Chapter 5 – It Just Slammed Into Me

Sara's POV

Oh for the love of God. I come in for coffee and end up getting a glass shower.

The bullets rained down around us. I heard Cath yelp a little, she might have been hit, hopefully nowhere vital. At least two of the bullets grazed my back and another one is in my shoulder. I can feel it stuck in there. The low caliber kept it from going through, but I can feel it grating against my bone whenever I move.

Not to mention that damned glass cut me up.

Does anyone else see the cosmic shitball this turned out to be? I tell Cath my deep dark secret, that I've had a crush on her since the beginning of time, and then we get shot at.

If that's not a mood killer, I don't know what is.

"You alright Cath?" I ask as I struggle to sit up straight. I open my eyes to look across the table at Catherine. Her skin is pale, her breathing shallow, and her eyes are wide open.

She finally takes a deep breath and responds. "I think I'm ok," is her short and unsteady answer. She blinks her eyes a few times, as if trying to adjust to reality. A few silent moments pass as I do the same. Finally she speaks up again. "Were you hit?" she asks.

I take a deep breath, trying to keep my voice from shaking, and making myself sound weak. "Shoulder," I manage to say between my teeth clenched in pain. Cath's eyes narrow and she stands up on surely shaky legs. She walks over and slides her way into my side of the booth.

"Can I see?" she asks hesitantly.

I nod my head in response. I don't really want to look at it. I turn my body towards her and she slowly and carefully peels off my jacket. Once the article is off my body, she moves the collar of my shirt down to get a good look at the wound. The damned thing is throbbing like a jackhammer, and I can feel the steady trail of blood running down my arm and spilling over my back.

Cath gasps at the sight, so I chance a look at the wound. It's ugly. I've seen plenty of bullet wounds before, but there is something so much different about it when it's on your own body, and it's black oozing center is taking up residence in your shoulder. I suddenly feel nauseous. I close my eyes tightly against the wave of dizziness that passes over me. My breath begin to come out shallower and my head dips down to my chest; I feel far too weak to hold my head up. It's just the nausea, it's just the nausea I tell myself over and over, convincing myself I'm fine and there's no need to go into any kind of shock.

I feel Cath's probing hands on my shoulder, wrapping one of the table napkins around it trying to stem the flow of blood. All I can do is moan a little as the pressure in my shoulder grows. I force my eyes open again and find myself staring into Catherine's beautiful orbs.

She reaches up to my cheek and cups it in her bloody hand. Her eyes become my points of fixture. I fear that if I drop my stare from her steady gaze I might close my eyes and pass out.

The room is still a tilt-a-whirl and I'm stuck in the middle of a storm.

It's just the nausea; it's just the nausea.

It's just the nausea; it's just the nausea.

After chanting to myself for the better part of a minute, the spinning passes and I am still staring into those sky blue eyes.

Clarity.

Catherine's POV

It took a few minutes, but the cloudiness in her eyes finally washed itself away. I was beginning to get really worried. My best guess is that the pain knocked her silly for a few minutes. It must have hurt like a bitch when I tied off the makeshift tourniquet on her arm.

When it seemed that she returned to a more focused state, I figured it would be a good idea to get her talking, keep her alert and try to keep her mind off the pain until the ambulance got here. I could faintly hear sirens in the distance; that sound has never sounded sweeter in my life. With the traffic in Vegas a two-mile drive could take upward to ten minutes or so.

I know deep down that Sara's injuries aren't life threatening, but I just want her pain to stop. I mean, after all, she did get shot leaping across the table to cover me with her body. And what a heroic move that was.

She could have been killed.

For me.

I clear my throat. "Hey Sara, wanna keep playing that game? My turn this time?"

She slowly nods her head up and down.

"Alright let's see here," I begin trying to come up with something interesting to keep her attention on me and not on her bullet wound. "I try to keep change from happening at all costs, two of the guys at the lab have seen my breasts, and I'm staring at my own personal Wonder Woman right now."

She pauses, deep in thought trying to figure out which one is the lie. Her concentration wavers and she pulls her deep brown eyes back up to me.

"I don't know Cath. Blood loss is making me a little woozy here."

"So you want me to just give you the answer? Is this the infamous Sara Sidle giving up on me here?"

Sara rolls her eyes—a good sign in my opinion. If her sass is coming back then she is going to be just fine.

"C'mon Cath, I 'just gave' you my answers too. And you didn't even have a hole in your shoulder," Sara retorts.

I decide to give in, best not to get her frustrated right now.

