"I see you're being an ideal patient," Catherine remarked with a smirk as she walked into the exam room Grissom was in.

He looked up at her with a grimace on his face, "They want to keep me for observation."

"Gil, you're lucky he didn't kill you." She raised an eyebrow at him. Her expression softened, "How are you feeling."

A half smile spread across his face, "Like I've been hit in the head with a fireplace poker. How's Greg?"

"Warrick took him home. He had a couple of stitches in his arm, but he's ok." She answered leaning on the edge of the bed.

Grissom looked at her quizzically, "How are you getting home?"

She smiled at him, "Nick and Sara."

A surprised look crossed his face, "I thought they were on a date."

She patted his arm, "They were. Warrick called them and they came down. They were worried about you."

"Where are they?" Grissom inquired.

Catherine gestured toward the waiting area, "Sara fell asleep on Nick's shoulder."

Grissom closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his hand, "Who'd you leave in charge?"

Catherine let out a sigh, "Don't worry about it. Brass has things under control. I'm going to take off. You need to get some rest. I'll pick you up when they release you. Try not to give the nurses a hard time, ok." She grinned at him.

He opened his eyes to protest and noticed the teasing in her eyes, "Ok, Cath."

With that she headed back out into the waiting area.

Nick stroked Sara's hair as she dozed. He smiled as he watched her sleep against him. He felt like the luckiest man alive that she had consented to go on a date with him. And that dress, oh, how that dress did things to him. Actually, if he was honest, it did things to Sara, that did things to him. He chuckled and kissed Sara's hair. He heard someone clear their throat and he looked up to see Catherine grinning at him Nick asked, "How's he doing?"

"He's giving the nurses one hell of a time, but he'll be fine." Catherine gestured toward Sara, "you two look good together." She smiled at him.

Nick beamed.

Sara stirred and sat up groggily, "What did I miss?" She looked over at Catherine, "How's Grissom?" She let out a yawn.

"He'll be fine." She stated.

Sara looked over at Nick and couldn't help but smile. She noticed his rumpled shirt where her head had been and she reached over to smooth it out, "Sorry about your shirt, Nick."

He took her hand and smiled at her, "It's ok. Hey, I should get you home, Sleeping Beauty, before your coach turns into a pumpkin."

Sara glanced up at Catherine for a moment and then back at Nick and giggled, "Cinderella had the pumpkin, Nicky."

Nick chuckled and stood, pulling Sara with him. He glanced over at Catherine, "Shall we go. I'll drop you off at home."

Catherine had a wry grin on her face, "Actually, you can drop me back at the lab. My Tahoe is there."

"Alright then." Nick replied. The trio headed out of the emergency room and out to Nick's Tahoe.

After they dropped Catherine off at the lab, Nick headed toward Sara's apartment. He pulled into the lot and turned off the engine. Nick and Sara walked to her door hand in hand. When they reached the door, Sara turned to Nick, "I really had a nice time tonight."

Nick grinned at her and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, "Me too. You look beautiful."

Sara fingered his tie, "You look pretty handsome yourself."

Nick leaned down and tenderly kissed her. Sara slid her arms up his chest and around his neck, pulling him closer. Nick slid his arms around her waist, pulling her snugly against him. As they broke the kiss, Sara looked up at Nick, "I just wish we could have danced a little longer."

Nick smiled at her and whispered, resting his forehead against hers, "Me too."

Sara stepped out of his embrace to pull her keys out of her purse. "Do you want to come in for a little while? Watch a movie or something?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Sure." Nick replied with a smile, glad that the evening didn't have to come to a close quite yet.

Sara led them into the apartment and immediately kicked off her heels, "You know, I think these kind of shoes were invented by men." She had a bemused smile on her face.

Nick chuckled, "You're probably right."

She headed into the kitchen, "Want anything to eat?"

Nick thought for a moment and then nodded, "I guess it has been a while since we had dinner. I am kind of hungry."

