Thanks again for the reviews.
We arrived back at my place to find Nick and Warrick sitting on the couch playing a video game. Lindsey ran right onto the couch and sat down beside Warrick.
"Awesome. I didn't know you had a PS 2 Sara."
"I don't."
Nick and Warrick paused the game. "I figured you might be a while, so I brought a game over." Warrick explained.
"Yeah, and it's awesome." Nick replied and then looked at me. "Will you buy me one for Christmas?"
I smiled. "Are you sure you can wait that long?"
"Good point. How about Easter?"
"Keep dreaming Nicky. I'm going to start breakfast. I'm sure the three of you will be fine."
"You need some help?" Nick asked.
"No, I'm good. Thanks." I walked into the kitchen and began fixing breakfast. I listened to the laughter in the other room while I worked. They sounded so happy. I began wondering if that's how they were like before I moved here. I'm assuming they were because they didn't like me coming and messing up their system. In fact, I've done nothing but make things worse. I could feel tears begin to sting my eyes and I let them fall down. I finished making breakfast and wiped my eyes. I didn't want to give them another reason to worry about me. I walked back in the living room and watched as Nick and Lindsey played against each other.
"Breakfast is ready." I told them.
Nick and Warrick both smiled and Nick turned the game off.
"Smells good Sar." Nick said as he stood up and walked toward me. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.
"Thanks. Hope you like it."
"I'm sure we will." Warrick replied. They sat down at the table and I began fixing drinking for everyone. Lindsey wanted to save her soda for later, so she drank milk.
"Wow, now here's something I never thought I would see in your home Sar." Nick said while he piled his plate with food.
"I'll have you know it was painful for me to make it."
"Well, I'm glad you did." He gave me a smile and I sat down beside him. I waited until everyone got what they wanted before I put something on my plate. I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to eat anything, but I knew that if I didn't attempt to, Nick would argue. I especially didn't want to get into an argument in front of Warrick and Lindsey.
I watched as the others ate. Lindsey was scarfing down the food so fast, I wasn't sure if she actually tasted anything. I took a small bite of my eggs and took a sip of coffee.
"This is great Sara." Warrick said.
"Yeah, wish Mommy could cook this good." Lindsey commented.
"I'm sure your mom cooks really well."
"Sometimes. I like her spaghetti."
"Your mom cooks really well Linds." Warrick told her.
Nick finished his plate and began working on seconds. He glanced over at me. "Thanks for breakfast Sara. It's great."
"You're welcome. You deserved it for putting up with me."
"I'm here because I want to be here." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
"Hey, we're trying to eat here." Warrick said as he popped another biscuit in his mouth.
"Sorry." I replied and went back to the eggs on my plate. I took another bite. The phone began ringing. "I'll get it." I got up and walked over to the phone and answered it. "Hello."
"Hey Sara." Catherine's voice came on the other end.
"Hey Catherine."
"How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"I'm fine. I hear you stuck with Linds."
"I wouldn't say stuck. I invited her over. Besides, she's keeping Warrick and Nick occupied." I glanced over at them and smiled. "They're eating breakfast."
"Good. Listen, if you need me to come and get Lindsey, I will."
"She's fine. I can bring her home when she's ready. Unless you want her home now."
"No, no hurry. I can get some sleep and then spend time with her this afternoon since she's out of school."
"Sounds good. Give me a call when you're ready for her and I'll take her home."
"Thanks Sara. Can I speak to her for a moment?"
"Sure." I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Linds, you're mom wants to talk to you." Lindsey got up and grabbed the phone. I walked back to my seat and stared at both men. "Do you guys want anything else?"
"No thanks girl. I'm stuffed." Warrick said.
"Me too honey. It was great." Nick leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Warrick and I will clean up if you want us to."
"You guys don't have to."
"We don't mind. Besides, you've hardly touched your food and you need to eat." They both got up and began clearing dishes.
"Okay." I smiled and took another bite of egg. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. I glanced up, Lindsey was still on the phone and Nick and Warrick were messing with the dishes. I grabbed a napkin off the table and put the rest of my eggs in it. Lindsey got off the phone and walked back over to the table.
"Hey Sara, can I have my candy now?"
"Sure, if you have room for it. Just don't eat it all. Your mom will kill me if I send you back on a sugar high."
"Don't worry, I'm going to share it with you, Nick, and Warrick."
