"Nick!" Sara cried as she ran towards her fallen friend.

"Stay right there or I'll shoot him again," the suspect growled menacingly.

"Brass! We need help now!" Sara called as she stopped and stared down at Nick. He was ghostly white and losing blood at an alarming pace. Brass came running at the sound of Sara's distressed cry. The detective swore at the sight of a bloody nick and got as close as he dared before shouting.

"LVPD, freeze and drop the weapon." The suspect laughed maniacally and held tightly to the gun that was against Nick's temple. Sara caught Brass's eye and held up three fingers, putting one down each time as she tilted her head slightly to the right. Understanding the silent communication Brass nodded. As Sara's last finger went down she went hurtling into the suspect knocking the gun out of his hand as well as causing him to lose his grip on Nick. Brass fired two shots hitting the suspect squarely in the chest. The two colleagues ran to their fallen colleague. Sara knelt down by him and called his name softly while looking for the gunshot wound. It was in a very tricky spot between his shoulder and chest.

"Hey Nicky can you hear me?" Sara asked as Brass called for an ambulance.

"S-S-Sara?" Nick asked sluggishly.

"Yeah it's me, you've got to stay awake for me," Sara pleaded.

"It h-h-hurts and I'm so tired," Nick complained.

"I know it hurts," Sara sympathized as she applied pressure to the wound. Nick hissed in pain and gritted his teeth. Sara winced she knew it had to hurt like hell.

"Tell Daish I love her, and tell Greg to take care of her," Nick rasped out.

"You can tell her that yourself when you see her," Sara responded as tears slid silently down her face. Just then her cell phone rang.

"Sidle," she answered it distractedly.

"Sara! What the hell is going on there?" Catherine asked in concern.

"Nick's been shot and its bad. Can you tell the team they need to meet us at Desert Palms?" Sara requested shakily.

"Of course I can, you hang in there, sweetie."

"Thanks, Cath, I've got to go," Sara said as she stared worriedly down at Nick who's eyes were sliding closed.

"Okay, bye," Catherine said as she hung up and ran to find Grissom and inform the rest of the team.

"Nick, you've got to stay awake for me, c'mon keep those beautiful brown eyes open for me,, please?" Sara begged as her own eyes filled with fresh tears.

"I c-c-can't, I'm sorry, tell Daish I l-l-love her, please," Nick said as his eyes closed and the grip he had on Sara's arm loosened and his hand fell limply to his side.

"No! Wake up for me Nicholas Andrew Stokes you will not die on me!" Sara shouted. She had never been so relieved to hear sirens coming down the highway. Moments later the ambulance pulled up and with extreme urgency Nick was loaded in and they were about to close the doors when Sara made a split second decision. Someone else could process the scene she needed to go with Nick.

"Is it okay if I ride with him?" Sara asked the nearest paramedic.

"Sure it is," he answered.

"I'll follow you in my car I'll grab your kit," Brass offered as he picked up the field kit and headed for his car.

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Greg breathed a sigh of relief, as soon as they had gotten back to the lab the wife of their victim was sitting in reception ready to turn herself in.

"Well that's another case closed," Greg said happily.

"Yeah it sure is," the blond responded as she filled her cup with coffee. "Want some?" Daish asked, indicating the coffee.

"Yes, please," Greg replied.

"I wish all of our cases were this easy to close," Dacia said thoughtfully.

"MMM-hmm, how many cases until your promotion to a level three?" Greg asked.

"After the one we solved today, I believe it's four," Dacia answered with a smile.

"That's fantastic," Greg said.

"thanks, here you go," Dacia said, handing him the coffee. He smiled as he took the cup from his friends hand just as his cell phone rang. He looked down and saw Catherine cell flash on the screen.

"Hey Cath, we're back at the lab and I promise everything's okay, your quite the worrywart today aren't you?" Greg asked. Daish smiled Greg had told her about Catherine calling earlier. She couldn't help but feel slightly worried herself, but she tried to ignore it.

"No, Greg I need to talk to you about something important. Is Dacia with you?" Catherine asked. Greg noticed for the first time that her voice was shaking.

