Chapter 22 – The Little White Teddy Bear

"What the hell happened?!" Catherine stormed into the break room and saw Nick comforting a crying Sara. She paused a moment with her eyes wide open then asked her question again, a little nicer this time.

"What in hell happened?" She took a few steps closer to the pair sitting in opposite chairs.

"A…there was a guy harassing Sara," Nick explained, a little lisp-y through his fat lip.

"What guy?" Catherine asked Sara.

"A guy I was dating. Its fine now though. We're both ok." Sara sniffed and gave Catherine a small smile.

Catherine shook her head slightly and sat down, running a hand through her hair. Just then Warrick came in to join them.

"What was that all about? I just had to convince a random guy I have never seen not to file a police report." Warrick put his hands on his hips and looked expectantly at Nick.

Nick looked down at his hands. "He was trying to hurt Sara," he mumbled.

That changed Warrick's expression. "What? What did he...are you ok?" he stuttered.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nick got him off me."

"Did…do you know this guy?" he asked. His reaction was similar to Catherine's; running his hands through his hair and flopping down into a chair.

"Yeah. He was sort of…my boyfriend." Sara didn't know why but she felt guilty. Like she had done something horribly wrong.

Warrick and Catherine both stared at her with identical looks. No-one said anything and it was making Sara really uncomfortable. Luckily Greg came in and broke the silence. He was oblivious to what was happening so he came in in a cheery mood.

"What's happening guys?" he asked, heading straight for the coffee pot. He turned to face them when he got no reaction and saw the somber look on everyone's faces.

"Who died?" he asked, turning his attention to the coffee again.

"Sara just got attacked," Catherine said by way of shutting him up.

"Oh my God! Sara." Greg sat down in yet another chair and put on a concerned face.

"No, no, no. I didn't get attacked," Sara said, still feeling guilty and having no idea why.

"Well a guy shaking you and not letting go looks like attacking," Nick said.

"How…how did you get a fat lip?" Greg asked. He was a little confused.

"I stepped in. He punched me in the face." Nick raised a finger to his tender lip.

Everyone fell into that uncomfortable silence again. Sara still hadn't made eye contact with anyone. She couldn't take it. She felt it. She felt it coming. She closed her eyes and willed them back. She looked at her watch. With any luck she could get out of here unnoticed. By some kind of miracle, shift had ended 10 minutes ago and Sara slapped her thighs with both hands.

"Well, I think I'm going to leave. It's been a long night." She stood up and started out the door. When she got to the doorway she stopped and turned around. "Thanks again, Nick." She gave him a little smile then left, almost at a run.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

When Sara got home she immediately went up to her daughter's room. She was still asleep so Sara knelt down in front of her bed and tried to keep her crying to a minimum. She reached out with a shaky hand and touched her hair softly. She pushed a strand behind her ear and tilted her head and smiled as she sighed in her sleep. She kissed the child on her forehead and stood up to leave.

She thanked her cousin and took off her clothes to take a hot shower before she had to drive Charlotte to school. The shower was nice but she didn't end up washing anything…just sitting under the hot water with closed eyes, trying to wash all her worries away. When she got out Charlotte was up and sitting on the floor playing with Chester.

"Hey, pumpkin. How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Good," she answered. She got up off the floor and ran to hug her mother. "I missed you," she whispered into Sara's stomach.

"I missed you too." They stood there and hugged for a minute then Charlotte pulled away a little and looked up at her mom.

"Do I have to go to school today?" she whined.

"Yes, you do," Sara smiled and turned to go into the kitchen to make Charlotte some breakfast.

"But Mommy!" Charlotte put on her best whiny voice and accentuated her steps as she followed her mom.

"But, Charlotte!" Sara matched Charlotte's whiny tone and bent at the waist so she was eye level with the small girl. Charlotte put on a mad pouty face and crossed her arms, and Sara matched it identically. It only took a few second for Charlotte's reluctant smile to push through. Sara stood up straight and said, "You're going to school."

