A/N: I continue to be amazed by all the support and reviews, thankyou. I hope you continue to enjoy reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it.
ICU and beyond.
Once the others had left, Grissom headed back to Sara's room. A nurse was hovering over Sara, checking the various machines and Sara herself.
"You must be Mr Grissom" she spoke quietly, as if not wanting to disturb the patient. "My name is Andrea and I will be looking after Miss Sidle this afternoon. I just need to finish here and then I will leave you alone. The call button is here on the wall" she indicated a button just above the head of the bed. "If you need anyone, or if she wakes up please don't hesitate to call me. Unfortunately I have to keep coming in and out every half hour for a while, though I'll try not to disturb you."
By the time she had finished speaking, she had finished what she needed to do and headed out the door.
Grissom smiled to himself, everyone had been so nice here, he would make sure he thanked them appropriately. He took the seat next to Sara once more and looked at her more closely than he had earlier.
For the first time he saw the purple and black bruising on her face and when he glanced down to where her gown sat low on her shoulders, he could see the extensive bruising on her left shoulder, vivid evidence of the dislocation.
For the first time since he had arrived he allowed himself to see how badly she had been injured and then the relief hit him like a Mack truck. It left him with an exhaustion so profound that it was all he could do to stay upright in the chair. His body seemed to have a will of it's own and as he once more entwined his fingers through Sara's, he laid his head on the bed next to her; a few tears escaped his eyes before he was pulled down into a heavy sleep.
The nurse came and went every half hour, but still he did not disturb. When the shift changed at eleven pm he still had not stirred.
He came to consciousness slowly, hearing soft whispers. Slowly raising his head he glanced at the clock above the door, astonished to see that it read eleven ten. Looking around he realised that the whispers were coming from the two nurses standing on the other side of the bed from him. He felt a fleeting moment of panic that there were two nurses there and they turned to look at him as he sat up.
Seeing the look of panic, they were quick to reassure him.
"We're so sorry Mr Grissom; we were just checking a new lot of pain relief for Miss Sidle….."
He held his hand up to stop her. "No…that's ok, I didn't mean to fall asleep." He looked at the clock again and then down at Sara. "Has she woken yet?"
"Not yet, but she's starting to get a little restless in her sleep, so I don't think it will be too long now."
"Oh good…..I mean…..I'm glad I wasn't asleep and missed her waking up. Can I get a coffee anywhere at this time of night?"
"Not really, but if you promise not to tell anyone, I'll make you one when I make ours shortly" it was the dark haired nurse that spoke.
"Thankyou, but I don't want to get you into trouble ah…." He broke off, not knowing her name.
"I'm Lesley and I'm taking over from Andrea, and it's no problem" she smiled at him. "I'd hate for you to miss her waking up."
They left the room, leaving Grissom alone with Sara once more. There was only subdued lighting in the room now, but Grissom could see well enough. He stood and moved around the room a bit to stretch limbs cramped by sleeping in the chair. Sara had still not woken twenty minutes later when Lesley had returned with his coffee, but he noted her increased leg movements and the occasional slight head movement.
Lesley stood and watched Sara for a few minutes and nodded. "It' won't be long now" she said and left the room.
He had just finished his coffee and had taken her hand in his again when he noticed the fluttering of her eyelids.
"Sara. Sara honey can you hear me?" Grissom softly stroked her face with the fingertips of one hand while his other gripped hers tightly. He could feel her hand clench slightly in his and he kept up the gently movements as he soothed her.
"It's ok Sara, everything is fine, you just need to wake up now ok? Open those beautiful eyes for me, I know you want to. Come on honey open them for me please?" He leant over her, bringing his face closer, he truly wanted to be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes.
In her foggy brain, Sara was trying to figure out how to open her eyes. She knew how, why wouldn't they open? She tried moving her hands up to rub them, but they felt too heavy to move and all she could get them to do was open and close.
As her mind began to slowly clear, she was hit by a wave of pain and nausea. Her whole body; from her head to her toes felt like it was on fire and she clenched her fists and scrunched up her eyes in an attempt to fight it. Now she could feel something squeezing her right hand, and a voice, at least she thought it was a voice whispering soothing words and a hand on her face.
