A/N: Hello there, everyone! So sorry about the big delay between the last chapter and this one. I'm nearing the end of my first semester of law school, and things got hectic and crazy pretty fast! I truly didn't mean for there to be such a gap between updates, so I sincerely apologize about that. I want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to review the last chapter, especially after such a long hiatus, and those who are continuing to read and support this story. It truly means the world to me, and I appreciate each and every one of you! Without further ado, here is the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!

When Catherine cracked her eyes open, sunlight was beaming into the guest bedroom through slats in the blinds. She took a few moments to blink the grogginess from her eyes as she pushed herself into a sitting position. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw it was a little after 9:00 AM. She hadn't been able to sleep in much past 8:00 AM for the longest time.

Feeling eyes burning into the side of her head, she turned and bit back a laugh at the sight of two brown eyes gazing back at her, looking very much awake. Catherine bit her lip in amusement. "And just how long have you been lying there in silence?"

Sara offered a small shrug and a smile. "Not sure. I can't see the clock."

Catherine shared the smile, until she realized that this could be a repeat of last night. "Are you in pain?" she worriedly asked. "Do you need medicine? Damn it! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Cath, I'm fine, I promise," Sara tried to stop her, keeping her voice very soft. She allowed her eyes to fall on Lindsey, who was still sound asleep in the middle of the bed. "I would've woken you if I needed more meds, but I'm doing okay right now."

Catherine stared at Lindsey for a few moments, noting the relaxed rise and fall of her chest that indicated her daughter was still sleeping. Grateful for Sara's reminder, and for her sudden outburst not waking her, she slowly nodded. "Okay. Let me know if you need any though, okay?"

"I will," Sara nodded. "Um… but I do kind of need something else right now."

Catherine stared her quizzically, and then realization dawned on her like a ton of bricks. "The bathroom! Shit, Sara! Why didn't you wake me up for that, either?" She quickly pushed herself to the edge of the bed, and she winced when she applied pressure to her ankle. It definitely hurt this morning after staying off of it for hours last night. She'd be taking more of her own pills.

"I promise I haven't been awake that long," Sara replied, chewing on her lip in slight embarrassment. As hard as Catherine was trying not to show it, she saw the wince and noticed how the blonde was limping slightly as she walked around the bed to her side. "I'm sorry. I actually did try to get up myself—"

"Not. A. Word," Catherine held up a stern finger at her as she began to unfold the wheelchair propped against the wall. "I know you didn't just try to apologize and say that you tried to get up by yourself. Sara, I don't know how much clearer I need to be – you have to let someone help you right now, and if it's not going to be me, then it's going to be one of the boys, a nurse staying at your place, or you're going back to the hospital."

Sara slowly pushed herself upright, a scowl on her face. "I'm not a child. Stop speaking to me like I'm one."

"Then quit acting like one, Sara!" Catherine moved in front of her, holding her hands out to help her to her feet so she could sit down. "I promise I'm not trying to make you feel like a child, Sara, but you're just too damn stubborn for your own good sometimes."

Sara grabbed Catherine's hands, hating that she needed the help, but knowing that she wasn't going to be getting upright on her own without a lot of difficulty right now. She'd meant what she'd said – she really had tried to get up by herself, but after fifteen minutes of getting absolutely fucking nowhere, she'd given up, and instead decided to stare over at the sleeping blonde impatiently, willing her to wake up.

Mentally counting to three, Sara pushed herself to her feet relatively easily with Catherine's help. She remained still for a few moments, breathing slowly, waiting for the wave of pain to hit her. When it didn't come immediately, she decided to take a couple of small steps forward, but that proved to be a mistake. When she turned slightly the pain hit her so suddenly it took her breath away, and her knees instantly buckled.

Catherine's eyes widened in surprise and she dove for her, managing to catch Sara by linking her arms under hers just before she slumped to the floor. "Alright, I've got you."