"Yeah she is, Catherine what's wrong? Your scaring me," the ex lab rat admitted.

"Nicky's been shot, and its bad, according to Sara."

"Shit! Which hospital?" Greg asked as he took the coffee from Daish's hand and after pouring it and his as well into the sink he grabbed her hand with his free hand and dragged her towards the locker room while still talking to Catherine.

"What's going on Greg?" Dacia asked in confusion. Greg didn't answer, he just grabbed his jacket and then drug Daish over to her locker and told her to grab her jacket and purse. She did so but was still confused as to what was going on.

"Desert Palms," Catherine answered.

"We'll be there soon, any idea how bad it is?" Greg asked all though part of him didn't want to know.

"I don't know, but Sara sounded pretty shaken up and like she was crying," Catherine informed him. Greg's stomach clinched, while Sara was a caring person she rarely cried, so for her to cry it must have been bad.

"Okay, I'll see you there, bye," Greg said as he reached his car and jumped in, starting the engine.

"See you there," Catherine said as she hung up and concentrated on driving to the hospital.

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Dacia barely had time to get in and close the door to Greg's Denali before the CSI was speeding out of the parking lot burning rubber with lights flashing and sirens blaring.

"What the hell is going on Greg?" Dacia asked as the panic welled up inside her. Greg glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye and took a deep breath, preparing to speak.

"Nicky was shot, he's on his way to Desert Palms Sara's riding with him," Greg said as quickly as he could. Dacia let out a strangled cry as she stared down at her ring finger before remembering that wile she was at work she kept the ring on a chain around her neck. Reaching under her shirt she took the ring off the chain and placed it back on her finger.

"How bad is it?" Daish asked in a very small voice. Greg hesitated he wasn't sure how much to tell his friend right now. He hesitated a moment to long, though, however, because Daish realized what he was doing. "How bad?" she asked again.

"I don't know, Catherine said it was bad, according to Sara. She didn't know exactly how bad it was. Sara's pretty shaken up, though," Greg explained thinking momentarily of his frightened girlfriend. Dacia blew out a shaky breath as she choked on a sob. Greg reached over and covered her hand with his.

"Why does this have to happen now? We only got engaged two months ago, and I just met his family over Martin Luther King weekend, we're supposed to be getting married in September," Dacia sobbed.

"I don't know, sweetie. Nic'll be fine, though. He's a fighter, you know that," Greg said reassuringly. Dacia nodded but said nothing. A few minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of Desert Palms Hospital a place neither of them wanted to be. Climbing out of the car, Greg walked briskly towards the door, but stopped when he realized that Dacia wasn't walking with him. Turning on his heel he walked over to the car and opened her door.

"C'mon Daish, lets go see how he is," Greg coaxed. Daish just shook her head as she sat staring straight ahead.

"I'm scared of what they'll say," Daish admitted quietly.

"I know you are, and to be honest so am I, but whatever they say we'll all face it together. The team is family, you know that," Greg soothed.

"Yeah I do," Dacia acknowledged as she got slowly out of the car and began walking towards the automatic doors that led into the hospital with Greg by her side.

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"How can I help you?" asked a petite red head sitting at the reception desk.

"We're looking for Nick Stokes," Greg offered realizing that Dacia was too worried to speak. The woman tapped some keys on her computer before looking up at the two of them.

"He's in surgery. Is he some kind of cop or something? There are already a lot of people in the waiting room who've asked about him," she inquired.

"Sort of he's a CSI and so are they," Greg explained.

"Oh, I see, well the surgery waiting room is on the third floor, take the elevator, when you get off make a left and it's right at the end of the hall," she offered helpfully.

"Thank you… Sally," Greg replied, looking at her nametag.

"You're quite welcome, and I hope your friends okay," Sally replied. Greg gave her a nod of thanks before guiding Dacia to the elevator so they could see their friends.

