When Sara woke up, she found herself disoriented. It took a few moments to register where she was, and what had happened as she tried to pull herself up into a sitting position, swearing under her breath when she felt her stitches pull. Opening her eyes, she looked around and confirmed that she was indeed alone, and she heaved a sigh of relief. There was no need to pretend or put on a mask. So she shifted her weight, stretched, and allowed herself to swear a few more times, and a brief smile flickered across her face. She was moving around on her own and she was awake. And when she was ready, she could call for a nurse to let them know that she was ready for physical therapy to get her butt out of this bed.

She allowed herself several minutes to enjoy the solitude, but she was anxious to get home and to do that, she needed to leave the bed. So she pressed her call button, and then ate the cup of watermelon that Grissom had brought and picked at one of the pastries.

The nurse appeared quite quickly, holding a small paper bag and a cup, and grinned when she saw Sara sitting up and eating.

"One of your friends dropped this off for you earlier. He wasn't too happy when I told him he couldn't see you, but he asked me to tell you to rest up and eat lots." The nurse told her, setting down the smoothie cup and a paper bag that held 3 different muffins. "We popped the smoothie in the fridge so it didn't melt too much." Sara took the offered food and drinks, setting them on the tray in front of her.

"I'm ready to get out of this bed. When can I see the physical therapist?"

"I'll let them know. They stopped by a bit earlier to see if you would be ready today. I think they said they'd be back in an hour or two." The nurse told her, and Sara's face fell.

"Oh. OK." she said quietly.

"I know you're anxious to get up and moving, but it won't be too long. Is there anything I can get you now? Or would you like me to call your friends? I know they would like to see you."

"No, not right now. But do you know if my phone is here somewhere?" The nurse came around the bed and retrieved it from a drawer just out of Sara's reach and handed it to her.

"It's been off the whole time so I don't know if it needs to be charged." She said. "I can plug it in if you'd like." Sara pressed a button, and the screen came to life.

"Looks like it's got some battery left. I think I'm ok for now."

"Just press the button if you need anything. And lunch should be arriving soon."

"Oh yay." Sara said sarcastically. "What are they going to ruin today?" The nurse laughed.

"You have popsicles and ice cream in the freezer if you need them."

"OK. Thanks." Sara told her, looking down at her phone as it finished waking up, and held it up to show the nurse. "Maybe I'll order a pizza." The nurse flashed her a smile and left the room, leaving Sara to stare at the phone in her hands. She was sure that Grissom and Catherine would be waiting to hear from her, and likely her coworkers as well. But she wasn't certain she actually wanted anyone to come see her right now. However, she didn't want them to spend all their time waiting, hoping she would allow them to show up, so she decided that texting them would be the right thing to do. Grissom was first and Catherine second.

I'm awake but will be busy with physical therapy today. You don't need to wait to come visit me, go catch up with your friends.

Go do something fun today, I'm all good here.

She hoped that would be sufficient. Then as she took a sip of the smoothie, she sent a quick message to Greg.

Thanks for saving me from a hospital lunch. I'll see you tomorrow?

Satisfied, she sat back against the pillow and continued to drink and pick at her muffin. Perhaps she could defer seeing anyone until tomorrow, not just Greg. Physical therapy might be tiring and a nap afterwards sounded like a good idea. Although, she thought as she sniffed herself, a shower would be great, too. She certainly didn't feel as if it had been a week or more since she showered last, but someone had obviously bathed her while she was unconscious. Despite the uncomfortable feeling that washed over her at the thought, she quickly tried to put it out of her mind and focus on the next steps to recovery.

Only a few minutes had passed when the nurse returned.

"I spoke to your doctor and he suggested we get some of your scans out of the way. They'd like to check to make sure you're healing properly and they like to do a brain scan after a patient wakes up. Are you happy to go now? Or would you prefer to wait until after lunch?"

"Let's go." Sara said, sitting up prepared to get out of bed.

"Not so fast. We'll wheel you down in your bed. Have a quick drink and I'll find an orderly to take you down."

Sara returned to her room after the scans feeling frustrated. They hadn't even allowed her to sit up or assist in transferring from her bed to the CT or MRI scanners. The nurse teased that if she rolled her eyes any harder, she could scan her own brain, and despite Sara's frustration she couldn't help but smile. Lunch was sitting on her tray, but she didn't even bother uncovering it to look, and instead reached for another muffin from Greg, and had an apple and a banana. Picking up her phone, she was mentally debating if there was anyone else she needed to text, but instead found she had several to read.

You're not getting rid of me that easily. I'll be by this afternoon to at least drop off some food. - Catherine

I'll bring you anything you want if I can visit tonight? Pretty please? - Greg

I went home and got you some of your own clothes. I thought you might be more comfortable in them. Would you like me to bring them and pick up some lunch? - Grissom.

Before she could formulate a reply, though, a knock at the door startled her. She looked up, concerned that her friends had come to visit without warning but was relieved to see two women in scrubs.

"Hi Sara! Are you ready to try getting out of that bed?" The first one asked. "I'm Anne, and I'm going to be your primary therapist. This is Lynne, she's a student who's training with me. Are we ok to come in?"

"Yes, of course." Sara told them, sitting up quickly, and turning to the side of the bed while trying to drop the rail.

"Not so fast. You need to let us help." Anne told her. "I know, you want to get up and moving, but we need to start slowly."

"That's what everyone says. But I feel fine." Sara insisted as Anne dropped the side rail. She quickly turned but the therapists were faster and each one reached for an arm. Sara's legs felt heavy as she swung them over the side of the bed, and while she would never admit it she began to feel a bit dizzy as she tried to stand up. With one person holding each of her arms, she stood up on wobbly legs. Taking a few assisted steps, she realised that recovery wasn't going to be as quick as she had hoped. It looked like she was going to have to let Grissom drop off her clothes. Going home was still a few days away.