Chapter 10 – Before
Nightfall
Sara gently woke up by the warm sunlight that filtered through the curtain, and smiled. She could hear the low breath of sleeping Nick next to her and she thought she never felt better than in this single moment, wrapped in the beddings, lying next to the man she loved and with the sun on her face.
Out of a sudden an advertisment for cornflakes came to her mind, that she had read long ago and she smiled as she recalled the slogan: What better way to start your day?
A glance at the alarm clock showed her it was 3.14 pm and she switched it off. Almost time to get up. She lolled, turned around and yawned – and was asleep again...
"Are you ready, honey? We've got to hurry! I gotta be in court in 30 minutes!", Nick shouted knocking on the bathroom door. He heard the flush and a second later the door was opened. Out came Sara, an ailing expression on her face and her arms wrapped around her torso.
"I should be... But I feel so bad, my stomach... it's like revolting. I promise I'll never eat any tuna baguette again. Especially not in a snack shop on a highway... Heavens, I can't remember the last time I felt that sick!" She grimaced.
"Do you want to stay home? You don't need to accompany me. I'll tell Grissom you won't be able to work this night and it'll be ok." Nick said and hugged her gently.
Sara seemed a bit unsure, but finally nodded. "Maybe this'll be best, you're right."
Nick gave her a comforting smile and a kiss, then passed to pack his stuff for work. As he stuffed his clothes and personal things in his bag he watched Sara from the corner of his eye and he had to admit that even now she looked beautiful - that new purple eyeshadow suited her very well and made her eyes even brighter.
Sara noticed that he was staring at her and looked up. "Everything ok?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I just thought you look so pretty tonight..."
Sara laughed as he
grabbed his bag and pecked his cheek goodbye, but her voice indicated
she didn't feel like laughing. "Alright, Mr. Charming, have a
nice night at work..."
She held in and went serious.
"The law suit, your appearance in court – the whole stuff... I only wished it was all finished by now."
As she grimaced, Nick took her hand and squeezed it softly.
"It will soon be, Sara. I'm very sure of that. See, this man's as good as imprisoned. I will tell the judge what happened to me and Belverde will spend the rest of his poor life behind bars."
Whe the door went shut behind Nick, Sara moaned and settled down on the floor. She had got a slight headache which would not have done much to her in a different situation, but mixed with the bad taste in her mouth from throwing up it almost made her vomiting again.
She tried to think of something nice to distract her thoughts from the nausea, but failed to control her mind. Instead of something pleasurable she thought of the law suit and her interrogation a few days ago. It had been horrible. Belverde had been there, too, and facing him yet again almost unbearable.
Sara shook her head as if to force those thoughts out of her mind. She remembered how she had woken up for a minute earlier and how carefree and happy she had been right then, not aware of the cruelties of past and present.
Feeling that she was about to fall asleep, Sara sighed and wondered, when this would be all over.
Nick's car, streets of Las Vegas
As he was on his way to the courthouse, the radio was playing "House of the Rising Sun" and he sang along, holding his face in the last sunbeams of the setting evening sun.
He still could not believe this all was true. So much had changed within the last months... He could still very well remember the night Sara had had to identify the man who had shot at him, how she had passed out and how he had promised always to be there for her. Well – he had kept that promise.
Of course they had told their colleagues shortly after – there had been no sense in trying to hide. They were so lovey-dovey all over that they could hardly conceal it, even if they tried.
But if they had had any doubts how the others would react, they had been for no reason. Everyone had been happy to get the news...
And now they were seriously thinking about moving together. It would be quite easy – Nick's apartment was big enough for both and Sara's one could be canceled very easily.
But now Sara's sickness was on his mind – he felt really sorry for her. All the trouble with the court hearing was too much for her. She already had had to depose at court and it had been more than hard for her to answer the questions and go through it once more.
He hoped it was true that her nausea was simply caused by a tuna baguette and didn't have worse reasons.
Trying to focus on the court hearing he would soon be present at, he reacalled the development.
Thanks to Sara's identification, the shooter went on trial now and it was foreseeable that he would be sentenced. Knowing him behind bars filled Nick with great relief – he slept much better since that man had been arrested.
Of course the law suit was still in process, witnesses had to be questioned and details cleared.
And now Nick had to appear as witness in court. He had pretended it didn't matter much to him, but knew it was untrue and guessed that Sara could feel he was uneasy about it. At least, but this was cold comfort, his wound was completely healed by now and he did not have to endure the pain anymore.
