Sources

Chapter 6

The kettle began to whistle, and Grissom set about preparing himself a cup of tea. He opened the Las Vegas Sun to the crossword puzzle, trying to distract himself.

"14 across. Four letters. Clue: ---- Lee, noted pie-maker." He thought a moment. "Sara."

Staring at the page with his brows furrowed, he continued. "14 down. Five letters. Clue: Move like a crab." He laughed in exasperation. "Sidle."

So much for distraction. He put the newspaper aside and took a sip of tea.

Four months had given Grissom plenty of time to think of how he should have answered Sara's question. There was the simple "yes." The honest "I already do." The X-rated wordless answer where his mouth did all the talking. But if he had the chance again, he knew what he would say. Not that he'd have the chance again.

Back at the hospital, Sara checked to be sure that Grissom had left, then dialed a number on her cell. "Cath, it's me. Are you at the lab? You are. Is Grissom there? Great, thanks. Everything's fine, I'll see you later."

Satisfied that Grissom would not be in his office, Sara called him there, leaving a terse message that she would need to take a few personal days and miss work. As she hung up without saying goodbye, she heard Mandy groan behind her. She sat down next to the bed with a forced smile.

"Hey kiddo, how're you feeling?"

"Eh, you know." Mandy's speech was slower and more slurred than it had been before her nap. Sara figured it was the medication.

"Can you rate the pain on a scale of zero to ten, with zero being the most painful?"

Mandy cracked a tiny smile. "I never was all that good at math. Hey, any chance I can get this stupid neck brace off? I feel fine."

Sara frowned. "They probably need to x-ray it."

"Well then tell them to do it already, I feel like one of those dogs with the plastic cones around their necks."

Venturing into the hallway, Sara looked around for a nurse. She was so intent on finding one that she didn't notice the angry-looking young man marching toward her. He strode purposefully into Mandy's room.

"You stupid bitch, you called the cops?" Sara's eyes widened when she heard his outburst, and she ran into the room. The man had a tight grip on Mandy's shoulder, looming over her menacingly.

"Remove your hands from her." The man looked up angrily into the barrel of Sara's gun. His eyes narrowed, but he removed his hand.

"You're not allowed to bring a gun into a hospital."

"You can if you're a law enforcement official," answered Sara with authority. "Hands against the wall." He slowly obliged.

Mandy started to laugh, taunting him. "How does it feel, big man? Look at you, you're quaking in your boots at the sight of my big scary sister. I love it."

He turned slightly. "You're Sara Sidle?"

Sara tried to hide her confusion. "Hey, I said against the wall."

"She's playing you, Sara. She wanted me to hit her. She begged me. She said it was the only way you would agree to see her."

Sara paused in the midst of dialing Jim Brass on her cell phone. She turned toward Mandy, who wore an inscrutable expression. "Man?"

Mandy looked away, unable to meet Sara's eyes. "I'm not pressing charges, Sar. Let him go."

The man took his hands off the wall and turned around slowly, giving Sara a calculating look that sent chills down her spine. She kept her gun raised. "Get out of here, now, before I change my mind."

He smirked a little. "Call me if you two ever decide you want a threesome. I bet you'd be a wildcat in the sack." Sara swallowed as he sauntered out the door.

She turned to Mandy in disbelief. "Tell me it's not true."

Mandy was silent for a long time before she spoke. "I hadn't seen you since I graduated from college. I figured now that I was an adult you wouldn't have time for me." She looked up at Sara, surprised by the fury she saw.

"You had a guy beat you senseless to get me to see you? Was it really that hard to pick up the phone and call me?"

Mandy answered back with equal anger. "I don't know, it must be, considering you haven't called me in six years. Not on my birthdays, not even when I wrote you to say that my father was paroled."

Sara felt a wave of shame wash over her. What Mandy was saying was true. She'd let herself get so immersed in work that she'd cut off the person who had meant the most to her.

She walked over and sat down next to Mandy with slumped shoulders. "I'm sorry, Man. I'm sorry that I didn't keep in touch, and I'm sorry you felt like you had to do this to get my attention."

A sniffling sound from the bed made her lift her head up to see that Mandy was crying. Sara was startled. She'd never seen Mandy cry. Taking the younger girl's hand in hers, she pulled her chair up closer to the bed.

"I want to hear everything," she said. Mandy looked confused. "I want to hear everything that's happened to you in the past six years. Don't leave out a single day."

Mandy managed a small laugh. "Well, this one day, I did my laundry and turned all my whites pink."

Sara smiled back broadly. "I smelled like a decomposing body for three days once."

"I went skydiving with my dog!"

"I acted as bait for a serial killer!"

"I got a cameo in a Hollywood movie by flashing the director!"

"I fell in love with my boss and made a fool of myself by letting him know while we were stuck in an elevator!"

The two women howled with laughter. "Dude, order a pizza or something," Mandy said. "I have a feeling this is going to take a while."