Contaminated

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own, just borrowing :)

Enjoy!

P.S: 22 more days til CSI S13 premiere! Who's as excited as I am?

"You've got to be kidding me; I'm not going in there."

"You lost rock paper scissors, Greggo, so you have to get the body…and chop, chop 'cause Grissom is on his way down," Nick smirked as he held out a pair of water boots to Greg.

Greg grumbled and snatched the boots from Nick and pulled them on. Of all the places a dead body could be, it had to be in the middle of nowhere in a lake. And of all times he could've lost at rock paper scissors with Nick, it had to be today. But he was pretty bad at it anyways no matter who he played it with. But still! He glanced at Nick once more, who grinned at him and waved him away, before he waded into the swampy looking water to retrieve the body of a thirtyish looking business man.

Greg scrunched up his nose in disgust when the sickening stench reached his senses. Why does the body have to be so far out? By the time he reached the body, the water was almost up to his chest.

"Oh god this is so gross," Greg whispered to himself as he forced himself not to puke. He'd wait 'til he got back to the lab. He'd also wait until he got back to the lab to shove his foot up Nick's-

"G! Come on hurry up, we ain't got all day!"

Greg grumbled inwardly and rolled his eyes in annoyance. Nick had been particularly bossy and short-tempered since the Warrick incident. He couldn't really blame the man, though; Warrick had been Nick's best friend and now he was gone. It'd take a while for things to go back to normal.

"Greg!"

And he also had been taking most of his anger out on him. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Geez, maybe if you were out here in this muck, you'd know how hard it is to swim in it."

"Whatever."

Greg clenched his jaw and took a deep breath…which was probably not the best thing to do. Greg gagged and felt the bile reach his mouth. Keep it in Greg; don't make a fool out of yourself in front of Nick.

Greg grabbed the body from underneath the armpits and paddled back to shore, though the task was a bit harder, because, now, he was carrying a possibly 190 lb. body, plus the water soaked clothes on both of them didn't help much either. By the time he reached shore, he was exhausted and he pushed the body towards Nick. Just as he was about to step out, he clumsily slipped on a rock and fell back into the water with a yelp. Muddy water entered his mouth and nose and when he emerged to the surface he could hear Nick and David, who had just arrived, snickering. He glared daggers at the two as he stood up, water dripping from his hair and into his eyes. As Greg waddled out, he winced when he put pressure on his ankle. Dammit, must've sprained or twisted it. But Greg wasn't about to tell anyone that; it wasn't more important than finding a killer.

"Greg, what happened?" He heard Grissom call out.

"Was just getting the body out of the water," Greg muttered.

"Well, you should've put a wetsuit on; go to the Denali, there should be a blanket and some extra coveralls there. When you're done, I want you to go back with David and the body so you can see if any evidence can be salvaged."

Greg sniffed and nodded as he watched Grissom head down to Nick and David. Shaking his head, he trudged up to the car, changed, and wrapped the blanket around his shivering body. Six minutes later, he was on his back to the lab with David. The ride was quiet and a bit awkward and when they finally got to the lab, Greg didn't hesitate to jump out and head inside.

The rest of the shift went by extremely slow…well for Greg anyways. Ever since he got back, he hadn't been feeling too well. Out of the blue, he developed a cough along with a pounding headache. He prayed to god that hadn't been anything deadly in that lake or he was in trouble. When his shift ended, Greg didn't even bother to go to the locker room; he made a beeline for the exit and to the parking garage. Catherine and Sara both noticed this and became a bit concerned. They also noticed the flushed look on the kid's face and wondered if he was coming down with something or if he was still upset about Warrick. Well, of course he'd be; who wouldn't. It hit pretty hard for all of them, none more than Nick though. Sarah decided she'd talk to Greg tomorrow during shift. Maybe he just needed someone to comfort him.