The hand felt warm and strangely comforting and as she relaxed a little her awareness heightened and she thought she knew that voice. There it was again asking her to open her eyes and with one final effort, Sara slowly opened her eyes to look directly into a pair of moist blue ones.
Two sets of eyes; one brown, cloudy with sleep and pain, the other a blue bright with moisture held each other for what seemed like an eternity.
Grissom was barely holding himself together as he brought her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, before allowing a broad smile to lighten his face.
"Hey" was all he could manage as a tear finally slid down his cheek.
Sara held his eyes for a little longer, before blinking back her own tears at the sight of his. She didn't really understand, but through the haze of pain she gave him a small smile in return. She swallowed, grimacing at the soreness of her throat and opened her mouth to speak, but could only manage a strangled croak.
"Shh…. Let me get the nurse and then maybe we can get something for your throat ok?" Grissom kept his grip on her hand as he pushed the call bell.
Sara gave a slight nod, a mistake she decided as a bolt of pain shot through her skull and shoulder, a sudden look of panic appearing on her face. Why did she hurt so much? A tear slid silently down her cheek, she wasn't sure if it was because of the pain, or the sudden look of panic on Grissoms' face.
Just then Lesley appeared and took in the looks on both faces.
"Sara, can you look at me for a minute. It's all right, let's just give you some more pain relief ok" she told her gently. She swiftly checked Sara's vital signs and her pupils, then her wound and watched quietly as Sara drifted off to sleep once more, she then turned her attention to Grissom
"For the moment Sara will need high doses of pain relief and the morphine will keep her pretty much knocked out for most of the next twenty four hours. This is quite normal and believe me it is much easier for her this way" Lesley told Grissom.
"Now we just want to keep her comfortable, so awake periods will probably be short, but she will be more alert each time she wakes. Now is probably a good time for you to go and take care of yourself Mr Grissom. Go eat, shower, get some fresh air" she stared at him. "This is going to be a long process, and to be able to take care of Sara you need to take care of yourself. She should go to the ward sometime tomorrow all being well. Why don't you come back then?"
Grissom glared at her for a moment before deciding that she was probably right. He hadn't slept properly for over two days and he was beginning to realise he couldn't survive on just coffee. He nodded his agreement and saw the nurse visibly relax.
"I will, but you'll call me if there's any change? Will you call me if you need me? Sara is not one who takes orders well, she is fiercely independent and can be very stubborn at times" he felt himself smile as he finished.
Lesley could understand his hesitation so was quick to reassure him.
"Go Mr Grissom. Don't worry we have it all under control" she told him as she left the room.
Grissom looked down at a sleeping Sara and squeezed her hand once more. He bent and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, noting how dry they felt. He traced his fingers down her face and smiled.
"I'll be back soon honey. Sleep. I love you."
Sara stirred slightly, his words and the kiss partially penetrating her drug filled sleep.
With a last look back, Grissom headed out of the room and made his way to the lifts.
--
Glancing at the bedside clock for what must have been the fiftieth time since he had finally crawled into bed at two am, Grissom sighed in frustration. Seven am, five hours of dozing off, waking, checking the clock and dozing off again. He was tired; he just couldn't turn his brain off long enough to sleep properly.
The logical part of his brain told him that Sara was fine where she was, that she would be sleeping, she wouldn't miss his not being there. Then the illogical side stepped in and made it clear that he should be there making sure she was sleeping and that they were looking after her.
Hence the lack of sleep.
He dragged himself out of bed and headed for the shower. He had a list of things he wanted to do today and he was eager to get an early start so that he could get back to the hospital as soon as he could. Once he had showered, he gathered the list he had written the night before and headed downstairs for breakfast.
While he waited for his food, he called Allison to enlist her help for a few of the things on his list. He then called Catherine and gave her as much of an update as he could and a promise to call as soon as Sara had been transferred to her own room.
By the time he had eaten, Allison had joined him and he explained his plans for the day over a cup of coffee. They went their separate ways and agreed to meet again at the café at eleven.
