Title : AS SURE AS THE SUN
Written by SeudSidle
Author's note : Thanks my Beta, Rachel for her help.
Chapter 5
[Greg
Sanders]
“Look at the sky, Grissom.” Sara said. “Can you see how out in the distance a
storm is coming with all of those black clouds full of rainwater? But here the
clouds are few and as white as sheep. That’s how my life is, Griss.”
I looked at Nick. Huh? What did Sara mean by that? Nick looked as confused as I
was. I thought maybe Warrick was more confused than any of us – Nick and I had
acted like cats and dogs for Sara. When she was attacked, I went to the guy and
yelled at him. It wasn’t right, but I couldn’t allow him to treat Sara like
that.
Nick said a few things, I answered back, and soon we were drinking coffee from
my stash. He explained to me that Sara had shut him off, and I explained to him
that I cared for Sara more than he thought. Bottom line, we both care about
Sara. We buried the hatchet for Sara’s shake. Warrick saw only the part that I
was sharing my coffee with Nick, so he has no clue that we’re cool now.
“Sara…” Grissom began, but he stammered on his own words.
For crying out loud! Just fucking say it. We are not blind Grissom; we just
respect your private lives, dude. It’s simple, actually. Boy-to-man has the hots
for the so-sexy-girl. So-sexy-girl has the hots for the Boy-to-man. Boy-to-man
and so-sexy-girl found a room and nine months later, they’ll bring into life
their happily-ever-after baby. I swear those guys need a manual.
“You were never mine to loose…I guess what I want to say, Griss, is that if
you’re happy with Sofia, then be with her.”
I close the door of her room. Nick and I we were standing there and uh, ear
pricking. I was surprised to see Grissom still here. Maybe there’s hope for him
after all. But then Sara…you sure pick the time girl.
WHAT? Come on, girl! Grissom and Curtis? That makes my ears bleed. And what’s
this new shit? Sara Sidle giving up? Since when? Maybe it’s an after effect from
her head wound. Yeah, that’s it! She has a mild concussion, the doctor told us
yesterday. She’s not herself; Warrick even asked us if Sara has a twin sister
(If she has, I want to marry her).
I see Nick’s shocked face and his eyes glowing in a strange way. I push him away
and into the corner. I tell you it’s not an easy job. He convinced me to go to
the gym with him, and I have seen him lifting 150 lbs with no sweat. I know that
I can’t compare with Nick physically. He has the body and I have the mind.
Chicks like the funny, smart dudes, right?
“Let go, Greg.”
“Nick, man...”
“She’s lying in a hospital bed and all that Grissom can say is that he convinced
Curtis to stay.”
Nick had a point here but that’s not what mattered. I can’t let Nicky play
Sara’s older brother to Grissom. That’s her fight, and, believe it or not, I now
believe that Sara knows what she’s doing. The whole ‘if you love someone you let
him/her go’ thing just might wake Grissom up. Being a guy, I would fall for
that. It’s the ultimate love move.
“She runs the game, man.” I said.
He looked at me in a strange way. Nick has no clue about the love game. It’s
easy for him to find a woman with his cowboy smile and his Southern manners,
but, for the rest of us, love is a game. Or like the old song says: Love is a
battlefield.
“Just once, just once let me bash his head against the wall.” Nick grumbled.
“Calm down Stokes and let the lady play.” I said.
“Man, I hope you know what you are doing…” he said, sighing.
I smiled at him. I do know what I’m doing. I had a very good teacher: Sara. They
say that you have only two good teachers in your life. My first was in high
school, Mr. Mathews. He was the main reason why I choose to study chemistry. He
always had a cool project for us and he wasn’t the stereotypical high school
teacher. He rode a Harley and wore Led Zeppelin’s t-shirts. For me, any guy who
likes Led Zeppelin is on the top of my list.
For years, I thought that my second good teacher was during college at Berkeley,
but that was just because I was involved with her. Every Friday night for two
semesters, I would go to her apartment for a night of ‘private lessons’.
Chemistry was never the same after that.
But as much as I loved those ‘private lessons’ with Pat, if I were to choose
between her and Sara, I would choose Sara in a heartbeat. Sara has a very
special way; I call it ‘Sara’s way’. Yeah, I know. I can be very original if I
want to. Anyway, Sara isn’t just my cool teacher or my Friday night fuck. She’s
my friend, she’s my teacher, and above all, she respects me.