~+CSI+~

Greg peeled his face from his sweat covered pillow with a hoarse groan. The only reason he was waking up was because some irritating high- pitched noise was making its way through his foggy mind. It had been a few days since his unexpected dunk in the lake and to tell the truth, he was feeling worse than ever. At first he thought he might've caught a cold, but his symptoms very much worse than those associated with the common cold. And though Grissom was smart, apparently he wasn't smart enough to notice Greg's sickness was more than just a harmless cold, which is why he sent Greg home and told him to come back bright and ready for the next shift.

The young CSI blinked opened his eyes, only to be welcomed to an out of focus room. There was a light flashing next to his head along with the ringing noise and Greg assumed it was his cell. Just as his fingers fumbled with the device, the ringing stopped. Thank god. Wait, no not thank god. He missed a call- actually he missed ten- and he had a feeling it had been Grissom. He also had a feeling that he was late…really late. He lifted his head, waited for the nausea to pass and then looked at the clock. When his vision cleared he saw the time and swore loudly. He was over two hours late for work.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Greg whispered as he jumped out of bed. Almost instantly, the room flipped and he found himself on the floor breathing harshly while black spots danced in front of his eyes. "I'll remember not to do that again." Slowly this time, he got up and went around the room grabbing clothes and rushing into the bathroom. He knew there would be no time for a shower so he splashed cold water on his pasty, bruised looking face and hastily brushed his teeth. In a matter of five minutes, Greg was out the door and, not trusting himself to drive, hailed a taxi. Grissom is so gonna kill me.

~+CSI+~

"Greg, do you have an explanation as to why you-"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Overslept. Won't happen again, Grissom," Greg interrupted wearily as he passed the older man in the hallway. He wasn't in the mood for a lecture right now; he just wanted to get to work, get it over with, and then go home to curl up in a ball for the weekend. He was so tired he failed to notice the flash of concern pass through Grissom's eyes.

When he reached the locker room, he was grateful that it was empty. Now he could have some time to take it slow for his aching body without anyone noticing. Greg opened his locker and began taking things out. But as time passed, his headache grew intense so he stopped and rested his forehead against the cool locker. He knew he couldn't stay like this forever, but just doing this helped a lot.

"10 pm, Greg, nice of you to- G? You okay, man?"

Greg snapped open his eyes and rolled his head so he could see who was speaking. Nick.

"Hey you don't look so good, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, Nick," Greg said irritably while closing his eyes and looking away from the older CSI.

"Hey look, man; I'm sorry for the way I treated you Wednesday; I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you."

"Don't worry about it," Greg croaked while straightening himself and slamming his locker shut. Just as he was about to take a step, he swayed and leaned against the locker.

"Whoa! Greg, you alright?"

Greg blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision as black spots threatened to bring him down to the floor. He felt strong hands on his shoulders and winced; his body ached and just a single touch hurt like a bitch. He jerked away and brushed past Nick towards the hallway.

"Greg, are you sure you're okay? You almost passed-"

"I'm fine, Nick! I just have a cold so stop asking me if I'm okay; I'm okay! God!"

Greg stomped out of the room leaving Nick completely bewildered yet worried. Greg never yelled at him…at anyone, so where did all that come from? Something was up with Greg and it definitely wasn't a cold. Shaking his head, he walked towards Hodges' lab station to get some results from the water sample. He'd try and talk to him later.

~+CSI+~

Greg rubbed his sore throat after he coughed. He really shouldn't have yelled; one, because Nick didn't need to be yelled at and two, now his headache was getting to the point where he felt he might puke and his throat felt like it was on fire. That's on you, Greg. Sighing heavily, he went into his lab station to process some evidence for the case. It was going to be a long day…if he even got through it without passing out.

~+CSI+~

"Hey Hodges, you got my water sample?" Nick said.

"It was finished hours ago, Nick, you're the one who's slow."

Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well?"

"Well, there was something real fishy in the lake water," began Hodges with a grin.

Nick huffed in annoyance at Hodges' stupid pun while waiting for the man to continue.

