Author's note: I don't own CSI but I do love to play with them! It's the sincerest form of flattery!

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You are the Woman that I've Always Dreamed Of…

CHAPTER 4:

Brass made a quick call to Catherine as he jumped in his cruiser. "Catherine, Sara and Grissom are on their way to the hospital. Sara's been shot, but she should be ok." Catherine, relieved to hear that Sara was ok, let Brass know she would meet the ambulance at the ER and keep him up to date with the progress.

They agreed it would be best to have Sara processed by her friend rather than a stranger.

Catherine sighed. There have been way too many close calls here lately. First Nick, then Sara's run in with Adam Trent. "But we've been lucky" she whispered under her breath. "We are all still here!"

The ambulance pulled up to the big back doors of the hospital. The paramedics began their process of getting the gurney out of the vehicle and moving the patient into a room. Grissom never left Sara's side, holding her hand the entire time. Catherine smiled. She knew that look. He was a man possessed and he was not going to leave her for a moment!

"Gil," she said, "How's she doing?"

"She lost consciousness on the way here" Grissom responded to the inquiry from his old friend. "Her vitals are strong though. Once they get the bullet out, she should be fine."

Catherine hugged Grissom and focused her attention on Sara. She pushed the hair back out of her face and quietly whispered, "That's my girl!" and chuckled. "Brass told me she took out the perp with a bottle of hot sauce?"

Catherine was clearly proud of Sara's actions. Though they had started off rough, they had ended up being good friends and respected each other's ability to stay at the top of the heap in a man's world. Both were strong, fiercely independent, and very good at what they did.

Catherine's phone rang. She answered it "Willows." She smiled as she spoke to the voice on the other end of the line. "Ok, yes she's here already. Yes he is with her. Yes I saw that. OK We'll see you shortly."

"Brass" she announced to Grissom. "He's on his way with Greg and Nick. They finished processing the scene and are on their way here to process Spencer."

"OK" Grissom responded, "I'll stay here with Sara and you go ahead and see if they need any help."

Catherine reached up and hugged Grissom.

Grissom, uncomfortable as always with displays of affection, looked at her puzzled. "What was that for?" he asked.

"No reason" said Catherine, grinning as she walked away. He's finally pulled his head out of his microscope, she thought as she made her way to the back entrance of the ER.

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After Sara had been moved from a gurney to a hospital bed, Grissom sat beside her, still holding her hand. She had come to, briefly, but had been sedated to help with pain management until the doctor could get her to the OR. When asked who was her next of kin, Griss quietly replied that he would be the responsible party since she had no living family. As a matter of course, Sara had signed a medical power of attorney to Grissom, as her supervisor, when it came to Brass' attention that she had no next of kin. Grissom had tried to not read too much into this, but now he was seeing the signs he should have seen all along.

A slight tap on the door drew his mind back to the real world from his thoughts. Jim Brass entered the room.

"What's the news?" he asked Grissom.

"Its looking pretty good right now" he informed his old friend, "the bullet is lodged in her foot but should be easy to get out. The Doctor is preparing right now."

"That's great news!" Brass said. "And your staying here with her?"

"Yes, she's my responsibility," Grissom solemnly replied.

"You and I both know that's not the whole truth, Gil" Brass said quietly. "My friend, I have seen it in both of your faces, and I saw it again today, you need to make it happen. Stop being an ass!"

"Hey Jim, make sure you don't hold anything back there buddy," Grissom responded with a raised eyebrow and a great deal of sarcasm.

"I'm going to tell you something and if you say I told you, remember I can make your body disappear," Brass almost whispered to his old friend. "She loves you. She has told me so. But she's waiting for you to decide." There was a long, silent pause. "Don't wait too long!" Brass said as he walked out. "Call me when she's out of surgery," he added as he closed the door.

"I won't wait any longer," Grissom promised himself, "I won't!"

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Nick, Greg and Catherine came to find Grissom while Sara was in surgery. They were upbeat, having heard that Sara's surgery would be simple and quick. Within an hour, she was back in the room. The Doctor explained that the bullet was easy to get out of the bone, and handed the bullet, in a bindle, to Catherine, who had asked him to retrieve the bullet as evidence.

Grissom was told that Sara would be kept overnight for observation and that if everything went well, she would be released the next day. Grissom thanked him for his efforts, shook his hand, and then returned to Sara's bedside to wait for her to come out of the anesthesia.

Glancing back over his shoulder, he looked at Catherine and said, "Can you please check on Spencer?"

"Sure," she replied, knowing he wanted to be alone with Sara. "Boys, take this bullet back to the office with the stuff you gathered at the store and log it in. We'll call you as soon as there is any change."

Greg and Nick both followed directions, taking a last look at Sara and sending her their best wishes through Grissom. Grissom promised to call the minute Sara was coherent enough to speak to them by phone.

Suddenly the room was quiet. Grissom stood up and closed the door. He walked over to the bed and grabbed Sara's hand. Tenderly, he kissed the back of her hand, then each finger, then cupped her hand between his two larger hands.

She stirred. When she opened her eyes, she realized that Grissom was sitting beside her with his hands wrapped around hers, head on chest, sound asleep. She smiled. Her movement woke him up.

"Sara" he said. Oh how she loved when he said her name.

"You're here. That can't be good," she said. They both laughed. She had told him exactly those words when he came to counsel her after her DUI. It was one of the first times when they had begun rebuilding their friendship. The first time they began to trust again.

"Sara," he said quietly, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry," she replied, "You couldn't have known that Spencer was going to come back to the Quick Stop."

"No, dear" he replied. He paused. Then suddenly the emotions that he had been trying to conceal for years were revealed. He began to speak quietly and thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry that I have hid my feelings for you. I'm not hiding it any more."

Suddenly, the realization that he had just laid his feelings out on the table hit him. Not one to ever admit anything personal to anyone, not even his mother, Grissom was shocked with how honest he had just been. But, he thought, it felt good.

Sara looked puzzled. "Griss, it must have been the anesthesia, but could you repeat what you just said? I could have sworn you said…"

"I'm in love you with Sara. I have been for some time," he shook his head, smiling at her, "but it took almost loosing you to realize that I was an ass for not doing something about it."

Sara sat there, dumbfounded. She had wanted this for so long, yet now there he was admitting his love, and it seemed so unreal.

"I'm an old fool,' he reluctantly admitted, "But if you will have me, I want to give "us" a try."

Sara chuckled, and with a twinkle in her eye, looked at him and slowly said, "I'm not sure what to do about "this"".

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Thanks so much for all of the reviews! Keep me going, let me know what you think! And give me any ideas of things you'd like to see! Yes, I know this is a little OOC for Grissom, but I'm exploring another side of the character and I'll try to keep him as true to character as possible, outside of his relationship with Sara. Let's see where it goes! -J