It was a typical Las Vegas summer day for the graveyard shift CSIs except for the fact that they were working during the day, of course. The crime had been committed during the night so they got the case, but they had to wait until daylight before they could finish processing the scene in the desert. The group was immersed in their work when they heard a faint cry for help coming from the left and behind them. They turned, almost as one, and saw a teenage girl staggering towards them. They didn't want to disturb the evidence but they needed to help the girl. Finally, Greg started running towards the girl. Nick and Catherine soon followed. Just as they got there, the girl collapsed. Greg checked to make sure she was still breathing and when he saw that she was, he sat back on his heels.
"Well, at least she's still alive but she looks pretty banged up. What should we do?" Greg asked with concern.
"We need to take her to the medical tent until she wakes up. Maybe then she can tell us what happened to her," Catherine replied, just as concerned.
Greg bent down and started to lift the limp body of the girl into his arms with her head against his left shoulder and her knees bent over his right arm.
"Hey, Greg! Do you need some muscle to help carry that girl?" Nick called jokingly.
"No, Nick, I'm fine. She isn't that heavy," Greg answered, slightly hurt. "Just 'cause you're an ex-jock and I'm a science nerd doesn't mean that I can't lift something. Jeez."
Greg started walking towards the medical tent with the girl in his arms. When he got to the tent, he placed her onto the bed. Soon after, Grissom, Sara, Warrick, Nick, and Catherine entered the medical tent. Grissom stood over the girl and noticed that there were some fibers in the massive cut on her forehead. Using some forceps, he pulled out the fibers. He studied them closely, then noticed something clutched in the girl's left hand. He carefully pulled it out and realized that it was a bandana.
"What do you think this is for?" Grissom asked no one in particular.
Greg piped up, "Well, it looks like she used the bandana to put pressure on the wound and stop the blood flow. That's probably what the fibers are from, too. Looks like she knew what she was doing."
"What happened to this poor girl? She has so many bruises on her arms. Do you think she was attacked?" Catherine wondered aloud.
"Maybe we should get back to the crime scene. We don't need any more wind destroying the evidence," Warrick suggested.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Only, we shouldn't leave her alone. Anybody willing to stay behind?" Grissom remarked.
"I guess I will. It's not like I was doing much anyways and I could always use some free time," Greg volunteered.
Everyone else went back outside to finish processing what was left of the crime scene while Greg pulled a chair up to the bed and started to read. After about five or ten minutes, the girl started to wake up. When she sat up, she automatically used her left arm as if she knew her right one was badly bruised. When she realized someone else was in the room she was startled for a moment, but then relaxed. Soon, tears started running down her face silently.
"You're up. Hey, what's wrong?" Greg asked her sympathetically.
After a few deep breaths, she replied, "There's been an accident. Me and my parents are on vacation in Vegas and we were out playing mini golf at that course outside the city. We were on our way back to the hotel when our van was sideswiped. The stupid truck was on the wrong side of the highway! How do you manage that when a boulevard divides the lanes of traffic? I think it was on purpose 'cause the truck kinda pushed the van over and kept going. And obviously, the truck was on the wrong side. Anyways, my dad lost control of the van and… and…"
She took a moment to compose her self and slow the tears before starting up again. "I'm really sorry about that. It's just hard to think of my parents. Wh-where was I? Oh, yeah. So my dad lost control of the vehicle and we spun and ran head first into a telephone pole. I hit my head on the seat in front of me and I was slammed into the side of the van. Once the van finally stopped moving, I went to see if my parents were okay. I looked at them and just knew. There was blood everywhere and they weren't moving or breathing. I grabbed a bandana out of the back and went to get help."
The girl finished her story and a fresh wave of silent tears coursed down her cheeks. Greg, who had been silent during her story, finally commented.
"Wow. That was really, um, descriptive andI'm really, really sorry about your parents."
"What canI say?" she replied with a small, sad shrug. "My dad used to work for the police; I know what you need to know."
"And let me get this straight. You walked here from the highway?"
She gave a tiny nod of conformation.
"That's like an hour's walk from here. No wonder you passed out. I think I had better get you to Grissom. He'll know what to do. I'm Greg Sanders, by the way."
"Thanks for staying with me, Greg. And my name's Kristen Brezinski."
She went to push herself off the bed but winced when she moved her right arm or put any pressure on it.
"Um, can you help me? I think I might have fractured my arm or something when I ran into the side of the van."
Greg went to her side and helped her up. He let her lean on him for support as he took her to see Grissom and the others.
"So who is Grissom anyways?"
"Gil Grissom is the supervisor of the graveyard CSIs. The rest of the team, including me, work for him."
"You're a CSI? That's so amazing! I think that would be so interesting." Soon the tears were drying up and Kristen's face filled with joy. "I really want to do something like that but I couldn't stand the dead bodies."
