Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

Chapter Eleven

5:00am

Two and a half hours after Sara had been admitted, Catherine was back at the hospital, sitting in a chair next to her bed. Sara hadn't needed surgery but she had started waking up while they were working so they had to sedate her. Now they were just waiting for her to wake up again.

Back at the lab, Catherine had told Grissom, Warrick and Greg the same story she had told Nick. The news had not gone over well, especially with Greg but Grissom had managed to keep everyone calm for the time being.

She had left after that, taking Sara's file to an empty conference room to fill out the hospital paperwork before leaving for Desert Palms again. Brass had called to tell her that they had Hank but because no statement had been made and the evidence wasn't strong enough to stand alone, they had been forced to let him go.

Holding Sara's free hand in between her two, Catherine sighed. "C'mon, Sara. I need you to wake up. Just tell me you're okay. We all need you back. We're family now. We can't function properly if one of us is missing. Greg almost attacked Hank when he saw him at the lab. Please, wake up, sweetie. Who else is going to help me with Lindsey? You know she looks up to you. I know you'll say that's crazy but it's really not. I really admire your determination and individuality. Your spunk gives the lab that extra flair that we need. I just hope you'll let us help you with this. If not the others, at least let me help you."

Catherine wasn't sleeping very long when she felt Sara's hand move ever so slightly in hers. She raised her head from its position on the bed, cursing herself for falling asleep at such an awkward angle.

"Sara?" She felt Sara squeeze her hand again and stood up. "C'mon, Sara. Open your eyes, sweetie. You gotta look at me." She reached over and pressed the call button on the wall. "Please, Sara. Just open your eyes."

A young nurse had appeared in the doorway. "Is everything okay?"

"I think she's waking up. Can you get Dr. Walker?"

The nurse disappeared without a word and in a few seconds, reappeared in the doorway, followed by Dr. Walker.

"Has she opened her eyes?"

"No but she's holding onto my hand pretty tightly." Catherine said through gritted teeth, glancing down at her left hand, which was starting to turn white.

"It looks like she's having a nightmare. The best thing right now is to talk to her, try to wake her up." Dr. Walker explained, looking down at her beeping pager. "That's a trauma coming in." She looked back up at Catherine. "Keep talking, make sure she knows you're here. If she wakes up, we'll be able to take the tube out her but for now let's leave it in, just in case. I'll be back to check soon."

Catherine looked back down at the younger CSI. Her eyes were moving beneath her eyelids; she was definitely having a nightmare.

"Sara, sweetie, open your eyes. It's okay, everything's okay. Just open your eyes."