AN: Thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter, and getting closer to the one I know you have all been waiting for, just hang on a little longer.

Chapter 10: One moment can change everything

She was about to open her mouth, when they all heard Tim's voice. "Why does everybody look so serious?"

Both Mariah and Lindsey silently sighed in relief as they saw their boyfriends, they even got up from sitting on the bench, rushed over to them and hugged them tightly, making them drop the bags they had in their arms, and as they were pulling back, Devon asked in concern, while Tim was thinking the same thing. "What's wrong?"

Nicole, whose heart was still racing from what Sara said, spoke softly, while silently praying this wasn't happening to her again. "There has been a car accident."

Both Tim and Devon looked wide-eyed before all eyes were on Sara again, and after a second, she looked at Nicole before stopping her eyes at Nick. "Nick, I'm..."

He cuts her off immediately as he stood up from the bench with his heart racing, not wanting to believe it was true. "No..."

Sara stepped away from her husband and started walking towards the other man, but he just shook his head again as he held up his hands. "Don't say it, I have to go."

Before Sara could say anything else, Nick was already rushing towards his vehicle, passing Kevin on his way, and when Kevin stopped amongst the group, he asked. "What's up, why was Nick running like he was on fire?"

Once again before Sara could speak, Nicole had walked right up to him, brought him in her arms and held on like she never wanted to let him go again.

As he held her, he felt her desperation, so he asked again. "What's wrong?"

She started to sniffle as Sara finally spoke. "Whitney was in a car accident."

He looked at Sara with wide-eyes and cleared his throat before speaking. "It wasn't long since I saw her, I even asked if she wanted a ride. She said that she wanted to go home and change first."

They all took a few more seconds to process what just happened, then Mariah asked. "What should we do now?"

Sara looked at Grissom before asking. "What do you want to do, call it a day and reschedule?"

Grissom cleared his throat before asking. "What would Whitney want us to do?"

They all smiled before Tim walked to the cooler, opened it up, pulled out a soda, opened the can and lifted it up before saying. "Party on." They all chuckled before he continued with a smile. "Well not in those words, but you get the idea."

As he was taking a sip, Sara looked at Grissom again, asking with her eyes if that's what he wanted, and he nodded. "Let's just continue, and the next party we have will be in her honor."

Sara nodded while looking at her team. "Alright, in Tim's words, party on."

They all chuckled one more time before going back to partying mode, but they would all be lying if they said their thoughts never went out to Nick and Whitney.

A Few Hours later

"No that's ok, just try and enjoy the rest of your night."

"Alright, but my thoughts are with you and Whitney."

Nick cleared his throat to get the emotions out, but there was still some when he replied with a few tears in his eyes. "Thank you Sara. I'll text or call later."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye."

After he hung up, he was just putting his phone in his pocket when he saw Brad, who made this journey without his parents since his mother was in the middle of doing a very important surgery and his father wanted to wait until his wife could come, ran towards him, so he stood up from the chairs, and spoke while placing a hand on the other man's shoulder. "I don't know anything yet."

Brad just nodded while he was trying to catch his breath, and once he did, he was about to speak when he heard his name being said, so him and Nick turned their heads to the side and saw another doctor standing there before Brad looked at Nick. "I'll see what's going on." Nick just nodded before watching Brad walk over to the other male doctor, who was about his height, had a shaved head, and he would bet that he had no problem getting dates.

Once Brad made it to the other doctor, Nick was paying attention to their body language to see if he could find out if the news was good or not.

After what felt like an eternity, Nick saw that Brad was done with the conversation with the other doctor, and after patting him on the shoulder, he started walking his way, while he still tried to see if it was good news or not, but like a few minutes ago, he was unsuccessful, he was dealing with doctors who were very good at only showing what they wanted you to see after all.

When Brad stopped in front of him, Nick didn't hesitate on asking. "What's wrong?"

He took a breath before replying. "It was touch and go for awhile, but she pulled trough surgery just fine."

Nick felt relieved, but only for about a moment or two because he saw something in the other man's eyes. "There is more, what aren't you telling me?"

