OK. Here it is. The test. That damn test and the aftermath. Broken up in a few parts.

Also, I wanted a moment between and Alexx and Natalia because there wasn't much of that in the show in season 4 so I made this moment between them. Don't shoot me if its not perfect I'm trying to jump the hurdle of writers block as best I can. Also, I have heard Khandi can sign and I know that Eva can sing so just picture their voices in the part of this chapter.

Note: That section draws from my personal experience. I was having a massive anxiety attack on my lounge and my friend just held me and we sang together until it calmed down. It's amazing what the power of song can do to a person.

Natalia stirred from her daze about twenty minutes later, awoken by Eric's phone ringing. Her eyes opened slightly, looking at his back to her with a soft smile on her face. When he hung up, her smile remained as he returned it and sat next to her legs; one hand resting on her leg and the other taking her right hand in his and giving it a soft squeeze.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, his thumb absently running down her thigh through the thin sheet covering her. Natalia sighed heavily, the pounding in her head now just a dull throb.

"It's tolerable…" She sighed, her free hand resting on her forehead. Eric's hand followed suit, his fingers weaving through her hair as he leaned in close to her; their foreheads touching. She closed her eyes, a soft sigh escaping her lips. "Thankyou for being here." She whispered. Eric's lips gently touched hers, the sensation so soothing another sigh escaped her as the kiss deepened. Her hand raised at its own accord, coming to rest behind Eric's head as she pulled him closer to her. Remembering where they were, Eric broke the kiss but didn't move away until he had placed another, much softer, kiss to her lips.

"Where else would I be?" He asked, taking hold of her hand again and taking a seat again next to her legs. The curtain was pulled back, both jumping a little. When it was pulled back, both heaved a sigh of relief.

"Are you both OK?" Alexx was the only one who was unable to make it to the scene, but she had told the rest of the team that she would check up with them on the hospital. She hugged Eric, but not Natalia. She graced her with a small smile. While Alexx was quite fond of the new team member, there was something about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I'm fine," Eric reassured, looking to Natalia. "But someone took a nasty bump to the head." Eric's phone buzzed, pulling his attention away. "Scuse me, ladies." He exited the cubicle, leaving Alexx to sit in Eric's place next to Natalia.

"Did they um…" Natalia's voice was surprisingly soft, her heart in her throat as she tried to open up to the older woman that the rest of the team saw as their mother figure. "Did the others tell you about what was at the scene?" She asked. She figured there was no point in trying to beat around the bush; was better to just rip the band aid off. Alexx raised an eyebrow at the question. While she had received a brief rundown, she had not been told much more other than that Natalia had been hospitalised.

"No, they didn't…." She moved the chair closer. "Did something happen that I should know about?" she asked, taking another look at the younger woman. She had only seen bits and pieces of her in the DNA lab when she had to venture up to the lab, and she knew that she was responsible for her shiny new Autopsy theatre. Outside of that, she knew close to nothing about Natalia Boa Vista. But that was all about to change.

"At the scene they found…" Natalia tried to find her words, but she began to feel her heart in her throat, her hands go numb and pins and needles creep up into her cheeks. She knew this feeling; an anxiety attack was on the way. Her eyes grew wide, a hand resting on her chest as she felt her heart try and fight its way out of her chest. Stunned, Alexx jumped from the seat and was at her side immediately, holding Natalia in her arms and resting a hand on her hair. She could feel the woman trembling violently beneath her and, doing the only thing she knew how to, she became to smooth down her hair with her hand, rock her slowly and hum 'Halleluiah' by Leonard Cohen to her.

"I need you to listen to the words I sing, honey." Alexx's voice changed from work tone to motherly, her cheek resting on her head. 'Well I heard there was a secret cord, that David played, and it pleased the Lord. But you don't really care for music, do ya?'

The words penetrated the fog circling Natalia's mind, and, with a shaky breath, she found herself singing along as well. 'Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth. The minor fall, the major lift. The baffled king composing Halleluiah.'

Alexx looked down at Natalia, a soft smile gracing her features as she felt the trembling lessen. 'Halleluiah… Halleluiah…Halleluiah…Halleluiah. Keep going, honey."

'Your faith was strong, but you needed proof. You saw her bathing on the roof. The beauty and the moonlight over threw you…´Natalia's voice started to break. She was the last person who deserved this level of kindness from people she was meant to be spying on.

'She tied you to her kitchen chair, she broke your throne and she cut your hair. And from your lips she drew the Halleluiah.' Alexx continued to sing softly, noticing Eric return to the curtained area with a young woman who he guessed was Natalia's Doctor. She held up a hand, keeping them away from Natalia for the time being. The sight was something that moved Eric to his core. He knew there was a lot going on in Natalia's mind, but he didn't realise that she was this close to a breakdown. But she had had her life threatened twice in one day.

'Halleluiah… Halleluiah…Halleluiah…Halleluiah.' Natalia finished the song in almost a whisper, tears still standing in her eyes but her trembling lessening significantly. She looked at Alexx, her eyes slightly unfocused. "How did you know that would-"

"It works every time, honey. Trust me." With a hug, she moved to allow Eric to take the seat once again. Almost immediately, Natalia threw her arms around Eric and held him close to her, the tears finally escaping as he held her and rocked her in a similar fashion that Alexx had just done. She moved closer to Doctor Ashlee Cooper, leaning in close and whispering,

"Is there any chance you can come back? I don't think she can handle much more now." Ashlee nodded, handing some papers to the ME. She knew Alexx and her work, so she knew they were in good hands.

