Author's Note: Judging from the reviews you all liked that last chapter. I was worried you wouldn't really like it but I guess I was wrong :)! A lot of you also have theories as to what will happen next…. Well I tell you now that you are going to have to wait and see. And don't worry….it will come soon enough:)

Chapter 19 – The Bruise

Sara cried the entire day. Charlotte wouldn't let Sara out of her sight for more then a few minutes. Jeff had really scared her. They ended up lying on Sara's bed watching TV. Charlotte cuddled up to Sara with her floppy brown teddy bear, Chester, wanting to stay like that forever. Sara thought she had fallen asleep and surprised her when she started speaking.

"Mommy?' she asked quietly.

"Yes, pumpkin?" Sara looked down and stroked her little girl's hair.

"Did Jeff hurt you?" she looked up, more tears forming in her eyes.

Sara's own tears pushed their way out her eyes. "A little bit," she whispered, nodding.

Charlotte's tears kept their trek down her face. She sat up and turned to face Sara. She sniffed and rubbed her nose on her pajama sleeve. "Is…is he ever going to…t-to hurt you again?" Charlotte asked, the sobs starting to take over her voice.

Sara's eyes spilled over. She sat up as well and pulled her daughter into her arms. "He is never, ever, ever going to hurt me or you ever again," Sara said. "I promise." She whispered the last words as Charlotte wrapped her arms around Sara and they fell back onto the pillows.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

Sara was standing in her living room. She was watching the thunderstorm from about a foot away from the window. The rain pounded on the glass and Sara enjoyed it. It was so peaceful…not like the thunderstorm earlier. But in a blink of an eye it changed. The sky darkened and lightning flashed in nearly non-stop flashes that surprised her. She heard a scream behind her, and before even turning around she knew it was Charlotte. She spun and looked behind her…but she wasn't in her house anymore. There was a long hallway with hundreds of doors. Sara could still hear the thunder as she ran, calling out Charlotte's name. She heard her scream again but this time it was from where she had come. Sara spun again and looked where she had come. She saw Jeff standing about 2 inches from her and she jumped back, startled. He smiled an evil smile and Sara tried to back away, but there was a wall behind her. The hallway was gone and she was in a little room with Jeff, Charlotte still screaming in the background. Her screams came in short, terrified rasps and Sara sat straight up in bed.

She looked around her. It was pitch black. It was dead silent. She felt moisture on her face. She was crying. She felt movement beside her. Charlotte was stirring in her sleep. Sara could tell she was waking up. She realized she was sweating and breathing hard, she tried to calm herself down. She very rarely had nightmares, but when she did, they were always vivid. It was hard for her to shake the feeling of pure terror off and she jumped when she heard Charlotte's voice in her ear.

"Mommy?" she mumbled.

Sara reached over and turned on the bedside light. It wasn't very bright but when she did Charlotte squinted her eyes.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," Sara whispered.

"Its ok," she said, rubbing her eyes. She stopped rubbing and looked up at Sara. "Mommy, are you crying?" she asked.

"No, no, pumpkin, I'm ok," she stuttered as she wiped her own eyes. Charlotte tipped her head and took a closer look at Sara.

"Why are you crying, mommy?" she asked.

Sara stopped wiping her eyes and looked down at the little girl. She was kneeling on the bed wearing her pink Tinkerbelle pajamas. Her curly hair was all messy and she held Chester in her arms loosely. Sara smiled at her but her smile quickly melted away and she brought her hand to her face. She started crying again and she felt Charlotte come up to her and hug her middle. Sara's sobs came out in heaving breaths. She tried to control them but they wouldn't stop. She cried and cried into her daughter's shoulder. Eventually she got the hang of breathing again and squeezed Charlotte tight. They pulled apart and Charlotte handed Chester to her.

"You can sleep with him tonight if it makes you feel better." She smiled and Sara let out half of a laugh.

"Thanks, pumpkin," Sara whispered and wiped her eyes. When she did she felt the part of her face Jeff had slapped. It was tender and she pressed it gently, wincing a little.

"Mommy, is that where Jeff hurt you?" Charlotte asked. Sara nodded. Charlotte looked down, then back up after a second.

"Do you remember when I falled off my tricycle and I hurted my knee really bad on the sidewalk?" Sara nodded and smiled a little. "Well you said that it will all be better if you gave it a kiss. Do you want me to kiss it better?"

