When Sara turned over in bed, she found Grissom laying next to her, watching her. "Hey sleepyhead," Grissom spoke, brushing a few hairs away from her face.

"It can't be that late," Sara yawned.

"No, it isn't," Grissom spoke, "it's just after eleven."

Sara nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. "How long have you been up?"

"Just for a little while. I was enjoying the view."

Sara smiled and kissed his neck. Grissom returned a few kisses, and their actions quickly escalated. When Grissom started to tug on her pajama bottoms, Sara grabbed his wrist. "Gil, I can't," she whispered, trying not to hurt his feelings.

Grissom looked at her with questioning eyes. "I've got too much on my mind," Sara stated.

Grissom rolled off of her and stared at the ceiling. "I need to go take a shower," Grissom spoke, vacating the bed.

"Gil, I'd like to talk when you're done," Sara called to his retreating form.

"Sure honey," he said, turning around, "just give me a few minutes."

Sara nodded, and Grissom retreated to the bathroom.

"Warrick, you need to go home," Catherine's sister stated after waking him up.

"Where's Lindsey?" Warrick asked, noticing her absence.

"She went to use the restroom. Warrick, you need to go home and get some rest."

Warrick sighed and nodded. "Do you want me to take Lindsey?" he asked.

"You don't need to, I'm sure she'll be fine here with me."

Lindsey returned to the waiting room and groaned. "I want to go home," she stated, hands on her hips.

Warrick looked to Catherine's sister, and she nodded. "Linds, we can swing by your house so you can pick up some clothes, and then we can go to my house," Warrick spoke.

Lindsey shuddered. "Warrick, I just want to go home," Lindsey pleaded.

Warrick gave in, knowing she was emotionally exhausted. "Okay Linds, let's go then," Warrick said, standing and getting his crutches.

After preparing to leave, Warrick turned to Catherine's sister. "We'll be back in a couple of hours," Warrick stated, "you have my cell phone number, call me with any news."

Catherine's sister nodded. "Take your time Warrick, you're injured too," she turned to Lindsey, "you'll be okay Linds?"

"Yeah, I just want to go home," Lindsey replied.

Catherine's sister nodded, and the two left the hospital.

When Grissom emerged from the bathroom, Sara was missing from the bedroom. He headed out to the living room and eventually found her in the kitchen. She stood stark still, facing the coffeemaker. Grissom ran a comforting hand down her back, wanting to let her know that he was there for her, but also wanting to give her some space. Sara momentarily stiffened, but her body quickly relaxed. "Gil, this is so hard," Sara spoke, still not turning around.

Sara wrapped her arms around herself, and her body slightly shuddered. Grissom touched her shoulder as if asking permission to hold her, and at her nod, he pulled her to his chest. Sara turned in his embrace and rested her head against his chest. "I'm sorry Gil," Sara spoke, "this time of the year is supposed to be a happy time, a joyous time. I just can't."

"You can't what?" Grissom tried to gain some insight into what was bothering her.

"Someone decided to go and mess with our lives because they thought it would be a good political move. I can't even begin to understand the reasoning behind that. Worse, we can't even catch all of the people involved, the case will never be solved. I can't sleep without being bombarded with the images of that cell and what he did to me. It was bad enough thinking it was Ecklie, but I had somehow reasoned that he found something in me that he hated. But now, knowing it was just some stranger, why did he want me? What did I do for him to want me?"

Grissom felt his pulse rapidly rising, emotionally reliving Sara's kidnapping. Grissom ran his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her while she cried. "Sara, you didn't do anything wrong," Grissom stated, struggling to control his emotions, "you know that sexual predators act on a fixation. Their victims don't have to do anything to provoke them."

"I am not a victim," Sara stated coldly, trying to maintain some grasp on the situation.

"Sara, thank God you weren't raped, but you were victimized by that man. What you had to endure was pure torture. You cannot trivialize that fact."

Sara suddenly pushed away from his chest and backed herself into the junction of the kitchen cabinets. "Sara, I just want to help you," Grissom spoke, trying to calm her down.

"I could feel his hands all over my body again," Sara whimpered, "everything is just so messed up right now."

Sara sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around her legs. She had herself backed into the corner, and her body shook with tears. "I told myself this wouldn't happen again," Sara sobbed, "I guess I'm not as resilient as I thought."

Grissom's eyes widened with the new information, but he knew he had to pull Sara out of the black hole before she could be engulfed. Hoping she wouldn't shy away from him, Grissom pulled Sara to her feet and wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. "Sara, you are the strongest person I know. I know you are hurting right now, but I can't let you blame yourself. I love and need you too much to let you succumb to that beast."

