A/N: Last chapter! I'm excited... this has been a great experiment. I've never written in first person before, and it was great to see if I could actually handle it. I think I did. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave me so much support. I couldn't have finished it without you. Enjoy! And leave me a little lovin' at the end!

A slow yawn escaped my lips, and I leaned my head against the side of the ambulance as my legs dangled over the tailgate. Until then, I hadn't realized that I had slept for only three hours in the past twenty-four. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

I reached up with one bandaged wrist and brushed a strand of wet hair from my face. The rain was finally letting up, changing from a downpour to a gentle, steady shower. For the first time in twenty-four hours, I was safe. And it felt good.

A knock on the side of the ambulance startled me, and I jumped. My mother popped out from the other side of the vehicle. "Hey," she said softly.

I sucked in a deep breath. "God, Mom, you scared me."

She laughed, and her brown eyes twinkled, like they had so many times when I was a child. "Sorry," she murmured. "Can I come up?" She gestured to an empty spot next to me.

"Sure." I scooted over a little to allow her some room.

Her eyes drifted to my bandaged wrists. "What did the paramedics say?"

"They want to take me in for observation and stitches," I replied, fingering the bandage on my left hand. "No big deal, they said."

"That's good."

A tense silence settled over us. My mother started fidgeting with her hands, like she always did when she wanted to say something. I waited patiently for her to say something. Finally, she inhaled deeply and turned to face me. "I'm so sorry, honey," she whispered, her eyes starting to moisten.

"For what?"

"For getting you into this." She wiped at the corner of her eye. "I never thought that…"

"It's not your fault, Mom," I said with a smile. "It's no one's fault but his."

"But if I had…"

"No, Mom." My voice took a firmer tone to it. "You couldn't have done anything differently." I sighed and hesitantly wrapped my arms around her. She slowly leaned into my embrace. "You know what Jim told me?"

She shook her head.

"He said that you probably saved my life by telling them where Jackson's hideouts were."

My mother straightened out of my embrace slowly. "Really?"

I nodded, my own eyes welling up. "So thank you, Mom."

She sighed, tears streaming down her face, and wrapped me up in a big bear hug. "I love you, sweetie," she whispered in my ear.

"I love you too."

A loud cough next to us startled us, and we finally released each other. Nick stood shyly by the ambulance. "Sorry to interrupt," he said in his characteristic drawl, "but I was wondering if I could talk with you for a minute." He nodded at me.

My mother rubbed my back softly and gave me a barely perceptible wink. "Sure thing," she said, hopping down from the tailgate. "Take all the time you want." She winked at me again before she disappeared around the corner, leaving me shaking my head.

Nick watched her go, then hopped up on the tailgate next to me. "Look, Sofia, I just wanted to apologize," he said, looking down at his hands.

"For what?" I asked for the second time that day. I was beginning to get exasperated with all the apologizing.

"For not being there when you needed me," he mumbled.

I chuckled and put my hand on his arm. "Apology accepted… and unnecessary."

"You being missing… it scared me."

My eyes widened. Nick never admitted fear. "What?"

"I thought I'd lost you. And it nearly killed me… that you… didn't know how I felt. About you."

My eyes widened more. "What?"

He raised his head and looked me straight in my eyes. "We've been back and forth for months. I like you, Sofia. Don't you think it's time we did something about it?"

I pursed my lips and looked away, thinking. Should I tell him what went through my head while I was trapped? What would Ecklie and the undersheriff say? Suddenly I felt a smile creep across my face. This was Nick we were talking about. Screw Ecklie and the undersheriff.

"Yes, I do," I replied, turning to face Nick again. My hand moved down his arm to grab his hand. "Nick… when I was being held…" I took a deep breath. I'm really no good at talking about feelings. "God, I don't know why this is so hard…" I finally decided to just spit it out. "You were all I could think about."

His mouth dropped open.

"It scared me… more than being stuck in there, because I realized that I… I want you, Nick. I realized that I couldn't die before I found out how you felt about me."

He swallowed hard. Before I knew what was happening, his hand reached up, and the back of his fingers gently brushed my cheek. "Well," he said, leaning in slightly. "I'm glad that we agree on something."

I giggled. "What's that?"

Nick leaned in quickly and brushed his lips against mine… just a whisper of a kiss, but suddenly I felt electricity shoot through my whole body. It was over in just seconds, but I sat there with my eyes closed for what seemed like forever. Nick Stokes had just kissed me. I never thought that he would actually… I don't know, be interested in me.

"Sofia?"

I opened my eyes to see Nick staring at me, a confused look on his face. "Oh, sorry," I said, heat rushing to my face. "It's just…" I smiled at him. "That was really nice."

"I'd always wondered what it felt like."

"Me too," I replied, grinning as I reached up and cupped his cheek with my hand. He gently grabbed it and softly placed a kiss in my bandaged palm.

That's why, when I look back on that night, I don't see it as something incredibly traumatic. Sure, it was. I still fight off the ghosts and nightmares of that night. But if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have someone to hold me when the ghosts rear their ugly heads, and the nightmares steal my sleep.

I watched Sofia and Nick from a distance, a huge grin on my face. I couldn't help it. They were just too adorable. I'd been waiting for Nick to find someone and settle down for so long, and Sofia… I couldn't ask for a better match.

"Good for them," a familiar voice spoke up in my ear. I whipped around to see Grissom standing behind me, his trademark quizzical look on his face.

"Yeah," I said softly, turning around again to watch my two friends.

"I'm glad Nick finally let her know how he felt."

"You knew?" I turned around to stand face to face with him.

"Of course. I caught him looking up Elizabeth Barrett Browning's love sonnets online a couple of weeks ago."

"And you deduced he was thinking about Sofia?"

Grissom shrugged. "Who else would he be thinking about?" He sighed. "Since we're talking about feelings, I was wondering… would you be interested in dinner tonight? Celebrating Sofia's safe return."

"What does that have to do with feelings?"

"Let's just say that Nick and Sofia have made me think about what's important in life. And I decided that you're pretty high up there on my list."

My mouth fell open in shock. Gil was never someone to talk about feelings, his own or anyone else's. "What's gotten into you, Gil?"

He stepped closer. "Nick was buried alive. Sofia was kidnapped and almost killed. Warrick… and Sara…"

That was the first time I'd heard him talk about Sara since she left. I reached out instinctively and touched his arm.

"They made me think about how life is too short to let good things pass you by." He looked me straight in the eye. "And you're a good thing, Catherine."

I stood there for a minute, too stunned to say anything. Gil Grissom… telling me his feelings? We'd been friends for years, but nothing more. Especially after Sara. I sighed deeply. Did I want him? I didn't know. I did at one point in my life, but he'd moved on, and so had I. But now… I glanced back at Sofia and Nick. He had his arm around her, and she was laughing at some joke he'd made. Did I want that again?

Damn right.

I looked Gil in the eye and smiled. "I'd love to have dinner with you, Gil."

I look back on that night with a certain… fondness, I guess you could say. It was one of the worst nights of my life. I thought I had lost a dear friend and colleague. But that night, I realized something I should have realized a long time ago. Life is too short to let opportunity pass you by. Nick and Sofia found that out. I found that out with Gil.

I guess this is what they mean by looking for the silver lining in every cloud.