Finally, we have reached the end of this saga...if you like what you see and you want to see a continuation, it only takes a few clicks to leave me a reply and ask/bribe/beg for a sequel.

Huge thanks to Emmithar for hating every line I had and forcing me to try harder than the effort I originally put in. You can thank her for the story actually ending, because I contemplated trashing it more than once. And darn it, as many times as I've tried to give her this story, she just wouldn't write it for me without a monetary bribe. Girl, you're awesome...

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Jenny

Shadows: Chapter Ten:

Sara angrily paced around the waiting room, shaking her head as the image of that half-brained twit popped into her head. If anyone should be visiting Greg right now, it should be her, not that backwoods freak, Angelle.

The nurse had come in with horrible news, all but telling them that Greg had passed away, only for the two girls to find out that she had been talking about another patient. Her Greg had come out of surgery nearly an hour ago, and was resting comfortably in his own room. Surgery had been touch-and-go, so they were waiting to make sure he was going to remain stable before releasing any information.

Sara wasn't sure how, but Angelle had managed to use her "power" as emergency contact and next of kin to weasel her way into being the only visitor allowed in Greg's room. Greg had refused all visitors, but Angelle had charmed her way past the nurses station, which was as far as Sara had been able to get.

Sara, in the meantime, had tried every tactic to be granted admission, starting with the obvious; she needed to look for evidence, she was still working the case. Angelle had been quick to inform the medical staff, as well as Sara, that Greg would not be pressing charges.

Knowing that Greg would want the person who did this to him brought to justice, Sara had initially argued with the sickeningly sweet witch, trying to use her own stubbornness to her advantage. She knew Greg better than anyone; better than any of their coworkers, definitely better than this half-wit, and quite possibly better than Greg even knew himself. She had been angered when Angelle threatened to call her supervisor, not only Grissom, but Ecklie as well. Sara backed off, reluctantly, watching with growing envy and resentment as Angelle walked towards Greg's room, her hips swaying softly.

Sara walked to the window, staring at the hazy morning, a scowl on her face. She thought she knew Greg better than anyone, but the Greg she knew wouldn't have jumped from their relationship to one with that backwoods witch in just a few months. There had to be something more to the story, but if she couldn't get Angelle out of the way, she would never be able to figure out what it was.

The overhead lights were dim, but even then she could see how pale and fragile he looked. The doctors had reassured her that he was going to be fine, his body was worn down from a previous illness. Of course, being drenched in the cold rain and his brutal beating hadn't helped his situation much, and he was now on the verge of pneumonia.

Angelle shook her head angrily, she had told him not to return to Vegas. "Sin City" was an understatement. Bad things seemed to target Greg here; she had heard the stories about the lab explosion several years back, the night he was held at gunpoint and his 'precious Sara' came to his rescue, the hit-and-run accident that drove him away.

---

How could this have happened? He was only in town for a few short days, with people who supposedly cared about him. For the six months he had been in perfect health, even the few bouts of depression she had endured with him hadn't landed him in the hospital. With Sara, he was having surgery within a matter of days. How could the woman who claimed to love him let him wind up so sick and weak?

She stroked his hand gently, placing her lips on his forehead. She had been the one to care for him during his spells of depression, just as he had been the one to care for her when she had no where else to go. They had formed a strong bond, and she wasn't going to let those backstabbers come in here and replace her. They had done nothing but hurt him over the years they had gotten the privilege to know him; Nick and Warrick with their harsh words, Sara with her fickleness over their relationship...she wasn't going to let that happen again.

Greg began to moan, blinking open his eyes and whispering, "Sara?"

"Shh, shh," she whispered with a frown as Greg looked around the room anxiously, "It's okay, Pigeon, Angie's here."

Greg's eyes slowly blinked open, and he used his free hand to tiredly rub them, his face masked in confusion, "Angelle? Is that you?"

"It's okay, I'm here. Lay back and relax, you're in the hospital, there was an accident. I'm going to take care of you though, you'll be fine my pigeon."

Greg stifled a yawn, rubbing his eyes and asking again, "Sara?"

"She came earlier, she didn't stay. She seemed pretty upset with you, I don't think she'll be coming back." Angelle said gently, stroking his hand, "You don't need her, Greg, I'll take care of you."

