Hi everyone...thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews. Its really appreciated. Sorry it took so long to update I can only sum it up in two words well actually three: SICK KIDS AHHHH!

Well anyway here it is and enjoy!

The emergency exit door flew open and a single man raced out. He maintained a steady pace going into the parking lot, occasionally stealing a glance behind him, making sure that he wasn't being followed. He finally arrived at a car in a darkened parking spot and jumped in. He then allowed himself to breathe.

He sat there in silence, his heart beat the only sound. It always gave him a rush after he killed someone. It had been a long time since he felt that exhilarated. That exhilaration was quickly lost when he thought about the witness he left behind. He was so close to getting what he needed, but that damn nurse had come in.

When he was with his men earlier in the evening it was decided that he would handle this alone now he wished that he had taken them up on their offer. He would have to call them now that the situation was out of hand. Not only did he not have the disk, but now he could be identified and that was a problem.

He grabbed his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Yea it's Harris … Dustin Schultz is dead."

When the phone rang in Jake Evers' office he was hoping for some good news or heads were going to roll.

"I take it you have the disk."

"Well sir we kind of hit another snag."

"What kind of snag?" Evers asked getting angrier by the minute.

"I didn't get a change to get the disk … the roommate called for help before I could look for it."

"Is the roommate dead?"

"No."

"Can he identify you?"

"Yes." Harris responded.

"Do you know what this means you idiot? If that guy can identify you it may lead the police back to us … how could you be so careless? I thought you were a professional, what the hell am I paying you for?"

"I am a professional Mr. Evers and I've never run into a problem that I couldn't handle. I will take care of this. I give you my word."

"How long?"

"I'm not sure. I will have to get the name of the other patient and do some investigating. Plus I will have to find out if the police have the disk. Though I'm guessing they don't just yet. Schultz didn't have any time between his so-called accident and his death to get the disk to the police. He probably hid it somewhere. We'll go back and check his car to see if it's there …"

"Look Harris I don't care what you have to do … just get it done." Evers said interrupting.

"Yes sir." Harris hung up the phone and then quickly dialed another number.

"Yea it's me. I need you guys to do a little informational recon for me. I need to know who was sharing the room with Dustin Schultz. I want his name, his address, where he works you know the drill. Also I want you to find out what the police know so far. What evidence? Who's working on the case? What leads if any? OK … Get back to me ASAP!"

Harris just started his car when the first of the police arrived on scene. They never noticed the small car leaving the parking lot. As Harris drove by the police cars he smiled to himself. If only they knew that the killer was only feet away from them. He was looking forward to his second encounter with that patient only this time he wasn't going to be so lucky.

Sara and Catherine had collected all the evidence from Nick's room as fast as they could. They knew the sick CSI was in pain and had been through a lot that evening. It seemed that Nick's fortitude was always being tested whether he wanted to admit it or not.

When Sara first saw Nick sitting in that bed she immediately felt guilty. It was her fault that he was in this position. If she had just listened to her gut he wouldn't be in this predicament. He would have had friends around to be with him. Instead he was here by himself and nearly killed because she made a promise.

She was shocked when she heard Nick apologize, and she knew she'd be in big trouble with Grissom once all this was over as well as Nick. She had felt a little anxious while collecting the evidence. She really wasn't used to an audience, but there Nick was … watching. She knew he would never criticize and she had a feeling that he wasn't watching as a CSI, but as a victim. Sara watched as he closed his eyes during the pictures, they had seen that many times with their victims. Somehow Sara could remember the faces of each and every one of those people and she hoped that at some point she could forget the look on Nick's face.

She sighed as she looked around to make sure they had everything that they had collected. It was decided earlier on that both Catherine and Sara would handle the evidence and that Grissom would do the interview. Sara followed Catherine's lead as she walked up to Nick's bed. Both women walked over and each gave him a peck on the cheek before walking out.

"We'll be back later Nicky … get some rest." Catherine said with a smile.

"Thanks Catherine … I will."

Nick looked to Sara who was contemplating on what to say she finally cleared her throat.

"I'm really glad you're OK Nick. I feel so guilty. Can you forgive me for leaving you by yourself?" She said with a tear falling from her eye.

She really wasn't an emotional person and when she had her bad times she was usually by herself not with an audience. She knew she had the attention of both Nick and Grissom.

