Things became more… intimate… between the pair over the next week. Something sparked between them brighter than it sparked before. He was finding her more irresistible. Her mind, her lips, her body. He flirted with her openly, granted only when they were completely alone in an AV lab, layout room or his office. But it was behavior he'd never engage in previously in the lab or field.
After the ordeal with Heather and the repair between he and Sara following it, their was a new emotional intimacy between them. A level of their relationship newly unlocked. With even less boundaries. A closeness ensued.
Their rhythm was better too. In sync every step of the way. At scenes, during processing, at home...in bed.
Grissom walked into the break room once he spotted her sitting there across from Warrick.
"I got you a veggie burger." Grissom's blue eyes bore into her brown orbs as he placed the lunch down in front of her. He shot her a flirtatious boyish grin as her eyes flickered up to meet his. Smiling knowingly.
"Thanks." Sara worked to cloak her tone in fake shock for the benefit of Warrick.
"What about me?" Warrick piped up breaking through the prolonged eye contact.
"I didn't know you were here." He locked eyes on Sara again, "Soy sorry." A smile danced on his lips once more before he turned to leave.
"Where's the love?" Warrick called after him. "I'm at least taking some fries." He reached over and grabbed a few.
Sara took a bite out of the burger.
"You didn't take the pickles off." Warrick shot Sara a look. "You always take the pickles off."
"Doesn't have pickles on it." She shrugged.
"But that order comes with pickles unless you ask for it not to…" Warrick grabbed another handful of fries, "You think he know's my order?"
Nick walked in and grabbed a seat next to Warrick, "Everyone knows your order buttercup."
Nick and Sara proceeded to say his order to a T in unison, "Double cheeseburger, extra onions no lettuce."
Nick sat and also took a handful of fries.
May 2007
Greg picked up a stack of mail from Judy and brought it into the break room. He and Sara had been following the Dell foster kids' paper trail. Working tirelessly to gain enough information to submit requests to DHS. Most of the requests had come back denied, but the thick envelope in his hands with a back address from DHS gave him hope that something real was inside.
He opened the envelope to find that the agency had, in fact, released one of the foster kid's records. He flipped through the large folder, reading the details of this child's journey into and through the system. A father stabbed by their mother at 13 years old. Appendix after appendix of medical records and foster home placements. But as he read on he began to realize that not a single page mentioned Dell as a foster home placement.
He flipped back to the first page and his heart stoped when he saw the girl's photo clipped to the bio page.
He ran his hand over his face as his eyes glanced to the child's name. Sara Sidle.
He quickly closed the folder and pulled the original request form out of the envelope. The Dell child they'd requested information on read Sarah Silver. And immediately upon looking at the form he realized what had happened. The clerk at the DHS office had mixed up the child's name with Sara Sidle, who had her name printed on the form on the line entitled, Requesting agency and personnel.
In a small panic, having now read the whole file without realizing what he was reading, Greg decided to stuff the folder back in the envelope and shove it into his locker before calling the agency to have them rerelease the correct file for a Sarah Silver who lived with the Dells for 2 years.
"Miniature killer?" Sara stood just behind Grissom having just entered the scene. He'd called her in to take over the case so he could get back to the lab.
Not sure yet. The doll was found here away from the body, but there's not a miniature to go with it. And it wasn't positioned like the body."
"Maybe the killer needed to make it later… Like Penny Gardner. Maybe that's why it's so cold in her. To preserve the body."
"Hmm." He turned toward her now, "We can't rule anything out." Grissom touched her shoulder gently, rubbing his thumb under her short sleeve. His thumb caressing her soft skin below his pads. "Want my windbreaker?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks." She smiled.
"Well, it's all yours my dear." He gave her one last look and left the scene.
Grissom went back to the lab to continue his research on the Dell foster kid paper trail. He picked up his office phone on the second ring,
"Grissom, first name Natalie was specific enough for DHS to release the records. Her name is Natalie Davis. Greg is here now with the file." Sophia's voice came through the line.
