A/N Thankyou to everyone who has read and reviewed. I can't believe how many people have actually read this thing or at least looked at it.
Welcome to Washington.
Though he was both mentally and physically exhausted, Grissom slept little on the plane. His couldn't seem to turn the thoughts in his head off for long enough to sleep, so all he had really done was doze.
Now, as he stands waiting for his luggage to appear on the carousel in front of him, his thoughts elsewhere, he could feel that exhaustion like a heavy weight.
He grabbed his bag when it presented itself and shifted his coat and laptop into a better carrying position and made his way towards the exit. Glancing around he tried to pick out the person meeting him, but was not having any success.
As he stood near the exit, pondering his next move, he felt someone stop next to him and he turned a little to see a young woman with blonde hair looking at him closely.
"Dr. Grissom?" she gave him a wan smile as she asked the question.
He turned fully towards her and nodded.
"My name is Allison Campbell, I work with Sara. Welcome to Washington. I know you were expecting Rod, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to get here in time so he sent me" she spoke quickly as if trying to reassure Grissom, taking the fact that the man was looking exhausted.
"Let's get you out of here" she gestured towards the exit as Grissom picked up his bag.
Allison continued to speak as she led him to the car. Grissom was surprised to see that it was parked in a no parking zone not far from the doors with another FBI agent standing next to it.
"I hope you weren't waiting too long. I had a little trouble recognising you. I've only seen you on the cover of one of your entomology books that Sara has and from some photos in her apartment. I don't know if you remember me or not, but I spoke to you on the phone the night of the bank shooting after Sara fell asleep."
"It's fine, I hadn't been there long" he replied absently, his mind struck by the fact that Sara had photos of him in her apartment and they were out where visitors could see them.
The agent minding the car grabbed Grissom's bag and threw it in the trunk, before climbing into the driver's seat.
Once they were settled in the car, Allison introduced the agent driving.
"Our driver here is another member of our team. Richard Harper."
"Nice to meet you Dr. Grissom, I imagine you're rather tired, but I'm guessing you want to go straight to the hospital. We should be there in about forty minutes, traffic permitting. If you want to try and catch a little shut-eye, we won't be offended, we know what it's like to try and sleep on a plane" the younger man told him, after looking the older man over, he decided that Grissom was probably not in the mood for small talk and some sleep wouldn't hurt him.
"Thankyou. Actually that sounds like a good idea. Do you have any updates on Sara's condition?" Grissom asked.
"Nothing you don't already know, we haven't talked to anyone other than Rod so far today" Richard told him.
"Oh….ok" Grissom replied before falling silent.
It was quiet in the car for the rest of the journey from the airport and Grissom found himself lulled to sleep quite quickly by the sound of the engine and the quiet chatter from the two other occupants of the vehicle.
He woke as they were pulling into a multi-storeyed car park, which he assumed was at the hospital. He was fully awake and alert by the time both Richard and Allison had exited the car and he was quick to join them.
"You can leave your things in the car if you like" Allison gestured to his laptop and coat.
"Thanks" he leant in and covered his laptop with his coat and then closed the car door.
They took the lift to the ground floor and then headed across a small open area and into a lobby to another set of lifts which would take them upstairs to the ICU.
Allison and Richard exchanged glances as Grissom, obviously anxious raced out of the lift before stopping suddenly just outside the doors. As they reached him, he fell into step beside them as they made their way to the nurses' station.
They hung back as he introduced himself to the nurse on duty and requested to speak to Dr. Lucas.
He only had to wait a few minutes before a man in a white coat was striding down the corridor towards them. He extended his hand to Grissom, and nodded to Allison and Richard.
"Dr. Grissom?" he raised his eyebrows in question. "I'm Marc Lucas, the doctor co-ordinating Miss Sidle's care, we spoke on the phone."
"Gil Grissom, how is she? Can I see her?" Now that he was right there all Grissom wanted was to see her as soon as he could.
"Dr. Grissom lets go find somewhere comfortable to sit so that I can fill you in on what is happening with Sara and what we are planning."
Grissom glanced at the others. As if reading his mind, Richard looked at Allison and nodded.
"We'll go get a coffee Dr. Grissom, and let Rod know you have arrived safely"
"Ah…. Thanks Richard and it's just Grissom."
"Right, we'll wait back here for you if we get done before you" and with that he and Allison headed back towards the lift.
Grissom allowed the doctor to lead the way to a small room not far from the waiting room. It was furnished with a couple of comfortable chairs and a couch, plus a tea and coffee machine.
Dr Lucas headed straight for the coffee machine and motioned for Grissom to do the same. Sitting in one of the chairs Grissom sipped at his coffee and waited for the doctor to begin.
"I'm sure you are anxious to see Miss Sidle, but before you do I would like to discuss her injuries in more detail than I did when we spoke on the phone" he paused and Grissom nodded for him to continue.
