A/N: To my readers and reviewers---many thanks. I am all about the angst, so it will continue. There is no Beta reader, so all mistakes are mine.

CHAPTER FOUR: HOME

The twenty minute ride had stretched to forty and Grissom and Sara finally made it to his front door. She brought in her backpack and his briefcase and locked the door behind her. Grissom collapsed on his couch. Sara sat down on the couch and faced Grissom.

"Can you tell me what the doctor said about your injuries and aftercare?" asked Sara.

"I have a mild concussion, a badly sprained ankle and three bruised ribs," he replied. "If I follow all the doctor's instructions and get lots of rest, I should be able to go back to work next week. I will still be on limited duty for another week after that." The medications and aftercare instructions were in his briefcase. Grissom pointed to it and told Sara she could review them.

"I am just asking so I know what care you need. I am pretty good at taping ankles".

Grissom explained that with his head injury, she really did not need to keep him awake. He just needed to elevate and ice his ankle and take his first dose of medicine. The doses were to be repeated every six hours. He really wanted a hot shower too. His ribs were wrapped in waterproof tape that did not come off until his recheck at the hospital on Saturday.

Grissom said, "There are clean towels in the guest bedroom right over there." He added that the sheets were clean and that Sara was welcome to take a shower while he iced his ankle.

Sara grabbed two bags of frozen peas from his kitchen freezer, elevated his ankle with a cushion from the couch, and carefully surrounded his ankle with the peas. Then, she took off for the guest room. It was surreal. Sara was thinking what it would be like to have free access to Grissom's private world. Grissom was keeping his mind off his aches by thinking of a naked Sara in his shower. She appeared about twenty minutes later wearing a pair of blue LVPD sweat pants and a grey camisole top. She had already dried her hair and applied a bit of moisturizer to her face.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"I feel cleaner," Sara replied.

Sara removed the frozen pea ice packs and placed them back in the freezer. She read through the aftercare instructions and checked the medicines. He would be taking a pretty powerful muscle relaxer as well as a pain killer and anti-inflammatory drug.

"You should probably shower before your take these meds and then we can ice and re-wrap your ankle afterwards," she replied. Sara carefully unwrapped his ankle bandage and helped Grissom up from the couch. They hobbled down a short hall and into his master bedroom. She began to help him undress. Once his shoes, socks, shirt and t-shirt were off, Grissom stopped her gently with his hand.

"I think I can take it from here," he said shyly. He looked up at her and explained that he would not have too much trouble stepping in and out of his shower stall. "The doctor gave me two clean ankle bandages and they are in the briefcase too. If you get them for me, I will give you a call when I am both clean and decent."

Sara left the bedroom and got a couple of bottles of water from the fridge. She downed one and re-read the aftercare instructions. She set her cell phone alarm to go off in six hours and placed it on the night stand in the guest bedroom. She turned down her sheets and got out her spare toothbrush. Just for fun, she looked in the medicine cabinet. Nothing incriminating, except five brand new toothbrushes and six trial sizes of toothpaste. Grissom also had raided the hotels were he stayed for other assorted toiletries. When Sara heard the shower go off, she quickly brushed her teeth, with her own toothbrush, and returned to the kitchen. She had the ace bandage, frozen peas, water, and pill bottles ready when Grissom called her back into his room.

"Feel better?" she asked.

Grissom shook his head to indicate "no". He was sitting up in bed wearing only a pair of grey shorts, made of sweat pant material. He had a dry towel around his shoulders. His hair was wet and tousled. The tape around his ribs covered most of his chest. He could no longer fend off the pain.

Sara immediately went to work. She propped his ankle up using two pillows. She placed the peas back around his ankle and handed him the three pills he needed to start his regimen. He chased them with most of the bottled water and then placed the bottle on his night stand. She took the towel from around Grissom's neck and slowly began to dry his hair and beard. When he reached for her hand, Sara thought he was going to stop her. Instead, he looked into her eyes and thanked her for being there for him.

When Sara was done, she pulled a straight backed chair over the the edge of the bed and sat down. She needed to let the ice work for about ten more minutes before she could wrap his ankle. Sara explained that she set her alarm so that he could take his next set of pills on time. She would come in and wake him up when it was time.

They talked for a few more minutes and then Sara removed what was left of the frozen peas and headed to the kitchen. The ace bandage had been sitting on the night stand. Sara reached out for it and found Grissom pulling her into his embrace. Sara had tried to keep her raw emotions under control by keeping busy. Only now, did she realize that her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. She reached out to catch herself so she did not crash into Grissom's sore ribs. He looked into her eyes and she bent down and tenderly kissed his lips. Seconds passed as they kissed and clung to each other. It was not a slobbery, open mouthed affair.....just tenderness and caring and exhaustion. The drugs racing through Grissom's body were dulling his senses and also keeping him from becoming aroused. He was lying there practically naked, with the woman of his dreams within reach, and yet her sweet kisses were all that he could handle. Sara broke the latest kiss and pushed away just a little bit. Her face was flushed and he could feel her trembling.

"I thought I had lost you," she said.

"No, Sara, I just needed to grow up and realize what had been missing in my life," he replied. "I was so scared to reach out for help tonight and yet I am so glad you are here. How long can you stay?"

Sara answered the question with one last kiss and then picked up the ace bandage and began to wrap Grissom's injured ankle. The drugs had taken the edge off of Grissom's pain and he closed his eyes while Sara worked her magic. Once done, she removed the pillows and tucked Grissom into bed.

"I will see you in six hours," she said as she turned off the lights and headed for the guest room. He was already fast asleep.

Sara fell into the cool crisp sheets and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. She was dead tired and used it as the excuse as to why she kissed Grissom. It was early Wednesday morning and she did not have to report to work until Thursday night. She took one more look around the room to get her bearings and then fell asleep. In her dreams, she imagined several inventive ways to wake Grissom up.

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