Sara took stock of what was in her cupboards and then looked over at Nick with an embarrassed smile on her face, "How do you feel about popcorn?"

Nick leaned his arms on the counter, watching her, "I like popcorn."

She grinned, "Good, because that's about all I have."

Nick just shook his head and laughed.

Sara put some popcorn in the microwave and opened the refrigerator. She looked over at Nick, "Water, Coke, or soy milk?"

"Coke," Nick stated decisively, cringing at the thought of drinking soy milk on purpose.

The microwave indicated that the popcorn was done. Sara grabbed two Cokes and the popcorn and beckoned Nick to follow her to the couch. Sara reached for the remote and turned on the TV. They decided on a 'Bugs Bunny' marathon on the cartoon network that they happened upon while they were flipping channels. As they settled into the couch, Nick put his arm around Sara. She turned to him with a grin on her face, "Nick, you really need to lose the tie." She reached up and loosened the tie, pulling it out of it's knot and pulling it out from under his collar.

As they watched the cartoons, they laughed and relaxed. A while later, Sara tried to throw popcorn into Nick's mouth, but it ended up turning into a full scale popcorn fight. Several kernels managed to find their way down the front of Sara's dress. She stood up, trying to shake the popcorn out of her dress with no success and then looked over at Nick who was doing a poor job of trying not to laugh at her. Doing her best not to laugh herself, Sara attempted to glare at him, "Ok, Stokes, I'm going to get you for this." A giggle escaped her lips and a smile started to cross her face, "Just as soon as I change out of this dress."

She flashed him a grin and disappeared into her bedroom. She emerged a few minutes later wearing a pair of low rise jeans and a fitted T-shirt. Nick was still trying to contain his laughter, as she headed back toward the couch. Sara raised an eyebrow at him before she grabbed one of the cushions off the couch and began pummeling him with it. He raised his arms in defense and managed to fend off her blows as he reached for her waist. Grabbing her around the waist with both hands, he pulled her down into his lap. Sara held onto the cushion and grinned at Nick with a mischievous look in her eye.

Nick tightened his hold around her waist smiling, "Do you think we could lose the cushion?"

"I don't know, what will you give me for it?" Sara tried to restrain her grin.

Nick raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I've got something in mind." He pulled the cushion away from her and flung it to the floor.

Sara grinned at him and slid her arms up his chest.

Nick reached up and caressed her cheek with his hand, letting it slide into her hair. He pulled her close tasting her lips with his.

Sara giggled, breaking the kiss. She looked into his eyes, "You taste like popcorn."

Nick lay his head back on the couch and laughed, "So do you." Nick yawned. He looked over at Sara, "Sar, I need to go. I'm really tired. I've had a wonderful time being with you tonight." His fingers caressed her cheek.

Sara got up off his lap so he could stand up, "I had a great time too. Thank you for everything."

They walked hand in hand to the door. Nick pulled Sara close again, his arms securely around her waist. Sara's hands rested on his arms. A perplexed grin crossed his face, "Sara, if Cinderella had the pumpkin, what did Sleeping Beauty have?"

Sara giggled, "She was woken up by a handsome prince kissing her."

Nick grinned at her and leaned down to kiss her. Sara snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him close, deepening the kiss. They savored the taste of each other for a few moments then broke the kiss, resting their foreheads together.

"Nick, why would you want to turn left at Albuquerque?" Sara queried.

He looked at her slightly puzzled.

"You know, Bugs Bunny says that in every cartoon." She explained.

Nick grinned at her, "Maybe it's the way to Vegas."

She leaned in and kissed him again long and deep. As they broke the kiss, Nick whispered, "I need to go. I'll see you later." Nick leaned in and gave her one more quick kiss before stepping out of their embrace.

She opened the door grinning at Nick, "I had a wonderful time, Nick."

"Me too." He grinned, leaning in to steal one more kiss before heading for his Tahoe and home.

Neither of them could wipe the grins off their faces as they drifted off to sleep.