"But why do I have to?" Charlotte asked…a little less whiny.

"I thought you liked school?" Sara asked, taking the milk out of the fridge.

"I do like school. But I don't want to go 'cause then I won't be here. I want to stay with you." Charlotte put on a puppy-dog face.

Sara smiled. "Well that's sweet, pumpkin, but you have to go to school. And you know you'll see me after."

"Yeah." It didn't seem to satisfy her.

Sara made her a bowl of Cheerios and drove her to school with an extra big hug good-bye today. She drove home, smiling the whole way despite what had happened that night. She turned on the radio but that just brought her mood down again; they mentioned that it was Valentine's Day. She had totally forgotten.

"Yeah, yeah. The holiday of love," Sara said sarcastically to the radio, switching it off again. For the past 5 years she had hated Valentine's Day. It only reminded her that she was without love for another year in a row. And this year is was worse. Jeff had gotten her spirit's up only to make them come crashing down.

She drove the rest of the way home, storming through the door when she got there. She wasn't tired. She was already clean. She tidied the kitchen for something to do but found that that had only taken up about 4 minutes. She leaned against the counter and waited for an idea of something to do to pop in her head. She was tapping her fingers on the side of the counter when the doorbell rang. She looked in the direction of the door before pushing herself off the counter to go and get it. She looked through the peep hole and gasped at who she saw on the doorstep, wrenching the door open for him.

"Nick!" she almost yelled in his face.

He smiled at her reaction to see him. His lip was considerably smaller and he looked happier then he had before.

"What are you doing here?" Sara asked. She was a little confused.

Nick looked down at his feet. "Well. Umm one time a girl said to me that Valentines Day was only good if someone brought you a gift. And since…well…" Nick scratched his head, trying to find the right way to say it. "I figured I would bring you one." He smiled and took a white teddy bear out from behind his back.

Sara's mouth fell open. She looked down at the little bear. He was fluffy and white and his head was tilted to the side. He had arms stretched out in front of him and he was holding a card. She reached out her hands and took him, looking up at Nick. She tried to say something but she was completely speechless so she just smiled. She held the bear as if he was made of glass and she tried to speak again.

"Nick…" she managed. Now it seemed like he was lost for words. "He…he's beautiful."

"Read the card," he whispered. She took the card out from the bear's hands. She opened it, her hands shaking a little.

'Dear Sara. I know you were looking forward to Valentine's Day and I thought I might cheer you up a little. I saw this little white bear and it screamed your name so I decided to get it to brighten your mood. I know Valentines Day can be the best day of the year and I just want to say that you shouldn't let one guy ruin it for you. He wasn't worth it anyway. You deserve a whole lot better. Lots of Love, Nick.'

Sara's hand was covering her mouth. A single tear fell onto the card, smudging the ink. She looked up at the man in front of her. He was so handsome standing there. He had his hands in his pockets and was hunched over a little, waiting for her reaction.

"I just thought it might cheer you up," he mumbled. Sara took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his. Nick was completely taken off guard and opened his eyes wide. Sara still had the bear and the card in her hand but she pulled on his head softly to get him into it. He slid his arms to her waist and gently touched her hips. Sara could barely believe she was doing this but it felt like…she wasn't sure what it felt like. Good maybe. No…no, definatly great.

She pulled back only about 2 inches after a moment. She looked into his deep brown eyes. The tears were still falling down her cheeks. She wasn't sure if they were still from the card or maybe from that kiss. Nick's eyebrows were raised so high they might just have joined in with his hair. They didn't say anything, just stood there, still wrapped in each other's arms.

"Wow," Nick whispered after a second. Sara smiled and they both laughed a little. Nick closed that two inches again and they continued kissing. On the doorstep. In the rain.

Author's Note: Is that what you were looking for? Hee hee I liked writing that chapter lol :)