A/N: Sorry it took a long time to update. Real life got int the way. Sometime real life really sucks..
Anyhow, thankyou all so much for reviewing. It means the world to me, it really really does.
Anyway, on with the chapter...
And lets all have a silent prayer that the line thing works again. 00000 were getting annoying.
Nick's initial thought was that Sara had a secret double life that he didn't know about. But after a moments thought, he doubted that she wouldn't have enough time. She spent her life at the lab. She barely had time to take care of herself, let alone make up a new life, going by the name of "Debbie".
Sara looked quite shocked herself, and took a step backwards, further away from himself and the even more shocked Dr. Lurie.
Nick turned his own surprised expression back towards the doctor.
"Excuse me?" He questioned. Dr. Lurie's eyes were glazed over, and were starring at Sara.
"Debbie…" he trailed off again. Nick narrowed his eyes, and glanced back at his girlfriend.
"Uh, Nick, I think I'm going to head back to the car," she mumbled. "The body…"
"Is at the morgue?" Nick supplied. She nodded, and quickly turned on her heel. As soon as she was out of sight, Nick turned back to Dr. Lurie.
"Thanks for your time," Nick said to him, purposely holding out his hand, symbolizing that their conversation was over. The doctor ignored him, and was still starring at the area Sara had occupied just moments before.
Obviously this man had lost someone, Nick decided, and was deluded into thinking Sara was that person. Sara was not Debbie.
Nick left the doctor there, and made his way back down to the parking lot. He saw Sara's lean figure leaning against the door. As he approached her, he noticed she was breathing heavily, concerning him.
"You okay?" he asked her gently. She looked up at him, and gave him a smile.
"Of course."
He gestured back towards the hospital. "What happened back there?"
Sara shrugged. "He must had just mistaken me for someone."
Nick didn't want to pressure Sara into telling him something she didn't want to. But in all honesty, it could be what she had just said, a case of mistaken identity.
The drive back to the lab was in silence, and when they reached the parking lot, they made their way to the morgue where the body hopefully would be. When they opened the door, and saw Doc Robbins standing over a body, there assumed it was.
"Hello," he said, as Nick and Sara both entered and stood opposite him. Nick gestured to the body.
"So what happened?"
"Well I've only done a prelim," he said, "Guy got stabbed just below the left lung. It missed all the internal organs though."
Sara looked confused. "Then what happened?"
The older man shook his head. "I'll know more after autopsy. But there is nothing to suggest that this man shouldn't have survived surgery."
Nick scratched his head. "So what? We're not only looking at the original attack, we're looking at the doctor's as well? Someone had it in for this guy!"
Doc Robbins nodded. "What happened to black mail and old-fashioned thuggery?"
Nick and Sara made their way out of the morgue. Sara excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Nick made his way to the break room to grab a cup of coffee. He'd have to wait until the autopsy was finished before they could continue. Personally, Nick was glad for some sort of break. Breaks at the Las Vegas Crime Lab were seldom.
Grissom was in the break room as well, also grabbing a coffee. He nodded to Nick as he entered.
"How's the case?" He questioned. Nick shrugged.
"Odd. This guy was not only stabbed, but something's amok at that hospital as well."
Grissom looked perplexed, and he seated himself at the break room table, his coffee settled in front of him. Nick finished making his coffee, and seated himself opposite Grissom.
"Well according to Doc Robbins this guy shouldn't have even died. The wound wasn't fatal."
Grissom nodded. "So possibly negligent surgery?"
Nick shrugged. "Possibly…" his mind wound back to the incident at the hospital. "The doctor I spoke to was tripping as well."
Grissom took a long sip of his coffee. "What do you mean?" he questioned, his blue eye's piercing Nick's. Nick just scratched the back of his head.
"Well the operating doctor I spoke to, a Dr. Lurie, was convinced that Sara was a girl called Debbie, which was just…" Nick stopped short when he noticed Grissom pale considerably. "What?"
Grissom just stood up. "Sara's off the case."
Nick looked at him incredulously. "What?"
"She's off the case, Nick," Grissom said, his voice showing little to no emotion. But his eye's showed otherwise. Fear.
Nick was confused, and angry. If he was going to remove Sara from their case, he had to give some sort of explanation.
"Grissom, what is going on?" He said angrily, pushing in front of the older man before he excited the break room.
Grissom just pursed his lips. "I just think it would be for the best. When you see Sata tell her-"
Suddenly Sara appeared, looking fresh and new from just coming from the bathroom. She waltzed up to the two men.
