The Look Of Love (part 14)
At the lab that night everyone welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Brown back.
Sara had stopped at Ecklie's office. "How is Gil?" he asked. "He is hurting." Conrad chuckled. "I have the papers drawn up," he told Sara, "all you need to do is sign them."
Sara took a pen from him and signed the papers. "I am sorry this will cost him his job," she said, "but I can't let him get away with it."
Ecklie nodded, "I agree with you. Since this happened 4 other ladies have come to me with similar complaints."
Gil walked into the break room to hand out assignments. Everyone looked at him.
"The first person who says anything smart gets the decomp." Everyone quietly snickered but did not say anything out loud.
"All I was going to say was that it was a very noble thing you did, defending your wife's honor," Greg said.
The whole crew said "Nice brown nosing." He leaned to Nick and whispered, "I just want to make sure I don't get decomp."
Gil passed out assignments.
Nick and Warrick had a trip to the cemetery, someone had set a box of bones next to one of the stones. Catherine and Greg got a three car accident. Sara went by herself to the zoo, there had been two animals found dead.
"I am not sure if there is anything you can do but they asked us to check it out," Gil told her as he kissed her cheek and handed her the paperwork.
"By the way," he said as they were leaving, "I was joking about the decomp. There is none."
Gil was on his way back from a liquor store robbery when his phone rang. It was Jim, "I need you to come to the EAST SIDE CHILDREN'S HOME."
Gil started to ask why when Jim told him not to ask, "Just get here as fast as you can."
Gil made a U-turn and was there in a few minutes.
As he pulled up he saw four ambulances, three police cars and two coroner's cars. He slammed his Danali in park and went to find Brass.
Jim stopped Gil at the crime tape.
"A man who's son was taken away from him came busting in trying to get him back. The lady in charge told him he was not allowed there. One of the children called 911, the man pulled a gun a starting firing, he then grabbed two of the children and threatened to kill them if he could not have his son. Two of the children were injured, one was killed, the lady in charge was killed. The first officer here was also hurt. The gunman was shot and killed by your CSI who was also hurt."
Gil looked at him, "I did not assign this to anyone?"
It was then that he saw Sara's Danali, his face went pale.
"She heard it on the scanner, she was here before we were," Jim told him.
"How is she?" he asked. "No one knows, she will not let them near her," Jim said as he pointed to a group of people,"She was over there."
Gil ran toward the people. Pushing his way in he saw Sara sitting on the ground cradling a small body, they were both covered in blood.
Dave was standing there, Gil came next to him.
"She will not let anyone near the body," Dave said.
Gil nodded and walked slowly to her. "Sara?" he said, she lifted her head, tears were running down her face. "Why?" she said looking at him.
He squatted next to her, he looked at the child, it was the same little girl that Sara had found scared and hiding in the closet.
"Let me take care of her," he said softly. She looked at him then handed him the child.
Gil took the girl from her and gently laid her on the gurney, then he helped Sara up.
"She is a hero," Sara said through her tears. "She was only 7 but she gathered all the others up and took them to safety. He shot her because she was going to get a little boy who was too scared to move."
Gil took her to one of the ambulances, they had to walk past the gunman.
Sara looked at him, "Why you son of a bitch, why?"
Gil put his arm around her waist and guided her away from him and towards the paramedic.
She looked at Gil, "No, please, I just want to go home." He nodded.
Putting her in his car he asked one of the officers to bring hers back to the lab.
Sara stood in the shower letting the water wash the blood off her body, the whole time she cried.
Gil was on the phone to Ecklie, he told him that they were taking some personal days.
Gil decided that Sara needed to get away now and not wait until the weekend.
The next day Gil, Sara and the rest of the team were standing in a cemetery. Having no family the city was going to put her in an unmarked grave. Sara would not have that, she and the team seen to it the "Little hero" had a proper burial.
Gil and Sara left shortly after. Sara did not say anything on the flight. They checked into the hotel and went to their room, she still had not said anything.
She sat on the bed and looked at Gil.
"I will never get used to it," she finally said.
Gil just sat next to her, he had found out when words could not be found the best thing to do was just to hold her.
The first night they walked on the beach, Gil knew she had to work it out, that night she just lay next to him and cried.
The next morning when Gil woke up he saw Sara sitting on the balcony, he went to her.
She looked at him and smiled, the first time since the shootings.
"Everything OK?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. She turned her laptop so he could see it, he smiled. "When my grandmother passed away she left me some money. I never really needed it so I just left it in the bank. I decided this is a good use for it and a good way to honor a tiny hero."
Sara had notified the owners of the home that she was going to pay for a playground they had wanted to build.
All she requested was a plaque be put on the fence that would surround it.
IN MEMORY OF SARA JEAN MILLER, GOD'S LITTLEST HERO.
That seemed to do the trick, it lifted Sara's spirits.
Gil and Sara spent two weeks on the beach shopping and playing in the ocean.
They explored the coastline and found different restaurants and spent the nights making love and sleeping in each other's arms.