Sara rested her head on his chest and drew strength from him. "Gil, I hate not being in control. I can't fix this, there is no justice."

"Sara, the police shot him, there is no way he can hurt you anymore."

"He still does hurt me," Sara corrected, "with each new piece of information, the vice cranks a little tighter."

"Is there a way to loosen the vice?"

"I need to tell you about something that happened a long time ago," Sara stated, trying to dry her tears.

"You know you have my support in everything Sara," Grissom stated, kissing the top of her head.

Sara pulled slightly away from him. "I need to sit down Gil," Sara quietly spoke.

Grissom nodded, and with his arm wrapped around her for support, he led her to the couch in the living room.

"Lindsey, can I do anything for you?" Warrick asked after she had let them both into the house.

"No, I just want to go lay down. You know where the kitchen is if you want something to eat, and you're welcome to the guest room."

"I'm just going to take the couch," Warrick stated, "try to get some rest, and we'll go back to see your mom in a little while."

Lindsey nodded and disappeared into her bedroom. Warrick attempted to get comfortable on the couch and eventually settled into a semi-comfortable position. I don't know what I'll do if she's not okay. She certainly doesn't deserve this. Plus, it's all my fault. How could I make such a big mistake?

Grissom sat to the left of Sara on the couch and wrapped his right arm around her waist. He didn't want her to think he was pushing, so they sat in silence until she spoke. "Gil, I'm sorry I've never told you this, but it's just one of those things I've tried to keep out of my mind."

Grissom rubbed Sara's back and tried to reassure her. "Sara, we're here to support each other. I can't help you if I don't know what is bothering you."

"Well, right now, a lot of things," Sara gave him a small smile, "but I really do have to tell you something."

Sara took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare herself for her revelation. "When I was young, there were always a lot of problems between my parents. While I could write a book on that subject, I'm not going into that now. That isn't important anymore. I ended up in the foster care system when I was thirteen. In a lot of ways, the houses I was put into were worse than being with my parents."

"We both know about some of the problems that can be encountered in foster care," Grissom spoke, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Sara reached for his hand and held it between her hands. "If that was all Gil, this wouldn't still be bothering me," Sara sighed, "within one of the families I was staying with, the father drank a lot, and he became a mean, abusive drunk. One night when I was sleeping I felt something heavy on top of me. When I opened my eyes, he had me pinned to the bed, and he was looming over me."

Sara's body shook slightly, but her eyes remained dry. "He raped me, and I couldn't do anything about it. By the time I finally got myself out of that house, there wasn't any evidence left to process."

Grissom stayed silent with his arm wrapped around her until he could think of an appropriate response. "No one deserves to endure that Sara."

"I know. I worked myself through those troubles a long time ago, and there's just a sliver of that moment left in my mind. It hurts so much when I can't give someone closure, when I can't help achieve the justice that someone deserves."

"That's why every time you work a rape case, you max yourself out on overtime and practically burn out," Grissom stated, not really directing his interpretation toward Sara.

"I can't help but think that if I brought a child into this world, he/she might be subject to such predators."

Grissom's mind went into overdrive. Too many things are going through her mind. With everything going on, she's falling apart, how did I not see this sooner? I just need to help her. "Sara, if we decide to have a child, I am positive that he/she would have our unconditional love."

"Sometimes that isn't enough," she said airily.

"Sara, we bring criminals to justice on a daily basis. We are helping to protect society from those criminals, that's all we can do."

Sara's focus shifted once again. "Gil, we both realize that there are certain dangers associated with our jobs. I wouldn't want to leave a child parentless."

Grissom wanted to tell Sara that Catherine was going to be okay, but he realized he couldn't even convince himself of that fact. "Sara, hopefully that will never happen. I seem to recall you saying that we can't worry ourselves with what ifs."

Sara shifted down on the couch and laid her head in Grissom's lap. "I really need to calm down and chill out," Sara spoke, slowly exhaling.

While Sara stared at the ceiling, Grissom ran his fingers through her hair. "I want to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas Eve," Grissom spoke, trying to change the subject.

Sara let out a slight laugh. "When it starts getting merry, you let me know," Sara joked.

Grissom smiled and leaned down to kiss her lips. "We've got a while until shift starts, we can do anything you want honey."

"We don't have to go now, but can we go see Cath before shift starts? I'm really worried about her."

"Sure, we can go on our way to the lab. Before then, is there anything that you want to do?"

"Can we just have a nice, quiet lunch together?"