"Goddamn it," Sara cursed, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Hey, take it easy," Catherine coached her, very, very slowly pulling her back to her feet. "Use your feet and push up as best you can, and I'll pull you the rest of the way. The wheelchair's right here."

Sara did as she instructed, pushing with all her strength so that she was once again upright. She was aware that Catherine was bearing the brunt of her weight, and she felt horrible for it, knowing that the very last thing her ankle needed right now was 120 pounds of dead-weight brunette.

Both women sighed in relief once Sara was safely in the wheelchair. Catherine disengaged the brakes, grunting as she tugged it backwards on the carpet. She tossed a glance at the bed, shaking her head in disbelief when she noticed that somehow, Lindsey still appeared to be snoozing.

"You doing okay?" Catherine asked once she'd pushed the wheelchair into the doorway of the first floor bathroom. The wheels moved much easier on the tile.

"I'm fine."

The short, clipped tone that accompanied the brunette's response was expected, but the shakiness to her voice wasn't. Afraid that maybe her stitches had torn again, Catherine walked around to the front of the wheelchair to meet her face.

"What is it?" Catherine softly asked. "Are you hurting?"

"I'm fine," Sara repeated, refusing to meet her gaze, but knowing that there was no one the blonde wasn't seeing the shine in her eyes right now.

"Sara?"

"Please," Sara whispered, quickly wiping at the tears before they could fall. "I need to be alone. I'll be fine."

Catherine bit her lip, heart breaking as she watched her. She knew that asking for help in the first place was something that didn't come naturally to Sara, who was always so used to being independent and self-sufficient. And having to ask for help to make it the bathroom was about the most humiliating demonstration of that imaginable.

"Sara, you can hardly stand…"

"I promise I'll be okay. Please, I just need to be alone for a few minutes."

It was a desperate plea, and Catherine couldn't deny her that. While she knew that there was nothing embarrassing about needing help, especially at a time like this, she respected the brunette's privacy and desire to be able to have control over at least one aspect of her life right now. "Okay," she finally whispered. "Then I'll push you as close as I can, and I'll step outside. But call if you need me, got it?"

Sara nodded that she would. Catherine maneuvered the wheelchair as close to the toilet as she could, re-engaging the brakes, before stepping into the hallway, closing the door behind herself.

As she walked away, she tried to ignore the soft sobs coming from the bathroom.

Catherine pushed the wheelchair toward the kitchen, struggling a bit as the wheels began to move over carpeting again. As both women rounded the corner, they discovered that Lindsey was now awake, and she was staring at them expectantly in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" she brightly greeted them. "How are you feeling, Sara? Did you sleep well? Did the warm milk help?"

Though her eyes were slightly red-rimmed and puffy, Sara shot her a smile. "I did, honey, thank you. It was a big help."

Lindsey was positively beaming in response. "Are you hungry, Sara? I can fix you breakfast! I can fix something for you too, Mommy."

Catherine chuckled as she pushed the wheelchair toward the kitchen table. Pulling one of the chairs away from the table, she pushed the wheelchair in its place, making sure Sara was close enough to the table. "Gee, thanks, Linds. Really nice of you to remember your mom's here too." At her daughter's rolled eyes, she shook her head in amusement. "Go sit down, you. I'll get something started for all of us."

"You don't have to, Cath," Sara spoke up. "Honest, I'm really not that hungry. I can just have toast or something."

"You had toast last night, Sara!" Lindsey pointed out to her, taking the chair nearest her. "Aren't you tired of it? Besides, toast isn't enough!"

"What she said," Catherine shot Sara a smirk as she removed a carton of eggs from the refrigerator. "How do you take your eggs?"

Sara pursed her lips, attempting to bite back a small smile. "Over easy," she finally replied. "As long as coffee's part of the deal."

"Of course," Catherine laughed, already grabbing the container of it from one of the cupboards. "What do you think I am, a sadist?"

