Returning home with groceries, Jim opened his front door and unloaded them in the kitchen. Immediately afterward he went to the guest room to find Sara not in bed, but in the far corner of the room cowering, her eyes wide with horror, her skin slick with sweat and when he approached her he tried to do so in the most cautious and careful way he could, but as he took that firs step, her gaze moved to stare at his feet and she moved away from him. Already being in the corner didn't afford her much room to retreat, so she just tightened up and hugged her knees to her chest. He had seen scared before, but not this amount of scared. Looking at her face, it appeared that she didn't recognize him. He crouched down, maintaining a safe distance from her so as not to scare her any more than she already was, and sat about six feet from her. He reached out a hand, palm up and gestured for her to take it. The advance, however slight it was seemed only to exacerbate the situation, so he drew his hand back and placed both of them in his lap as he looked at her. They just sat there for a while looking at each other before Jim spoke.

"Sara, Honey, Its me, Jim. What happened?"

There was no immediate response, but after a couple of moments she seemed to snap back to reality. Her breathing steadied, she loosened up and began to cry a bit. Through her tears and sobs she managed an explanation.

"I had a nightmare. I woke up and you were gone. I was alone."

He replied in the most gentle tones he could manage.

"I went to market for food. I left you a note. I'm so sorry. Maybe I should have woken you, but I wanted to let you sleep." He explained

"Don't leave me, Jim. Don't leave me alone."

"I'm not going anywhere."

His heart swelling, he, on his hands and knees, approached her and this time she was much more receptive. He sat beside her and pulled her into a hug that seemed to have lasted forever. When he was satisfied she was in a better frame of mind, he released her, stood up and offered her his hand again, pulling her up to him. They moved out of the guest room and into the living room where she sat on the couch and he went to the kitchen.

"I picked up some vegetarian friendly food. I got carrots, tofu, I didn't know if you're vegan so I got soy milk and some macro-biotic stuff as well." He said

"I'm fine, thanks. I'm not hungry."

"Honey, you've got to eat something. How bout' I make some three cheese lasagna?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Well, maybe by the time it's done cooking you will be. The remote is on the coffee table, so if you wanna flip some channels, feel free."

Jim knew there was a hockey game on later that day, but given Sara's state, he decided to let her have the clicker…….maybe that might do something to cheer her up. She might find something that interests her and it might take her mind off of things. Moving from the kitchen to the couch, Jim sat a comfortable distance from Sara and kicked off his shoes and propped his feet on the coffee table. Looking over at her, he patted his lap and she lay on her side, her head in his lap and her left hand on his thigh. Ordinarily he would be incredibly turned on by her, her position and her touches, but now was certainly not the time for that. Now she needed comfort and reassurance, and that, he could not only offer, but give. They set there until for a while until the doorbell went off. Craning his neck to look though the glass on his front door he could see it was Grissom. Patting a sleeping Sara on the back, he woke her and told her who was at the door. Like a flash, she jumped up and flew to the guest room and closed the door behind her. Jim took this as meaning that she didn't want to see him, so he got up and let Grissom in. Not wanting to be discourteous, Jim offered him something to drink.

While Jim was in the kitchen Grissom noticed Sara's keys on the coffee table and knew that she was there. When Jim returned Gil questioned him. Neither confirming nor denying that he not only knew what happened to Sara, or that he knew where she was, Gil developed a stern tone.

"Look, I'm worried. She misses work and then you ask for three weeks vacation time for her. I just want to see her and make sure she's fine, she's ok." He said

"She'll be fine, but she needs the time off. She would have asked for it herself, but she was in no position, so I did it for her." Jim stated

"I want to see her."

"She's not receiving visitors right now."

"Jim!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Hearing all of this from the guest room, Sara rooted through one of her bags and pulled out a digital camera and took a few snaps of her arms and legs. Maybe that would appease Grissom.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Getting up, Jim went to the guest room and just before opening the door he noticed the camera on the floor just outside of the door. He picked it up and recalled the images. Seeing them, Jim smiled.

"Good idea, Sar." He said to himself

Returning to the couch, Jim handed the camera and it's images to Gil and as he looked them over he looked horrified. He looked at the images several more times and then set the camera on the table n front of him. Turning to Jim, he looked like he wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come out. Gil just stared at Jim as if he was waiting for some sort of explanation, but Jim said nothing. It wasn't his place to tell. Sara would have to do that in her own time. However, there was one thing he could tell Gil.

"She's fine. I've got her and she's safe."

"But……."

"She's fine and she's safe. That's all I'm willing to say on the matter, save for that its essential that she have the time off."

Not happy, but at the same time knowing that Jim was a man of his word, Grissom got up and went to leave when Jim caught him at the front door.

"Just tell the guys she's on hiatus or something. Say nothing of the pictures. Get me?"

"I get you. Just let her know that I miss her."

Realizing his slip, Grissom quickly corrected himself.

"We miss her."

Watching as Gil climbed back into his truck, Jim simply waved him off and when he was down the street and out of sight he went back inside and called out.

"It's all good."

Slowly, the guest room door opened and Sara came out.

"Oh, God, Jim. What am I going to do?"