Fic : Demons Part 22
Title: When Demons Come a Calling - Part 22
Author: Kimmi
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I only wished I owned Sara and Catherine. Unfortunately CBS does, I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: When Sara’s past comes back to haunt her it arrives with a vengeance.
Spoilers: Up to Nesting Dolls, after that it takes a sharp left turn.
Authors Notes: This is dark, full of angst and deals with themes of rape and torture, although I don’t think I got too graphic. I also do not have a beta so there will be errors.
Chapters | 1 | 2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Part 22
Sara let out a heavy sigh as the door closed behind Nick with a soft thud. He had offered to stay until Catherine got there but the sweet natured Texan was dead on his feet and she didn’t want him falling asleep at the wheel. So she’d insisted that he go home and rest. Now she was beginning to regret it. It would be at least another twenty minutes before the blonde got there after dropping Lindsey off at school.
Very quickly after being moved into a private room the brunette had found herself growing anxious whenever she was left on her own for very long. Unlike the ICU where there was a constant cacophony of sounds from machines and people, this floor was nearly silent most of the time. It reminded her too much of the overnight hospital stays she’d had as a child, alone and frightened.
Her parents had never cared enough to stay with her even though they’d put her there, she should probably consider herself lucky that they’d gotten her medical attention at all. Thinking about it now she was surprised that they hadn’t been worried she might slip up and say something to arouse the suspicions of the doctors or nurses, but then again they had drilled ‘family business isn’t discussed outside the family’ into her hard enough to leave scars. Those nights alone had been a blessing and a curse. On one hand she knew that for one or two days she didn’t have to worry about trying to make herself invisible, didn’t have to worry about that night’s fight spilling into her room or being yanked out of bed at three in the morning to clean the entire house because someone left a dirty plate on the counter. On the other it had been terrifying to be alone in a strange place with strange smells, strange sounds and strange people.
The guys and Brass had been really great, staggering their breaks so that as one was leaving another was coming for several hours in the evening, and Sofia and some of the techs had even dropped by a few times. They also stopped by before and after their shifts to fill the time between Catherine’s visits. She was pretty certain the lithe blonde had something to do with their timing. Even though Cath hadn’t said anything she had surely picked up on Sara’s reluctance to be alone and taken steps to make sure someone was with her as much as possible.
Grissom, on the other hand, had so far kept to his promise to give her time and space and had stayed away. Sara knew she was going to have to talk to him sooner or later but she was leaning toward later, much later if she could help it. Deep down she didn’t want to hurt him but there was a tiny part of her that wanted him to know some of the pain he had caused her all these years. There was still this little bubble of anger over the fact that he had told a murderer that she wasn’t worth the risk of getting involved with. So much had cut her fragile ego to the core, but that one had had felt angry violent scars that she wasn’t sure would ever heal.
Sara was jarred out of her thoughts as the door to her room swung open. For just a second her spirits lifted and a smile lit her face until she realized that it wasn’t her blonde co-worker coming in but the dayshift nurse. The grin slipped a bit but didn’t completely disappear. She wasn’t the person the brunette wanted to see but at least she was company.
“Good morning Sara. How are you feeling today?” Alison Dean greeted the woman on the bed with a large smile before moving to begin taking her morning vitals. The long limbed brunette had quickly become her favorite patient. Although the woman had obviously been through something extremely traumatic she never complained about anything except wanting to go home, never demanded special treatment, never asked for anything really. In the four days she had been looking after Sara, she had brought the woman an extra blanket and two pitchers of ice chips. Her friends and family usually took care of whatever the brunette needed leaving Alison very little to do other than clean wounds and change bandages.
“Better, thanks.” Sara winced as the perky woman inflated the blood pressure cuff. She had to grit her teeth to keep from hissing until the tiny nurse was through.
Alison bit her lip in empathy. Having your pressure taken could be uncomfortable under normal conditions since the cuff had to be so tight to get an accurate reading but with the amount of bruising on the woman’s body it had to be incredibly painful for Sara. She had been surprised the first morning she had done it that the shy woman hadn’t said a word, just closed her eyes and waited for it to be over. “And where is that lovely partner of yours this morning?”