Brad cleared his throat before speaking with more emotion than he did before. "I've done surgeries like hers, and I know every case is different, but more often times than not it's the same result."

With Nick's heart racing, he asked. "What does that mean, what are you trying to tell me?"

Brad took another breath before replying softly. "I'm sorry, but there is a possibility that she's paralyzed. She may never walk again."

When the party at the park officially ended, Devon asked Mariah if she wanted to come over, and knowing she needed to talk to him, she agreed, so after arriving in his apartment, he asked while shutting the door. "Want anything to drink?"

Feeling slightly nervous, she nodded while clearing her throat before replying. "Yes, please."

He gave her a small smile in return. "Ok, coming right up."

She nodded, and while he headed for the kitchen, Mariah goes to the couch and sat down with her heart racing.

When Devon returned to the living room, he saw Mariah sitting down on the couch with her coat still on, so he asked with a smirk, but deep down he was a little worried. "You planning on not staying long?"

She looked up at him with confusion while taking the glass of water. "Huh?"

He pointed toward her jacket. "You still have your jacket on."

She smiled with a slight chuckle as she leaned forward so she can place her glass on the coffee table. "Oh right."

As she was taking it off, Devon looked at with concern as he sat down. "What's going on, Mariah? You seem very distracted, which I would just chalk it down to what happened to Whitney, but you seemed to be distracted all day, and especially this morning." His voice got softer as he finished. "Did I do something wrong? Do you uh, do you want to break up with me?"

He had to admit the last thing he said nearly broke his heart, but he didn't want her to stay in a relationship with him if wasn't right for her.

His thoughts get interrupted when he heard her low voice. "No, you did nothing wrong and I don't want to break up with you."

He silently breathed a sigh of relief as he placed his hand on hers. "Whatever it is you can tell me."

Mariah reached for her glass of water and took a long drink before lowering her glass down, then she turned her head to look at the man she loved, and saw nothing but love in his eyes, of course the concern was there too, but the love part was all see was concentrating on.

She took another moment, a little surprised that he couldn't hear or feel her heart beat since it felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, she then took a breath before finally opening her mouth and saying the words. "I'm pregnant."

When Tim and Lindsey left the park, they did a little sight seeing, then when they got hungry, they ordered two to go meals from a Mexican restaurant before he drove them towards his one room, medium sized apartment.

Once they arrived there and was inside, he placed their bag of food on the coffee table before giving her the tour, and when he was done, he shyly mentioned. "I know it isn't much, but..."

She cut him off with a smile while thinking how cute he gets when he has that shy look on his face. "It's fine, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm not deciding the fate of our relationship on the size of your apartment."

He smiled with a nod. "Good to know."

She nodded in return before asking. "Now can we eat?"

After he nodded one more time, he went into the kitchen to get plates, silverware and the drinks, then once their plates were filled, they ate while had a little small talk.

As their meal was coming to an end, Lindsey felt that Tim's eyes were on her, so she looked over at him with a smile. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

She was going to lift her hand up to her cheek but he took a hold of it with a small smile. "No, you're perfect."

Lindsey smiles shyly at his words. "I don't know about that."

He leans towards the coffee table and places his plate on top of it before turning his attention on her again, cupping her cheek with his other hand. "To me you are, and I can't believe that I'm with you. What I feel for you is like nothing I've ever felt before."

When he stopped to regain his emotions, Lindsey, having a feeling on what was coming next, tried speaking. "Tim..."

But he cuts her off. "Lindsey, I know it hasn't even been two months yet, but I know my feelings for you are real and deep." With his heart racing, he finished. "I love you."

Lindsey's eyes started to fill up with tears as she asked. "Is this because of what happened to Whit..."

He cuts her off again. "Yes, and no. What happened earlier only made me remember that life can change in an instant, and I didn't want to waste another day on not telling you how I truly feel." He ended with emotion. "Because I really do."

Lindsey nodded with tears still in her eyes as she cupped his cheek with her free hand. "I can see that you do." He nodded before she continued after clearing her throat. "Outside of my parents and other family members, I've said that word to only one other man before, and I really thought I did, and that what we had was real." She stopped for a second before she sniffled as she finished. "But then I realized that it wasn't, it was all a lie, he just wanted me to think it was, so when it ended I told myself I would be careful next time."