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Warrick was the first one to spot them, and got up to intercept them. He pulled first Dacia then Greg into a warm hug. Dacia looked past him and froze at the sight of Sara. One of the nurses was looking for a set of scrubs for her to put on, but hadn't found them yet, so Sara was still in the blood spattered clothes she had worn to the hospital. Dacia made a strangled sound when she realized just how much blood was on her friends clothes and that all of it was Nick's. Turning first ghostly white then green she clapped a hand to her mouth and ran for the nearest bathroom to empty her stomach. A nurse coming down the hall took one look at the young woman's face and realized she wouldn't make it to the bathroom and took her arm and guided her to the nearest trash can. Leaning over the trash can, Dacia threw up everything that was in her stomach as she began to cry. Back in the waiting room everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. Greg looked from where his friend had been standing to whatever had caught her attention. He stopped and fought down the nausea as he saw his girlfriend covered in blood, no doubt Nick's blood. Sara saw his indecision and made a decision for him.

"Go be with her, I'm fine for now," Sara told her boyfriend.

"Are you sure?" Greg asked in concern.

"Yeah, go," Sara said. Greg nodded and walked over to his friend reaching her; he took her hair and held it as she continued to wretch. Catherine stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Catherine?" Grissom asked.

"I'm going to get Sara a pair of scrubs to change into," Catherine explained. Sara gave a nod of thanks as Catherine headed out of the room. A minute later, she came back with a pair of scrubs and Sara left to change into them, carefully avoiding Dacia's line of site. Finally Dacia had stopped throwing up.

"Are you ready to go back into the waiting room?" Greg asked gently.

"Yeah, I guess so," Dacia said quietly. The two of them walked silently back to the waiting room and collapsed into seats beside Sara and Catherine. Dacia looked up to see that Sara had changed into a pair of scrubs.

"So what happened?" Dacia asked softly.

"We were processing and I was photographing a blood pool when my cell rang, it was Catherine, and while we were talking, I heard shouting and Nick yelling that the suspect was on location. Then I heard gun shots and hung up with Catherine. As I ran over, the suspect threatened to shoot him again if I came any closer. So I stopped and called for Brass," Sara began to explain. Brass took up the story from there.

"I came over and after I was able to get a clean shot without endangering Nick I did, and shot him twice in the chest, killing him instantly. Then Sara and I stayed with Nick until the paramedics arrived and she rode with him to the hospital," Brass concluded.

"Was he conscious?" Dacia asked nervously."

For a little while, he said to tell you he loves you, but then after a little while the pain was too much and he past out. I begged him to stay awake, but he couldn't," Sara explained as she broke down and began to cry. Greg gathered his girlfriend into his arms and tried to soothe her.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetheart. You did all you could. No one blames you for him not staying awake. The pain was probably too intense. Calm down, it's alright, honey."

"He was so still," Sara hiccupped through a sob.

"I know, baby, its okay," Greg whispered as he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. Finally Sara began to calm down just as a doctor walked into the room. Everyone stood up, preparing for whatever the doctor had to say.

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"I'm looking for a Dacia Luck?" the doctor said, looking at his clipboard.

"That's me," Dacia answered.

"How are you related to Nick Stokes?" the doctor asked.

"He's my fiancé," Dacia explained. "How is he doctor?" she asked anxiously. The doctor eyed the other people in the room before speaking.

"We can go somewhere a bit more private if you'd like?"

"No these people are Nick and my family whatever you have to say, can be said in front of them," Dacia argued.

"Very well, then, my name is Dr. Chandler and I was one of the surgeons working on your fiancé. The bullet entered between his shoulder and chest, and nicked one of his lungs. It collapsed during surgery, and we lost him two times on the table. We put in a chest tube in hopes that it won't collapse again."

"Will he be okay?" Dacia asked barely above a whisper."

Honestly, I don't know, the next 24-48 hours are critical, if he makes it through them, then his chances are significantly better, but these first few hours are critical," the doctor said solemnly.

"What are his chances of survival doctor?" Grissom asked.

"I'd say of making it through the next 24-48 hours maybe a 10% chance if that. If he makes it through the next 24-48 hours, however, the chance increases to 90%. The longer he hangs on the better his chances are," the doctor answered frankly.

"When can we see him?" Sara asked as she looked worriedly at Dacia who was standing there, not saying a word, but just staring blankly at the wall.

