A/N: If you didn't hate me already for the cliff-hanger, you should hate me now for not updating for so long. I'm sorry; things have been really hectic because of Christmas and the holidays.

Chapter Five

'Her skin was flushed, covered with a light sheen of sweat, burning hot to the touch. Her breathing was laboured, her ebony eyes cloudy and half closed. Her hips bucked, her muscles clenched, pulling me in deeper as I slowly took her for the first time. I increased the speed of my fingers and the rhythm of her hips changed to meet my pace. She was close, and with one more stroke, I sent her over that edge.
I'd always thought of her as the most beautiful woman in the world, but at that moment she looked so breathtaking I almost wanted to cry.
She'd been almost completely silent until that moment, not because she wasn't enjoying it, but because she was so focused in her passion.
But, when she fell over that edge, her head thrown back, her eyes squeezed shut, I almost fell with her when she screamed one word –

'Catherine!'

I eased her down gently, not removing my hand until the last shiver had left her body. Then, after placing a light kiss against her stomach, I slid up her bed and wrapped myself around her body, lightly kissing the skin where her shoulder met her neck until she spoke.

"Wow."
"Wow to you too. I never thought I'd be so turned on by someone screaming my name, but I guess there's a first for everything."

Her laugh was low, husky, the deep timbre of her voice channelling her desire.

"Just hearing someone talk about you in passing turns me on."

We'd been together a month and half, and finally given in to each others desire. And god, was I glad that I waited. I don't think someone had ever made me feel as good as Sara had.
And considering her reaction as I made love to her, she felt the same.
We lay there in silence for a while, before Sara kissed the top of my head, whispered that she loved me and pulled me closer.
Five minutes later her breathing had evened out and she was asleep.
Sleep did not take me though, so for a while I just watched her sleep.
She was not restless, at least not yet anyway. The first half an hour was the only time Sara's sleep was peaceful and undisturbed.
I watched her a lot, you see.
At best, she'd fidget, her face a permanent mask of discomfort.
At her worst, she'd scream and hit out, several times she'd hit me, but I could never leave her. I'd just lie there; stroking her back, till she awoke or the nightmare subsided slightly.
That night I was almost asleep when she got restless. Although she pushed away from me slightly, I pulled her back towards me, ignoring her struggles, silently promising her that I'd always be there for her, whether it was during a bad dream, or much much worse.'

I'm pulled from my memories of Sara by Grissom's concerned call echoing through my mind.

"I'm fine."

This has been my automatic response to everyone who's asked me since Sara was admitted last night.
It's been twelve ours, still no change in her condition.
She's in a coma.
Although she's stable, and the doctors say there is a chance she'll wake up, her condition remains critical and the next 36 hours are vital.
If she makes it through them, it's almost guaranteed she'll make a full recovery.
Until then though, all I can do it wait to see if she wakes up or not.

"Catherine, I may not have the best people skills, but I get paid to observe, plus, even a blind man could notice you're upset. "
"Grissom, I don't want to talk about it."

He gets the point and leaves.
I'm not trying to be nasty, and I'm so glad they're there to support me, but right now I can't talk about this.
This is my fault, and if I talk about it, everyone else is going to find out it's my fault and they'll hate me, and somehow I feel if I talk about what's happening, it'll make it more real and Sara will die.
I know it's irrational, but I can't help it.
All I can do it sit here, outside Sara's room in ICU, watching her through the glass and willing her to wake up.
I'd been thinking about the first time we made love, and how beautiful she looked then, how alive she looked.
And how terrifed I am now.
The thing is, Sara's sleep has always been disturbed. Although she'll sleep for just as long as the average person, she's plagued by night terrors, and rarely are her dreams pleasant.
She's not a peaceful sleeper, but I'm used to this.
But she's being lying in the bed in ICU for almost 12 hours, with this peaceful expression on her face, qnd that frightens me more than anything because people look peaceful when they pass a-..
I can't think like this. I need to be strong. I need to be positive for Sara's sake.
Then strong hands grab mine, and I'm dragged away from my seat, protesting all the way down the corridor until Warricks eyes meet my own, and seeing the concern in them causes some kind of dam to break inside me.
I collapse to the floor sobbing, Warricks arms around me, rocking me until I finally have no tears left.
Then, we find a door that leads outside and just stand there, staring at the night sky.

"Hey, Warrick?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."

We remain in silence for a few minutes longer, before I finally feel ready to talk.

"Sara proposed."
"Catherine, that's wonderful."

He's acting like she's not lying in there possibly dying as we speak. I don't blame him though. He probably doesn't want to face up to it either. The whole team loves Sara.

"I said I didn't want to."

I can hear the questions he wants to ask, even though he's silent, waiting for me to continue.

"I just came up with a load of excuses not to marry her, even though they all sound lame to me now. But the stupid thing is that I do want to marry her, I was just scared. I was scared of getting trapped and putting Lindsay through another divorce. She adores Sara almost as much as I do. But it's taken this happening to make me realise that I want to be with Sara forever, I want to show the world how much I love her, and how much I do want to marry her. But I said no. And now it could be late."

Warrick is silent for another half minute before replying.

"Brass said they found her car on the way to Lake Mead. Why would she be driving up there?"
"It's where we got together. And if I hadn't said no to her proposal, we wouldn't have argued all day, she wouldn't have left the house, and she wouldn't be lying in that hospital bed fighting for her life."

Warrick pulls me into my arms and although I thought I'd let them all out, tears prick my eyes again.

"You cannot blame yourself for this Catherine, it was an accident. Things happen for a reason, and if this is Sara's time, something like this would've happened anyway. Don't blame yourself, no one else will, especially not Sara. Don't punish yourself, she won't want you to."

He holds me tighter and I lean into him, revelling in the fact that there's someone here for me who really cares.
Suddenly the door bursts open and a breathless Greg almost runs into us.

"Guys, you need to come quickly, it's Sara."

Ooh, another cliff-hanger, I'm on a roll. I'll try to have the next part up as soon as.