"Natalie Davis." Grissom repeated. They made plans to meet at a former foster home of hers to gather any information they could about the girl while Greg poured over the file to collect details that could shed light on where she may be today.
The pair walked up the walkway to the home. The yard was littered with toys and running children. They followed the foster mother as they walked through the house, little legs ran between them, weaving around them. Grissom couldn't help but picture Sara there as a little girl. Was this what her experience was like? In a home like this? He thought as a pre-teen Burnett showed her latest grade to the foster mother.
"After a few dozen kids or so you get real good at knowing which ones are damaged and which ones are broken. Natalie was broken." The foster mother's tone was genuine and Grissom found himself hoping that this was, indeed, what Sara's experience was like. And not the reality he knew was prevalent throughout the system.
Then, later on, Grissom and Catherine spoke with Natalie's biological father who filled them in on her tragic backstory. A deceased mother, a sister she decided to shove to her death, a father who was unfit to handle the complexity that came with being a grieving widow and father.
As he drove back to the lab he dialed her cell.
Sara rode the elevator up to the fourth floor after grabbing quick bite to eat at the veggie place downstairs. Her phone began to buzz.
"Hello, Gilbert." She smiled into the phone.
"Hello, dear." He smiled at the sound of his name leaving her lips. The flirtatious way she used his full first name. "The latest DHS record came through and it seems promising. Her name is Natalie Davis."
"Was she with the Dells long?"
"Three years."
"Wow. That's a long time for being in the system. I'm surprised her file made its way to us so quickly. Our last lead, Sarah Silver, took them weeks to get to us. I'm almost at the car now. Have you eaten yet?"
"No. I'm just getting back from speaking with Natalie Davis' biological father."
"I picked up a wrap for you."
He turned into the lab's lot, a smile crossing his features, "Thank you, darling. I'll see you shortly."
"Oh, Gil." She spat to keep him on the line for a moment longer, "evanescet."
"Evanescet?" There was a long pause before the lightbulb lit in his mind, "14 across?"
"Exactly. Fleeting, like a vapor dissipating into the ether."
"You're good." He smiled against the phone. That clue had been bugging him for a day. "Evanescet. Latin for it will disappear."
"See you at the lab." Sara smiled and hung up the phone before unlocking her car's trunk to place her kit back inside.
"Sara."
She quickly turned at the sound of her name spoken in close proximity. Electricity suddenly ran through her veins, causing her to hit the floor hard. Her head slammed against the concrete and lost consciousness. Her clothing snagged and ripped as the assailant dragged her body to another car and hoisted her into the trunk.
After a long while, Sara's eyes fluttered open as she came to. The container she was crammed into was jostling and moving. Her eyes darted around and took in the cramped space. The red upholstery, janky movements, the sound of the road. Sara took two deep breaths to calm herself and create a sense of space and clarity in her mind. She was going to need to be very focused.
She pulled the metal taser bits out of her vest with her mouth and launched it behind her. Her hands found the pieces and unlocked the zip ties cutting into her wrists. First, she popped out the tail light and peaked out to see an expansive open road whizzing past. No landmarks, no stores or homes. Just darkness. She had only one option. She reached up through a busted stereo speaker and quietly unlatched the seat.
Wait. Wait. Pounce. Sara launched herself through the back seat and attempted to overtake the assailant. The element of surprise worked in her favor for a moment, but after a short struggle, Sara was overpowered.
"Natalie?" Sara asked as she settled into her new holding position having been thrown and bound in the backseat. The woman's eyes locked on hers through the rear mirror, confirming Sara's suspicion. She recognized her assailant and suddenly what was happening began to slowly piece together. "Natalie Davis. I know who you are. I know a lot about you. You make miniatures. I've seen you before right? You work at the lab on the cleaning crewing." She took a pause, "Sorry about that before, I have a fear of trunks I guess. In my line of work, you really only tend to find one thing in them."
