"So, did you decide to go back to marine biology so that you could be home more with the kids?"

"What?" Avery asked as she continued to look up to the roof of the house, hanging out of the bedroom window.

"The kids that you and Nicky are going to have."

Avery coughed and grabbed onto the windowsill to steady herself. "I'm not planning on having children, Catherine." She slid back into the room and frowned. "I need to look at this from outside. I walked the perimeter."

"Are you feeling okay?" Catherine asked hesitantly. "You're kind of sweaty."

"I was just sticking my head out into 120 degree heat," Avery answered ignoring her wave of dizziness.

Catherine followed Avery downstairs and outside. "You know that Nicky does want kids right? He's really big on family."

"Then we'll have to compromise somewhere," Avery said before stopping as she saw a car heading toward them. She hurriedly pulled the ring off of her finger and stuffed it into her pocket as he put her hands on her hips watching as Grissom climbed out of the car. "You're still supposed to be healing."

"Sara said you could use my help."

"No, she didn't," Avery told him as she walked forward and hugged him. "You feeling okay to be out here?"

"Are you?" Grissom asked with a frown. "You feel really hot."

"I've been leaning out of a window for fifteen minutes. I'm sweaty."

"So, what's the case?"

Avery started to lead them to the side of the house where she needed to look. "Apparent murder suicide. Two adults and three kids. One kid found in the woods separate from the other DBs."

"So why are we looking out here?"

Avery kneeled by a patch of grass and moved them around a little bit. "Because there's always evidence where you least expect it," she answered as she looked at the half of a footprint in the mud. She let out a breath as she started to get hot and nauseous. "Catherine, do you have some casting supplies?"

"Yeah, I'll go get it."

Avery let out another breath as the nausea got worse.

"Avery?"

"I'm not feeling too well, Grissom."

"Well, come here, dear," Grissom said as he held his hand out for her.

Avery took his hand before withdrawing as she started to violently throw up on the ground.

"Darling," Grissom said as he held her hair out of her face. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I think I ruined the evidence."

"Screw the evidence."

Avery wiped her mouth and leaned against Grissom, his arm around her waist to support her. "I've been having this sharp pain in my side for most of the day. I thought it was just stress." Avery bent over as she started to throw up again, holding her side harder.

"Catherine," Grissom said as the blonde walked back over to them. "Call a bus."

"I don't need a bus," Avery said as she held a hand against her mouth.

"Avery."

Avery leaned her face against Grissom's shoulder. "This really hurts, daddy."

"Now, Catherine," Grissom said as he led Avery to the ground and sat down with her. "Breathe with me, Avery. When did you initially start hurting?"

"I mean I'd get like sharp pains for 2-3 minutes but it always went away. It's not going away now. It's getting worse. It hurts to breathe."

Grissom pressed his lips against her forehead. "You're running a fever, dear. You should have brought this up sooner."

"I've been working," Avery told him.

Grissom pulled her against his chest and started to rub the sweat ridden hair out of her face. Catherine sat down with them and grabbed Avery's hand. The three of them sat like that until the ambulance showed up.

"What do we have?" The EMT's asked as they climbed out.

"27 year old, right lower quadrant pain, fever, chills, nausea, throwing up."

"Right," the first EMT said as he started to take her blood pressure. "180/113. We need to get her loaded and get her taken to the hospital now, if we don't lower her pressure than she could stroke." He told his partner as he put the thermometer in Avery's ear. "103.4. Get an IV started and run acetominophen."

The two EMT's lifted Avery onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, one of them starting immediately on the IV.

"I'm going to go with her," Grissom said as he started to climb up.

"Are you family?"

"I'm her father," Grissom answered as he pushed past the EMT and sat beside Avery, taking her hand again. "You'll be okay, baby."

"Catherine!" Avery called out.

Catherine stuck her head in the ambulance. "What?"

"Print the side of the house, get Warrick or Greg and see if you can get to the roof, look for any indication that there was a ladder or a rope. If you see a rope look for footprints against the siding by the window." Avery stopped talking as she cried out in pain. "Someone was in that house after our initial walkthrough."

"I'll call Greg," Catherine told her as she backed away from the ambulance. "Just worry about yourself. Do you want me to call Nick for you?"

Avery looked at Grissom unsure on how to answer.

"Call him," Grissom told Catherine as Avery winced as another wave of pain hit her.

"Okay." Catherine watched as the ambulance door was shut before she called Nick.

Avery leaned her head back on the hospital bed taking a deep breath as the demerol started to work on some of her pain. She wanted to cry. She had been holding Grissom's hand and Sara had been sitting beside her since they got to the hospital, but no Nick. Catherine had text Sara and told her she hadn't been able to get a hold of him, but she was still trying. Her appendix was inflamed and on the way to rupturing and as soon as there was an empty OR, she'd be having surgery to remove it.

She shifted in the bed and laid on her side facing Grissom. "Sorry to be a pain."

"You've never been a pain," Grissom told her as he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too, daddy." Avery held his hand harder as more pain racked across her body. "God, where is Nick? I need Nick."

"I'm here," Grissom told her.

