It was the same nurse on the reception desk as last time and, after taking a moment to work out why she recognised her, she smiled warmly at Catherine.
"Room 17," she offered knowingly, earning her a bright grin and a thanks in response.
Just like last time, Sara was on the bed in her street clothes, with a blanket draped across her legs. Only this time, she was wide awake.
"Hey," she frowned upon Catherine's entrance. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to keep you company." Cath beamed, holding up the bag she had brought with her.
Sara shot a suspicious look at Nancy, who was tinkering with some monitoring device beside the bed.
"Hey, I didn't invite her this time." She insisted, holding her hands up defensively.
"I invited myself." Catherine declared, hopping onto the bed and opening the bag, revealing the contents to be sufficient magazines and snacks to entertain them for more than a few hours.
"Cat..." Sara began, rolling her eyes, but she was quickly cut off.
"I've been reading some forums online." She explained eagerly. "I know these long treatment sessions can be incredibly dull, so I thought you'd appreciate something to help you pass the time."
Sara smiled tightly, genuinely appreciative of the effort.
"That's really sweet of you," she stared. "But you don't have to do this. I'm going to be here for a while and I'm sure you've got better things to be doing with your time."
"Not a damn thing." Cath countered breezily, turning to glance at her sister. "I'm not going to be in the way, am I?"
"Probably." Nancy retorted without glancing up from what she was doing. "But when's that ever stopped you?"
x X x
Turns out, she and Sara rarely discussed anything other than work; and even when they started on a non-crime related subject, they always managed to veer back into their comfort zone somehow.
Still, in spite of their limited commonalities, they were able to chat amicably and the first hour passed quickly enough.
However, some time into hour two, Sara's attention started to wane and her eyes were beginning to get heavy.
"Why don't you sleep for a while?" Cath suggested, but Sara shook her head.
"I can't sleep with an audience."
"Sara, I've seen you sleep before." Catherine snorted. "Hell, you sleep in the break room at work!"
"Not intentionally." The brunette mumbled, letting her eyes fall closed just for a second.
Suddenly, she flinched, emitting a small yelp of pain.
Catherine was on her feet in a flash, one hand on Sara's shoulder and the other instinctively reaching for the call bell.
"What is it, what's wrong?" She demanded, her trained eyes scouring every inch of Sara's body, not that she knew what she was even looking for. Sara cocked an eyebrow at her, trying not to laugh.
"Everything's fine, I just leant on my IV." She explained. "Stand down."
Catherine sank back down onto the mattress, releasing a disgruntled huff at Sara's obvious amusement.
"Well, forgive me for worrying about you." She snapped in a mock-hurt voice.
Crisis averted, Sara let her eyes close again and Cath went back to perusing her magazine, all the while keeping one beady orb on her friend.
So, when a small frown made its way across Sara's face, she was quick to spot it.
"Sara," she called out softly, placing the back of her hand on the younger woman's flushed cheek and becoming immediately alarmed at the heat emanating from her skin. "Honey, what's wrong?"
"I don't know." Sara mumbled sleepily. "I don't feel good."
This time Catherine didn't hesitate before pouncing on the call bell, pressing it repeatedly.
"Jesus, Cath!" Nancy grumbled, stalking into the room. "Once will suffice!"
"She's burning up." Catherine said urgently. "She's running a fever."
"Alright, calm down. Anybody would think she's actually on fire." Nancy half-smiled at her panicked sibling, easing her out of the way so she could get to the bed. "Sara, open your eyes for me a minute, doll."
Sara did as requested, instantly regretting it when a bright torch was shone into them.
Nancy hummed, pocketing her torch and walking around to the other side of the bed, where she checked something on the monitor and then produced a thermometer from somewhere.
Brushing Sara's hair aside, she placed it in her ear, waiting for the telltale beep, before pursing her lips in a look that Catherine recognised and did not like one bit.
"What's wrong?" She demanded.
Nancy ignored her, moving back towards the door, where she leant into the hall and looked both ways in search of a colleague.
"Demi!" She called, spotting someone popping out of another room. "Can I borrow you?"
