Disclaimer: Not mine, but I'd trade my Chemistry professor for the lot of them any day.
Author's Notes: Thank you all so, so much for the wonderful replies. You guys rocked my world, I'm glad to see so much interest and pleasant feedback. A lot of you mentioned the Catherine/Sara relationship, and if it's not clear already, a lot of the story will revolve around that, although we do get to see some of the fine males of the show in this chapter, even more in the next. I tried not to make things too dramatic, because even in a drama, things can get overdone, and I want to at least make you guys smile.
Ms. Elizabeth Granger: Yes, I'm about 10 years older than you, which all of a sudden makes me feel near ancient, and I'm definitely in college, because if I wasn't, I'd love to know where I spend those hours.
Jessica Summers: I"m glad I sound amazing, although I'm just your average girl. Glad you think I've added some comedy, at least that's coming through well. Haha.
CMELO: I'm glad you find me refreshing, I was going for something a little different, and I hope I achieve that.
El matador: I love explosions, it's a weakness of mine, it always adds for a little something extra in the plot, and well, being a Chemistry major, it's usually frowned upon to make things explode, so I have to get it out of my system.
Enough babbling, on with the story...Replies means a new chapter sooner rather than later (ah, yes, blackmail)
Jenny
Three:
"Sara? Catherine? Can you hear me?" Came a familiar Texan drawl, "Hey! Warrick! I've found them!"
Catherine heard the footsteps coming towards her, and she blinked open her eyes weakly, "Nicky."
"Hey there, you're awake." Nick said softly, "You're pretty banged up...the medics are trying to figure out how to get their stretchers down here, as soon as they do, we're going to get you taken care of. What happened?"
Catherine's mouth was dry, and she was barely able to whisper, "Lost control of the car. Sara?"
"She's unconscious, but she's breathing." Nick replied, "She'll be fine. I'm worried about you. We may have to amputate your leg, you know."
"What!" Catherine yelped, her eyes growing wide.
Nick shot her a playful smile, "Just kidding, it's a pretty nasty break though. Probably will need surgery to fix it."
"Bastard." Catherine replied, relieved to see him. At the moment, her ex-mother-in-law (whom she had always referred to as 'Miss Satan') would have been a welcome sight. "Took you guys long enough."
Nick sighed, "I know, I'm sorry. By the time the rain let up, we were stranded at the crime scene. We're just getting clearance for parts of the highway around here. I'm surprised you and Sara aren't underwater."
"Nicky, I hurt." She whispered, shutting her eyes and wincing as another fresh wave of pain flooded her body, "I'm so cold."
"You've lost a lot of blood." Nick replied, "But you're going to be okay. Just hang in there for a few minutes, the medics are almost all the way down here, they'll fix you up right good in a few minutes." He kissed her hand gently, "I'm going to check on Sara, but I'll be right here if you need something."
He turned his back to Catherine, kneeling besides Sara and letting a tear fall from his cheek to her face. Her body was cold to the touch, her skin a pale gray. If it weren't for the fact that her breathing was shallow and easy to hear and see, he would have thought she was gone. "Sara? Please wake up."
He got no response, and was soon pushed aside by paramedics trying to tend to the two woman. After finding out the hospital they were being transported to, he took out his cell phone, dialing a familiar number.
"Grissom, it's Nick. I found Cath and Sara, they're both in pretty bad shape, the paramedics are taking them to Desert Palm, I'll meet you there."
He waved over to Warrick, who was processing their car, and Warrick jogged over to him, "You ready?"
"Beyond ready." Nick replied, following Warrick up the steep incline to where their own Tahoe was parked. "They looked pretty bad." Nick muttered softly, resisting the urge to throw up. He never, ever wanted to see one of his friends, the people he called his family, in that position again, it was just too hard.
Sara's eyes fluttered and using the little energy she had, she blinked her eyes open. She knew they had to either be dead or rescued, because she didn't feel cold anymore, and she certainly didn't feel as much pain as she had the last time she could remember.
She felt the soft pillow beneath her achy head, and she gave a content sigh, they were saved.
