Apologies for the prolonged absence. Let me know if I still have any readers left!
Updates won't be daily but will be coming as frequently as I can manage. As always, let me know what you want to see. Should Sara tell her friends what happened or be allowed to have her secrets?
Nick and Brass left together, leaving Grissom and Catherine alone.
"Go out with them for coffee. You know Sara wants you to." She told him.
"I know. And I will if she's asleep." He said.
"Good. And Nick won't be too hard on you if Brass is there." She promised.
"I wouldn't count on that." Grissom said, feeling somewhat uneasy. "I know he's still got a lot to say."
"He's missed you, and he's glad you're back. Telling them you're staying, and seeing Sara happy about it will reassure Nick."
"I hope so. So is that what you stuck around to talk to me about?" He asked.
"That obvious, huh? Well sort of. But no. I was thinking about Sara's situation... and I know you can't share her personal or medical information. And if I'm wrong, well, that's great. But I, um... well, if it turns out that Sara's dealing with finding out one of her dreams isn't going to happen..." Catherine stammered trying to figure out how to say what she needed to say. "Look, from what I understand, Sara is having a rough time with something. She's going to be really vulnerable and you've got a bad habit of putting your foot in your mouth. So just think before you talk, ok? Really think, about how it might be misunderstood. And be supportive. And don't push her." Grissom stared at her with one eyebrow raised.
"I will try not to give her any reason to come running to you in tears about how insensitive men can be." He told her. "And I would suggest you not mention to her what you think you may have figured out."
"Good. And I won't." She reassured him. "But if you think she needs to talk to another woman about anything, remind her she can always come to me. And just because things may not be able to happen the 'traditional' way doesn't mean the two of you can't still have a family."
Grissom quickly headed up to Sara's room after speaking with Catherine, trying not to think about what she had said. He arrived as the nurse was leaving.
"She's asleep. She'll be fine until morning. But she said you can stay if you need to." The nurse explained quietly. Grissom stepped into the room to see for himself that she was indeed asleep.
"I'll be back in an hour or two. If she wakes up before then please call me." He said.
"No problem. I'll make sure someone lets you know if she wakes up." The nurse agreed. Grissom went back into Sara's room and quietly walked up to the bed. He gently brushed her hair off her face and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"I'll be back soon, dear. I love you."
Grissom arrived at the address Nick had given him, and easily found his friends sitting together drinking coffee.
"How is she?" Brass asked him.
"Sound asleep. She's had a long day." Grissom answered.
"Yeah, I heard she wasn't seeing any visitors this morning. Everything ok?" Nick asked.
"She's going to be fine, Nick. I think she just needed some space. Things sort of hit her all at once." Grissom reassured his friend.
"Good. And you're sticking around? Going to try to fix things?" Nick questioned.
"Yes, I'm staying. And I've talked to Sara about it. She asked me to move home with her when she's discharged, and I'm going to do that. She's going to need some help for the first few weeks. Hopefully by the time she's ready to go back to work, I'll have something lined up at the university."
"Good. Because most people don't get a second chance like this. Or third, or fourth, or whatever number you're up to. So you'd better not blow it again. I don't have to tell you what will happen if you hurt her." Nick threatened.
"I know. And I promise I won't abandon her again." Grissom agreed, dropping his gaze.
"What the hell were you thinking, man? Filing for divorce?" Nick blurted out. "What happened between you two?!"
"Honestly, I was thinking Sara deserved better." Grissom told him bluntly.
"Well you're right about that. But even if 'better' walked up and swept her off her feet, Sara wouldn't even see it. She's only ever had eyes for you, and you know that. Why didn't you just come home instead of breaking her heart?" Nick asked.
"Nick, I think he knows that now. Sometimes, when we're faced with a difficult situation, we don't always see things clearly." Brass told Nick with a pointed look as he rested a hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him.
"You're right. I know. But seriously, you have no idea how much I wanted to kick your ass." Nick told Grissom. "We all did."
"I have an idea." Grissom said. "But you have to understand, I just wanted Sara to be happy." he insisted.
"I don't understand it." Nick told him skeptically. "What would make you think she'd be happier without you?"
"I think that might not be any of our business." Brass interjected. "He knows he screwed up, but he's back now. And Sara's happy about that. I think that's what we need to focus on." Nick looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"OK, OK. I get it. Obviously there's more to the story that you can't tell me. You were as ready to punch him as I was when I told you. But Grissom, yeah, I'm happy that you're back and that Sara's happy. Let's just make sure you keep her that way, ok? Because you won't be getting another chance if you screw this one up. We'll make sure of it."
"Understood. And Nick - thank you for being there for her when I wasn't."
"Yeah, well I wish I'd been there sooner. Before things got bad." He admitted with a sigh. "I should have asked what was up. She wasn't looking so great... I saw her the morning before, we went to breakfast and I was going to try to get her to talk about things. But we got caught up talking about Eli and old times with Warwick... And she was tired. Needed to sleep."
"Even if you'd tried, she wouldn't have admitted anything was wrong Nick. You know that." Grissom told him gently.
"I still should have tried."