"Well you kinda get used to it. But you can do other things too. Hold on a sec. Hey Grissom! She's up!" Greg led Kristen to a rock that wasn't in the crime scene and went to talk to Grissom. From where Kristen was sitting, it looked like Greg was telling Grissom the entire story. Soon after, Grissom and Greg came back.
"From what Greg has told me, there was a car accident on the highway about an hour ago? Why hasn't anybody called it in yet?" Grissom asked with a frown.
"Other than the truck, there was no one else on that road and there probably hasn't been anyone since," Kristen replied with a shrug.
"Nick, you're coming with me. We're going to process that car accident," Grissom called to Nick. "Greg, you take Kristen back to the medical tent until we finish that van."
Greg and Kristen walked back to the tent and went inside. Greg sat back in the chair while Kristen sat back on the bed. Greg was staring off into space when Kristen spoke.
"You can go back to reading if you want. I don't mind." Greg sat up, slightly startled.
"Oh, um, thanks. Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it doesn't matter. We both don't need to be bored."
Greg bent over to pick his book off the floor to resume reading. As he read, Kristen studied him. He was young, probably 25, or 26, with hair that changed very frequently. At the moment, it was about ear length, blond with flecks of his natural brown, and hanging low on his forehead almost obscuring his eyes. He was thin and pretty tall. Kristen couldn't help noticing that he was very good looking even though he was almost 10 years older than she was. A few seconds after Kristen looked away, Greg looked up.
"You sure you don't mind me reading?" he asked her.
"Well if I had something to read too it would be better but I'll be all right," she answered.
"Actually, I think I might have something."
He went over to his bag and searched through it for a bit. Finally, he pulled out The DaVinci Code. He walked over and handed it to her.
"I hope that this book is okay. You may not like it but it's one of my favourite books."
"Are you kidding? I love this book! It's one of my favourites, too."
Greg raised an eyebrow in surprise then shrugged. He looked over at her arm and realized that he hadn't put it into a sling yet.
"Hey, Kristen, maybe I should put up your arm before you start reading."
"Oh right! Thanks, Greg."
He went over to the bag with the medical supplies and pulled out some bandages and a sling. He sat beside her on the bed and started wrapping the bandages around her arm until her whole forearm was covered. After he checked the tightness of the bandages, he put her arm in the sling.
"Well, this is definitely going to get some getting used to. I mean I am left-handed so it won't be that bad, but I still use my right hand for stuff."
"You're lucky that it's not your good arm. When I was younger, I sprained my left arm and I couldn't do anything for a week. It was pretty bad."
"You're left-handed too? Cool."
They went back to reading but after about fifteen minutes, Greg's cell phone started ringing. Kristen looked up as Greg answered his phone.
"Hey, Grissom what's up?" he asked.
"We finished processing the scene. I need you to ask Kristen if she has anyone to stay with while we continue the investigation," said Grissom's voice on the other end.
"'Kay. Kristen, do you have anyone to stay with down here?" he asked.
"No, all my relatives live in Canada with me."
Greg went back to the phone in his hand.
"Grissom, all her relatives live in Canada."
"Hmmm, well, I guess she'll have to stay with one of us until we can find out who killed her parents. Do you have anyone in mind, Greg?"
"Ummm, she can stay with me if she wants."
"Can I trust you, Greg?" Grissom asked sharply.
"Of course you can! I'm not some pervert or something," Greg exclaimed in indignation.
Kristen looked up in shock at what Greg had just said. She wondered what the heck Grissom and he were talking about. On second thought, she didn't want to know. Greg talked a little longer with Grissom and then hung up.
"Since you don't have anywhere to stay, Grissom and I thought that you could stay with me. Is that all right with you?" Greg said shyly.
Kristen sat there, stunned. So that was what Greg had been talking about. Grissom hadn't been sure if he could trust Greg with a teenage girl in his house.
Kristen didn't know what to do. Greg was a complete stranger to her and she had just met him this morning. On the other hand, he had stayed with her and he really was a sweetheart. She bit her lip as she thought and Greg was about to say something when she interrupted him.
"Yeah, I guess that would be all right. We have to get my stuff from the hotel though," she said a little nervously.
"Definitely. We can go now if you want," Greg said, relieved.
"Sure, that'd be great. I don't have anything packed, though, so you might have to wait a bit. Sorry."
"That's okay. Do you need help walking again?"
"No, I got it. Thanks for asking, though." Kristen handed the book back to Greg and he put it back in his bag along with his other book. She got up off the bed and followed Greg to the black CSI Tahoe. She climbed into the passenger side as he walked around the back to the driver's side. He climbed in, put on his seatbelt, and started the car. They got onto the highway in about five minutes.
"So, what hotel are you at?" Greg asked after a few minutes.
"MGM Grand. We were on the second floor in room 212," Kristen replied.
They sat in silence for a while before Greg attempted to make conversation.
