"Hang on, hold the door!" Sara ran the last few steps across the hotel foyer towards the lift, sticking her field kit between the doors just in time.
"Hey Sara. I thought this was your night off?" Nick said, turning to see who it was that was eager to share a lift with him.
"It was, but Grissom called and said you could use some help." Nick nodded. That sounded like Grissom, and you could always count on Sara to sacrifice a night to her self in order to help fight the bad guys.
"Well I hope you didn't have any plans?" He enquired.
"Tonnes actually but you try telling Grissom that!" she said, grinning sarcastically. When did Sara ever have palns? This made Nick chuckle but he soon stopped as the lift began to shudder before coming to a complete stand still.
"Something tells me this isn't our floor." Said Sara, putting her kit on the floor and moving towards the emergency call button.
"Hello?"
"Uhh hi. I think our lift has broken down."
"Any idea what floor your on?" Replied the man on the other end of the line. How was she supposed to know? She looked around for anything that might tell her before replying.
"No afraid not. But we were heading up to the ninth floor so we can't be any higher than that."
"Ok miss. We will send an engineer out to you now."
"Do you have any idea how long they will be?"
"No, but I can assure you they will be with you as soon as possible."
"Oh ok. Thanks." She hung up and sighed. It was only then that she turned to Nick and noticed how pale he had become. He was lent up against the wall, his eyes closed, taking slow, deep breaths.
"You ok Nick?" He didn't reply. "Nick?" She walked over to him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Nick, you've gone very pale. Do you want to sit down?" He opened his eyes to look at her and she saw the panic. "Look Nick I'm just going to call Grissom and let him know what's going on." He still didn't speak and she stepped away, reaching for her phone and pressing speed dial.
"Grissom."
"Hi Grissom it's me." She sounded agitated.
"Is everything alright?"
"Well not exactly." She cast a nervous glance towards Nick. "The lift Nick and I got into has broken down. They are sending out a engineer but they don't know how long it will take. You might need to send someone else out here."
"Well there isn't anyone to send Sara." He sounded stressed and slightly annoyed.
"Yeah I know." She began to rub her forehead, unsure why she felt so guilty. It wasn't her fault the lift had broken. She turned as Nick lowered himself to the floor. "Look Grissom I've got to go. I'll call you when I know more. With that she hung up, leaving Grissom wondering what could be so important in a stationary lift that she would stop their conversation so abruptly.
Sara knelt next to her companion and put a hand on his knee. "Nick you don't look so good." He could feel the walls closing in around him. He had felt the panic welling inside him and had tried to hold it back, but it was getting too much. His breathing was becoming quick and erratic and, although his eyes were open, he couldn't see anything. "I can't breath" He finally managed to say.
"It's ok Nick, just try to stay calm. Try and take some deep breaths." He shook his head.
"I can't." He gulped.
"Yes you can Nick. Just try and focus on my voice." She took hold of his head in her hands and turned it to face her. "Just breath." Removing one hand from his face she took hold of one of Nicks shaking hands and placed it on her chest, taking slow breaths and encouraging him to follow. She knew exactly how he felt. After her father had been killed, panic attacks had been a weekly occurrence for her. After a few months they had subsided. She didn't really know why as the pain of what happened that night had never left her.
"You have to try and calm down Nick or your going to pass out. Do you think you can do that for me?" Nick nodded. Although he was finding it easier to focus on her voice now, it still felt like there was an enormous weight being pushed against his chest. She continued to talk to him, and after a few minutes Nicks breathing began to slow down and Sara began to relax a little. He was coming out of it. She moved to sit beside him, her back now also leaning against the wall, her arm wrapped around Nicks shoulder, pulling him towards her so his heavy head could rest on her. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
"Sorry." Sighed Nick. He felt so embarrassed. This had never happened before and of all the people he could have been with when it did, it had to be Sara. She always seemed so strong.
"You don't have to apologise." She said squeezing his shoulder tighter. She paused for a moment before saying, "I didn't know you were claustrophobic."
"I'm not. Well I wasn't, I mean it must have been…" She knew what he was going to say and she could feel his body beginning to tense against hers. Not wanting him to fall back into a state of panic again, she cut him off.
"Shhh, Nick its ok. I know." Her voice was quiet and soothing and Nick immediately relaxed again.
"It was almost a year ago Sara. I thought I would be over it by now."
"Nick nobody expects you to 'get over it.' What happened to you was unimaginable. That you got through it as well as you have just goes to show how strong you are."
"I'm not strong Sara."
"Yes you are." It came as almost a whisper as she rested her head on top of his. She closed her eyes and sighed. The two friends sat there in silence until they both fell asleep.
It was nearly an hour later when the jolt of the lift coming back to life woke them. Sara helped Nick to his feet and the pair exited the lift. "You sure your up to this?" She asked, still a little concerned.
"Yeah. Like you said, I'm strong." Nick grinned and Sara gave him a playful punch on the arm.
"You two took your time." Said Sofia sarcastically.
"Yeah well we figured the dead guy wasn't going anywhere so we could afford to take our time and enjoy the ambience of the lift." Replied Sara in an equally sarcastic tone.
"Ok." She chuckled, "Well if you guys are alright I'm going go down and talk to the hotel manager." Sara nodded and Sofia turned to leave.
"Sofia," She stopped and turned back to look at Nick who had just spoken. "Take the stairs!"