Grissom went back to the CSI lab, entered his office, and slammed the door behind him. He dropped in behind his desk and picked up the phone. "Sidle," a groggy voice answered him.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I was just dozing on the couch. Everything okay, you sound stressed?"

"I should be home taking care of you."

"Griss..."

"I just got done talking to the sheriff. Apparently Ecklie decided to take a week off, and he won't do anything about our situation until he can talk to him. Therefore, we are still short staffed and working around the clock."

"What's your pulse at now?"

Grissom chuckled but continued, "He also decided that if I needed extra help, to bring you in, and no, you are not coming in."

"I don't think I'm up to coming in anyway."

Grissom was taken aback by this statement. Even when Sara was sick she wanted to work. "Honey, are you okay?"

Sara got choked up for a minute, but she held back her tears. "Yeah, I'm trying to get some rest."

Grissom heard the hitch in her voice and became concerned. "Sara, I can come home if you need me."

Sara took a second to compose herself and took a deep breath. "Griss, I'm fine. When you get a break from the case, come home, but I can manage until then."

"Okay honey. Remember, if you need anything, call. I love you."

"You too, bye."

Grissom hung up the phone and stared at Sara's picture on his desk. She needed him, but he was stuck working on the case. Trying not to dwell on his angry thoughts, Grissom went down to the lab to try and find out what Greg was working on.

When Grissom entered the DNA lab, he realized that it was empty. He continued down to the evidence room and found Nick working on the victim's clothing. "Nick, where's Greg?"

"I told him to go get some sleep in the break room, and I'd call him when I had some evidence to give him."

"Okay, have you found anything?"

"Black fibers that match the ones on all of the other vics. Nothing else yet."

Grissom stared at the shirt in front of him and noticed something shine in the light. "Nick, can you hand me the tweezers?"

Nick handed over the tweezers, and Grissom picked up a short hair off of the shirt and put it into a bindle. "Okay, that's enough of this crap. Nick, you, Greg, and Warrick can go home. You're way past your effectiveness now."

Nick was surprised by Grissom's reaction. "But..."

"No buts Nick, you're not in trouble. You've all gone long enough without rest, you've got the next eight hours off."

Nick wasn't quite sure how to react to the situation. "Griss, not that I don't want to go home and sleep, but, Catherine's my boss."

Grissom started to get angry once again. "We're getting all of that crap fixed up. The three of you need to go home and get some sleep so we can actually get somewhere on this case."

Nick grinned. "Thanks Griss, I'll tell the guys."

A small smile cracked Grissom's face before he went to work on the DNA analysis of the hair.

After Nick told the others they could go home, Nick called Sara. "Sidle," she answered.

"Hey girl, how are you feeling?" he asked.

Sara smiled. "I'm okay Nick, how's the case going?"

"Griss just found a hair on the girl's shirt. We've never found any evidence like that before."

"Yeah, I know. Well that gives you something then."

"Yeah, eight hours off. I'd been staring at that shirt for a while, and I hadn't found anything."

Sara giggled. "At least you can get some sleep now."

Nick smiled again. "Hey, you up for some company?"

"Nick, you need to go home and get some sleep."

"First I'd like to stop in and see my friend who just got back from the hospital a day or so ago and see how she's doing."

"Nick, I'm fine."

"I'll stop and grab some pizza, and we can chat for a little while."

"Okay Nick, but you better get enough sleep when you leave."

"Yes mother," Nick laughed, hanging up and driving the rest of the way to her house.

Grissom started processing the DNA from the follicular tag and then called Catherine. "Willows," she answered.

"Anything from Brass?"

"Nope. You got anything?"

"Found a short hair with a follicular tag on the girl's shirt. I'm processing it for DNA right now. We just have to wait the two weeks to get the results."

Catherine smiled. "Why are you processing the DNA and not Greg?"

"I sent Greg, Nick, and Warrick home. They were way past the point of being objective. They're coming back in eight hours."

"Now Grissom, I do believe you took over my supervisory duties there," Catherine joked.

"Don't even get me started. I went to talk to the sheriff, and he suggested I bring in Sara if I need extra help."

"Did you give him a swift kick in the ass?"

"No, but apparently Ecklie decided to take a week off, and the sheriff won't do anything until he can talk to Ecklie. Therefore, we have to keep dealing with this crap."

"Aren't politics wonderful?" Catherine laughed.

"Yeah, wonderful," Grissom said sarcastically, "I'm going to keep processing the vic's clothes. When you're done there you might as well go home and get some rest before coming back in. We don't have much to go on right now."

"Alright, thanks Gil."

Nick arrived at Sara's house and knocked on the door. Sara got up, checked the peephole, and let Nick in. "Hey girl," he said, giving her a one-armed hug, "one plain pizza special for you."

Sara smiled and let Nick into the house. After locking the door, she led Nick to the couch where she had already poured drinks for both of them. They both sat down on the couch and grabbed a slice of pizza. After they both finished eating, Nick spared the small talk and plunged right into conversation. "So Sara, how are you really doing?"

Sara sighed and looked down at the floor. "Nick, I don't really know how I'm doing. I'm really tired and achy, I keep getting migraines, and I'm an emotional see-saw."

Nick gave her another impromptu hug. "Sar, you don't need to keep up a strong front for me, or anyone else for that matter. You don't have to be okay all of the time. Something traumatic happened to you, and you need some time to adjust."

"Traumatic?"

"You don't think that having a miscarriage is a traumatic thing? You can't expect to feel absolutely wonderful the next day hun."

Tears started to form at Sara's eyes again, and she struggled to wipe them away. "See, I'm an emotional wreck."

Nick gave her a reassuring hug. "Sara, what's really bothering you?"

Sara kept her head leaning on Nick's shoulder and replied. "I don't think I'd make a very good mother."

Nick pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Sara, if the time comes that you are a mother, you'll do fine. You care so much about kids, and you're such a nice person."

Sara playfully hit his shoulder. "You don't need to flatter me."

Nick smiled. "Sar, you have nothing to worry about. You take the time you need to work through this, and then you'll be fine."

Sara gave him a watery smile, and he gave her a tight squeeze. "Thanks Nick."

"No problem. Now, I need to go home and get some sleep so I can actually function."

Sara wiped away her tears and smiled again. After letting Nick out, she returned to the couch to try and get some more sleep.

Nick pulled out of Sara's driveway and called Grissom. "Grissom," he answered.

"Hi, it's Nick. I just wanted to tell you that I stopped in to check on Sara. She's a little blue, but she's doing okay."

Grissom thought about the fact that he had told Nick to go home and get some sleep, but he was more concerned about Sara's wellbeing. "Was she crying?"

"Not when I got there, but I asked her what was really bothering her, and she said that she wasn't sure she would make a good mother. I reassured her, but she's just trying to come to terms with things right now."

"Thanks Nick. Now go home and get some sleep so you can get some work done when you come back in."

"Okay Griss, bye."

Grissom clipped the phone back to his belt and continued to look at the clothing in front of him. I'm not sure I would make a good father either.