"Sure honey. How does your stomach feel?" Grissom asked, brushing his hand across her midsection.

"Okay, it's pretty calm for now. I'm in the mood for some of your heavenly pancakes."

Grissom smiled and pulled her up so she was sitting next to him. "Do you want to help?" he questioned.

"Sure, that'll give me something to do."

They both got up from the couch and walked slowly out to the kitchen.

Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Nick called Warrick. "Brown," he picked up, his state of exhaustion evident in his voice.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Nick asked.

"I wish you had. I haven't been able to get much sleep."

"Oh, you're home?"

"No, I'm at Cath's house with Linds. I told Cath's sister that we would be back in a couple of hours."

"Was there any change Warrick?"

"No, Cath's sister was still waiting to hear from the doctor again. They're supposed to evaluate the progression of the swelling."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Well, I'm not really a religious guy, but I've been praying."

"So have the rest of us," Nick stated, "is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I'm not the one who needs help Nick. If Catherine's okay, I'll be okay. Until then, I've just got to be there for her."

"Alright, I'm going to stop by before shift and check in on her," Nick stated.

"Okay, I'll see you then. I'm going to head back within the hour."

Warrick closed his cell phone and draped his arm across his eyes. This is exhausting. I haven't even talked to the board yet. I know I'm going to have to answer questions about the accident, and I don't like the answers.

When Sara finished her pancakes, she walked around the table and pulled up a chair next to Grissom. She leaned against him while he finished eating. "You okay?" he asked, resting his hand on her knee.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

"Again?" he joked.

Sara smiled. "The voices in my head never quit."

"And if I didn't love you so much, I'd think you were insane," Grissom spoke, smiling and briefly kissing her cheek.

"Gil, I want to have children," Sara spoke.

"I know that honey, we've talked about this before," Grissom spoke, patting her knee, "I want to have children also."

"With all of this mess, this is definitely not the right time. However, I think after we get married would be a good time to start trying."

"Oh, we've been trying," Grissom said with a twinkle in his eye, "just remove one part of the equation, and we could be in business."

Sara chuckled and poked his side. "Having children is not a business," Sara pointed out.

"I know," Grissom said, tickling her side, "I was just pointing out something."

"What do you think?" Sara asked.

"I think that any time you are ready is a good time," Grissom said, lightly kissing her lips.

"Our wedding night then," Sara stated, "until then, we can get in plenty of practice."

Sara slid over into Grissom's lap and started trailing kisses across his jaw line. Grissom redirected her lips to his, and their kisses quickly deepened as their hands wandered. "Gil, do we have time for this?" Sara asked in between kisses.

"We're making time," Grissom replied.

Grissom lifted her off of his lap and carried her to the bedroom.

"Any news?" Warrick asked Catherine's sister when he returned to the ICU with Lindsey.

"The doctor said that the swelling has gone down, and he is confident that if she wakes up, she will be able to make a full recovery."

"That's good news," Lindsey stated, "I'm going to go see her."

Lindsey started to walk down the hallway, and Warrick followed close behind her.

Although Warrick thought Catherine looked just as bad as she had earlier, he found solace in the news that she was getting better. Lindsey sat in a chair on one side of the bed grasping Catherine's hand, and Warrick sat in a chair on the opposite side. "Cath, we're waiting for you to wake up," Warrick stated, brushing the back of her hand with his thumb, "everyone wants you to gather enough strength to open your eyes."

"Mom," Lindsey spoke, "it's Christmas Eve. Every year we've been home, celebrating Christmas together. I know you can't be home, but I'd at least like to be able to talk to you."

Warrick crossed to the other side of the bed to put his hands on Lindsey's shoulders. "She'll be okay Linds," Warrick reassured her, "you heard what your aunt said."

"Yeah, I would just feel a lot better if I was able to talk to her."

Warrick and Lindsey spent some more time with Catherine and tried to coax her back to consciousness. Even though their efforts didn't receive a reward, they felt better knowing that Catherine had a chance of pulling through.

After Grissom and Sara showered and changed for work, they headed for the hospital. "I should talk about my problems more often," Sara joked, resting her hand on Grissom's knee.

Sara could see a light blush tint Grissom's cheeks. "I can't say that I'm complaining about the results," Grissom joked back.

Sara smiled and squeezed his thigh just above his knee. "You helped me get a lot off of my chest. Thanks," she said sincerely.

"Well, I hope you didn't take too much off," Grissom said facetiously.

Sara pinched his thigh and smiled. "Seriously Gil, I feel a lot better now."

"Well, that's good," Grissom said, removing her hand from his knee and squeezing it, "I've always got ears when you want to talk."