Suddenly, the last events in her memory replayed, and she shot into a sitting position, ignoring the pain in her side and head, which were telling her to lay down and enjoy the soft pillow and the warm bed. "Catherine!" She gasped, her heart racing, her head pounding harder. She had fallen, she had let Catherine fall, she probably hurt her even worse than she had already been. What had happened to her friend? Was she dying? Dead? Were her co-workers all telling her goodbye without her?
At that moment, she realized someone else was in the room, and trying to push her back against her pillows. Struggling against the person, whom she still couldn't concentrate hard enough to focus on, she gasped, "I have to see Catherine."
The voice attached to the person restraining her finally made it's way to her ears, "Calm down, lay back, she's okay. They did surgery on her leg, she's in recovery, you can see her in the morning. Please, lay back down."
Sara obeyed, but only because she was too exhausted to do anything else but fall limp on her pillows. Her whole body ached, and she tried in vain to figure out who was speaking to her, but it was no use, she couldn't focus anymore. Giving in to the sleep that her body craved, she turned her aching head to the side and drifted off.
"She woke up for a few seconds." Warrick told Nick, as he walked into the room, two cups of coffee in his hands, "She was asking for Catherine."
"Thank God they're both okay." Nick replied, handing Warrick a cup of coffee, "I've never been so worried about anyone in my entire life. How did she seem when she woke up?"
"She was pretty out of it. I don't think she even realized I was here." Warrick replied, "She just wanted to see Catherine, I told her that Catherine was in recovery, and she went back to sleep. She seemed pretty freaked out though, like she expected the worst."
"She probably did." Nick replied, "They are so lucky things weren't terribly worse. Grissom just came out from seeing Catherine, they're about to move her into a room. I think they're going to get a double room, that way when they move Sara to a room, they can share."
"Our insurance is so cheap." Warrick said with a smile, "That's just their way of saving a few bucks...not that I'm arguing, it will make visiting a lot easier...but that just goes to show you..."
"Tell me about it." Nick replied, "Grissom says Cath's doing very well, all things considering, they used pins to reconnect the bones in her leg, she'll be in a cast for at least 6 months, it was pretty serious. There's some muscle damage as well, she's going to go through hell once she gets moving on it again. Her ribs didn't puncture any internal organs, which is great, she didn't have any internal bleeding. Her arm was broken in 3 spots, and they cast it. Nothing permanent though. He's going to fill out some paperwork and then we can all go see her. I think he wants some alone time with Sara."
Warrick nodded towards Sara, "They did a CT Scan, they don't think she'll really be coherent for a few days, she had a pretty bad concussion, they wanted to make sure there's no serious head injuries. They did say there was some swelling on her spine. The cut on her side required over 60 stitches. They had to give her a blood transfusion. They said that a few more hours of heavy bleeding and she wouldn't have made it. 3rd degree burns on her hands and forearms, probably from trying to shield herself when the car caught fire, and a serious fracture in her ankle, they're waiting for the swelling to go down a bit before putting on a cast."
"Ecklie sent his people out to the crash site to decipher what happened." Nick said softly, staring at Sara, "To see if it was an accident or if there was another vehicle involved." A chill ran down his spine, "If we wouldn't have found them..."
"Don't even think that way, man." Warrick replied, "Don't even think it. We did find them, and they'll both be okay."
"Just be grateful that you were able to find them, you saved their lives." Grissom said from the doorway, "Catherine's in room 416 if you want to see her. The doctor said he'll bring Sara upstairs in a few hours, as soon as they get her ankle taken care of and make sure she won't need any more blood."
"We'll go see Catherine." Warrick said, nodding at his boss and grabbing Nick's arm, leading him away, "You know where to find us."
"Thanks." Grissom murmured, sitting down in the chair Warrick had been occupying. Brushing her hair softly off of her face, he whispered, "Sara, you have to be alright, you hear me? I can't lose you or Catherine, you are the two most amazing women I've ever met."
"Gris?" She murmured, her eyes fluttering open, "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me." He replied, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I rolled down a cliff." Sara replied with a wan smile, "Cath?"
Grissom smiled gently down on her, "She's going to be fine, no internal injuries, nothing that will hinder her in the future. She should be waking up soon..."
"I want to see her. Can you arrange that?" Sara asked, her eyes still plagued with worry, "Please."
Before Grissom could respond, her eyes had closed and she had fallen back asleep.