Sara's head began to spin a bit. She worked increasingly hard to maintain clarity. To flight of the intense weight that was pushing at her temples.
"We actually have a lot in common, you and I. I was a foster kid too. Happy happy joy joy." Sara offered in an attempt to humanize herself for Natalie. "I do know what it's like to be alone. Afraid that nobody is ever going to be there for you."
"Earnie was." Her voice an eerie whisper.
"Yes, he was. That's true, Natalie. I lost my father too. I know, that Earnie loved you. He would not have wanted you to do this."
"Earnie loved me more than Grissom could ever love you."
"Grissom? Oh…I know what this is about…" He voice became labored as her clarity began to fade in and out.
"He won't be able to find you in time. You'll die. And he will need to live this rest of his life knowing it was his fault. And that he could have saved you, but failed."
"Natalie… Grissom doesn't care for me like that—"
"Liar." She started, I've watched you two." Natalie spoke absently, "He touches you. He touches no one else. He looks at you. Really looks at you. I've seen him wipe your tears, feel your hair, caress your arm. I've seen him race to you. Leave with you. Laugh with you. He loves you. But in the end, that's what will kill you both."
"No, Natalie. He doesn't."
"Liar." She doubled down with conviction.
Sara's eyes became so heavy. "What, what did you put in the water, Natalie?" She became aware that she's been drugged, that she had limited time left. She pulled a few hairs from her head and placed them on the car's floor.
"Goodnight Sara." She heard Natalie speak in that same eerie voice as Sara's consciousness slipped out of reach.
When she came to again she felt cool, damp sand against her body. Her eyes opened, "Natalie?" Bright headlights blinded her as she attempted to take in her surroundings. Heavy equipment sounds, wind, sand. She looked up to see a vehicle dangling above her head. She desperately tried to move but her limbs were heavy like cement. "Natalie!" She called again with every ounce of strength she had left. The metal of the car pushed hard against her hand. She was trapped.
Natalie knelt down near Sara once she was fully trapped under the car. "Is there any last words you'd like me to relay to Grissom for you?" She asked in a deceivingly sweet tone.
"Natalie. Please. You don't need to do this." She pleaded for her life.
"Really?" Natalie questioned, "Nothing you want him to know."
"I'm sorry." She spoke softly. A tear escaping her eye as she realized the gravity of her situation. Out in the middle of the desert, alone, at night. An entire car's weight trapping her. Hypothermia, wild animals... she began to realize the many ways she may meet her end shortly.
"Not very original." Natalie spoke in her small voice. She stood to stand.
"Evanescet." Sara called after her. "Tell him, evanescet."
And soon, the lights faded and she was alone, under a car, in the middle of nowhere. Cold and dark and scared.
Meanwhile, Natalie reported for work that evening at the lab. She rolled her janitorial cart straight to Grissom's office. She looked around for a moment after closing the door. She touched the jar with the radiated fetal big. Thumbed over his books and trinkets. She saw the terrarium where the butterfly hatched. Now just the branch and broken apart chrysalis remained.
Then, she looked at the object on his desk closer and smiled at the progress he'd made on his own miniature. Speaking of miniature… She pulled a cardboard box from her janitorial cart and placed it gently on his desk. Front and prominent where he'd see it immediately.
Slowly, she unpacked the miniature and turned the motor on. Turning it just so. She quickly clocked out and made her way home.
Grissom returned to his office after visiting with Natalie's biological father at the casino with Catherine. He noticed the new object on his desk immediately upon entering. As he got closer it became more obvious what it was, a miniature of a car in a patch of desert. He grabbed a tissue and picked the car up revealing a doll underneath wearing a CSI black vest. Dark hair. Her hand moving in the sand.
"Sara." Escaped his lips in a whisper. His heart felt heavy, vision blurred, there was a noisy heat filling his ears.
