(A/N) I know most of you have exams, so I'll forgive you. PLEASE REVIEW! Ah well, here is the next chapter

Chapter 5: Healing

Catherine stopped by later to visit Sara. She let Nick take time off until Sara got better. Nick silently accepted; he had no will to argue. Catherine hugged him and started to walk back down the hall.

Warrick parked the car and was heading towards the hospital when Catherine walked outside. She rushed into his arms.

"Cath, what's wrong?" he asked

"Oh Warrick, Sara's comatose and Nick is just sitting there. I don't think I've ever seen him like this. We've lost him, Warrick, until Sara gets better; he's as good as dead."

"We all are," he replied.

"Let's go." He put his arm around her shoulders and they walked to their Denali. Nick sat in a hospital chair with his head in his hands. Why do I deserve this? Did I do anything wrong? He thought. He just sat there for the next few days: he didn't eat, sleep, and he was nothing but a shell. A nurse came out one day.

"Are you with Ms. Sidle?" Nick stood and nodded expecting the worst, "She's going to be fine."

"What happened?"

"The bullet wound turned out to be deeper than we thought, and she had some hemorrhaging." Nick nodded, closing his eyes to try and block his tears of joy.

"Can I see her?" he asked.

"Sure, she's awake now." Nick ran into her room.

"Sara."

"Nick," she croaked.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"I've been better," she turned her head painfully to a chair. "Sit down," she commanded. Nick sat down slowly in the chair, and a wave of nausea hit him. "What happened?" she asked.

"Nothing." They looked at each other for a while. Sara had more bandages, and she had more painkillers coming in intravenously, "Do you want to talk about it?" She looked up painfully.

"Sure," replied Sara. He was kind of surprised that she would open up to him like this.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Are you going to record it?" She replied by asking another question.

"No."

"Please do."

"Why?"

"Because I want those bastards behind bars." He nodded and pulled out a recorder.

"Ready when you are," He said. She began as he pressed the record button.

"Well, Greg and I were…" she paused to catch her breath and then she resumed:

"…driving to the lab and we were listening to the radio. I had it on the Country station to annoy Greg when he turned it off,

'Hey, I was listening to that!'

'If I have to listen to another hint of country, I swear!' We laughed as we continued driving.

"The car started to slow down, so Greg stopped to check it out."

'DAMN!' he yelled.

'What?' I poked my head out of the window.

The tire was damaged beyond repair, there must've been some shattered… ("Can you still do this?" Nick asked. Sara nodded) glass on the road. Greg took his vest and belt off to see if he could fix the tire. I took his things and stepped inside the car to put it away. Suddenly, I heard footsteps. I looked outside from the back of the car, and a masked man pulled out a gun and held it at Greg's head.

'Don't move,' he told him. Greg put his hands up. 'Stand up,' Greg stood up, fear evident in his eyes. I knew I had to do something, so I pulled out my gun and stepped outside. I was about to grab the son of a bitch when his sidekicks grabbed me from the behind.

'RUN, SARA!' Greg yelled as one of the men punched him. I didn't need to be told twice, my instincts kicked in and I ran across the street, a shot rang out and hit me on the side. I still ran faster, but one of the men caught up with me and I felt a hard blow on my head. I fell over, crying. When I woke up, Greg was kneeling next to me, trying to clean my head wound. The car was gone. I was in a lot of pain from the gun shot, but there was also a lot of pain down here. (She indicated her lower abdomen) I had an idea of what happened, but I just didn't want to believe it.

'Greg,' I began weakly, 'Was I raped?' He gave me a painful look that confirmed my worst fears. I nodded and then had a new thought, 'Run to the lab and get help.' He seemed hesitant to leave my side.

'Sara, I…I…I can't leave you,' he told me.

'Greg, they took all of our belongings, go, just leave me here.'

'No, Sara, I can't.' He put his hand in mine.

'Go you idiot, just run. Don't worry about me, and if you can make it, maybe I might even live.' This convinced him and he slowly stood up.

'Are you…'

'Go,' I pleaded. He ran awkwardly back to the lab. As he rushed off, I painfully tried to get up, I could feel how sprained and sore my body was, and I could tell where my leg was broken. Nevertheless, I tried to stand up. I was really dizzy from the numerous instances from the night, my gunshot wound hurt, my lower stomach hurt, my head and my legs hurt. I finally forced myself to stand, the guardrail supporting me.

…A wave of pain came over my body at full force and then I woke up and you were next to me." Nick pressed stop on the recorder. "How is Greg?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

"He's okay; he was in recovery when I saw him last."

"Not anymore," a voice said from the doorway.

"GREG!" Sara hoarsely exclaimed as the young man hobbled in on crutches. He handed her a bouquet of carnations. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Thanks," she said, her eyes lighting up as she saw the carnations.

"No prob, the doctors discharged me early, so I got something for you." Sara grinned at Greg. They animatedly started talking to each other, and they didn't even notice when Nick sadly walked out of the room. Five minutes later, Sara noticed that he was gone.

"Where's Nick?" she asked. Greg shrugged.

"Must've left," he answered.

"Without saying goodbye?" she said. She looked on the verge of tears. Greg noticed her sadness.

"I'll just go now," he said knowing that she would want to be alone. He kissed her forehead and hobbled out.

Sara thought about Nick. She always had a secret "thing" for him, but she always thought that Grissom was the "one." Now she realized how childish it truly was, Nick had always been the "one." She longed to hear his voice with the soft Texan drawl. She longed to see his smiling face, and his soft, romantic eyes that had stars in them. She wasn't ever in love with Grissom; she was in love with Nick.

Nick slowly walked to his car when he heard, "Hey, Nick, wait!" It was Greg. He stopped allowing the younger man time to limp to where he was standing. "Why did you leave?" He asked Nick.

"I had to get to work," he lied.

"Your shift is over, its midnight." Greg pointed out, "Nick, Sara really likes you."

"How do you know?" Nick asked.

"Well did you see her face when you left? NO!"

"Does she really?"

"Yeah, have you even seen the way she looks when you're around? You know what, you are very lucky."

"I know," he smiled and walked back to Sara's room. "Hey," he said, she smiled, "I'm sorry I left."

"That's alright, just don't do it again." He turned to her and held her hand. It looked tiny compared to his.

Days passed, they sat side by side. Nick helped her stand up, and he held her hand through the hours of physical therapy. Finally it was time for her to leave the hospital and go home. Nick drove her to her small apartment. He carried her all the way to the top, hearing her protests of, "Nick, I can walk, you really don't have to." They went inside, and Sara leaned on him as he sat her down on the couch.

"It feels good to be home," She commented as Nick sat next to her, "Thank you so much. You took off from your job just for me and—"

"Shhhh…" Nick whispered, "Shut up."

"Make me," she answered looking him straight in his eyes.

"Okay." Nick leaned in dangerously close. He wrapped his hands around her back as she closed her eyes. He slowly brought his lips down to meet hers. They met softly, and the kiss was very tender and loving. He hugged her tighter while she put her hands around his neck. After they broke apart, the smile never left either face. This was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

liked it? I hope so! Well, I should have about 3 1/2 more flashback chapters left, and then we can get to the real story...that'll be fun and exiting. Well, just review and tell me which parts to fix, or if you have any plot ideas, throw them at me:D Your reviews are appreciated! thank you!