Sorry it has taken me so long to update… School has been incredibly busy, but I'm back for the moment.
Thank you to every one who keeps reviewing, it means a lot to me. I'll try not to leave such a large gap between this and the next chapter...

Chapter Three

"Sara? Sara!" A voice called to her through a heavy veil of sleep.

Grumbling under her breath, she turned over. "What?" She mumbled, yawning as she did so.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you were awake." There was laughter in his voice as he told her this.

"I am now." Sara sleepily opened her eyes and glared at him. "If you're going to wake me up, you better have a damn good reason."

Greg grinned at her boyishly, crossing his arms behind his head as he glanced from her to the ceiling. "I missed you. Is that a good reason?"

"That is an excellent reason." She smiled, propping herself up on her elbows beside him and gazing down at him. "Is it true?"

"Of course. I hate being away from you."

"But I was right next to you."

"You were so far away." He reached up and ran a hand along her hair. "You're still too far."

Sara smiled as she leaned in and kissed him.

"That's better." Greg murmured contently, wrapping his arms around her, as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Sara?"

"Yes?" She replied softly, eyelids already closing again in sleep.

"Let's stay like this… forever…"

Sara opened her eyes in the darkness of her room and sat up slowly in confusion. After a moment of thought, she remembered the events of the morning- immediately wishing she hadn't.

'Maybe this is the dream- a nightmare. I'm really asleep next to him and just having some horrible dream that I'll eventually wake up from…' She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs. 'I wish I could believe that…'

The sound of the radio turned on low and the unmistakable sounds of her decrepit coffeemaker were reminders that Nick was still in her apartment and that the situation was all too real.

'But that dream was real, too. He was here, at my side, he held me, he said he wanted forever…' She took a shaky breath, relaxing a little.

Shifting into a cross-legged sitting position, she ran a hand over her face to make sure there were no tears, and then ran her fingers through her sleep-matted hair. Staring at her hands, Nick's voice echoed through her head. 'You've got to be strong, Sara', he had said. She knew he was right, that breaking down would solve nothing, but it was hard to be strong when her hands still seemed stained from Greg's blood.

She was contemplating whether or not to crawl back under the covers and lose herself to dreams again when she heard Nick mutter a string of mild profanities from the direction of the kitchen. Smiling sadly, she kicked away a lingering blanket and slid her bare feet slowly to the floor.

"It sounds like the coffeemaker has claimed another victim." Sara commented, in a soft voice that seemed almost fragile, as she came out of the bedroom.

Nick glanced over at her from where he stood in front of the appliance in question. "This thing is evil, Sara."

"I know, but I've become attached to its problematic ways… kinda like Hodges…" She gave him a small smile as she walked past him, into the kitchen.

He laughed appreciatively while shaking his head. Turning his attention from the coffee to the brunette, his amusement faded. "How are you?"

"I don't know…" She turned on the water at the sink and watched it run.

"I'm sorry."

She glanced at him over her shoulder as she reached for something in a nearby cabinet. "For what?"

"Not being able to do more for you."

"You're here… that's more than enough."

Nick frowned with a short shake of his head, dismissing her claim. "It hurts to see you suffering so much."

"I'll be alright, Nick. I've survived through more than you realize." She took a pill bottle out of the cabinet and looked at it for a moment before putting it back. "I've come face to face with death so many times in my life- it's no stranger."

"But it's never been someone this close to you, has it?"

Sara turned off the water and watched the faucet as it dripped slowly.

"Sara?"

"As strange as it sounds… I don't how to answer that." She turned around and faced him.

"What do you mean?" Nick stepped closer to her, seeing the sad confusion in her eyes.

"I don't know… I mean, I guess I have lost someone close to me. It's just…" Sara took an uncertain breath. "I lost my father when I was fourteen and it was an event that has shaped my whole life… but I don't know if I really loved him."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be." She tried to give him a brave smile, but it faltered. "I've accepted what happened and moved on… or at least tried to. I try not to think about it much."

"I can understand that. Best not to keep reopening old scars, right?"

"Yeah."

Nick watched her as she stared down at the floor. It was so strange to him to see her so quiet and broken. She had always been the strong one- fearless and proud. He knew very few things that could bring out such a frail side of her, and he was sure of this one.

"You really do love Greg, don't you?"

Sara looked up at him, her eyes meeting his- and words were not necessary.

"Some CSI I am. I hadn't even noticed." He gave a short laugh.

"We didn't really want anyone to know."

"Why not?" Nick frowned, motioning her to sit down on the couch.

"I don't know." She gave a small shrug as she sat beside him. "I guess we were afraid."

"That we wouldn't understand?"

"That and… I guess I didn't think you wouldn't take it seriously." Sara gave a sad smile. "Come on, Nick, you've got to admit that we're an… unlikely… couple."

He smiled back at her. Gently touching her arm, he turned serious once again. "I can see how serious you are. We're your friends, Sara. We're practically your family. We would have understood."

"You can say that, but…"

"It's impossible to know how we really would have reacted?"

"Under different circumstance, your reaction may have been much different. We'll never know."

"No, we won't. But does that really matter?"

"I guess not." She shrugged again. "In the end, a lot doesn't matter."

"What does matter is that we understand and we're here for you now- whatever happens."

As if it were on a silent cue, Nick's cell phone began to ring. He glanced quickly at Sara before answering it.

Sara watched him closely as he spoke- the cold feeling of fear flowing through her veins. She could tell the news wasn't good- Greg wasn't okay- but didn't seem to be the news she was dreading. The question was: how bad was Greg's condition and would that news be coming soon?

"She's right here… I'll tell her… Alright, bye." Nick hung up his phone and stared at it for a moment.

"Nicky?" Sara gently laid a hand on his shoulder- her voice full of fear. "What's going on?"

He looked over at her slowly. With a long sigh he looked away, unable to face her as he gave her the news. "They lost Greg into a coma during surgery. They don't know if he'll wake up."

She said nothing, her mind drifting back to a case she had once worked- the husband had been so happy that his wife was going to live that he didn't seem to understand that she would never wake up. She would never leave that hospital and he would never hear her voice again or see her smile.

'Could I live like that?' She wondered to herself. 'Could I spend the rest of my life only seeing Greg in a hospital bed? Talking to him when I know that he will not respond?'

"There's still a chance he'll wake up." Nick said softly, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"I'm not going to give up on him." She stated, shaking her head. "I…I just…" Her voice drifted off as she fought to hold back tears, but found she didn't have the strength.

Nick wordlessly put his arm around her and let her cry on his shoulder. He wished he had words to comfort her, but he knew nothing would remove the pain and fear that had settled within her.

After a while, the sound of her sobs subsided andwas replaced with the sound of slow breathing. Glancing down at her, he smiled to see her sleeping soundly, almost peacefully.

For the first time, Nick realized how tired he was. Leaning back onto the couch, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

To be continued...