She awoke with a start, but the movement gave her a head rush and she dropped back down. She opened her eyes, slowly this time, and let them adjust to her surroundings. There was a stark white wall in front of her and something hard and uncomfortable underneath. She turned her head and found herself staring into sea green eyes. It suddenly made sense. She was laid across the cold, hard hospital chairs with her head on Warrick's lap.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" His smooth voice awoke her senses but she didn't answer.

"Sara?" She questioned, sitting up and looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"She's stable. The doctor came in a while ago. She was stabbed while struggling with Jake and she lost a lot of blood but she's going to be okay." Catherine had visibly paled and just nodded numbly.

"I want to see her." Warrick looked unsure but she didn't give him chance to talk her out of it. "Please." She begged. Relenting, he stood up and went to speak to a nurse who had just emerged from a room. The nurse, a small mousy-haired woman, nodded and walked over to Catherine.

"This way ma'am." She was lead to a room down the hall. "She's been sedated so she probably won't wake up for a while, but you can stay with her as long as you like." With that the nurse left. Catherine watched her walk away and turned back to the room. She crept in and closed the door softly. Sara was fast asleep with her head turned slightly towards Catherine. If it weren't for all the beeping machines and wires you would think she was merely asleep, she looked so peacefully. Cath sat carefully on the edge of the bed and tenderly stroked the young brunette's cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Oh Sara, my sweet Sara." She leant down and placed a soft kiss to her lips. "It's over now."

Warrick had made a quick call to Nick to fill him in on Sara's condition before creeping into Sara's room, to find Catherine gently kissing Sara. His jaw dropped but he didn't make a sound. Quietly tiptoeing back out he smiled to himself. His little sister was going to be ok now.

X x x

Catherine had curled up next to Sara on the bed and was absent-mindedly running a hand through the brunette's curls. Her mind was running a million miles a minute and she couldn't quite get her head around it all yet. When she had left for work that night she had spent the journey trying to assess her feelings for her young co-worker and had come to the conclusion that it was just a crush. After all, Catherine was straight. It was just a rush of feelings and would go away soon. She had had crushes on most of her colleagues at some point, it was about time Sara had her share.

However, when she had got home she had found her distraught daughter on the lawn. Lindsey said Sara had saved her from the bad man and that she was hurt inside. Sara saved her little girl. Once she knew that Lindsey was okay, all she could do was worry about Sara. And that was what was confusing her. The thought that Sara was hurt was crushing her. The only thought running through her head as she sat waiting for news was how was she going to live without Sara?

This was more than a crush. She knew that now. She needs Sara.

A small noise brought her out of her reverie. She looked down and smiled at the confused girl blinking back up at her. "Hi there you." She whispered, stroking her face. Sara smiled weakly, but then her face turned serious again.

"Lindsey?" she questioned, her voice quiet and sore.

"She's fine." Cath smiled back. "Thanks to you." She added.

"Jake?"

"It's over Sara." The younger woman was about to speak but Cath stopped her. "It's all over honey, he won't hurt you again."

X x x

They sat in companionable silence for a while. Catherine held Sara close, lazily stroking her hair, and eventually got up the courage to speak. "Sar, I know that you've been through a lot and that this is probably the worst time to do this but I need you to know that I'm going to be here for you. Always."

"I know." She croaked out.

"That night that we…I know we agreed that it wouldn't work out between us but I've been thinking lately that…I'd like to try. If that's what you want of course."

Sara smiled. She had never seen Catherine so nervous. It was quite endearing.

"I'd love to." The blonde grinned and leant down and gently brushed her lips against Sara's, slowly deepening the kiss. However, the tender moment was broken by a wolf whistle and they broke apart suddenly, discovering Nick, Warrick and a cheekily smiling Greg stood in the doorway.

x x x x

Nearly finished :)