Authors Note: I own nothing. But I thank my readers and my reviewers. You are feeding the muse! One more after this… can you wait that long?!?! Chapter 12

The ER waiting room was packed with CSI's, lab rats, detectives and beat cops alike. All waiting for word on Nick's condition. Even Ecklie had made an appearance at one point.

An older doctor with salt and pepper hair came out of the triage bay area. "Family for Nicholas Stokes?" He asked before looking up. Seeing a sea of suddenly attentive faces looking back, Dr. Oneida decided to change tactics a little. "Oh, I see Officer Stokes has a very large family!" Catherine, Brass, Greg and Mandy stepped forward.

"It's actually CSI Stokes. But he would prefer it if you called him Nick." Greg corrected the doctor.

"I take it the four of you are the family representatives then?" They nodded in unison. "Ok, why don't we step into my office then." Dr. Oneida escorted them down a side hall.

Closing the door behind him, he waited until everyone had taken a seat before he began. "Mr. Stokes, Nick I mean, is in pretty rough shape. He has a severe infection in both wrists and both ankles. This has put him in a weakened state to begin with. Add to that a broken left wrist, a dislocated left knee, several broken and cracked ribs, a bruised kidney, laceration to the spleen and an orbital fracture and it becomes even more worrisome." Dr. Oneida paused a moment to let the information soak in. "If we can get the fever down and the infection under control before to long, he should make a complete recovery physically. Nick took a hell of a beating. His blood work shows that he was given some kind of drug also. I wish I could tell you what is was, but there was only traces of it left in his system. I can only imagine that from this mystery drug and the restraint injuries that his attacker caused some psychological concerns also. Does anybody here know what happened to him?"

"I can't say that we know for sure. But this isn't the first time this woman attacked him." Catherine started. Seeing the surprised look on the doctors face Catherine continued. "When Nick was 9-years-old he was sexually assaulted by this woman continuously over a 2 day period. Apparently she fixated on him after that. We believe that she has been keeping tabs on him ever since. When we found him…" Catherine choked up. She pictured how terrified Nick was when they found him and couldn't continue.

"When we found him," Greg continued flatly "She had him chained to the floor and it looked like she was about to sexually assault him again. We aren't sure if she had already. She wasn't available at the time. And Nick wasn't in any shape to give details." Greg looked up at the doctor. "She didn't, did she?" Greg asked, his stomach somersaulting while he waited for the answer.

"No, there were no signs of a sexual assault. I took the initiative to check due to his state of undress." Dr. Oneida explained.

"I'll thank the bitch for that when I meet her in hell." Brass muttered.

Catherine had collected herself by this time. "Doctor, when can we see Nick?"

"He's on the way to surgery right now. We need to get the bleeding under control in his spleen. We'll abrade his other wounds while he's under anesthesia so bandaging them will be as painless as possible. Once he's out of recovery you can see him one at a time for a few minutes each. Oh, and that would be the 4 of you only for now. It's going to be a few days at least before he's strong enough for any more." The doctor rose and shook each of their hands in turn.

"Dr. Oneida, there is one other person that was vital in finding him. Could we possibly include him on the short list?" Catherine asked. Knowing that Archie would want to see Nick for himself.

"I suppose, but no more." Dr. Oneida opened the door for them.

**CSI**NICK**CSI**NICK**CSI**NICK**CSI**NICK**CSI**NICK**CSI**

The six hours it took for the surgery and Nick to get settled into his recovery room was excruciating. Archie had arrived only 20 minutes after Catherine had called him. But finally they were able to see Nick.

They let Archie go first since there was a lot of video evidence to go over from Alison's lair. He sat down hesitantly in the chair next to Nick's bed. Archie felt intimidated by all the equipment Nick was hooked up to. The ventilator clicks and whooshes sounded deafeningly loud in the quiet room. The heart monitor and the automatic blood pressure cuff chimed in too.

