Brass woke up earlier than Catherine had expected. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, taking a moment to stare at her.
"He's back, isn't he?" he asked her.
"How do you do that?" She asked, irritated. "I didn't say anything. Hell, you only looked at me for a minute. What are you, a psychic?"
"I'm a detective." He answered bluntly. "I detect that you're anxious. If it was about Sara then you would have woken me up. Obviously Grissom is back and you're trying to figure out what to do next."
"Fine, you're right. He's back and I'm waiting for him to message me. He's set up at a hotel and I gave him 12 hours to eat, shower and sleep before I go drag his butt out of the room and bring him here."
"Do you want me to go get him?" Brass asked.
"No. What I need you to do is to go home, or go to work, when he comes in. He needs to speak to her doctor and see her without all of us hovering." Catherine explained sternly. "There will be plenty of time to kick his ass later. But we need to not scare him off before he even makes it through the hospital doors." Brass huffed.
"OK. No ass kicking tonight. But I'm staying until he's on his way here."
"Yeah that's fine. I'm not going to kick you out yet."
"Good. Have you told everyone else yet?"
"No. I figured I'd tell them when they wake up. Suggest everyone go into work instead of hanging out here. I'm sure DB could use the extra hands at work tonight."
"Well you might want to do that soon. I'll be surprised if someone isn't on their way here soon." Catherine nodded, and left the room as she pulled out her phone to call DB.
"Just you and me now, kiddo" Brass said to Sara, reaching for her hand. "Grissom is coming in to see you tonight." and he was startled when he felt her hand grasp his tightly. "Hey there, it's ok. You're ok." but her grasp didn't lessen and her heart rate increased. He could see her other hand moving, bringing her index and middle fingers to touch her thumb slowly, over and over. Quickly he pushed the call button and a nurse came in seconds later. Sara was still squeezing his hand while her other continued to make the same motion.
"What did you say to her?" The nurse asked.
"I told her that her husband is coming later tonight." Brass told her, concerned. "Why, what's she doing?"
"Does she know ASL?"
"I think so, some. Her mother in law is deaf."
"She's signing 'no' repeatedly." The nurse explained. "Sara, can you hear me?" The hand signing no changed to a loose fist, moving forward and back slightly. "Good, that's good Sara. We need to get your heart rate down. Do you want me to call your husband for you?" Her signing returned to a "no" movement. "OK, that's ok. We won't call him then. If you don't want him to visit that's ok. Now you've got a friend with you holding your hand. Do you want him to stay?" The "no" movement changed back to a "yes" and Brass let out a breath he had been holding.
"Sara, I'm right here. I've got you, ok? You're alright. I'll stay as long as you want me to." He told her, patting the hand gripping his. "I'm really glad you're coming back to us, we've been worried about you. Greg keeps bringing you coffee and movies. Nick doesn't want to leave your side. And Catherine, she flew in to see you too. We're all here for you." His voice wavered as her grip eased slightly. "Keep fighting, ok? We need you."
"I'm going to go get the doctor." The nurse told Sara and Brass. "Keep talking to her. Sara, you stay with us, ok?"
"That's a cool trick, signing to us." Brass told her. "But is there any chance you could open your eyes, sweetie? It's just me here now, no one else." Sara's head moved slightly to the side and her face puckered, but her eyes remained closed. A few seconds later, the grip on his hand relaxed at the same time as her face, and he knew she had fallen back asleep.
Outside, Catherine was on the phone with DB as she paced around the hospital courtyard. Explaining that Grissom was back and she wanted him to have uninterrupted time with Sara, she asked if he could call everyone in to work. He readily agreed, hoping to get on top of the cases that were piling up. Next, she texted Greg and Nick, letting them know that Grissom had returned and would be seeing Sara tonight. She promised to let them know how things went but would not disclose where he was staying, and she fully intended to stand guard at the door if necessary. She hoped they and DB would pass the message on to their other coworkers.
Knowing Brass was with Sara, Catherine took the opportunity to go for a walk to get a decent coffee and find dinner for herself and Brass. She checked her phone again for messages as she walked, but found none. It seemed that Greg and Nick were still asleep, and Grissom wasn't ready to contact her yet. He had 4 hours left.
Once she was on her way back to the hospital with coffee and dinner, her phone pinged. Hopeful, she grabbed it and was surprised to see the message was from Brass.
Sara woke up enough to sign that she doesn't want Grissom to visit.
Catherine stared at the phone, confused, and then increased her speed back to the room.
"What do you mean she signed that she doesn't want Grissom to visit?" Catherine asked. "Do you know sign language?"
"No, but the nurse does. I told her he was coming to see her tonight and she grabbed my hand and started signing 'no' over and over until the nurse translated. She said she could hear us, and she wanted me to stay." He explained.
"Well then what do we do now?" Catherine asked as she dropped into the chair. "I dragged him all the way back here for nothing?"
"I don't think it was for nothing, Cath. Have him come in. He can speak to the doctor. And maybe she'll change her mind." Brass suggested. "But for now, I'm not leaving her side. She wants me to stay. We can try again next time she wakes up. Now pass me that coffee, and whatever's in that bag."