CHAPTER 31

"Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."

Orison Swett Marden

CATHERINE POV

"Ready?"

Sara nods, keeping her eyes on me and away from DB and Hannah.

I know being watched is not something she's thrilled about, and I'm glad she's trying to focus on me.

"Ready?" Hannah addresses me this time.

"Yeah," I state, voice tense. "I just inject it into her thigh, right? Then pull it back out?"

"Catherine," Hannah calls softly. "You've practiced this over and over today. You know what to do."

"I just…I don't want to screw up or hurt her."

"Cath," Sara calls out, gently reaching up to take my hand. "You'll do great, okay? I trust you."

I nod, squeezing her hand tightly, trying to calm my nerves.

"Alright Sara, lay back," Hannah instructs. "We need this to be as real to life as possible, but don't want to risk any unnecessary injuries."

Sara nods, leaning back to lay flat on the mat on the floor.

"Sara," Hannah calls. "We're going to try our best to invoke a seizure. This may take awhile or happen very quickly."

Approaching Sara, she lets out a breath, for the first time dropping her stern demeanor and looking at Sara with what almost looks like sadness.

"This is always my least favorite part of this process," Hannah confesses. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to use what I know about you to do everything I can to stress you out to the point where I trigger a seizure."

Sara nods, smiling slightly. "Stress me out, eh? And how is that different from what you normally do?"

Hannah smiles back, shaking her head before squeezing Sara's shoulder and standing.

"Alright, guys," Hannah calls. "Everyone stand back and no one intercede until I give permission."

Taking a deep breath, she kneels down by Sara's side.

"Close your eyes, Sara."

Sara hesitates, then remembering she's supposed to feel uncomfortable, she slowly closes her eyes.

Hannah reaches over, placing her hand securely over Sara's eyes.

Immediately, Sara's arms reach up, grabbing at Hannah's wrist.

"Stop, Sara," Hannah calls, keeping her grip firm. "You need to let me do this for this to work."

Realizing what she's doing, Sara draws her hands slowly away from Hannah, taking a deep breath and trying to obey.

"This part's going to suck Sara, but you need to trust me."

Sara doesn't respond, the brunette working hard to control her breathing.

Moving forward, Hannah places her knees near either side of Sara's head

Realizing what's about to happen, I step forward.

Eyes shooting to mine, Hannah sternly shakes her head.

Returning her gaze to Sara, she keeps her grip over her eyes firm while completing her movements and placing Sara's head firmly between her knees, blocking Sara's ears with her legs.

Sara immediately struggles, but this time Hannah uses her free hand to keep Sara's hands restrained and away from her face.

Now plunged into complete darkness and silence, hands restrained, Sara panics, legs kicking out to try to gain purchase against the floor.

"Hannah…" step in, hating to watch this. "There has to be another-"

"This is the best way," Hannah cuts me off. "If you want this to work, this is the way it has to be."

Glancing up at me, Hannah continues to keep Sara pinned down, her expression stern.

"You need to trust me, Catherine. I'm not going to hurt her."

Realizing she really can't get free, Sara goes from panicked to frantic, growling out through clenched teeth, she fights valiantly against Hannah.

Minutes stretch on, Hannah keeping Sara blinded and deafened to the world around her, knowing exactly what would drive the guarded brunette to her breaking point.

Fighting violently, Sara suddenly slows her efforts, her body going rigid.

"I…it.."

Her voice is strained, her jaw tight.

Hannah watches her closely, knowing as well as I do that Sara can feel her seizures when they're coming.

Pulling her hand back from Sara's eyes, sure enough, Sara's gaze is growing unfocused, her hands clenching into fists as she breathes shallow breaths.

Quickly moving back, Hannah steps up and away from Sara.

No more than ten seconds later, Sara's body starts convulsing.

"Give it a couple seconds," Hannah instructs me. "We need this to be as true to life as possible, and it would take you some time to get to her, to get the pen ready."

I nod, but hating to see Sara's body convulsing in front of me.

Just when I can no longer take it, Hannah nods.

