Sara had only made it half way down the stairs before she had to stop running. She felt weak, like she had no control over where her legs were carrying her. A thousands thoughts were clouding her mind, making her feel disorientated. Clutching the banister she slid onto a step and curled herself up to the wall. She tried to calm herself, knowing that nobody was going to hurt her. She wasn't a child anymore; her father was not about to punish her for something she hadn't done. That was in the past. Then why did it suddenly feel so real? A sob caught in her throat, the world becoming misty through her tears. Feeling her own body trembling, she tried to concentrate on her breathing. As she began to calm herself, her thoughts becoming less chaotic, her mind flicked back to Catherine.

When the doctor arrived in the break room, he informed the anxious occupants that Wendy had started to wake up and that she was going to the hospital, just as a precaution. Hodges, although concerned for Catherine, insisted he go with Wendy, not wanting her to be alone. This only left Greg and Grissom to stand by and watch as the doctor checked over their friend. Her temperature, unsurprisingly was very high, and was the likely reason for her current state. Well that combined with the inhalation of a relatively small amount of the anaesthetic, which it seemed she had reacted badly to, making her head pound and her temperature rise further still, both contributing to the nausea. "We can give you an antipyretic to lower your temperature and some pain killers to try and take away the headache, that might help. I'm afraid there's not much else we can do though. You'll just have to rest. Your symptoms shouldn't last must longer." She nodded weakly.

"I hope not." She groaned. "I don't remember the last time I felt this ill."

"If you're symptoms persist, I would recommend you call a doctor but there's no need to go to the hospital." The doctor left the room to a thank you from each person.

"Ok Cath lets get you home."

"No Grissom you don't have to do that, I can just call Lindsey to come pick me up." She said, trying to sound forceful but failing miserably.

"Lindsey is already here." He said taking her by the elbow and pulling her to her feet, not giving her chance to protest again.

"What?"

"She saw the lab on the news." He saw the look of horror and her face. "Don't worry, Warrick's with her."

"Ok." She breathed a sigh of relief, resting her head on Grissoms shoulder. He held her for a moment before she pulled away, the pallor of her cheeks returning.

"Bathroom?" Guessed Greg as she put a hand up to her mouth. She nodded as Greg took her arm and led her away.

When Catherine finally made it outside, Grissom and Greg supporting her on either side, she was greeted by Lindsey, wrapping her arms around her mothers shoulders. "Mom."

"Hey sweetie." Her voice was cracking, tears threatening to fall with the emotion of seeing the daughter she had only hours ago doubted she would see again.

"Hey guys." Warrick joined them. "How's everyone doing?"

"Better now we're out here." Greg said honestly. Catherine pulled herself away from her daughter and smiled at her friend.

"Cath you alright? You look…"

"Awful." She offered.

"Well yeah. What happened to you girl?" He said, his hand running down the still burning skin of her arm.

"Adverse reaction to breathing in what ever that stuff was." She saw Lindsey's eyes fill with worry. "Don't worry I'm ok. I just feel a little… rough that's all. I just need to go home."

"Ok, come on." Warrick placed his hand on her back and urged her forward towards his car.

"Warrick…"

"No arguing Cath."

"Yeah mom come on you look like hell." Lindsey took her and pulled her forwards too.

"Fine." She said, not having the energy to try and make a case against this. "But don't blame me if I puke in your car." She warned him, feeling like it was almost inevitable that she would be sick again some time soon. But Warrick simply wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him as he led her away and past Nick who looked at her curiously. "Don't say it Nicky, I already know." Predicting that he, like everyone one else was about to tell her how horrible she looked.

"Ok I wont." He smiled at her. "You get some rest now."

"Yeah thanks Nick." She said as he smiled again before walking towards Grissom to update him with news from Brass.

"So they got the guy. Caught him off the highway trying to skip town."

"Good." Said Grissom, his own energy beginning to wane.

"And Brass tells me they have an ID on the hit in California but they're still looking at footage from the labs in Washington."

"Ok thanks Nick."

"Ecklie wants days to take the case. Says we have too much 'personal interest' to remain impartial." He could tell that Grissom wasn't really listening anymore so cut his explanation short.

"Nick, have you seen Sara?" Grissom asked.

"No, I thought she would have come out with you guys." He said, looking a little confused.

"She left just before us." Greg cut in, not wanting the older man to say anything that would worry Nick or revel more to him than he knew Sara would want. "Maybe she already headed home." He speculated.

"Maybe." Grissom said unsurely. "I better go and find her. Check that she's ok." He said walking away from the two men. "Oh and Greg." He called over his shoulder. "You did well in there tonight. Now get some rest and take the night off. I'll see you tomorrow night."

Her eyes flickered open to the harsh glare of a hospital light. As she began to push herself up in the bed she felt a hand rest on hers. "Hi."

"Hodges? What are you doing here?"

"Checking on you what does it look like? Archie and Nick are outside too. I think I've got competition."

"Trust me David, you're in a league of your own." She smiled and rested her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes and suppressing a groan as her head filled with a dull pain. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just woken up after a very heavy night on the booze. Don't they have like, morphine in hospitals for this kind of thing?"

"I'll see what I can do." He said, squeezing her hand.

"Thanks." He stood up to leave but only made it as far as the door before turning back to her.

"Wendy."

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're ok." She smiled again. David Hodges may be frustrating at times but he really was a nice guy.

He found Sara sitting in her car the air conditioning unit on full blast making her shiver slightly. She had left the building through the back door, not feeling up to facing the barrage of questions she knew would come if anyone saw her. In the chaos of the car park, nobody had noticed her slip quietly into her car where she had been sat for the best part of half an hour, not trusting her shaking hands to drive her home. A tentative knock on the window beside her made her jump but she immediately calmed as she saw it was Grissom. He smiled and walked around to the passenger side, not waiting to be invited in. "How are you feeling?" He asked when she said nothing.

"Tired." She said, not turning to look at him. "Is Catherine ok?"

"She's fine." He reached out a hand to take hold of hers, which were folded in her lap. "Your hands are cold."

"Are they? I hadn't noticed." She said quietly, turning to face him at last. "I'm sorry Grissom, for acting the way I did earlier. I guess that a lot of memories and feelings have just been brought to the surface lately and that maybe I haven't learned how to handle them yet."

"Do you want to talk about them?" She swallowed hard and dropper her gaze but didn't answer. "You know Sara, it's ok to be afraid. I know I haven't always been here for you when you've needed me but I'm here now." She nodded, showing that she had understood. "Why don't I take you home? We could both do with something to eat and a shower."

"Ok." She had to admit going home to an empty house didn't seem too appealing right now.

"Let me drive." He said, climbing out of the car and around to the drivers' side before she had chance to argue.

"I'm sorry about this Grissom." She said as he started to pull out of the car park.

"About what?" He asked, not taking his eyes of the road.

"Being such a total mess. I hoped you'd never have to see how screwed up I am. Not much chance of that now though huh?"

"You're not screwed up Sara; you're human." He cast a quick glance in her direction, seeing her lips curve into a small smile at this. "Besides," He said, turning back to the road. "I wouldn't want you any other way."

THE END

Hoped you liked it. Think I tied up all the loose ends...

Let me know what you think anyway.

A huge thank you again for taking the time to read and review the story. x