To both women's surprise, Sara's appetite had apparently returned that morning, with a vengeance. Catherine wasn't sure she had ever seen the brunette each so much in the five years she'd known her. Even during the few rare outings with the team, Sara was always the one who would have a side salad or a cup of soup, or, as was more common, just a cup of coffee. Watching her scarf down the three-egg omelet Catherine had prepared for her more out of hopeful optimism than a true belief that she'd actually eat it had been nothing short of astonishing.

"Are you still hungry?" Catherine asked her, watching as the other woman downed the rest of her coffee.

"No, I'm good, thanks."

"You sure? I can fix you something else, or even get you some fruit or something."

"No, I'm good, really." Sara suddenly looked uncomfortable, observing her empty plate, and Lindsey, who was really playing with her food more than eating it now. Lindsey had eaten about a third of her omelet and was reserving the rest of it as a blank canvas for her ketchup masterpieces. "Thank you, Catherine. This was great."

"You're welcome," Catherine replied with a smile. "Linds, if you're not going to eat, why don't you head upstairs and get cleaned up? When was the last time that head of yours saw some shampoo?"

Lindsey set her fork down in order to playfully sneer at her mother. Sara watched in quiet amusement as mother and daughter traded faces at each other, and finally let out a chuckle when they were both tugging at their cheeks and sticking their tongues out at one another.

"Alright, you goofball," Catherine chuckled. "Upstairs, and brush your teeth, while you're at it."

"Oookaaay," Lindsey let out a dramatic sigh as she dragged out the word, pushing her chair out from the kitchen table. She pushed it back before she turned to Sara expectantly. "You'll still be here when I get done, won't you, Sara?"

Sara blinked at the young girl in surprise. "Yes, sweetheart. I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye."

"Good!" With that assurance, Lindsey happily hopped off to the staircase. Both women were able to track her noisy movements upstairs and could tell when she'd gone into the bathroom by the loud sound of the door closing.

With that, both Catherine and Sara were left alone, and the sudden awkward silence that filled the room made the air feel thick and uncomfortable. Catherine quietly sipped at her coffee, trying and failing not to stare at the other woman, and Sara could feel her eyes and was actively avoiding them.

"Are you sure I can't get you something else?" Catherine finally asked to break the silence.

"Actually," Sara finally glanced over at her, and held her empty coffee mug up. "Could I have some more?"

"Of course," Catherine's lips curled into the smallest of smiles at Sara's request. It was clear Sara had picked up on how strange this suddenly felt and was trying to extend an olive branch of sorts. Rather than grabbing Sara's mug, the blonde pushed herself to her feet and limped over to the coffee pot, deciding to bring the carafe to the table instead. She paused in front of Sara and refilled her mug before setting it down and lowering herself back into her chair.

Sara thanked her, taking a slow sip, before she turned her body to look more fully at Catherine. "How are you feeling?" she asked. "With your ankle, I mean."

"It's fine," Catherine shrugged, and then grimaced. After hearing Sara's repeated attempts to reassure her of just how fine she thought she was, those words sounded nothing but hollow. "It's better," she added. "It's still a bit sore, but it feels better after I've been on it for a while, you know? Plus, those pills are awesome."

Sara's mouth upturned in the slightest of smiles. Her eyes looked thoughtful and somewhat sad. Catherine desperately wished she knew what was going through the brunette's mind. There were a million things she wanted to tell her. They'd of course been interrupted last night right as she was about to spill her guts and profess her feelings to her. Then there was this morning and Sara's breakdown in the bathroom, which, as much as she knew the brunette would never want her to discuss, was definitely something she was concerned about. Catherine wasn't sure she had ever seen Sara cry during the entire time she'd known her… aside from her hysterical, shock-induced sobs from blood loss in the desert.

Her stomach instantly churned, and she fought the memories of that back down.

"I'm glad it's feeling better," Sara said, her voice soft, and it brought Catherine back to the present. "I'm still sorry that you're having to put up with it at all, but I'm glad it's doing better."

