A/N – Well I figured I should post at least one more chapter before I move, so this one may be short and I definitely have plans on leaving it open ended and suspenseful to keep you all on the edge of your seats until I get settled at university! Keep reviewing, it means so much to me to hear you support! And the theories, obviously I'm not going to be saying anything but they are definitely interesting to read!

Chapter 7:

Nick wanted to pace back and forth, but the exhaustion that overtook him made him unable to even stand up for more than a few minutes. Instead he let his mind pace, back and forth between what was happening and what should have happened. He sat with his friends, grateful for their support, but couldn't feel like things we're okay. They weren't okay.

After shift, Brass, Warrick, Catherine and Greg joined Grissom and Nick at the hospital. Before they had time to start talking, the psychologist arrived to examine Sara. They all agreed to wait outside together until they received any news on what was really going on. They had all been filled in on Sara's meltdown, and all of them knew now about what Catherine and Greg had found in her apartment. Everyone, except Nick. Grissom couldn't bring himself to tell the distraught man, and decided that it was just a lot better to leave it be until they knew the whole story first.

The older woman stepped out of the room awhile later, and was quickly surrounded by the group of CSI's awaiting her news.

"I trust you are all friends of Miss Sidle, and co-workers, I believe from what Dr. Ferguson has told me?" Grissom nodded, and extended his hand.

"I'm Gil Grissom, this is Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown, Greg Sanders and Jim Brass. We all work with Sara at the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

"Pleasure. I'm Dr. Tyler – I just finished talking with Miss. Sidle and did my overview of her condition, if you all want, we can take a seat in the visitors lounge where we may be a bit more comfortable?" They nodded and followed her to the small, deserted room.

"She talked to you?" Nick asked immediately. Sara hadn't even been awake since her episode hours previous, and had no idea if she would ever talk again after what happened.

"She did." The psychologist responded. "This is now her 3rd time talking, I believe. Which is a good sign. The nurse on staff at the time of her admittance noted in her charts that for a short time when Miss. Sidle first arrived she was cognitive and talking."

"What did she say then?" Catherine asked, with curiosity.

"I'm sorry, ma'am but I'm not at liberty to discuss that. I can't tell you anything about her history, but I can tell you about her current condition. She gave me permission for that." Grissom nodded, happy with any information they could get. The doctor continued,

"As for her condition, I think that she will slowly start getting out of her catatonic state. I'm sure you've all heard that this is not unusual for these circumstances Her episode last night caused her fever to skyrocket, and was hard on her physically but I think it was a starting step to recovery. I want her to keep seeing me, at least for a while. Whilst she's in the hospital, I'll be coming everyday but once she's released, she'll need constant therapy. She will also need stability."

"We can help with that." Nick immediately volunteered, to the agreement of all his friends.

"Good. She's still slipping in and out, and I did have some trouble getting her to focus. When I talked about certain things, she would immediately start to block me out. Now, because of my education and training, I know what to do in these circumstances. Let her talk to you about things, I've told her that she needs to open up to her friends and family so that they can help her recover, which is why she's allowed me to fill you in on all this, however she is still very reluctant to let anyone know about the history."

"We will do whatever it takes," replied Warrick. The doctor smiled,

"I'm glad she's got a firm support system in place. I don't know how alert she'll be right now, I'm sure she's tired after our session and may have slipped out of consciousness again, just to try and block out everything she's feeling. Just talk to her about everyday things, things you know are important to her. Expect her to respond. I'm sure you all want to see her, and I'm certain we will be seeing more of each other, so I won't keep you any longer. If you have any questions or concerns about Sara, please don't hesitate to call me. And, if any of you are struggling with this – I know it can be hard to see a friend or loved one like this, my door is always open."

