When It's Too Late
When It's Too Late
When It’s Too Late
By tawnyteaser
Disclaimer: Not mine,
the characters, their universe and the song.
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game and this will probably be a one shot. I’m brainstorming
on my other stories. Oh and the song ‘Break Away’ is sung by
Kelly Clarkson and fits so nicely.
Sara walked out of the building and stared at the bright sun,
unseeing. Her heart was ripped, shredded into pieces and no one knew but
for her. Her lungs felt tight and she felt tears burning in her eyes.
When she had told Grissom that it might be too late she hadn’t meant
it. There would never be anyone for her but Grissom.
passed a few officers she knew on her way to her Tahoe. Sara climbed
into the SUV and gasped for air. She started the engine and reversed.
Her mind on auto pilot as she ran through the different ways she had
tried to gain his attention.
did. Grissom rethinking his evaluation of the evidence to do an
experiment? That wasn’t something he normally did and it had seemed at
the time that he had done that for her, but now she wasn’t so sure.
Maybe he had just done it to prove that he really did know it all.
Several Hours
Later…
Coming to Las Vegas had been the sign she had been looking for. Or what
she had thought she had been looking for. ‘Face it you sure can pick
‘em.’ Sara thought to herself. She thought of Grissom and Hank. Hank
had been charming, punctual and attentive everything that Grissom
wasn’t. Sara sighed again and finally allowed the tears to fall. She
didn’t notice the loud explosion or the sound of shattering glass as
she tuned out everything…everything but her misery.
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small town
And when the rain would fall down
I just stared out my window
Dreaming of a could-be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray (I would pray)
walked into his office and grabbed the assignment sheet before heading
to the break room. He found Warrick, Nick and Catherine all waiting
there for him, minus Sara.
“Well ladies and gents everything is being put on the back
burner for tonight. A multiple car accident that has shut interstate 9
since this morning, which means..”
“Road trip as Sara would say.” Warrick finished. “Hey where
is she?”
Grissom swallowed and shrugged. His refusal to her dinner
invitation still bothered him. He hadn’t thought. Hadn’t wanted to.
He mentally sighed. The explosion and everything combined had taken a
toll and to have to admit that he would need surgery was a crushing
blow. To have Sara come in and ask him out had been the wind that had
blown down his precarious house of cards.
“Knowing Sara she’s probably already at the scene, I mean she
does take I 9 to get home and to come to work so if it was closed then
she would know that a CSI would be requested right?” Nick pointed out
and bit into his apple.
Grissom nodded, it did sound plausible. “Well we can’t let
days have all the fun now can we? Let’s move.” He said.
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Trying
not to reach out
But when I'd to to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I pray (I would pray)
I could breakaway
Sara awoke slowly; aware that her body was one big ache and that
she couldn’t move. She could hear a metal saw and that was all she
knew as her world turned to black again.
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wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky
I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
“Geez what a mess.” Catherine muttered under her breath as
the Tahoe pulled up outside the yellow caution tape.
Warrick nodded his head in agreement. “Just look at this,
they’re still trying to get the vics out of the vehicles.” He said
and watched as Grissom and Nick climbed out of their Tahoe.
“Well I can’t see Sara anywhere, maybe she caught a ride with
Brass?” Nick said as he pulled out his kit and started to walk towards
the familiar figure of Jim Brass.
Grissom ignored the tight feeling in his chest as he too noticed
the absence of Sara. He turned his gaze to the mess before him. 20 odd
cars, SUV’s and 4 semis, not good.
“Hey guys. Glad you could make it. Ecklie and his crew were
here earlier but they left as soon as they heard you were on your
way.” Jim Brass said in greeting as he saw the four CSI’s walking up
to him.
“What’s the tally so far?” Catherine asked as she surveyed
the damage.
“Of the people recovered so far 15 have been sent to Desert
Palm and that’s only at the tail end. So far they’ve only reached
the middle. From what eye witnesses say a semi at the front blew a tire
lost control and started the whole chain.” Brass said and indicated to
where fire and rescue personal were still struggling to free the
victims.
“How many didn’t make it?” Nick asked softly as he looked
at the mass of wrecked metal before him.
“So far only 3. They’re expecting more as they get closer to
the epicenter.” Brass said and stood off to the side and crossed his
arms.
“Hey Brass did Sara come with you?”
Brass looked over at Warrick. “No. I didn’t even know she was
working tonight.”
The four CSI’s looked at each other and back at the pile up.
“Nick, Catherine start on the right. Warrick you’re with
me.”
“Are we doing what I think what we’re doing?” Catherine
said and put her kit down.
“This is the route that Sara takes on her way to work right?
Since she hasn’t shown up it’s likely to assume that she’s here
or-“ Grissom said and walked off not wanting to finish the sentence.
“I hope he’s wrong.” Nick said and headed over to where
emergency personal were taking turns removing wreckage to get to the
trapped or dying or dead.
warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)
And breakaway
Sara opened her eyes slowly as she heard voices around her.
“Help.” Her voice came out weak and Sara struggled not to panic.
“Help!” She ted ted and was rewarded by what felt like thousands of
needles piercing her body. She felt the blackness hovering on the
fringes of her vision but fought. She knew now that something was wrong
and that there had been an accident thus pinning her in her vehicle.