Catherine shook her head slightly. Sara still blamed herself for her injuries, despite the fact that she'd taken a bullet protecting her and the fact that there had been nothing more she could have done. "It's not worse because you were there, Sara. You don't have anything to be sorry for. We've talked about this, remember?"

Sara's jaw was clenching repeatedly, and Catherine knew that she didn't believe that at all.

Catherine took another sip of her coffee, tossing another glance over at Sara. Since Sara had asked about her ankle, maybe she was in a talking mood. "How are you feeling?" the blonde echoed. "Now that you've had some real food, would you like to take some more medicine?"

She watched Sara think about this. The younger woman's mouth began to open to mutter an automatic no, but then she seemed to stop and consider this. No doubt she was thinking back to how much pain she'd been in this morning when she stood up to get in the wheelchair. But because she was Sara, she wouldn't just say that.

Wordlessly, Catherine pushed herself to her feet and went to retrieve Sara's pills. She heard and ignored Sara protesting as she walked into the guest room, and returned to the kitchen with the orange prescription bottle moments later. She reached into the cupboard and filled a glass with water, and limped back to the table with everything. She left the bottle and water in front of Sara, simply giving her the option, without forcing it on her.

"You didn't have to do that," Sara said, her voice sounding a bit shaky and strained again, the way it had when Catherine had wheeled her to the bathroom earlier. "You need to stay off your ankle."

"The doctor actually told me I need to be up and on it as much as I can," Catherine replied. "It'll keep me out of physical therapy. And you clearly need more medicine, but apparently don't feel like you can tell me that, so I decided to just go get it instead of sit here in silence."

The words came out a bit harsher than she intended for them to, and she noticed Sara's jaw clenching again. She looked like she was trying to come up with the right words, and also looked like she was very possibly fighting back tears. It was heartbreaking to see Sara this way. It reminded her of how she'd looked right before she'd allowed herself to break down in the hospital. And the operative word there was definitely allowed – showing any sort of emotion that the brunette perceived as vulnerability or weakness was something she had to let herself do, like she had to ask her strong, take-no-shit persona for permission before she was able to be human.

"Sara?" Catherine spoke her name softly, reaching out to place her hand over hers. "Sara, please talk to me. I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine," Sara shook her head, and wiped at her eyes in a way she hoped was subtle enough that Catherine wouldn't notice, but knew that of course she would. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just… I just keep crying. I'm trying not to, but that just makes it worse."

"Don't fight it," Catherine suggested. "Like in the hospital. There's obviously some things you need to feel, and that's okay. Don't try to keep it all inside."

"But I'm fine."

"I'm not."

Sara met her with a gaze of surprise at her admission. Catherine hadn't really even realized that the words had slipped out until Sara was staring at her.

At her questioning look, Catherine offered a small shrug, and a rueful smile. "I'm not. Physically? I'm good – a bit banged up, like I said, but yeah, I'm good. Emotionally? Mentally? That's a whole other story. I'm trying to keep it together for Lindsey, but after what we just went through? I'm a mess."

Sara looked mortified. "God, Catherine, I'm sorry… I shouldn't be here, I'm probably just making this a million times worse—"

"No, Sara. This isn't because of you." Catherine squeezed her hand, "It's because of what we went through… but even more than that…" She suddenly had a lump in her throat, and she swallowed it back as she met Sara's concerned eyes. "It's from what you went through. And what I couldn't prevent."

Immediately Sara was shaking her head, ready to go into a vast list of reasons why it wasn't the blonde's fault, but Catherine stopped her before she get started. "I know what you're going to say, Sara. And just like I told you, I know you're right. I couldn't have prevented it, right? I know that, truly. Rationally, logically, I know that. We were at a severe disadvantage, and if I had tried anything more, I probably would've only succeeded in getting us both killed. But you have to understand…" Her eyes shone with tears, the morning sunlight reflecting off of them like blue waves. "…Watching you like that… hearing your screams… knowing that there was nothing I could do to help you—" her breath hitched, and she had to take a moment to calm herself. "That was quite possibly the worst moment of my life. When Lindsey was in that sinking car, I was petrified, terrified, knowing that I could lose her if I couldn't get her out of there. But at least I could do something. I was doing something, even if it meant drowning trying to save her. But out there, in that desert? I couldn't do anything to help you, Sara. Not one goddamn thing. All I could do was watch."

