A/N – Well, some of your theories are awesome. Keep them coming – I love to see what you're all thinking. I'm not saying anything though… hehe – I'd rather keep you all in suspense. Thanks for all the support, you guys ROCK. Writing would mean nothing, if it were for you all. This story is dedicated to all of you who support the people whose passion is writing, who encourage, and help us to achieve our dreams.

Chapter 6:

"Sara?" The doctor gently shook her arm but spoke forcefully, "Sara can you look at me?" Dr. Ferguson had sat her bed up, in hopes that it would awaken her consciousness better. It hadn't worked. She had talked to Nick for a few moments, but froze up when he had mentioned Chris. Now she was sitting, arms around her knees, rocking back and forth, her eyes averted from any form of life in the room.

Grissom burst into the hospital room, noticing through the window the doctor and nurses crowded around Sara. Nick looked helpless, his eyes red and bloodshot. He rushed over to the bed, and saw her shaking back and forth, unmistakably upset.

"How long has she been like this?" He asked immediately. The doctor looked concerned, at both Sara's condition and Nick's.

"It just happened. Apparently she started talking a bit to her friend there. He said he mentioned the name of her last boyfriend and she went back into her catatonic state. He immediately called us; worried he had done something wrong. I came in, she was unresponsive again. We decided to sit her up, see if we couldn't get her to snap out of it. One of our nurses came in, who has the same name of her last boyfriend. I said her name, and she freaked out again. She's been like this since. Our psychologist is coming in immediately. It's not good for her to be like this..." Grissom nodded, overwhelmed with seeing her look so helpless and scared. He went over to Nick, noticing his need too.

"Nick – calm down. It's okay – you didn't do anything wrong." Nick kept pacing frantically, obviously having a near panic attack.

"I shouldn't have said anything. I mentioned his name and she completely froze up. What DID he do to her?" He slammed his fists against the window. Dr Kyle looked up immediately and strode over to him.

"Mr. Stokes," he said firmly, "I already explained you did nothing wrong. In fact, it was probably good – we know what's setting her off. It's the road to recovery, but I think you need to leave right now and take a walk. Calm down, pull yourself together. She needs your support right now. Dr. Grissom, if you wouldn't mind – I was hoping maybe you could talk to her too, maybe another face would help." Gil nodded, eager to do something for his fallen colleague. He turned to Nick,

"Nicky – go take a walk. Get something to drink. Let me try talking to her – the doctors right, you can't lose it now. Okay?" Nick nodded slowly, in defeat and headed out the door with one last glance at Sara. Grissom quickly strode over to her bed, and sat on the edge. He took her two hands and looked directly at her diverted eyes, noticing her trembling. He could feel the emotion swelling in his chest, emotions he rarely felt and never let show.

" Sara? It's Grissom. You need to listen to me. Can you look at me? Sara – you've got to pull through this, we're all here for you. We all love you and we're not going anywhere, you understand?" He said, in a voice barely higher than a whisper. Slowly, she started to calm down, she wasn't shaking as hard, but still her eyes wouldn't meet his. The nurse and doctor came over. The nurse, Chris, put her hand to her forehead and immediately grabbed her thermometer.

"Doctor – her fever is still very high." She said quietly, as the doctor injected some sedative into her IV. Immediately, Sara started to drift off and her eyes close. The heart rate monitor beeps started to gradually slow down. Grissom let go of her hands and helped the doctor lay her back down on the bed.

"Why does she have a fever?" Grissom asked. Nick still hadn't returned.

"Stress mainly, a few other things I can't discuss. She got herself worked up, and her temperature skyrocketed. I gave her a sedative, hopefully that will help – the psychologist will be here once she wakes up in the morning, and we'll see then what the options are." Grissom resumed his seat next to Sara's bed, exhausted already with the evening's events. He took her hand and closed his eyes, poised for another sleepless night.

-+-+-

"I did a search on Chris Hartman. No priors." Warrick said, almost in a disappointed voice. "We still haven't tracked him down though." Catherine nodded. She had taken the lead on this case, in Grissom's absence. She also had her information to share,

"Greg and I went to Sara's apartment." Brass looked at her, with a weary eye.

"But, you didn't have a warrant?" he interjected.

"Spare key. Nick had it, when I was at the hospital he gave it to me. All we found were a few photos of her and Chris on her table. They were going out, what, 6 weeks? Nothing in particular, just some cute couple shots – nothing that looked out of the ordinary." She paused, "Except this." She held it up for everyone to see. Warrick and Brass both looked stunned, the same way Catherine and Greg had felt when they had first found it in her garbage can.

"You think…?" Warrick stuttered. Catherine sighed in frustration.

"I don't know. It would kind of make sense, but not totally. I still think there's a lot we're missing. I think we need to find this Chris guy. And fast. I'll let Grissom know about the latest developments when I go to the hospital." They all nodded and agreed. Warrick, Brass and Greg all made plans to go see Sara after shift, in the morning, and let Catherine explain it all to Grissom.

-+-+-

"Nick?" Grissom said quietly, as he stared at the man, sitting with his eyes closed against the cold cement wall. He didn't answer for a few moments.

"Have you ever felt like you're trapped and no one can hear you, no matter how loudly you scream? Like you're just lying there alone in the dark, and you just don't know what to do anymore?"

"Nick – I understand you feel frustrated and worried, we all are…" Nick quickly cut in.

"It's more than that Grissom. I feel like I'm suffocating. I can't do anything, and anything I try to do just make things worse. Why did this happen to her? And why didn't I do anything to stop it?" Grissom pitied the man in front of him. He was obviously at his wits end, overtaken by exhaustion; his mind wasn't processing everything rationally. Grissom couldn't blame him for feeling hopeless, not after what he had just seen with Sara.

"Nick, you have to understand you did nothing wrong – we all knew something was up with her. She's settled now. The doctor said her temperature is a bit high, but he gave her a sedative and the psychologist will see her in the morning. She'll get through this. Don't lose hope now – she's strong, and I've never pinned Sara Sidle as a quitter." He nodded and gave his boss a small smile.

"Thanks Grissom." The slowly got up, and made there way back to Sara's room, as Catherine came out of the elevators.

"Hey guys – how's Sara?" Grissom explained everything, as Catherine listened in shock.

"But she's okay now?" Nick nodded, as he continued his way back to the familiar, bland hospital room. Before they stepped inside, Catherine put a hand on Grissom's shoulder.

"Hey Gil – do you think I could talk to you in private for a second, first?" Nick looked at her cautiously. She knew she had to be careful. "It's about a case at work." Nick shrugged and went to see Sara. Grissom looked at Catherine keenly, wondering what this was all about... She filled him in on all the details.

"You sure it was hers?" Catherine nodded solemnly.

"Don't make any assumptions yet, but it would explain a lot."

"We still need to find that Chris guy. Until Sara gets out of this, he's really the only hope we have." Grissom said, as he went to open the hospital door for Catherine, and followed her inside the room.