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wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky
I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Grissom raised his head as he heard a shout from one of the
firefighters.
“We got a live one! Pinned behind the steering column and other
injuries. I’m gonna need the jaws to get her out.”
Grissom felt his heart skip a beat as he grabbed Warricks
forearm.
“Get Cat and Nick here.” He said quietly and focused his
attention on the scene unfolding before him.
“Hey guys over here. Griss thinks it’s her!” Warrick
shouted to Catherine and Nick who were talking to Brass as they
collected what evidence they could.
“Damn.” Catherine said and finished labeling her envelope
before heading over to where Grissom was standing.
“You said it.” Brass said and looked o his his friend went
from scientist to man in love.
“What have they said man?” Nick asked as he took a spot
beside Warrick.
“Not good. Pinned and they’ve requested the jaws to extract
her.” Warrick said softly.
The four CSI’s and Brass looked on as the sound of a motor
fractured the eerie silence. The sound of metal being cut away, pausing
every now and then to have the piece removed then the roar of metal
being cut.
Grissom wasn’t a very religious man but today he was. He knew,
somehow he knew that the person being rescued was Sara. He felt numb, as
if it was somebody else going through it.
hundred floors
Swinging around wild indoors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway
Sara bit her lip as she felt the metal being cut away from her.
The pain was excruciating, a never-ending wave. She finally couldn’t
hold her screams in anymore and let them loose before falling into
oblivion as unconsciousness took hold.
Grissom felt his blood freeze as a scream ripped through the air.
It was her. There was no doubt left. “Sara.” He chocked out as yet
another scream filled the air.
“Oh my-“ Catherine said and put a hand over her mouth. Tears
filled her eyes as she too recognized her co-workers screams.
“Damn it, what are they doing to her!” Brass shouted.
Nick turned away and covered his ears. Warrick was silent, but
his wer were anguished.
Silence rained again as the sound of the Jaws of Life was put
aside.
“I’m going to need a hand here!” One of the firefighters
sa“Air“Air vac!” Another shouted.
“Eta air air one is 10 minutes.” Came a shouted reply from a
medic who had just been on the radio.
“I don’t know if she’ll last that long. Massive trauma to
torso, abdomen and lower extremities.”
“If she’s held on this long then she’s got something to
fight for.”
The team heard this exchange and hope fell and fear rose as they
heard the shouted words.
“Not this. Not Sara.” Nick chocked out.
Grissom clenched his hands into fists. The minutes seemed to go
as slow as evolution.
“Okay get a backboard ready, neck brace is on.”
The team held their breaths as they saw for the first time the
broken body of their co-worker. Blood was all they could see. She wascarecarefully placed on a backboard, strapped to it and then carried away
from the wreckage that had been her hell for the past few hours. The
team watched as a helicopter suddenly appeared and hovered, lowering a
basket.
“They’re not going to land it?” Warrick asked out loud,
incredulously.
“They can’t, there’s no room. I’m just glad that they had
this chopper for her.” Brass said, his eyes following the baskets
ascent to the helicopter, carrying one of his favourite CSI’s.
“I hate to say this but Ecklie should be brought back. I mean
we’re too emotionally involved right?” Nick said.
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team nodded their agreement and collected their kits. Right now making
sure that Sara would be okay would be their top priority.
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size="3">I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway
Sara floated. That was the only way she could describe the
feeling. Pain couldn’t touch her. She gazed down as if it was a movie,
and she was part of the audience. She saw Warrick, Nick, Catherine and
Brass’ reaction. She was touched but what really made her feel like
shouting with joy was the look on Grissoms’ face. Love, that
undeniable emotion was lying there. He could deny it to her face but
since she wasn’t even supposed to be seeing this she knew. ‘I
don’t want to die.’ She thought and reached, reached for the only
thing that kept her from giving up. Grissom.
Sara relaxed and ran towards him, away from the light and the
peace awaiting her there. She would give that up just to spend another
moment in his presence, to be able to smell him one more time, to see
him look at her with his blue, blue eyes. Sara sighed as she once again
felt the pain reach out and grab her. She could handle that. She could
handle anything now. ‘I’d go through hell just to tell him.’ She
thought and faded into unconsciousness, ready to fight to get back to
him.
Two Days Later…
“Well Mr. Grissom she’s not out of the woods yet but she’s
slowly on the mend. That last time I really thought she’d be ending up
on your caseload. But she’s a fighter, that one.”
“Thank you doctor.” Grissom said softly and carefully opened
the door to the room where Sara was being monitored. He walked slowly
over to her bedside and marveled at her survival. Tubes and bandages
masked her injuries and Grissom leaned down and kissed her bandaged
head. “I will never be late again Sara. You have my promise on
that.” He whispered as if he thought she could hear him. He smiled
gently and sat down in the chair closest to her bed. He reached out and
touched her hand gently. “I know now what to do about this, what to do
about us.” He said, more for himself then for the women he loved lying
there.
of what could have happened to poor Sara in Playing with Fire if she
hadn’t followed Grissom around. She could have been checking up with
Greg. Anyways I know I said that this would be a one shot but that might
change.
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