The memories were flooding back to her now in vivid detail – the bright, saturated hue of Sara's blood pouring from her side. The sound of her pained screams as Catherine tried to carry her to safety, the way they were twisted and tortured as the rope had been pulled tightly against her wound, the rasp of her strained breaths as she got out what they had both been certain were her last words. The chill of her skin as Catherine had pressed her fingers to her neck, praying she would find a pulse. The deafening silence she was met with when she'd pressed her ear to her chest to listen for a heartbeat.

The bitter taste of blood on her lips and the cold steel of the barrel pressed against her temple…

Catherine hadn't even realized she had started to sob until she felt warm arms around her body. She'd bent from the force of her tears, nearly crumpling to the floor from her chair. The sobs were coming too hard and fast for her to stop them or to even breathe properly, and her breaths were instead coming out as short, shuddering gasps. She desperately gripped at the strong arms engulfing her, longing to feel safe and protected. She could hear Sara's soft voice murmuring in her ear, but couldn't make out what she was saying. The words didn't matter, as long as she knew Sara was there.

She wasn't sure how long they'd sat there together. Her breathing began to regulate and the tears slowed. Sniffling, she wiped at her eyes, letting out a shaky breath, as she felt Sara's hand slowly rubbing up and down her back.

She let herself enjoy the closeness to the other woman for a few more moments, before her eyes shot open and she suddenly realized what was happening.

Jerking her head upwards, she glanced at Sara in alarm. They were both on the floor in the kitchen now, and Catherine had thrown herself against Sara's midsection, the brunette's top damp with tears. It hadn't been her injured side, but from how much pain she'd been in just trying to stand up on her own, Catherine knew that being in this position, and somehow ending up on the floor, couldn't be helping things.

"Sara," Catherine's eyes went wide in horror. "Your side – oh god, did I—"

"I'm fine," Sara's voice was a soft whisper. "I promise, Catherine. You didn't hurt me."

"God," Catherine repeated, sniffling and wiping at her messy face. "I'm sorry, Sara. I didn't mean to fall apart on you—"

"Hey," Sara cut her off, shaking her head. Her slender fingers reached out and brushed a few stray tears away from the blonde's face. "If I don't get to apologize, you don't get to apologize. That's the deal, got it?"

"Alright," Catherine shot her the smallest of smiles. "Deal. But let me get up and then help you back into the wheelchair before Lindsey finishes upstairs and discovers us like this."

Sara didn't protest, probably more because she knew that there was a very real possibility that Lindsey would come downstairs to find her sitting on the floor with her sobbing mother, and no child needed to see that. Once Catherine was on her feet again, Sara allowed her to bend down and hook her arms under her to help her stand. She had to push up with her feet to actually stand up and the awkward angle definitely wasn't making her side feel too pleasant right now.

Once Sara was in the wheelchair and both women were re-seated at the table, the room once again fell into silence. The only sounds were those of the shower upstairs and Sara's soft panting as she tried to withstand this new wave of pain.

"Here," Catherine offered, reaching across the table to open the bottle with her pills. Wordlessly, she shook two of them out into her palm and offered them.

Sara stared down at the pills in her hand, internally debating, until she finally sighed and accepted them, popping them into her mouth before gulping down half of the water Catherine had fixed for her.

"Thanks," Sara softly replied. "You know… I know it probably doesn't look like it, Catherine, but I really am okay. I would be perfectly fine alone at my apartment, so if you want to drop me there later, you can."

