A/N: At last, I've managed a new chapter :) This story gets harder and harder. Maybe because Evil hat knows he's almost through, lol.

Thanks for all the great reviews and sticking with my story. And thank you to SSC for the beta. Always appreciated.

So, let's go take a look how our hero is getting on. Are there wedding bells in the future?

Chapter 115

The atmosphere in the room was tense as Sara carefully tilted the bottle towards Grissom's lips, allowing a slow trickle of the liquid to fall into his mouth. She waited nervously to see if he would be able to keep the offering down or not and the entire room fell silent.

Everyone watched on, every breath in the room held as Grissom closed his eyes and attempted to swallow the concoction…

Sara's eyes remained fixed to his face and he contorted a grimace but he managed to swallow even if he coughed harshly for a moment afterwards. The rancher again clenched his eyes tightly closed, rocking his hips upwards on a gasp.

Still hovering over her man, Sara placed her free but bruised hand against his cheek, waiting for his eyes to open. They did, slowly, and she gave him a gentle, smile. "Do you think you can you try a little more?" she asked.

A bead of sweat trickled from his pale forehead and Sara gently wiped it away with her finger. "Yes…" he managed to whisper. Sara didn't waste any time for she knew his mood could very well change at any point and she was swift to place the bottle against his lips again. Grissom took another mouthful, a bigger one this time and he swallowed it quickly.

"Well done," Sara muttered, placing the bottle on the bedside table.

"More…" he mumbled, "…need more…hurts…"

Sara instantly looked to her father for guidance, remembering his warning. The captain's jaw worked form left to right as his daughter appealed to him for the right move. He looked down at the future son in law in his grasp and noticed how glazed Grissom's eyes had now become. "Just give it a little time to seep in…" he advised.

Laura tried another tug on the dressing while Grissom seemed distracted. It was obvious that the medication had not yet given him much relief and he cried out, pain again ripping through his body.

"I'm giving him some more," Sara quickly said to her father. "He needs it…"

The captain's chest fell on a sigh. He shook his head. "Not a good idea…" His words strained off and he released Grissom's head as he began to fight again. "Damn it…" he grumbled. "Gil…calm down…"

Even though the alcoholic mixture was slowly filtering into Grissom's system, he was still working on instinct. His body reacted with every touch and he threw his right arm out, catching the captain square in the jaw as the older man leaned over him in an attempt to keep him pinned to the sheets.

Stumbling backwards, the captain groaned as Grissom struck him with a good one. "Damn it, boy! " he grumbled, holding a hand to his chin.

Sara was tempted to back away, Grissom's actions actually frightened her. She stood strong however, right by his side and grabbed his arm, pulling it towards her, much to the surprise of her father.

Quickly, Laura picked up the morphine bottle. She would apply the medicine through the dressing, no other choice really worked for her at that point. She just hoped it would work and popped the cork.

"Stop it, Gilbert Grissom!" Sara warned, keeping a firm grip on his arm. His head snapped around, his eyes capturing hers. "Now you listen to me. I'm not going to lose you, do you understand? But if you keep fighting like this, you're making it impossible for us to help..."

He coughed again but seemed to be paying attention. "Now, I listened to you while I was sick so you better damn well do the same."

His eye lids began to flicker, open…closed, open…closed, so Sara hoped the medication had begun to work into his system. She released his arm and placed her hand flat against his perspiring cheek. "I know it's really painful," she said, softly stroking his beard with her thumb. "But we are trying to give you treatment to take that pain away. If you keep lashing out, we can't do that and you're going to make your wound and your pain even worse than it already is. Do you understand me, Gil?"

Biting down on his lip he managed a swift nod. His head lolled to the right and it was evident he was becoming drowsy.

"Mother's going to put some ointment on your wound," Sara continued and his attention was brought back to her. She slipped her hand into his. "It's going to sting but you probably have an infection. We need to do this, okay? It will hurt but not for long, then it will numb the pain…"

Sara found it best to be truthful with him. Even though he didn't have much option about what they were going do, she had made a promise to herself she would never keep secrets from him again.

