Chapter Twenty-Two: Heading Home
They reached the hospital by ten that morning. Finding any information about the detective had been difficult since they were not family, and they were not on the contact list either. Finally, Sara had pressed the rules some by telling the staff they were CSI agents, looking to talk with him. Greg had to laugh at her persistence, but it finally paid off.
The detective had been awake, and Randolph had been glad to see the both of them. Apparently no one had told him anything, and so they spent the better part of an hour relating to all the happenings of the past few days.
Randolph himself was doing relatively better, but not without cost. He had been shot twice, once in the lower stomach, the other had penetrated his deep in his left leg, and in order to prevent infection, he had lost everything from the knee down.
He waved off their concerns, telling them that it didn't matter. Although they had trouble seeing how it didn't. It took some time to convince them too. Randolph explained that he was going to be transferred to Boston in a few months; this way he could retire, and stay near his family. He added that he was getting to old for the job anyways.
They spent the next several hours there, talking just in general, before Greg reminded Sara they needed to get going if they were going to make in anywhere that day. With a final goodbye said, they were on their way.
They stuck to their original plan and only drove a few hours each day, and made it back to Las Vegas on the fourth night. Neither had ever been so glad to see the workplace. The temperature change was noticeably different, even at night it was still warmer than it had been during the day.
Greg reached around to open the back door so that they could get their stuff, but was stopped as Sara grabbed his arm, pulling him away gently. He couldn't help smiling as he saw her expression as she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning up to kiss him.
This time he pulled away, laughing at her confused expression. "You're going to get sick doing that," he warned. He was rewarded with a laugh of her own.
"I'm already sick Greg," she told him, moving back in. Greg held her close as the kiss lengthened, and neither of them heard someone else approaching. They weren't even aware that they were being watched until a slight cough alerted them. Greg looked up quickly as Sara turned around, her arms still around Greg.
"Well now," the person chuckled lightly, "I've heard of kiss and make up, but isn't this getting a little extreme?"
Greg was grinning from ear to ear as Sara pulled back hesitantly, blushing as she turned away.
"Hi Nick," Greg nodded to him, looking back to Sara who had a hand pressed against her face as she laughed quietly, still embarrassed about being caught.
Nick shook his head, smiling at the pair. "I must say it's good to see you two alive and in one piece," he nodded to them. "Both of you had quite a time, or so I hear. Getting into fights, blowing up houses, going on leisurely swims."
Greg's smile was smug as he answered. "Isn't it a little late for you to be here?"
Nick shrugged, kicking the concrete with the toe of his shoe. "Work, you know how that goes."
Greg nodded in sympathy. Yes, he knew how work was, and it had to be even worse considering that they had been gone. For the last several weeks now, the swing shift had to pick up on all the slack that night shift left behind. With them back now, things shouldn't be as bad.
When nothing was said and the silence stretched on, Nick motioned towards the building, wondering if they were to follow. Sara protested immediately.
"I am so ready to go home," she told him, "I miss my own place."
"No, no," Nick shook his head, "You're coming in. If the rest of the team hears I talked to you and just let you leave, they would never let me hear the end of it."
Greg shrugged, glancing up at Sara. He wasn't looking forward to staying much longer either, but he also wasn't looking forward to leaving Sara quite yet either. He had to admit he would miss being with her as much as he had within the last few weeks.
"Come on Sara, a few minutes couldn't hurt."
Sara glared up at Greg from across the table. The single thing he said earlier running through her mind. A few minutes couldn't hurt. And it was true, a few minutes wasn't anything big. However, a few hours, was a different matter.
They had only gotten into the lab before Catherine and Nick had invited them out for a quick lunch. Sara once again tried to say no in the politest way possible, but Greg had jumped in once again. Now she was tired, cranky and irritated. A combination that was nothing short of lethal in her case.
The worst part about it was that Greg wasn't paying the least bit of attention to her. Ever since arriving at the small café, he and Nick had been talking nonstop, their attention turned on the TV screen. She shook her head, brining the coffee cup up to her lips, taking a sip of the warming liquid.
"Oh man," Nick laughed, patting Greg on the back, "My team just scored, you are going down."
Greg shook his head, "No way, you're seeing things," he argued, squinting as he tried to see the score better.
"You owe me ten bucks man," Nick laughed, holding his hand out towards him. "Cough it up."
"I say we take a better look at that score," Greg pushed him off, already on his way over to the counter. Nick wasn't too far behind.
Sara could only roll her eyes as she put her cup down, laughing as Catherine commented next to her. "Men."
"One track minds," she agreed lightly. "I guess three weeks in the mountains was too much for Greg, he needs to expression his manliness."