“She should be on her way. She had to take Lindsey to school.” The first time Nurse Dean had asked about her partner Sara had stared at her in confusion for a minute until Alison had prompted her with a description and she realized the short woman was talking about Catherine. She didn’t know where the woman had gotten the impression that CSI’s had fixed partnerships like cops but she hadn’t felt like explaining the difference and had simply let it go.
It also seemed as though the lively brunette had misinformed the entire nursing staff since that was how they all referred to her blonde colleague. She had to admit that if she was forced to work cases with only one person it would probably be Cath. The older woman challenged and complimented her in ways no one else did. Once upon a time she would have said Grissom, but now she didn’t even know if was going to be able to work with him at all.
“Oh she is such a cutie, gonna be a real heartbreaker when she’s older too. She really seems to be a wonderful girl, so polite and considerate. The way she was fluffing your pillow yesterday and fussing over you was just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.” The first time Alison had seen the little girl, she had been sitting beside Sara while the brunette helped her with her homework and Catherine looked on with a huge grin on her face. They made such a beautiful family that the nurse couldn’t help but be a little jealous. She hoped that someday she found a man as devoted to her as the blonde was to her patient and that they had a wonderful child to share their lives with.
“She’s a lot like her mom.” Sara smiled at the memory. She had been sifting around on the bed, trying to get comfortable when Lindsey had told her to ‘stop fidgeting and lean up’. The girl had sounded so much like Catherine that she had complied without thought. The little blonde had adjusted her pillows and then scolded the brunette for not asking for help. She had been in ‘mothering’ mode ever since her first visit.
When Linds had come back into the room after Sara’s flashback and mini-breakdown, the girl had rushed to her side frightened that she had done something wrong. The brunette had stumbled and stuttered her way through a vague explanation of what had happened that in the end hadn’t made much sense but had gotten across to the child that it wasn’t her fault. Lindsey had accepted it with a skeptical look but hadn’t pressed the issue. Instead she had climbed back up on the bed and proceeded to regale Sara with talk of her school and her friends. It had been the longest and easiest conversation the introverted woman had ever had with a kid during her adult life.
“Oh I bet. I’m sure there were quite a few broken hearts the day you snagged Catherine.” Alison laughed as she turned to dispose of the gauze that had covered the brunette’s shoulder wound. She was sure a few hearts had shattered over the brunette as well, but kept that to herself so as not to embarrass Sara, although she was tempted just to see the woman blush again. The last time she had paid the woman a compliment her patient had turned as red as a vine ripened tomato.
The nurse’s odd comment caused Sara to frown in confusion. Why would she think that Catherine being her partner would break anyone’s heart? Alison didn’t even know how great a CSI the blonde was. It really didn’t make any sense to her. She was still trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together when her doctor made his daily appearance.
“Good morning Ms. Sidle, Nurse Dean. Let’s have a look, shall we?” Dr. Kingsley checked the notes on the chart before he began probing the sight of the incision he’d made to repair the damage the bullet had made to Sara’s shoulder. “Well everything looks good, no sign of infection and you’re healing well. I think you’re ready to go home this afternoon, provided you have someone that can stay with you. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be alone until you have full use of at least on arm. I’ll want to see you next week to remove the stitches and set up some occupational therapy sessions.”
“Sara’s partner should be here shortly and I doubt Catherine will leave her alone for a second once she gets her home.” Alison provided as she began to put a fresh bandage on the brunette’s shoulder.
“Ah yes, your partner, I’ve been meaning to speak to you about her. You really should update your file. Since you have no next of kin we allowed her a little leeway with information and visitation but without the proper documentation she can not make any decisions regarding your medical treatment. If you have a domestic partnership agreement you should have it in your file or at the very least a power of attorney, I personally recommend having both. Now as soon as Ms. Willows arrives we’ll start working on your discharge papers.” Kingsley could tell by the look on his patient’s face that she was feeling properly chastised. He just hoped that she heeded his advice, with a job like theirs, there was always a danger that she or her partner could end up back in the hospital.
Sara was in such shock that she didn’t even notice the doctor and nurse leaving the room. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that that was the kind of partnership the hospital staff thought she had with Catherine. It never even crossed her mind for a second that they all thought the blonde was her girlfriend. No, that wasn’t exactly right. Domestic partnership agreement suggested something deeper than just girlfriend. Holy crap they thought Cath was her wife! The brunette had no idea how they could have gotten that idea on their own, the only physical affection the blonde had ever showed toward her was a few kisses on the forehead and a hug or two. Someone had to have deliberately given them that impression. And there was only one person she could think of that could have or would have done it.
