Grissom arrived at the hospital while Vartan was still in with Sophia; as he turned the corner into the waiting room, he felt his heart catch in his throat as he realized that Sara was there and she had fallen asleep against Nick's shoulder; the younger man looking entirely too comfortable with the arrangement. It served to renew his doubt against Sara's claim that there had been nothing romantic going on between she and Nick until that kiss she'd told him about. Grissom tried to shove his feelings down; surprised when they didn't quite cooperate. He had become so accustomed in his life to controlling his feelings that at that moment he realized that he probably cared about Sara far more than he'd ever imagined that he could. That revelation made him question why he'd allowed himself to open up to her in the first place; the pain he felt at having been rejected in favor of a younger, stronger man let wave after wave of doubt surge over him; his worst fears realized and he wasn't sure he was ever going to let himself love anyone again if this was what the end of a relationship felt like.

As Grissom approached the group that had assembled, Nick glanced up and a flicker of something that was a mixture of fear, guilt, and challenge registered in his eyes as he regarded his mentor. Grissom didn't want a confrontation under these circumstances; he was not going to announce a relationship that Sara obviously didn't want; he wasn't going to put up a fight for her. It seemed that it would be easier to take the path of least resistance and just let her go. And yet, he wasn't sure he wanted to do that. Things had been good in their own little world; why fate had to conspire against them and make Sara want to tell everyone about them he didn't quite understand. Didn't it make more sense to keep work at work and their life outside of work to themselves? He didn't have any answers that would magically solve the situation.

"Gil." Brass greeted his friend as he approached. It was clear to the seasoned detective that all was not right with Gil Grissom. If he had to venture a guess he might say it had something to do with the brunette that had fallen asleep against Nick Stokes, but then Sara had long ago become a bit of a taboo subject with Gil and so it was better left to another time to discuss.

Grissom looked sufficiently concerned as he queried Brass and Catherine. "How is she?" Perhaps if he focused on Sophia he could push aside the distraction that Sara was causing.

Catherine smiled at him; she could read him like a book and she knew that he was not doing well despite any claim she was sure he would make to the contrary. "Vartan is in with her now; it's too early to tell for sure, but she's coherent and it looks she just might make it." She hoped that a bastard like their still unidentified gunman wouldn't have the final word by taking Sophia's life in the end. She knew the determined blond was as tough as she was beautiful and if anyone could overcome her injuries, Sophia would; especially with someone like Alex Vartan to live for.

Grissom nodded somberly, his eyes drifting over towards Sara. Someone once said that not being in control could be a very freeing experience; he didn't believe that just then. He had no control over the woman between Nick and Warrick and the helplessness that seemed to engulf him didn't feel very freeing at all. On the contrary, it felt suffocating and confining; as if he would never be able to escape it. He reflexively went to the one thing he knew well. "How's the case?"

Catherine shot a smirk towards Brass before she answered Grissom's question. "We're handling it; Greg wanted to process a few more pieces of evidence and then I told him he better get his ass home and get some sleep."

Grissom had almost forgotten that Greg had been on the team that had taken over the case from him and Nick and Sara. He made a mental note to remember that come review time. Greg had worked very hard to become a CSI after working in the lab for years and he'd taken a considerable pay cut to do so. As much as he could goof off; he worked hard and Grissom had confidence in his ability to take great care with the evidence. "Good."

"Warrick and I decided to come by for a little while before we both went home." Catherine continued, sensing that Grissom needed a distraction from the arm that Nick now had around Sara's shoulders. She thought the whole situation looked rather innocent, they were friends after all and Nick's arm was probably falling asleep. If Gil really wanted to make an issue out of it, he really ought to grow a backbone and do something about his feelings for Sara before it was too late; but Grissom had a tendency to assume the worst about what few relationships he had rather than approach things the way he approached work and consider the evidence first.

"Oh." Grissom looked exhausted; he really wasn't sure why he'd come by the hospital now; he wouldn't get in to see Sophia anytime soon, Sara didn't want to talk to him, and the only other person that knew about his relationship with her seemed to want her for himself. In short, he felt entirely defeated.

At that moment, Alex Vartan emerged from Sophia's room looking like he'd just won the biggest jackpot Vegas had to offer. The expression on his face seemed to infuse hope into the rest of the room before spilling out down the hallway because it couldn't contain it all. "She said yes, Sophia said yes." His voice was thick with emotion and pride that the woman he loved had agreed to marry him and that he could tell the world; that he didn't have to hide it from anyone.

Brass let out a knowing chuckle; he knew that the pair was serious, but he hadn't realized that Vartan was so anxious to tie the knot that he couldn't wait to ask Sophia to marry him until she was released from the hospital. He stepped forward to be the first one to congratulate the younger man. "So when's the happy day?"

Vartan let out a nervous laugh as he responded. "We haven't quite gotten that far yet." There was time to worry about that; right now Sophia just needed to heal so she could get out of this damn hospital and come home to be with him.

Warrick unfolded himself from his seat; doing his best not to jostle Sara who was just now blinking her eyes awake from where she'd fallen asleep against Nick. "Congratulations." His own hope that love could make it through the tough times had been renewed just a little bit. He really did want to try and work things out with Tina; the only problem had been that both of their prides had gotten so far in the way so they couldn't see the reason they'd gotten together in the first place.

Vartan looked grateful at the support he was receiving. "Thank you." He glanced around the room at these people who had rallied around him and wanted to be there for Sophia; maybe they weren't the people he would have expected, but he knew that he would look at them in a different light from now on.

Vartan's words began to register in Sara's mind about the same time that she realized that Nick's arm was around her shoulders. She couldn't help but smile at the detective. "I'm really happy for you." She genuinely was happy that they'd managed to find each other and weren't afraid to tell the world about it; that was more than she could say about her relationship with Grissom. Her smile widened perceptibly as Nick's arm tightened for a moment in a side hug before he let it fall to the back of her chair.

As Grissom watched this exchange, it finally dawned on him what Sara had been talking about. Nick aside, she was right, he just didn't get it. What Sara seemed to want more than just being loved in secret was to share that happiness with the rest of the world; with her friends. A sadness enveloped him as he realized that he didn't know if he could give her that; if he really was willing to give it all up to keep her; and even worse, if he did give it all up, how could he know that he wasn't already too late?