Chapter Seventeen: Trapped
Nick and Dawn were investigating a case where a man was found dead in a cave. The siblings were inside the cave processing when the rumblings started.
"Nicky, what's happening?" Dawn said.
"I don't know." He looked up. "Dawnie!" He reached out to grab her. He pulled her toward him shielding her with his body.
"Nicky!" Dawn screamed, not knowing what was going on.
"It's okay, Dawn." he said once the rumbling of the rocks had stopped.
"Nicky, we're trapped in here." She said with tears in her eyes.
"Hey, come on, honey." He said, hugging her. "Don't cry."
"I'm scared, Nicky."
"Why?"
"We are trapped in a cave with no food or water and it's not just me. I need to eat for two or possibly three if Greg was right." She rambled.
"It's gonna be okay, sis. I promise we'll be okay."
"I haven't even had the chance to tell him."
"Tell who what?"
"Greg."
"Tell Greg what, honey?"
"Didn't you hear me before, Nick?"
"What?"
"Forget it. Greg should be the first to know anyway."
"Know what?"
"That is if we get out of here." She mumbled, ignoring his question.
~ ~ ~
Greg arrived at the site. There were many people outside trying to clear the rubble away that was trapping Nick and Dawn inside.
"How long have they been in there?" Greg asked Grissom and Catherine.
"Not that long, Greg." Cath said. She put her hand on his shoulder. "She'll be okay, Greg. She's with her brother."
"I know, but Cath, they have no food or water."
"Hopefully they won't be in there long enough for that to even be an issue." Grissom told him.
~ ~ ~
Dawn was crying and Nick once again pulled her into a hug. "Shh, Dawnie. It's okay." He kissed her crown.
"I'm so scared, Nicky."
"We're oging to get out of here, Dawn. I promise you we will." He noticed how she kept putting her hand on her stomach. "Dawn, do you have a stomach ache?"
"No."
"Okay." He figured it must just be something she was doing because she was nervous. "It's gonna be okay little sis." He hugged her again. "I'm here. You're not alone." She got up and walked around a bit. She suddenly let out a scream and Nick jumped up. He saw the snake coming toward her. He grabbed a piece of board that was lying on the ground and swung at the snake. He kept swinging until he was sure that the snake was dead. He dropped the board beside the snake and noticed that it looked like a poisonous snake. "Oh, God." He whispered, thinking that was close.
~ ~ ~
Outside, Greg's phone rang. "Hello?"
"Mr. Sanders?" A woman's voice said.
"Yes?"
"This is Leona Waters from Dr. Jergen's office."
"What?"
"I talked to your wife earlier and I can't get a hold of her now. I forgot to tell her tha tshe needs to pick up her prescription for the prenatal vitamins."
"Prenatal vitamins?"
"Yes."
Dawn's pregnant? He thought. "How long ago did you talk to her?"
"About an hour and half ago."
"Oh, okay. Well, she's kind of stuck at work right now. She may be in a bad cell area."
"Oh, okay."
"But, I'll give her the message. Thanks for calling." He hung up the phone. Okay, so she hadn't told him because she hadn't gotten the chance. Not that he thought she had kept it from him. He walked quickly toward Catherine and Gil. "Grissom, you have to tell them to work faster."
"Greg, they're doing their best."
"They need to get them out of there now!"
"Greg?" Catherine asked.
"She's pregnant." He told them.
"What?"
"Dawn is pregnant."
"Why didn't you say something before?"
"I just found out because the doctor's office just called me. They couldn't get her on her cell and she only found out a little over an hour ago."
"Greg, they'll be okay." Cath said.
"I'll go talk to the guys and see how much longer they think it's going to be." Grissom said.
"Thanks, Griss."
~ ~ ~
Nick noticed that Dawn was trembling and he pulled her into his arms. "Shh... it's okay, Dawnie. It's dead. It can't hurt you anymore."
"You..." She started. "You saved us."
"You're my baby sister, Dawnie. I will always protect you. You know that, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, Nicky. I'm glad you're here."
He kissed her forehead. He finally realized that she'd said "us". He wondered if she meant her and him, or if something more was going on. "Dawnie?"
"Yeah?"
"You said I saved you, but you said us. Did you mean you and me?"
"Us." She said, putting her hand on her stomach.
He finally got the picture. "Dawn, you're..."
"Yes, Nicky. You're gonna be an uncle." She smiled at him.
"Oh, Dawnie!" He hugged her. "That's wonderful."
"Greg doesn't know yet."
"You know he's going to be happy, right?"
"Yeah. He thinks we're going to have twins."
"What makes him think that?"
"He told me that he dreamed that we had twins... a boy and a girl."
"And he thinks that is going to happen?"
"Some dreams do come true, Nicky."
"Yeah, I guess they do." He smiled, kissing her forehead.
They heard a noise and Dawn became frightened. "Nicky, is it caving in again?"
"No, honey." He said. "I think that's the rescuers outside trying to get to us."
"Oh."
After a few minutes, they had the rubble cleared enough that they came inside. "Mr. Stokes, Mrs. Sanders?" A man said. "Are you both okay?"
"We're fine." Nick said, looking at his sister. "See, Dawnie." He said. "I told you we'd be okay. Brother knows best." He joked.
She laughed. "You're such a dork sometimes, Nicky." She kissed his cheek. He smiled, putting his arm around her waist as they followed the rescue worker to the exit.
Greg saw the siblings and relief washed over him. Catherine hugged Nick. Dawn saw Greg and smiled, running toward him. He opened his arms and she ran right into them. "Greg." She said, tears in her eyes.
"Baby, I was so worried. I'm so glad you're okay." He said, hugging her. He pulled back slightly so he could kiss her.
"I was so afraid that we wouldn't get out of there alive. Especially when I saw the snake coming toward me."
"Snake?"
"Yeah, but Nick found a piece of board and beat it to death." She told him. "He told me it was a poisonous snake. But, he got it before it could strike me."
"Thank God he was there."
"Yeah." She said. "Greg, there's something that I need to tell you."
"I know, Dawn."
"What?"
"I know."
"What do you know?"
"The doctor's office called and said they forgot to tell you that you need to pick up the prescription for the prenatal vitamins."
"Oh." Her face fell. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way, Greg. I wanted to tell you."
"It's okay, honey. I'm just glad you, Nick and the twins are okay." He kissed her forehead.
"You still think it's gonna be twins, huh?"
"Yep." He smiled, putting his hand on her stomach. He dropped to his knees. "Hi there, babies. It's your Daddy. I can't wait to meet you both. Until then, you be good and don't give Mommy too much trouble, okay?" Dawn melted at the sight of him talking to their unborn children. "I love you, babies. You hear that? Daddy loves you very much." He kissed Dawn's stomach and then looked up at her. "Daddy loves Mommy very much too." He smiled at Dawn and then looked back at her stomach. "What's that?" He put his ear to her stomach. "Oh, okay. I'll do that." He stood back to his feet. "They said to give you a kiss." Dawn giggled at his silliness. He pulled her closer and kissed her passionately.
When they broke apart for air, they noticed that Catherine, Nicky and Gil were all watching them with amused smiles on their faces.
"Aww, you two are so cute!" Catherine teased. "And congrats, by the way." She hugged them both. Nicky and Gil followed suit.
(end of chapter)
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I'm going to be going out of town Thursday until Sunday and won't have internet access while I'm gone, so I'm not sure if I'll get another chapter up before Monday or not, but I'll try to do one tomorrow.