He pulled his phone out and quickly rang her. No answer. He tried again. Same result. "Please, Sara. Please. Pick up. Pick up. Come on."
"Gil."
"Brass?" He spoke with fear, hearing the man's voice answering Sara's phone.
"We found her car in the garage… it looks like an abduction." Brass looked at the trunk of the car with her CSI kit sitting next to a pick-up order of food. He read the receipt stapled to the outside of the bag, chicken wrap.
Grissom closed his phone and approached Judy at reception, "Who was in my office while I was gone?"
"No one. Just some girl from Janitorial. She emptied the trash, vacuumed. That's all."
"Catherine!" He caught her attention as she walked down the hall. "Gather everyone in the layout room now!"
He entered with the miniature and placed it on the table, then left the room again without a word. The team's faces became horrified immediately.
Nick held a magnifying glass to the miniature as Greg spoke, "Doll is still alive. That means Sara is still alive." His voice shook slightly with the gravity of his words.
"Generic stretch of desert? She could be anywhere in a four state radius." Nick spoke with emptiness, a pit began to form in his stomach.
"Let's just focus on the details. There's always something to go off of." Catherine probed just as Grissom reentered the room.
"Her name is Natalie Davis and she works for our janitorial service." He placed the file on the table.
"Here? In the lab?" Catherine spoke through the horrific realization.
"For over a month." Grissom responded, "She has no home phone and no drivers license."
"Okay, I've got it." Greg interjected. "A 2007 red Ford Mustang. Totaled outside the Trip Wire Bar six weeks ago. Lead CSI on the case… Sara Sidle."
"Pull up the case photos." Grissom directed. He watched the screen intently as Greg pulled the photos to full screen. He remembered that case. He remembered slowly caressing Sara's arm as he took the department camera from her. He remembered the warning look she gave him as he did. The warning look she always gave him when he was being too affectionate at work lately. He looked closer at the crowd.
"Oh my god." His face lost any amount of color it had been hanging onto, "She was at the crime scene."
"So she salvages the car and somehow gets it out to the desert? Grabs Sara and puts her under it?" Nick worked to make sense of the information.
"I don't get it," Warrick chimed in, "What does Sara have to do with bleach? The last miniature at the psychiatrist's apartment was addressed to you, Grissom. Making it personal. If she's targeting you, why would she take Sara."
"This feels different." Catherine spoke softly.
"It is different." Grissom confirmed. His hand raised to his face, wiping over his gaped mouth. He could feel tears stinging behind his eyes. His eyes which were glued to the doll's hand, scratching at the sand.
"Why is it personal now? And why Sara?" Greg tried again.
Grissom began to stare through space as he spoke absently. The realization of what was happening started to sync in. His heart constricted tightly, "This girl holds me responsible for the death of Ernie Dell. Earnie was the only person who ever loved her. Who she ever loved. She believes that I am responsible for his death. That I took him from her..." His voice trailed off as he pictured Natalie now, mop in hand, observing he and Sara navigating the lab long after shift. "I took away the only person who she ever loved and now she wants me to experience the same thing."
The team's faces danced in confusion. Eyes darting to Grissom's face and between eachother.
"I don't understand." Nick spoke up, "How does Sara fit into this…"
"Oh my god." Realization hit him in forceful waves, "She was studying us for the last month. Here. In the lab. She was watching us. She knew our routines, our habits. When we worked late... She knows."
He thought about all the times he'd let himself get close to Sara while the lab was seemingly desolate lately. Especially since he returned from sabbatical and even more so in the last few weeks following Heather's ordeal. All the times he touched her shoulders, her arm, her cheek. The embrace they shared in his office just four days ago... he could feel her nails stroking the back of his head from that moment they shared.
"She knows. This time isn't about some obsession with bleach or some dead sister. She wants me to experience what it's like to lose the only person I've ever loved. It's not your little bisque doll…" A realization hit him, remembering the name of a user on a miniature forum he'd been frequenting. "NOTURLITTLEBISQUEDOLL"
He hurried out of the room without another word, leaving the team standing around the table in shock.