"I found that the water was swimming with a virus called Salmonella typhi. It's a very rare…"

But the rest of the lab rat's words faded out as realization hit Nick like a truck. Greg had been in that water. Son of bitch!

"The symptoms are nas-"

"Hodges, if someone were to swim in that disease infected lake, would they catch the virus?" Nick said frantically.

"Well, duh, it enters the body through ingestion or inhalation. Even if the person didn't inhale any water, they'd still become infected, because the bacteria would manage to get up the person's nose. Why?"

"I gotta go," Nick muttered as he rushed out of the room and towards to where Greg was working. This couldn't be happening; this shouldn't be happening! Not to Greg at least. This was all his fault; he shouldn't have made the kid go into the water without making sure nothing was dangerous contaminating it. How could he have been so stupid!? No wonder Greg looked like shit and it definitely wasn't a cold. Turning the corner, he willed his legs to move faster; the longer it took, the more the disease spread throughout Greg's body…and that could mean deadly consequences. He finally made it to Greg's lab station, but what he saw made his blood run cold. Greg's shoulders were heaving so bad it was visible; the kid was leaning against the table, his hands gripping the side like a life-line and his eyes were blinking repeatedly. In then, in a split second, Nick saw Greg's eyes roll up into his head and start a quick descent to the floor.

He desperately ran into the room to reach the younger man before he hit the ground.

"Greg!"

~+CSI+~

Greg was feeling like he was gonna pass out any second. His heart was beating painfully against his chest, sweat was covering his sickly pale face and he could barely concentrate, because the black spots would not go away. And to make the job even more complicated, his hands were shaking like an earthquake…which was drastically affecting his work.

"Dammit!" He cursed as he dropped a test tube on the ground. And just as he was about to bend over to pick the pieces up, a wave of nausea mixed with dizziness and pain hit him like a tidal wave. He quickly leaned against the table to try and regain his composure; he grabbed the edges tightly when the pain didn't subside. His breathing became labored and restricted, his stomach started cramping and he could feel his body losing the fight, it being too weak to go against the darkness. The last thing he knew before blacking out was someone shouting his name frantically.

"Greg!"

~+CSI+~

"Greg? Greggo!" Nick shouted as he fell to his knees next to his pale, motionless friend. He shook Greg's shoulders gently in hopes to rouse the man, but Greg remained unresponsive.

"Crap…Help! Someone call an ambulance, now!" Nick lifted Greg's head and placed it on his lap as he cried for help. And that's when he felt Greg's forehead was burning up. If they didn't get help now, things could go south…fast.

Grissom looked up from his Sudoku puzzle in confusion as well as worry. Someone calling for help and an ambulance was not good. He stood up and just as he reached the hallway, Catherine and Sara were following behind him with frightened looks on their faces. It sounded like Nick was shouting, so either he was hurt or….

"Nicky what hap- oh no," Catherine said as she, too, knelt next to Greg.

"Nick what happened to Greg?" Grissom asked as he watched the scene before him.

"I don't know he just collapsed; Hodges found out the water Greg was in a few days ago was infected with Salmonella typhi."

"Damn."

"The ambulance is on its way," Sara breathed. "Is he gonna be okay?"

Nick ignored the question and looked down at his lifeless friend; all he could think about was how all of this was his fault. He had made Greg play rock paper scissors- what a childish game, he had made Greg go into the water, and he had taken all his anger out on the innocent kid. Greg was mourning just as much as he was and instead of comforting him, he gave him a hard time. Some friend he was.

"I'm sorry, G," Nick whispered so that no one else but he and, hopefully, Greg could hear. "God, I'm so sorry."

TBC

Well? How do you like it so far? Good, bad, keep going, stop? Let me know! REVIEWS! :) But really all I can say is: poor Greggo :( too bad I'm not gonna go easy on him in the next few chapters mwahahaha! Also I apologize for any OOCness, or virus mistakes. They are mine.