Driving into the parking garage behind the court house he felt his heart beating faster. Showdown.
Entering the court house Brass appeared and stopped him in his tracks.
"Nick – I need to talk to you" the police officer said seriously and pulled him aside.
Nick frowned, wondering what Brass was up to, but followed him willingly.
There weren't many people around apart from some lawyers crossing the hall, but Brass took a look around before he turned to Nick again.
"To cut a long story short: I've been phoned today by Belverde's brother. He backmailed me, announcing something very bad would happen at nightfall if we didn't let Belverde go. I felt I had to tell you."
Nick tried to swallow, but his throat was dry.
"Do you think he bluffed?"
"Maybe" Brass did not seem convinced. "We weren't able to locate him, so we cannot control him – he could be everywhere."
Brass looked at him seriously.
"Nick, if you decide not to give evidence today, this ist absolutely understandable. No one will blame you. But if you decide to do, we offer you full police protection until Belverde's brother is chaught."
There was a moment of silence between the two of them in which Nick tried to make up his mind. He didn't need a long time. He knew he had to do what he had to do. Belverde had to be punished and sealed away from public.
"I will give evidence."
Nick's apartment
Sara woke up all of a sudden and wondered where she was until she realized she lay on the floor next to the door. She stifled a yawn and slowly stood up taking care of her stomach. When she reached the kitchen she switched the kettle on and took seat and a look at the wall clock Nick had bought. Was it really already 7 pm? That meant she had slept almost two hours on the floor...
She
heard the kettle switch of with a click and poured the boiling water
into her cup. She still felt sick and weak from vomiting and a bit
tired and hoped that the camomile tea would help her stomach calming
down.
For a moment she thought about eating something, maybe just
a bit of bread, but decided not to do so. At least not yet. First she
wanted to be sure that her stomach would tolerate that.
The steaming cup in her hand she crossed the kitchen, took a magazine from the dining table and went into the living room where she dropped onto the sofa. Taking a sip she almost burned her lips and cursed under her breath. Some days things were bound to go wrong...
She flipped the magazine open and browsed in it, but wasn't able to concentrate on the images and articles. Her thoughts were with Nick who – she glanced at her watch – certainly was in court right now. Her heart ached when she imagined he had to face his shooter again and hated herself for not being with him, now that he needed her. But there was no sense in leaving the apartment. Maybe it wasn't just the tuna sandwich but a touch of the flu.
"Very well" she muttered and took another sip, this time more cautiously.
Then she tried again to concentrate on the magazine on her lap, balancing the cup of tea in her left hand. Turning the next page she guessed it was certainly the flu. She remembered some people in the lab had been trough it. But hadn't that just been the runs? No vomiting... Strange. But then it had to be just another virus she had got infected with and only heaven knew where; maybe in the subway or somewhere else.
Sara turned another page and found herself looking down at a colourful advertisement for diapers where a cute little baby with blond hair and blue eyes smiled at her as if Pampers were the most comfortable diapers in the world.
Sara noticed she smiled back at the baby, then took measures to turn the next page, but hold in.
Just a moment, she thought by herself. Something isn't right here.
Something definitely was absolutely not right there.
Sara's eyes widened and her hands shivered when a thought came to her mind. What if she didn't have the flu? What if she was...
"...pregnant?", she whispered completely caught off guard.
The cup slipped from her hand and burst asunder on the floor. The sound scared Sara up and she jumped from the sofa, put on a jacket and her shoes, grabbed the keys and her purse and headed for the door.
A quick glance at the watch confirmed her guess that the drug store was still open.
She needed to find out or she'd go mad.
The Court House, first level
By the same moment the large wooden doors of the court room opened for public and Nick was among the first who went out, even though he stumbled more than he walked. Today's last part of the trial had had only lasted two hours until now, but he was whacked. His shoulder burned and he had a terrible headache, but yet he was in a good mood. Everything seemed to work out and he was sure that Belverde would be sentenced this evening. The jurors had backed out to deliberate and it was just a matter of time when they would be advised to get back into the court room and be presented the sentence.
If there just had not been all those photographers and journalists who waved their cameras and micros, trying desperately to interview him. But immediately he was surrounded by Brass' policemen who kept the press away from him.
They escorted him until a speaker announced the return of the jurors.
to be continued very soon!
Author's note:
Heavens... have I really been working on this fanfic for already 2 years? Geez! And I still haven't finished what I one began... :) But as you see: I'm working on it. And the next chap is almost finished, so it'll follow REAL soon! -