 | ShatterStorm Productions
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| ShatterStorm Productions
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Disclaimer: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Alliance Atlantis, and CBS Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," CBS, or any representatives of Jorja Fox or Marg Helgenberger.
Author's Notes: Nothing really bad in terms of rating yet besides language and putting our two ladies through the emotional gamut. This is unbeta'd sosorry for errors. Feedback encouraged and welcome.
University Medical Center 3 a.m.
Grissom quietly sat in the rigid hospital waiting room chair and blinked his eyes tiredly. Greg was asleep in the chair next to him with his feet propped up on magazines littering the table. Grissom followed the headphones in Greg's ears to the IPOD resting in his lap. He was surprised to see Nora Jones on the readout instead of Metallica or some equally loud band. When did that happen?
Catherine was wearing a hole in the carpet as she paced back and forth restlessly. Every time the doors would open, she and everyone else would hold their breath with anticipation only to be disappointed when they were not the intended audience.
Warrick and Nick were each sitting backwards on their chairs trying to distract themselves with a game of cards though neither really had their heart in it.
The door swung open and all heads turned to the middle-aged man in the green scrubs and white lab coat. The doctor regarded the group camped out in the waiting room.
"I assume you all are waiting for Ms. Sidle and Detective Curtis?"
Grissom stood up and approached the doctor with Catherine.
"Yes. How are they?"
"I had to admit them both to our ICU unit. Ms. Sidle has hypothermia from being submerged in the cool water for an extended period. We are using warmed I.V. solutions and other methods to try and bring her body temperature back up. I am confident that she will recover however, her condition is not stable yet. We had to put her on a ventilator to help her body recover. She also has a fracture in her right ankle."
The doctor looked at Grissom. "It is fortunate that Detective Curtis found Ms. Sidle when she did. Most of the heat from our bodies escapes from our heads and my understanding is that Detective Curtis had Ms. Sidle's head held towards her body. She probably bought her some time."
"How is Sofia?," Greg interrupted.
"Detective Curtis sustained a deep laceration to her left shoulder. We had to stitch her up and it is unclear what the extent of that damage is yet. She may require physical therapy once the muscle begins to heal. We also ran a toxicology screen on her and we came up with an unknown substance that doesn't match anything in our databases. She appears to be fine except for the laceration but we would like to keep her for observation as well as some I.V. antibiotic treatment so her wound doesn't become septic."
"Can we see them?," Nick asked.
"I would prefer that you all come back tomorrow and let the ladies rest.," the doctor said, sympathetically.
"Thank you, Doctor.," Grissom said. He turned to address his weary team as there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief go through the room. The faces staring back at him looked tired and shaken and he feared they were all going to hit a brick wall if he didn't send them home.
"Okay everyone, you've all done a great job with this case and with processing the scene. I can't think of a better group of people to rely on during a time like this. We had two of our own in danger and we all stuck together and saw it through. I can't thank you all enough. Now everyone please go home and get some rest."
1 week later
Sofia Curtis sat uncomfortably at her desk in the PD. She glanced at her watch for the hundredth time in an hour. This was her first day back on the job but Brass had her riding a desk. Her left arm was held securely against her body in a sling to allow the damaged muscles in her back and shoulder to heal. She was not allowed to lift anything with the arm and any movements she did make were supposed to be only small enough to prevent stiffness. In truth, Sofia had not been able to move the arm without a blaze of pain slamming into her. She allowed herself a mild pain killer during the day and at night took something stronger to help her sleep. It probably didn't help that she had been spending her nights asleep in a chair next to Sara's bed.
She continued to stare at the mountain of paperwork on her desk when a coffee cup magically appeared in front of her. She smirked and then turned her gaze to Greg Sanders' smiling face. He had been a constant visitor during her hospital stay and this had cemented a tentative friendship into a life-long bond. Greg had turned into the little brother she never had.
Greg was taken aback for a moment at being pinned by the normally intense, blue, laser-like gaze. Sofia's pupils were dilated and she looked almost primal and if Greg didn't know they were just a side effect of the pain meds, he would have been worried. He still couldn't stop himself from a nervous swallow.
"Thought you could use some of my special blend."
Sofia smiled gratefully and took a swallow of the offered brew.
"Thank you, Greg. That really hits the spot."
"How are you holding up?" Greg followed the still healing scratches on the detective's face and hands. His eyes next landed on the blue sling that contrasted with the white, button-down shirt and smiled when he saw the ever present badge and gun.
"Do I measure up?" Sofia arched an eyebrow in amusement at Greg's visual examination. The man really was a sweetheart.
Greg rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. "Let's see.......the sarcasm is normal. Coming back to work earlier than expected or prescribed is also normal. The raccoon look tells me you're not sleeping enough and the sweat on your forehead tells me you're probably not taking enough pain medication."
Sofia wiped the aforementioned sweat off of her forehead and shrugged. "I'm fine."
"When was the last time you changed your dressing?"
Sofia glared at Greg like she would a suspect. The effect would normally inspire the recipient to offer their first-born rather than be met with those penetrating eyes. Greg wasn't having any of it though. He raised his eyebrows at her in inquiry.
Sofia sighed at his persistence. She found it annoyingly endearing because she couldn't be angry with him due to the sentiment behind it.
"They've been changing it at the hospital."
Greg nodded his head in acceptance. He was the only one who knew that Sofia had been visiting Sara every night and most of the time falling asleep in a chair next to her bed. She would always wake before Grissom would arrive in the morning.
"Has she woken up yet?"
"No. They were talking about taking her off the ventilator today." Sofia was anxious to see the brunette breathe on her own again. The sooner she could breathe on her own the closer she would be to recovery.
"You know Sofia......if you hadn't found Sara...."
"But we did find her, Greg." Sofia said sympathetically.
"I still can't believe you passed on the medal."
Sofia frowned as if she couldn't find the words to express her distaste.
"I did what anyone would've done, Greg."
Greg rolled his eyes at Sofia's modesty. He knew she was uncomfortable talking about that night but he was letting his excitement get the better of him.
"Sara's gonna flip when she hears....."
"Greg."
Sofia's low but firm tone silenced him immediately. Her face grew cold and seemingly impassive. Greg could see a hint of pain in the normally vibrant eyes.
"I don't want Sara to know about my involvement."
Greg stared at her in disbelief. "Sofia, she's going to want to know what happened."
"Then tell her we all found her and that's it."
She rubbed her temples tiredly. This conversation was taking its toll. She knew if the stoic brunette ever found out that she had been vulnerable to Sofia, that her life had been in Sofia's hands.....she would never forgive her. Sara had trust issues that ran deep and locked her emotions up tighter than Fort Knox. Sofia was not about to risk permanently alienating her. She didn't think she could take seeing resentment in those eyes again.
"Tell everyone else to keep it on the down low as well."
"Sofia..."
"Greg. Please." Greg placed his hand lightly on Sofia's uninjured shoulder.
"Alright Sofia."
Sofia squeezed Greg's hand and playfully shot over her shoulder, "Don't you have some work to do or something?"
Knowing a dismissal when he heard it, Greg mock saluted Sofia and headed back to the lab.
|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10 || Part 11 || Part 12 || Part 13 || Part 14 ||