"So, um, what grade are you going into in the fall? Wait. Let me guess. Eleven, right?"
Kristen looked away from the window towards him in surprise. Her expression was a mixture of surprise, wonder, and a little bit of happiness.
"How'd you know?"
"You just strike me as someone who's going into grade eleven."
"Um, 'kay. I'll just pretend that makes sense." Kristen smirked at him a little, which was unusually out of character for her.
Greg gave her an odd little glare and asked her another question.
"What classes are you taking next year?"
"Well, if you really care, Chem. 20, Chem. 30, Bio. 20, English 20 Advanced, Christian Ethics 20, Creative Writing 20, Psychology 20, Media Studies 20, Math A 30, and Math B 30," she answered, slightly embarrassed and confused as to why he would care.
"Oh, Lord. Those are some pretty hard classes you're taking." Greg was surprised that a teenage girl was interested in anything other than boys and gossip.
"Well, I'm still not sure what I wanna do when I graduate so this way I'll have lots of doors open."
"Cool. I'll bet you're smart enough to do whatever you want." Greg didn't really understand it but he really felt like complimenting this girl.
Kristen gave him a slightly shy and uncomfortable smile before going back to staring out the window.
They stayed silent for a good part of ten minutes before Greg piped up again.
"Do you mind if I put some music on?" he asked quietly.
"Depends on what it is. What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing specific. You can look at my cds if you want. They're in the glove compartment."
Kristen opened the glove compartment and pulled out a cd wallet. She started flipping through the pages, noting each cd. In the first flap was Good Charlotte by Good Charlotte followed by The Young and Hopeless and The Chronicles of Life and Death by Good Charlotte. Next to those were American Idiot and a number of other Green Day cds. He also had a number of other punk rock groups and a few Marilyn Manson cds. Kristen pulled out the American Idiot cd and closed the cd wallet. Greg looked over when he heard the zipper, took the cd from her hands, and popped it into the cd player. As the music was playing, Greg sang along silently under his breath and Kristen mouthed the words while still looking out the window. Soon, Greg couldn't contain himself and he burst out singing. Kristen looked over at him, startled, but soon got a big grin on her face. He looked really cute getting all into the song like that. Greg's enthusiasm built her confidence and she started singing along a little bit louder. While she sang, she kept giving Greg furtive sidelong glances, hoping he wouldn't notice.
"What?" Greg asked all of a sudden.
"What, what?" Kristen countered.
"You keep looking at me."
"Oh, Lord," Kristen mumbled while her face turned beet red, "I…um…I… Oh, Lord."
She covered her face with her good hand as she tried to contain her embarrassment. She took a few deep breaths to calm down, and then tried to muster up a good explanation.
"I…um…okay, sorry," she took a deep breath and continued, "It's just that I, um, really like your hair and…yeah."
Greg's face broke into smile that completely puzzled Kristen. She continued to give him a weird look until he elaborated.
"No one ever compliments my hair! They all think it's too weird, too crazy, or too teenagerish. Finally, someone appreciates all the hard work that goes into my hair!"
Kristen tried to suppress an outburst of laughter and the result was her body shaking in silent laughter. She finally contained herself enough to apologize.
"I'm really, really sorry. I've just never heard anyone say that their hair is hard work. Well, except for teenage guys who put a lot of gel in it. On second thought, that's probably why it's funny."
"Oh, so, what? I remind you of a teenager? Gee, thanks," Greg remarked sarcastically.
"No, no! That's not a bad thing! It makes you more…never mind. I'll just stop embarrassing myself now."
"Oh, well now you have to tell me!" Greg insisted.
"Nope, na-uhh, not gonna happen." Kristen shook her head for emphasis.
"Come on! Please!" Greg whined.
"No! I don't want to embarrass myself anymore. Let's just finish listening to the cd," she stated firmly.
"Fine! Humph!"
Greg decided that the best way to get her to talk was to act childish, so he put on a pouty face and concentrated on driving. Kristen tried her hardest to ignore him and listen to the music but there was something adorable in the way he pouted. After a few minutes, he noticed that she was looking at him again. This time he chose to ignore it but started up the conversation again. He was bored and, besides, he was tired of looking pouty.
"So, why were you guys in Vegas?"
"Well, it was mostly 'cause my parents wanted to go on vacation. The main reason I came was that there's a GC concert on Friday. And now I probably can't go." Kristen's expression grew cloudy as she thought about the missed opportunity. She looked so forlorn that Greg had to say something.
"Um, I have a ticket for that concert too so if you're still in Vegas on Friday then I can take you," Greg remarked shyly.
"Really? That would be so amazing! Thank you so much!"
Kristen's expression filled with joy at the realization that she could still go to the concert. Greg was really happy with himself as well. He had brightened the worst day of her life just by making his willingness to help known. The rest of the ride passed in silence as they listened to Green Day and thought about the great time they'd have at the concert.