"Did he just say—" Nick looked up at Catherine.
"Does Sara know?" Catherine spoke bewildered. This revelation so far caused her to think that these were just feelings. Not something that had been acted upon.
"She knows." Greg piped up, the other three looked his way, "It's been going on for a while."
"Like they're… together?" Warrick asked with layers of surprise and disbelief.
Greg nodded in confirmation. "Yeah."
Brass walked into the layout room now. "We've got uniforms headed to Natalie Davis' apartment now. The trunk of Sara's car had her CSI kit with her gun and a to-go chicken wrap. There was evidence of taser use..."
"Chicken?" Nick spoke in confusion, alluding to her vegetarian status.
"You knew about this? About Grissom and Sara?" Catherine questioned Brass.
"I told you I knew something a lot juicer than Grissom and Lady Heather." He offered. Just then the news report came on causing Greg to turn up the volume revealing a flash flood was about to engulf the surrounding desert.
"We're racing against time here."
"I'd like to talk to her… alone." Grissom pressed Brass as they stood outside the interrogation room where Natalie was now sitting after being caught and transported back to PD by Nick and Warrick.
Brass agreed with a silent nod.
He took a deep breath and walked in the room. "Natalie." He spoke as he took a seat near her. "I'm so impressed by the way you embrace your passion." His tone was purposefully soothing. "You'd make a great CSI, you know. Your attention to detail. This last one was brilliant. You studied our crime scene so well. Tracking the car all the way to the junk yard then then towing it out to the desert where you knew we would't be able to find it. And then…" He swallowed hard as his next words surfaced, "The way you killed Sara…" He codlin't even think about the words that had just escaped his lips. He needed to push forward. To gain her trust and convince her to give him the information he needed to find Sara.
Natalie shook her head, "I didn't kill her."
"You didn't?" Hope came rushing through his body with such a force that he was unable to contain his true poker face. Until that point, he really wasn't sure if they were searching for her or her body. The latter sent such sweeping nausea through his bones.
She shook her head again and watched as relief washed over his body. "This is about her isn't it? Her. Her. Her. It's always about her. Well soon you will know how it feels. To lose what you took for-granted. To lose someone you love. And you can blame yourself for it for the rest of your life."
"Natalie. Please. Tell me where Sara is."
Natalie smiled in turn as she shook her head.
"Please." He nearly whispered, pleaded.
"She said she's sorry."
Grissom's eyes softened with deep sadness, "What?"
"When I asked what final words she had for you. She said she's sorry." Natalie watched and delighted in Grissom deflated face before adding, "That and evanescent."
To disappear. Grissom's heart fully sank into his stomach at the word Natalie spoke. "Natalie. Please. Just tell me where Sara is." He pleaded but Natalie eyes began to go empty. She was slipping away. She had receded into the folds of her mind, she was no longer present. "Natalie!" His voice rose as he lost patience, seeing his only hope of finding Sara begin to disappear, "Tell me where Sara is!" he pleaded as he shook her.
Brass' hand on his shoulder pulled him back just as he realized he was shaking the girl. "Gil, come on." He lead him out of the interrogation room. "We're going to find her." Grissom stared right through him. He was in a fog. Coaxing his mind to wake up. But nothing changed. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't going away.
"Grissom." Catherine approached the two men, "I just spoke with the security guard at the parking garage. He says she eats there a couple nights a week."
"Yeah." Grissom spoke absently, "She likes the veggie place downstairs."
"He said she was there tonight." Catherine continued.
"Yes. Around seven."
"What else do you know, Grissom?" Catherine's irritation was evident, she was frustrated with Grissom, "You know the rest of the team needs to know as much as possible to help her. Was that chicken wrap in her car for you?"
"Yes." Grissom furrowed his brows, "That's everything." He shook his head and walked off.
