A\N: Thanks so much for the continuing support! THANK YOU!!!
Here is the chapter where you begin to see how everything happened! Enjoy!!
The ringing of the phone woke Nick from his sleep. Grumbling, he sat up and reached for it, flipping it open.
"Stokes."
"Nick, its Sara."
Nick smiled. "Hey sweetie."
"Hey. Look, I'm running late at work. I think we have a lead."
Nick was awake now, and he jumped out of bed. "You do?"
"Yeah!" She sounded tired, but relieved. Nick moved around the room, pulling a pair of pants out of the draw.
"Do you need me to come in?" he asked.
"No, no," Sara said quickly. "I just need you to pick up Emily from ballet."
"No problem," Nick said. "It finishes at 4, right?"
"Yeah. But try and get there a bit before. The community center gets locked up as soon as her lesson finishes… and I don't want Emily to have to wait… the teacher…"
She trailed off. "It's okay," Nick assured her. "I'll be there before, I promise."
Flipping the phone closed, he glanced at his watch. It was 3.30. He got dressed quickly, and made his way out to his car. He would leave straight away.
To be honest, he hadn't wanted Emily to do ballet. Not at this present time anyway. Not while "The Babysitter" was still at large. But at the same time, he didn't want her to be reclusive. They had to live their lives. They just had to be extra cautious.
He pulled out of his street and headed off towards the community hall across town. He had half an hour. Plenty of time. It was only a 15-minute drive.
He found himself humming as he drove along. Switching on the radio, he turned to the country channel.
"It was Christmas is Las Vegas…"
A feeling of dread settled at the bottom on Nick's stomach, and he quickly turned the radio off. He hadn't heard that song since his kidnapping…
He shivered subconsciously. One of his all time favorite songs had become a symbol to the bad thing that had happened to Nick.
He continued to drive, and he was making good time.
Until the crash.
He couldn't help it that that was the road he had taken. The car ahead had just smashed, the engine were blowing smoke and someone was stumbling from the car.
Nick was a good guy.
And he was the first at the scene.
He stopped his car, rushing over to the woman who had managed to escape. She was bleeding, and when she saw Nick, she crumpled to the ground.
He felt besides the woman, grabbing his phone, and calling 911. After giving them the location, he turned back to the woman, who shooed him off, and gestured over to the car, and that's when Nick noticed another person in the car.
He ran over there, grabbing the woman's wrist through the broken window. Nick's heart sunk when he didn't feel one.
He turned back around, trying to soothe the woman. After a few minutes, a police car screeched to a halt, followed quickly by an ambulance.
A police officer rushed towards Nick.
"The other girl didn't make it," Nick said solemnly.
Unfortunately, the other woman heard, and let out a scream of shock, trying to escape the grasp of the paramedics.
"My daughter," she sobbed.
Suddenly, Nick's blood ran cold.
Emily!
He glanced at his watch.
4.03 PM
He sprinted to his car, his heart beating so fast in his chest he couldn't distinguish it from his footsteps.
Putting the car into reverse, he sped off, dodging the traffic and pedestrians, and arriving outside the community center in record time.
It was deserted and locked up for the day.
Panic started to set it, and he jumped out of his car, running towards the hall.
"EMILY!" he yelled. "EMILY!"
Why hadn't the teacher waited? He knew she had another appointment, but why would she leave a 5-year-old girl by herself? What about the other parents?
With a sad heart, he remembered most had pulled their daughters out of ballet.
And he had foolishly let Emily continue.
Nick started to run around the building, calling out Emily's name desperately, his voice sounding hoarse in his throat
"Oh God…"
Pulling out his phone, he called the police.
It only took a moment for them to arrive.
The same for the CSI's
Nick stood around the police officers, running a hand through his hair. He couldn't speak.
And that's when he saw Sara.
She was walking towards the community center with Grissom, and when she saw him, standing with the police officers, she knew.
Her kit fell from her hands, her throat constricting. Grissom immediately caught her, his own kit cluttering to the ground as he struggled to keep Sara from falling. Her eyes were wide, and her gaze never left Nick.
Nick had rushed to her, and she started to shake her head.
"No," she whispered. "No, no…"
She was talking quickly now, and Nick drew her into his arms.
"No, no, no, no, no. It's a mistake." Sara breathed out, rocking in Nick's arms.
Nick held onto her desperately, only speaking the words that were running through his mind.
"I'm so sorry."
The church was crowded, people dressed in black seated like school children, in perfect rows in the church pews.
Sara sat in the front with Nick. She was dressed in a simple black dress, her hair lying loose around her shoulders. Nick sat besides her, holding onto her hand tightly. Her gaze was focused on the ground.
Not at the tiny casket at the front of the church
He couldn't look at it either.
You were meant to buy your child a new doll, or a new dress.
Not a coffin
A tiny pair of ballet shoe's adorned the front of the coffin, a homage to what Emily loved the most. It always had irked Sara that her daughter was a girly girl, but she still had embraced her.
"No daughter of mine is going to be a girly girl!" Sara had huffed. Nick had laughed.
The next day, despite her words, Sara had signed Emily up for ballet, to the little girl's delight.
The service was pleasant. Sara hadn't cried. Neither had Nick.
They spent every other second of every day crying.
As the service ended, people came and offered their condolences. Nick stayed by Sara's side, afraid that she would break down.
There were a select few that were allowed at the cemetery. Catherine was supporting Lindsey. Grissom was standing further away from everyone. Warrick was supporting Catherine.
Nick tried to support Sara.
But he himself broke down upon reading the tombstone.
Emily Shannon Stokes10.4.2001 – 12.9.2006
Much loved daughter for too brief a moment
Suddenly a voice spoke from behind them.
"I'm so sorry."
Every one turned and saw a woman before them.
Emily's young ballet teacher
Nick wanted to blame her. He wanted to blame someone so badly. But blaming the 28-year-old dance teacher wasn't going to help. She'd already blamed herself. Apologized. Tried to help as much as she could.
"I saw her get into her Mom's car! It was your car! Emily just got in! I thought it was her Mom! It was the same car…"
"I didn't know… I'm so sorry!"
He shook his head, trying to give her a small smile.
Sara however, wasn't as kind.
She walked up to the woman.
"Sorry," she said bitterly, "Is not going to bring my daughter back."
She brushed past her, down the sleek lawn of the cemetery. Nick grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back, but she shrugged it off.
"Just leave me alone," she muttered.
"Sara," Nick called weakly. But she ignored him, continuing her walk across the lawn.
Catherine appeared by Nick's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It's going to be okay." She assured him.
Sara's words echoed in his mind as he shrugged her hand off his shoulder.
What was she basing that on?Because as Nick stood by his daughter's grave and watched his wife walk away from him, he realized nothing would be okay anymore.
TBC...
Please review!