His eyes fluttered for a moment before finally opening at long last against the light of day. His first conscious thought was of the antiseptic smell that assaulted his nose that alluded to his presence in a hospital. Muffled voices came to his ears next, but in a language foreign to him. However, some inflections of the human voice claim no nation, so the man could pick up on the sounds of surprise coming from the two women at his side.

"Monsieur?"

He still had not found his voice, but finally recognized his inclusion in a French-speaking society.

"Monsieur…?"

"Yes. Cath…"

The rest of his words were choked by a coughing fit that left him feeling weak and sore after five minutes of non-stop coughing. The croaked and unfamiliar sound of his own voice astound him, and he wondered how long he had been sleeping in the foreign place. Taking in his surroundings for the first time, he identified the owners of the voices that had awoken him. Two petite nurses with dark hair and formidable features stood over his bed while bestowing him with inquiring glances.

"Americenne?"

"Yes. Where is Cath? How long have I been here? Tell me where here is!"

Now that his voice was somewhat more stable, the man longed for knowledge of his present circumstances, remembering nothing of how he had come to be in this foreign hospital. His memories were instead dominated by the source of his happiness and his true savior, his Catherine. There seemed to be no sign of her and the man became very agitated with the lack of her presence.

The nurses seemed shocked and offended by his aggressive and angry attitude, and hurried from the room in response to his outburst without giving him any information. He now took the opportunity to observe his surroundings, which were bland and sterile at best. No flowers, cards, photos, or trace of a visitor. It now occurred to the temperamental man that he had no idea of his reason for being in the hospital so he assessed the nature of his injuries and was surprised to find no trace of physical damage to his person. Confusion and a little bit of fear now gripped him. Why was he in this hospital with no signs of injury and where the hell was his lover? A fear unlike anything he had ever known suddenly gripped him like a vice. What if her notorious absence meant something terrible had happened to Catherine. It felt like a two-ton elephant was crushing his lungs and preventing him from drawing breath.

"Beep, beep, beep…"

A heart rate machine that the man was unaware he had been hooked up to began to sound an alarm and a different nurse rushed into the room, looking alarmed.

"Sir, you must calm down. The heart beat is too fast."

The man was surprised to hear the woman speak in his native tongue but was oddly comforted by her warm and inviting presence in his nondescript beige room. The nurse however surveyed him with the careful glance of a mother searching a child for signs of injury or distress. He immediately sought solace from his worries in her kind features.

"Please," he pleaded, "tell me where Cath is, where am-"

"Sir," she cut him off, "I am very sorry to tell you that I, Marie, have no information to give you except that you have been in my care here in Nice, France for two and a half years. I know it is shocking but please wait to ask questions until I am finished. You entered the hospital with no identification and suffering only from a serious head wound and a broken leg and rib, all of which have healed since. However, you fell into a coma after surgery and have had no visitors. My words are harsh but please know that I have personally cared for you since your arrival and have searched missing persons' reports around the country. I feel I owe you an apology since I have searched only around France, not knowing until today when you awoke and spoke for the first time that you are American. Now please tell me what you remember of yourself because I have been most curious for so long."

The man sat silently in a shock that filled his mind and body for a full two minutes. He had lost two and a half years of his life and clearly nobody had the first clue as to where Cath was, which caused him pain that he immediately hid away within the deepest part of himself. At least it seemed that he had no visitors because no one was aware of his location, nor had he any idea how he had ended up in Nice. He must have sat with a stupefied look on his face for quite some time, because Marie repeated herself.

"Sir, please, I must know."

The man took a deep breath and answered.

"I have no memory of being injured or knowledge as to why I am in France. I am a forensic scientist in Las Vegas, or at least I was before- before this. I guess I owe you great thanks for tending to me for this long. Can you tell me the date?" He allowed his scientific mind to take over, since his heart was not ready to consider the possibility that he had lost the love of his life. His typical way of reporting the facts with a cold detachment was his guard against the overwhelming pain of knowing he and Cath had been apart for two and a half years. It hurt to breathe and not know whether Catherine was still alive and well.

"It is August 17, 2008. Please, I have called you sir for far too long only for the lack of your true name."

What a kick in the gut.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry Marie. It's Gil Grissom, and this is one of the worst birthdays I have ever had."

One thought dominated all other concerns, where was Cath?

His only solace against the onslaught of pain was to lose himself in memories of their life together.

August 17, 2005
Somewhere in the vicinity of Las Vegas

"Cath, please tell me where we are."

"Gil baby, just one more minute and I'll take it off, okay?"

Gil had been complaining for the past hour about the blindfold she had insisted he wear along the way to her birthday surprise for him. He knew and suspected that she did as well, however, that he was loving every minute of Cath's hand in his, using her thumb to stroke his fingers as they gripped hers in the car, and now of her arms guiding him forward out of the car toward their intended destination.

"Fine," he pouted, hiding his smirk with great effort. She was silent, only speaking to give him instructions like lifting one foot or the other over some as yet unknown obstacles. His only clues where the chirping of birds and the sound of small sticks and leaves crunching under his feet, alerting him to some kind of rustic setting for his surprise. After what seemed like half an hour but was in reality only minutes, Catherine finally announced their arrival.

Not letting go of her gentle grip on Gil's hand she said, "Alright you impatient lug, you can take it off."

Gil used his free hand to remove the blindfold, recognizing one of Cath's silk scarves, noting that this was its most innocent use since Gil had been introduced to some of Cath's wilder fantasies involving himself and his arms tied to a headboard.

Gil gasped at his beautiful surroundings once he managed to get his mind of their amazing sex life, seeing Cath's suspicious eyes glance quickly between his and the scarf in his hand.

"Cath this is amazing! I love Lake Mead and this cabin is perfect."

His grin was huge and Cath was very pleased with her choice. "Honey this is only the beginning," she replied rather coyly.

If it was possible his grin widened. He took the opportunity to sling his arms tightly around her waist and pull her against him. She responded instinctively with her arms around his neck and her fingers playing with the distinguished gray curls at the base of his neck.

"Thank you baby, I love it and I love you, so much. I never really enjoyed my birthday until you came into my life." He brought his hands to cup either side of her face, wiping at the stray tears and bringing her lips to his. It started sweet and sensual, before Gil teased Cath by dragging her lower lip into his mouth and sucking intently on what he thought was the sexiest parts of her body. She moaned and responded by sliding her tongue over the crease of his lips, but before she could sneak her tongue into his mouth to explore, he pulled away.

Now it was Catherine's turn to pout. "Hey, why'd you stop? I thought you said you could never get enough of my tongue."

Gil grinned and replied, "I just want to see the rest of my present. And didn't you say this was only the beginning?"

She glared at him for his use of her earlier words. "I'm gonna make you pay for that Gruesome!"

At the first hint of the playful gleam in her eye, Gil ran towards the cabin, hearing her laughing and chasing behind him.

This was going to be a birthday for the record books.

August 17, 2008
Hospital somewhere in Nice, France

Gil sighed at the memory. The sex that followed…well, he could only say that the scarf was never the same. Gil ignored the sadness he felt when he remembered where he was and focused on the joy the memory brought him. He pushed the thoughts that something made of happened to Cath to the deepest recesses of his brain and chose to focus on getting back to her. She must not know where he was, or she would be by his side. He was sure she was looking far and wide, he would just surprise her by getting to her first. The idea put a smile on Gil's face.

"Marie, there's someone I need to get back to in America. It would be a treasured gift if you could help me. I mean, it's not every day I turn 50."

Tbc very soon I promise

Well? Should I invest in some sort of flame-retardant vest?