"That's sweet of you Lindsey." Warrick told her. "I'll tell you what, after I finish helping Nick in here, we can go back and play some more games."
"Cool."
I walked over to the counter and grabbed the bag full of Lindsey's candy bars. I quickly tossed the napkin in the trash along with the rest of the empty bags. "Here you go." I held out the bag of candy toward her.
Lindsey ran over and grabbed it and my hand. "Come on, I want to show you how far I can get on the game until Nick and Warrick come back."
"Okay." I gladly walked in the living room with her. I wasn't hungry anymore and the best part was that Nick and Warrick didn't know how much I really ate. I knew that I couldn't keep hiding food. If Nick found out, he would be furious. I told myself that it wouldn't happen again. I would have a great lunch with Nick later on. I had to.
Nick and I both decided to ride together to take Lindsey home. She held her bag of candy tightly in her lap. She kept her word and gave all three of us a candy bar. She ate half of one and decided to save the rest of them for later. Nick pulled up in Catherine's driveway and we all got out. Lindsey ran to the door and went inside. Nick and I were right behind her. Catherine greeted us at the door.
"Hey guys."
"Hey Cath." We both replied.
"Come on in." She stepped aside letting us inside.
"Mommy, I got you a candy bar." Lindsey said reaching in her bag and pulling out the treat.
"Thanks sweetie. I'll eat it later." Catherine turned to me and smiled. "Thanks so much for giving my daughter chocolate."
"She only ate a half a bar and she shared with the rest of us." I informed her.
"We know how much you love a hyper Lindsey." Nick commented.
"Thanks a lot." Catherine motioned toward the couch. "Have a seat." We walked over and sat down. "Do you guys want something to drink?"
"I want a soda mommy." Lindsey sat down beside me and smiled.
"Okay. Nick, Sara?"
"I'm fine." I told her.
"I'm good. Thanks Catherine." Nick said.
Catherine disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a cup filled of kool-aid. Lindsey gave her a look but decided not to say anything.
"So, how are things going Sara?" Catherine asked me.
"They're fine. I'm not a hundred percent better but I'm trying."
Nick put his arm around my shoulders. "I'm proud of her."
Guilt flooded me as he said that. He still didn't know about this morning and there's no way I was going to tell him now. "It's not easy." I ended up saying.
"Well, I'm here if you need me." Catherine replied warmly.
"Thanks Catherine." I felt Nick squeeze my shoulder and I took that as a cue that he was ready to leave. "I guess we should go so you and Lindsey can spend time together."
"You don't have to run off."
Nick removed his arm and stood up and then reached for my hand helping me up. "We've got some errands to run." He told her.
"Okay, well thanks again for having Lindsey over."
"No problem. She's welcome anytime." I told her. I turned to Lindsey and smiled. "Anytime you want to come over and spend the night, just call me."
"Cool." Lindsey stated and ran over to give me a hug. "Bye Sara." She released me and hugged Nick. "Bye Uncle Nick."
"Bye Linds." We told Catherine bye and left. I noticed that we weren't heading toward my house. "Nick, where are we going?"
"I thought we could stop and get something for lunch and have a picnic."
I smiled. "That sounds great." We dropped by the deli and picked up some sandwiches, fruit, chips, and drinks. Soon we were walking hand in hand in the park looking for a table to sit at. The park was full of kids playing on the equipment. It was a sign that school was definitely not running today. We finally found a table surrounded by some trees.
"I didn't think it would be this crowded." Nick commented while unpacking our food.
"It's a nice day and there's no school. I don't blame the kids for wanting to come out and play."
Nick nodded. "After lunch, maybe we can go play with them."
I laughed. "I haven't been swinging in a long time."
"Then it's settled." Nick sat down beside me and we began eating our food. I wasn't hungry, but I had to make an effort to eat for Nick. I hated the way I felt at Catherine's and I never wanted to disappoint him. I was able to actually finish my sandwich and eat a few pieces of fruit. As soon as Nick was done, he stood up and reached for my hand. "Come on, let's go swing."
I smiled. "Okay." I took his hand and we walked down to the swings. There were four swings and only one wasn't being used. Three little girls occupied the ones in the middle. They smiled at us when we got closer.
"Hey girls." Nick greeted. "Do you mind if we swing with you?"