“Sara, yoo-hoo earth to Sara.”
Speak of the devil. “Hello dear, get Lindsey off to school okay?” Sara’s voice was sugary sweet as she greeted the blonde. She was going to have some fun with this.
Catherine frowned more from the unexpected endearment than from the strange tone. She had called Sara sweetheart and sweetie a number of times in the last week but the brunette had never once responded in kind. Something was off. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Why would something be going on honey? I’m just asking my wife about our daughter?” Sara swore she could actually see a light bulb going on over the blonde’s head as realization hit her squarely between the eyes and she had to fight to keep the smile straining to get free under control.
“Oh, that.” Catherine felt a blush rising hot and fast up her cheat and across her face. She had thought she had gotten away with that little deception, had hoped that Sara would never find out about it.
“Oh yes, that. You know I don’t remember getting hit in the head but I must have if I forgot that we’re married. And whatever I got hit with must have been really heavy too since I don’t even remember us dating. So tell me Catherine, how in the world did everyone in this hospital get the idea that we are together?” Sara could see the fear and embarrassment on the blonde’s face but she wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily.
“It was an accident, but they were telling me how you were and letting me see you so I couldn’t tell them that.” Cath hoped that this wouldn’t make the brunette reconsider staying with her. She should have told her about the mix up sooner, but she had been nervous as to how Sara would react.
“How do you accidentally tell someone you’re my wife?” Sara couldn’t wait to hear this story.
Even days later the memory of those fearful hours, not knowing if the brunette was going to live or die, was burned into Catherine’s mind so deep she doubted it would ever really fade. “I was terrified. I didn’t know if you were going to be okay and then the doctor called you my friend and I sort of lost it. I yelled at her that you weren’t, that you were more than that, and she took that to mean we were a couple. You had put yourself between me and a homicidal maniac, you got shot, you were willing to die for me. Friend just didn’t seem to be… enough. Once I realized how she had taken what I said, the doctor that treated you in the ER was giving me an update on your condition and I couldn’t correct the mistake. I needed to know if you were going to be okay, and that it got me the information. So I’m sorry if I’ve pissed you off but I’m not sorry for taking advantage of a misunderstanding.”
Sara suddenly felt awful for teasing the blonde. If their situation had been reversed, the brunette knew she would have done the same thing. “I’m not mad. I just wish you had given me a heads-up so I didn’t look like a complete idiot. The first time the nurse asked me where my partner was all I could do was stare at her until she started dropping hints. Of course once I figured out she was talking about you, I was thinking partners like cops, not girlfriends.”
“So you’re not upset that everyone here thinks you’re a lesbian and married to me? Just that you didn’t know about it?” Catherine felt a need to clarify what the brunette had told her. Sara guarded her privacy like pit bull with a meaty bone.
“Catherine you are one of the most intelligent and beautiful women I’ve ever met. I doubt there’s one person on the planet that would mind if people mistook you for their wife.” As the blonde’s eyes widened at her compliment, Sara noticed that they had matching blushes rising up their cheeks. In an effort to deflect attention from her big mouth, the brunette rushed on. “I just don’t like people thinking I’m a complete moron. I’m sitting there doing an impression of a fish out of water while my doctor is scolding me about not having domestic partnership papers or power of attorney in my file. Of course he had a point. Without any family, if something happens to me there’s no one that can pull the plug.”
Not wanting to embarrass the brunette further, Catherine chose not to comment on the first part of her little speech. “What about a living will? If you had one in your files they’d have to follow whatever instructions you put in it.”
“I’ve thought about it but I think I’d rather have a living breathing person that I can trust to make the decisions for me if I can’t. I don’t want to end up drooling all over myself, being kept alive by machines while some stranger has to change my diaper. If there’s no hope that I’ll recover, I want someone to put me out of my misery.” Sara hadn’t really considered giving someone the power to make life and death decisions for her until the doctor brought it up. But now that he had an idea was taking shape in her mind and she hoped that the other woman would agree to what she wanted to ask.
