As Grissom pulled Sara more tightly to his chest across the chair's armrest, he felt her finally melt into his embrace. Catherine observed from a window, feeling as relieved as Grissom did when Sara started to let down her guard enough to let him hold her. She cheered quietly, and then headed upstairs to talk to whoever was in charge of Sara's PT.

Sara felt Grissom's warm arms around her, and felt as if the world around her fell away. She allowed herself to simply accept his hug and his words without second guessing or overthinking what was being offered. While things needed to be discussed and future plans made, right now she accepted the comfort she so desperately needed. For a brief moment in time, it felt like the clock had been turned back and they were simply a happy couple, very much in love, without the complications that had built up between them. After several moments, she felt the tears begin to run down her cheeks, and was surprised to realise they weren't all hers. Both of them were silently crying while holding each other. As she leaned into him, she craved more contact than the wheelchair would allow. As if he read her mind, he suddenly pulled back a bit and then carefully slid one arm under her knees and one around her back and carefully lifted her into his lap. They fit together as they always had.

"I missed you." Sara finally managed to whisper.

"I know, honey. I missed you too."

When Catherine returned nearly 20 minutes later, she triumphantly led the PT and her student to the courtyard. She paused before entering, checking to see if Grissom and Sara appeared to need more time. Finding Sara curled up in his lap surprised her, but he looked up at her and nodded, indicating it was ok for them to come in.

"They said yes!" Catherine told Sara with a grin. "PT is happening outside today." Sara quickly tried to scramble from Grissom's lap back to her chair, but he held tight as they approached her.

"She didn't stand up, I picked her up." Grissom told them as they approached.

"Good." Anne said to him. "I heard someone nearly gave the nurse a heart attack by standing up in the shower earlier." she said with amusement. "I think that means it's time to work on some more walking." Sara tried to get up again, this time with Grissom's hand steadying her as the student placed a walker in front of Sara.

"Do I seriously have to use that?" Sara asked.

"Yes. It's safer outside. And one of us will be behind you as well." Anne explained. "So put your hands on the handles and let me steady you, then you can try walking slowly." Sara huffed, but did as she was told. Catherine stepped back to give Sara space, but Grissom stuck close by. As Sara's steps became more confident, the PT student let go and allowed Grissom to hover behind Sara while Anne distracted her from her frustration at needing the walker. They approached the door to the hospital and went inside, with the student collecting Sara's wheelchair to bring it inside. With each step, Sara became more confident and excited, and keen to continue. When they reached the elevator, though, Anne stopped her and had the wheelchair brought over.

"You did great. But that's enough for today. Too much and you'll find yourself exhausted and sore." Sara opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when Grissom gently placed his hand across her chest and nudged her to sit back down.

"Can't I walk back, at least?" She asked. "It wasn't that far."

"Tomorrow." Anne told her. "You don't feel it now but you'll be feeling it in an hour or two. Trust me, you don't want to overdo it and have to take a few days off to recover."

"Fine." Sara said with a small huff. "Can we go back outside?"

"For now, you should head back up to your room and lie down for a bit. Your body needs a break. Catherine can help you with the stretches and range of motion exercises we had to do before you woke up. Until tomorrow, you can start walking up to 20 steps at a time, in your room, as long as someone is with you, and you use the walker. And don't push it." She admonished firmly.

"And we will hold you to that, Sara." Catherine said. "No trying to con the others into letting you go further, either."

"OK, I get it." Sara said. "I'm just glad I can finally get out of the bed!"

Catherine pushed Sara's wheelchair back to her room, much to Sara's annoyance. When they got there, Grissom insisted on helping her stand and move to the bed. She refused to admit that the PT was right and she found herself exhausted. Laying her head back against the pillow, she closed her eyes for a minute as Grissom and Catherine busied themselves with watering her plants and rearranging things so Sara wouldn't feel like she was being watched. Her eyes opened and she sat up again.

"So what are these exercises you've been doing?" Sara asked.

"It's just moving and stretching different body parts so you didn't get stiff or have muscle atrophy. We weren't really sure how long it would be before you woke up and they explained that it would really suck for you if you woke up aching with seized up joints." Catherine told her. "I don't think I need to do them for you anymore, but I can show you what they had me do, if that's ok?" She suggested.

"It's fine. And thank you, I hope it wasn't too awkward for you." Sara told her, grateful for Catherine's willingness to help but also embarrassed that she had needed to.

"Hey, not a problem. You would have done the same for me if I'd needed it." Catherine told her. "Do you want to start with your arms or your legs?"

I'm going to be travelling for the next 6 weeks. Updates will continue but they won't be daily. Please continue to leave reviews and let me know what you want to see.