Jim and Sara spend the next few hours cleaning the rest of the flat. Sara wanted to make the most of the opportunity whilst she had the energy, and the help. It was around 3pm when the first wave of nausea suddenly hit and she had to rush to the bathroom. It was clear that morning sickness didn't just occur in the morning.

'This sucks' Sara mumbled, head resting on the side of the bathtub

'I know, but it'll be worth it, I promise' Brass said leaning against the door frame

'Hope so' Sara mumbled before being sick once more.

'Here' Brass gave her a wet washcloth and she wiped her face and mouth clean 'Perhaps you could get some sleep Sara. You've done a lot today, a lot more than the last few days combined'

'I know' Sara said slowly, pushing herself a little more upright 'I just… I was hoping Catherine might have rang…'

Jim couldn't help but laugh at this 'Yeah… I've got some news for you kiddo… you can ring her'

'I don't want to bug her…'

Jim couldn't help but laugh again 'She's probably thinking the same thing Sara, not wanting to crowd you so soon. If you want to speak to her, speak to her, then sleep'

Sara smiled and nodded, and pushed herself to her feet, and walked towards the phone.

'Willows' Catherine answered a little unsure to who had rang

'Hey Cat' Sara whispered feeling a little nervous

Catherine stopped walking, a smile breaking over her face 'Hi Sweetie, how are you getting on?'

Sara smiled too, her nerves lessening, glad she had picked up the phone 'It's been a good day… Dr put me on Lithium… so, Lithium, Prozac and Disulfiram make a good cocktail…normal service is slowly being resumed' Sara tried to joke, but Catherine just took a deep breath in and tried not to panic. Now she was worrying about Sara becoming addicted to the pills. When Catherine didn't answer Sara began to panic again 'Cat?' she whispered out

'I'm here… I… Sorry, I'm glad you're feeling ok Sar…Sar…Why the Lithium?' Catherine asked walking to the locker room for a little privacy

'Oh… I forget who knows and who doesn't… Bipolar disorder, you know… the extreme mood swings… Can we… Can we talk about something else please? I've been in such a good mood…'

'Sure Sweetie, of course' Catherine said as cheerfully as she could

'Hey, have you heard about nail soup?' came Sara's excited voice

'Yeah… magical stuff isn't it, Grams used to make it all the time, though I haven't. So I'm guessing bachelor Jim cooked, that's something I almost can't believe… no food poisoning?' Catherine joked, and was happy when she heard Sara laughing heartily

'No…No…No food poisoning' she got out between laughs

'Good, I would hate to have to hurt him if he made you sick sweetie!' Catherine chuckled

'Keep your hands off of my Dad!' Sara managed to get out, and was met by silence

Catherine was truly at a loss for words.

'Cat… are you there?' Sara asked after a long silence

'Yeah sweetie…Yeah, I'm here… just, processing… I always knew the two of you had a weird relationship, I was just wrong about how weird it was…I… I thought perhaps you were interested romantically, like you seemed to be with Grissom… I… I'm glad I don't have to compete with him' she confessed.

'Never' Sara said with confidence

'Can I come over?' Catherine asked, a little unsure

'Always… you don't need to ask Catherine…'

'I don't want to crowd you Sara… I know how vulnerable you're feeling…'

'You won't crowd me, promise, but you can come over and cuddle with me?' Sara said with confidence, and smile on her face.

'Sure… but please, kick Pops out first' Catherine said her voice flirtatious 'I'll be over in…' she looked at her watch 'Urggg… 4 hours… if I don't finish at least half of the shift I'll be written up…'

Sara groaned in frustration, but understood 'I'll be waiting' and with that she hung up.

Throughout the conversation Brass had tried to keep himself busy, not wanting to eavesdrop. He had heard a little of the conversation on Sara's side, but none of Catherine's responses.

'So, when's the lovebird coming over?' he asked handing Sara over a cup of green tea.

'About 4 hours, she needs to finish up some stuff at work…'

'Well, that gives you time to drink your tea and then sleep for a little while'

Sara took a sip of the tea, holding the mug close 'Good idea…' she blinked a few times 'But we need to go to the supermarket soon….' She blinked a little more

'Don't worry about it, I can go when Catherine's here, and swing by my apartment and get a few more things'

Sara nodded sleepily and almost spilt her tea. Reaching over Jim took the mug from her, and took her arm 'Come on… to the bedroom you go…'

Sara was too tired to even protest being walking to her bed.

