The night at work was ordinary. They were slowly catching up on the backlog of cases, and despite Finn having the day off they were able to manage all of the cases that came across their desks that evening. Greg and Nick were frequently asked for updates on Sara, and they were pleased to share her progress as well as Grissom's return. As expected, Hodges in particular was thrilled that his mentor was returning and continued to badger them with questions all night despite their lack of answers. Greg promised to pass on his many messages to Grissom if he would stop the barrage of questions and just do his job.
At the hospital, Grissom had returned to find Sara still sound asleep, and before he considered asking the nurses, he had crawled into the bed next to her and pulled her to his chest. It was a tight fit, but he made it work, and soon he was asleep as well.
Around 3 am, he woke with a start to find his shirt damp. It took him several moments to make sense of where he was and what was happening before he looked down to see Sara crying. He gently nudged her chin up to try to look into her eyes but quickly realised she wasn't awake. Had it been a nightmare, he knew waking her would be the best option but tears in her sleep were something else. In all their time together, he could never remember seeing her cry while asleep, and she rarely did so when awake. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head, whispering reassurances into her hair.
"I'm here, honey, it's ok. I've got you. You're safe, and I'm not going anywhere." He promised quietly. The tears continued to flow as her body rested limply against him, her lips moving but no words coming out. As he watched her face, he instantly remembered where he had seen these exact facial expressions before - the photos he had looked at earlier. Her tears were those of grief, and he wondered how many times she had cried alone in his absence. "I'm here, Sara. I'm here. You're not alone." he whispered into her ear. "I miss her too." He gently wiped the tears away with the corner of his shirt for several more minutes until they stopped falling. He kissed her cheeks carefully, and lightly ran his hand up and down her side, wondering if she would remember her dreams in the morning. Carefully he rolled onto his back, making sure not to disturb her or fall off the bed. He looked up at the ceiling and again mulled over what he had missed and what she had endured on her own. Guilt washed over him and he wondered how she could still trust him and want him in her life. He turned back to look at the sleeping form next to him and promised, again, he would do whatever she needed. Snuggling in next to her, he listened to her slow, even breathing and found himself able to easily drift back to sleep.
When Sara woke in the morning, the first thing she was aware of was the pair of arms wrapped tightly around her. She opened her eyes to look down at his hands, and felt relief. It was her husband. He was back. The nightmare she was living was past the worst of it. She took a deep breath to ground herself and then tried to carefully roll over. Unfortunately with the size of the bed being what it was, her attempt to roll over woke Grissom and the only thing stopping him from falling off the bed was the side rail he had had the foresight to raise before falling asleep.
"Good morning." He whispered to her as he helped her to roll over to face him. Seeing her still sleepy, wrapped in his arms and burrowing into his chest was the greatest feeling in the world. He was sure of it. "Is this ok?"
"Mmmfff." She mumbled into his shirt, nodding. A few minutes later she pulled back slightly and looked up at him.
"You should probably get up before the nurses start their rounds." She told him, not letting go of his shirt.
"I know. But you'll need to let go of me." He suggested, and she shook her head.
"A few more minutes won't hurt." She nuzzled in close to him, savouring the feeling of his arms around her. She felt calmer and safer than she had in months and wasn't prepared to let go. A quiet knock at the door a few minutes later was the only thing that made her let go as he quickly got up out of the bed before the nurse came in.
"Good morning! I was wondering if you would be up yet. You're looking much better this morning. How are you feeling?"
"I'm good." Sara told the nurse confidently.
"That's great! And it looks like everything here is good too." The nurse said, checking Sara's chart and jotting down her observations. "You've got a busy day today, I think. The neurologist is going to come chat to you to make sure there are no deficits since waking up, you've got PT scheduled for both this morning and later today, and it looks like a couple other doctors will be coming in to speak with you as well. You're making great progress."
"Does that mean I can go home soon?" Sara asked anxiously.
"That's not up to me. But if things go well with everyone today, I'm quite confident you'll be home within the next week. Is there anything you need from me right now?"
"No, I think we're ok." Sara said, and the nurse nodded and left. Grissom sat back on the edge of the bed as Sara scooted over to the side.
"Is there anything you need from me?" He asked her gently.
"Yes. I need to go to the bathroom." She said with a smile, sitting up with his help. Before standing up, she leaned against his chest for a moment, then kissed his cheek. "And after that, I'm sure there's lots more I'll need help with."