Hi everyone, hope you enjoy this story, I feel it's going to be a long one. Leave a review if you enjoy it :) x
"Hey G, how's it going?" Nick Stokes asked his friend as he walked through the lab and joined him.
"Good. How's yourself?" Greg asked him. He had been back at work for a few hours now and after everyone's initial welcoming him back, he had started to get back into things at the lab relatively quickly.
Nick nodded with a small smile. "I'm alright. It looks like your face is getting better since I last saw it. How is the rest of you?" He asked tentatively. His friend was very subdued since the incident and he rarely talked about himself as he pretty much avoided talking at any time he could.
Greg swallowed thickly, "Alright, I'm alright now." He told Nick and gave him a smile before he walked away, leaving Nick in the hall of the lab on his own.
"Greg, time for you to go Bud." Russell told him as he walked in the lab and saw Greg still sat there.
Greg flicked his eyes up to look at him and looked back down at the samples in front of him. "I can stay, these need to be finished and-"
"No, no, no. We made an agreement and you're going to stick to it." Russell interrupted. "I'm serious Greg; if you are not going to go home then you won't be coming back for another week."
Greg sighed and stood up, pulling off his latex gloves. "Alright, I'm going."
Russell gave him a grateful smile and waved him over as he walked out, "Come to my office for a minute."
When they got there, Greg was told to take a seat in front of Russell's desk, "I need to talk to you about your... limitations. Is there anything you think you'll be struggling with?" He asked his younger colleague gently.
Greg shook his head straight away. "Are you sure? The doctor told me that you will have some problems." Russell tried again.
"No, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry; there is nothing wrong with me." Greg told him quietly.
Russell sighed inside, "Greg, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with you, I'm just saying if you don't think you can tackle anything just say the word, it is not a problem."
Greg nodded as he stood up. "Alright, well thank you but I don't need any special treatment." He told Russell before walking out of his office.
His door bell rang and he turned the gas off under his pan as he went to get it. He smiled when he saw Nick standing in front of him. "Hey, come in."
"Hey man, I just wanted to drop by and see how your first day back was." Nick said as he followed Greg into his kitchen.
"It was good. Russell is keeping an eye on me, so you don't have to keep tabs on me as well." He turned as he told Nick with a small smile.
Nick smirked at him. "Hey, I'm just being a good friend. What you cooking?"
Greg moved his pan around on his oven slightly. "Just some dinner."
Nick's face showed a bit of worry as he looked in the pan and saw too small pancakes browning slightly. "That's not dinner, that's a snack. What are you having with it?" He asked with a frown on his face.
Greg looked to him and shook his head, "Nothing, this is enough for me."
"Greg, this isn't enough to feed a five year old." Nick told him sternly, "There's no wonder you are so skinny, you're not eating enough."
"I'm not that hungry alright? I'll eat more in the morning." Greg told him.
"No Greg, you are going to get something else to eat now. You're not going to get better unless you look after yourself." Nick scolded him.
Greg closed his eyes in exasperation. "There's nothing wrong with me, just leave me alone alright?"
Nick gently shoved him aside as he poured more batter into the pan. Greg sighed and shoved the plate he got out to the back of the counter, "You can let yourself out when you're done." He told him as he went down his hall and into his room at the end.
"Greg, come on. Don't be like this; I just want you to get better." Nick told him softly, following him down his hall.
Greg came back to the door and leant on its frame. "What do you mean 'get better'?"
"You know exactly what I mean, don't act like you don't know. Just look at you." Nick told him.
Greg swallowed deeply and came out to sit on his sofa. "Just look how skinny you have got. I don't want to have a go, but you need to eat." Nick told him.
"I know that, but I can't eat big amounts, alright?" Greg told him, flicking through his channels. "I probably would have left half of one of those anyway. I just can't hold them all."
Nick frowned in concern as he sat next to his friend. "Have you told your doctor?"
Greg shook his head. "What is he going to do, huh? Tell me to shove some more food down my throat like you?"
"I didn't know you were struggling. You should have told me, we can get you some, I don't know, milkshakes that fatten you up or something." Nick told him.