When she stopped talking this time, Tim ran his thumb up and down her cheek as he looked at with her with nothing but love and concern. "Lindsey, this time is..."

She cuts him off with a smile as ale placed her hand in top of his. "Then I met you, and the caution part of me flew right out the window, I mean who asks a man they just met to hang out, in the dark, at a park to watch the sunrise. I had to be nuts." They both chuckled before she got serious again. "But the feelings I had toward you from the start were also nothing I have ever felt before, and they are only getting stronger."

Tim, who didn't show his emotions so easily, had a few tears in his eyes as he whispered. "What are you saying?"

With both hearts racing, she whispered in return. "I love you too."

Their smiles were beaming, and after she placed her plate on the coffee table, they turned to one another, both showing with their eyes exactly how they felt before leaning towards one another and kissed, eventually making it one of the most passionate kisses they had ever shared.

Once they finally pulled back, mostly because of needing air, they put their foreheads together to get it back, then after they did, she pulled back first, stood up and held out her hand, whispering. "We can get the dishes later, right?"

He smiled as he slipped his hand into hers and replied as he stood up. "Sure, what do you have in mind now?"

When he was standing in front of her, and with her heart racing, she placed her fingers on the buttons of his shirt, undoing the first one to let him know what she was thinking, but after the second one, he placed his hand on top of hers to stop her movements, making her look up with worry that she was doing something wrong.

But he just smiles to relieve her and spoke softly as he cupped her cheek. "I just want you to be sure about this. After the afternoon we had and the words that was just said, emotions can run pretty high."

She nodded in agreement before also speaking softly. "I am aware of that, but I do want this, I'm ready to move on to the next stage of our relationship."

After seeing the absolute truth in her eyes, he leans down and kisses her softly a few times before pulling back with a smile. "I love you."

Her eyes were sparkling back. "I love you too."

They kissed one more time before he lead her to his bedroom, both ready to fully share their love for one another.

After arriving at the front door to Nicole's house, Kevin knocked, then not long after, the door opened and Nicole smiled at him before stepping back to let him in while she was finishing up her conversation with her son on the phone, who had been with one of his best friends all day. "Ok sweetheart, you can stay the night, and I'll have your grandma pick you up there tomorrow, I love you." When he said their code word for "I love you" When he was with his friends, she smiled before saying goodbye and hanging up.

She sighed softly before he spoke. "I guess we are without a kid for an evening."

She smiled with a nod in return. "It appears so, so what's the plan now?"

They were just going to watch a movie and spend time together so they could get Carson use to Kevin being around him.

He shrugs as he replied. "We can still do the movie, unless you want to go out?"

She shook her head a second later. "I don't feel like going out, so a movie is fine with me." He nodded with a smile as she finished. "So how about you pick it out while I'll get some wine, is white ok?" He nodded before she turned to the direction of the kitchen while he walked to the living room to pick out the movie.

When they met on the couch, she handed him a glass of wine before he started the romantic comedy, and about half-way through the movie, their concentration shifted towards themselves rather than the movie, like how her head was on his shoulder, or his arm was around her shoulders, and they wouldn't be a bit surprised if ether one of them felt or heard their racing hearts.

It was a moment of basking in the closeness before she lifted her head from his shoulder, then their eyes met before he started to cup her cheek and run his thumb softly against it, making her heart melt even more. She lifted her hand to cup his cheek, but stopped a second later, seeing the wedding band she still wore, and she knew in that moment that it was time to take it off.

The moment Nicole's fingers from her other hand went around her wedding band, he started to speak. "Nicole..."

But she cuts him off with a smile. "It's time, Kevin. A part of me will always love him, mostly because he's the father of my first born son, but if I want to start something new with you, I have to officially let him go."

He nodded as he replied after clearing his throat. "I just don't want you to do something you're not ready for."