"Tell me what?" she asked suspiciously. Grissom displayed his best poker face, and turned to face the brunette.
"Sara, I think it would be better if you put you're energy into some cold cases. You're case doesn't require the both of you."
She looked confused, and sent Nick a look, whose gaze was still riveted on Grissom in disbelief.
"If that's what you want…" she trailed off. He nodded, and disappeared down the hall to his office. She looked discouraged and brushed past Nick to the cold case room. Nick's face was contorted in confusion. What was Grissom's problem?
The rest of the night was uneventful. Like Doc Robbin's had said earlier, the stab wound wasn't fatal, meaning Nick could turn his attention to the hospital staff. He couldn't find the person who attacked the man until they found the original crime scene. He'd take a visit to the victim's house with Brass in the morning. Besides that, he had little to no evidence to process.
He hadn't seen much of Sara. She was holed up in the cold case room, a large file open in front of her, eye's focused on the folder she had in front of her. He hadn't wanted to disturb her. She looked angry, and for good reason. Nick would just talk to her later. Perhaps they could grab some breakfast after shift.
He was now in the break room again, nursing another cup of coffee. He was alone, but after a couple of minutes, Catherine joined him. Nick knew Catherine and Grissom were close friends, so he asked her about Grissom's reaction.
As soon as he mentioned the name of Dr. Lurie, Catherine's eye's narrowed.
"Don't you remember, Nicky?" she asked. Nick shook his head. Catherine let out an "Ah"
"Well of course you wouldn't," she said matter-of-factly. "You were at a convention at the time. But this woman was killed. Debbie Marlin," she told Nick. "Was pretty much identical to Sara. Messed Grissom up a lot…"
"So Dr. Lurie…"
"We suspect he killed her, except we didn't have enough evidence to prosecute him."
Nick bit his lip. "What happened with Grissom?"
"He worked three shift's straight," Catherine informed him. "He was seriously messed up. You should have seen this girl, Nick. Dead ringer for Sara."
Nick felt a shiver down his spine. He knew Grissom had feelings for Sara, and he empathized for the older man. He knew if he had seen the victim, he would have been messed up too. Seeing someone you cared about dead, even if it just looked like them, would mess anyone up.
"That would explain why Grissom took Sara off our case," Nick mused. Grissom was obviously just trying to protect the brunette.
He bid good bye to Catherine, and headed off to find Sara. She was still in the same place, and he walked into the room. She didn't look up as he entered. Nick looked down at the case file she was looking at.
Marlin, DebbieSara's chocolate eye's were focused on the case file, and she finally acknowledged Nick when he sat down besides her, dragging the case file away from her, to have a look. Like Catherine had said, the evidence was limited. Unless someone confessed, the case would remain cold.
Not caring about whom was watching, he wrapped his arm around Sara's shoulder, pulling her against him. She didn't pull away, just resting her head against his shoulder.
"Want to go to breakfast after shift?" he asked her. She nodded.
Sara pulled herself away from Nick, and stretched her arms above her head. She packed the file back up. And both of them left the small room, Nick headed to the break room, Sara to reception.
She could see the beautiful flowers before she reached them. A massive flower arrangement that probably cost a small fortune, sitting at the reception desk. Sara stopped as soon as she saw them, and gestured to them.
"Who are they for?"
The receptionist shook her head. "I have no idea. The card said Debbie, but there's no one here by that name."
This was no coincidence.
As she reached the flowers, she pulled the card from the side, her finger's shaking slightly as they read the small card.
My Sweet Debbie
Our last meeting was unexpected. I was surprised to see you. You seem to have relocated from the hospital. I hope it wasn't to get away from me. I hope you can forgive me. I love you very much.
Meet me at The Stratosphere tonight at 9pm. We need to talk my sweet. I have missed you dearly.
Yours truly,
Vincent
She placed the card into her pocket, a grim frown on her face. Maybe this was how they could get a confession. She turned away from the flowers, and came face to face with Grissom.
He eyed the flowers warily. "Who they from?"
She shook her head. "They weren't for me…"
"You took the card," he pointed out. To Sara's dismay, the receptionist piped in.
"They are for Debbie."
Grissom's face turned stony. "Give me the card, Sara."
She unwillingly pulled it from her pocket and handed it to her supervisor.
"My office, now," he said forcefully, after reading the card.
"I'm going, Grissom," she stated. He stopped walking away, turning to face her again.
"What?"
"I'm going to go tonight," she said. "And I'm going to close that case."
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