Greg laughed. "They wouldn't work. I would probably end up throwing that up too." He looked over to Nick and put his head down, "I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear that."
Nick smiled at him, "Don't worry about it. But I seriously think you need to tell him. He deals with these things all the time; he'll know what to do."
Greg shook his head though. "I've spent enough time at the hospital; I want to avoid going there no matter what."
"But-" Greg said as Nick started to protest, "I will go if this carries on, alright?"
Nick smiled gently. "Ok, but you need to stick to that alright."
Greg nodded and offered a smile. "I will. You want a drink whilst you're here?"
"Sure man." Nick said and leaned back on the sofa as Greg stood up and went to his kitchen. However, Nick jumped up when he heard something smash and quickly went into the kitchen where he saw Greg staring at the counter where a glass had smashed, sending shards of glass everywhere.
"You alright? What happened?" Nick asked as he went over.
Greg looked at him and moved to pick the glass up, "I just dropped it... butter fingers." He said as he tried to laugh it off, clearly fake.
Nick watched him and saw his hands shaking. "Let me clear it up, you get us that drink." He told him, trying to act casual. Greg stared at him with wide eyes and nodded, silently berating himself.
"I didn't mean to drop it. It just slipped." Greg told Nick, almost begging with him to believe him.
Nick turned his head over his shoulder and smiled tightly. "I know, you don't have to explain, it was an accident."
Greg nodded again and got them both a drink, Nick a beer and water for himself. "Why aren't you having a beer, man? You're making me drink by myself?" Nick asked him as they sat down again.
Greg sighed, "I would if I could but... I can't. Doctor's orders."
Nick frowned and Greg carried on. "He doesn't want me mixing it with my meds. I don't think one would hurt but you know."
"Oh. Is water the next best thing? Surely you have something a little more exciting." Nick asked, looking down at his water unimpressed.
Greg smiled. "This is all I got."
Nick shook his head in disbelief. "You need to go shopping. Buy yourself something that you can actually taste."
Greg gave him a small laugh and Nick looked at him. "You been shopping since you got back home?" He asked gently.
Greg swallowed and nodded quickly. "Of course I have."
Nick looked at him sceptically. "Hmm. You want me to go and fetch you anything? I can go tomorrow and drop it off when we've done work." He offered.
"There's no need, I can get whatever I need. But thanks." Greg told him, ending the subject quickly.
Nick nodded and gave him a small smile and dropped the subject, but pretended that his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Huh, sorry bud, I'm gonna have to go, one of my sisters is around at my place and doesn't have a key." He told him, after reading his imaginary text. He got up and went into the kitchen as Greg turned off his TV. Making sure he had time, Nick quickly looked in Greg's fridge and cupboards to find them almost empty. Just an old carton of milk, a pack of biscuits and a few other drabs of food.
He quickly shut the last cupboard door with worry just before Greg came in. He smiled at him and put his beer down next to the sink. "Are you at work tomorrow?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah, just for a few hours though, Russell won't let me do any more."
"Well that's good. You do not need to push yourself too hard, alright? I better not find you doing any overtime either." Nick told him with a raised eyebrow.
Greg smiled, "Thanks for calling around."
Nick gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder as he headed to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
Greg nodded. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."
"Hey Russell I need to speak to you." Nick said as he got in his car and got his cell out.
"Hey, what's up?" Russell asked him.
Nick set off down the road, his phone on speaker. "It's Greg. I've just been to see him and... He hasn't got any food. It looks like he hasn't been to the grocery store since he got out of the hospital."
He heard Russell sigh on the other end and felt the same way. "Ok, don't worry. I will talk to him about it."
Nick nodded, although Russell could not see him. "Thanks, will you let me know how it goes?"
"Yeah, I'll let you know."
Greg was in his lab, running samples just like yesterday, when Russell poked his head around the corner. "Hey, can I have a word."
Greg looked up and nodded. "Sure."
Russell smiled as he came in, "I just wanted to make sure you were eating alright."
Greg looked at him surprised. "I am. The hospital said I was doing fine."
"But what about now that you are out of the hospital?" Russell asked him, trying to make it not sound like an interrogation.
