AN: Sorry for the delay in updates, this week was hell to say the least, and didn't give me much time to post. Thanks to everyone for their continued support of the story, you guys are the greatest. Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care and enjoy.

CHAPTER 26

"The TRUTH: It may not lead you to where you thought you were going, but it will always lead you somewhere better. When ignored, it will eventually show itself. The closeness of your relationships is directly proportional to the degree to which you have revealed the truth about yourself. It can be painful."

Unknown Source

CATHERINE POV

Sara can't keep her head up, let alone fight me off. But, true to her nature, she's damn well trying.

"Stop," I command sternly, keeping my grip around her waist firm, my other hand keeping her arm over my shoulders. Sara's feet are all but dragged along, her movements shaky and weak.

Sara tries to say something, but she can barely get out a groan, voice slurred.

"Sara, I'm sorry, but you need to relax and stop fighting me."

The glass doors slide open in front of me, Sara putting in one last ditch effort of resisting.

"What the hell…?"

Seeing movement following the shocked words spoken to my right, I turn to see Hannah coming towards us from the hallway behind the reception desk.

"Catherine?" she questions, eyes wide as she takes in the sight of the brunette all but held up in my arms.

"She had a seizure," I explain quickly, trying not to panic at the feeling of Sara trembling in my arms, the brunette's breathing haggard as she drags in shallow breaths.

I fill Hannah in on the details of the seizure - length, loss of consciousness.

As she reaches out to help me support the brunette, I give her the last piece of information.

"She was drinking."

Hannah pauses, hands stationary as they stop inches from the brunette.

"You…"

She shakes her head.

"You can't be serious."

"I don't know how much," I say. "But she was drunk enough to be slurring her words."

Hannah's wide eyes shift from mine to Sara.

"What in God's creation were you thinking, Sara?" Hannah grinds out, watching as the brunette doesn't react at all to her words, Sara simply trying to take in one labored breath after another.

"Jesus," Hannah forces out angrily. "She's going to kill herself doing shit like that."

Moving and completing her previous actions, Hannah takes hold of Sara's other side, wrapping her arms around Sara's hips.

Feeling Sara struggle, Hannah shakes her head.

"Don't even start with me, Sidle," she threatens sternly. "You are so deep on my shit list I can't even tell you."

Walking together, Hannah tells me that there's an open room in the back, making our way quickly down the hall. Entering, I help her get Sara situated on the bed.

Sara's eyes are hazy, not focusing on anything as they stare at the back wall of the room.

"I'm going to get the doctor," Hannah says, rushing towards the door. "Be right back."

As soon as she leaves, my eyes glue themselves to Sara.

I watch her struggling to breathe, for the first time realizing in my haste to get Sara to the hospital that I never even grabbed her shirt.

Moving closer to the bed, I hesitate only a moment before I reach out, gently placing my hand over Sara's chest.

Feeling her breath hitch, she resumes taking in labored breaths, eyes unfocused.

"Relax, honey," I whisper, feeling her heart racing under my hand. "You're safe, you're okay."

She doesn't react to me, my words. It's like she's somewhere else, eyes distant like she's seeing things the rest of us can't.

Running my hand lower, my fingers move gently across her cold skin, tracing a gentle path along each scar, moving towards her jeans where my hand finally comes to rest near her hip.

"You're beautiful," I whisper, shaking my head sadly. "If only you'd let yourself believe that as well."

Silent moments tick by before they're suddenly interrupted by a flurry of noise and activity. All but pushed out of the way, doctors and nurses begin to assess Sara, calling out stats and directions to one another.

Moving back to watch them from afar, I try to take my own advice and relax.

Now is the time to trust that Sara's in good hands.

"Thanks for calling me," Sara's mom breathes out as she rushes into the waiting room, skin pale and hair disheveled. "I got here as quickly as I could."

We exchange a hug, both of us taking comfort in the other's embrace.

"She's still back with the doctors," I tell her when we pull apart. "They kicked me out a little while ago, that's when I called you."

Laura nods, taking some calming breaths before we move to sit.

She asks me what happened, and so I tell her, recounting it all. The drinking, the seizure.

Sara can be pissed at me all she wants, but the people who care for her need to know what happened.

If for no other reason than to ensure it never happens again.

"Damnit Sara," Laura curses under her breath, eyes downcast. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry…"

Laura looks up at me, surprised eyes taking in the tears on my face.

"Honey," she says softly. "You have nothing to be sorry for…this isn't your fault."

I shake my head.

"She was upset," I confess. "She drank because she was upset."

"She's an adult," Laura states. "She knows how to handle her anger like an adult."

I agree, but I still feel guilty as hell.

"She found out I had a fiancé."

My whispered words clearly reach Laura, Sara's mom pausing her breathing, her body going completely still.

Slowly, she turns in her chair to fully face me.

I know Laura has been perceptive enough to notice the interaction between me and her daughter. It's clear that this revelation catches her just as off guard as it did Sara.

It may be selfish, but I need to get this out, get it off my chest.

"I broke things off with him," I get out in a whisper. "I realized I loved her, and I needed to take the chance to be with her."

Laura watches me, taking in my words, her gaze returning to the busy hospital around us before returning back to me.

"But Sara didn't know about him?"

"No," I confess. "She found out today, when he showed up at my house."

Laura swallows tightly, clearly trying to keep her emotions neutral.

"Sara…she…" Laura trails off, trying to form her words. "Her trust isn't something given easily…"

"I know," I tell her. "I know I screwed up with how I handled this. I was hoping to go back to Washington to talk with Ben, then talk everything out with Sara. But then he showed up."