'Think you've got the energy to get into something more comfortable?' he asked as he pulled back to covers so she could sit down.

'Yeah… Yeah, I'll be ok Brass… Dad…' she said yawning, pulling her jumper off. Brass turned his head so she had a little more privacy, and waited until she was under the covers. He walked out of the room, and turned off the light. He was about to turn around to say good night, but Sara was already asleep.

Whilst Sara was sleeping Brass busied himself cleaning the rest of the kitchen, including the fridge. He was tempted to throw the beer out, but decided to leave it where it was. It would be up to Sara to get rid of it, in her own time. Next he busied himself making a shopping list, and at last settled on to the sofa, hoping for about an hours sleep before Catherine would arrive.

All too soon there came a knocking at the door. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jim stood up and went to answer it.

'Hey Catherine' he asked yawning a little

'Hey Brass… Sorry, did I wake you?'

Brass just nodded, and walked back to the sofa

'How is she?' she asked closing the door behind her.

'Sleeping…I don't think we should wake her up just yet'

Catherine frowned a little, but she understood 'What if I promise not to wake her up?' she said after a moment's thought.

Brass just chuckled 'Knock yourself out… I'm going to the supermarket' wiping at his eyes once more, he stood up, and barely waiting a breath Catherine made her way towards Sara's bedroom.

She stood in the door way for a moment just watching Sara sleep, and then she slipped her shoes of, removed her trousers and top, and slipped into the bed next to Sara.

Sara rolled over in her sleep, vaguely aware of the bed dipping under Catherine's weight, she smiled a little and pulled Catherine into her arms and quickly fall asleep again.

Catherine ran her fingers through Sara's hair. There was so much she wanted to talk about with Sara, so much they needed to discuss, and she was also trying to resist the urge to start kissing the beautiful woman in her arms. It would all have to wait. Catherine smiled contently, knowing there was no rush for any of it, and after 10 minutes, she too fall asleep.

Sara wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but she was aware of 3 things. She needed the bathroom, she had a headache, and there was a warmth around her, arms holding her close. Catherine. She vaguely remembered Catherine joining her in the bed, and she couldn't help but smile. She didn't want to move, but she had too. The pressure in her bladder was getting too much. Slowly she slipped out of the bed, not wanting to disturb the woman next to her, and made her way to the bathroom. At the last minute she remembered to grab her dressing gown, unsure if Jim would be in the next room or not.

After using the bathroom, she headed into the kitchen to grab some water. She noticed that her fridge had been cleaned and restocked, but Jim wasn't there. There was however a note.

''Plenty of food for later, hope you slept well, didn't want to disturb either of you. Gone to PD for a few hours. Call me before Catherine leaves, Brass''

Sara smiled, and read the note over and over again. Sara took two Tylenol and opened a jar of peanut butter, eating straight from the jar. She realised Jim must have paid for all of the shopping, and she felt a little guilty. She wondered how much he had spent. Then she began to wondering how much money she had spent in the past year on Alcohol, Night clubs, Taxis and Clinic visits. A lot she imagined, knowing how in the past few months she had worked more and more overtime to earn enough money to not fall in to debt because of her bad habits. She was suddenly angry at herself for allowing herself to fall into such a mess.

She didn't realise it, but her prescriptions were beginning to wear off, and she was due another dose.

Torn between going back to bed and hiding in Catherine's arms, or pulling out every receipt she could find, Sara flipped a coin. The coin decided that she should look at her finances, and so she did.

Soon Sara was surrounded by stacks and stacks of paper. Bank statements, Credit Card statements, receipts. She tried to place them in order, highlighting different transactions. So far she had gone back 3 months, and the figures were disturbing to her.

On Alcohol alone she had spent close to $700… in that time she had earned just under $5000. That worked out at about a 7th of her earnings. It was more than she'd spent on food. Much more. It made her feel awful. Tears started to stream down her face.

Sara walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of beer.

