Sara had just gotten settled back in her hospital room when she heard a soft tap at the door and someone entering. Glancing up, she saw Grissom. A tired smile spread across her face. "Hey."

Grissom hesitated a moment. "Sara, I just wanted to say goodbye. I'm flying out in the morning." He had a studied expression on his face.

Sara's brow furrowed in confusion. "You're leaving?" As surprised as she was that he'd flown to San Francisco to see how she and Nick were after the crash, she was almost more surprised that he was already leaving.

He nodded with a bit of a smirk. "The lab needs me."

In spite of herself, Sara laughed. "You really need to come up with a better line."

Grissom chuckled for a brief moment before his expression became a bit more serious. "Sara, I hope you know that your contribution to the lab has been invaluable. I wish there was something I could say or do that could change your mind about leaving."

There was a bit of sadness in her eyes as she answered him. "I've already left, Grissom."

Grissom considered her words for a moment, sadness and regret evident on his face. "I know that I have rarely said the right thing when it comes to you."

Sara interrupted with a determined expression on her face. "Grissom, it is too late to have this conversation. I've moved on." Her heart had already begun to entwine itself with Nick's, even if they hadn't really talked about it, and she wanted to give it a chance.

His lips twitched into a half smile. "I know that, but I feel like some sort of apology is in order for my behavior."

Sara looked surprised. "Oh." She had become so used to Grissom evading the issues between them that his forthrightness took her by surprise.

Grissom looked steadily at her. "Nick's a good man, Sara."

She felt a smile on her lips as she nodded. "Yes, he is a good man, and a good friend."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "And perhaps a bit more." It was a statement, not a question.

A faint blush crept into her cheeks and she pursed her lips together to keep from smiling. "I don't know." She glanced down at the cast on her arm.

Grissom tone was gentle. "He needs you, Sara." It was evident to him that the two young CSIs shared a special bond.

She wasn't sure where her words came from as she looked up at him. "I need him, Grissom." As she spoke, she realized that she really meant what she said.

Grissom nodded. "I know." He knew that the pair had been good friends almost since she'd moved to Vegas. Over the last four years, they'd become especially close and it didn't surprise him at all that romantic feelings seemed to have developed between them. His only regret was that he had been unable to let his heart lead him the way Nick had allowed his to.

Sara looked at Grissom's face. She knew that the situation was difficult for him. She had known deep down the moment when she'd told him that when he figured out what to do about his feelings that it would probably be too late, that it already was too late. "I'm sorry."

Grissom shook his head. "Don't be." He looked unsure of how to say what was on his mind, but finally spoke again. "If you change your mind about going to Seattle, let me know. I know I speak for everyone when I say that you'll be missed."

Sara didn't trust her words for a moment. When she did speak, there was a hitch in her voice. "I'll keep that in mind."

Grissom gestured towards the door. "I should go. You need to get your rest and I'm sure when your parents get here, they'll want to be alone with you."

He had turned to leave and just before he got to the door, Sara called after him. "Grissom."

He stopped and glanced at her over his shoulder.

She looked directly at him, unaware that she had tears streaming down her face. "Thank you. Thank you for everything."

He just nodded and then turned and walked out of the room.

As the door closed, Sara felt as if a chapter in her life had closed as well. She lay there for a long time thinking about how influential Gil Grissom had been in the direction her life had taken. It was because of him that she'd gone to Vegas in the first place to investigate Warrick. It was because of him that she'd stayed in Vegas when he'd offered her a job on the night shift. But it was also because of him that she'd gotten a broken heart, and it was because of his increasing indifference toward her and her career that she'd decided to leave.

But something unexpected had happened along the way. She'd become close friends with Nick and somehow in the middle of everything else, she'd started to fall for him. Now that it seemed that there was a possibility of a future between them, she wasn't sure she wanted to go to Seattle, not if it meant that he couldn't be with her. For the first time in her life, she was considering following where her heart was leading instead of where her career was. Nick had come with her on this road trip because he'd said he wasn't ready to say goodbye, and now Sara wasn't sure she could say goodbye to him at all.

She closed her eyes, now feeling the tears slipping down her cheeks. The decision she'd made so readily when she'd put her resignation on Grissom's desk, didn't feel so easy now. As difficult as it was, she was questioning her decision to take the job in Seattle. She knew that to change her mind, she'd be giving up an incredible career opportunity. She knew that if she returned to Vegas, that Grissom would still be Grissom and that despite his apology, she wasn't sure that anything would really change. But the one thing at that moment that she knew for sure was that she cared deeply for Nick Stokes and she couldn't imagine not having him in her day to day life. She was strangely thankful for the car crash that had broken her arm, because until it healed she had time to think about what she wanted to do.

The door to her hospital room creaked again and she quickly wiped her tears away as her worried parents walked in.