"Look Sara like I said before I put you in a bad position … this is all on me. You have nothing to feel guilty about. I take full responsibility. You know my initials NS? Well did you know that they stand for never-ending stubbornness? It's a weakness that I really need to work on. Now please forget about it for now because I know Grissom will bring it up later." Nick said casting a sideways glance at Grissom.

"You know I will." Grissom said with a smirk.

Sara looked at Nick, "Alright I'll let you have your way for now, but we will talk about this some more. Well we gotta get back to the lab. You better take care of yourself of else we'll have something else to talk about."

"Yes ma'am." Nick answered with a mock salute.

Both women stole one more glance before leaving the room. As they made their way out they ran into Brass who was on his way in to see Nick.

"So did you guys get the shock of your life?" Brass asked.

"Yes … did you know?" Catherine asked.

"No I only just found out myself from the nurse."

"Well Grissom is just about to start the interview … you might want to get in there." Sara suggested.

"On my way. I'll see you ladies later." Brass said stepping through the door to Nick's room.

The two female CSIs made there down to the lobby where they ran into Warrick and Greg. It appeared that the other two members of their team had made some headway. Greg was carrying about bunch of videotapes and they could see that Warrick had a bunch of compiled evidence as well.

"You guys finished fast." Warrick commented.

"Yep we did it out of consideration of the witness." Catherine replied back.

That last statement surprised Warrick. Only an hour or so ago Catherine had called this man a possible suspect. Now she was worried about him. He was also concerned that they may have missed something going through the room that quick.

"Catherine do you think that was wise to go through the room that fast? What if you missed something and I thought you were considering this guy a suspect. Why the change of heart?"

Catherine took his questioning in stride. She knew that Warrick wasn't privy to the information that they had, but she was planning on filling them in.

"Don't worry Warrick. With Grissom, Sara and myself we covered that room. Besides the witness was watching us like a hawk and made sure that we didn't miss anything." Catherine glanced at Sara with that last comment.

"What the hell would the witness know about collecting evidence?" Warrick asked starting to get a little annoyed.

"Plenty … he's a CSI," she responded.

"A CSI …Who?"

"One of ours."

"Is it someone from days?" Greg asked.

"No … Nights." Catherine answered.

"Nights, that doesn't make any sense. We are all accounted for and Nick's on…"

Sara stood there silently waiting for Warrick and Greg to figure it out themselves. She causally looked over to Catherine who was wearing an amused look. Sara really didn't feel that any of this was amusing. Nick's life was in danger, he just had an operation and now Catherine is playing games.

It suddenly came to them.

"The witness is Nick!" Warrick screamed a little louder then he wanted.

"Yep."

"You're kidding right … this has to be some kind of joke." Greg said.

"Sorry guys this is no joke. Nick is the witness. He checked himself into the hospital this morning."

"What's wrong with him other than the obvious?"

"He has appendicitis … Greg this isn't a laughing matter. Nick was almost killed tonight and he just had surgery. None of this is funny. Now we need to get this stuff back to the lab and get it processed. There's a killer still out there and he may come back for Nick."

Sara had said that all in one breath. The others just stared at her like she lost her rocker. She was actually surprised by her outburst.

"I'm sorry guys. I'm just a little stressed out about all this."

"It's alright Sara. No harm done … is he OK?"

"He's still in some pain, but he should recover."

Warrick was very anxious to see his buddy, his best friend, but he knew that they had a responsibility not only to Nick, but also to the city of Las Vegas to catch this killer. There was no telling when or if he would strike again.

"As much as I hate to admit it Sara is right. We need to get this evidence back pronto. We need to catch this guy before he comes after Nick again. We'll stop by later to see how he's doing. In the meantime let's get going."

The four CSIs left the hospital and drove back to the lab. However, as they were talking in the lobby of the hospital none of them noticed a man come up and sit near them listening to their whole conversation. When the CSIs left the man stood and pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

The phone only rang once before it was picked up.

"Yea."

"Mr. Harris, this is Clark. I have a small bit of information for you. I overheard the CSIs talking about the case in the hospital lobby. It seems that our witness is a CSI that works with them. I only got a first name – Nick."

There you have it. I hope you liked it. As usual please review. See ya next chapter.