Sara barely said a word as she stared out of the taxi window. She had calmed down a lot since leaving the hospital and her breathing, though still laboured, was more relaxed. Catherine watched her carefully, concerned about both her health and her state of mind. Her young friend was obviously sick, but something about that hospital had scared her so much that she was willing to sacrifice treatment. Either way, something was terribly wrong with this picture.

Catherine knew deep down that she had done the wrong thing by taking Sara away from the hospital when she so obviously needed treatment. But she was going with her heart here, and her heart told her that Sara needed to get away from there. She knew that Sara still needed looking after, but she also knew the brunette well enough to know that she was not going to let anyone in if she didn't feel safe. And that was her priority right now.

Grissom was going to kill her for this.

X x x

As soon as they arrived at Cath's house Sara made to exit but Catherine stopped her with a hand on her arm. Climbing out herself, she handed the driver some money and walked around to open Sara's door and held onto her arm as she escorted her up the drive way. At first Sara tried to pull her arm free but realised that it was pointless so gave up and allowed herself to be led to the door.

Once inside Cath dropped her keys into a bowl by the door and wandered into the house, not noticing that Sara had not moved from the doorway. Rolling her eyes Cath went back to her and grabbed her lightly by the hand, tugging her into the lounge. "Unless you plan on standing there all day why don't you come in?" She deposited Sara on the couch and sauntered off into the kitchen where she grabbed the phone. She dialled the familiar number from memory and waited for the sleepy voice to answer.

"Nancy, hey. I've got a little problem."

X x x

After calling her sister Cath returned to the lounge, where she found Sara still sitting in the exact same spot she left her, looking around her uncomfortably. "You don't have to look so nervous you know. I don't bite." Cath assured her with a small smile. She sat on the coffee table in front of Sara, placing her hands on the girl's knees, and looked straight into her eyes, making sure she had Sara's full attention. "Honey, you know I brought you here because you asked me to, but if I think for one second that you need to go back I will drag you there kicking and screaming. Understood?" Sara nodded sincerely. Cath felt her forehead and was dismayed to find that her temperature had not decreased, in fact if anything it had gotten worse. "Sweetie, is there anything you haven't told me?" She pressed, hoping that there was a simple answer, and hopefully a cure, for these symptoms. Sara shook her head slowly, her eyes opening and closing sleepily. Catherine was just about to plead with her to stay awake when she heard the front door open and slam closed before a rather pissed off nurse appeared in the doorway.

"Cathy. A moment of your time please." Nancy announced, giving Sara a once over. Cath patted Sara's leg and stood up, following her sister into the hallway. "What the hell are you doing?" The younger sister hissed when they were out of earshot.

"Following my gut." Cath answered weakly, shrugging.

"So let me get this right; she collapsed at work, she has a fever of over one hundred and she had a seizure in the ER." Nancy rattled off. "And you, the responsible friend in this equation, smuggled her out of the hospital! And you think this is okay?" She barked. "Have you gone mad?" Catherine shushed her, glancing back through the lounge door.

"Don't shush me! You are insane; she could be seriously ill Cath. What were you thinking?"

"I know, okay, I didn't plan this. But she was so scared Nance, she begged me to get her out of there. I couldn't just leave her." She looked at Nancy sadly and the young woman softened.

"What do you need me for?" She asked eventually.

"Well, you're a nurse. You know, I thought maybe you could check her over."

"I'm not a doctor Cath, I can't diagnose her."

"I know, I just want to know whether I need to drag her ass back to the hospital or not." Nancy was not convinced that she could help, but nodded all the same and they made their way back into the living room. Sara warily watched Nancy approach, leaning away when the blonde tried to reach out to her. Cath appeared at her other side and held her by the shoulders. "Honey, you remember my sister Nancy?" She said softly. "She's just going to check you over. It's okay." Sara continued to try and pull away, insisting that she was fine, so Cath held her hand up to Nancy, warning her not to touch, and bent down in front of Sara. "Babe, if you don't let her do this you're going back to hospital." She said, gently but firmly. Sara stared at her for a moment, but eventually relented and dropped her hands in defeat. Cath nodded at her sister and sat on the arm of the couch, wrapping an arm around Sara tightly. Nancy stepped closer to the shaky brunette and carefully began a brief examination of her. All the while Nancy checked her over, Sara remained tense and trembling, and never once took her eyes off of the nurse. Nancy tried to be as gentle as she could, sensing immediately that Sara did not like to be touched.

X x x

After a few minutes Nancy stood up straight and gestured for Catherine to follow her, stroking Sara's hair affectionately on her way past. Cath smiled at Sara and followed her sister back into the hall.

"Well?" She asked eagerly.

"Well, if you want my amateur opinion: she's got a fever." Cath rolled her eyes.

"I figured that much out! Why?" She pushed, placing her hands on her hips. Nancy shrugged.

"Exhaustion, dehydration, malnutrition..." she listed, until Cath held up her hands to stop her.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, what? I mean, I know Sara's not exactly the most well rested of people and her diet sucks, but she knows when she's reached her limits. You really think...?" She asked, struggling to get her head around this.

"She's, what, 28, 29 years old?"

"31." Cath clarified.

"Whatever. Point is, if she wasn't so tense she'd be falling over and I could fit my hands around her waist if I tried. When was the last time that girl ate?" She asked incredulous. Cath shrugged and sighed.

"God knows. So, if I feed her she'll be okay?" She asked.

"It's not that simple, but yeah. With a few days rest she should be fine. If her fevers not any better in a day or two she needs to go back to hospital." Nancy explained. Cath nodded and sighed with relief.

"Will do. Look, thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it." Cath said, placing a hand on her sister's arm. Nancy laughed softly.

"Hey no problem. Can't have you killing your colleagues with kindness now can I?" She joked. "Seriously though Cathy, keep a close eye on her. Her fever is very high and if she overheats she will pass out again."

"Don't worry. I won't let her out of my sight." Cath said, shooting a glance over her shoulder at her friend.

"And hey, I know that you know her a lot better than I do, but something has certainly got her spooked and if you really want to help her you need to get her to open up." Nancy said. Cath nodded sadly.

"Easier said than done I'm afraid." She sighed. "Hey, could I ask you another, tiny little favour?" She asked sweetly.

"You want me to pick up Lindsey." Nancy guessed.

"No, well yes but that's not what I was going to ask. Could you stay here with her for a while? I'm gonna go to her apartment and pick up a few things for her, but I can't leave her alone. I'll only be an hour, maybe two." Nancy gave her an annoyed look that Catherine recognised straight away. She smiled and pecked a kiss on her sister's cheek. "You're a star Nance."

x x x x

Keep reviewing guys, makes me smile :) Oh, and free cyber muffins for anyone who can guess the theme of my chapter titles xox