Grissom gave another tiny nod, his eyes closing now. The man looked exhausted. Not only through pain and fever but through his valiant battle to fight off those who he hadn't realized were actually trying to help.

Looking to her mother, Sara nodded and the captain and Gregory took a step back as Grissom's fighting totally ceased.

The captain smiled at his daughter with pride. She'd handled that very well.

Laura edged close to the bed, hovering right over Grissom's midsection and his wound. She took a breath and held the bottle barely an inch above him. "Here goes," she mumbled.

A slow dribble of the morphine trickled over the dressing. After a few seconds, Grissom's hips rose and a hiss blew from his lips, his hold on Sara's hand tightening. She flattened her free hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she soothed. "It's okay…you're doing well…"

"Gah…" Grissom's eyes scrunched tightly together again as the liquid seeped through the material and scorched his tender flesh. "It burns…" he muttered.

Sara nodded but remained in full support. "I know, not much longer and you'll be sleeping. I promise…"

His chest rose and fell in fast spurts as Laura splashed a little more of the ointment onto the dressing. "Almost there, Gil," she replied.

Watching him closely, Sara softly rubbed her thumb over his, noting as his erratic breathing lessened and his grip upon her hand loosened.

Laura stepped back, swiping her hand across her forehead to wipe away the perspiration. "I think it's working," she whispered.

Leaning right into her fiancé, Sara placed her lips by his ear. "Gil?" she asked quietly. No reply came. "Gil?" she tried again. She looked up to her father and the captain drew in close, placing his fingers against Grissom's neck to check his pulse.

"It's strumming pretty fast," he said. "So he's alright."

"He's sleeping," Sara mumbled, stepping back. "Thank, God." She placed her hand on his forehead. "He's so very hot though. I'd say he's hotter than he's ever been."

Laura rounded the foot of the bed, placing the morphine onto the mantle above the fireplace. "I'm not surprised," she replied. "Infection…alcohol and opium…morphine…His body has no idea what's going on right now."

"What do we do?" Sara pleaded.

Moving to her daughter, Laura gave her a weak smile. "I'll get some fresh water. We need to keep him cool. And then we have to wait for David. He may have torn his wound, I don't know…" She pointed to the sheets under Grissom. "There is a little blood mixed with the liquid. I don't know if it's old or new."

Sara nodded and sombrely reached to pick up the bed sheet which had been thrown to the floor. She didn't know what else to do.

"I'll be back shortly," Laura said before disappearing through the door.

Gregory sighed and moved to the window, he too wasn't sure how to help. He frowned though when tiny white speckles floated through the darkness. Leaning closer to the window, he looked up. The sky was white. "It's snowing."

Both the captain and Sara looked to him.

"What?" Sara asked.

He turned to them, pointing behind him. A small smile graced his lips. "It's snowing…"

*** - "So resistless was the force of the ocean bearing him on, that even to draw his breath or turn his head was as impracticable as if he had been struggling in the surf at the South Sea."

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Sara replenished the cloth upon her finance's head for the third time. Laura sat in a chair by the middle of the bed. She held a towel over Grissom's wound and applied gentle pressure to it. She suspected he had indeed aggravated his injury and torn some of his stiches. More blood had followed through the wet dressing so she felt this was the best procedure until David got there.

Finally, David arrived and Sara looked over her shoulder as he hurriedly entered the bedroom, accompanied by her father.

"Hey…" he said, immediately approaching the bed, placing his bag on the floor. His cheeks were crimson and his teeth chattered as he pulled his scarf from around his neck.

Both Sara and Laura stood and Sara noted large clumps of snow clinging to the shoulders of his coat. The weather had indeed changed and winter was well and truly here.

"Thank you for coming, David," Laura said. "I realize it's not the best of conditions to be travelling in right now."

He smiled, rubbing his hands together. "It's fine," he said approaching the bed. "I was awake anyway and Nicolas said it was urgent." Hovering over Grissom he noticed the towel over his abdomen. He quickly felt the rancher's forehead and noticeably bit down on his lip. "Oh dear, he's even hotter…" he drifted off feeling Grissom's throat and then lifted his eye lids one by one. "Did you give him some of the mixture?" he asked, turning to Sara.

