Author's Note: Hello again. Again, I apologize for the endless delays! But this time I have a reason. My best friend dared me to not watch CSI for a month. And, to her, not watching means absolutely nothing CSI, which includes this story. She didn't think I could do it but now I am twenty dollars richer :). ANYWAYS…Once again, I added some medical stuff. I did some research...I know this is an acctual disease and I picked it out cause it has a cool name...but I'm not sure of how much I wrote is accurate...so just, as you did with the last medical condition I faked, pretend I know what I'm talking about and just go with it. Thanks! and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 57 – Hemochromatosis

Sara was up all night with Charlotte. She slept for about half an hour then woke up throwing up so Sara had to sit up with her. At about three in the morning she managed to sleep through the rest of the night.

Sara called Nick the next day. He had gotten to the hospital about two hours before she called and was waiting with his mother. Three of his sisters were already there and they were waiting on his brother and other sister. The doctors were still running tests and Nick was pretty agitated.

"Did they have any idea when they will know?" Sara asked.

"They said they didn't know. They said they were working hard but they still don't know." Sara heard him sigh into the phone. She didn't know what to say. She was terrible at this kind of thing. She wanted to comfort him but could bring herself to say something comforting.

"I wish you were here," Nick whispered.

"I wish I was there too. Maybe Charlotte and I can come down when we hear something…about her progress."

Nick sighed again. "Ok. How is Charlotte by the way?"

"She's better. Still not great but getting there." When Sara hung up she couldn't help but feel depressed. She hated being this far away from him and he hated him being so upset.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

Nick paced the hall. His oldest sister, Alannah, lay across two chairs in the waiting room, sleeping. His brother acted as his second oldest sister's pillow in the next chair over. Megan and Lily were off somewhere, probably getting food, and Kim was on a plane from New York. Ryan, his brother, was still awake, watching him pace.

"I think you should try and sleep…" he said quietly.

"No," was his short answer.

Ryan let out a huff of air. They were all irritable. "Nick, it's not helping, pacing around like that," a slight edge to his voice.

Nick looked at him a second then continued pacing. Ryan rolled his eyes and rested into the lumpy waiting room chair. "Maybe you should go find out what Megan and Lily are doing."

It was Nick's turn to let out a huff of air. He left the waiting room and walked down the hall to the elevator. He wandered into the cafeteria. Megan and Lily weren't there. No-one was there. Nick turned around and went back to the elevator. When it came he leaned against the back wall and sighed again. The doctors still had little idea as to what was going on and him and his six siblings had to wait it out at the time being. When he got out of the elevator he took the long way to the waiting room, just to have something to do.

When he got back Megan and Lily were sitting next to David. He was there all of a minute before their mother's doctor came into the room. Ryan stood up, accidentally letting Robyn's head drop onto his vacated chair, making her wake with a start.

"Hey!" she said, waking Alannah up. Robyn looked up and saw the doctor and stood up too fast, nearly falling over again. Alannah sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We've discovered what's making your mother so sick," the extremely tired doctor said. Everyone's eyes brightened, hoping for good news after waiting for so long.

The doctor looked down at the chart in his hands. "She has a condition called hemochromatosis."

Nick thought for a second. He had heard that before…somewhere…

"She's absorbing too much iron…" he said more to himself then anyone else.

"Exactly," the doctor said. "We are lucky we caught it this early or there could have been serious damage to her liver or heart."

They all waited. They all had the same question brewing in their minds. The doctor waited a beat then smiled. "She's going to be fine. There is a simple treatment…she will be out of here in a few days."

Relief hit them all like a tidal wave. Nick tipped his head back and blinked tears back. He took a long breath and looked back at his siblings. They were all hugging each other. He walked in and they all had a big group hug. Then suddenly Alannah broke apart from the rest of them.

"Wait…does Dad know?" she asked.

The doctor nodded and smiled before turning to leave.

Lily started crying and Nick wrapped her in a hug. Megan got on the phone to tell Kim the fantastic news. Nick watched Megan. She was smiling very wide and she was bursting with excitement to tell Kim. Nick could tell Kim was very relieved when Megan told her.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

Nick called Sara the next day to tell her about his mother. She was very excited that she was going to be ok and also that Nick wasn't so upset anymore. He told her he would be back in a few days and to pass it on to Grissom.

Charlotte got a lot better within the next few days. Unfortunately, whatever Charlotte had had, Sara got it. She was up night and day in the bathroom. Back at the lab Grissom was frantic. On top of Nick and Sara being away, Greg had gone on vacation the day before Nick had gone and DNA was backing up. He was starting to have problems getting day and swing shift to help him out. As it was the night shift's cases had been piling up over the last few months and the lab had decided he better hire someone if they wanted anything to get solved. Grissom had started interviewing people the day Sara left and so far, he only had one possible candidate.

Her name was Stephanie Brennan. She was a tall woman with dark hair from Boston. She had moved to Vegas a few months ago to get away from her ex. Grissom had yet to tell the rest of his night shift that they would soon meet a new member of the team. He remembered how Sara had been looked at for the first few weeks and he was procrastinating. Of coarse they might have not liked Sara because of what had happened to Holly, but he was still avoiding it.