The next time she awoke, the sunlight had faded to darkness, and the room was silent. She opened her eyes slightly, relieved to find the room dark, the lights had hurt her eyes earlier in the day. She tried to shift into a sitting position, but only succeeded in creating a burning sensation radiating from her side, followed by intense nausea. Bringing a hand weakly to her mouth, she instructed her body silently, yet forcefully, not to let her down.
"Are you awake?" A raspy voice from her left called.
Quickly, too quickly by the stabbing pain that flooded her head, she turned her head to the side, "Cath?" she whispered, still trying to suppress the nausea, "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it looks like we're bunking together." Catherine replied softly, "It's about time you woke up, I was starting to worry."
"You!" Sara asked incredulously, "I've been worried sick about you all day."
"You've been sleeping for two." Catherine replied, raising her eyebrows, "I've been wondering what the fun of having a roommate was if all they did was sleep, sleep, sleep."
Sara rolled her eyes, wincing as even that slight movement sent pain flowing through her veins. "What do I have to do for some Tylenol in this place?"
"I'll get the nurse for you." Catherine replied, "It's almost time for shift to be over, I'm sure the guys will stop by on their way home."
Sara didn't answer, she just let herself rest against her pillows, the pain almost too much to tolerate. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore, but not in as much pain as I was before. They have really good drugs here." Catherine replied, "I'm hoping they'll release me in a few days. Dr. Richardson says I was really dehydrated, and my leg got a slight infection, so they're keeping me for observation. You, on the other hand, will probably be here awhile. A concussion, a serious infection where you were cut, broken ankle. I'm thinking they'll keep you for at least another week or two, maybe longer."
"I hate hospitals." Sara muttered, her body searing with pain, "I want some of your 'good drugs'."
Just as Sara finished speaking, a nurse walked into the room, smiling at Sara, "I'm glad to see you're finally joining us. My name is Anabel, and I'm going to be taking care of you for, oh," she looked down at her watch, "The next 3 or 4 hours. I'm going to need to turn on the light to check your pupils, okay?"
Anabel switched on the light over Sara's bed, and Sara visibly winced, the light sending new waves of pain through her already miserable head. "Well, I don't even have to ask about sensitivity to light."
"Your pupils are still a bit uneven, but that's not uncommon with such a severe blow to the head. I'm assuming you weren't wearing a seat belt? Shame, shame." Anabel said, turning off her penlight, "Are you dizzy, nauseous, confused?"
Sara wanted to give the woman a hug for finally switching off the light, instead, she tried to focus on what the woman was saying, "I'm a little dizzy, and very nauseous, but not confused or anything. I'm just so tired."
"I'm going to come right back with some anti-emetic medication to feed into your IV, for now, I've hooked up a morphine drip, just press the button if you need more than it's giving you, it shouldn't take too long to go into effect. I'm going to place a basin right here on your tray, in case you need to throw up. How's your foot feeling? Is the cast poking you in any places, any discomfort not related to the break itself?"
Sara looked down at her leg, which was covered in a dark purple cast, "No, it's fine. I barely even feel it."
"Wait until your headache goes away." Catherine muttered from her side of the room, "You'll feel it, trust me."
"What about your side? Is it giving you any trouble, itching, burning, any severe pain?" Anabel asked after giving Catherine a teasing smile, "Ignore your friend, she's just upset she's not in the spotlight anymore."
"Upset, or relieved?" Catherine quipped, "Finally, you've got someone new to pick on."
"Everything's fine, it's just my head." Sara replied sleepily, the morphine already beginning to work, "I'm so tired."
"Go to sleep, hon, that's the best way to heal your body." Anabel replied, "The doctor should be in to check on you around 9 am, until then, get some rest."
Sara's eyes were already closed, her breathing even, by the time Anabel had walked to the door.
"Figures, she'd go right back to sleep." Catherine muttered, "These hospitals really aren't equipped for someone who is used to staying up all night."
"Stop talking to yourself." Sara mumbled, still half asleep, "They'll lock you up for sure."
"Go back to sleep, sorry." Catherine replied, continuing her meaningless train of thought in her mind. Somewhere right before 7, she managed to fall asleep, only to be awakened an hour and a half later when the door opened and the three men in her life walked in.
And another chapter lays to rest, you know what to do...
