Nick's vigil in the hallway continued. Catherine was sitting in a chair near the nurse's desk and Vega had left to go back to the scene. The bomb squad had cleared the building and the investigation into the bomb was beginning. Catherine had already sent Sara and Greg over to the scene. Ecklie left a few minutes before, promising to be back after he'd taken care of some details back at PD.

Glancing down at his watch, Nick groaned. It had been almost two hours and they hadn't heard anything about the condition of the police captain. Turning his head, he saw a nurse talking to Catherine and wondered what that was about. Just as he decided to walk down and investigate, a male nurse walked out of Jim's cubicle.

He smiled briefly and then asked, "you family?"

Nodding negatively, Nick told him no. "But we work together and we're friends."

"You know I can't tell you much…" the man began.

"Yeah, I know. But is he…I mean, he's .."

"He's alive… but still unconscious. Although the doctor says he thinks your friend is starting to come out of it."

"Isn't that a long time for him to be out?" Nick asked.

"Depends on the injury. Dr. Taylor is assessing him still. And really, that's all I can say. I need to get some supplies…" The man started to walk away and then turned. "He got any family here at all?"

Ellie flashed through Nick's mind but after her actions the last time Jim was in the hospital, Nick didn't really feel the need to bring her into it. "No…he's on his own. I think he has a sister back east somewhere, but that's about it."

The man nodded. "Well, it's good that you're here then," he said as he turned again to walk away.

Catherine wandered back to Nick. "What was that all about?"

Sighing, Nick shrugged. "He just said that Jim's still out but showing signs of coming around. Asked if Jim has any family."

"Oh," Catherine replied sadly. "There's his daughter…"

"Yeah, as if she cares… I told him that Jim is on his own."

Catherine stared thoughtfully at the wall. "I wonder if he gave anyone else his Medical Power of Attorney after Grissom left."

Nick shrugged. "I dunno."

Catherine took another deep breath. "Nurse told me that they are moving Mai to her own room now. She's going to be fine. A day or two in the hospital…"

"Good, that's real good," Nick replied caringly. "Jim will be glad to hear it when he wakes up."

"Yeah," Catherine said as she watched the door to his cubicle.

A few minutes later the doctor stepped out. "You here for Mr. Brass?"

Both CSIs affirmed that they were. "So how is he?" Catherine asked him.

"Better than he should be, if I understand what happened correctly," Dr. Taylor answered. "He's beginning to awaken. We've done a CT and there are signs of brain injury. As far as we can determine, he's got a moderate TBI. There is some intracranial swelling and we'll have to monitor him closely over the next couple of days. If it gets worse, surgery is indicated to relieve the swelling. But for now, we're going to try to use non invasive methods to treat it.

Preliminary indications are some damage to the left temporal lobe with possible implications for the occipital lobes. Because of the location at the back of the skull, the occipital area is more difficult to diagnose but once he is awake, we'll be better able to access the situation.

For now, we're moving him to the neuro-ICU and keeping a close eye on him. There's nothing really you can do for him tonight. Only family will be allowed to see him in ICU."

"Thank you, Doctor," Nick replied. "But we'll stay close. He doesn't have any family here and…well, we just need to know he's being taken care of."

The doctor nodded. "Doesn't surprise me; you cops always keep a vigil. I'll keep you posted, but you understand I can only tell you so much."

Nick resumed his spot on the wall as they watched the doctor move away. Catherine looked around and then at Nick. "How about I get us some coffee?"

Awareness slowly crept over Jim Brass as he lay in his bed in ICU. Things were fuzzy in his mind but muffled sounds from the side of the bed made him think of a place he'd been before… a place of pain and fear. But his mind couldn't quite grasp it, where this place was.

He tried to look around but the lights were muted and all he could see was the dim glow of…something… at the other end of the room. Other than the sounds next to his bed, everything else was quite.

The next thing he noticed was that his head hurt. Lifting his hand in some instinctive feeling that rubbing it might help the pain, he tried to touch the source of the pain but his hand missed and fell back to the bed. Grunting, he gave up. It was too much effort anyway.

Next, he tried to call out, hoping someone would come to help, to explain. But the sounds that came out of his mouth were nonsensical, even in his muddled mind. And then he heard rustling next to the bed and hands began to touch him. Maybe his call had been understood, after all.

He recognized some of the things the hands were doing, although he couldn't quite name them. He had more of a sense of familiarity to the motions rather than actual words. And then a head splitting light pierced his eyes, sending pain into his head like a chisel being driven in. He yelped in pain and tried to back away but the bed held him firmly in place. And then the light went away and he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

A soft voice began to speak. "Mr. Brass, I'm Dr. Taylor. In case you haven't guessed it already, you are in the hospital."

