"Russell, what's going on? This is Sara's place," said Nick. He and Greg were standing in the doorway, facing Russell, who was standing next to the bed.

"I don't know. Sara's on her way to the hospital as we speak," replied Russell.

"Is she alright?" asked Greg, eyeing the blood on the bed.

"She's unconscious. The paramedics think that she may need extensive surgery."

"Who called it in?"

"Catherine Willows. She told Brass that she and Sara were supposed to have breakfast together and then go shopping today."

"Where's Cath now?"

"Going with Sara. Brass said he'd get a full statement later."

"Well, we don't need him here, so maybe he can go to the hospital now instead of later," said Nick.

Russell agreed. He turned around and left the room to speak with Brass. Nick and Greg started processing the bedroom, hoping that they would find something to help find the person that had attacked Sara and left her for dead in her own home. Both guys were scared. Sara was their best friend, and they wanted to help her in any way they could.

"Hey Catherine, how's Sara doing?" asked Brass.

Catherine looked up from her seat in the hospital waiting room. She had clearly been crying.

"She's in surgery. The doctor said that she has badly broken bones in her head. Whoever did this was trying to kill her Jim."

"I'll get them Cath, I promise."

"Thanks. I suppose you want my statement now?"

"If you feel up to it. Take your time."

"Last weekend, Sara and I were supposed to spend some time together but I got called in to work at the last minute. So we decided to make it for today, since we were both off. Sara had suggested this little cafe for breakfast before we went shopping. I agreed. I told her that I would pick her up at eight. When I got to her place, the front door was ajar, but I couldn't see Sara inside. I had a bad feeling and I called out to Sara. When she didn't answer, I pulled my gun out of the car and went in. I called out again. She didn't answer again. I checked the whole of the first floor and then went upstairs. There was blood on the floor outside Sara's bedroom. When I pushed the door open, Sara was lying in bed, like she was just sleeping. But the blanket and pillow were bloody, and her head was covered in blood. I checked her pulse, called an ambulance, and then called you."

Brass pulled Catherine into his arms while she cried. After a little while, a doctor came out and Catherine jumped up.

"Is Sara okay?" Catherine asked, unsure of how long she had been waiting.

"Miss Sidle is out of surgery. I can't say for sure, but I believe that she'll wake up in her own time. For now, the only thing we can do is monitor her," answered Dr Smith.

"Did the surgery go well?"

"As best as we can hope for. The head injuries were extensive. We've fixed the bones back in place without any need for plates though, which is good. But, she does have some swelling on her brain. it should come down in the next few days."

"Does she have any other injuries?" asked Brass.

"A few broken ribs and a fractured rib. Her left kidney is swollen from being hit repeatedly."

"Can we see her?"

Dr Smith nodded. He led Catherine and Brass down the corridor and into the intensive care unit. Catherine walked into Sara's room and dropped into a chair, crying. She picked up Sara's hand, being careful not to cause any more damage. Brass thanked the doctor, and then stood in the doorway, making his own assessment of Sara's condition. Her head was bandaged, and she had been put onto a ventilator. The heart monitor was beeping steadily. An IV line was running into Sara's right hand. She was clearly unconscious.

"Jim, we should call Grissom. He'll come straightaway," sniffled Catherine.

"You don't know, do you?" asked Brass.

"Don't know what? Sara wanted to tell me something, but she never got the chance."

"Did she say what it was about?"

"Something about Grissom. She said something happened at work last week too."

"Grissom broke up with Sara over the phone about three weeks ago."

"What!? How do you know that?"

"The entire lab knows. Last week, a guy named Ronald Basderic murdered a friend of Sara's. He planned to kill her too. He planted Sara's necklace and sleeping pills at the crime scene. He switched the drains in Sara's hotel room and the crime scene so that it would look like Sara had been there. She had actually been there, but left well before the murder. Since she and Grissom split up, Sara had been taking pills to help her sleep. Basderic switched out he pills with drugs that knocked Sara out. He even broke into her house and put the murder weapon into her dishwasher. When she confronted him, he knew where to stand to make it look like she had attacked him. It worked too. The detective on the case sent Akers and Mitch to pick her up. He had Finn..."

"Finn?"

"She came in after you left. Her name is Julie Finlay, but she prefers Finn."

"Okay."

"Finn was sent to process Sara. When Greg and Nick found out, they got annoyed. Nick confronted the detective after Finn told him that Sara hadn't hit Basderic and got him to agree to trick Basderic into incriminating himself. It worked, and the detective caught Basderic when he tried to shoot Sara with blanks. Sara was cleared of the murder charge, although she never should've been charged in the first place."

"That doesn't explain how you know about Sara and Grissom. Or why Sara had a nasty message on her answering machine last week from Hodges."

"Hodges thought Sara was cheating on Grissom. You know how everyone is around here. Grissom is their hero. Sara came off as the bad guy when we all found out. And before you ask again, we found out after Sara found the murder weapon in her dishwasher. When she found the knife, she called Nick. He and Greg went to Sara's place. While Nick was looking at the knife, Greg was checking for forced entry. He found a picture on a table of Sara kissing the victim, which only served to further the rumor that Sara was cheating. Russell looked at the photo and told Sara off for lying to him and Nick. Sara tried to tell them that she wasn't lying since she didn't think it was relevant. That was when she told them that Grissom had broken up with her, and that she didn't say anything because she knew that she'd be made out as the bad guy."

"I can't believe it. Can this get any worse for the poor thing?" Catherine looked at Sara sadly. "She's such a kind person Jim. Where's Basderic?"

"Maximum security prison in solitary confinement. He didn't do this Cath."

Catherine turned back to Sara as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"Hey Nick, look at this," called Greg from Sara's ensuite bathroom.

"What is it?" asked Nick.

"Blood drops. Whoever attacked Sara injured themselves I think."

"Good. Let's hope they did, cause all of the blood in the bedroom is going to be Sara's."

Greg agreed, collected the evidence they had found and then followed Nick out of the house. Akers stuck an LVPD Crime Scene sticker on the front door sadly and followed the guys back to the crime lab.