"He's in recovery right now, but they should be moving him to the ICU within the hour. I'll have a nurse come get you when he's been moved there," the doctor said as he gave them one last sympathetic look then walked out of the room.

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The team filed back to their seats and fell into them wearily. Dacia curled into a ball, pulling her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"His parents need to be called," Warrick said.

"I'll do that, I'm his boss, after all," Grissom said.

"Unless Dacia wants to do it," Greg suggested.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Sara said looking at her friend in concern. Greg was confused until he turned and looked at the young woman. She had chosen a seat a few seats from the rest of the team and was curled in on herself. Greg knew this wasn't good, he knew her tendency to shut everyone out and to shut down when things got tough. She admitted it to him after he found her curled into a ball on the bench in the locker room after a case where a little boy was kidnapped and murdered just because he got on the basketball team at school, and the kidnapper's son didn't. Nick was out at a scene, and she and Greg had just sat there, talking about everything and nothing at all, once he got her to open up that is.

"Do you want me to call Nick's parents Daish?" Grissom asked. There was no response, however.

"Daish?" Greg called softly.

"Uh-oh, this isn't good," Sara said, she was familiar with Dacia's current behavior, because that was exactly how she was right after her mother murdered her father. Greg walked over and sat down beside the distraught woman.

"C'mon Daish, will you talk to me?" Daish shook her head but made no move to do anything else.

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Meanwhile at the other end of the room, Grissom was making a phone call he desperately didn't want to make. As the call went through he wished not for the first time that night that this was all a nightmare and that he would wake up in his bed.

"Hello?" came the groggie voice of Jillian stokes.

"Hi Mrs. Stokes, this is Gil Grissom from the crime lab, I'm sorry to be calling you at such a late hour."

"It's Jillian, please and what's wrong? Is it Nick or Dacia?" Jillian asked realizing that it could be either her son or her soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

"It's Nick, he was shot tonight at a crime scene, and it doesn't look good. He's at Desert Palms, and to be honest the doctors don't think he'll make it through the next 24-48 hours," Grissom said solemnly. Jillian brought a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my gosh," she cried as tears filled her eyes. Woken up by his wife's cry Bill was concerned at the pallor of his wife's face.

"Jillian? What is it honey?" Jillian was crying too hard to speak, though, so Bill reached over and took the phone from his wife's limp hand.

"Hello, this is Judge Bill Stokes speaking, who is this?"

"Hi, Judge, this is Gil Grissom, from the crime lab, Nick was shot tonight at a crime scene, and it doesn't look good. The doctors don't give him much hope to make it through the next 24-48 hours," Grissom explained sadly. Bill blinked back tears of his own before replying to the graveyard supervisor.

"

Thank you for calling us, we will get the plane ready and be there as soon as we can, give our love to Dacia, will you?" Bill requested."

I will do that, see you when you get here," Grissom said.

"See You then," Bill said as he hung up and began to cry oh Poncho you have to pull through this, Bill thought as he gathered his sobbing wife in his arms and began to pray for the life of his youngest child.

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"Do you think we should do anything?" Warrick asked worriedly as he watched Grissom who had walked to the other end of the room to call Nick's parents.

"No, I think Greg has it under control," Catherine said.

"Will you at least uncurl enough so I can hold you and give you a hug, please Daish?" This time there was no response at all, not even a shake of the head. "C'mon Daish, please? You know Nicky wouldn't want you doing this and scaring me, don't you?" Greg pleaded trying a different tactic. Finally it seemed that he had made a break through ever so slightly Dacia uncurled and allowed herself to be pulled into Greg's arms as she broke down completely and sobbed until she had managed to cry herself to sleep. Greg said a silent prayer that Nick would beat the odds and make it through while the rest of the team including him gathered around Dacia and waited anxiously to be told they could see someone who was near and dear to them all.

TBC?

A/n, thank you for the reviews I received. They warmed my heart, and I feel better about this story. I love reviews, though, so don't forget to read and review, please. I hope to have the next chapter out next week sometime. Forgive any spelling mistakes, I'm babysitting and trying to help the kids with their homework.