Again, the deductive powers of this child amazed her. Sara gave a little laugh and looked at the sweet little girl again. "Sure, sweetie," she said and turned her cheek toward Charlotte. She knelt higher on her knees and gave Sara a big loud kiss, smiling when she sat back down.

"Thank you, Charlotte. That was very kind of you," she said and reached out to stroke Charlotte's hair. While she did she looked behind her and saw the clock.

"Oh, no," Sara said and her eyes opened wide.

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"I am late for work," Sara exclaimed while she hopped up and started getting dressed. Charlotte moved to the side of the bed and let her legs hang over, with Chester resting in her lap.

"Can't you stay home today?" she asked in a whiny, five-year-old voice.

"No, Pumpkin, I'm sorry. I have to go to work," Sara gave her a sympathetic look as she pulled a shirt over her head. She grabbed the phone off the bedside table and called her cousin while she ran down the stairs, Charlotte following close behind her. Her cousin was a night owl and worked at home, usually during the night for reasons Sara couldn't understand. But she didn't complain because she could call on her to baby-sit at almost anytime and she would just bring her laptop over and make sure the house didn't burn down. She agreed to look after Charlotte that night and said she would be there within 20 minutes.

Sara ate a quick breakfast and got everything together for work, splashing on a little makeup to cover the bruise on her cheek. It was still very obvious she had one but she would have to think of a story to tell people. She was not about to let everyone know someone had hit her.

She made sure Charlotte stayed in bed (which took awhile because she didn't want Sara to leave) and ran out the door as soon as her cousin got there. She had already called Grissom and told him she would be late but she drove quickly anyway. She blew into the break room and everyone was already sitting down, discussing the latest rapist case. She sat down and looked up only to see everyone was looking at her.

"What?" she asked, trying to pretend she didn't know what they were looking at.

Everyone was silent for a second. Then Catherine spoke up. "What happened to your face?" she asked quietly.

Sara instinctively touched the bruise and looked down at the table. "It's nothing…I…I ran into the door," she lied.

Everyone kept looking at her funny. She could tell they didn't buy it but she shrugged it off. "What's going on today?" she asked wanting to change the subject.

Everyone stopped staring at her at once and they started to recap on what they were doing. Glad the attention was off her she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

They only had one new case that day and they decided Warrick was going to handle it. They split ways, all deciding to pour over evidence and try to figure this case out. Before they left the break room, however, Nick pulled Sara aside.

"Ok, how did you really get that bruise?" he asked, holding Sara by the arm.

"I told you…I opened the door and ran into it. Nothing big, Nick," she tried to lie her best. She had never been excellent at lying but she hoped to God he would believe her.

Nick narrowed his eyes at her. "You know I don't believe that right?" So much for that plan.

Sara looked down at her feet. But she looked up quick and set her face. "Well you should. That's what happened."

Nick' mouth formed a straight line. Sara could tell he didn't believe her. She kept her face set and waited him out, both locked in an un-agreed staring contest. Without warning he reached up with his middle and index finger, placing them carefully on the same side of her chin the bruise was on. She looked at his fingers and he moved her face slightly to get a better look at the bruise. Sara looked at the floor as he inspected it. He sucked in a breath and Sara moved her face from his fingers.

"I'm ok," she said quietly, avoiding his eyes and folding her arms, turning to leave.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

Nick still didn't know what was wrong with Sara and it wasn't just the bruise. She was acting very defensive and quiet. She didn't talk unless it was absolutely necessary and when she did it was only two or three word sentences. He kept giving her side glances, wondering what was on her mind. How she really got that bruise.

At one point he tried to bring up a subject that she had been excited about for the past two nights; her dinner with Jeff. It was supposed to be tomorrow. He casually brought it up as they were looking over Jillian Haynes' clothes in the layout room.

"So, did Jeff tell you where you guys are going tomorrow night?"

He looked up as he finished the sentence and saw her close her eyes in what looked like frustration. "Are you ok?" he asked for the third time in the past hour.

"Yeah…" Sara pressed both hands on the table. "Can…can we just not talk about Jeff please?" she asked quietly.

"Why? Are you guys ok?" he asked, a little flutter going through his stomach.

"Yeah…" she lied then decided against it. "No. We had a big fight last night…it wasn't pretty." She spoke quietly and Nick could barely hear her, but he could tell this might just have something to do with the bruise on her face.

"What happened?" he asked again, glad to be finally getting somewhere.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, still not looking at him.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked softly.

"Yes!" Sara shouted out of no-where. "I said I don't want to talk about it!" she finished and stormed out of the room.