"Miss Sidle has a number of problems. Firstly, her left shoulder was dislocated by her impact with the ground, the radius and ulna of the same arm are both fractured; though the fractures were not displaced, so we were able to reduce the shoulder and plaster her arm without surgical intervention. He left lung was punctured by one of her fractured ribs, but we were able to insert a chest tube and reinflate her lung. The bleeding has subsided on its own, which is what we were hoping would happen."
Grissom interrupted him with a question. "So she is breathing on her own then?"
"Actually, she probably could but we have her heavily sedated and on a ventilator to rest her as much as possible, hopefully though she won't need it for too much longer."
Grissom was concerned when he heard that she was heavily sedated and voiced those concerns to Dr. Lucas.
"I always understood that sedation in head injuries was contra-indicated, isn't it risky?"
"That it is, under most circumstances. You seem to have a good understanding of these things, am I to assume that you have a background in medicine?" he asked Grissom, his curiosity piqued.
"No, my specialty is entomology, but like Sara I am a crime scene investigator and spent a number of my earlier years as a coroner so most of my knowledge comes from those experiences. Please forgive me if I seem rude, I'm not known for my people skills as Sara would attest to if she could and at the moment…." he trailed off.
"No, no it's ok, it makes it so much easier to explain, I don't have to dumb it down for you" Dr. Lucas reassured him.
"Our biggest concern has been the fracture to Sara's skull. It is a small depressed fracture that we need to lift and secure back in place. All the scans indicate that there is no underlying haemorrhage, but there will always be some soft tissue inflammation, causing swelling. We wanted to wait for surgery if we could until the thoracic team were happy with her lung. Luckily there has been no deterioration in her neurological state, so we have been able to do just that."
Dr. Lucas looked long and hard at the man opposite him before continuing.
"We are now ready to operate, she is stable and the sooner we can fix that skull fracture, the sooner we can let her wake up."
"What do you need from me?" Grissom posed the question, though he already knew the answer.
"As her medical proxy, we need your permission to proceed with the operation. It is really just a formality, you understand, but one I prefer to undertake if possible."
"Certainly, I'll do whatever is needed to give Sara the best chance possible. Can I see her now please" Grissom had managed to keep himself composed, but the fact that Sara- his Sara- was headed for delicate surgery very soon, was pushing him closer to the edge.
"Of course, I'll take you in to her now, and go and organise the necessary papers for you to sign." With that he stood and Grissom followed him from the room towards the first reunion with the woman he loved in almost a year.
Dr. Lucas left Grissom at the door and went to collect the papers. Taking a deep breath, Grissom readied himself for his first sight of Sara.
Opening the door he took a step inside and stopped. The first thing he noticed was the multitude of sounds that assaulted him. From the steady beeping of her heartbeat, the hissing and popping of the ventilator, the occasional beep of the other machines surrounding her, to the steady hum of the air-conditioning, he was aware of everything. Stepping closer, his breath caught in his throat as he took in the bruised and battered appearance of the woman lying so still in the bed in front of him.
Another few steps brought him to the side of the bed and as he settled himself into the chair at the bedside he found himself reaching for her hand and bringing it to his cheek, before placing a gentle kiss on its back. He was surprised at the warmth; he had expected her skin to feel a lot cooler.
Fighting his emotions, he leant forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. He found he needed to talk to her, even if she couldn't hear him.
"Oh Sara! This is not quite how I pictured our reunion. I'm sure it's not how you pictured it either. They are going to take you for surgery soon so I can't stay long but I want you to know that I'll be right here when you wake up. Everything will be fine, you will be fine. Everyone in Vegas is praying for you and I'm pretty sure Jim is going to come to visit as soon as you are up to it. They all send their love, even Ecklie. Who would have thought" he stopped and looked up as the doctor entered the room.
"I have to go now honey the doctor has papers for me to sign." Standing, he leant over her and placed a kiss on each of her closed eyelids, whispering "I love you" softly as he placed her hand back on the bed and moved away.
He was almost finished signing the papers when he noticed Allison and Richard had returned.
He completed the forms and made his way to the nurse's desk, handing them to Dr. Lucas who was waiting.
"We have the surgery scheduled for a half hour from now, she will be moved very shortly, as soon as they have finished prepping her" he told Grissom.
"How long do you expect the surgery to take, or is it too difficult to tell?" Grissom asked.
"Usually I'd say two to three hours, from the time they enter the operating room til they return to the recovery room. After that it may be up to an hour before she is back here in the ICU. So probably about four hours give or take" he looked at Grissom, whose exhaustion was palpable. "Why don't you try and get some rest, I know you want to be there when she wakes up, but it may be several hours after she returns before that happens."
He could see Grissom was hesitant to leave, so he shot a glance at the others.
Richard stepped forward.
"Um….Grissom, why don't we get you to your hotel, or if you'd rather we can take you over to Sara's place. I'm sure you could do with a shower and maybe something to eat, it's got to be a while since you ate, and you can't consider airline food as edible."
Grissom had to admit he was tired and hungry, and a shower sounded pretty good too. He nodded his acceptance of the offer and he saw the younger man visibly relax.
With Dr. Lucas' reassurances that he would be called immediately if anything happened Grissom joined Allison and Richard and headed to the lifts.