"Now."

Snapping into action, I quickly snap the safety cap off the injecting pen, grabbing Sara's leg with my other.

Trying to keep her leg as steady as possible, I take a deep breath and plunge the pen down into Sara's thigh.

Pulling back, I move out of the way.

All of us watching Sara, Hannah shifts her gaze between the brunette and her watch.

"Come on," I call under my breath. "Come on, Sara."

Convulsions continuing, I'm about to panic myself when her body suddenly goes still.

"Sar?" I call, eyes anxiously going to Hannah. "Can I?"

Hannah nods, and I waste no time dropping to Sara's side.

Running my fingers gently through her hair, I watch Sara's eyes start to focus, her body starting to move to try to get up.

"Stop, Sara," I caution her, watching as her eyes move in surprise to mine.

"Cath?" she questions in confusion, eyes looking around her.

Seeing DB, then seeing Hannah, she takes in a deep breath, recalling where she is.

"Did it work?" she gets out, body finally stopping its fight against me.

Hannah nods, for the first time letting out a relieved breath.

"Twenty seven seconds from the time of injection," she reports. "Anything under thirty qualifies."

Sara lets out a breath of her own.

"Thank God."

Taking her hands, I squeeze them in mine, gently pulling her up to a sitting position.

Leaning over, I softly kiss her temple.

"I'm so proud of you," I tell her.

Both our eyes lift to DB.

He's quiet, his expression pale and tense, likely trying to cope with everything he's been silent witness to.

"I, uh," he clears his throat, moving his glasses further up his nose. "I'll see you for field assignments on Monday, Sara."

Sara smiles, closing her eyes in relief.

"You ladies enjoy your weekend," he tells us gently. "You've earned it."

Sending me a smile, DB exits the room.

Helping Sara to stand, we embrace each other, Sara holding me tightly.

"Thank you," she says into my hair at the top of my head. "I owe you."

"You've already paid any present and future debt to me in full, Sara. Saving my life from those bastards was more than enough payment for a lifetime."

Sara smiles, pulling back.

"In regards to saving lives," she tells me softly. "You just gave me back mine, so I say we call it even."

I smile back, kissing her softly.

"Deal."

Pulling back, Sara keeps her hands protectively around me, turning herself to face Hannah.

"Thanks," she offers the nurse.

Hannah shakes her own head. "I'm sorry, Sara."

"You did what you had to do."

Hannah watches Sara, letting out a deep breath.

"I always hope things work out for everyone I work with," she confesses. "But I really hope this all works out for you, Sara. I know I give you a hard time, but you really deserve to be happy."

Sara nods, taking in Hannah's words, the two of them reaching a truce.

"But," Hannah cuts in with a smile. "You get to see me now for weekly visits to document progress in the study. And, if you're not less scrawny and exhausted than you are now each time I see you, don't think there won't be hell to pay."

Sara laughs, shaking her head.

"Noted."

"Good," Hannah smiles back, leaving us in peace.

"What's this?" I ask, eyes lighting up at the scene before me.

"This is a thank you."

"I already told you Sara, no thank you necessary."

Sara shrugs, "The seizures must be affecting my memory."

I slap her on the arm with a groan. "That's not even close to funny, Sara."

Sara smiles, moving away to pull out a chair.

Complying, I take a seat, still trying to wrap my head around the beautiful dinner spread out in front of me.

When she asked me over tonight, I thought perhaps she wanted to go for coffee, or wanted to run by some theories on a case.

I didn't expect this.

Picking up my fork, I serve myself some food, taking a bite.

And, I'm pretty sure I die in the process.

This must be heaven.

"Oh my God," I groan.

My eyes fix on the slightly blushing brunette across from me.

"Why didn't you tell me you could cook?"

Sara shrugs, taking a bite of her own food.

"Cooking is subjective."

"This is not subjective," I counter. "Anyone with taste buds would be in love with your food, and probably you, after one bite."

Sara blushes a bit deeper, taking a long sip of her water.

I smile, digging in.