Catherine heavily sighed. Just when she felt like she started making progress, the brunette would say something that was the equivalent of taking three giant steps back. "Sara, we've talked about this already. I'm not going to just leave you at your place by yourself when you can hardly walk and you're still clearly in pain. And I meant what I said earlier – if you won't stay with me, then we're going to work something else out so you're not by yourself."

She knew Sara clearly didn't like the answer, especially from the way her mouth was fixed into a deep frown. "Catherine—"

"No, Sara. You don't get to try to 'I'm fine' your way out of this one. What is this all about?" Catherine suddenly asked. "You had no problem agreeing to stay with me before you got released from the hospital. Is it the guest room? Are you uncomfortable?"

"No, Catherine, it's nothing like that," Sara shook her head.

"Is it Lindsey? Is she keeping you from resting? I can tell her she needs to sleep in her own bed tonight—"

"No, Cath, Lindsey is fine, I promise."

"Then what is it?" Catherine asked. A thought suddenly crossed her mind, and all of the color nearly drained from her face. "Is it… is it me?"

Sara suddenly met her eyes, and when she saw the intense look of hurt on the blonde's face, she felt like she'd just been punched in the gut. "Cath—"

"It is, isn't it? Because of how I treated you in the past, you don't feel comfortable, do you?" Catherine's heart twisted in pain at the thought that this whole thing was over before it'd even had a chance to begin. And if it was, it was entirely her fault. She had no one but herself to blame for pushing Sara away, for creating such a rift in their relationship that she could never bridge the gap she'd created between them.

"No," Sara again shook her head. "God, Catherine, no, it's not because of you. I mean… it is , but—" She cursed her sudden inability to express herself. She wasn't usually this inarticulate. The boys at the lab had, on more than one occasion, referred to her as the "female Gil Grissom", more just to get a rise out of her than anything else. The nickname was more in reference to her workaholic tendencies, but there were also moments that the brunette could be as socially stunted as her boss. She sighed in frustration when she realized that now definitely qualified as one of those times, and it was with the worst timing ever. "It is, but it's not the way you think."

"What the hell does that mean, Sara?" Catherine didn't bother to fight the tears back at this point. She'd barely pulled herself together from her moments-before breakdown on the floor, and now she felt like her heart was being ripped apart in slow motion.

"You're hurting, Catherine," Sara finally got out. "You just told me. You're not okay, and you're trying to be strong for Lindsey's sake. The absolute last thing you need right now is to have to take care of a grown-ass woman who can't even walk herself to the fucking bathroom on her own. Especially when that woman is the source of so much of your pain." Catherine opened her mouth to argue, but Sara beat her to it. "I am, Catherine. Whether you admit it or not. You told me that you keep thinking about what I went through, how you couldn't help me, despite the fact that there really wasn't anything you could do, and you went through hell on your own. You're wracked with guilt over something you had no control over, and you feel like you need to take care of me, like you owe me something. I'm not going to put you through even more pain, Catherine. If you're replaying everything that happened out there, then looking at me, changing my bandages, cleaning the blood, giving me pain meds – it's just going to make it worse. I won't be a constant reminder to you of that trauma."

For a few moments, Catherine stared at Sara in stunned silence. Wiping at her eyes, she finally shook her head again. "Sara, you aren't the source of my pain. The source of our pain are those bastards who put us through this. You're right, I do feel guilty, and I probably always will to some extent, but that doesn't mean that I would feel better if you weren't around. I feel better because you're around. You're not a reminder of the trauma, Sara, you're one of the only reasons I'm even surviving right now."

Sara was looking less than convinced, and Catherine pulled her chair closer to her so she could look more fully into her eyes. Sara's go-to technique in these types of situations was to avoid eye-contract, but the blonde wasn't about to let her off the hook that easily. "Look at me, Sara," Catherine ordered her, reaching for her hands, which she loosely held in her own. "When I look at you, I don't see the trauma of what we went through. I see an incredibly strong woman who literally took a bullet trying to protect me, even after we'd just had a fight where I actually hit you. I see someone who, despite all my best efforts at being an asshole over the years, was able to set all of that bullshit aside and step up in the most significant of ways when it mattered the most. You don't understand that, do you? Do you even realize what you did for me?"

