Hiya. New chapter.Next one will be up tommorrow. Thank you so much SVUroxmySOX and Tessa for reviewingmy story.

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You were seven at the time. Your eighth birthday would arrive too soon in July and depart mostly unheralded. Childhood belonged to before, now you had to live in the after. You and your mother had been taken to hospital. You have never been in an ambulance before. You thought it would be exciting. It wasn't. You wondered about the strange policeman. You heard that the Doctor didn't know if your mother would ever regain this thing call "consciousness." You heard that your mother is on a life support system in the intensive care unit, her condition was "critical." In a coma, for her skull had been "concussed." Her mother was to be fed intravenously and a catheter was to drain toxins from her body in a continuous thin stream. When spoke to the policeman, the doctor was awkward. It was like a bad joke hearing this professional in his hospital costume utter such words as we can only hope for the best.

Lorena had been checked out by the medics. She was slumped against Grissom, half-sleeping and trying desperately to keep up the cup of a sugary fruit, which had been spilt and dribbled out of her small pink mouth several times.

Grissom glanced at the large clock on the creamy waiting room wall. It had been half an hour since someone had talked to him about Sara. He propped his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers between them. The room was very empty, some people were sitting quietly, some were crying. Gil wasn't. He was trying to come to terms with everything. That Sara Sidle was lying still in intensive care on the forth floor. That Sara Sidle never got cut a break in life, growing up in an abusive home and now this invasion of her body. That Sara Sidle had a daughter, something that nobody knew about. That Sara Sidle couldn't trust him enough to tell. That made him so furious with her.

In life the only thing a person can be certain of is death. Life wasn't fair; bad things did happen to good people, it was the cruel way of the world. This was different. This was Sara, she was too young, too pretty, too smart and full of life and there was someone else's life that depended on her. The future for Sara couldn't end here, like this, not on this night.

"Gil," Catherine's and Warrick's pace quickened, long, eerily quiet corridor was filled with shoes clattering against the floor and Gil struggled to move himself without jolting the child awake. Catherine just pulled him for a hug and Warrick nodded. The river of blonde curls which framed her face perfectly tickled Gil's cheek as she pulled way and looked at him straight in the eye and breathed out the words, "how is she?"

"Not so good."

"What about you?" Warrick managed to ask in voice that grated so hard it flying with sparks. Gil just tilted his head and gave a small shrug in response. To be honest, he didn't really know.

"Who is the girl?"

"Lorena, Sara's daughter," Gil said wincing slightly and although he spoke nonchalantly and with perfect candour, there was a bitter undertone. Both Catherine and Warrick looked as stunned as he felt. Catherine's mouth dropped open in a silent 'oh' and her eyes flirted between Grissom and Warrick. All of them wanted a thousand answers to a thousand questions. But this wasn't the time.

"She is the only witness."

"Poor girl."

"Where are Greg and Nick?"

"Working the scene, there are no other cases being worked tonight except for this."

"So what are you twodoing here?"

"We've come to collect the evidence. Family Service Councillor and Sofia and Brass will be here soon to talk to Lorena."

Gil's shoulders dropped and breathed out deeply.

"It's too soon."

Catherine turned her neck and looked at Warrick, her dark sapphires, glittering penetrating his glistening emerald eyes that looked as though they had been thrown in to tears; ocean blue meeting sea green. Warrick went and sat next to Lorena and exchanged sweet sleepysmiles.Catherine waited a moment.

"Gil, you know the procedures," she said automatically, is if her body had gone in to pilot mode. "You know that she is the only witness we have so far and we need her account while it is fresh in her mind."

"She is just a child."

"Exactly. The suspect's lawyers will emphasis that point completely. They will insist that Lorena was confused, panicked at the time of assault. That she has not actually witnessed any actual rape, for she had been hiding. She had only heard…" Catherine broke off and rubbed her nose.

"I know that, Catherine." Catherine gently touched Grissom on his shoulder; her manicured, rose pink digits gently pressured his skin

"I have to go." They gave each other weak smiles and Catherine and Warrick turned left in to the room in which Sara Sidle was lying still in on the forth floor in intensive care. Soon the detectives and the Family Service Councillor arrived, but by now Lorena was curled up tight like a kitten, warm and breathing softly. Gil begged them to let Lorena sleep, just for tonight, they can interview her first thing in the morning, just let her have one last dream before she had to relive the nightmare.


thanks for reading... two x's because I forgot to put on the last chapter - x x