A/N: Thanks so much Lin, Rebel, PupuleGirl, and jbr. You guys made my day! Here's another chapter! I'm glad that I'm keeping you in suspense. :)

Part Five

Grissom panted slightly as he ran up the stairwell, followed closely by two officers.

"Mr. Grissom, I thought this was just a welfare check. Why are we running?" said one.

Grissom stopped for a split second to catch his breath as he reached the second floor door. "It's an important welfare check."

"You know you're not supposed to enter a scene until we clear it?"

All three reached Sara's door, finding it locked.

"Pick this lock. Now," Grissom demanded. "She's a CSI. She won't press charges. Do it." He held his ear up to the door, hearing nothing.

After a few seconds, the door clicked open, and Grissom burst in with his gun drawn. Both officers looked at each other, drew their guns, and walked into the apartment.

"Las Vegas Police!" one called.

Grissom ran immediately to Sara's bedroom, and flung open the door.

Fromansky was straddling Sara, who was lying motionless beneath him with a blanket around her neck. His hands were pulling on opposite ends of the blanket, and he was breathing heavily.

Before Fromansky had time to react, Grissom ran to him. He pulled him off of Sara and threw him on the ground.

Grissom's eyes were crazed with anger and disbelief, but he could say nothing. As the other two officers entered the room to take Fromansky out, Grissom stumbled over to Sara and untied the blanket from around her neck. As he placed it over her naked body, he leaned down to check for her pulse and breathing.

"Call an ambulance!" he finally croaked out, his voice high and urgent. "She's not breathing." He moved Sara onto the floor and tilted her head back. Her face was turning blue.

"Come on, Sara," he pleaded, his speech coming in short puffs as he alternated compressions and mouth-to-mouth. They became gradually more intense as the seconds dragged on, and Grissom's eyes became more frantic as he crouched over her.

Finally, with a great gulping, sputtering breath, Sara took in air, and Grissom collapsed in relief onto his hands and knees next to her.

"Sara?" he asked gently, taking off his glasses. "Sara, can you hear me?"

She didn't respond, and merely lolled her head to the side with her mouth slightly open.

He heard the officers talking outside the room, and the intensity in his eyes came back. He stood up slowly, checking Sara's vitals once more, and ran into the living room to see Fromansky's wrists being cuffed behind him.

"We've got him, Mr. Grissom," said one officer. "Captain Brass should be here-"

Before he could finish, Grissom grabbed Fromansky by the collar and shoved him against the wall forcefully.

"What did you give her?" he hissed. "You drugged her. Tell me with what. NOW."

Fromansky was silent, and the officers stood still, frightened, unsure of what to do.

Grissom stared at him with concentrated fury, and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"This is not about us. This is about her, and if she dies, I can't be responsible for what I'll do to you."

With a deep sigh, Fromansky looked to an unoccupied corner of the room and muttered, "Rohypnol."

Grissom shoved him back in the direction of the officers and ran back into Sara's room as Brass and the paramedics entered the apartment.

He kneeled over Sara once more, holding her hand with one of his, and feeling the pulse in her neck with the other.

"I'm sorry, Sara. I'm so sorry."

OOO

Brass entered Sara's bedroom slowly as the paramedics lifted Sara onto a gurney.

"Gil."

Grissom, who had been pacing back and forth next to Sara's bed furiously, spun around, not quite meeting Brass in the eyes.

"She's gonna be okay, Gil."

Grissom sat down on Sara's bed, resigned. "We don't know that. We don't know how long she was deprived of oxygen. We don't know much rohypnol is in her system. She could have brain damage, or…" he trailed off, dropping his head to his hands. "I didn't see it."

"You did see it. You figured it out. You saved her life."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Grissom slumped his shoulders. "We have to process her room."

Brass shook his head, stepping aside as the paramedics wheeled Sara out of the room. "I'll call days. You can brief them on what happened, but you know you can't work the scene."

"Fine." He rose defiantly and followed the paramedics. "I'm going with her."

OOO

Catherine walked into the hospital room to see Grissom asleep in a chair, his head drooping to the right. She walked up and put a hand on his shoulder, awakening him with a start.

"What time is it?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"It's seven." Seeing Grissom's confused expression, she continued. "At night. It's been about eight hours. Still nothing?"

They both turned to look at Sara, lying still and silent, hooked up to tubes and machines, puffing and beeping. Grissom shook his head. "Doctors are hopeful, though. The rohypnol should wear off soon, and her asphyxia shouldn't have any long-term effects."

"It's just a matter of waiting."

"Yeah," he said with a slight scoff. "I hate waiting."

"Well," she answered, pulling up a chair. "So does Sara."

OOO

Inhaling deeply, Sara slowly opened her eyes, squinting at first. She moved her head around, immediately hindered by the neck brace that steadied her movement. She shifted her eyes to the left, catching a small glimpse of someone blurry. Sara made a small guttural noise, letting her eyelids droop a bit.

"Sara? Sara? Can you hear me?" Grissom clambered out of his chair and sat on the edge of her bed, taking her left hand in his.

She nodded, wincing immediately after, and let out a soft moan.

"It's okay," he said, tucking her hair away from her eyes. "Your neck and throat have endured severe trauma. Just lie still and breathe."

Sara looked up at him with a puzzled expression, her eyes wide with questions.

"You don't remember what happened, do you?"

She closed her eyes in defeat.

"Don't worry about that for now. We'll talk about it later, when you're better. The rohypnol-" Grissom stopped, his face conveying an error in judgment.

Sara's eyes widened in fear. Her lips moved and the slightest whisper escaped. "Rohypnol?" She blinked furiously and looked away, her lip quivering. She closed her eyes and did not move or speak for several moments. Then, opening her eyes again, she turned back to Grissom and mouthed the words, "Who?"

Grissom took a deep breath and squeezed her hand more tightly. "Fromansky."

Two tiny tears began to run from the crevices of Sara's eyes. She shut them tight, swallowed, and winced.

"But we've got him, Sara. We caught him. He can't get out of it. We, uh…" he paused, looking at the floor. "We do need to do a SART kit on you, though."

She nodded almost imperceptibly. "Catherine?" she mouthed.

"She went to get us some coffee. Do you want her to do it?"

"Yes," came the whispered reply.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

OOO