Grissom spent the entire night at Sara's side. Catherine had stayed for several hours, before heading home to sleep. She promised to return in the morning before anyone else was likely to arrive.

He stared at Sara for hours, taking in every detail. She had lost a lot of weight since he had seen her last, and she still looked extremely pale. He couldn't imagine what she must have looked like when she came in if this was a significant improvement. He held her hand, kissed her forehead and rested his hand on her cheek. And he talked more than he could ever remember talking before.

"Sara, honey, I'm so sorry. I know... I know that this is all my fault. If I'd been here or if I had... I don't know. If I was younger, or we had tried sooner..." He paused, his voice breaking. "I'm just so sorry, honey." Squeezing her hand, and stroking her face, he wished that he had the words to convey what he was thinking and feeling. He wished there was a way to explain everything to her. Most of all, he just wanted her to wake up so he could look in her eyes and see if she could forgive him. "I'm here now, though, and I won't leave unless you ask me to. Nothing is more important than you, and I wish I had seen that sooner. Hadn't been so stubborn and caught up in my work... I thought I was doing something good and making a difference but none of that should have mattered. I should have come home sooner."

He watched her face intently, hoping for some kind of sign that she was aware he was there, but got no acknowledgement. Her face was peaceful, reminding him of all the times he had woken up to find her lying next to him, asleep, with her face not marred by the stress of their work. She was beautiful then, and she was still beautiful now. While she was no longer the adorable young student that she was when they met, he found that he was even more attracted to her now. Somehow, in the past 9 months since he had last seen her, he had forgotten just how much he loved her - and how much he needed her. So he told her now, everything he was thinking, and how much he still loved her.

Grissom found himself startled awake by a nurse just as the sun was starting to come up.

"It's so good to see you made it, Mr. Grissom." She greeted him. "I'm just checking your wife's vitals. How was her night? Is there anything to note in her chart?"

"She smiled, last night." He told the nurse. "I think Catherine and Brass said that was new. It was just for a moment. She hasn't stirred since then though, I'm afraid. Is that expected?"

"That's great! It's a good sign. And yes, she seems to only have moments of awareness and then she sleeps again, but it sounds like the intervals between movement are getting shorter. Now that you're here, keep talking to her and interacting with her. It often motivates patients to fight their way back faster when loved ones are with them." She checked over Sara's chart. "And everything here looks good. I'll be back in a few hours to check on her again, but just hit the buzzer if you need anything or if anything changes with her." Grissom nodded as she left the room. He stretched to try and ease the stiffness that had settled in from his awkward sleeping position, and stood up to walk around the room for a few minutes before settling back on the cot.

"Good morning, dear. It would seem I fell asleep. You know, I always do sleep better next to you. Although I would prefer it be in our own bed instead of here." He paused, squeezing her hand. "I'm sure your friends will be by soon. I know they want to see you and Catherine has kept them away so we could have time together. And I suppose they're all going to want to have words with me... Well deserved, I know. But I'm not sure this is the best place for that to happen." He mused. "But I don't really want to leave you. Actually, I know I'm not going to leave you, so I guess it's time to face them and hope they don't eat me alive." As if on cue, his phone buzzed.

Brass is awake and coming in about an hour. Do you want to stay? - Catherine

I'm not leaving. Time to face the music.

What do you want for breakfast? I'll swing by the diner and join you before everyone else gets there.

Coffee, and whatever the breakfast special is.

See you soon

He looked back up at Sara.

"Catherine is going to pick up breakfast and join us, and Brass will be by in about an hour. I'm not sure who else will be here after that, but I'm staying." Grissom told her. To his surprise, her fingers began to move slowly, and she made the sign for OK. "Sara, honey! I love you. Sara, can you hear me?" He asked, excited. Her head nodded ever so slightly. "I'm here, Sara. I'm here, and I'm not leaving. I'm so sorry, Sara. I'm so sorry." A few stray tears leaked from his eyes. "I love you." He told her, and she signed 'I love you' back to him. He stared at her, frozen in place for a moment as an overwhelming feeling of calm came over him, and he watched her hands as she tried to bring it to her chest, but couldn't. Instead, she carefully and slowly spelled out 'I'm sorry' to him.

"Oh honey, you have nothing to be sorry for. Don't apologise. This is all my fault." but she carefully signed 'no' to him. "We don't need to worry about that now. Are you in any pain?" her hand paused, as if hesitating. "Nevermind, of course you're in pain. You've had surgery. I'll call a nurse." He told her, reaching to press the buzzer. "I'm right here, Sara. I'm not going anywhere." He watched her hands, as she slowly finger spelled 'what happened' to him. At that, he paused, not knowing what to say. "You had an infection that needed to be treated. An abscess. But the doctors were able to remove it, and you're going to be fine now." He told her. "You're getting stronger, and the infection is gone. And as soon as they will let you leave, I'll take you home." A nurse entered as he was speaking, and he turned to tell her "She's awake, she's signing. But I think she's in pain."

"Hello Sara, that's great to hear. Can you tell me how you're feeling?" The nurse asked cheerfully, watching as Sara wobbled her hand back and forth. "Well that's to be expected. You've been sick for a while from the sounds of it but you're on the mend now. On a scale of one to ten, can you tell me how bad the pain is?" she asked, watching as Sara held up all five fingers.

"She always understates her pain." Grissom interjected. "A five for her is like an eight."

"The good news is we can get you some pain meds then." the nurse told Sara, noticing that her hand immediately moved to sign 'no' several times. "OK, we can hold off for a bit. Let's see how much movement you've got back. Could you move your toes for me?" She asked, lifting the blanket to reveal Sara's bare feet wiggling, with pink sparkles catching her eye. "That's great, and can you lift your feet for me?" She watched, as Sara tried to lift her feet but was unable to raise them more than an inch. "Good job. Now I can see your hands are working pretty well, but what about your arms?" Sara was able to raise both arms slightly and move them back and forth before dropping them down, exhausted. "OK, now what about your head? Can you move your head? Open your eyes? Move your mouth?" She asked, and Grissom beamed as Sara managed to nod and shake her head slightly, and open her mouth a bit. He was thrilled when she tried to speak but only a quiet croak came out. Her eyes, however, stubbornly remained shut. "That's great, Sara!" The nurse told her encouragingly. "I'm going to let your doctor know about your progress, and I'll be back in a few minutes with your pain meds."

"You did so well" Grissom told Sara, squeezing her hand in his and kissing her forehead. "You'll be out of here in no time."

"Hey there, Sunshine" Brass said, entering the room. "Look who's waking up!"

"She's been awake for a bit. She's signing." Grissom explained excitedly. "The nurse has just gone to get her some pain meds, but Sara was able to move her head, her hands and her feet."

"Looks like she's managed something else, too." Brass said, gesturing. "It's been too long since I've seen those beautiful brown eyes." He told her. Grissom quickly looked up and was rewarded to see that Sara had managed to open her eyes.

"Hi." Her voice was raspy and hoarse, but to both Grissom and Brass it was the sweetest sound they had ever heard. Sara closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep.

Was that the moment you've all been waiting for?