Pain flashed through Greg's eyes, "She was here and she didn't stay?"

"You don't need her, baby, if she doesn't care enough to be here waiting for you to wake up, she's making it pretty clear that she's over you." She paused, trying to remember the whole back story of Greg and Sara's relationship. She had learned so much about each of Greg's old colleagues that she felt as if she already knew them. The name she was searching for came to her and she blurted out, "She was here with some guy...Nick, I think she called him...they left together."

"Nick?" Greg replied hoarsely, blinking back tears, "How long have I been here?"

Angelle stroked his hair gently, "Overnight, baby, you had an accident in the park and banged yourself up pretty good. The doctors also said you had severe lung congestion, why didn't you tell me you were sick when I called you yesterday? Why didn't you go to the doctor? Was Sara too busy to take you?"

"No!" Greg replied as forcefully as he could manage, "She's been nothing but great to me...I thought it was just a cold or the flu, otherwise I would have gotten it checked out."

Angelle squeezed his hand, skepticism evident on her face. After all Sara had put him through, he was still defending her. She gently brushed a strand of hair from his forehead, "I was so worried about you when I got the call. I knew coming back here was a bad idea."

"You didn't need to come, you shouldn't have come." Greg said, the fog slowly lifting from his brain, "Angelle, I thought we agreed to take a break from each other for awhile."

Angelle pouted, taking his hand, "That was before you had to have major emergency surgery, pigeon, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Besides, if I weren't here, you'd be all alone right now."

"You do have a point." Greg agreed, "No one else came? Warrick, Catherine? Grissom?"

Angelle shook her head slowly, managing to pull off a sorry expression once Greg's own gaze grew suspicious, "Sorry boo, I know how much you want their approval."

"I don't need anyone's approval." Greg said as strongly as he could manage with the pain he was in, "I don't care if they were here or not."

Angelle leaned over, softly kissing his forehead, "If that's what you want to think, you go ahead and think it honey." She let her lips trail down his bruised cheek, until finally reaching his pale lips.

------

Sara carefully crept down the hallway, looking for Greg's room. The nurses were in the middle of shift change, and for once, she didn't think she'd be caught if she tried to get in to see Greg. She took a quick glance down the hallway as she approached Greg's room, giving a relieved sigh as she turned the doorknob.

She was about to push the door open when she looked through the window just in time to see Angelle and Greg's lips meet.

Sara rushed down the hall, slamming the button for the elevator as she tried in vain to fight her tears. The doors opened and she stumbled in, pressing the button for the first floor, her shoulders shuddering as she pictured Angelle and Greg's kiss. She leaned against the side wall, covering her face with her hands as she inhaled deeply and tried to calm herself down.

She didn't do this. She didn't have minor breakdowns in public places. She didn't cry over men, especially those who weren't hers to claim. She didn't come between men and their girlfriends. She didn't pine over guys who clearly weren't interested anymore. She didn't cry in elevators. At least, she had never do so before.

With Greg, everything was different.

The doors opened on the main floor and she hurriedly fled the elevator, anxious to get out of the hospital, even though she had no way of getting home on her on, seeing as how Catherine had driven her. She had to get out of that sterile white hell, away from that southern twit, away from the man who repeatedly broke her heart.

She didn't realize she had collided with another person until she fell to the floor, too overwhelmed to stop her tears as she began to earnestly sob, scrambling to her feet in a futile effort to escape. She finally looked up as a hand was placed on her shoulder, coming eye to eye with one of the many infuriating men in her life.

Nick pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back gently as he tried to soothe her, "Is he...?"

"He's going to be fine." Sara sobbed, clinging to the Texan as she released her self control and let him take over. "There's another woman."

"I'm sorry." Nick replied, holding her tightly as she began to tremble, "God, Sara, I'm so sorry." He stroked her hair gently, his anger growing at Greg once more as he listened to Sara's heartfelt cries. After all of the trouble he had stirred up coming back to Vegas, he had another girlfriend the whole time? Just when he thought he had figured the younger man out, he did something to totally blow him out of the water.

They remained in each other's arms for a few minutes before Sara pulled away, wiping her eyes as she laughed dryly, "It seems like we always end up this way, doesn't it?"

The End...if you want a sequel, let me know in a reply!