When I first went into the field and I had hard time collecting a fingerprint,
she wouldn’t say anything. She just took me to her place, sat with me, and
helped me until I collected it in one piece.
“Sara knows.” I said, and Nick smiled.
He smelled the flowers that he brought for her and closed his eyes. Stokes just
turned into a flower child. I look at the little file that I’m holding in my
hand. She’s going to love me even more after this, I have no doubt about that.
But Sara has a very strange way of showing her feelings – basically she doesn’t
show them to you.
“You think it’s okay if we go in now?” Nick asked me and I nodded.
We walked side by side and a small warning sign flashed in the back of my mind.
People might think of us as a couple, I thought to myself. I slowed my step and
then I could see Nick’s ass. Great, now people will think that he’s the man in
our relationship. I groaned and he turned back to look at me. Apparently, God
likes me because a nurse happened to walk by at the same time and Nick laughed,
thinking that I had groaned because of her. If I had seen her, I would have.
I was still looking at the nurse when I bumped into him. He had stopped abruptly
just outside of Sara’s room. He took a few deep breaths when he saw her for the
first time. I should have warned him. She wasn’t in critical condition, but I
should have warned him. But how could I have told him that she looks like she’d
been through three rounds with Tyson?
I put my arm on his shoulder and he shook his head. He just needed some time. I
went in first; after all, I have seen Sara already. I knocked on the door and
stepped inside. I put on my best smile and tried to act as if I didn’t see that
Sara’s good eye is red.
“Good morning, sunshine!” I greeted her.
I inched closer to Sara’s bed, but Grissom didn’t move. He kept his gaze focused
on the floor and didn’t acknowledge my presence. I sat down next to her on the
bed and kissed her cheek. She gave me a weak smile, but I could tell that she
had been crying. I thought to myself that I shouldn’t have left them alone
together for this long, but I was there for her now. I had a huge desire to make
her smile again.
Well, if Grissom never does pulls his head out of his ass, Sara won’t be alone
and I wanted to her know that. She has me, Nick and Warrick, loyal soldiers at
her service. She would be surprised to know that half the guys in the lab are in
love with her. I don’t know why she always thinks of herself as not being worth
it.
“Here, this is for you.” I said, offering her the file.
She looked at me curiously and struggled to open it, but I didn’t help her. I
know Sara and I knew she’d prefer to die rather than admit that she needed help.
I had a friend like her when I was younger; he almost drowned once because he
was too proud to admit that he was too tired to keep swimming. I don’t want to
think about what would have happened if I hadn’t been there for him. Sara
sometimes scares me. She pushes herself to her limits and beyond.
“Oh, Greg.” She whispered, her entire body shaking.
She was crying. I had never seen her cry before and I didn’t want to see her
crying again. A shadow fell over me and I turned to see who was behind me,
coming face-to-face with a furious Grissom. His blue eyes were darker than ever.
This wasn’t the bug man Grissom, this was the protector Grissom. He thought that
I had made his Sara cry and he looked about to kick my ass.
He had no clue what he was doing, only that he was following his instinct and
about six thousand years of human history. The male protects the female. At this
point I would like happily let Nick bash Grissom’s head against the wall, but
I’m afraid that still wouldn’t have helped much.
“You’re so stupid Greg; do you know how stupid you are? Do you know how much
that costs?”
“Yeah, I kind of paid for that.” I retorted.
“Why is Sara crying? What you do to her?” Nick demanded, as he burst in.
Oh great! The circus just came to town. Nick sure picked the time to come in!
Sara was crying a river, Grissom was thinking where to hide my dead body and now
Dirty Harry comes in.
“I gave her a photo.” I explained.
Nick swallowed hard and looked first at Grissom and then at me. It was like I
was watching the Discovery Channel live. It would be even better if I hadn’t
been part of the act. I turned my head towards Sara and I contained myself of
asking her how she felt about having two guys fighting over her. From the glare
she gave me I had no doubt that even in her condition she wanted to kick my ass.
“Greg, you shouldn’t have” she said, look back at the photograph. “I mean, thank
you.”
With her note of thanks, the tension in the room broke. She gave me a small hug.
Grissom retreated to the other side of the room and stared out the window. Under
his calm presence hides a cave man, I thought to myself. Sara motioned for me to
get even closer to her and when I did she sent me to heaven. She kissed my cheek
and whispered “I love you” into my ear.