Warrick had his first encounter with her by accident. He had bumped into her in the hall while she was waiting to go into Grissom's office.

"Brace yourself," he had said to her as he passed by with one of his smiles.

"Pardon me?" she asked. She had originally been from Montreal and had a subtle French accent.

"I've never seen you here before…have you ever been in Grissom's office?" he asked. Warrick usually made a point of talking to people in the lab.

"No…" Stephanie looked at the closed door. "Should I be worried?"

Warrick smiled again. "Maybe…are you squeamish?"

She was still confused. "…no…"

"You get jumpy at insects?"

"No…"

"Reptiles?"

"No…"

"…little miss piggy?"

She didn't answer and gave him a suspicious look. He smiled again.

"You'll get it when you go in." He turned to leave but turned back after a few steps. "And like I said…brace yourself."

Warrick never found out who she was until two days later when Grissom finally got around to introducing her to her new teammates. Warrick and Catherine were all alone in the break room, waiting for shift to start. When Warrick saw Stephanie walk in with Grissom he was completely surprised. He still didn't know her name but had figured she was a witness or a new lab tech and hadn't thought much of her loitering outside Grissom's office.

There was an awkward silence where Warrick gaped, Catherine puzzled and Grissom shuffled, wondering how to start. Stephanie looked at Grissom and realized he was nervous so she looked back at the two sitting at the table.

"I'm Stephanie Brennan," she said pleasantly.

"Yes," Grissom said abruptly. "This is Miss Brennan. She…she…" he tried to spit it out but it wouldn't work so he decided to procrastinate a little more. "This is Catherine," he pointed her out, "And Warrick." They shook hands and Catherine looked at Grissom.

"She…she will be joining us tonight. The lab decided we needed another…team member…Stephanie is it." He let that sink in a second then clapped his hands together which made all but Stephanie jump. "How about some assignments?" he asked louder then necessary.

"New team member?" Catherine asked. Grissom couldn't tell if she was mad or just surprised.

"Yes." He didn't look at her. He started shuffling through his assignment slips and handed one to Catherine. He assumed she would corner him later and fume a little. He wasn't looking forward to it and decided he was going to avoid her.

"Breaking and entering in Henderson. You're solo," he said to Catherine. He told Warrick he was going to work on the man-in-the-well case and he left, telling Stephanie he would be taking her on another case in twenty minutes.

He left the room, leaving Catherine still holding her slip out the way she had taken it, staring inquisitively at Stephanie. Stephanie bit her lip and shuffled back and forth on her feet. She had the strange feeling that she was going to have to earn things like trust and respect around here.

"Did you meet little miss piggy?" Warrick asked after a good minute of awkward silence.

Stephanie's head snapped up and she gave a small smile. "I'm assuming you mean the pig in a jar…sitting on Mr. Grissom's desk?"

Warrick smiled and was about to speak but Catherine interrupted. She walked toward Stephanie and said as she brushed past, "The first thing you'll learn here…Grissom doesn't like us…assuming…things." She gave a competitive smile and left the room.

Stephanie looked at Warrick.

"You're kind of…guilty until proven innocent with her," he explained without a question. "She goes through this with everyone…me included. But as soon as you get over that step…well lets just say we are best friends now." Stephanie nodded. "You're going to have to prove that you're cut out for this job."

Stephanie was lost for words. Normally she could face anything with chin up and chest puffed out and she had never been intimidated by anyone. But now that she had met Catherine, she had to admit, she scared the crap out of her.

"Is everyone…like that?" she finally asked, trying to gain back some composure.

Warrick laughed. "None of the lab rats are. They all are too nervous to be scary. It's the CSIs you want to watch out for." Stephanie nodded. "How many people have you met?"

"Not many…you and Catherine…and the man who interviewed me."

Warrick nodded and walked toward her. He had bit of explaining to do and it was obvious that Grissom hadn't told her much. "There are only two other members on the night shift. Sara is out with the flu and Nick is in Texas with his parents." Stephanie nodded to indicate she was following.

"Nick has been working here…coming on six years now, and Sara joined us about a year ago from San Francisco. Nick is the…people person…always understands the people element but can spot a shard of glass with his eyes closed. Sara is the hard science. She doesn't give up until the entire case is solved and makes sure the job is done to complete perfection, not getting a wink of sleep in the process."

Stephanie paused while all that sunk in. "And Catherine?"

Warrick smiled. "A little and a lot of everything. She's smart, quick, and always professional. She could smell a lie before you even talk and is quick to decide whether or not you are trustable."

Warrick smiled at Stephanie's terrified look. "Don't worry…just do the job…mind you, you might have to work your ass off for a few weeks, but you'll get the hang of it eventually."

"I just need a life preserver and football helmet and I should survive the week," she said sarcastically.

Warrick laughed. "Unnecessary," he said. "We're all science nerds here. All the battery will be strictly intellectual." And with that he left the room, smiling to himself.