This story was written for the 19th round of the Nick Fic Song Challenge at Talk CSI. The prompt was the song, "100 Years", by John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting).

It's done. He lays his head back against the cold, hard floor and closes his eyes. The radios are squawking, but no one answers. A deep, calm voice says everything will be okay, but it's not speaking to him. He opens his eyes and turns his head to the left to see the damage done to his body, grimacing at the pain the motion causes. He blinks a few times to clear his blurry vision, but still he swears he sees the floor moving, swimming in front of his eyes. The smell reaches him, and now he knows. The floor is not moving. It's his blood seeping slowly away from his body, forming a slick circle shape as it grows. He fights down the nausea that the sight brings and closes his eyes again as he hears the sirens in the distance.

"Why won't it do anything?" Nick asked, puzzled, as he tried the key again.

"If you don't know, then you aren't ready to learn to drive it," his father chuckled. Seeing Nick's sudden look of panic, he quickly added, "I'm kidding."

"C'mon, Dad, cut it out." His father's ribbing wasn't funny to the 15 year old. Just two days earlier Nick had come running into the kitchen, holding out the piece of paper for his mother to see. Standing at the sink, she had turned to greet him, wiping her hands on a dishtowel before giving him a big hug. Nick beamed, the proud owner of a brand new learner's driving permit. He had immediately begun begging his father to start teaching him to drive, and when the weekend came the man consented, allowing his son to take the wheel of one of the older trucks on the ranch as he sat beside him.

Nick stared intently at the dashboard, then looked at the pedals on the floor, and finally tried the key again. Nothing. He looked at his father. "Did you do something? Did you disconnect the battery or something?"

"No!" his father laughed.

"Is it out of gas?"

His father shook his head, still laughing. "Put the clutch in, Nick."

Nick's face fell as realization set in. An embarrassed blush crossed his cheeks as he pushed in the clutch with his left foot and turned the key again. The old truck roared to life, and he looked sheepishly at his father and mumbled, "Sorry."

The man clapped him on the shoulder, his good-natured laughter filling the cab of the truck. "Don't worry, Nicky. You're doing fine."

"15 there's still time for you..."

His father's laughter echoes off of the walls in his mind and he opens his eyes again, but there is no one there...no one is laughing. In fact, he thinks he hears someone gasping nearby, but he doesn't try to look for the source. He couldn't if he wanted to because it hurts too much when he turns his head. He lays still and looks at the ceiling as he hears the sirens getting closer but taking far too long to get here.

Nick sighed as he lay back and let her take over, feeling the touch of her body against his. Her hand was soft as it made its way across his chest and then to his face where it stayed while her mouth briefly kissed his neck. She backed away slowly but maintained contact with his body, skin to skin as her hands made their way back down again. A small gasp escaped his lips, and he closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly as he felt a familiar stirring deep inside of him.

He loved her. He had said it and he had meant it. From his junior year in high school going forward, they had rarely spent a day apart. But she had stayed in Dallas when he left for college. A long distance relationship had worked for four more years, but now he was ready to come home for good and spend the rest of his life with her.

He opened his eyes and reached down to take her hands and then pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her before turning her over and settling himself on top of her. Her body was warm and comfortable against his. It felt right. It felt safe. He softly brushed the hair from her eyes, thinking she had never looked as beautiful as she did now, and it made his heart swell.

An hour later they lay side by side, his arms around her and her head on his shoulder. She lifted her eyes to look up at him. "Are you really going back?"

Damn it. He could tell she was trying not to cry, but her voice trembled. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "Yeah...yeah, I really need that extra class. You understand...don't you?"

She nodded and snuggled closer. "Then that's all, right? You're coming back to stay?"

"I am," he said confidently. "Promise."

"22 I feel her too…"

The sirens are louder, but no one has come yet. Jesus Christ...how long have I been lying here? He feels nauseous, finds it harder to breathe now, and refuses to look at his bleeding wounds again. He moves his eyes as far to his right as he can and catches sight of the officer's motionless form on the floor across the room. Maybe he's alright. Nick got shot near the neck too. But…the officer's eyes…they aren't moving, and yet they are wide open. Nick closes his own eyes.

"Open your eyes for me."

Nothing.

"C'mon, Nick…do it," Warrick's voice encouraged him to follow the paramedic's request.

Nick felt his friend's hand tightening around his own and opened his eyes. He was quick enough to see Warrick's expression change from worry to relief in a brief second, but behind Warrick Catherine's face still showed concern. He tried to talk…to tell her he was okay, but now the paramedic was leaning over him, a hand on his head and a bright light in his eyes. The light triggered an automatic reaction, just like the one in the coffin. Suddenly there was no air. He gasped for breath and tried to shrink away, but there was nowhere to go.

"Whoa…calm down, buddy, it's okay." Warrick used his other hand as well and now had both of them wrapped around Nick's left one.

He tried to calm down…he really did. But his heart raced, feeling like it might burst. It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe, his throat feeling like it was closing up. His eyes flew from one person in the back of the ambulance to the next, searching for help as his vision began to blur. The sounds around him melted into one…distant and muffled as if he were under water. He heard the paramedic shout something to the driver, felt a cold sting in his arm, and then as suddenly as it had come over him the panicked feeling subsided. Soon after, he felt the vehicle slowing down and the siren was abruptly silenced.

Catherine leaned up closer to him, moving Warrick aside. She put her hand on his shoulder as the sirens stopped. "Nick? It's okay. We're here now."

"33 you're on your way…"

"Nick? We're here."

He opens his eyes to find her kneeling next to him. The sirens are quiet, and now the lights are flashing blue and red on the walls around him and across her face. "Wh...?" The words won't come out.

"Shhhh…don't try to talk," Catherine says, looking stricken but trying to remain calm for his sake.

His breathing is becoming labored, but he manages to ask, "Ray? Mister…?"

"They're fine," she interrupts him as she shifts her body, placing herself in the line of sight between Nick and Officer Clark. She puts a cool hand against his cheek as the paramedics come into view. "You're gonna be okay, Nicky," she says with a smile that still looks tight with worry. "You're gonna be okay…you hear me?"

He takes in a deep breath and lets it out, nodding slightly. He hears her, and he knows it to be true.

"…for a moment, dying for just another moment, and I'm just dreaming…"

Thanks for reading! Please drop a review and let me know what you think! :-)