Chapter Eleven – Rachael is a Godsend

Catherine was sitting in Warrick's lap, arms wrapped around his neck as she watched Sara's body tremble every few minutes in her sleep. Warrick was asleep, his warm breath hitting her neck. Catherine never felt more sorry for Sara. It was times like these that Cath's maternal instincts kicked in and made her want to look out for the younger CSI more than ever.

Catherine stood up and walked past the curtain into Grissom's section of the room. The bed was empty; it almost seemed eerie. He had been in surgery for the past six hours now and they said it would probably be a while longer. He had severe internal bleeding that they hadn't noticed before. He was bleeding from three different spots, all of which were hard to get too.

Catherine was lost in her own little world when she heard a tap at the door. She turned around and saw Nick standing there with Rachael glued to his arm. Catherine was once again stunned at the blonde standing in front of her. She always thought Nick when for a different type of girl but this just proved that it's the personality that counts.

Rachael's long, natural blonde hair was wavy and air-dried. Her skin was a light peach with faint freckles and her gray-blue eyes that looked like a cobblestone street were her most attractive feature. Her face was somewhat plane and thin, good cheekbones though. Her grass green Ezekiel t-shirt was baggy and seemed to fall down to mid thigh, where they met up with her tight jeans that showed off her toned legs from step class. Her style was defiantly…out there.

"Hey Cath, we heard what happened to Griss. How's Sara doing?"

"She'll be fine. They gave her some pretty strong sleeping medication though. Knocked her right out. Crack dealers would pay good money for that stuff." Both Nick and Rachael chuckled.

"I'm sure everything will work out. From everything Nick's told me they seem like a pretty strong pair." Catherine smiled at Rachael. The girl had never even met the two yet she already had a good grasp on things.

"Hey Cath, Has Greg been here yet?"

"No, why?" Nick snapped his fingers in displeasure.

"Dang, we were hoping we could set him up with Rachael's friend Trina. She's just like him."

"You mean insane?"

"Exactly!" Rachael chimed in. "She saw a photo of Greg one time and is now head over heels. As much as I like to torment her, she's been my best buddy since eighth grade and I have to do SOME nice things for her. Not to mention that she hooked me up with my first boyfriend." Nick cringed a little. Just then they all heard something from outside the door.

The doctors came in, wheeling Grissom right along with them. All three ran to his side. The doctor explained that the surgery had been a success but that he would have to stay in the hospital for another few weeks to heal. Catherine sighed in relief along with Nick. Rachael had this blank look on her face as she watched Grissom get wheeled in.

"So that's Grissom?" Rachael's voice was almost monotone. Her face looked green as soon as she saw the blood soaked bandages. Nick notice and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in closer to him.

"It's okay Rach, it's just a little blood."

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Rach ran out of the room, hand over mouth, and into the restroom.

"Well, I guess she's never going to become a CSI."

"Nope. Hey Nick, what does she do anyway? And how did you meet her?"

"She's an engineer. But only part time. She also has a small shop on Freemont Street where she and her friend Trina sell their art on the weekends. I met her at a club actually. She's not really into it but her friend Trina, or Katrina, dragged her to it along with her friends Corinne and Rachel. And yes, they are both named Rachel, just spelt differently." Just then they heard a moan from the next bed. They rushed over and saw Sara sitting up staring at her hands.

"I want to see him. I know he's back so just let me see him." Catherine just nodded and opened the curtains. When Sara saw Grissom lying there she felt her stomach churn.

"Sara, it's okay, he's going to be fine. It was just a little internal bleeding, that all. He's going to be fine." Sara's body kept trembling with tears. Rachael walked back into the room and saw what was going on.

"Cath, why don't you let me try something." Catherine figured it couldn't hurt and she and Nick left the room but kept their ears on the closed door.

"Hi Sara. I'm Rachael, Nick's girlfriend. Look, everything's gonna be okay. You had a little scare back there but trust me, when you love someone enough they won't leave you. You truly love Grissom and from what I've heard, he loves you too. A few months back Nick was held at gunpoint and I was terrified. I seriously thought I would loose him. I was more scared of that than I am of spiders." Rachael cringed a little and Sara let out a small laugh. Rachael smiled at that. "You just have to believe that everything will be okay. If all you ever think about is what could happen you'll never think about what is happening. Okay?"

"How…why did you do this? Why help me when you hardly know me?"

"Because you mean a lot to Nick and he mean a lot to me. Seeing you in pain hurts him and I can't stand to see him in pain." Both were silent for a moment. "Well, that was very mushy. Damn, that Nick is worse than Prozac. If Kat saw me like this she'd slap me over the head with a cinder block." Sara laughed once more.

"Kat? Who's she?"

"Oh she's my best friend who Nick and I are trying to hook up with Greg."

"That sounds like fun. Wow…thanks Rach, you've really helped."

"Yah, yah, yah, just don't let Nick know I was this nice."

"Promised." Rach and Sara crossed pinky's in a childish version of the pinky swear. Just then Nick and Catherine walked back in with Greg trailing behind them.

"So this is Greg, man will Kat flip!" Greg started at the overzealous blond quizzically.

"Let me guess, Rachael?" Rachael took Nicks hand and nodded proudly.

"Hey guys, I think maybe we should let both Sara and Griss get some sleep. Well see them tomorrow." All headed for the door. Rachael was the last to exit. Just as she was about to take off Sara called her name.

"Rachael, thank a lot. You really helped."

"No prolemo kiddo." With a little wink and click of the tongue Rachael left.