"How?" Catherine laughed, "By fighting immaturely over a sports score?"
Sara shrugged, watching them from afar.
"So, are you and Greg actually…I mean," Catherine paused, frowning as she wasn't sure what to say exactly.
Sara smiled, nodding after a moment. It wouldn't do any good to hide it, everyone would find out sooner or later, and with Nick already knowing, it more and likely would be sooner. "Yeah, we are."
"How long now?"
Sara shrugged, her eyes still on Greg. "Officially…a few weeks now, but we've been talking about it for a while."
Catherine nodded, turning towards her. "Well, I'm happy for you two," she told her. "I don't know about you, but I've got to get back to lab," she pulled a few bills out of her purse, tossing them on the table as she got up. "Come on Nicky, let's get."
Sara watched as Nick patted Greg one last time on the back, collecting the promised money as he ran to catch up with Catherine, Sara and Greg weren't too far behind.
Sara let out a sigh as she glanced over the folders, doing her best to try to catch up with everything. Missing three weeks of work was hard in any case, and the simple fact that they didn't learn a thing while they were gone was a downside.
At the moment, she was trying to find out what case they were working on now. Using a free hand, she pushed her hair from her eyes, sighing as she sat down on the table.
"You okay?"
She glanced up smiling as Grissom came into the room. Ever since they got back a few days ago, Grissom had been slightly overprotective of them. Not that she could blame him. She knew he felt pretty bad about making them go, feeling guilty for everything, despite the fact Greg and Sara had told him that it was okay.
"Yeah," she told him quietly, turning her attention back on the papers. The bruising was still evident, but it had faded considerably. She hadn't told Grissom this; he was already feeling bad enough.
"You sure?" he pressed her a little, watching her as he sat down.
Sara stared at him for a minute, before giving him a comforting smile. "Yeah, I'm good. For the first time in nearly a month I'm not freezing my ass off."
She laughed to lighten the mood, and it worked, but only a little.
"If you need a few days off, you can take them," Grissom told her, nodding.
"I'm fine," she responded, "really. It's okay."
Grissom nodded, "I heard you turned down the request to go back out into the field."
She smiled grimly, now knowing the reasoning behind his actions. "Yeah…um, I wasn't as ready as I thought I was," she told him quietly.
He nodded, accepting her answer. "Take all the time you need," he told her, standing up slowly.
He moved to say something else, but was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. Grissom looked up to see Greg standing there, resting against the frame lightly.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked quietly. When Grissom and Sara shook their heads, he came further in the room.
"Uh, Greg," Grissom nodded at him. "I saw that you also turned down the request to move back out into the field."
Greg nodded, his hands in his pockets as he ignored the astonished look from Sara. "I know, I figured I'd wait for a while longer. I need to catch up on a few things, and with my hand right now, I'd rather be a little more prepared."
Grissom nodded, tucking the file folders under his arm. "Okay, then, when you two are ready then, don't hesitate to come forward and ask."
Sara nodded at him, watching as he left the room. Greg leaned over the table, glancing at the forms that she had laid over the tabletop. "Having fun?"
"Not really," she admitted. "Kind of confused actually."
"Hmm," Greg rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You want to discuss it over break?"
Sara smiled as she glanced up at him. "Completely work related, right?"
Greg matched her grin, "Of course, what else would we be focusing on?"
She laughed softly as she walked past him. "I could think of a few things."
The End
R2R
Mellaithwen-
The scream was Neff himself, I wanted to add a part to that, but decided against it. I wasn't able to fit it in very well, so I took it out. Lol, I love your response, it's so you. Although that may have been a little too much for poor old Randolph.
Jenny70529-
Yeah, I've stopped torturing Greg, for now at least. And there is a sequel, but it prb will be coming slower. I'm glad you enjoy my writing so much, as I do yours!
Lizzy Sidle-
Noticed the name change there, any reasoning? Of course Greg is okay, I'd never hurt him…too bad anyways.
LuvinNickyStokes-
Hehe, Like I say before, I'd never hurt him too bad. And there is a sequel, so there will be more angst on it's way, of course.
Unlikely-to-bear-it-
Love the enthusiasm! And the sequel will come in due time. No worries.
And various thanks to everyone else who reviewed, you guys really do make my day!
The Sequel will start posting soon, but more and likely at a slower rate than this was. Here's a short snippet of info on what it will be about.
Summer Rains
An accident leaves Greg struggling to remember who he once was as well as where he belongs in the world around him as the rest of the CSI team works together to stop a deadly serial killer before they lose one of their own.