“That’s a big responsibility. You would definitely have to have someone you could trust implicitly.” Catherine ran through the choices available and settled on Nick as the person Sara would most likely choose. The younger woman and Warrick weren’t that close, Greg was Greg, and once upon a time it might have been Grissom but that time was probably past. The brunette and the Texan had always had good relationship, even flirted a bit when she had first come to work with them. And Stokes was a solid guy, dependable, trustworthy; she could do a whole lot worse than having him look after her interests if she was ever in that situation.
“I know. That’s why I want you to do it.” Sara hardly dared to look at the blonde. It was a lot to ask of anyone, and especially of someone you could barely be civil to not two weeks ago, but things had changed. In the blink of a madman’s eye, their entire relationship had been flipped upside down. It had continued to evolve over the past week and now the brunette knew that the blonde was someone she could depend on in tough times, lean on during bad times and entrust her life to. Catherine had proved to her time and again that she believed in and trusted her, Sara wanted to know her that she felt the same.
Catherine felt her jaw drop. She hadn’t even considered herself in that role. The blonde had just assumed that Sara would want someone that she hadn’t had an indifferent and sometimes an antagonistic relationship with for most of their association. True they had bonded in a way that she had never thought possible, but then she had never stood beside someone and looked death in the eye either. Still, could she carry through if it ever came down to it? Could she actually end the younger woman’s life? Could she let her go even if that was what Sara wanted? “I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes either. There are a lot of things we need to talk about and I need to think about it.”
Sara was just as glad that Catherine hadn’t turned her down flat as she was that the blonde hadn’t accepted. It was a huge decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. “Well we can talk about it more this afternoon after we get to your place.”
“My what? They’re letting you out of here? Today?” At Sara’s nod, Catherine leaned over and lightly tapped the end of brunette’s nose. “You little brat, that should’ve been the first thing you told me instead of messing with me about the whole marriage thing!”
“Sorry dear.” Sara tried to look contrite but failed miserably as she smiled wide enough to show the gap between her teeth.
Catherine just barely managed to keep an answering grin off her face as she narrowed her eyes at the brunette. It was good to have Sara smiling and joking, even if it was at her expense. Of course that didn’t mean she was just going to sit there and take it. “Shut up.”
Seeing the smile trying to fight its way onto the blonde’s lips and the twinkle shinning in her crystalline blue eyes Sara couldn’t seem to help herself. “Yes dear.”
TBC
Author: Kimmi
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I only wished I owned Sara and Catherine. Unfortunately CBS does, I’m just borrowing them.
Summary: When Sara’s past comes back to haunt her it arrives with a vengeance.
Spoilers: Up to Nesting Dolls, after that it takes a sharp left turn.
Authors Notes: This is dark, full of angst and deals with themes of rape and torture, although I don’t think I got too graphic. I also do not have a beta so there will be errors.
Chapters | 1 | 2-3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
Part 22
Sara let out a heavy sigh as the door closed behind Nick with a soft thud. He had offered to stay until Catherine got there but the sweet natured Texan was dead on his feet and she didn’t want him falling asleep at the wheel. So she’d insisted that he go home and rest. Now she was beginning to regret it. It would be at least another twenty minutes before the blonde got there after dropping Lindsey off at school.
Very quickly after being moved into a private room the brunette had found herself growing anxious whenever she was left on her own for very long. Unlike the ICU where there was a constant cacophony of sounds from machines and people, this floor was nearly silent most of the time. It reminded her too much of the overnight hospital stays she’d had as a child, alone and frightened.
Her parents had never cared enough to stay with her even though they’d put her there, she should probably consider herself lucky that they’d gotten her medical attention at all. Thinking about it now she was surprised that they hadn’t been worried she might slip up and say something to arouse the suspicions of the doctors or nurses, but then again they had drilled ‘family business isn’t discussed outside the family’ into her hard enough to leave scars. Those nights alone had been a blessing and a curse. On one hand she knew that for one or two days she didn’t have to worry about trying to make herself invisible, didn’t have to worry about that night’s fight spilling into her room or being yanked out of bed at three in the morning to clean the entire house because someone left a dirty plate on the counter. On the other it had been terrifying to be alone in a strange place with strange smells, strange sounds and strange people.
The guys and Brass had been really great, staggering their breaks so that as one was leaving another was coming for several hours in the evening, and Sofia and some of the techs had even dropped by a few times. They also stopped by before and after their shifts to fill the time between Catherine’s visits. She was pretty certain the lithe blonde had something to do with their timing. Even though Cath hadn’t said anything she had surely picked up on Sara’s reluctance to be alone and taken steps to make sure someone was with her as much as possible.