Laura listens quietly, silence stretching between us.

"Do you really love her?"

Laura's whispered question rings through the waiting room.

"Yes," I whisper back into the silence.

Laura nods, finally returning her eyes to mine.

"Then you need to fight for her, Catherine," she tells me. "Sara isn't going to make any of this easy. She's even more stubborn now than when she was a child. But…"

Laura breathes out.

"But if you truly want to be with her, then you need to fight for the life you want."

"But what if she doesn't want the same?"

Laura watches me.

"Did she say that?"

"No," I confess. "She said she doesn't want this life for me, but she didn't say what she wanted regarding this life for her."

Laura shakes her head.

"Sara's life has taught her a lot about pushing people away," Laura states quietly. "She doesn't feel worthy or capable of true love when it comes her way. And," Laura breathes out, "she's unfortunately encountered a lot of people who only served to instill that idea in her further."

I listen to Laura's words, mind immediately thinking of Claire. The person who apparently recently all but told Sara she was damaged goods, that she wasn't someone worth sticking around for. That the good Sara offered wasn't enough to overcome the challenges being with the brunette presented.

"I'm not giving up on her, Laura," I state evenly. "If that's what you're asking."

Laura searches my eyes.

"Your daughter deserves, more than anyone I know, to be happy."

I take a deep breath against the emotions gathering in my throat.

"And I hope someday she'll let me, want me, to be the person to bring that happiness to her life."

We both fall back to silence, taking in the words spoken between us.

Our reflections are interrupted, however, when we notice a doctor approaching.

The first thing I notice about him as I pull myself to a shaky stand is his troubled expression.

The second thing I notice is his scrubs.

His scrubs which are spattered with blood.

"Doctor?"

The doctor looks at us briefly before taking a deep breath.

"She had another seizure."

"Again?" Laura asks in shock.

"Yes," the doctor confirms somewhat grimly. "We got her stabilized, but the seizure progressed for nearly five minutes."

He meets both of our eyes.

"We had to give her clonazepam to finally get it to stop."

Both Laura and I are silent.

"What does that mean…?" I eventually get out.

"Any time a seizure lasts for more than five minutes you're risking the potential for brain damage," the doctor explains. "Benzodiazepines, such as clonazepam, are used intravenously to try to stop a seizure that doesn't resolve on its own by that time frame."

"Her seizures have always stopped on their own before five minutes," Laura whispers, eyes lost in memories. "Only once, when she was very young, did one last longer."

"Seizures are unpredictable," the doctor answers. "No two people with seizures are alike, and no two seizures are often alike."

"What happened?" I interject, pointing to his scrubs, no longer able to hold back my question.

"She had a nosebleed," he responds. "With her convulsions, there was a bit of a mess."

Before I can help it, images flash quickly into my mind, one horrible vision after another.

Sara trying to talk to me, blood running from her nose and mouth. Sara in the middle of that room, choking on her own blood. Sara hanging from those chains, blood running from her nose to the floor.

"Catherine," Laura gently calls placing a hand on my arm. "You alright?"

"Yeah," I nod, swallowing tightly.

"Can we see her?" I ask the doctor.

He hesitates, growing uncomfortable.

"She, um," he no longer will meet our eyes. "She asked me to update you, but elected not to allow any visitors."

He finally glances at us.

"I'm sorry."

Looking at his watch, he looks back up.

"We're going to keep her for observation for the rest of shift. She should be able to be released tomorrow morning."

With one last look, the doctor backs away, disappearing down the hall.

Staring blankly after him, I shake my head darkly.

"I get why she's avoiding me," I eventually state, turning to face Laura. "But why avoid you?"

Laura's expression is saddened, the older woman trying to mask the emotions from her eyes.

"She doesn't want me to see her like this," she explains quietly. "She's always hid her pain, even as a child."

Laura's eyes meet mine.

"Now, as an adult, after everything that's happened," Laura voices tightly, "She hates the idea of being vulnerable around me."

"Vulnerable?" I question quietly. "She doesn't think…"

Laura watches me, suddenly getting my meaning.

"Oh, no no," she shakes her head emphatically. "She isn't worried about me hurting her, Catherine. She's worried about her hurting me."

She swallows.

"Same reason she's hidden her scars from me all these years, hid the abuse that she faced in those foster homes," Laura says. "She doesn't want me to know, to feel guilty."

My mind flashes back to one of the first days I arrived back in Vegas for the trial. When I gave Sara back the St. Gabriel medal.

I realize with new clarity that she didn't put it on because at that time her mother had already begun staying with her.

She didn't want her mom to see her wearing the item her father likely wore up until the day he died.

She didn't want to rub his death in her mother's face.

Sara's actions are kind, considerate, selfless. But, they also concern me.

Sara's relationship with her mother is clearly in its early developing stages. But, I'm concerned that Sara has been trying to make things easier on her mother, without taking the time to truly deal with how having her mother here has affected her. It has to be difficult for the brunette having her mother under the same roof as her – especially since the last time they were living under the same roof her mother stabbed her father to death in their own home.

Sara's been very quiet about her relationship with her mom, and it worries me.

I want so badly for the two of them to develop a genuine adult relationship with one another. But, that can't happen if Sara keeps hiding her feelings, her emotions, hiding everything 'negative' about her past with her mother. If she keeps pretending like those things didn't happen, she and her mother will never be able to move on from them.

Looking over at Laura, the exhaustion on her face that mirrors my own, I gently take her arm.

"Come on," I call gently. "I'll take you home, and we can come together to get Sara in the morning."

Laura takes a deep breath, nodding quietly.

AN: Thanks for reading.