A/N: A quick thanks-to part. Thanks for the reviews, thanks Fish for the beta-ing, thanks Rianne for thinking with me. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2:

After what seemed like a long time, a woman in a white coat came towards them. 'You are here for Sara Sidle?'

Catherine nodded and looked protectively at Grissom. He saw that she was looking at him and smiled at her. She smiled back and they both looked back at the doctor, who was going to tell them about Sara.

'I'm Doctor Cole. We were able to stabilize her, but I need to say that it caused a lot of damage. She had lost a lot of blood, and her left lung is collapsed. She's moving up to the Operation Room right now, they are going to remove the bullet and repair the lung tissue.'

Grissom closed his eyes and sighed. He placed both of his hands beside him and stood up. 'Thanks so much.'

The doctor smiled at him and ran to the bed that came rushing out of the Emergency Room. Grissom looked at it, and saw Sara lying on the bed. God... she was so pale, almost bluish pale. Someone was giving her artificial respiration with a balloon. What happened to her? He ran to the bed, and tried to get as close as possible, but the doctors didn't let him get near her. He stepped next to the bed and saw a chance to touch her hand. It was cold, but not as cold as a dead body: she was still alive and she had chance, he kept telling himself.

'You can't go in here!' One of the doctors yelled at him.

He stared at the bed that was pushed into the operation room, until the doors closed.

Catherine woke up from her reverie when she heard sounds next to her. She looked up and saw tears on Grissom's cheeks. She moved her arm to his shoulder and gently laid her hand on his upper arm.

'Hey... it's okay...'

Her whispered words made him a little more calm. He stopped crying and took the tissue she gave him. 'I'm sorry Catherine... I just... I thought I lost her. I couldn't get a rid of the idea of her... on that bed... I am so afraid to lose her...'

He took Catherine's hand off his arm. 'Can you leave me alone, please? I just need to be alone now...'

Catherine knew that it was better to leave him alone for the moment. 'I'll sit right there, okay?' She pointed to a chair at the end of the hall. Grissom nodded and Catherine walked away.

After several hours of waiting someone came out of the swinging doors.

'How is she doing?' Catherine took the lead because she knew Grissom would be too afraid for the answer. The doctor's smile told her that the news wouldn't be too bad.

'We removed the bullet from her system. The bullet caused some serious harm to her left lung. We had to remove the part of the lung that was injured by the bullet and she has a collapsed lung. We cannot treat a collapsed lung, it has to recover on it's own. We administer extra oxygen and painkillers. She has been very fortunate, but she is very weak though.'

'Can I see her?' Grissom knew that the answer would probably be no, and he didn't know whether he wanted to see her or not, but he had to be there for her. He couldn't handle the idea of Sara lying in a white room on her own, without somebody to comfort her.

The doctor pursed her lips. 'I think I can allow a short visit. But only for 10 minutes.'

'Thank you doctor.'

He followed the doctor to the room Sara was in. The doctor stopped when they were at the end of the corridor. There was a window, but the curtain was closed, so that Grissom couldn't see what happened inside the room.

'You can go into the room now. If you need me, just ask for doctor Corris at the desk in the hall.' She gave him a warm smile and he stepped in.

Sara was lying on the bed. She was connected to a countless number of monitors, and a couple of IV-bags hung on the rack. An oxygen mask covered her mouth. She seemed to breathe with some difficulty, but she was breathing on her own, and that was the most important issue at the moment.

He took the chair from the left corner of the room, and placed it next to her bed. He took her hand and caressed it softly. Her fingers were still cold, but not as cold as they were before. He took that as a good sign. He looked at her face. Her eyes were closed. Her skin was still pale, but not bluish anymore. He placed his other hand on her cheek. It might have been an illusion, but he believed that he saw her ease a bit, and that she seemed to notice that he was there.

'Hey… it's me. It's okay now, Sara…' His words subsided to a whisper. What else should he say to her? Should he say that he felt sorry for everything? Should he tell her about his fear, the terrible feelings he had last night? Should he ask her forgiveness? Should he tell her that he loved her? And if he did, would she know it? Would she be conscious enough to hear it? And what would she say? He sighed. This wasn't the right moment to talk about his feelings. Suddenly, he felt her fingers moving in the palm of his hand. He looked at her face, and saw that her eyes were open a bit. He smiled at her.

'Hey… how are you feeling?'

She didn't have to answer; the fright in her eyes told him everything. 'Honey, it's okay… everything is fine now…' Her hand moved to the oxygen mask, but before it could reach it, he lifted it a bit, so that she could say something.

'Tired… my breathing… hurts.'

'Sara, you need to see a doctor.' He tried to stand up, but she reached for his hand. He stopped and looked at her.

'Don't leave… please.'

He sat down again and touched her forehead with his free hand.

'You… stay, with me?' She asked him slowly.

He heard the pain in her voice. He knew he had to tell her that he couldn't stay, that he had to leave. That fact hurt him even more: that he had to be there for her, but that he couldn't stay at her side.

'Sara… I can't. The doctor told me that I could visit you only for ten minutes… I'm sorry…'

Her eyes closed for a moment. 'I'm… afraid. Please… stay.'

He knew she was falling in unconsciousness again, and that he had to make a decision. Would it harm her if he stayed with her? He didn't have to answer his question.

'Okay, hun, I won't leave you.'

'Promise?'

Grissom laid the oxygen mask back on her mouth. He touched her hair. 'I'll promise you that.' She closed her eyes and fell asleep. He stayed close beside her, with her hand still in his.

Grissom was startled by the sound of a knock on the door. His head turned to the direction of the sound. He saw Doctor Corris standing in the doorway. She frowned at him,

'Didn't I tell you that you could only visit her for ten minutes? She needs her rest.' She whispered because she didn't want to wake Sara.

Grissom didn't know what to say first. 'I ehm… she woke up. She was scared and asked me to stay with her. So I did.'

The doctor smiled at him. 'That's sweet of you, but she really needs her rest. Could you leave, please? You can come back in several hours.'

'I promised that I wouldn't leave her, and I will keep that promise. So, I won't leave this room.'

'But I really think that you have to leave. She needs to rest. Even when you are quiet, she will notice your presence.'

Grissom knew that she was right. 'Okay, but can you call me when she wakes up?'

'Of course I will.' She told him with a smile, and Grissom left the room.

He found Catherine in the hall, sitting in a chair. 'How is she doing?'

Grissom inhaled heavily. 'She's… breathing.'

Silence fell between them. 'Is that all you have to say?' Catherine asked him with a lifted eyebrow.

'She… she woke up. She was so afraid, Cath… I tried to comfort her. I promised to stay with her, but I couldn't, the doctor sent me away. What if she wakes up and realizes that I am not there?'

'She'll know you have a reason for not being there. Don't worry about that.'

Grissom closed his eyes accepting the answer, and exhaled deeply.

'Hey, I need to go to the lab. No-one knows what happened, I think they're a bit worried right now. And we need to process Sara's crime scene. We need to get this bastard for what he did to her.'

She stood up. 'If you need me, you can call me and I'll come to you, okay?' She smiled and walked away.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews. I really appreciate them; it gives me the courage to write. Next chapter is halfway there. I hope I'll post it on Monday. Merry Christmas to anyone :)