Avery rolled her eyes. "You're not Nick. I'm marrying Nick. I need Nick go and find him."

"You and Nick are engaged? I thought you broke up."

Avery let out a breath. "We got back together. Please, Grissom, I just want Nick."

"Do you know where he is?" Grissom asked as he tightened his jaw.

"He was at my house when I came to work today."

Grissom nodded as he kissed Avery on the forehead then went out to make a call. Avery turned her head to look at Sara and slipped her ring into the older ladies' hand.

"Hold onto that for me."

Sara nodded as she put the ring in her pocket, looking to the door as it opened and a doctor walked in.

"We're going to take you up to surgery now, Ms. Grissom."

"Nick's not here," Avery told Sara squeezing her friend's hand harder.

"We'll let him know where you are," Sara assured her. "It's a minor surgery, just get your appendix out then you're back at work before you know it."

Avery nodded. "Yeah, work."

Sara kissed her forehead before she let the nurses wheel her out of the room. Grissom walked in after they left and went to stand beside Sara.

"You think she's doing okay?"

Sara watches after the doctor, biting her lip. "I think Avery has had a really rough couple of months and I think she needs a vacation once you get back to work."

"Yeah," Grissom agreed as they grabbed her bag of belongings and went to the surgery waiting area.

Nick ran into the surgery waiting area and looked around worriedly before he saw Sara and Grissom. He walked over to them and sat down opposite Grissom.

"Is she okay?"

Grissom nodded. "We haven't heard anything to the contrary yet. Was she acting sick when you last saw her?"

Nick sighed. "She said her side was hurting a little, but she seemed okay and went to work. I thought that maybe it was just something that happened during the shooting yesterday."

Grissom ran a hand over his face. "This is the first time I've seen you since finding out about Avery and you."

"I wanted to tell you."

"But you didn't. You kept this from me for over a year."

"Avery was worried about how you would react. We know how protective you are of her."

"I have reason to be."

"I'm not arguing that," Nick explained slowly. "But Avery is 27, she shouldn't have to worry that her father is going to get angry that she's dating someone."

"I'm not angry that she's dating you. I'm angry that you both felt you had to hide the fact. Avery has known about Sara and I, she knows that as long as you two can work together without it being an issue, that I don't care about team members dating. I just need to be informed."

Nick nodded his head. "I'm sorry about that. For full disclosure I asked Avery to marry me."

"She told me."

"I'm sorry I didn't, but it just happened late last night. How long has she been in surgery?"

"About an hour," Sara told him as she stood up. "I'm going to get us some waters."

Grissom watched as she left before he leaned forward to look at Nick. "You should have told me," he paused. "Has Avery told you about her past?"

Nick nodded. "She did recently. I wish that she or even you would have trusted us enough to tell us about it. I didn't even know that Avery was adopted."

Grissom raised his eyebrows. "Avery didn't want the team to know. That wasn't my call, it's her life, her past."

"Then maybe you should trust me with me if she trusted me with that information."

Grissom leaned back again as he frowned at Nick. "When have I ever given you the impression that I don't trust you? You're one of the best CSIs that I have on my team. I've watched you grow to be the man that you are today. I trust you with Avery, Nick. I'm just protective."

"What happened with Avery's mom? Overdose?"

"She was murdered."

Nick raised his eyebrows slightly. "Murdered? Did you catch who did it?"

"We did."

"And?"

"And Avery doesn't need to know this. I don't plan on ever telling her that her mother was killed. It's best if she continues to think that it was an overdose."

"But she hates her mother, she wouldn't care if she was killed. She'd probably give the killer a medal."

Grissom sighed as he looked at Nick. "I told you that I trust you. I'm giving you my blessing to take one of the most important people to me into your life. Trust me when I tell you that Avery doesn't need to know as it will only cause her more heartache."

Nick paused for a long time as he looked at Grissom. "Okay."

"Okay."

Nick knocked on Grissom's office door before he walked in as he was acknowledged. It had been three days since Avery was released from the hospital and she was out of work for at least another two weeks, leading Grissom to come back to work early.

"Nick."

"I've got the report back on those shoeprints that Catherine pulled off the side of the house."

Grissom nodded. "What's the answer?"

"Size 11, Men's combat boots. Similar to what our very own LVPD wears."

Grissom took the report from him and looked over the paper. "Why would LVPD be on the roof?"

"Cause it was an officer that wasn't supposed to be there?"

Grissom picked his phone up off of his desk as the shrill tone rang through the office. He frowned at the name before he put it to his ear. "Genevieve?" Grissom sat up straight as he listened to her on the other end. "Wait…what do you mean Avery is gone? No, don't touch anything. I'll call Brass to the house, Nick and I are on the way." Grissom slammed the phone down on his desk as he stood up and grabbed his jacket.

"Where is Avery, Grissom?"

Grissom shook his head. "I don't know, Genevieve said that she got home from work and went to check on Avery and her bedroom is a mess. The bed is trampled and there's an empty syringe by it."

"So, what are we looking at?"

Grissom climbed into the driver's seat and shrugged. "All I know is that Avery is missing."