She smiled warmly at him before replying softly. "I appreciate that, but I am." Kevin nodded again before Nicole did something she doesn't normally do, outside of few times when work got really messy, she slipped her ring off her finger, but also knowing this time it wasn't going back on. She then looked at it and placed it on the coffee table.

They both started looking at it for a moment or two before looking into each other's eyes again, then she cupped his cheek, gave him a loving smile, which he returned, before brining him closer to her. They stopped for a second before finally closing the gap, sharing a kiss that's been way overdue.

When air became an issue, they pulled back slowly and placed their foreheads together before they both whispered. "Wow." Then they chuckled, and when they could speak in full sentences again, Nicole smiled as she removed her forehead from his. "That was definitely worth the wait."

His face was beaming as he nodded. "Very much so." Then he cleared his throat before asking. "But let's not wait years before we do that again, ok?"

She chuckled again as she cupped his cheek, then with nothing but love in her eyes, she whispered. "Not a chance."

He started to smile again, but it was cut off when she placed her lips to his again, not that he was complaining though, especially with how right it felt to be kissing her.

While Sara hung up the phone from talking to Nick, Grissom had walked into the bedroom from the bathroom and walked up behind her before placing his arms around her waist and kissing her head before asking softly. "How is he doing?"

Sara sighed as she placed her hands on top of his. "Scared. He doesn't know anything yet, he said he'll let me know when he does." Grissom nodded in understanding before she spoke to him after turning around so she was looking into his blue, caring eyes. "He really loves her, and I don't know what I can do for him if he lost her."

He cups her cheek as he spoke softly. "I know it's hard when you don't have news, but don't go there."

She nodded with another sigh before kissing him on the lips, then after she pulled back, she started walking towards the bed when her husband spoke after clearing his throat. "I thought that there was something going on between him and Catherine?"

Sara turned around and raised her eyebrow, a little shocked at her husband. She knew that but to be honest she wasn't sure if he had been aware of it. "Really?"

He nodded with a smile before he continued, shocking his wife a little more. "Well, guess at first it looked like it would be her and Warrick, but then after he..." He trailed off at the look his wife was giving him before he smiled as he asked. "What?"

She shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest with a small smile. "I'm just surprised that you were aware of your team like that."

He smirked as he walked up to her. "I wasn't a CSI for over 20 years for nothing, you know."

She looked at him lovingly as she cupped his cheek. "I know, but you're really close to the team, and sometimes you miss things when it comes to them. I mean look at the signs they missed when it came to us."

He chuckled slightly with a nod before he cleared his throat and placed his hand on top of hers that was still on his cheek. "Ok, honestly, I wasn't fully aware of what was going on between my team until us. Things started to become clearer then."

She nodded in understanding because she felt that way too, before she cleared her throat and continued. "And you're right about them, but now things are different. Catherine has let that go and is happy for him, and Nick, I think the moment he found out Whitney was in that car accident, he realized he fell harder for her than he had anticipated. And now I just want everything to be alright, and for them to be happy."

Grissom nodded in agreement before bringing his wife in his arms for comfort, but he also had to admit it was for relief too, not that he wanted Nick, or any of the others for that matter, to feel pain, but the thought of Sara being in that car accident, sent him reeling, even in this moment.

Sara felt him shutter a little when his thoughts turned a little to the dark side, which she didn't need to ask what was wrong since her thoughts were about the same thing, and she held on to him tighter, whispering how much she loved him.

When they pulled back a few moments later, he cupped her cheek and they kissed softly, mostly for comfort, then when they pulled back, they placed their foreheads together and he whispered. "How about I make us some tea and we can cuddle for the rest of the night."

She pulled back and nodded with a smile. "I like that idea, thank you."

"You're welcome honey."

They gave each other one more peck on the lips before he turned to walk out of the room while she turned to the bed and turned the covers down. Then when he returned to the bedroom, he handed her tea before getting in the bed on his side, and after a sip or two, she moved closer to him and cuddled into his arms, feeling safe and protected through out the night while positive thoughts were sent towards Nick and Whitney, hoping they will overcome this unexpected ordeal.

AN: Find out what happens next. More to come soon. Please review.