Sara nodded. "He woke up. He was in agony. Mother suspects an infection. I didn't know what else to do."

Rounding the bed, David nodded. "That's why I gave it to you." He pulled back the towel and inspected the dressing. "How much did you give him?"

"Ummm…" Sara ran a hand over the back of her neck and cringed. Her hand felt sore but she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it at that point. "He took two glugs, the second bigger than the first though."

He looked to her. "Did it take him long to pass out?"

"No." Sara shook her head. "A few minutes I think." She pointed to the wound. "Mother put some morphine on the dressing so I think that helped with the pain too."

The captain wrapped his arm around his daughter, urging Laura to join them and she slipped her arm through his free one. They all watched on as David bent over Grissom's midsection, his eyes moving over the dressing.

"How long has he been out?" The Doctor ran his fingertips over the dressing and then brought them to his eyes, noting blood on his skin.

"Just over an hour I'd say," Laura answered this time.

David pulled off his dress jacket and rolled up his sleeves. "Can someone pass me my bag please?" he asked, popping open the top two buttons of his shirt.

Quickly, the captain moved, grabbing David's bag. He scuttled around the bed to hand it to him.

"His wound is open," David said, placing the bag on the bed and rummaging through it. "I don't know how bad it is until I can get the dressing off but hopefully…" He looked up to Sara and Laura, "…the medicine will keep him out of it for at least six hours. So I should be able to apply more stitches without him reacting."

Sara swallowed. "And what if he wakes up?"

The doctor began taking equipment out of his bag. "Then we will have to deal with it if it happens…"

"Is there anything we can do?" the captain asked.

David looked around. "I could use a table, some fresh hot and cold water, a bar of soap, some more light if possible. And…it will be messy, the sheets will need changing afterwards…"

"Come on, Sara…" Laura urged, guiding her daughter towards the door. "Let's sort what David needs. I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay in here while he is treating Gil."

Sara pulled back and looked to the bed. She really didn't want to leave him.

"Please, Sara…" Laura begged. "This isn't for your eyes. It will just upset you. If David needs you I'm certain he will call for you."

Sara looked to her father and he gave her a smile and a nod. "Your mother is right. If you're needed, I will come for you. I promise."

Her shoulder's dropped on a soft sigh. "Okay…" she whispered.

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The items David needed were brought to the bedroom. The captain remained in the room and called upon Nicolas just in case Grissom woke and assistance would be needed.

Firstly, David washed his hands using the fresh hot water and soap. He scrubbed them for three minutes before he was satisfied then moved to his patient.

The two men stood watching as David did his best to remove the dressing from Grissom's flesh without doing too much damage.

The room wasn't as hot as most of the house, they had deliberately not stoked the fire due to Grissom's temperature but perspiration poured down David's face. He grabbed a handkerchief and wiped away the sweat before making the final tug on the dressing and it came free from Grissom's body.

A slight moan eased from Grissom's lips and David froze, his eyes shooting to his patient. The ranchers head lolled to the left but he remained unconscious.

Blowing a breath of relief, David was swift to grab a fresh piece of gauze and placed it quickly over the wound for it indeed was bleeding. He carefully lifted the dressing to get a good look at the damage.

Grissom's wound was just over an inch in diameter. The hole was bigger than the bullet had made it due to David having to slice him in order to pull the bullet out. A hefty clot of blood had formed around the reddened area and would no doubt blacken given a little time. Bruising would be a definite. And there was some discoloration around the tip of the wound with a little pus rising through.

"Luckily…" David began, reaching for his needle and thread, "…he hasn't pulled all the stitching, just a little, so the bleeding isn't too bad. And, I think he's been fortunate not to rupture anything internally otherwise the bleeding would be much worse and so would his appearance." He looked to the captain. "Can you help me?"

The captain nodded and approached the doctor. "What can I do?"

"Hold this…" David replied, nodding to the dressing. "Keep it firm but don't press too hard."

"Okay…" The captain did as asked, reaching down to hold the dressing in place.

David began threading his needle and continued talking as he did. "But, looking at the discoloration of his flesh and the little bit of pus I can see, I know he has an infection. I expected it though. Most injuries like this are so susceptible to infection. It's almost certain."