Grissom, on the other hand, had so far kept to his promise to give her time and space and had stayed away. Sara knew she was going to have to talk to him sooner or later but she was leaning toward later, much later if she could help it. Deep down she didn’t want to hurt him but there was a tiny part of her that wanted him to know some of the pain he had caused her all these years. There was still this little bubble of anger over the fact that he had told a murderer that she wasn’t worth the risk of getting involved with. So much had cut her fragile ego to the core, but that one had had felt angry violent scars that she wasn’t sure would ever heal.
Sara was jarred out of her thoughts as the door to her room swung open. For just a second her spirits lifted and a smile lit her face until she realized that it wasn’t her blonde co-worker coming in but the dayshift nurse. The grin slipped a bit but didn’t completely disappear. She wasn’t the person the brunette wanted to see but at least she was company.
“Good morning Sara. How are you feeling today?” Alison Dean greeted the woman on the bed with a large smile before moving to begin taking her morning vitals. The long limbed brunette had quickly become her favorite patient. Although the woman had obviously been through something extremely traumatic she never complained about anything except wanting to go home, never demanded special treatment, never asked for anything really. In the four days she had been looking after Sara, she had brought the woman an extra blanket and two pitchers of ice chips. Her friends and family usually took care of whatever the brunette needed leaving Alison very little to do other than clean wounds and change bandages.
“Better, thanks.” Sara winced as the perky woman inflated the blood pressure cuff. She had to grit her teeth to keep from hissing until the tiny nurse was through.
Alison bit her lip in empathy. Having your pressure taken could be uncomfortable under normal conditions since the cuff had to be so tight to get an accurate reading but with the amount of bruising on the woman’s body it had to be incredibly painful for Sara. She had been surprised the first morning she had done it that the shy woman hadn’t said a word, just closed her eyes and waited for it to be over. “And where is that lovely partner of yours this morning?”
“She should be on her way. She had to take Lindsey to school.” The first time Nurse Dean had asked about her partner Sara had stared at her in confusion for a minute until Alison had prompted her with a description and she realized the short woman was talking about Catherine. She didn’t know where the woman had gotten the impression that CSI’s had fixed partnerships like cops but she hadn’t felt like explaining the difference and had simply let it go.
It also seemed as though the lively brunette had misinformed the entire nursing staff since that was how they all referred to her blonde colleague. She had to admit that if she was forced to work cases with only one person it would probably be Cath. The older woman challenged and complimented her in ways no one else did. Once upon a time she would have said Grissom, but now she didn’t even know if was going to be able to work with him at all.
“Oh she is such a cutie, gonna be a real heartbreaker when she’s older too. She really seems to be a wonderful girl, so polite and considerate. The way she was fluffing your pillow yesterday and fussing over you was just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.” The first time Alison had seen the little girl, she had been sitting beside Sara while the brunette helped her with her homework and Catherine looked on with a huge grin on her face. They made such a beautiful family that the nurse couldn’t help but be a little jealous. She hoped that someday she found a man as devoted to her as the blonde was to her patient and that they had a wonderful child to share their lives with.
“She’s a lot like her mom.” Sara smiled at the memory. She had been sifting around on the bed, trying to get comfortable when Lindsey had told her to ‘stop fidgeting and lean up’. The girl had sounded so much like Catherine that she had complied without thought. The little blonde had adjusted her pillows and then scolded the brunette for not asking for help. She had been in ‘mothering’ mode ever since her first visit.
When Linds had come back into the room after Sara’s flashback and mini-breakdown, the girl had rushed to her side frightened that she had done something wrong. The brunette had stumbled and stuttered her way through a vague explanation of what had happened that in the end hadn’t made much sense but had gotten across to the child that it wasn’t her fault. Lindsey had accepted it with a skeptical look but hadn’t pressed the issue. Instead she had climbed back up on the bed and proceeded to regale Sara with talk of her school and her friends. It had been the longest and easiest conversation the introverted woman had ever had with a kid during her adult life.
“Oh I bet. I’m sure there were quite a few broken hearts the day you snagged Catherine.” Alison laughed as she turned to dispose of the gauze that had covered the brunette’s shoulder wound. She was sure a few hearts had shattered over the brunette as well, but kept that to herself so as not to embarrass Sara, although she was tempted just to see the woman blush again. The last time she had paid the woman a compliment her patient had turned as red as a vine ripened tomato.