Archie reached out and took Nicks right hand. It felt cold to the touch. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner Nick. I wish… I wish. Aw hell, I wish this hadn't happened at all man." Archie stood and left the room quickly. Giving a brief nod to the others as he left.

"Catherine, why don't you go next?" Greg suggested.

Catherine smiled thankfully as she walked into Nick's room. All the equipment overwhelmed her also. She chose to stand by Nick's bedside. Looking him over like an over protective mother hen. She took in his broken appearance. The right side of his face was black and swollen where Alison had stomped on him during her outburst. The blankets were pulled down to allow the nurses access to the bandage on Nick's abdomen. She could see the shoe tread bruises all over his rib cage. His left leg elevated to relieve pressure on his knee. His left wrist was in a soft cast to allow wound care to be done on his lacerations.

"Oh Nick. I wish we had never let you be alone. I didn't like the idea from the start. Mothers' intuition I suppose. Now all we can do is wait. You need to keep fighting. She can't hurt you now so the fight will be a little easier. You just have to fight off the infection. We'll be here to help you with the rest." Catherine bent and kissed Nick's forehead above his left eye. "I'll see you soon cowboy."

Catherine walked out swiping at an errant tear. "Okay, who's next?" She asked with a sigh.

Brass nodded to Greg. Greg hesitated for a minute before he went in. At the sight of Nick, Greg choked back a sob. "Oh man Nick." Greg shook off the flashback to when he was beaten. He could deal with the demons from his past another time. He needed to be focused now so he could help Nick. "Hey Nick." Greg croaked. He cleared his throat before he continued. "Everybody is waiting for you to get a little better so they can see you. Your doctor will only let a few of us visit you for the time being. So you need to get better fast. If you don't you'll force me to bring in my CD player and make you suffer through my music." Greg chuckled to himself as he remembered the last time he had tried to get Nick to listen to his music in the Denali. Nick threatened to break Greg's boom box if he even tried. "I better get going for now. Let you get your rest like the doctor wants. I'll be by later to see you." Greg started to pat Nick on the shoulder but couldn't. He left the room frustrated that he couldn't do more.

"Well, looks like I'm up to bat." Brass surmised as Greg brushed past them. Catherine gave Brass an encouraging pat on the back before he went in. Brass graced her with one of his rare smiles. Then he walked into Nick's room. He looked around at all the equipment with a heavy sigh. "Nick, what are we gonna do with you son?" Brass sat down on the edge of Nick's bed. "You know, you can wake up anytime now. Alison is dead. I killed her. I saw what she was about to do to you and I just, shot her. Probably gonna catch some flack for that one. But I'd do it again if I had to. That's one monster that can't hurt you ever again Nick." Brass looked over at where Nick was laying and saw two very tired brown eyes looking back at him. "Hey Nick. Welcome back buddy." Brass grinned.

Nick tried to speak but the tube in his throat prevented it. He started reaching clumsily for the tube, not understanding what it was in his sedated state. "Easy, easy Nick. It's just there to help you breath." Brass took Nick's hand and put it back down on the bed. Nick tried to look around but his vision was still too blurry to make much out. Nick creased his eyebrows in question. "Your in the hospital." Nick rolled his eyes at the information. "Better than the alternative." Nick's eyebrows rose to that information. "Alison worked you over pretty good there. But we got you." Nick looked down towards the foot of the bed then back at Brass with panic in his eyes. "No, Nick. We got there before she could, before she could do that to you again. She just managed to beat the living tar out of you. You've got a pretty bad infection and some other stuff going on though. You need to get a lot of rest to fight off the infection. The rest of your injuries will heal with a little time. The other stuff, well. You've got us for that, your family. I'm gonna go for now. But we won't be far. In the mean time you get some sleep. Maybe next time I stop in it won't be a one way conversation." Brass patted him on the shoulder, Nick's eyes already drooping closed.