Nicolas drew closer. "Can we do anything about that?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed as passed the thread through the eye of the needle. "Be as sanitary as possible. Make sure any bed pans are removed immediately. Clean the wound as often as possible and change his dressing on a regular basis but make sure you use unsoiled, clean dressings. And, you must make sure your hands are clean when you do it. Limit access to the room. The fewer people that come in here the better and under no circumstances should anyone who is sick be anywhere near him."

The captain listened to everything David was saying. "I'm sure we can do that," he said.

"Good." David pulled a bottle of disinfectant from his bag and dipped the needle into it. "I'll make sure I leave you what you need for the next twenty four hours and I'll get some other supplies sent down later. It's actually better to leave the wound open because of the infection but I'm afraid of the blood loss. He's already lost more than any grown man should. I will come back this evening and see if I can take the stiches away."

"Thank you," the captain replied gratefully.

The doctor nodded and pointed back to the wound. "You can remove the dressing now, I'm ready to go."

Doing as asked the captain stood back. "Do you have a plan in case he wakes up?"

David shook his head, placing his left hand above the wound, steadying himself. "No. Let's just hope he doesn't, otherwise this could get really unpleasant."

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In the living room, Sara sat curled in a chair by the window; her knees tucked up to her chest. She watched as the snow continued to fall. The entire estate was now a giant blanket of white. Usually the snow would make her smile but she just couldn't quite find that happiness the winter's weather usually brought.

It had been nearly an hour since David had arrived and she craved news of her beloved. She never would have imagined, those few short months ago when they met that such love could blossom into such heartache.

"Hey, sweetheart…" Laura came up behind her and placed a soft hand upon her daughter's shoulder.

Sara looked up and noticed her mother was holding out a steaming mug.

"Take it," Laura urged. "It will make you feel a little better."

Swinging her legs straight, Sara took the mug and stared at it. "What is it?" she asked.

Laura smiled and sat in the chair opposite her daughter. "Just a little something your grandmother used to make when a little heart-warming was required. Try it."

Sara's eyes narrowed but she raised the mug to her lips, blew on the steaming liquid and took a tiny sip.

"Hmmm…" she mewed. "That's actually quite nice. Sweet but…strong. What's in it?" She took another sip.

"A little cocoa, honey, milk and a touch of brandy."

Sara half smiled and took another mouthful, a bigger one this time. "I like it."

"Good." Laura looked through the window. "David may have issues getting back to town if this snow continues the way it is," she commented.

Now Sara's smile faded. "Do you think he's going to be much longer?"

Just as she asked the question her father appeared in the doorway. Her eye's widened and she quickly handed the mug back to her mother before pushing herself to her feet.

"Is he alright?" she asked, rushing towards her father.

The captain entered the room. He reached for his daughter and took her hands. "He's alright," he replied. "Still sleeping and his wound has been re-stitched. He didn't wake at all while David was tending to him."

Sara took a deep breath. "Thank God…"

Laura approached. "He's doing alright?" she asked.

The captain nodded releasing his daughter's hands. "As well as can be expected considering the circumstances. David wants to stay with him for a little while because he's very concerned about his temperature."

Sara tightened the belt on her robe feeling a sudden chill down her spine. "He has an infection?" she asked.

"Yes. David is leaving us supplies to treat it best we can, we need to minimize who goes into his room and sanitary is of the upmost importance to prevent it getting worse."

Wrapping her arm around her daughter's waist, Laura pulled Sara close to her. "We'll look after him. He just needs to make it through this worse part…" She leaned in and kissed Sara's forehead. "He'll keep fighting, I know he will."

*** - Into his handsome face, the bitter waters of captivity had worn; but, he covered up their tracks with a determination so strong, that he held the mastery of them even in his sleep. A more remarkable face in its quiet, resolute, and guarded struggle with an unseen assailant, was not to be beheld in all the wide dominions of sleep, that night.

*** - Extracts taken from A Tale of Two cities by Charles Dickens.

A/N: Infection isn't good. Poor Griss :( Hope he gets better….