"I was just bringing in her release papers and needing to inform her of a follow up appointment she needs to make with me." She said simply as her pager sounded. "Shoot. When they're signed just drop them at the desk. Tell her to keep in touch!" She was gone again before Alexx could wrap her head around what had just happened with Natalia and the scene in front of her. She took a seat on the other side of Natalia, keeping her hands in her lap as she watched Eric do a much better job at calming her sobs. She looked at Eric, gesturing to him the question 'Do you want me to go?' Eric shook his head at the question.

"Nat…" He tilted her chin up so he was looking into her eyes. "Do you want me to tell Alexx what happened?" She nodded wordlessly, taking hold of Eric's hand again. Eric turned back to Alexx, his attention still partly on Natalia. "We were shot at and when we down Natalia hit her head quite hard. But before that happened, her car was vandalised and there were some… documents there from her past."

Alexx leaned forward in her seat, genuinely concerned about what it could have been to shake Natalia this much to her core. "What was in them?" She asked.

Eric sighed before he spoke again. "Copies of a hospital report from a while ago and… this." Getting out his phone, he clicked on a photo and handed his phone to her. Taking it, Alexx raised an eyebrow at the photo of the two of them in the kiss. "Yeah." He said simply when he saw the look on her face.

"How long has… this been going on?" She asked, gesturing to the phone as she still looked at it.

"Almost two months." Natalia answered this time, her voice rough from crying. "And someone, most likely someone with ties to my ex-husband, doesn't like it and wants me to suffer."

"Oh." The blunt delivery of the words made Alexx even more concerned for Natalia's well-being. "I think your Doctor was happy with you going home but she wants you to make a follow up appointment with her once your home." She handed Natalia the release papers as well as the clipboard they were attached to. Natalia signed them without hesitation, moving to throw the covers back on the bed.

"Well, let's get me out of here then!"

CSIMIAMICSIMIAMICSIMIAMI

Six weeks had passed after the incident in the parking lot and, due to the cameras being down and the casings not having any matches in IBIS, the case had seemed to hit a dead end. Not that Natalia minded, not even in the slightest. Over the past four weeks, she had been feeling down-right miserable. She was tired, no matter how much sleep she got, she was getting aches in her chest and her hormones were all over the place. To top it off, she was certain she had eaten something that didn't agree with her because she had been vomiting on and off the entire time. Thinking it was a bug, she had pushed it to the back of her mind as she exited the lady's room of the lab, her stomach still doing flips over itself even though there was nothing left in there. Thankful DNA was empty upon her return, she shrugged on her lab coat and sat down at the computer, her head suddenly spinning and the nausea returning almost immediately. She had a doctor's appointment with Doctor Cooper in a few days. Would she have to push it forward? The door opened, her thoughts interrupted. Thank god, it was Calleigh. She didn't feel like seeing any of the guys now, except Eric.

"Hey, there you are." Her words were gentle, her tone happy. "I was lookin' all over for you." Her accent shined in through her words in concern.

"Oh," Just think of something! "I was in the ladies." Well it technically isn't a lie. Calleigh took a little longer to look at her friend but noticing her glassy eyes she got straight to business.

"I uh, need a favour. Delko just dropped some blood off with Valera…" She didn't even need to finish the sentence before Natalia clicked on to what was happening.

"Oh, the trashcan from the beach? Yeah." The last thing she felt like doing was work but the less suspicion she raised about herself the better. "Do you want me to compare it to my unsolveds?" She asked.

Calleigh's tone of voice remained friendly. "I'm thinking it might help narrow down the victims ID." Now that the work talk was out of the way, she wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on.

"Consider it done." Natalia's voice started to falter as she felt her stomach churn again. Calleigh walked over to her.

"Are you ok?" She asked, her concern changing from polite to genuine. It wasn't often that Natalia wasn't at her best so there must have been something seriously bugging her for her to be feeling this lousy. Especially considering she had not long got over a nasty flu bug that had made its way around the Lab. She and Calleigh had been the last two to get it, with Calleigh only shaking it about two days ago. She still had a blocked nose, but it was tolerable.

"Just a touch of the flu." Natalia wanted to cease this conversation, but Calleigh had other ideas.

"Didn't you just have the flu?" She asked, the ever-curious CSI in her coming out to play in all of her glory.

"Yeah, my luck, right?" Natalia's delivery was deadpan, but what worried Calleigh the most was the colour, or lack of it, gracing her friends features.

"Are you sure you're alright, because you're really pale." Natalia had dark bags under her eyes, like she hadn't been sleeping well recently. Which, Calleigh guessed, could have been from the incident in the parking lot.

"Yeah?" Shit. I didn't even think of that. "Well, it's worse in the mornings." She realised what she had said after she had already said it, and she almost hit herself in the head. Could I be? No…

"Well, if it's worth anything, chicken soup always works for me. When I have the flu." Calleigh offered, a smile gracing her face. Natalia returned it, laughing softly at her concern.

"Chicken soup… ok. Thanks." She gestured to the envelopes. "I'll get right on this." She reassured, gesturing to the envelopes.

"Great. Thanks." Calleigh smiled again before exiting the lab. As soon as she was out of her line of sight, she dropped the envelope and grabbed her phone; speed dialling an all-too-familiar number.

"Hey, what's up? This is Eric. Leave me a message." Before she could curse at herself for realising that she had interrupted his day off, she remembered why she was calling him.

"Hey Eric, it's Natalia," Her voice squeaked a little, her nerves getting the better of her. "I'm just calling… to say hi. And uh, call me back." She hung up, closing her phone and keeping it pressed against her palm in thought. Could she be… No. She had taken a test three weeks ago and it was negative. But why had she not got her period yet?