Chapter 2

After Brass had told Grissom, Grissom had grabbed his jacket and keys on his way out the door. He was in such a rush and a daze that he ran into Nick and Catherine coming back from their crime scene.

Nick couldn't help himself. "Hey Griss, where's the fire?"

Grissom stopped and turned around, his eyed glazed with fire. "After you're done with your paperwork Nick, meet me at Desert Palm."

"Sure, I can do that." Nick nodded, concerned.

"And Catherine, can you please drive? I'm a bit edgy." Grissom held out a shaking hand.

Taking the keys from him, Catherine pushed him out the door and into his car as soon as they reached it. Once on the road, she needled him. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on or do I have to guess?"

Pulling on his seatbelt, he glanced as her for a silent moment, a little unsettled that she was driving his Mercedes faster than the speed limit. Taking a deep breath, he said really slowly. "I had a phone call from Jim. He told me to meet him and Warrick at Desert Palm. He said Sara was hurt. So I dropped what I was doing and that's how I came to running into you and Nick."

"Gil, you do realize you didn't tell Nick? You know how close they are."

He sighed. "I know Cath. That's why I didn't say anything yet. I know their relationship is like brother and sister. I had to leave one of us at the lab."

Desert Palm

"Jim, how is?" asked Catherine.

"We don't know yet. She's still in the O.R." He rubbed the sweat from his face with a sleeve. "It doesn't look good I tell you. We couldn't stop the bleeding from her forehead."

"What the hell happened?" Grissom questioned, getting angry and frustrated. "I thought you were there to meet them."

"I was, but got held up at head quarters. I informed Sara and there was an officer present. The officer updated me on their arrival. I tried to call Sara about forty minutes later, but it just rang."

"Where is Warrick?" asked Catherine, worried that he was hurt too.

"He went to get coffee to calm down. He will be here soon." Brass told her.

"Excuse me?" Called a nightshift nurse. "My name is Mindy. Are you with Sara Sidle?"

"Yes. Yes we are." Catherine answered. "Do you have any information for us? Is she ok?"

Mindy nodded. "She's in good hands. She has a really good surgeon working on her. His name is Mike Shepard. He'll be out as soon as he can."

"Thank you." Catherine sighed, smiling away the tension.

Mindy held up a clipboard. "Umm, is there anyone here who can fill this out for Sara?"

"I'll do that." Grissom offered, taking the clipboard and bic pen.

"Thank you."

They waited and waited. Around two hours later, the surgeon, Dr. Shepard, came through the double doors are the other end of the waiting area and approached them.

"With Miss Sidle?" He asked, tiredness evident on his face and in his eyes, but alert non the less.

They are stood and spoke at the same time. "Can we see her?"

"How is she? Can we see her?"

Dr. Shepard held out his hand. "Please, one at a time. Sara is in bad shape at the moment. There were a few bullets lodged in her. We were lucky to get them out without further damage. We gave her some more blood for what she lost, but the one thing that has us worried is the fluid on the brain."

"Will she be ok?" Grissom asked.

"We won't know for the next 24 hours or so. You can see her, but one at a time." Dr Shepard allowed.

"Thank you Doctor. You have helped a special person, that means a lot to all of us." Brass confessed, sighing with relief at the good news.

Warrick turned to the others. "I want go in. I found her. I need to know that she's ok."

"Sure Warrick. You can go, but not long ok?" said Grissom, with a hint of worry in his voice.

Sara's Room

"Oh my God Sara. I'm so sorry. I should have been with you. I shouldn't have let you go off by yourself." He took her hand gently. "You're going to be all right Sara. I know you are. You're a fighter, you always are. That's one thing I always liked about you." He smiled sadly. "Nick is gonna be here soon. The others are outside."

Standing in silence for a few minutes, he moved towards the window to collect himself. He heard the door open and turned to see Catherine.

"Can we come in? Grissom's a but antsy. You know how he is when it comes to Sara."

"Yeah." He wiped his eyes. "I know."

Before either moved, a sound coming from the bed caught their attention. Catherine was at Sara's side in seconds. "Sara? Sara, can you hear me? It's Catherine. I'm here with Warrick."

Warrick stood on one side while Catherine stood on the other, both peering down at Sara with worried eyes as they watched Sara's eyes open.

"Hey." Catherine whispered.

Sara's voice was raspy. "Who are you?"

...TBC...