The little girl with blonde hair smiled. "Are you a cowboy?" She asked.
Nick laughed. "No, but I'm from Texas. Why?"
"Cause you sound like my daddy and he's a cowboy." She replied and continued to swing.
I smiled. "Is your daddy from Texas?" I asked her.
"Not any more. He grew up there." She grinned. "I'm Katie and I'm four."
"Hey Katie, I'm Sara and this is Nick."
The other girls decided to join in on the conversation. The oldest of the three girls jumped off the swing. "I'm Ally. This is Marcy." She pointed to the third girl with brown hair.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Are you all sisters?" Nick asked.
"Yep. I'm seven and Marcy is five." Ally started doing cartwheels in the grass. I took a seat on the swing and Nick started pushing me. We talked to the girls for the next thirty minutes. Katie managed to sit on Nick's lap and swing with her. Marcy was beside me. She got over her shyness and was talking along with her sisters. Pretty soon we saw a couple heading toward us. Ally ran over to the man. "Daddy!" She jumped in his arms and held tightly. The man and woman approached us and the man kept giving Nick an odd glare.
"Nick Stokes?" He finally said.
Nick nodded. "Yeah." Realization must have hit because Nick was grinning. "Todd Kennedy. Oh my gosh. What are you doing in Vegas?"
"I just moved here about five years ago. Do you live here too?"
"Yeah, I live and work here."
"I see you've met my girls." He turned to his wife. "This is my wife Kayla."
Nick smiled. "It's nice to meet you. You have beautiful daughters." He pointed toward me. "This is my girlfriend Sara." He faced me. "Todd and I went to high school together."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you. Nick's right, you have wonderful children." I replied.
"Thanks. They can be a handful though and as you can see, they're not shy at all." Todd said with a smile on his face.
Nick and I laughed. "Our friend's daughter is like that too." Nick commented.
"So Nick, do you have any kids?" Todd asked.
"No, not yet."
"Well, I'm sure you will." Todd glanced at his watch. "Well, we need to get going. I promised the girls I would take them to the museum today. It was nice seeing you Nick and meeting you Sara."
"Nice to meet you too." We said our good-byes and watched as the girls ran ahead of the parents toward their van. Nick turned toward me and smiled.
"Think you could handle three of those?"
"I'm not sure about three." I replied honestly. I wasn't sure I could even have one; especially with this eating disorder. I felt Nick grab my hand.
"Are you ready to go home?"
"Yeah." I released his hand and began swinging again. Once I got high enough I jumped off. Nick just laughed. I stared at him. "What? Like you didn't want to do that."
"I'm not as talented as you." He said and wrapped his arm around me as we made our way back to gather our stuff.
I was feeling great when I arrived home. My stomach wasn't cramping and I felt refreshed. As soon as I get married, I'm having a swing built. Nick was also in a good mood. I think it was because he got to see an old friend from school. I was sitting on the couch when the phone rang. I grabbed it. "Hello."
"Hey Sara, it's Grissom."
"Hey Grissom."
"Is Nick there?"
"Yeah, hold on." I handed the phone to Nick. "It's Grissom." He thanked me and grabbed the phone.
I watched as listened while Nick talked to him. From what I could tell, Grissom needed Nick to come in to work. "Grissom, I'm taking vacation time to help Sara." He paused. "Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." Nick hung the phone up and faced me. "I'm sorry, but Grissom's got a triple and needs everyone there."
"What about me? I can help."
"Honey, you know Grissom put you on leave."
"I should be there Nick. I'm fine."
He sighed. "You'll have to talk to Grissom."
I reached for the phone and dialed Grissom's cell. "Grissom." He answered.
"It's me. I want to help."
"Sara, you're on leave. I need you better before you can come back."
"I am better. I don't see how my disorder is going to affect my work. Please Grissom, you need me there." I waited a few moments listening to him breathing deeply. I wondered what his pulse was up to.
"Alright, but the moment I sense something is wrong, I'm pulling you off."
"Thanks Grissom." I hung up the phone and smiled at Nick. "I'm in."
Nick nodded. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
I closed the distance between us. "I'll be fine. Besides, you'll be there if I need you." I leaned over and kissed him. After a few moments we broke apart. "I'm going to get ready. Do you want to ride together?"
"Sure." Thirty minutes later we were both out the door heading for the crime scene.