The nurse’s odd comment caused Sara to frown in confusion. Why would she think that Catherine being her partner would break anyone’s heart? Alison didn’t even know how great a CSI the blonde was. It really didn’t make any sense to her. She was still trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together when her doctor made his daily appearance.
“Good morning Ms. Sidle, Nurse Dean. Let’s have a look, shall we?” Dr. Kingsley checked the notes on the chart before he began probing the sight of the incision he’d made to repair the damage the bullet had made to Sara’s shoulder. “Well everything looks good, no sign of infection and you’re healing well. I think you’re ready to go home this afternoon, provided you have someone that can stay with you. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be alone until you have full use of at least on arm. I’ll want to see you next week to remove the stitches and set up some occupational therapy sessions.”
“Sara’s partner should be here shortly and I doubt Catherine will leave her alone for a second once she gets her home.” Alison provided as she began to put a fresh bandage on the brunette’s shoulder.
“Ah yes, your partner, I’ve been meaning to speak to you about her. You really should update your file. Since you have no next of kin we allowed her a little leeway with information and visitation but without the proper documentation she can not make any decisions regarding your medical treatment. If you have a domestic partnership agreement you should have it in your file or at the very least a power of attorney, I personally recommend having both. Now as soon as Ms. Willows arrives we’ll start working on your discharge papers.” Kingsley could tell by the look on his patient’s face that she was feeling properly chastised. He just hoped that she heeded his advice, with a job like theirs, there was always a danger that she or her partner could end up back in the hospital.
Sara was in such shock that she didn’t even notice the doctor and nurse leaving the room. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that that was the kind of partnership the hospital staff thought she had with Catherine. It never even crossed her mind for a second that they all thought the blonde was her girlfriend. No, that wasn’t exactly right. Domestic partnership agreement suggested something deeper than just girlfriend. Holy crap they thought Cath was her wife! The brunette had no idea how they could have gotten that idea on their own, the only physical affection the blonde had ever showed toward her was a few kisses on the forehead and a hug or two. Someone had to have deliberately given them that impression. And there was only one person she could think of that could have or would have done it.
“Sara, yoo-hoo earth to Sara.”
Speak of the devil. “Hello dear, get Lindsey off to school okay?” Sara’s voice was sugary sweet as she greeted the blonde. She was going to have some fun with this.
Catherine frowned more from the unexpected endearment than from the strange tone. She had called Sara sweetheart and sweetie a number of times in the last week but the brunette had never once responded in kind. Something was off. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Why would something be going on honey? I’m just asking my wife about our daughter?” Sara swore she could actually see a light bulb going on over the blonde’s head as realization hit her squarely between the eyes and she had to fight to keep the smile straining to get free under control.
“Oh, that.” Catherine felt a blush rising hot and fast up her cheat and across her face. She had thought she had gotten away with that little deception, had hoped that Sara would never find out about it.
“Oh yes, that. You know I don’t remember getting hit in the head but I must have if I forgot that we’re married. And whatever I got hit with must have been really heavy too since I don’t even remember us dating. So tell me Catherine, how in the world did everyone in this hospital get the idea that we are together?” Sara could see the fear and embarrassment on the blonde’s face but she wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily.
“It was an accident, but they were telling me how you were and letting me see you so I couldn’t tell them that.” Cath hoped that this wouldn’t make the brunette reconsider staying with her. She should have told her about the mix up sooner, but she had been nervous as to how Sara would react.
“How do you accidentally tell someone you’re my wife?” Sara couldn’t wait to hear this story.
Even days later the memory of those fearful hours, not knowing if the brunette was going to live or die, was burned into Catherine’s mind so deep she doubted it would ever really fade. “I was terrified. I didn’t know if you were going to be okay and then the doctor called you my friend and I sort of lost it. I yelled at her that you weren’t, that you were more than that, and she took that to mean we were a couple. You had put yourself between me and a homicidal maniac, you got shot, you were willing to die for me. Friend just didn’t seem to be… enough. Once I realized how she had taken what I said, the doctor that treated you in the ER was giving me an update on your condition and I couldn’t correct the mistake. I needed to know if you were going to be okay, and that it got me the information. So I’m sorry if I’ve pissed you off but I’m not sorry for taking advantage of a misunderstanding.”