They all thanked her as she left and they headed back to Sara's room. They all walked in, and noticed that Sara's eyes were off in that far distant place again. Grissom sighed in resignation, having seen this defeat in her already, but registered the shock on the faces of Brass, Warrick and Greg. It was hard to soak in, the deterioration of their friend. They talked with her a bit, visited, but being worn out after their shift, excused themselves to head home and sleep for a few hours. Catherine, Grissom and Nick all stayed. Catherine and Grissom decided to join forces to get Nick home to sleep, eat and shower and finally won. Knowing that he wasn't safe to drive, due to exhaustion, Catherine asked Grissom to drive him home so she could spend some time talking to Sara.

Nick went over and hugged Catherine, just needing that emotional support, knowing that she was the best candidate to give him what he needed then. She had always had his back, always wanted the best for him and always understood him. Grissom was undoubtedly there and supportive, but not in the same way Catherine was. Grissom promised to be back soon thereafter, once he had a chance to eat and shower too. Once they had left, Catherine took the chair next to Sara's bed, poised for a one sided conversation.

-+-+-

"Well, Lindsey's feeling better…" she continued. Twenty minutes and still nothing. She had hoped that maybe another woman talking would help, another face. After what she had found in her apartment, Catherine felt nothing but empathy for her friend. She tried to keep talking, as if everything was normal, but couldn't anymore. Silence overtook the room, silence until she heard the rustling of bed sheets. Sara opened and closed her eyes, only this time to stare straight at Catherine.

"Sara? Can you hear me?" She asked gently.

"I could always hear you Cath, well kind of. It's just, I could never respond sometimes. It doesn't make sense." Sara closed her eyes, trying to sort all the thoughts in her head.

"Sara – it's okay, it doesn't need to make sense right now. How are you feeling?" She shrugged gently, still weak from her collapse.

"I've been better. I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you." Catherine nodded.

"Anything you need to say, I'm here okay?"

"I couldn't tell the boys, I couldn't even tell you. A doctor came in not that long ago, she told me I needed to talk about it all. That it was the only way. It's so hard to explain Catherine. For so long I just kept ignoring it, filing it away. Now, when it comes up, or I think about it – something happens. It's like someone else takes control of me and I can't stop them. Then I find myself and I can hear people, but I can't feel anything. I can't talk, I can't do anything but helplessly listen."

"It's called a catatonic state, Sara. You keep going in and out. The doctors are trying to help you stop that. Did Dr. Tyler tell you to talk about what happened?" Sara nodded, the tears already streaming down her face.

"But I couldn't tell the boys." She whispered. "I can't tell them. I know they'll find out, I'm sure you guys have been investigating this all like crazy already." Catherine couldn't suppress her smile.

"We just wanted to help you – anything you can tell us will help more."

"Do you remember that guy I was seeing?" Catherine nodded. "Something happened with…Ch…with…with him. I knew he wasn't the best guy, but I had been so lonely for so long. And he was interested. No one is ever interested in me. Things were going good the first few weeks. Then things started to happen. He wasn't who I thought he was." She choked up. Catherine immediately took her hand, knowing what Sara was trying to say, confirming all their theories about him abusing her.

"He hurt you, didn't he?" she asked. Sara nodded.

"No one at work noticed. I didn't want them to notice. It wasn't that bad, it wasn't like how my father used to beat my mother. It was just sometimes he would get angry and lose control." Seizing her chance, Catherine took the little piece of paper out of her purse.

"You are right Sara. We were all so worried about you; we didn't know what to think. So we started to investigate it. There were too many unexplained whys. I went to your apartment, hoping to find some clues as to what was wrong and I found this." She handed the piece of paper to Sara. The tears overwhelmed her vision, but Sara knew exactly what the paper said.

"Do this have anything to do with it?" Catherine asked. Sara nodded again as her cries turned into sobs. Catherine leaned over and hugged her friend, knowing that the next few weeks would be a bumpy ride.

A/N – well, so much for keeping it short, but here you go. I hope you all enjoyed it so far, more to come after the 7th. Keep the theories coming, now that you know that the thing was a piece of paper. I will tell you this much though, no one has gotten a theory completely yet. Thanks so much, and I look forward to writing more for you guys in a few days, once I'm settled again!