10:30PM

"So you've arrested the man who shot my son?"

Brass nodded, careful to keep his lips in view of Emily Grissom. "He still is refusing to admit to any of it, but we have enough evidence to charge him with robbery, first degree murder, and kidnapping and attempted murder in the commission of a felony. That means he will probably be sentenced to death upon conviction."

Emily Grissom nodded. "Thank you," she said quietly. She shook hands with Warrick, Nick, and Robyn, as well as Brass and Amy. "Thank you all for everything you did."

"I'm sorry there wasn't more we could do, ma'am," Brass said sincerely. "Gil was an excellent investigator and a valued member of my team, but more importantly I consider him a friend."

Emily smiled. "He spoke of you in the same way, Detective Brass," she said, a slight smile on her face. "As he did the rest of you."

"Jim, please," Brass replied gently. Then, somewhat self-consciously, he stepped forward and embraced the older woman in an awkward, but heartfelt hug. "I'm sorry," he managed to get out, after he'd pulled back. "I'm so sorry."

11:00PM

The lights on the unit had been dimmed when Catherine and Emily returned to Grissom's hospital room. Catherine had been reluctant to join Grissom's mother, feeling like she was intruding, but the older woman insisted.

"You're his friend, dear," she'd said gently. "Gil would want you in there." She'd extended similar invitations to Nick, Warrick, and Brass, and after some initial hesitation they'd taken up vigil in the family room as well, taking turns with Catherine to enter the ICU cubicle. Under the circumstances, day shift was pulling a double to cover the lab, something that had been met with barely any protest.

Grissom still lay unconscious and unmoving under the blue hospital blanket. It had looked like his face was regaining some color earlier in the day, but the pink shading had merely been from the sunset outside the window, which had long since faded. Overall there had been no change to his condition, and the medical staff wasn't saying much, other than a muttered comment to Catherine by a nurse that it was probably only a matter of time. Catherine had not repeated the words to Grissom's mother – who'd been in the washroom – and had had a few muttered comments of her own for the nurse.

Catherine was the first to step up to Grissom's bedside and gently take his hand, the one without the IV. "They caught him, Gil," she said softly. "Brass, Amy, and Robyn. Nick and Warrick were there too, off the record. They found the man that did this to you. Brass thinks he'll get the death penalty."

The blonde CSI lightly rubbed her friend's arm, trying hard not to think about how white his face was. "I remember when a guy on one of your cases was scheduled to be executed. You had the night off and said you spent it at the rollercoaster. I had a feeling then that you didn't agree with sentencing people to death, even though you never actually said anything. Up 'til tonight I wasn't sure I did either." She sighed.

"That robbery you walked in on? It was actually a murder. The robbery was just a cover story." She smiled slightly, picturing Grissom's response. "Yeah, we know everything that happened. Including that you walked in as the guy was trying to remove the bullet. We got your fingerprints from the door. You did good in there. You got us a ton of evidence we'll be able to use when they take this low-life to trial. Now there's just one more thing you need to do"

Catherine took a deep breath before she continued, "Brass told MacLean you weren't dead, that you survived. He said that you'd be giving a first-hand eye-witness account of everything that happened at the trial. Now I'm sure you've heard everything the doctors are predicting about your condition. They sure haven't been the most uplifting people I've ever met."

Tears trickled down Catherine's cheeks and her voice was shaking as she said, "I'm here to tell you, I'm not accepting anything less than you walking into that courtroom and making Brass' threat a promise. You got that?"

Her shoulders shook with sobs and she closed her eyes, unable to say anything more. Suddenly she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. It was Emily, and she'd pulled a chair up next to the bed for Catherine. The CSI, who'd been standing up until that point, gratefully sank into it.

Emily nodded in approval before moving around to the other side of the bed and sit down on it. In a repeat of the embrace she'd given Grissom when she'd first arrived, as well as several other times during the course of the day, she put both hands on his shoulders and again kissed his forehead, before pressing her cheek to her son's and holding it there.

Emily didn't hear the slight change in rhythm on the monitor, or the soft moan that accompanied it, but she felt it, felt the vibration and the cheek pressed against hers move slightly. Quickly she lifted her head up, enough for her to fully observe her son's face.

Gil Grissom shifted his head slightly on the pillow, enough that his face was no longer turning towards the ventilator. A moment later, his eyelids fluttered, then opened, shut again, then opened a second time, slowly focusing on his mother sitting on the side of his bed. His forehead wrinkled in confusion and he attempted to speak, only to be stopped by the ventilator. Instead he moved the hand closest to his mother, his fingers forming letters sign language alphabet.

"Everything okay?" Emily Grissom translated aloud. On the other side of the bed Catherine clapped one hand to her mouth, muffling a sob of relief. Grissom looked briefly back at her before turning his face back to his mother.

"Everything's fine, Gil." Emily's voice was gentle as she both spoke and signed the words. Her son's face relaxed and one corner of his lips attempted to smile, a slow, tired smile that was almost childlike. Reaching forward, she smoothed Gil's hair back with her hand and his blue eyes closed again, for the moment content. "Everything's just fine."

THE END