The brunette was attempting to avoid eye contact with the most valiant of efforts, but Catherine softly turned her face back each time to meet her gaze.

"You took a bullet for me, Sara, and you did it because that's the type of person you are. We've spent the past 5 years going at it, but that didn't matter to you. You didn't hesitate, you just acted. And then even after being shot, you still protected me. You tried to sacrifice yourself to spare me, because you thought my life meant more than yours."

Catherine had known she'd been on the right trail, but it was confirmed when Sara's eyes slightly widened in surprise at her words. "Yeah. I know, Sara. You never said anything, but you didn't have to. You were probably thinking about Lindsey, about how you didn't want her to go without her mother. But did you ever stop to consider what I would be left without?"

Instantly Sara's mind transported her back to the barn – the darkness illuminated only by the light from the stars and moon overhead, the combination of moldy hay and coppery blood making her stomach turn. She could picture it all so vividly, as if she had been a third-party observer of the whole ordeal. She could see herself on her knees, a tall male figure standing over her. She could see Catherine in the corner, being held up by two pairs of strong male arms, her face a mess of tears and blood. She could hear her pleading sobs and make out words.

"You can't do this to me."

She'd never forget what Catherine told her, how she'd begged her not to leave her alone. But that had been said when she'd been sure they were about to die…

"No," Catherine practically growled, practically seeing the wheels turning in her head. "Don't you dare, Sara Sidle. Don't you dare sit there and try to convince yourself that I didn't mean what I said. Don't you dare try to twist this into something I said out of desperation and didn't really mean."

Sara was once again rendered momentarily speechless, this time at Catherine's uncanny ability to seemingly read her mind.

Catherine sighed, giving her hands a squeeze. "Listen to me, Sara. I meant every word I said to you. And the reason I said those things wasn't because I was scared of being left alone in that situation. The reason I said those things is because I love you."

She'd said it. The words hung there in the air between them. Catherine stared deeply into Sara's eyes, trying to gauge her reaction despite the nervous pounding of her heart. This wasn't exactly how she'd wanted to tell Sara this, but after chickening out in the hospital, being interrupted last night, and Sara's insistence about leaving, it was beginning to look like she was running out of opportunities.

"Catherine…"

"I love you, Sara," Catherine let out a shaky breath. "I wanted to tell you in the hospital, but I was too much of a coward. And I wanted to tell you last night, but Lindsey came in. I'm sorry to spring this on you after the emotional morning we've had, but I had to. I have to make you understand just how important you are to me, and how terrified I was of losing you in that desert. I'm so sorry that it took something like this to make me pull my head out of my ass. But please don't sit there and think of yourself as a burden that causes me pain, when the truth is that the only time I feel safe and like my life is manageable is when I'm with you."

"Catherine," Sara spoke her name softly, in nearly a whisper. She simply spoke her name and then grew silent for several moments. She was taking in shaky breaths as she tried to reel in the whirl of emotions hitting her like a freight train, the validation of something she'd always fantasized about but never thought would actually become reality.

The woman she loved, loved her.

"Catherine," Sara repeated, her voice stronger this time, but raw with emotion. She wiped at the tears in her eyes before they could fall, and gave the blonde's hands a squeeze. "Catherine Willows, I love you."

Catherine hadn't even realized she'd moved from her chair, or moved at all, for that matter. All she was registering was the sensation of Sara's lips pressed against hers in the sweetest, most tender kiss she'd experienced.

When they finally pulled away for air, they didn't break the distance between them both. Catherine leaned her forehead against the brunette's, reaching a hand up to gently brush against her cheek.

"I love you, Sara Sidle."

TO BE CONTINUED