A curvy, dark-haired nurse bounced into the room, an effortless smile on her face. She had a naturally kind face, but there was something inherently mischievous bubbling behind her blue eyes at the same time.
"What's up?" She asked cheerfully in a distinctive southern drawl. Louisiana, perhaps.
"She is." Nancy replied, gesturing to Sara. "103."
"Ooh, that's a bit toasty." Demi agreed, unfazed, as she slid past Catherine to the bed with a polite, "'Scuse me, darlin'"
"What's going on?" Cath asked, parking herself at the end of the bed in an attempt to see exactly what they were doing.
Her question went ignored as the two nurses set about encouraging Sara to lie flat and loosening her clothing to lower her temperature.
"BP's spiking." Demi noted, a little more sombre now. However, when she leant down to talk to Sara, her voice was light and cheery again. "You like it here so much, you're trying for an overnight stay?"
"Hell no." Sara answered, her voice suddenly breathy and weak. "No offence."
"Nance, what's wrong with her?" Cath whimpered, wringing her hands.
"It's alright, we'll sort it." Nancy finally responded. She appeared completely unperturbed by the situation, in direct contrast to her sister, who had now begun to pace.
"Did you take your Cimetidine tablet this morning?" Demi asked, sweeping Sara's hair away from her temple and using a cloth to dab at the sweat that had started to appear. Sara mumbled something incoherent, twisting her head from one side to the other.
"Is that a yes?" Demi shared a look with Nancy, who shrugged and turned to look over her shoulder.
"Hey Cath, do you know if she ..."
But Catherine was gone.
x X x
"Thought you quit."
"I did." Catherine replied, exhaling a mouthful of smoke.
"Liar." Nancy smirked, hopping onto the wall beside her and stealing a cigarette from the packet sitting in her lap.
The older sister turned to face her, scrutinising her expression carefully in search of any cause for concern and finding none.
"Is she alright?"
"She's fine. Wide awake now though." Nancy answered calmly, lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag.
Cath closed her eyes, visibly deflating with relief.
"I can't do this." She sobbed meekly. "I can't see her like this."
"She's fine, Catherine." Nancy took her hand and squeezed it. "It was just a little temperature spike; nothing to worry about. She'll get plenty more of them, believe me."
"That's just it." Cath explained. "I thought I knew what this was going to involve. I thought I could just be there and support her, but ... I don't think I can watch her go through that over and over again."
"You're not a nurse, Cathy." Nancy pointed out, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "You don't see this kind of thing every day like I do. It'll get easier, I promise."
"You were so calm." She shook her head in bewilderment. "How do you not panic?"
"There was no reason to panic." Nancy laughed softly. "She was fine, just a little too warm. When they stop breathing on you, then you panic."
Catherine stared at her baby sister for a long moment, before sinking her gaze into her lap. She knew well enough about the concept of using black humour to cope – they did it all the time at crime scenes; but she wasn't in the mood to laugh right now. Not about this.
"It kills me to see her in pain like that." She sniffled. "I thought I could handle this."
"I hope you're not running out on her."
"Of course not." Cath wiped at her eyes. "I wouldn't do that. It's just so terrifying, seeing her like that. Seeing how fast it can happen."
Nancy nodded slowly, finishing her cigarette and stubbing it out on the wall, before hopping down onto her feet and dusting off her uniform.
"You think you're terrified." She said, jerking her head back towards the hospital. "How do you think she's feeling, sitting alone in that room while you're moping out here?"
It was said lightly enough, but the message was clear. If she truly wanted to be there for Sara, she was going to have to put her own fears and insecurities to one side. She needed to be the strong one, at least on the surface.
She watched Nancy walk back across the parking lot, replaying the scene in her head. Nancy and Demi had been calm, precisely because they were nurses and they knew what was going on. More importantly, they knew to expect it.
So, if Catherine was going to get through these sessions without falling apart every time a machine beeped or Sara twitched, she needed to know why those things were happening, too. Simple.
All she needed was a crash course in oncology treatments.