We arrived back at my place to find Nick and Warrick sitting on the couch playing a video game. Lindsey ran right onto the couch and sat down beside Warrick.
"Awesome. I didn't know you had a PS 2 Sara."
"I don't."
Nick and Warrick paused the game. "I figured you might be a while, so I brought a game over." Warrick explained.
"Yeah, and it's awesome." Nick replied and then looked at me. "Will you buy me one for Christmas?"
I smiled. "Are you sure you can wait that long?"
"Good point. How about Easter?"
"Keep dreaming Nicky. I'm going to start breakfast. I'm sure the three of you will be fine."
"You need some help?" Nick asked.
"No, I'm good. Thanks." I walked into the kitchen and began fixing breakfast. I listened to the laughter in the other room while I worked. They sounded so happy. I began wondering if that's how they were like before I moved here. I'm assuming they were because they didn't like me coming and messing up their system. In fact, I've done nothing but make things worse. I could feel tears begin to sting my eyes and I let them fall down. I finished making breakfast and wiped my eyes. I didn't want to give them another reason to worry about me. I walked back in the living room and watched as Nick and Lindsey played against each other.
"Breakfast is ready." I told them.
Nick and Warrick both smiled and Nick turned the game off.
"Smells good Sar." Nick said as he stood up and walked toward me. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.
"Thanks. Hope you like it."
"I'm sure we will." Warrick replied. They sat down at the table and I began fixing drinking for everyone. Lindsey wanted to save her soda for later, so she drank milk.
"Wow, now here's something I never thought I would see in your home Sar." Nick said while he piled his plate with food.
"I'll have you know it was painful for me to make it."
"Well, I'm glad you did." He gave me a smile and I sat down beside him. I waited until everyone got what they wanted before I put something on my plate. I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to eat anything, but I knew that if I didn't attempt to, Nick would argue. I especially didn't want to get into an argument in front of Warrick and Lindsey.
I watched as the others ate. Lindsey was scarfing down the food so fast, I wasn't sure if she actually tasted anything. I took a small bite of my eggs and took a sip of coffee.
"This is great Sara." Warrick said.
"Yeah, wish Mommy could cook this good." Lindsey commented.
"I'm sure your mom cooks really well."
"Sometimes. I like her spaghetti."
"Your mom cooks really well Linds." Warrick told her.
Nick finished his plate and began working on seconds. He glanced over at me. "Thanks for breakfast Sara. It's great."
"You're welcome. You deserved it for putting up with me."
"I'm here because I want to be here." He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
"Hey, we're trying to eat here." Warrick said as he popped another biscuit in his mouth.
"Sorry." I replied and went back to the eggs on my plate. I took another bite. The phone began ringing. "I'll get it." I got up and walked over to the phone and answered it. "Hello."
"Hey Sara." Catherine's voice came on the other end.
"Hey Catherine."
"How are you?"
"Good. You?"
"I'm fine. I hear you stuck with Linds."
"I wouldn't say stuck. I invited her over. Besides, she's keeping Warrick and Nick occupied." I glanced over at them and smiled. "They're eating breakfast."
"Good. Listen, if you need me to come and get Lindsey, I will."
"She's fine. I can bring her home when she's ready. Unless you want her home now."
"No, no hurry. I can get some sleep and then spend time with her this afternoon since she's out of school."
"Sounds good. Give me a call when you're ready for her and I'll take her home."
"Thanks Sara. Can I speak to her for a moment?"
"Sure." I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Linds, you're mom wants to talk to you." Lindsey got up and grabbed the phone. I walked back to my seat and stared at both men. "Do you guys want anything else?"
"No thanks girl. I'm stuffed." Warrick said.
"Me too honey. It was great." Nick leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Warrick and I will clean up if you want us to."
"You guys don't have to."
"We don't mind. Besides, you've hardly touched your food and you need to eat." They both got up and began clearing dishes.
"Okay." I smiled and took another bite of egg. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. I glanced up, Lindsey was still on the phone and Nick and Warrick were messing with the dishes. I grabbed a napkin off the table and put the rest of my eggs in it. Lindsey got off the phone and walked back over to the table.
"Hey Sara, can I have my candy now?"
"Sure, if you have room for it. Just don't eat it all. Your mom will kill me if I send you back on a sugar high."