Hospital, yes…that was it … the word he'd tried to grasp before….the place of pain and fear. He had died there before; but that didn't make sense. If he had died, what was he doing here now? His head shook as he tried to bring it together in his mind, which was a mistake because the pain was head piercing. Grissom …Grissom didn't let it happen; he … what? Surgery…yeah, he told them to do the surgery. Grissom will be here soon, he told himself. He'll tell me what's going on.

The doctor was talking again and Jim tried to concentrate, but it was hard and the voice was muffled. "…suffered trauma to the head from the blast," he said softly. "I imagine your head hurts quite a bit." He paused as Jim struggled to say that his head did indeed hurt.

The doctor frowned. "Mr. Brass, can you hear what I am telling you?"

Jim did hear and tried to nod again; in fact, he thought he did. But as he watched, Dr. Taylor only saw movement in the injured man's hand. He watched as Jim's hand shook up and down, mimicking the action of nodding yes. Taylor glanced across at the nurse, whose look confirmed the same concern he was feeling.

"Mr. Brass…can you tell me your first name?"

My name? What the hell? Why's he want to know my name? After a slight pause in his thoughts, Jim realized the man should already know his name. But okay, I'll play the game… Opening his mouth, he tried to speak his name, but nothing came out and he quickly closed his mouth again. My name? Brass…that's my name. But he said…Panic began to flood through Jim as he sorted through his thoughts trying to find his name. It was there; he could feel it, just beyond his reach. And then his mind grasped it; "J…Ji…m. JJim BBrrass," he said thankfully.

His stutter went unnoticed in his mind but alarms were going off in the doctor's mind. "Okay Jim; I need to perform a few tests…nothing too difficult. I just want to see how much that blast rattled your brain."

Listening to the doctor was a challenge and suddenly Jim felt even more tired and confused than he had upon waking. "Ttt…eests?"

"Yeah, just a few questions actually. Do you know what day it is?"

Jim tried to look through the darkness at the man. Stupid question…"Tttoddda," he replied simply.

"Right, but is it Monday or Tuesday… what day of the week?"

Jim furrowed his brow. "Dddon't How llong…?"

"How long what?"

"Ibeen oout?"

He heard the doctor chuckle but it wasn't funny to Jim. He was worried. This jackass was interrogating him in the dark and made it seem like something was really wrong.

"Only a few hours…almost three. So it is the same day still."

Jim couldn't remember what day it was. He tried hard to think of it but he couldn't. "Ddon't know. Wwhat's my wwwatchay?"

"Your watch is for keeping time," the doctor pointed out.

"Hhhas days too…" Jim smirked.

Dr. Taylor grinned. "I forgot that watches have that. Okay then, what color is my shirt."

The question frustrated Jim. "I ddon't knnnow dddumbass, tturnoon the ddamn llights and III'll ttelllyou," he barked.

Dr. Taylor blanched. After a short pause, he asked another question. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Wwwhat? You gggotta be kkkiddin' mmmeee…"

"Can you see my fingers?"

"Hhhow the hhhelll can I..I ssee fingers in the ddark?"

Jim was obviously agitated now and a quick glance at the monitors told Taylor that his blood pressure was rising. "Jim, the blast caused some brain trauma and apparently it is affecting your vision. We need to do some tests…"

"My vvvvission? Mmmy eyes? You tttellingmme I'm bblind?" Panic was suffocating him. Blind…I can't see…its dark and I can't see…

"It is probably temporary. But we need to find what is causing it before I can be sure of anything. Try to stay calm, Jim. We need to run these tests and then I can tell you more about what we're dealing with."

Then Jim's mind locked in and his mind sifted one word; blast. "Bbllast? Eexxplosion? Like a bbbomb?"

"Right. I don't know all the details," Taylor told him. "But it is all over the news. A girl was kidnapped and you found her. But the room had a bomb. You used your body as a shield for the girl."

Jim tried to remember but it was all blurry. And then a name popped into his head. "Mmmai…"

"Yes, that's the girl's name; Mai Trang."

"IIsssshe….ddid she…"

"She'll be fine in a few days. Right now, she is in a room two floors above us and is surrounded by her family. A few cuts and bruises and a mild ringing in her ears. She's here more for observation than anything, since she was in the blast too."

Jim furrowed his brow. "An…"

"Excuse me?"

"An. Wwheresshe? Sshe was hhere…"

"I haven't met anyone by that name. There was a Mr. Stokes and …Catherine Willows. Actually one of them has been here all the time. Oh, and also someone named Ecklie. .."

Jim closed his eyes, not that it mattered, his world was filled with darkness. "I… I… cccoulda ssworn…"

"Perhaps you dreamed it. The brain does strange things when it's been injured."

Just as Jim began to accept what had happened…was happening; his muscles suddenly tensed and before he could warn the doctor, he was trying to roll to his side, emptying the contents of his stomach on the side of the bed, the floor, and the doctor's shoes.

