Catherine left a few minutes later to meet Doc Robbins. For the first time since the day's drama had unfolded, Brass found himself alone with Sara. He sighed and looked over her pale form on the bed. She looked so young lying there, and he was surprised at how peaceful her face appeared. The pale blue hospital gown was carefully folded and tucked in at the sides to fit her. Wires ran from under the gown to a cardiac monitor at the side of the bed, with the reassuring green waves moving across the screen. The sheet was pulled up to her waist, but Brass reached and pulled it higher. Sara was never a fan of the cold. Both hands had an IV in them, and one had a pulse oximeter clipped to a finger. Still, he reached out carefully to hold her hand.
"Oh Kiddo, I wish you'd said something." He spoke softly, holding onto her hand. "I know, I know, you don't like people knowing your business. Didn't tell anyone when you and Gil first started, well, whatever it was you started. But I knew, and you knew I knew. And I thought you knew I had your back. Gil, he was my friend first, but as soon as I knew you two were together, I sat him down and told him clear as hell, if it ever came down to picking sides, I was on yours, and he had better damn well make sure it never came to that. Though I guess he didn't tell you that, and I didn't either. I really should have, told you that I had your back. I know he could be a stubborn old thing, used to living on his own. Knew he'd make a lot of mistakes, too, like not going after you when you left. But once he did follow you, I was sure that was it. He was done with the stupid mistakes." He let out a deep sigh. "But I was wrong. I probably should have stayed in touch with him, but you know... we're old men, we get stuck in our ways. Not good at keeping in touch I guess. And we were so glad to have you back, you know?" He paused, and took a breath. "I just wish you woulda known you could come to me, or come to any of us with this. You know, when you came back, he asked me to keep an eye on you. Tell him if you were doing ok. And I did. But I guess we all knew you weren't doing so great these last few months. I should have tracked him down and told him to get his ass back here. I just hope you know, we've all got your back Sara. You aren't alone in this world any more. And I know, you don't really have a blood family, but we're your family kid. You're more like a daughter to me than Ellie is at this point. And we really need you to come back to us, OK? So those papers you signed, you don't need 'em. Nick has them, but they aren't ever going to see the light of day. I hope you hear me, missy. You're coming back to us, and there is no way we're letting you go that easily." He paused to wipe a tear from his eye. "Come back to us, ok?" His voice cracked, and he sat and held her hand in silence before he finally let his eyes close and he rested. His greatest fear right now was that she wouldn't wake up.
Doc Robbins and Catherine met at a cafe near the hospital. Greg had returned to the hospital, waving as he passed them, and was went in to sit with Sara and Brass, the latter still refusing to leave. After a few pleasantries, Catherine handed her phone to the doctor, showing him copies of everything in Sara's file. He flicked through them, reading everything twice.
"I understand some words, but I'm not a medical person. What does it all mean?" She asked pleadingly. "They won't tell us much other than we need to find Gil and get him back here."
"I'm not even going to ask how you got these." He told her, looking at her over his glasses. "But the good news is none of this is indicative of foul play. I don't see anything here that is suspicious."
"OK, that's good. But not really what we were worried about."
"Honestly, what I'm seeing here doesn't look too good." He admitted. "It looks like something is wrong with Sara's heart. Possibly caused by the electrolyte imbalance. But none of these are things that would crop up suddenly. She has probably been sick for a while. Weeks I'd say, if not months." He paused. "You said that they spoke to her physician? Was she undergoing some sort of treatment?" Catherine shrugged. "Look, Catherine, I can't give you the answers you want. I'm a medical examiner. But I can tell you that her heart, her kidneys, and her liver aren't functioning properly. There may be other organs involved as well. She's anaemic, and her body might be fighting some type of infection as well. Her hormones are off. It's impossible to know from these notes what started this cascade of events, but none of it is good."
"Shit." Was all Catherine could manage to say. She looked up at her friend, pleading. "Can you maybe talk to her doctors? See if they'll tell you what's going on. Or how we can appoint someone to make her medical decisions."
"I'll see what I can do. But given we can be quite certain there's no evidence of any crime, they will be unlikely to listen to a medical examiner"
"I know" She admitted, defeated. "But we can at least try. If nothing else, come see her. And maybe you can convince Brass to go home and get some sleep." Al snorted in response.