after speaking with a couple of your colleagues who have come by, I don't think that is likely," Dr. Taylor replied dryly.
"I'll make sure he's a good boy, doctor," replied Catherine with a smile, as she walked into the room. "In fact, the whole graveyard shift is planning to run shifts to babysit our boy here."
"Ahhh...Ms. Willows, I see that you are back. I will have to see the results of the last blood panel, and if it comes back clear, I don't see why he couldn't be released in the next hour or two." Dr. Taylor headed out the door. "So, sit back and relax, Dr. Grissom. I'll check on those results and get back to you."
Catherine turned to Gil. "So, HOW are you feeling and don't give me any crap about being fine. You can't fool me."
Grissom winced at her tone and said flatly, "Like I've been hit by a Mac truck."
Memories of what happened flooded through him. Quickly switching gears, Grissom anxiously asked, "Where's Sara? She's ok, right? Why isn't she here? Catherine, fill me in on what's going on with the case." He tried to ignore the pounding in his head.
Catherine paused and briefly contemplated how much to reveal to the injured man. She knew Gil well enough that nothing would stop him in trying to find Sara. Catherine also knew that he would blame himself for Sara's disappearance and would also take the blame if anything should happen to her. Sighing, the strawberry blonde investigator sat down next to his bed.
"C'mon Catherine…out with it. Sara's still missing, isn't she? Otherwise, she'd be here and not you," Grissom growled impatiently.
"Gil, the doctor said that…"
"To hell what the doctor said…Catherine…"
"Okay…okay….First, you need to tell me what you do remember and I'll fill in what we have pieced together. Yes, Sara is still missing. Right now, Nick and Warrick are tracking down leads on the suspects' vehicle. Greg is processing evidence through trace and the DNA lab. Right now it's a matter of being a little patient. We'll get her back, Gil. You need to take care of yourself- at least for her sake."
"I can't relax. We don't have the time. Look, this case was personal for me even before Sara was taken. Lucas Mallory is behind this whole thing. From the start, he has been playing me. The warehouse was a trap to lure me for god-knows-what and now he has Sara."
Grissom paused and quietly continued on. "He's not going the hurt Sara, not seriously, anyway. It's me he wants. I don't think that he expected anyone to be with me when I showed up at the warehouse. Hell, Ididn't expect her there either. I think that it threw a wrench into his plans. If Sara weren't so damn stubborn..."
Grissom looked away from Catherine and gazed out the window. "The key is staying a step ahead, but in order to do that, I've got to get out of here…so are you going to help me or not?"
Catherine cast a look of frustration towards him. "Gil…look at you…You're not going to do Sara or the investigation any good the shape that you are in. So let's talk about who's being stubborn. And who the hell is Lucas Mallory? What's the deal with the warehouse? ."
"No one knows Mallory like I do…It started with the two DB's in Henderson the other day. I was pretty sure that Mallory was the perp."
"Whoa! Wait a minute," interrupted Catherine, "You had an idea about who the perp was in that case? That was my case. Look Gil, you broke procedure. You didn't let anyone know about this Lucas Mallory. Who is he anyway? You suspected from that crime scene in Henderson that this guy did it, but you didn't share that information with the team. You didn't trust us with any of this? We've been working blind here. That case has been dead in the water," Catherine shot back angrily.
Grissom could feel anger and impatience rising in him, "Okay, I made a mistake. I let Mallory get in my head. I know what happened the last time I tangled with this guy and I thought I could handle it this time around. Besides, that crime scene was a message to me and only to me. He was sending me a message that he was out of prison and that he had me on his radar. The last time innocent people got caught in the fallout. I didn't want any one on the team to suffer like…" Grissom paused as past memories suddenly flooded over him and he shut his eyes and clenched his teeth.
He sighed, "Look, I know I should have trusted all of you. That's not going to happen again. Catherine, he's got Sara. I won't make the same mistake twice. Trust me in this, okay?"
"Gil…." Catherine relented, holding up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay…what do you want me to do?"
"You still have a key to the townhouse?"
Catherine nodded.
"I will need clothes and my laptop that's in the study. There is also a file next to the laptop that I will need. You'll have to let the sitter know that she has to keep Hank for a few days. Her number is in my rolodex on my desk, next to the lap top."
"Wait a minute. You're not thinking about going to the lab, are you? You're going to work from home if you're doing anything at all. Besides that, if you are home, you'll rest and have a better chance to heal. You're not going to the lab. Besides technically, you're on administrative leave."
Grissom said tightly, "I need to be at the lab. I will rest easier in my office. I promise I will take it easy. At home, I'll just pace and I'll be calling the lab every few minutes. At least at the lab, I can see what's happening." Grissom paused for a moment and then rushed on, "Besides, more than likely Mallory knows where I live. In fact, I think it might be prudent if Brass went with you when you get my things. Mallory might be watching the townhouse. Fill Jim in. The file next to my laptop will fill you in on everything you need to know about Mallory. My townhouse is probably not the safest place anyway. Look, I promise to be good."
Catherine eyed him suspiciously. "Yeah, right…Look, I'll be back soon. The point might be moot if your blood panels don't pan out anyway, so just lie back and rest easy for a little while. You're not going anywhere until the doctor releases you. I'm going home to check in on Lindsey. I will also make sure that Jim has a guard outside your door. If Mallory has you on his radar, the hospital isn't exactly the safest place for you either. Maybe Jim can get you set up in a safe house," Catherine said half jokingly.
Grissom arched his eyebrow and lay heavily back down on his pillow. The throbbing in his head had started to worsen and he shut his eyes to concentrate on what the next move
should be.
A/N: Thanks again to all those of you who have reviewed. It really encourages me to get the next chapter up.