Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing stilllll.

Chapter Fourteen

4:30pm

When Sara awoke a little over six hours later, the first thing she noticed was that Catherine was now sitting where Nick had been.

"Nick?" She croaked, her throat dry from sleeping.

"He left a couple hours ago. He has to work tonight." Catherine replied, looking over the top of her magazine. "He left you a friend, though."

Confused, Sara followed Catherine's gaze down to her arms, where she found herself clinging a stuffed dog with a note attached to it.

"Couldn't find any penguins but this guy reminded me of you. Feel better, darlin'. Love, Nick."

Sara smiled as she looked at the dog. It was brown and black with floppy ears.

"He really cares for you, Sara." Catherine put her magazine down in her lap.

"He's just being a good friend, Cath. That's it." Sara denied.

"Honey, I'm neither blind nor stupid. I've seen the way he looks at you. I've never seen him look at anyone with that much love and respect." Catherine told her. "And I've seen the way you look at him when you think no one else is around. It's in your eyes."

"I- he- we…" Sara stuttered. "We're just friends. Best friends."

"Riiight."

"I've seen the girls he's dated, Cath. I'm not his type at all. Those girls are gorgeous. I could never compare to them. Why would he want boring ol' me?"

"Sara!" Catherine exclaimed. "Why do you sell yourself so short? You're a beautiful, strong, independent woman. Guys would be lucky to have you."

"Hank didn't seem to think so." Sara stated. "Neither did Paul or John."

"Hank's a dumbass. He didn't deserve you. Who are Paul and John? College?"

"Paul was my physics partner. We dated for almost two years before I found out that he'd been cheating on me for seven months. John was my neighbor during my stay at my last foster home. We went to the same high school, senior year. He was my first real boyfriend. We went to Harvard together freshman year. He dumped me for my supposed best friend and transferred to Yale with her." Sara explained.

"Honey, that's not your fault." Catherine knew Sara had a hard past but she didn't know the details of it.

"Yes, it is. I have… it's really hard for me to trust people. They knew and used it to their advantage. They got me to trust them and knew I wouldn't suspect anything. I shouldn't have let them in. They used my past to hurt me even more."

"Sara…" Catherine tried to make sense of her friends' logic. "Even if that is true, which it isn't, I can tell that Nick's love is genuine. He won't hurt you. Hasn't he proven that to you by being such a good friend the past year?"

"It's not just him…" Sara whispered after a minute. "I can't trust myself."

"What? Why, honey?"

"I just don't want to turn out like her."

"Who, Sara?"

"My mother." Sara closed her eyes, trying not to cry. "She, uh, stabbed my father to death when I was little. She was an alcoholic and he was abusive. I went into foster care when I was eleven." She paused. "I just don't want to become her."

Catherine wasn't sure how to respond. "You know there's no such thing as a violence gene, Sara. Yes, you're strong-headed and stubborn but you're one of the most caring, individuals I know. There's no way you could inflict any pain on anyone, unless they absolutely deserved it. Well… except Greg."

Sara paused, smiling a bit. "I'm just scared. I mean, have you ever wanted something so much even though it scared the hell out of you?"

"Sara, if I tell you that I've been in a similar situation recently and it's worked, will that help?"

"I already know how you feel about Warrick." Sara stated.

"What? How?"

"Woman's intuition? I've known for a while now."

"That's it. As soon as you're better, we're going away for the weekend. Sam has a cabin up north. It's on the water and everything."

"That sounds really good." Sara agreed, trying to hide a yawn.

"Get some rest. It's after seven and you get to go home tomorrow." Catherine said. "I'm going to grab some dinner. You want anything?"

Sara shook her head. "No, thanks."

Catherine frowned. "Sara, you have to eat."

"I'm really not hungry."

"Okay, I'll be back in a little while then." She nodded hesitantly and headed out into the hallway.

"Hey, Cath?" Sara called.

"Yeah?" She stuck her head back into the room.

"Maybe some crackers?"

Catherine smiled and disappeared again.