He rolled to his back, his head pounding and swimming at the same time. The sounds of shuffling feet and scurrying bodies were heard over the beeps of the machinery but that didn't matter to Jim. He just wanted his head to stop hurting… and the bed to stop spinning.

A few minutes later a soft feminine voice sounded next to his bed. "Mr. Brass… the doctor has ordered some meds to help with the headache. I'm injecting them into the IV now, so the pain should begin to ease in a minute or two."

Jim grunted a thanks but even that hurt. And then a thought niggled at the back of his mind. "Mai…ssshee's rrrreally okay?"

"She's not my case. But from everything I've heard she's fine. A little bruised but nothing serious."

Grunting again, this time in satisfaction, Jim tried to settle down and let the drugs take effect. But the soft voice spoke again. "I understand you don't have family nearby. Is there someone you'd like us to call? I think we could allow one visitor…"

"An," he whispered as he let the drugs take effect and carry him into blissful oblivion.

"What are you doing Jimmy?" Her voice was soft and frightened. "My father…"

"Won't know unless you tell him," he answered heatedly. "Jeez An, you're so beautiful," he said as he trailed kisses down her exposed body. His hands touching and exploring as he went.

"You think I'm …beautiful?"

"Sweet Jesus," he murmured. "Yes, I think you are beautiful. You're the most beautiful girl I've eve known."

"More beautiful than your white girls back home?"

Raising his head to look into her eyes, he nodded. "Oh yeah…Jeez An, I can't keep my hands off of you. I gotta have you…"

"You…you've done this before?"

He could hear the fear in her voice and it pulled at his heart but his groin was pulling harder. "Yeah…but... not like this. I didn't love those girls. God An, I love you so much it hurts…"

"You…you won't put a baby in me, will you? My parents would…"

"No, no babies…not yet anyway. Not' til after we're married. I've got a way," he said as he fumbled in his pocket for the small little paper holding his protection. Pulling it out, he unwrapped it and rolled it on, showing her that she was protected.

"If you're sure Jimmy Brass; I trust you."

"I'm sure," he replied confidently. And as he watched her face he realized that this wasn't like back home. Those girls, they knew the score. They'd done this before. But An, she was his, just his. He needed to be careful with that…with her. It was her first time. And when it was done and she cuddled up to him, he realized that in a way it was his first time too. After all, he loved her…yeah, that was it; he'd just screwed the others, this was the first time to make love.

"Jimmy?" Her voice was soft and hesitant.

He grunted, trying to answer but his mouth wouldn't work.

And then he felt her hand on his arm, her gentle sweet touch. "Thank you."

He heard his moan and tried to reach for her but his arms wouldn't co operate. "An," he whispered.

"Yes, yes…it is An. You saved them Jimmy. You saved my son's life and his daughter. Thank you."

His mind clouded. Saved her son's life? "Son?" he managed to utter.

"Yes, my son…and yours," she whispered against his cheek. He felt her fingers along his cheek, gently stroking and then a light warmth there…a kiss? But something was wrong…his mind reached for it, tried to grasp it, struggled. And then, like a lightening bolt it hit him…son?

Fighting through the darkness, through the confusion, and the memories, he forced himself awake. And his mouth repeated what his mind was screaming. "Son?"

He heard shuffling and the swish of the closing door. And he wondered who had been in his room. And as the dream began to fade, he was left with one thought…son.

Sitting in the ICU waiting room, Catherine looked up when the small oriental woman rushed through the door. She hurried across the room, heading for the door that led to the main hall but then stopped and turned around. Slowly she walked towards Catherine.

Watching quietly, Catherine was surprised when the woman spoke to her. "Thnak you," she said humbly.

Frowning, Catherine replied, "you're welcome…but for what?"

"Your husband; he saved my family."

"What? My hu…who are you?"

"Forgive me." The woman replied. "I am Anna Trang. Mai is my granddaughter. "

"I'm Catherine," she started to reply. But before more could be said the ICU door opened and a nurse called out, "anybody here for Brass?"

"Excuse me," Catherine said to the Asian. ""I'm here," she replied to the nurse as she made her way across the room, forgetting all about the small Asian woman who worriedly watched her walk away.

"Please, he needs you," the nurse said as she hurried Catherine through the door.

"These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear Of sun, or moon, or star, throughout the year, Or man, or woman. Yet I argue not Against Heaven's hand or will, not bate a jot Of heart or hope; but still bear up and steer Right onward."

John Milton

Many thanks to you for continuing to read along and especially to those who use the little button below. I always love tohear your responses; it keeps the batteries charges and more importantly helps me do better.

I've had a couple of responses to the 100th story question. I'd love to hear from more of you on it;)