"Don't worry, I'm going to share it with you, Nick, and Warrick."
"That's sweet of you Lindsey." Warrick told her. "I'll tell you what, after I finish helping Nick in here, we can go back and play some more games."
"Cool."
I walked over to the counter and grabbed the bag full of Lindsey's candy bars. I quickly tossed the napkin in the trash along with the rest of the empty bags. "Here you go." I held out the bag of candy toward her.
Lindsey ran over and grabbed it and my hand. "Come on, I want to show you how far I can get on the game until Nick and Warrick come back."
"Okay." I gladly walked in the living room with her. I wasn't hungry anymore and the best part was that Nick and Warrick didn't know how much I really ate. I knew that I couldn't keep hiding food. If Nick found out, he would be furious. I told myself that it wouldn't happen again. I would have a great lunch with Nick later on. I had to.
Nick and I both decided to ride together to take Lindsey home. She held her bag of candy tightly in her lap. She kept her word and gave all three of us a candy bar. She ate half of one and decided to save the rest of them for later. Nick pulled up in Catherine's driveway and we all got out. Lindsey ran to the door and went inside. Nick and I were right behind her. Catherine greeted us at the door.
"Hey guys."
"Hey Cath." We both replied.
"Come on in." She stepped aside letting us inside.
"Mommy, I got you a candy bar." Lindsey said reaching in her bag and pulling out the treat.
"Thanks sweetie. I'll eat it later." Catherine turned to me and smiled. "Thanks so much for giving my daughter chocolate."
"She only ate a half a bar and she shared with the rest of us." I informed her.
"We know how much you love a hyper Lindsey." Nick commented.
"Thanks a lot." Catherine motioned toward the couch. "Have a seat." We walked over and sat down. "Do you guys want something to drink?"
"I want a soda mommy." Lindsey sat down beside me and smiled.
"Okay. Nick, Sara?"
"I'm fine." I told her.
"I'm good. Thanks Catherine." Nick said.
Catherine disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a cup filled of kool-aid. Lindsey gave her a look but decided not to say anything.
"So, how are things going Sara?" Catherine asked me.
"They're fine. I'm not a hundred percent better but I'm trying."
Nick put his arm around my shoulders. "I'm proud of her."
Guilt flooded me as he said that. He still didn't know about this morning and there's no way I was going to tell him now. "It's not easy." I ended up saying.
"Well, I'm here if you need me." Catherine replied warmly.
"Thanks Catherine." I felt Nick squeeze my shoulder and I took that as a cue that he was ready to leave. "I guess we should go so you and Lindsey can spend time together."
"You don't have to run off."
Nick removed his arm and stood up and then reached for my hand helping me up. "We've got some errands to run." He told her.
"Okay, well thanks again for having Lindsey over."
"No problem. She's welcome anytime." I told her. I turned to Lindsey and smiled. "Anytime you want to come over and spend the night, just call me."
"Cool." Lindsey stated and ran over to give me a hug. "Bye Sara." She released me and hugged Nick. "Bye Uncle Nick."
"Bye Linds." We told Catherine bye and left. I noticed that we weren't heading toward my house. "Nick, where are we going?"
"I thought we could stop and get something for lunch and have a picnic."
I smiled. "That sounds great." We dropped by the deli and picked up some sandwiches, fruit, chips, and drinks. Soon we were walking hand in hand in the park looking for a table to sit at. The park was full of kids playing on the equipment. It was a sign that school was definitely not running today. We finally found a table surrounded by some trees.
"I didn't think it would be this crowded." Nick commented while unpacking our food.
"It's a nice day and there's no school. I don't blame the kids for wanting to come out and play."
Nick nodded. "After lunch, maybe we can go play with them."
I laughed. "I haven't been swinging in a long time."
"Then it's settled." Nick sat down beside me and we began eating our food. I wasn't hungry, but I had to make an effort to eat for Nick. I hated the way I felt at Catherine's and I never wanted to disappoint him. I was able to actually finish my sandwich and eat a few pieces of fruit. As soon as Nick was done, he stood up and reached for my hand. "Come on, let's go swing."
I smiled. "Okay." I took his hand and we walked down to the swings. There were four swings and only one wasn't being used. Three little girls occupied the ones in the middle. They smiled at us when we got closer.
"Hey girls." Nick greeted. "Do you mind if we swing with you?"
