CHAPTER FIVE: HEALING

The buzzing sound was incessant. Where was it coming from? Where was she? What time was it? Suddenly wide awake, Sara realized she was at Grissom's townhouse and that she needed to wake him up. She padded to the kitchen and grabbed a couple bottles of water. She realized that she had not brushed her teeth, so she headed back to the guest room. It was a little after 9 am on Wednesday morning.

Her dreams flooded back as she walked to Grissom's room. She called out to him, but only got snoring in response. She turned on the light in his bathroom and soft, ambient light flooded the bedroom. She gathered the three pills that he needed to take and gently shook his shoulder. Her touch caused Grissom to wake suddenly. As he sat up, the pain rippled through his body and down to his ankle.

"Easy, Gris," she said. "You are still recovering".

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"I am sorry to wake you, but it appears your pain killers have worn off. It has been six hours."

Grissom swallowed the pills and then Sara helped him out of bed. As he hobbled to the bathroom, she went to get the frozen peas to ice his ankle. Both of them were still very sleepy and this was the regular time of day that they got ready to go to bed after shift. Sara hoped that she could have the whole day off and not get called in tonight. She was still tired and she wanted to visit Nick at the hospital too.

"Do you feel like sleeping some more or are you hungry," she asked.

"I probably need more sleep," he replied.

Sara adjusted the pillows under his ankle, unwrapped the ace bandage, and placed the ice packs on Grissom's ankle. She headed off to the guest bedroom to get her cell phone so she could reset the alarm for six more hours. Grissom was slouched on the bed in a light slumber. Sara had about 20 minutes to busy herself while Grissom iced his ankle. She milled around his kitchen and found that he had a huge amount of fresh foods and juice. She explored his cupboards and located a glass. The juice tasted cool and refreshing. Sara returned to the guest bedroom to use the bathroom and she also washed her face, brushed her teeth again, and put on a clean tank top. By the time 20 minutes had passed, she was a bit more awake.

Sara took the frozen peas back to the kitchen and then sat down on the bed and placed Grissom's ankle in her lap. It was easier to wrap this way. A few minutes later, she was done. Sara nudged Grissom so he could slide back down into bed. He did as directed. She turned out the light, just as Grissom called out to her.

"Sara....please come to bed."

Sara was a bit unsure what Grissom meant. She turned the light back on and walked over to the side of the bed. Grissom reached for her arm and then he used his other arm to fling back the covers on the other side of his bed.

"Please," he whispered.

Sara just wanted to be next to him and now, he was asking her to do just that. She had only regretted kissing him, because she was supposed to be at his house helping him. She did not mean to add any sense of relationship or sexual tension to their time together. And yet, it was what she wanted most of all. Sara circled the bed and turned off the bathroom light on her way. She carefully climbed in to the king size bed so as not to jostle Grissom. She realized her cell phone was still in the pocket of her sweats, so it took another moment before she finally stopped moving around.

Grissom reached out to her. "Sara, come closer, I need to feel you next to me," he whispered.

As Sara rolled over, she came face to face with Grissom. This time, he took the lead and gently kissed her neck and then her lips. She realized that he was a bit hazy from the drug cocktail, but she readily kissed him back.

"We really need more sleep," she whispered.

Grissom had to lay flat on his back in order to be comfortable. Sara did not want to injure him further, so she rolled on her side and spooned next to Grissom.

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Something was ringing. Sara woke up and looked for her cell phone, but it wasn't the offending object. Grissom reached out for his cell phone and answered it in a haze.

"Hey Jim," he said. "no, I was asleep. No, I am fine. The meds knocked me out pretty good and so I just slept. No, you don't need to drop by. I have plenty of groceries and all I do is ice my ankle and sleep." Okay Jim, see you tomorrow." As Grissom ended the conversation with Brass, he rolled over to face Sara.

"Jim wants to have dinner with me tomorrow around 8 p.m." he said. "He was pretty insistent."

"That would be great," she said. "I have to work tomorrow, so I will at least know you are being well fed. Plus, I have time to make sure that I don't leave any incriminating evidence in your townhouse to alert Brass."

Grissom just laughed. It hurt to laugh, but he laughed anyway. Sara's cell phone alarm began to beep, signaling that six hours was up and Grissom needed another dose of medication. She slowly untangled her body from Grissom's side. Since he still had enough water and pills at his night stand, Sara just walked around the bed and dished them out. Before she could unwrap his ankle, Grissom attempted to get up. Sara was quick to grab his arm and help him up and then she left him on his own while she went to the kitchen for the frozen bags of peas and some juice for each of them. Grissom appeared in the living room wearing clean sweat pants and a "Got Bugs?" T shirt that he picked up at a convention.

He made his way to the couch. Sara brought the juice over to the coffee table and then helped prop up his injured ankle on the table as well. Sara carefully slid the leg of his sweat pants up away from his swollen ankle and unwrapped the ace bandage. The icing process began and Sara sat down carefully next to Grissom.

"I am so glad to have you here with me," he said.

"Thanks for letting me invade your space," she replied. "I am going to make us some dinner and see if we can keep you awake for a little while before you head back to sleep."

The twenty minutes of icing was done, so Sara picked up the now semi-frozen peas and went over to the kitchen to make dinner. Despite all the teasing she took from the team, Sara could cook the basics. She whipped up a green salad and meatless spaghetti sauce and then fixed some ziti. She assembled the ziti and sauce along with some parmesan and ricotta cheeses and set it in the oven to bake for about thirty minutes. Sara returned to the couch and molded herself in to Grissom's side. She told him that she wanted to go see Nick and that she also needed to drop by her house.

"You are coming back tonight, aren't you?" Grissom asked.

Sara's kiss was her response. They relaxed on the couch until they smelled the pasta dish in the oven and then it was off to eat. Sara took a shower after dinner and found her last clean, set of clothes in her backpack. When she came out of the guest bedroom, Grissom was dozing on the couch watching television. She began wrapping his ankle and he slowly woke up.

"Are you leaving already?" he asked.

"I will be gone for a couple of hours," Sara replied. "but I will be back in time for you to take your medicine."

"I will wait to get cleaned up until you come back," Grissom responded. He did not want to fall down in the shower and he also knew that Sara needed to get back on to her graveyard schedule, so she needed to stay up later.

She helped him back to bed and reset her cell phone alarm. Sara had already packed her backpack and taken note of the groceries that they might want.

Grissom handed her an extra set of keys from his night stand. This silver key will get you in the front door when you come back. Leave some lights on too. Sara made sure that Grissom's cell phone was in reach. Her plan was to go home first and then drop by and see Nick once visiting hours started.

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