"Your mom out somewhere?" I ask between mouthfuls.

Sara keeps her gaze on her own food.

"I don't know."

I pause, "You don't know?"

She looks up, "Yes, I don't know."

I watch her expression, one that has gone from carefree to tense.

"Okay," I offer, not trying to make her uncomfortable and ruin the moment. "Sorry."

Sara breathes out, "No, Cath, I'm sorry."

Her eyes lift to mine.

"I just don't like talking about my mom."

I nod, "I've noticed."

Sara's grip on her fork is tight. "I…this…" Sara takes a breath. "This is just what she does, alright?"

"What do you mean, Sara?" I question, trying to figure out her statement, figure out what has the brunette so upset.

"Nothing," she breathes out. "Let's just drop it, alright?"

Her eyes lift to mine, the greens in her gaze standing out in the candle light. "Please?"

I want to push her, to force her to get over this code of silence she has regarding her mother. I want to be privy to this part of her life.

But, I also don't want to harass the woman that just spent the better part of her day preparing this amazing evening for us.

"Okay," I tell her, taking a calming breath and sending her a gentle smile.

Reaching across the table, I take her free hand in mine.

Kissing her palm softly, I return her hand and continue my meal.

Thankfully, the tension between us slowly abates, the conversation returning to much more pleasant topics.

By the end of the meal, and my third glass of wine, I feel absolutely on top of the world.

"Oh no," I call, standing quickly to grab Sara by the back of her jeans. "Drop the plate."

Sara looks at me like I'm nuts, her plate held tightly in her hand.

"You made the dinner, I do the dishes."

Sara raises a brow. "I'm not letting you do the dishes in my own home, that's just rude."

"Sara," I roll my eyes. "This isn't the fifties. Give me the damn plate."

"Or what?"

I raise my own brows. "You really want to go there, Sidle?"

Sara smiles a devilish, confident grin.

"Fine," I shrug.

Moving slowly closer to her, her grin loses some of its confidence.

"Cath?" she questions, eying me suspiciously.

Moving around behind her, she tries to watch me over her shoulder.

Leaning into her back, I wrap my arms slowly around her waist, my lips making their way to her neck.

"With my hands free," I whisper. "I can touch you anywhere I want…"

I bring my lips lower, kissing her along her shoulder.

"Do anything I want…"

My hands roam lower, coming to cross her waist, moving down towards her thighs.

"But poor you has that darn plate in your hands…"

Sara swallows, trying to steady herself against my touches.

When my hand reaches her more, sensitive, areas, however, she groans, trying to move over towards the table to set the plate down.

"Oh no you don't," I call, holding her firmly in place. "You wanted that dish so bad, it's yours, hon."

Sara groans, trying to turn in my arms.

Holding her firmly, I press my lips to the base of her neck.

"You regretting your decision?" I whisper.

Sara's breathing is unsteady, her body language betraying her.

Deciding to have pity on her, I give her neck one last kiss before I slide around in front of her and grab my own plate from the table.

"Team effort?" I suggest.

Sara shakes her head, desire still coloring her features, a smile crossing her lips.

"Deal."

Laying on the brunette's couch, Sara has her arms protectively around my waist, her breathing slow and steady, her heartbeat strong under my ear where it rests against her chest.

Holding her shirt tightly, I continue to listen to its steady beat.

"I heard it stop."

Sara shifts slightly, and I can almost imagine the confused expression on her face.

"What?"

"Your heart," I whisper. "In that room. I heard it stop."

"Catherine…" Sara breathes, holding me tighter. "I'm not going anywhere. That's all over."

Kissing the top of my head softly, Sara breathes out.

"I'm not leaving you, Catherine," Sara confesses. "I'm always going to be right here."

"You can't promise that."

"I just did," Sara counters. "And tell me one time I ever broke a promise to you."

I don't waste my time trying to think of one. I know Sara. I know she keeps her word. Always.

"I love you," I tell her, eyes closing.

I don't know if she ever answers back, exhausted sleep claiming me before I can listen for her response.

AN: Thanks for reading.