Sara suddenly felt awful for teasing the blonde. If their situation had been reversed, the brunette knew she would have done the same thing. “I’m not mad. I just wish you had given me a heads-up so I didn’t look like a complete idiot. The first time the nurse asked me where my partner was all I could do was stare at her until she started dropping hints. Of course once I figured out she was talking about you, I was thinking partners like cops, not girlfriends.”
“So you’re not upset that everyone here thinks you’re a lesbian and married to me? Just that you didn’t know about it?” Catherine felt a need to clarify what the brunette had told her. Sara guarded her privacy like pit bull with a meaty bone.
“Catherine you are one of the most intelligent and beautiful women I’ve ever met. I doubt there’s one person on the planet that would mind if people mistook you for their wife.” As the blonde’s eyes widened at her compliment, Sara noticed that they had matching blushes rising up their cheeks. In an effort to deflect attention from her big mouth, the brunette rushed on. “I just don’t like people thinking I’m a complete moron. I’m sitting there doing an impression of a fish out of water while my doctor is scolding me about not having domestic partnership papers or power of attorney in my file. Of course he had a point. Without any family, if something happens to me there’s no one that can pull the plug.”
Not wanting to embarrass the brunette further, Catherine chose not to comment on the first part of her little speech. “What about a living will? If you had one in your files they’d have to follow whatever instructions you put in it.”
“I’ve thought about it but I think I’d rather have a living breathing person that I can trust to make the decisions for me if I can’t. I don’t want to end up drooling all over myself, being kept alive by machines while some stranger has to change my diaper. If there’s no hope that I’ll recover, I want someone to put me out of my misery.” Sara hadn’t really considered giving someone the power to make life and death decisions for her until the doctor brought it up. But now that he had an idea was taking shape in her mind and she hoped that the other woman would agree to what she wanted to ask.
“That’s a big responsibility. You would definitely have to have someone you could trust implicitly.” Catherine ran through the choices available and settled on Nick as the person Sara would most likely choose. The younger woman and Warrick weren’t that close, Greg was Greg, and once upon a time it might have been Grissom but that time was probably past. The brunette and the Texan had always had good relationship, even flirted a bit when she had first come to work with them. And Stokes was a solid guy, dependable, trustworthy; she could do a whole lot worse than having him look after her interests if she was ever in that situation.
“I know. That’s why I want you to do it.” Sara hardly dared to look at the blonde. It was a lot to ask of anyone, and especially of someone you could barely be civil to not two weeks ago, but things had changed. In the blink of a madman’s eye, their entire relationship had been flipped upside down. It had continued to evolve over the past week and now the brunette knew that the blonde was someone she could depend on in tough times, lean on during bad times and entrust her life to. Catherine had proved to her time and again that she believed in and trusted her, Sara wanted to know her that she felt the same.
Catherine felt her jaw drop. She hadn’t even considered herself in that role. The blonde had just assumed that Sara would want someone that she hadn’t had an indifferent and sometimes an antagonistic relationship with for most of their association. True they had bonded in a way that she had never thought possible, but then she had never stood beside someone and looked death in the eye either. Still, could she carry through if it ever came down to it? Could she actually end the younger woman’s life? Could she let her go even if that was what Sara wanted? “I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes either. There are a lot of things we need to talk about and I need to think about it.”
Sara was just as glad that Catherine hadn’t turned her down flat as she was that the blonde hadn’t accepted. It was a huge decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. “Well we can talk about it more this afternoon after we get to your place.”
“My what? They’re letting you out of here? Today?” At Sara’s nod, Catherine leaned over and lightly tapped the end of brunette’s nose. “You little brat, that should’ve been the first thing you told me instead of messing with me about the whole marriage thing!”
“Sorry dear.” Sara tried to look contrite but failed miserably as she smiled wide enough to show the gap between her teeth.
Catherine just barely managed to keep an answering grin off her face as she narrowed her eyes at the brunette. It was good to have Sara smiling and joking, even if it was at her expense. Of course that didn’t mean she was just going to sit there and take it. “Shut up.”
Seeing the smile trying to fight its way onto the blonde’s lips and the twinkle shinning in her crystalline blue eyes Sara couldn’t seem to help herself. “Yes dear.”
TBC