Greg nodded. "I'm... eating..." He said, a little bit lost of what Russell wanted from him, "Why do you ask?"
Russell scooted closer to him, "Nick mentioned that your cupboards were a little bare. He's concerned about you."
Greg looked down, not knowing what to do. "He doesn't have to be, I'm fine."
"Have you been to the store since your attack?" Russell asked tentatively.
"Yeah I have. I just need to go again." Greg answered him, a little bit defensively.
"You don't have to lie Greg-"
"I'm not." Greg interrupted and turned around on his chair.
Russell sighed and stood up, leaving Greg alone.
The next day
"Hey, are you up for going out to a scene for an hour?" Russell asked him.
Greg looked up from some results he was holding and smiled. "Really?"
Russell nodded with a grin. "But not for long, ok? I told you no field work and I intend to stick to it. I just thought you could come for the ride and take a few photos. But then you are coming straight back to the lab, got it?"
"Got it."
"Are you sure you are up for it?" Catherine asked him on the way, "You can say no."
"Catherine, that is about the hundredth time you've asked me. And the answer is still the same." Greg told her with a smile.
"I'm sorry; I just can't help but worry." She told him as they arrived and she got out.
Greg looked out his window and saw their crime scene. A small corner shop. He heard the others talking outside the truck and swallowed the lump in his throat before getting out.
"Here you go" Russell said as he passed Greg his camera.
Greg took it and forced a smile out. He followed him and Catherine inside where an elderly man was knocked on the floor, a cut on his head, and a small blood pool around it. Catherine gave Russell a glance and then looked to Greg, "You want to go and sit in the truck?" She asked him gently.
He shook his head and acted unfazed by the situation he found himself in. "No. It's not bothering me" He lied to her and brushed past her as he snapped his first photo of the victim.
She gave him a worried look as she went over to Russell. "D.B," She started with a harsh tone, "You knew this was the scene and you brought Greg with us! He is not ready for this so soon." She scolded him as quietly as she could, as to not get Greg's attention.
Russell looked up to her. "He'll be fine Catherine."
"No he will not! This will do all sorts of things to him!"
Russell put his hand up. "If he has any problems let me handle them, ok?"
She shook her head and walked away, giving Greg another glance before starting his own work.
He had only been inside the shop a minute and he thought he was going to be fine but he soon found out he was wrong, as his hands became clammy and he could feel the sweat forming on his forehead.
Greg stood up and could feel both Catherine's and Russell's eyes on him. He didn't look at them as he quickly walked out the shop and ducked under the tape where he went to the truck and leaned on it, breathing heavily. He heard Catherine shouting his name but didn't focus on her.
"Hey" He jumped when Catherine's hand met his shoulder, "Are you okay?" She asked him, worry clearly shining through her voice and eyes.
He just nodded to her, not trusting himself to speak for a second. "You want me to drive you back to the lab? I can take you home too; you should go and rest..."
"No, it's fine. I'm ready to go back in." Greg told her, already walking off back to the shop.
"Greg, just take another minute." Catherine told him but he didn't stop.
"You alright?" Russell asked when he saw Greg walking back towards the shop as he stood in the doorway.
He nodded and walked to him, "Yeah I just needed some air."
Russell nodded to him and went back inside, as Greg and Catherine followed.
Greg stopped however as he got back inside and could feel panic starting to build in him as he tried to keep his cool. Catherine stopped next to him and started saying something to him, but he couldn't hear. He was back there, in the grocery store, with the people who did this to him.
He quickly turned around and ran back to the car, where he went around the other side, facing away from the shop, and slid down the car until he was sat on the floor, breathing heavily. He heard feet running his way and looked up to see Catherine and Russell looking down on him as he struggled to calm himself down. Catherine put her camera on the floor and sat next to him, putting her arm around him as tears started building in his eyes. "Deep breaths."
"It's ok." She told him, whispering comforting words as she stroked his hair and tears started running from his eyes.
Russell closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself for bringing Greg out here. He watched as he slowly broke in Catherine's arms and he had no idea how to help.
So did you like it or not? I'd love to know :) x