Xxx

Catherine rolled over, her hand reaching across the bed, wanting to pull Sara closer. She half registered the bed was empty, and then noticed the bed was cold, and she woke up fully, and began to panic. Sitting up, she wiped her eyes, and listened carefully, thinking perhaps Sara was just in the bathroom, or perhaps in the living room with Jim. The next thing she heard however, was a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Something, or someone, had fallen. Leaping out of bed she ran to the kitchen 'Sara?' she called out as she went.

'Oh God!' Catherine screamed, momentarily frozen on the spot 'Oh Sara… what did you do, what did you do…'

Sara was on the floor, surrounded by empty beer bottles, lying in a small puddle of vomit. One of the bottles had smashed, and there was a small cut on Sara's arm that was bleeding.

Catherine rushed to her side, concern fighting with the anger in her. If only, if only, she kept thinking. If she'd been awake none of this would have happened. She pulled out her phone, wanting to dial 911, but then Sara began to stir.

Catherine fall to her knees as Sara rolled over, moaning.

'Why Sara?' Catherine choked out 'Why?'

Sara just moaned again, closing her eyes against the harsh light of the room.

'What happened?' she choked out, rubbing at her head

'Don't give me that shit Sidle!' Catherine screamed, her concern quickly evaporating at Sara's stupidity, and now her lying 'Look around you!'

Sara just groaned 'I didn't… I swear I didn't…'

'Don't lie to me Sara! You're lying in your own vomit, again, surrounded by empty bottles, you expect me to believe you haven't just binged?'

'Yes' Sara choked out, shaking with tears 'I haven't touched a drop since you took me to the hospital Cat'

'Don't call me that!' Catherine screamed, her own tears falling down her face as she moved to lean against the kitchen cabinets.

Sara moved so she was also sat against the cupboards. 'Please let me explain…'

Catherine didn't respond, so Sara pressed on.

'I woke up, and saw that Brass had gone food shopping… the next thing I find myself wondering just how much money I've wasted this past year… I got 3 months back; I'm already at $700. I was angry… embarrassed… I went into the kitchen to throw it all out. I swear to you, I didn't drink it. It all went down to drain, all of it. Then I had another wave of morning sickness… the smell of the beer made it worse. I got dizzy, retched… then the last bottle slipped from my hand, smashed on the floor, and I was sick… I must have cut my arm on the glass as I fall… the trace amount of alcohol on the glass, mixed with the Disulfiram caused me to be sick again…I swear on my life… On my Baby's life, I didn't drink Cat… Please… Please believe me…'

She was met with silence.

'If you don't believe me, take a blood sample…' she whispered, holding out her arm.

'Oh Sara…' Catherine choked out, now angrier at her reaction and for jumping to conclusions. 'I'm sorry Sara… I'm so sorry… I should have known you would never… I'm sorry…'

Catherine inched her way over to Sara, and pulled the woman into her arms.

They both sat in silence, the tears falling quietly.

'Forgive me?' Sara asked at last

'For what?' Catherine murmured, her lips pressing a kiss into Sara's hair

'For not waking you up… for missing my medicine… I…I think that's why I did what I did…I wasn't thinking straight… I didn't even think about taking my prescriptions…It just never occurred to me, it's all still so new…'

'It's ok Sweetie… really, it's ok… forgive me'

'For what?' Sara echoed.

'For not waking up when you did, for not being there to remind you to take your medicine, for not believing you…'

Sara snuggled into Catherine's arms a little more

'I forgive you'

'Thank you'

Sara sighed, her hand trailing lightly on Catherine's hip

'What's up Sara?'

'I…I kinda, really, want to kiss you right now…but I feel gross, and I've been sick…'

Catherine just smiled, and pulled away from Sara 'Have you heard about this invention, it's called a toothbrush' Catherine stood up, and held her hand out to Sara 'Come on, let's get you cleaned up, dosed up, and then we can sit and watch a movie or something, who knows, perhaps I'll even let you kiss me and touch me up!'

Sara giggled at this, and quickly jumped up, heading to the bathroom.

Xxx

A/n I know that wasn't the happiest of Chapters, but I've been wanting to write that scene for a while now, and now seemed the right time to do so. It did get a nice ending though! But for now, bed calls! More tomorrow , emz .