CHAPTER 10

OK, firstly, apologies for the delay in getting another chapter written and put up. This chapter, as promised, is for Mma63, who gave me the nudge I needed to sit down and write up some more. Many thanks for the continued support of my stories and for taking the time to review. Now, please, read on…

Grissom groaned and dropped his head into his hands. It was unlike him to be so outwardly expressive and Catherine raised her eyebrows once more. Maybe marriage had been good for him in more ways than one, she thought.

Finally, Gil Grissom had to stop being an emotional island.

"Gil?"

He heard the sound of movement as Catherine shifted her chair closer to his.

"I'm losing her, Catherine." he said quietly. The words were simple but the emotion which cracked his voice spoke volumes.

Catherine let the silence sit there for several seconds, settling instead for a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, but when no more words were forthcoming she took a deep breath and offered what words of wisdom she could.

"Gil, how long have I known you?" she asked.

Grissom shrugged a little and finally brought his head up from his hands.

"More years than I can remember." he replied.

Catherine gave a slight chuckle.

"It's been nearly 20 years." she said, raising her eyebrows at how fast the time had gone. "Twenty looong years." she added with a cheeky grin.

Grissom gave her a wan smile in return.

"Anyway," she continued, "I feel I know you pretty well after all these years. We've been through a lot together and I've learnt to trust your judgement. I've learnt to back you because, even when I think you're heading for disaster, you always come through."

Grissom turned his head to look at her with a sceptical eyebrow raised.

Catherine pushed on regardless.

"When you and Sara first got together, part of me thought 'about time!' but another part of me thought that it was not going to end well and the two of you were so very different that it could never work out."Grissom continued to look at her, perplexed at where the conversation was heading.

"Is this supposed to be making me feel better?" he asked sarcastically.

Catherine ignored him and continued.

"Well, you proved me wrong." she said, flicking her hair away from her eyes. "I watched the way you were with each other and I've come to realise that you're both just two pieces of the one puzzle. You belong together. The two of you have more in common than I ever imagined and I've seen you work through the most incredibly difficult situations. This is a speed hump, that's all. You'll work through this the same way as everything else and you'll come out the other side stronger than ever."

Grissom took a deep breath and nodded. He brought an arm up and wrapped it around Catherine's shoulders, pulling her into an embrace. Catherine smiled as she hugged him back.

Her friend had definitely changed.

Nick slept on and off throughout the day and well into the night. His waking moments were spent in a drug induced cloud where strangers in uniform were standing over him, getting him to cough and move about as much as he was able.

Even rolling onto his side was an effort and sapped him of his energy.

He had been vaguely aware of Catherine and Grissom with him for part of the day but they had finally left at some point and he was alone again.

He finally woke up in the early hours of the morning feeling more clear headed than he had since his ordeal started. It still hurt to move much. He was clear headed enough to realise that this meant they must have stopped his narcotic infusion at some point.

He took a deep breath and winced as the staples holding his wound together bit into him. Turning his head to one side he gazed out of the cubicles window. The sky was black - it was clearly the middle of the night - but there was a weird glow from the city's lights which oozed its way through the darkness.

Nick brought a hand up to rub wearily at his face before dropping it heavily back onto the bed. He slowly turned his head back to have a look around his room, finally lucid enough to care about his surroundings, and jumped as his gaze landed on a figure sitting in a chair in the shadows. He winced again and muttered a curse word as the sudden movement tweaked his wound and pulled at his drainage tube.

The figure moved from the chair and his brain finally registered it as being Sara as she moved closer to his bed.

"Hey." she said quietly as she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand.

"Hey." he replied, his voice gravely and hoarse.

"How you feeling" she asked tentatively.

Nick gave her a tired smile and squeezed her hand. "Been better." he replied.

Sara forced out a chuckle that quickly turned into a sob and she brought her free hand up to her face to cover her eyes as the tears finally came.