It wasn’t the ‘I love you’ one would whisper into a lover’s ear after some
steamy sex, nor the ‘I love you’ that one utters to the love of one’s life, but
still I somehow managed to hear it from her. Sara Sidle admitted that she loves
me. I felt my cheeks turn scarlet and suddenly I was sweating nervously.
“I love you too.” I whispered back, not wanting the cave man to hear our
exchange.
**********
[Nick Stokes]
I have to be strong for her. I have to. She needs me now. You can do it Stokes.
Just go in, give her the flowers, and be her friend again. I tried to convince
myself that everything would be okay as I hovered outside her hospital room
door. We used to be best friends and I had even asked her for date advice on a
few occasions, since she’s a girl and all. Not that I followed her suggestions…
Okay, I told myself, I’ll just go in, chat with her about the weather, and then
I’ll ask to speak with her in private. It seemed like a good plan, simple and
flexible. I knew that she would never tell me about her ‘cloudy’ life but that
we’d talk about Grissom. I just couldn’t stand to see her put her life on hold
for a guy that prefers bugs over her and everything else.
The poor guy probably just doesn’t know what to do about her. Sara isn’t the
easiest person around to talk to. I thought that Grissom was tough, but damn!
She’s something else. She’s a handful. A beautiful handful.
“You know you can’t have her, hon, don’t you?” A strange voice said from behind
me.
I turned to see a short, older nurse with red hair who must have been watching
me. Why do women that age dye their hair? Don’t they realize that it’s
ridiculous?
“Who, me? Have who?” I asked, confused.
She looked around to see if anyone was coming and then said in a whisper, “The
flowers are for her? For the tall brunette in 490?”
I nodded my head, interested in what she had to say.
“You look like a nice boy, that’s the only reason why I’m telling you this.” She
began.
She pulled me away from the door and motioned for me to bend down so she could
whisper closer to my ear. I obliged, the investigator in me thinking this will
be fun. She kinds reminded me of my Aunt Betty. I didn’t know the nurse longer
than ten seconds but I would have bet my life that she’s a snoopy old lady.
“Tell me what, ma’am?” I encourage her.
“She’s...you know, a prostitute.” She says, seriously.
Sara? A prostitute? I try my best not to laugh. God, I’d bet the last time that
Sara had sex Clinton was back when Clinton was president. But then again thee
was that scum Hank… She said that they were just friends, but…
“A prostitute, ma’am?” I enquire, baiting her on to hear the rest of her story.
“Such lovely girl, it breaks my heart. Her..’man’ is with her now.”
“Her ‘man’?” I laughed out, honestly confused.
Who? Greg? She thought Greg was Sara’s ‘man’? If she knew better, she’d have
known that it was more the other way around. Sara could sell Greg for $10 and
he’d smile like an idiot.
“The one with the beard.” She whispered back, her eyes gleaming with a hint of
the devil.
Grissom.
“A bastard in my opinion.” She continued on with her theory. “First he hit her
and now he’s playing the good husband with her. He stayed all night in her room,
and today he only left for an hour. They all end up like her you know. Every
single one of them. That’s why I’m telling you this, because you’re a fine young
man with good manners and it’s a pity to waste your time.” The old nurse
finished her conspirational story and scooted off to the next room before I had
a chance to set her straight on the matter.
Well, I was right about one thing – she was certainly a snoopy old lady, and she
gave me some valuable information. So, Grissom didn’t leave her room at all? I
said to myself. Interesting. But I didn’t want to start thinking like that
because he has played with her so many times in the past and she has only just
recently put him behind her. I can’t believe it, but I started to think that
just maybe things could work out for those two.
I know that Sara likes him, a lot. Hell, she loves him. She’s never admitted it,
but I’m not that naďve. Grissom on the other hand doesn’t seem to love anyone
but his bugs and now he stays all night in her room, and after a triple I might
add!
I don’t even want to think of this, but what if Grissom is the right man for
Sara after all? When Sara first got here, he was as cozy with her as he was with
Catherine, and he’d known Cath for over a decade. But then something changed
last year, for the worse and they hardly even talked to each other. But now… now
maybe things are changing again. And of course leave it to Sidle to fuck things
up. I thought to myself. I believe that Greg and I are up for a long and juicy
talk.
But then when I entered Sara’s room, she was crying and Grissom looked somewhat
strange. If he hurt her again…
“Why is Sara crying? What you do to her?” I barked at him. I didn’t care that
he’s my boss or that he’s older than I am, if he had hurt her now, he would end
up a patient in this hospital, too!
