AWKWARD
CHAPTER FIVE
After some negotiation with Sara's doctor and surgeon, she was allowed to spend one more night and morning at the hospital. The doctor sealed up her popped stitches with surgical glue, while commenting, "You don't have much give, with your skin. It's stretched tight, so it's actually a disadvantage to be slender like you in this case." Sara nodded thoughtfully.
The nursing staff acted like they were doing her a big favor, and largely ignored her. Fortunately there was a night nurse who was kind. She made sure Sara's morphine dose was given on schedule and that she had everything she needed. Grissom had returned briefly with Sara's stuff, and he helped to get her into her most comfortable soft cotton shorts and a sweatshirt. Sara couldn't seem to get warm with just a thin hospital gown and sheet and light blanket.
Grissom awkwardly held out each article of clothing–including a pair of warm socks–with his eyes averted as she changed. Once dressed, she removed her bra with her shirt on and dragged it out through a sleeve, Grissom watching with fascination. Sara thought him as cute as a bug but didn't comment. Soon he had to leave for work. He gave her hand a squeeze and mumbled something like 'Get well soon, Sara,' then hurried out with her gap-toothed smile and bright brown eyes in his mind.
He was uncharacteristically distracted all night, thinking about Sara alone in the hospital. Sara spent much of her time thinking about him too. It was too noisy to sleep. Patients yelling and calling for the nurses, footsteps and conversations, and when she did finally drop off she was awakened with a glaring light for a wound check, and then again to have her blood pressure and temperature taken.
The night was endless and very uncomfortable. Sara still hadn't eaten a bite of food since the morning before her surgery, and though she had an IV of fluids and nutrients it wasn't the same. So she daydreamed about what her first meal at home would be.
At 6 AM, an orderly arrived and asked if she wanted breakfast. He handed her a menu when she eagerly agreed.
"Scrambled eggs, hash browns, and toast, please. Apple juice. Coffee."
He marked it down and left. Sara tried to read a magazine or watch TV but felt too irritable and unable to concentrate. The nice nurse had left and her pain meds had worn off.
At last he food cart arrived. At least it was a distraction. But the coffee was tepid and bitter, the eggs runny, the potatoes greasy, and the toast dry. Only the apple juice was acceptable. She had just pushed it away, disgusted, when Greg arrived. Sara's face lit up.
"Hi Sara!" He grinned at her.
"Greg!"
"How you feeling, Pooh Bear?" He thrust a stuffed teddy bear at her and tied a balloon to the bed.
"Better, to see you."
"Good. Anyone else been in?"
"Grissom dropped me off. And he was here for a while when I got out of surgery."
"Hmm," Greg said, an eyebrow raised suggestively.
"What."
"That seems kind of...nice. For Grissom."
"It was nice. Stop it."
"What?" he said with exaggerated innocence.
"Stop making it sound like more." Sara examined the fuzzy brown bear. It had a big bandaid on its belly. She chuckled, and then winced in pain. It hurt to laugh. "Hey, Greg?"
"Yes, Sara?"
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything for you, my queen," he said with a flourish, making her laugh again.
"Can you find a nurse? I need a dose of pain medicine."
"Consider it done." He vanished and then quickly reappeared, joking and flirting with the nurse, who was old enough to be his mother. Greg got the two women smiling. He kept Sara company all morning, going with no sleep without complaint.
Grissom could hear them joking from the hallway and smiled. Sara glanced up when he came in the room and her face brightened. She looked kind of small and young and vulnerable in that bed, with an IV still in her arm, and he felt an overwhelming urge to give her a little reassuring kiss. Yeah. In front of Greg, too. Dream on, big guy. Instead he greeted Greg, looked over at the Get Well Soon balloon and the teddy bear and wished he'd brought something too. Flowers, maybe. But she's on her way home, he reminded himself.
"How are you feeling, Sara?"
"Better than yesterday. A lot, thanks. Ready to go home, in fact."
"Good. Good." He shuffled his feet. Greg was in the only chair.
The two men helped Sara get through the discharge procedure and wheeled her out to Grissom's SUV. Greg pushed the balloon in the back seat where it bounced on the ceiling. He gave her a careful hug and a big smacking kiss on the cheek and drove away, leaving Sara grinning. Grissom wished for the umpteenth time that he could be so casually affectionate with her.
They drove through heavy morning traffic to the drugstore to fill Sara's prescriptions. It was hot. Sara was regretting that gross hospital breakfast more and more as the car lurched forward and stopped. When he pulled into the parking lot she jumped out and was sick in the bushes. Grissom hurried around to her and put a warm hand on her back.
"Don't," she muttered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She kicked dirt over the puke, wincing at the pain.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Don't...ugh. This is embarrassing."
"No, don't be embarrassed. It's normal to be nauseous after anesthesia." He helped her back into the passenger seat. Sara laid her head back and closed her eyes. Grissom reappeared in the driver's seat with a bagful of items. He gave her a bottle of water, and she rinsed her mouth out and drank some. He gave her some antacids and breath mints and a timid smile.
Sara squeezed his hand and he held on to it.
"We seem to be doing this a lot lately."
"What?"
"Holding hands."
"Yeah." He looked at their hands. "Is that...a bad thing?"
"No. No, Gris, it's a very good thing."
Grissom pursed his lips at her and released her hand to drive.
TBC
A/N: Thanks for reading. I love your reviews. If you have a moment, please read the new chapters on my On Broken Wings story too? My collaboration with rage edit. I know it's been forever since we started it, but I'm trying...and rage edit and I are collaborating on another story, called Accidents Happen. That one is under his name. We both would really like to get some reviews, to know if we should continue. He wrote Chapters 1 and 3 and I wrote the second one. Chapter 4 (mine again) should be done soon. Thanks. You guys are great.