The little girl with blonde hair smiled. "Are you a cowboy?" She asked.
Nick laughed. "No, but I'm from Texas. Why?"
"Cause you sound like my daddy and he's a cowboy." She replied and continued to swing.
I smiled. "Is your daddy from Texas?" I asked her.
"Not any more. He grew up there." She grinned. "I'm Katie and I'm four."
"Hey Katie, I'm Sara and this is Nick."
The other girls decided to join in on the conversation. The oldest of the three girls jumped off the swing. "I'm Ally. This is Marcy." She pointed to the third girl with brown hair.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Are you all sisters?" Nick asked.
"Yep. I'm seven and Marcy is five." Ally started doing cartwheels in the grass. I took a seat on the swing and Nick started pushing me. We talked to the girls for the next thirty minutes. Katie managed to sit on Nick's lap and swing with her. Marcy was beside me. She got over her shyness and was talking along with her sisters. Pretty soon we saw a couple heading toward us. Ally ran over to the man. "Daddy!" She jumped in his arms and held tightly. The man and woman approached us and the man kept giving Nick an odd glare.
"Nick Stokes?" He finally said.
Nick nodded. "Yeah." Realization must have hit because Nick was grinning. "Todd Kennedy. Oh my gosh. What are you doing in Vegas?"
"I just moved here about five years ago. Do you live here too?"
"Yeah, I live and work here."
"I see you've met my girls." He turned to his wife. "This is my wife Kayla."
Nick smiled. "It's nice to meet you. You have beautiful daughters." He pointed toward me. "This is my girlfriend Sara." He faced me. "Todd and I went to high school together."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you. Nick's right, you have wonderful children." I replied.
"Thanks. They can be a handful though and as you can see, they're not shy at all." Todd said with a smile on his face.
Nick and I laughed. "Our friend's daughter is like that too." Nick commented.
"So Nick, do you have any kids?" Todd asked.
"No, not yet."
"Well, I'm sure you will." Todd glanced at his watch. "Well, we need to get going. I promised the girls I would take them to the museum today. It was nice seeing you Nick and meeting you Sara."
"Nice to meet you too." We said our good-byes and watched as the girls ran ahead of the parents toward their van. Nick turned toward me and smiled.
"Think you could handle three of those?"
"I'm not sure about three." I replied honestly. I wasn't sure I could even have one; especially with this eating disorder. I felt Nick grab my hand.
"Are you ready to go home?"
"Yeah." I released his hand and began swinging again. Once I got high enough I jumped off. Nick just laughed. I stared at him. "What? Like you didn't want to do that."
"I'm not as talented as you." He said and wrapped his arm around me as we made our way back to gather our stuff.
I was feeling great when I arrived home. My stomach wasn't cramping and I felt refreshed. As soon as I get married, I'm having a swing built. Nick was also in a good mood. I think it was because he got to see an old friend from school. I was sitting on the couch when the phone rang. I grabbed it. "Hello."
"Hey Sara, it's Grissom."
"Hey Grissom."
"Is Nick there?"
"Yeah, hold on." I handed the phone to Nick. "It's Grissom." He thanked me and grabbed the phone.
I watched as listened while Nick talked to him. From what I could tell, Grissom needed Nick to come in to work. "Grissom, I'm taking vacation time to help Sara." He paused. "Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." Nick hung the phone up and faced me. "I'm sorry, but Grissom's got a triple and needs everyone there."
"What about me? I can help."
"Honey, you know Grissom put you on leave."
"I should be there Nick. I'm fine."
He sighed. "You'll have to talk to Grissom."
I reached for the phone and dialed Grissom's cell. "Grissom." He answered.
"It's me. I want to help."
"Sara, you're on leave. I need you better before you can come back."
"I am better. I don't see how my disorder is going to affect my work. Please Grissom, you need me there." I waited a few moments listening to him breathing deeply. I wondered what his pulse was up to.
"Alright, but the moment I sense something is wrong, I'm pulling you off."
"Thanks Grissom." I hung up the phone and smiled at Nick. "I'm in."
Nick nodded. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
I closed the distance between us. "I'll be fine. Besides, you'll be there if I need you." I leaned over and kissed him. After a few moments we broke apart. "I'm going to get ready. Do you want to ride together?"
"Sure." Thirty minutes later we were both out the door heading for the crime scene.