Allison was waiting for Grissom when he arrived at the café, bags in hand. She smiled when she was the names on a couple of the bags, Sara was one lucky lady.
"Hi Grissom, I got everything you wanted plus a couple of other things I thought of" she gestured at the bags he was putting on the floor by his chair. "I see you got a few things too" she laughed at the expression on his face as he sat.
"Yeah….ah….I may have got a little carried away" he shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'what ya gonna do?' and grinned.
He waved over a waitress and ordered coffee and cake for them both before turning back to his companion.
"Thankyou so much for doing this for me, I'm sure I would have gotten the wrong things. Did you have any trouble finding anything?" he asked.
"Nope. She's gonna freak when she realises what we got though" she told him.
Grissom smiled and shrugged again. "I'll deal with that when the time comes"
They chatted amiably while they drank and ate and Grissom discovered that Allison was a bright and intelligent woman. He liked her and understood why she and Sara got along so well. Sara was lucky to have a friend like her.
When Grissom looked at his watch again he was startled to see that it was already after twelve and he frowned, he hadn't meant to be this later than he had intended
Allison saw the frown and realised the problem. "Well, I'm rested now, so how about I drop you at the hospital. Do you want me to bring all this stuff with me later on or are you going to take it?" she asked.
"Actually you bringing them later might be a good idea. If they haven't moved her yet, I don't think they'll let me in with all this" he waved an arm to indicate the bags.
Together they left the hotel and when Allison dropped Grissom off, she was surprised to see him take a small bag from inside one of the larger ones before getting out. As she drove off, she wondered what he had bought that couldn't wait til that evening.
--
When Grissom arrived at Sara's room, he was met with a hive of activity. It scared him at first, but then he realised that Dr. Lucas was standing at the side watching and he relaxed slightly.
Dr. Lucas caught sight of Grissom as he hesitated in the doorway and made his way over.
"Dr. Grissom, great timing, we have just been getting her ready to move her into her own room on the ward." he was smiling broadly as he spoke.
"That's great" Grissom replied, a matching smile on his face. "She's doing well then?"
"Better than we expected, she has been awake a few times overnight and this morning, though not for long" he adde quickly as he saw Grissom's brow furrow.
"All her tests are coming back looking very positive. I think she'll do very nicely."
Grissom's shoulders sagged with relief, it was very good news. He continued to watch as the orderlies began to move the bed while the nurse watched over the equipment and Sara. There was still quite a bit of monitoring going on he noted, but not as much as last night.
He stepped aside to allow them through and fell into step behind the little procession.
Sara's new room was indeed a single, with a large window to the outside on one wall. There was a comfortable looking armchair Grissom noted gratefully as he watched them get her settled.
Once everyone else had left he grabbed a small chair and took up a position as close to her as he could get. He held her hand tightly in his, lacing his fingers through hers as if he had always done it. He watched her closely, waiting for any indication that she was about to wake. He glanced at the clock to see that it was now two thirty and with a sigh he turned back to continue his vigil.
It took a moment to register that he was no longer looking at closed eyes, but looking straight at a pair of sleepy brown ones. His own eyes locked with hers and he smiled. This time there was no panic in them and they stayed open, just staring into his.
When she broke contact; it was to take in her surroundings and when she saw their laced fingers his smile was mirrored by her weak one.
"You look tired" the voice was soft and unsteady.
"Well….I haven't had much sleep lately, what with phone calls and plane trips and hospital visits" his voice was soft too and he had trouble controlling it. He stared at her face for a long time and he couldn't stop his eyes from filling with tears.
"I'm sorry" she whispered, her eyes not leaving his face.
"Oh honey…. No….you have nothing to be sorry for. It's just a little change in our plans, its ok" his hand softly stroked her cheek and he watched as she closed her eyes and drifted off again.
He settled back in the chair, still holding her hand, waiting for the next time she woke.
That was the pattern for the next few days, though each time Sara woke, she stayed awake a little longer. Grissom went back to his hotel each night and returned the next morning. The nurses were quite happy for him to stay as long as he wanted, because his presence seemed to have a calming effect on Sara.