"Alright, alright. Doc Robbins saw my breasts after an extremely disgusting autopsy that involved me getting the stomach contents of a three hundred pound man on me—his stomach literally sprayed when Robbins went to open it. It went all over me and I got so grossed out that I just ripped my lab coat off. I meant to just get the coat but apparently my bra strap got stuck to the lining on the inside."

Sara guffawed. "So while you died from embarrassment Robbins got to have a post-mortem examination

that he actually enjoyed?"

"Glad to see you're feeling better," I grumbled.

"Alright little miss grumpy, and the other time?"

I chuckled a little recalling the memory. "Nick, Warrick and I went over to Nick's house once and had a few drinks. We decided to go into the pool, which probably wasn't the best idea seeing that we were borderline piss-ass drunk. I went into the bathroom to change and was just putting on my bikini top when Nick pushes through the door and falls flat on his face. I guess he tripped on something in the hall and broke through the lock on the door when he fell over."

"What?!" Sara squeaked. "A likely story."

"Well I'm inclined to believe it was actually all a mistake. The look on Nick's face was priceless. You know that expression he gets when someone makes fun of him? Like a little kid who just wet himself at a sleepover? Yeah well the look on his face was that multiplied ten times. The whole next day he avoided me. He claims he doesn't remember, that he had too much to drink, but somehow I really, really don't think so."

"Lucky man," I could have sworn I heard Sara mutter under her breath.

"What was that Sara?"

She looks surprised that I heard her. "I said 'Ugh, man'," I give her a look that says I don't believe her, which I don't. "My shoulder," she explains. "But that's really great. I hope he knows that he is going to get so much crap now."

"Ok, just don't embarrass him too much, I don't think the Texas gentleman in him can take that much."

"Alright, alright. Ok so what's the other truth?"

"Well, you did save me just now. Sara Sidle Wonder Woman."

Sara's cheeks blush pink. "Aw c'mon Cath. Anyone would have done it for you. I just had the distinct pleasure of being the one to see the car first. Speaking of, we need to get the guys out here. This is obviously related to our case."

I don't want Sara pushing herself too hard right now. "Let's talk case later alright?"

"Ok, if you say so." I can hear the ambulance getting closer. It should be here in less than a minute now. "What about that last one? You do like change after all?"

I get ready to explain my lie to her. "Well I'm not change's biggest fan. But I think there are a couple things in my life I'd like to change."

Sara's eyes get that inquisitive look in them that I enjoy so much. "Like what?" she presses on for more information.

"Well for starters, I'm glad that we have changed and haven't fought recently."

"I agree completely. A great change indeed," Sara responds satisfactorily.

I nod and continue. "And then there are some plans I want to change too."

That questioning look is flaring up strong in Sara's eyes. "Oh yeah? Anything I can help you with?"

"Oh yes. In fact you are just the person I was hoping to make plans with."

"What kind of plans?" Sara asks carefully.

"Dinner plans perhaps?" I can't believe I'm being so bold. But hey, I have to keep her mind off the pain right?

"Are you serious Cath, or are you just trying to distract me?" she asks hesitantly as if reading my mind.

I paused for a moment to think about her question. Maybe the change I want to make is a little bigger than just trying to be friends with her. Maybe I want…

…It just slammed into me.

I really do want this. I want this with her. With Sara.

"Completely serious," I reply, a grin plastered across my face.

Sara's POV

A sharp twinge of pain struck me in my shoulder. But that was the least important of the things on my mind. Did Catherine just say she wanted to go on a date with me?

Maybe this day wasn't a cosmic shitball after all.

I quickly try to recover from my shock. "Ok then. In that case, I completely seriously accept your offer."

"Alright then, it's a date," Catherine replied, a coy smile on her face.

At that moment the ambulance finally pulled up to the coffee shop. Catherine helped me to my feet and we slowly made our way outside, careful to avoid the shards of glass. We walked to the door, cautiously ignoring the crowd that had gathered outside.

"About time," Catherine grumbles as the ambulance opened its back doors. She turns and helps me up and into the back of the unit. The movement jars my body and my shoulder flares up again. I close my eyes for a second and when I open them the first thing that catches my eye is something I've tried my very hardest to forget.

Standing over by the stretcher in the middle of the ambulance is none other than Mr. Try-To-Save-Lives-But-Ruin-Them-Instead-Cause-He's-An-Asshole.

Catherine grabs my hand to comfort me.

"Nice to see you again Hank."

AN: Alright, sorry guys…I know it's been a long time :[ Hopefully I made up for it a little bit with a longer chapter here. Let me know what you think of it. I would really appreciate it. Thanks again!