A/N – hehehe. That's all I have to say!

Chapter 17:

"God Sara – Please! You've got to wake up. Please Sara. Don't do this." Nick desperately shook Sara, praying she was alive, tears of desperation streaming down his face. Hearing Nick's cry for help, Grissom ran into the bedroom and dropped to his knees beside Sara's unmoving body.

"Oh God no," was all he said. Nick looked up desperately at his friends standing in the doorway, Catherine sobbing in Warrick's arms.

"She's alive." Grissom said with relief. "She's got a pulse and it's pretty strong. Nick – I need you to gather the pills on the floor and count them. We need to know how many she took. There were 30 in the bottle this afternoon." Nick started gathering them and counting, as Grissom continued to attempt to revive Sara.

"I don't get it – there's only one missing." He said. Just then, Sara started to stir a little. Nick dropped the pill bottle and reached for her hand.

"Sara, can you hear me?" Grissom asked softly. Her eyes fluttered open. Drowsy eyes. She tried to sit up but was having difficulty. Nick pulled her into his arms tears streaming down his face.

"What's going on?" She asked quietly, rubbing her neck, once Nick let her out of his grip.

"We though you were…you were…" Nick started. Grissom took over,

"You were passed out on the floor, your pills all around you. We thought you had OD'd. Do you remember what happened? Are you okay?" She nodded.

"I was really tired when Catherine and I got home last night. We talked for a bit, but then I went to bed. I could barely keep my eyes open but Dr. Robbins told me to take a sedative, so I did. I needed water, so I took the pill in my bathroom, but brought the pill bottle back into my room. I dropped it by accident, and was in the process of trying to put them all back and I guess I dozed off on the floor. That's all I remember." She looked around at all her friends, half in tears. It was then she realized how blessed she was to have all of them. She turned to Nick and said softly,

"I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to make you all worry." Unable to hold in her emotions, she burst into tears. Nick gathered her in his arms, her head against his chest, as he looked at his three friends, all sighing in relief.

-+-+-

Sara leaned her head against Nick. She was dreading this moment. She didn't want to look into Grissom's eyes and tell him. She didn't want people to talk about what happened behind her back. She didn't want the pity. Warrick had taken Catherine home to rest again and calm down after their scare that morning. Instead, Brass came over. The moment he walked in the door, he enveloped Sara in a tight hug.

"Thank God you're alright." He whispered in her ear. Now he was sitting across from her, watching her intently. Nick sat beside her, one arm around her shoulder, the other grasping her hand. Grissom took the chair right in front of them.

"Sara," Grissom started, but hesitated, "you know that at any time we can take a break okay?" She nodded. "Why don't you start at the beginning? When you first starting seeing Chris?"

"I met him at a book store. He was really nice. I was browsing through the forensic books; he told me that he was interested in that sort of stuff too. Asked me what I did. We arranged to meet up for coffee the next day. I was happy because it had been so long since I felt like someone was interested in me." She desperately tried to hold back the tears as all three men stiffened in their seats, for three different reasons.

"We started seeing each other frequently from then on. Went out with some of his friends. It actually felt nice, having a normal life for once." She gave short laugh, one that didn't show any pleasure, but rather horror at the reality her so-called life became. "One night a few weeks ago, I decided to drop by suddenly at his apartment. He wasn't home, but I decided to wait for a few moments. Sure enough he pulled up, with 2 of his friends. He was not happy to see me. He pulled me aside and demanded what I was doing there. I asked him what he had done and why they all looked so guilty. When his two other friends came closer…I was shocked. I already knew Josh; I had met him before but the other man with them. He was, someone from my past."

"Who?" Brass asked gently. She shook her head no while pleading with her eyes, every tear showing her regret. Grissom sighed, but motioned for her to continue.

"I knew they had done something. Something wasn't right I knew it. I was ecstatic to see the man I knew from before, but he was less than civil with me. It broke my heart. Chr…Chri…Chr…" She closed her eyes. "Chris. He asked them to leave so we could talk. I didn't want them to go – not until I had found out where my friend had been all this time, but they did go. That was the first time he got angry with me, and he hurt me. I wanted to pass it off but I couldn't. I was going to confront him about it, turn him in."

"Why didn't you?" Grissom asked. Sara sighed.

"We had been seeing each other for over a month. I found some things out. It changed everything. I was still going to confront him about it, and tell him that I wanted to break up though, but I couldn't bring myself to press charges. I was just going to get him out of my life and move on. I invited him for dinner one night. I knew it was then that I had to tell him, but then you called me into work Grissom. I couldn't hold off telling him – when he arrived I did. And then I left. The next morning, when I got home from work, there was a note. The one I'm sure you've all read by now." They all nodded.

"He paid me a visit that morning. He was angry, so angry that this time I needed to go to the hospital. After that day, I wanted to be rid of him forever. I knew you guys would find out about him hurting me. And I knew you would all want to press charges but I couldn't. I couldn't tell you that I knew he was involved in something – I think it was something big. I found this in his apartment and took it." She handed the crumpled piece of paper to Grissom. He read it out loud,

"Chris - Number 2 has been spotted, number 1 disposed of. Same place in 2 weeks. You know what to do. Josh." He looked up at Sara. It didn't take a genius to know that they were doing something illegal. Only, what Sara didn't know was that this was the key to getting Chris in jail for good. This might have linked him to the rape of the 13-year-old girl. Only it meant, that there was another victim they still hadn't found.

"Why couldn't you tell us Sara?" Brass asked kindly.

"Because I had to protect him." She burst into tears, as she had so many times already. It was a good sign though, a sign that she wasn't hiding her emotions. Nick looked at Grissom and Brass and they all silently acknowledged that their talk was finished.

-+-+-

Nick closed the bedroom door. Sara was fast asleep, this time wrapped snugly in her bed. He turned to his two friends.

"Why is she protecting him? And why won't she tell us about the baby?" he asked. Both men looked clueless to the answer.

"Maybe she's not ready to talk about the baby yet – maybe the baby has nothing to do with all of this or maybe she's in denial." Brass suggested.

"Or maybe Chris was lying." Grissom added.

"We need to go over the rape case again. See if there is any evidence linking Chris Hartman to the attack. See if we can find Josh Whitman's first victim too. We could get him in prison for life." Brass and Grissom both left to go home and get some sleep. Nick kicked off his shoes and crawled into his own bed at Sara's apartment. But every 5 minutes, he found himself getting up to check and make sure Sara was still all right. After the 7th time, just as he was closing the door, he heard a small voice call his name.

"Nick – why don't you just sleep in here with me?" Sara said quietly, her eyes glued on his. He smiled softly and climbed in next to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and the both slept the day away.