"How long have you know?" Catherine asked Brass now that Grissom was gone.
He shrugged, "A year or so, But I don't know how long it's been going on for."
"A year!? I would have never guessed…"
He nodded, "I'm pretty sure they live together."
"How did they manage this? With none of us knowing?"
Brass simply shrugged, "Those two have been trying to figure out how to get together since the day she got her... or before that even. Don't you remember how it was between them early on?"
Catherine thought on it a moment. Working hard to conjure up moments from times long past. She began to recall some of it though. How Sara used to flirt more openly with him in those earliest days. How he was so obtuse and pushed her away constantly. The time she threatened to quit and he sent her flowers... or was it a plant? She recalled his concern when he'd learned from Catherine about Hank cheating on her. And most notably, she recalled that case that nearly destroyed him, the one where the victim looked just like Sara. Her memory replayed that case in her head now with a new lens. Perhaps his distress during that case was more about his love for her than his concern for her.
"Yeah." She confirmed to Brass once she resurfaced from her memories. "Wow."
"I'm going to go follow up on the lead from the towing company. Go easy on him, Cath."
The rain was starting to pile up under the car. Foaming and swooshing with force, hard against her face. She fought to breathe, to keep her head above the water. But her arm was trapped making it harder as the water continued to rise. She tilted her chin up to stay within the pocket of air as she gasped.
She closed her eyes tightly. But what appeared shocked her. Her mothers angry face. Then her father's. She opened her eyes to find herself back in this new hell, her current reality. She needed to recenter herself. To find a sense of calm in order to think her way out of this. To survive.
She closed her eyes tightly again but this time it was Grissom's face that appeared in her mind's eye. His soft features as he looked at her. The feeling of his hands on her skin. The warmth of his embrace. His blue eyes. His concern and love focused on her. She let it calm her and give her courage. She flashed open her eyes and yanked at her trapped arm hard. Screaming in pain as she worked to free it.
It's just a matter of physics she kept telling herself. With more force and a little bit of leverage, Sara did eventually free her arm and swam out from under the car. Coughing up water and sand as she did. She looked around realizing quickly that she needed to get to higher ground and fast.
She placed her hands on the side of the car so that the team would know that she got out from the car on her own if they ever found it. Then, she knocked loose the car side mirror, knowing it would come in handy, and began to stumble toward one of the closer rocky formations. Slipping a bit on the wet, slick rocks, she did finally make her way to the top and watched as the water began to swell in the valley below her. She would have died in minutes under that car by now.
She looked around from her new height and saw nothing but desert around her. No landmarks, no roads. No identifiable mountains. Her heart began to beat faster with panic.
She sat against a large slanted rock and tried to shelter herself from the cold harsh rain as it pounded down around her. She began to drift off despite her intense efforts to fight it.
Brass called Grissom with speed, "Grissom, guy here at the shop says he towed the car out to Ice Box Canyon for Natalie. Search and Rescue are already deployed. Get your guys."
Grissom rode along side with Nick to the coordinate the helicopter relayed over the radio after spotting the car. He leapt out of the car before it even came to a full stop and sprinted over to the flipped mustang. It was filled with sand.
"Sara!" He screamed desperately. He and Nick dug at the sand that was now filled completely with sand, afraid to find her underneath it.
Nick lifted fabric out of the pile he was working on, a black CSI vest. Sidle on the name stitching. Grissom looked over, absolutely horrified.
"She's not here." Catherine walked over to them, "She got out from under that car."
"We're searching on foot!" Grissom and Catherine walked together, using binoculars, scanning the expansive desert.
"Catherine, I've got shoe prints." He spoke to her as he began following them. Realizing they were in fact her size and tread. Deep tracks made possible by the wet sand from the storm. Now dried out from the hot beating sun.
Eventually the shoe prints stoped but were replaced instead by little zen rock towers. Three to a tower. Built in consistent intervals. "This is even better than shoe prints." Catherine urged with hope. She remembered how distraught he was when Nick was kidnapped. This was ten fold.
