Nick's POV:
I can't take my eyes off of her; I know that she notices. I'm not paying attention to a word that Grissom is saying. I'll probably catch hell for that later. We've been back at work for three weeks; Sara's been sleeping in my bed for four weeks. We've been looking at large townhouses for the last two weeks. Sara says she's happy; I know that I am happy.
Grissom hasn't said a word about us living together. He hasn't said a word about how he caught us 'acting like teenagers' in the locker room before shift yesterday; I needed to hear about that from Catherine. Yesterday, I could barely keep my hands off Sara. One kiss led to another; we were both late for assignments yesterday. Catherine said to be wise, but she said that with a smile.
Sara's nightmares are becoming lass frequent; her therapy appointments are only twice a week. Sara doesn't cry as much anymore. She talks about wanting a family. She tells me these intimate things when we are lying in bed. Sara asks me to hold her; she lets me be the one to worry about trivial things, such as what Grissom thinks or what her parents think. I tell her these things don't matter. Everything that is important is in bed with me; it makes her smile. That's all that matters.
My mother asked if I wanted to marry Sara; I want so badly for her to have me for the rest of our lives. I don't think it's appropriate to ask this soon; we need more time to build our relationship. I have never felt this about another woman. I think about her all the time; I worry about her. I worry about her taking cases involving children; I told Grissom that the wounds are too fresh. He's been very accommodating.
It's hard to tell her that I love her. I'm so afraid that Sara isn't feeling the same things that I am. I'm terrified that maybe my feelings are unwanted. In a moment of weakness, I told Greg . . . I knew he would know what Sara was thinking. I knew that Sara told him most everything. He said that my concerns were unfounded; I just needed to look in her eyes to get my answers. Love was such a tricky thing; there was no guarantee that it would be returned.
"Nick, you and Warrick can take the DB at the Mirage. Sara, Catherine, and I will take the bank robbery," Grissom said as he slid a sheet of paper to me. Catherine whispered that she would make sure that Grissom behaved himself. I hoped that no one else heard that.
"Grissom, I'm not feeling well. Is it okay if I help Greg in the lab tonight?" Sara asked. She did look a little paler than normal. Sara woke up this afternoon complaining of just not feeling right; she said that her head was killing her. Sara swore to me that it was a migraine; she took her prescription medication and laid across the couch until we absolutely needed to leave for work.
"I need you out in the field," Grissom replied.
"I'm not feeling well," Sara challenged. Warrick and Catherine quickly left the room; I stood by Sara's side. She was shaking a little bit.
"I'm not going to let you two gang up on me like this," Grissom replied exasperated that he no longer possessed a hold on Sara. She could be defiant; Sara no longer had a reason to be compliant.
"Grissom, go easy on her. Sara hasn't been feeling well all afternoon," I said; I could barely recognize my own voice. I didn't normally stand up against Grissom; I used to think of him a role model.
Sara pulled away from me and left the room. I was about to follow her, but I could see Catherine just a few steps behind her.
"What changed so drastically that you feel the need to treat Sara like that? I thought you cared about her . . . or at least you did a few weeks ago." I asked. Warrick told me to go get some air, but I wanted to get this issue out in the open. I was sick of dancing around Grissom's anger.
"Let's stop right here," Grissom said.
"No, I want to know if Sara and I should start looking for a job elsewhere," I threatened.
"Nick, let's stop," Grissom replied.
"You can't control her anymore; you hurt her enough. If you really care about Sara, just let her go," I replied as I walked out the room leaving Grissom. Warrick followed close behind me.
"Man, you have to start being more careful about not letting issues from home follow you to work," Warrick cautioned.
"It's the issues at work that are starting to piss me off. I'm sick of watching Grissom try to manipulate her. I see the way he looks at her; I know why Sara and I never work together anymore," I ranted.
"Sara's going to have to be the one to tell him to back off," Warrick replied.
"What did Catherine do?" I asked.
"She said that she would leave the lab unless she was treated fairly," Warrick replied. Few people knew about their relationship; they hid it carefully. When they were exposed, Grissom began to punish Warrick. Warrick was sent to the most gruesome scenes. He was normally forced to work alone; it meant a ton of unwanted overtime. Meanwhile, Catherine always shared cases with Grissom. For as much as that man claimed to care for Sara and Catherine, he had a strange way of showing it.
"Did it work?" I asked.
"She hasn't received a good evaluation since then. We've been looking at leaving the lab; it would probably be good for us if we left the lab," Warrick replied. I didn't understand Grissom. I knew he wasn't a bad person, but I wondered if he ever knew how much pain he caused Sara and Catherine. I wondered if he realized that he was hurting them. A person can only be pushed away so many times before they move on.
"Sara's talked about it. She said that she never planned on staying in Vegas. We've talked about looking into the openings in Seattle or Phoenix," I replied.
"It would probably be good for Sara to get out of Vegas. It would probably be good if you guys started somewhere new with a clean slate," Warrick replied.
"Sara's not going anywhere any time soon," Catherine said as she came up to where we were standing in the hallway.
"What's wrong? Is it still her migraine?" I asked.
"Yeh. She's been throwing up; do you know what she takes for migraines?" Catherine asked as she leaned up against Warrick. I knew what Sara took for migraines . . . whiskey, beer, or brandy; those were her favorites.
"Sara took her prescription before we left," I replied, "I'll go talk to Greg about keeping an eye on her tonight."
I knew it was going to be a long night.
Sara's POV:
My throat hurts; it's been hard to keep this from Nick. I didn't want him to worry. He worries enough about me.
"Greg, can you do me a huge favor?" I asked.
"Whatever you need, Greg's your man," Greg replied trying to smile. Nick told me that Greg was going to keep an eye on me tonight. Nick snuck into the unisex bathroom before he left. He kissed me on the forehead; wiped the tears from my eyes. He told me to feel better. I said I would.
"I need you to run a blood sample," I replied.
"What case are you working on that you shouldn't be working on?" Greg asked eyeing me suspiciously.
"It's my blood sample. I'll need you to do the draw," I replied.
"I've never done that before," Greg replied looking concerned.
"It's easy," I said as I gathered the appropriate tools from my kit. I showed Greg how to tie the tourniquet. I was surprised that he was able to get blood the first time. I think I surprised him by throwing up when I saw the blood go into the vile. He asked if I was okay. I told him that I needed a hormone panel done as soon as possible.
I didn't feel pressured to have sex with Nick. He didn't pressure me to do anything besides talk. It just happened two weeks ago. We had gone out to a movie; we wanted to celebrate one of our last nights of freedom before going back to work. It was a horror movie . . . vampires and such. It was showing at the art house; it was a black and white film. Nick knew how much I loved those films. He held my hand the entire time. Something about the lack of special effects and the acting made these movies so much more genuine than the over commercialized films in the cinemas. We got home late. I kissed him good night like I always do, but that night I couldn't let go of him. Nick let me be the one to set the pace; he made sure that I knew he wasn't expecting anything. It was so nice to lay naked in his arms. It was so nice to hear someone tell me that I was beautiful.
I thought we had been careful.
Four days ago the nausea began. I knew Nick thought that something was up, but I wanted to be sure before I told him. Now, I just had to wait for the lab test.