"I really should have told you sooner."

"You told me when you were ready. I wasn't going to push you Sara, you need to do things in your own way."

"Thanks," Sara spoke, "it really doesn't bother me that much now, I just felt that I needed to explain why I was acting so odd."

"You haven't been acting odd Sara. Remember, you're human too. None of us can escape our past, and there's no use running. Sometimes you just need to talk about things so they don't eat you alive."

"You're right," Sara squeezed his hand, "I just think that with everything that's been going on, I kept pushing the thoughts back, and they kept resurfacing. It's really not something I like to talk about."

"I understand Sara," Grissom said, squeezing her hand back, "the case just started to push into our personal lives, and then it pretty much became our lives. It would have been hard enough for anyone do deal with without any excess baggage."

Sara nodded and returned her hand to his thigh again. "I just wanted to make sure you understood how beneficial it was to talk things out."

Grissom smiled and covered her hand with his. "We all need an occasional chat to sort our lives back in order. We've just had to have a few more than usual lately. Sara, when you need to talk, find me, I'm available to you twenty-four seven."

Sara smiled. "Almost twenty-four seven. You forgot to factor in the chaos involved in our lives. There always that .1 percent of the time that you wouldn't be reachable."

Grissom huffed and patted the top of her hand. "Thanks for poking holes in my statement."

"You know not to make generalizations," Sara stated.

Grissom smiled and held her hand in his. "I'm here for you, that's all that matters."

"And I'm here for you," Sara spoke, "thanks for catching me before I fell."

"That's my job," Grissom spoke, "I don't need any more thanks. I'm just glad that you're okay."

Sara nodded, and they continued the rest of the drive in comfortable silence. Once Grissom pulled into the hospital, he and Sara walked into the building together.

Sara and Grissom both stood by Catherine's side and talked to her. "Cath, I need your help planning my wedding," Sara spoke, "you've got to wake up so you can start picking things out. I don't want to think about what the place would look like if I picked out everything."

Grissom smiled at Sara's choice of words. "Cath, I know you hate the line "the lab needs you," but we do. Every single one of us need you for different reasons, and we would like to be able to talk to you again."

Once they were satisfied with providing words of encouragement, Grissom and Sara left Catherine's room and headed back to the waiting room. "Hey Griss," Nick spoke when he appeared in the doorway, "hi Sara."

The two of them filed into the room and sat in the nearby chairs. "Hi Nick," Grissom spoke, and then directed his attention to Warrick and Catherine's sister, "what's the latest news?"

"The swelling significantly reduced. The doctors are confident she will pull through if she wakes up. They said that it could take any amount of time, but it's better if she wakes up within the next couple of days," Warrick stated.

"She'll pull through," Sara stated, "Catherine's too much of a fighter to give up now."

Small smiles filled the room as they all related to that statement. "How are all of you?" Grissom asked, looking around the room.

"I'm alright," Warrick stated, "all I really care about right now is Cath. I just want to see her wake up."

"Well, that's what we all want," Sara stated.

Grissom looked at Catherine's sister, and she nodded her head. "I'm holding in there," Catherine's sister stated, "I'm praying just like everyone else is."

Grissom nodded. "Lindsey, can we do anything for you?" Nick asked.

"Have my mom wake up for Christmas," she stated, "I don't care about anything else."

They all looked at her, trying to find the best way to help her. She felt their gazes, and tried to direct their thoughts away from her. "Don't even think of trying to do anything for me. I'm twelve, I know Santa doesn't exist, and I'm not going to like it if you start acting foolishly just because you're trying to make me feel better. Just pray for my mom and leave it at that."

"Did someone leave you alone with the dictionary again?" Nick joked, trying to make everyone feel comfortable again.

Lindsey tried to shoot Nick a cold glare, but a smile quickly cracked through the facade. Everyone laughed, and they felt more comfortable with each other once again. "Has Greg been by?" Grissom asked.

"No, I haven't seen him," Warrick stated, "it kind of surprised me actually."

"He was here while you were gone," Catherine's sister interjected.

"Oh, okay," Warrick said.

"Well, we better be heading to the lab," Grissom spoke for Sara and himself, "please give us a call if anything changes."

Warrick and Catherine's sister nodded. "Nick, we'll see you at the lab," Grissom stated.

"Yes, I want to go see Cath first, and then I'll be leaving," Nick replied.

"Okay," Grissom spoke, "I'll see you in a little while."

Sara said her goodbyes and followed Grissom out of the waiting room. They exited the hospital and headed for the lab, confident that Catherine would pull through.