They continued to follow along until they once again, reached their last bit of evidence of her trail. Catherine glanced Grissom's way, now having been searching on foot for two hours. She offered him some water which he reluctantly took.
"Where is she Catherine?" She heard how small and vulnerable and heartbroken he was. "It's 110 degrees, she's been out here all day. Without water. She's dehydrated, she's disoriented…"
"She's a survivor." Catherine offered, looking at her friend's sad and tired face.
"She's my whole world." He spoke in a mere whisper. His eyes diverting to the sand below their feet. The reality of the situation was becoming harder to ignore. She may not survive this. She may already be gone. "I don't think... if she doesn't make it through this... if she's dead... I can't..."
Catherine touched his arm when suddenly their radios began to pick up,
"This is SC 13, Sophia Curtis. We found her. She's alive but unconscious. We need a medic now!"
Catherine and Grissom locked eyes and began to sprint back to their car. Catherine sped to the location Sophia radioed. Not a word was spoken in the 4 minutes it took to arrive. His head was spinning, heart racing. But his mind, his mind was squarely on a specific memory of her. Her head against the pillow, hair softly draped around her face. Her eyes bright and warm. A smile dancing on her lips. Her attention focused narrowly him. Her fingers touching his face, stroking his hair.
Catherine skidded the car to an abrupt stop. Grissom rushed over toward the group and silently watched Nick on his knees next to her pouring water over her, paramedics already attending to her. She looked limp and lifeless. And he was frozen, helpless as he watched.
"She's not responding. I'm not getting a radial pulse." He heard one of the paramedics shout. "We need to load her up."
Grissom stood over them and watched in utter horror. As she was loaded into the stretcher he rushed toward them, following closely. "Move over! I'm going with her." Grissom shouted over the swooshing blades and roaring engine.
He felt the helicopter even out at it lifted into the air. His hands reached for her, cupping her's gently. She felt as limp as she looked. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles, praying internally for her to be okay. For her to open her eyes. Please. He pleaded again and again.
And then, he watched as her eyes fluttered openly slowly. The first thing she saw was his name stitched to his CSI vest. Then, her eyes lifted to his face, his eyes, his soft small smile. He found her. The comfort of which let her slip back out of consciousness. Just as quickly as they opened, her eyes closed again.
He could feel his heart beat start again. She was okay. She was going to be okay. He could even feel her pulse getting stronger below his fingertips. His eyes stayed glued to her face as the paramedics buzzed around them. For the first time the smallest amount of relief washed over him.
A short while later the aircraft touched down on the Desert Palms landing pad. Sara was quickly unloaded from the helicopter, accompanied by several doctors and nurses who were in the bay waiting for her arrival. He jogged along side them. Not wanting to leave her for a moment. His and still holding onto hers.
One nurse moved in and cut Sara out of her clothing. Peeling it off of her layer by layer, exposing her skin. Grissom watched as her wounds were made visible. The burns on her face, scrapes and cuts along her body, giant black and blue bruising patterns from where the car must have been placed on her. He felt sick at the sight.
"She needs to get into surgery STAT." One of the nurses turned to Grissom and began relaying information as she was wheeled away, down the hall and into the OR.
"What kind of surgery?"
"It looks like she has some severly broken ribs, we need to ensure no organs were punctured and stabilize the surrounding ribs. Her shoulder will also be an area of focus. While under, we'll have a team wrap and set her broken arm and tend to the more severe burns and cuts."
Grissom nodded along with the information. "How long until I can see her?"
"Surgery will take one to three hours depending on what we find. Afterward, we'll come and grab you but you should be prepared, it's common for patients not to wake up for a while after an ordeal like this."
He nodded as the nurse ran down the hall to join the others in the OR and left Grissom to find his way to the waiting room.
He wandered down the hall in a complete daze until he found the waiting area.