Nick frowned in concern and awkwardly manoeuvred his arm up - despite the IV lines - to rest at the side of her face briefly before wrapping around her neck and bringing her head down to rest against the crook of his shoulder. Mumbling soothing words, he waited until he heard her sniff and felt her body relax and stop trembling.

"I'm sorry, Nick." she murmured, her head still tucked into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for all of this."

She felt Nick's hand tighten briefly at the back of her neck and heard him whisper "It's not your fault, Sara. Not your fault."

Sara closed her eyes and rested a moment.

When she finally sat up she rubbed at her eyes self consciously. She had always had a friendly rivalry with Nick and hated letting him see her so vulnerable. Sensing her discomfort, Nick shifted his gaze to the wall to let her regain her composure. As competitive as he was with her, he was first and foremost a gentleman.

"So," he said, bringing a hand to rest over his aching abdomen, "what's happening with your brother?"

Sara dropped her gaze down to the bed sheets before taking a deep and steadying breath.

"Jim called to say they had him in custody," she replied, not making eye contact. "They found him a few blocks away from the lab."

Nick nodded and closed his eyes as if the information simply confirmed what he had already suspected. He guessed Sara wouldn't have been sitting with him in the middle of the night if her brother was still roaming free. Knowing her, she would have been out on the streets looking for him herself.

She was tenacious.

Dogged.

Tough as nails.

And delicate as a flower.

Nick re-opened his eyes and looked across at his colleague - a woman he loved like another sister. She had dragged her seat across to sit close next to his bed, eyes still downcast. She looked like a lonely little girl. And it broke Nicks's heart.

"Sar?" he murmured gently.

Sara paused a second before shifting her gaze back to him.

"You OK?" he asked carefully, eyebrows rising in concern.

Sara smiled back at him.

"You're the one lying in a hospital bed." she replied. "I should be the one asking you that question."

Nick reached out and grabbed her hand again, giving it another squeeze.

"Sara, I'll be fine." he said before locking his eyes with her again. "I want to make sure you'll be fine too."

Sara didn't let go of his hand but broke the intense eye contact and bit her lip to stop her emotions from bubbling to the surface again. Taking a couple of deep and steadying breaths, she looked back up into his eyes and spoke with a strength that even surprised herself.

"I will be OK." she replied earnestly. Having said it aloud, she suddenly realised what she needed to do. She had fought so long and so hard to get the happiness that had eluded her throughout her younger years.

It was crystal clear.

She had offered her brother everything he needed to establish a new life for himself - she had fought so hard for him - and he had rejected it all. She had to look after herself now. She had to put her happiness first for once. She had to embrace the fact that family doesn't automatically come with shared genetics - it comes with being around people who offer love, respect and support, regardless of your DNA sequences. She realised that, as a child, you were at the mercy of the family you were born into. You could have an upbringing filled with love and joy, you could have one filled with angst and hatred, or you could be discarded like a piece of rubbish. As a child, she had lacked the maturity and life experience to be able to do much other than adapt to her circumstances. As an adult, she realised, she had the means and independence to chose where she wanted to be and who she wanted to share her life with. She had formed a new family. And she wanted to be a part of that family more badly than she had wanted anything else in her whole life.

She knew what she needed to do….and it felt good. It felt right. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She needed to go home.

A warm and genuine smile spread across her face as she looked back at Nick. She squeezed his hand once more.

"I'll be just fine." she reiterated.

Then, pushing to her feet she leant across and gave Nick a small kiss on the forehead before offering an awkward hug.

"Thanks, Nicky." she said softly.

Nick looked slightly perplexed but murmured "Any time." as Sara pulled away, turned to pick up her bag, and headed for the door.

"Sorry for keeping you up. I'll let you get your beauty sleep." she said teasingly.

Nick smiled and settled back against his pillows.

"Feel better soon and call me if you need anything, OK?" she said.

Nick nodded and gave her the thumbs up sign.

Sara smiled back and left.

She was going home.

Back to the man she loved more than anyone.

Back to her family.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please consider sending me through a note to let me know what you thought of it. I would really, really appreciate it. I really would. Go on. Please?