“I gave her a photo.” Greg said, rather sheepishly
Greg? Greg made her cry? He’s supposed to be the funny one. If anyone can get
Sara to smile, it’s him. I had never seen Sara smile so wide than the day when
Greg passed his test and became a level I CSI. She didn’t smile that way when I
got the promotion, though. I guess she was right to be upset. I’m good at my
job, but she’s better.
“Greg, you shouldn’t have, I mean…thank you.” I heard Sara tell Greg in a soft
voice.
Then I saw her wave for to him to go closer to her. Since when are Greg and Sara
this close? I wonder, And why do I now feel like my flowers will take second
place after this mysterious photo from Greg? I had no clue what kind of photo
Greg could have given her to make her cry. Grissom naked? That’s a scary
thought!
I saw Sara give Greg a kiss on the cheek and I could feel Grissom go tense. He
didn’t like that one bit. When Sara whispered something into Greg’s ear, I
sensed Grissom’s entire body scream. I didn’t hear what Sara said, but Grissom
apparently did. For a moment, I was sure he was about to have a stroke – his
hands were shaking and his face went completely pale.
“Hey Griss, are you alright man?” I asked him.
He looked me like a hurt animal and stormed out of the room. What the hell? Greg
and Sara are looked as confused as I was. I’ve been confused a lot these past
few days. I shook my head, wondering when life had became so complicated. Well,
if Grissom has a problem with Greg, too bad for him. Greg is a good friend for
Sara.
“Aw, are those for me?” Sara asked me, pointing to the flowers in my hand.
I had picked out lilies, her favourite. My mother hates lilies. She says they
are flowers of death, but I knew Sara adored them. I know a few things that Sara
likes, aside from her job. She likes astronomy; she has more books on just that
one subject than I have books. She likes necklaces, she has hundreds of those
things.
I don’t know the important things in her life. I don’t know where she went to
high school, who her best friend in kinder garden was or even what her parents’
names are, but then again, it’s the small things that count. It’s the small
things that make her smile, like the lilies or Greg’s photo.
“All of them.” I told her, handing her the bouquet.
“Nick man, you suck.” Greg chided me. “When you bring flowers to a beautiful
woman hmm, Sara for example, you always must say to her that she looks more
beautiful than any flower!”
"Greg,” I shot him a look “You’re supposed to say that after the woman says that
the flowers are beautiful, which she hasn’t said yet!”
“That’s so by the book.” He whined.
“Nick, they are beautiful.” Sara said, smiling now at me.
Greg laughs and I grinned at her and said, “You’re more beautiful than any
flower, Sara. And I mean that.”
I think that Sara needed to hear that. I remember what it feels like to be lying
in a hospital bed. I would have given anything in the world to be in her place
now. None of this should have happened to her - she shouldn’t have taken that
case in first place. But when Sara gets an idea in her head, there is not
stopping her!
I stretched to get a better look at the photograph in Sara’s hand. She noticed
that I was trying to see it and handed it to me. It’s a black and white shot.
Didn’t she say that she had started photography lessons? I remembered suddenly.
I don’t know why, but that had surprised me. I had always imagined Sara
kickboxing or something like that. Photography is so gentle. But then again,
behind Sara’s kick-ass attitude, she really is more gentle and feminine than
most people know.
“Wow. This is really good. Is this Paris?” I asked her.
“The Marais, Paris. I like the colours and the shadows.” She told me. There was
suddenly so much passion in her voice.
"I like her photos. The tangible mysteries of the urban nightscape inform her
work.” She said, smiling.
“Please tell me that you quoted that.” I asked, laughing.
“You don’t think I could have come up with that on my own, Stokes?” she joked
back at me.
Hmm, Warrick wasn’t kidding when he said that Sara was in a strangely good mood.
He would have been there with me if he hadn’t had to take her case. Ecklie wants
the case to close as quickly as possible, as if anyone would give a damn about a
killer like Smarnimoff.
“Damn girl, what are they giving to you?” I asked her, thinking she must have
been on some strong meds to be that good of a mood.
“You better ask Greg here, he has the chemistry degree.” She laughed.
Greg picked up her file, read through it, and then looked at Sara, shaking his
head. Just as he was about to say something, the door to Sara’s room flew open
and Grissom barged in, glaring at Sara.
“I want to talk to you.” He stammered.
It’s definitely time for that chat with Greg, I thought to myself as I grabbed
Greg and we left Sara and Grissom alone.