Dawn broke upon the pair, lying within the white sheets of the hospital bed. They had slept through an entire night, peaceful and content to be together, like the many dark nights they had held each other to banish away each others demons. Their breathing rose and fell together adding to the tranquil ambiance.
Nick lay flat on his back with his arm slung around Sara's waist, holding her flush against him. Her head lay in the crook of his neck with one arm wrapped delicately around his head, while the other stretched across his stomach were their hands lay entwined.
Nick was the first to awaken to the rising sun that now played upon their faces. He looked down towards Sara and stared lovingly at her glowing face. Her cheeks were a small shade of pink, her lips an even lighter shade. Her eyes lay shut, her lashes splayed upon her cheek. Sara awoke soon after Nick; feeling his eyes on her. Their eyes now staring intently into each others souls, knowing nothing other then this, this being content with each other, more so then with anyone else in their entire lives.
A nurse walked in breaking the peaceful silence that lay between the two, to check Sara's vitals, take a blood sample, and her blood pressure. Sara turned away from Nick, now laying on her back and tried to sit up. Failing miserably. Both Nick and the nurse propped Sara up on a pile of pillows, making sure she was comfortable. After which the nurse went about her business quickly, only checking her bruises briefly and changing her hydrastinines, leaving the room quickly to leave the two alone.
The nurse, however, turned back and stood in the doorway breaking Nick's and Sara's gaze onto her, "The doctor should be in soon to discuss your treatments. Good luck to the both of you." The nurse smiled at them and turned once again, leaving the room to evaluate her next patient. Both Nick and Sara stared after her, hoping that today would be the day Sara would be released and allowed to go home.
Neither Sara nor Nick knew what had happened to Sara. Neither knew why she collapsed, nor why she stopped living for those twenty long minutes. Sara's smile faded away completely when the doctor walked in with a clipboard in hand.
"Sara Sidle. We're looking much better. How do we feel today?"
"Pretty well."
Flipping open the file atop the clipboard and studying it for a moment, "I'm Dr. Morrissey and I will be taking care of you from here on out. Your blood pressure is a little low but your hydrate levels are back to normal."
"So what's the problem?"
"Would you like to be alone while we discuss your medical concerns?"
Sara replied gripping Nick's hand tightly, "No. Whatever you have to tell me, you can say in front of him."
"All right. For starters, you have a significant amount of weight to gain. For a hundred and two pounds is ridiculous for a 5'9 adult women. So on your part I would like to see you gain at least fifteen pounds if not more. Along with this I would like to have you know that anorexia and bulimia are both very serious diseases and should be treated as such. However after examining you, your throat showed no signs of scaring or bruising and from there being absolutely nothing in your stomach what so ever, besides liquids, I'm going to diagnose this as anorexia."
Neither Sara nor Nick said anything, although their grip on each others hands had become excessively tighter. And therefore the doctor continued, "Symptoms for anorexia include anxiety, weakness, loss of at least three consecutive menstrual periods, brittle skin, shortness of breath, however I don't believe the last two concern you for you seem to drink healthily and seem to be in good physical health besides your weight issue. However to be sure we will need to run tests.There are also many medical risks associated with anorexia. They include: shrunken bones, mineral loss, low body temperature, irregular heartbeat, development of osteoporosis, miscarriages, the inability to become pregnant, and sometimes even death."
"In your case Sara, you came very close to being a definitive victim of the last. However, catching this earlier then in most cases, only a few of these pertain to you with the observation both myself and the nurses that have treated you have observed. You most defiantly show signs of mineral loss, you have a lower body temperature, as well as an irregular heartbeat. The reasons that I have deliberated for your collapse earlier this week have to deal with the malnutrition that you haveput upon yourself as well as the afore mentioned signs. Your body became so weak that it shut down completely in an attempt to recover energy and in a way life itself."
Sara had now adverted her gaze onto the far white washed wall, staring into it like it stared back into her. Except that it didn't, nor would it ever.
"Do you understand what I'm telling you Miss Sidle?"
Both Dr. Morrissey and Nick stared intently at Sara waiting for her to answer.
Except she never did.
An utterance passed her lips, incoherent in any tongue. Sara fell backwards her back arching and her arms and legs twisting inhumanly, her skin turning blue. Nick was thrown back off the bed and the monitor to which Sara was attached to started to beep rapidly as her heart rate increased dramatically. Nurses rushed into the room helping the doctor hold Sara down. Her IV's ripped from her arm from her uncontrollable jerking causing her to bleed profusely.
The noise level amplified as orders were handed out and Sara's utterances continued. A nurse helped Nick up off of the cold tiled floor and out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Greg, and Brass stood in poignant waiting, Nick joining them at the observation window that Sara could be seen through. Catherine stood next to Nick and pulled him into a hug, but he did not take his eyes off of Sara. No one did.
And so they stood and watched as the minutes passed, as the doctors tried to calm Sara's uncontrollable rage, a rage in which she did not know she was having. Time was lost to her. But to them the time moved slowly, it passed before them like the horrific image before them. And then all fell silent in the world before them. Sara fell limp back onto the bed, her eyes staring unconsciously into the ceiling that she could not see.
A/N: A long chapter for the long wait. And yeah so please do not kill me.
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