Chapter 2

Ryan looked over at his alarm clock; which read 5:30 am. It was set to alarm at 6:30, but he was so wide awake that he didn't think could get back to sleep so he turned the alarm off and sat up in bed.

The sun was shining through his window indicating the day was off to a good start. The last few days had been rainy and wet as they approached hurricane season; which hadn't helped his mood any. He was dreading today so much that he only got a couple of good hours of sleep. He wasn't sure why he would have such apprehensions about going back to work, but after all that he had been through no could blame him. In some ways he kind of wish they would blame him for something since it would feel like old times when he was either ignored or made to feel like he was useless.

He tried his best to put his feelings aside while he got ready for work. He thought a nice long shower would have done the trick, but it did little to ease his mind.

He went through his closet and after finding the shirt he wanted he put it on. As soon as he did he realized that it was big on him. He had known he had lost weight in the last couple of weeks, but until now he hadn't realized how much. His tailored suit had always fit perfectly, but now it just hung off of him. Luckily it still looked alright on him because he didn't have much of a choice. He could just see the look on everyone's face if he were to show up in the sweats and a t-shirt that he had been living in for the past few weeks.

His drive to work took longer than he remembered, but some of the areas had been washed out due to several heavy rainfalls recently and he had to take a different route. Luckily he had left home early so he wasn't late to work. He didn't want anyone to worry about him on his first day back. They had done plenty of that in the last couple of weeks.

After pulling into one of the spots he turned his car off and looked around. He didn't see anyone else yet so he felt it was safe to get out. He just wanted to get inside and get himself situated before the onslaught of questions about how was doing started.

It felt good to be back to work and not to have to worry about anyone watching him. The last time he had been here he left rather abruptly after passing out. This was something he was not going to repeat.

He walked inside and seeing no one waiting for him, he headed directly to his locker.

His luck was holding strong when he saw the locker room was deserted. He went to his locker, pulled out his badge and gun and put both of them in the proper location. Just the weight of the gun hanging off his side was enough to once again make him realize how much weight he had lost. He would have to start visiting the gym to get some of his muscles in shape.

He made a quick inspection of his appearance in the mirror before leaving the locker room. He still didn't like the way he looked. The weight loss showed on his face and the bags under his eyes were an obvious clue to anyone that he wasn't getting enough sleep. Maybe no one would notice.

He made his way to the lab to see what cases they were currently working on. He didn't know what they would have him do on his first day back, but he hoped it wasn't paperwork. He didn't feel like sitting behind a desk all day.

The lab was empty when he walked in, but he could tell that someone was working on something and probably just left to get something. He walked over to one of the tables and saw that it contained a few items of clothing and a hammer sitting inside a clear evidence bag. He knew not to touch anything since it was still being processed, but he could see by the evidence that someone was either hurt during an altercation or killed. The shirt had a large stain that resembled blood and the hammer had a similar color on the end.

His inspection of the items was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. He looked in the direction of the door and saw that it was Natalia, "Hey Natalia".

Natalia smiled when she saw who it was, "Hi Ryan, you're looking good. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good. So what are you working on?"

"Oh, I've been running some tests to see if they match the suspect we have in custody. We think he may have been the one to hit this poor guy with a hammer before his car was stolen. It's not much of a case really, but things have really been slow now that our serial killer is out of the picture".

Ryan winced at the mention of the killer. He was just thankful that the talk about him was in the past tense and it was not their current case. He looked up at Natalia with hopeful eyes, "Well, is there anything I can help you with?"

Natalia smiled again and shook her head, "No, sorry Ryan I don't have that much left to do. There might be some paperwork you could help me with".

Ryan was just about to protest to the paperwork when Horatio walked in.

Horatio had seen Ryan's car outside and knew exactly where he could find the young man. He was glad to have him back where he belonged. He couldn't help but smile when he found him, "Ryan, it's so good to have you back. I see you haven't wasted anytime in getting back to work".

"Yeah, I just wanted to jump right back it but it sounds like Natalia doesn't need any help".

Horatio walked over to Ryan and put his hand on his shoulder, "I have something else in mind for your first day back".

Ryan followed Horatio out of the lab and just hoped he would not end up behind a desk today.

Horatio led Ryan to his office and offered him a chair before taking his own. He looked Ryan over as he sat down. His young CSI looked better than he had, but he wished he could have convinced Ryan to take more time off. He looked tired and it wasn't hard to notice the weight loss. But he understood the need to get back to work. He had taken some extra time off after the whole ordeal and he remembered very well how eager he was to get back to work.

Ryan could see the concern in Horatio's eyes. He wanted to say something but decided to wait. He didn't want Horatio to think he was too eager.

"Well Ryan, it's good to have you back at work. I know you are probably anxious to get onto a case but I want to make sure you take it easy for a few days".

Ryan was just waiting for the word paperwork to enter the conversation, but was pleasantly surprised by what he heard next.

"I've been asked to go over some evidence from an older case and I thought you would be perfect for the job. The case was brought up again when some new information surfaced and there is a possibility that they have the wrong man in jail".

Ryan couldn't say he was disappointed with the assignment, but he had worked on cold cases before and they could be a challenge. He just hoped he wasn't stuck on it too long.

Horatio could almost see what Ryan was thinking so he decided to lessen the worry, "I know these cases can sometime take a long time, but I want you to know that I won't be keeping you in the lab all the time. When the right field work comes up you'll be asked to join in the case, but I want to make sure your involvement is small at first. I just want to make sure you don't rush back into anything".

Ryan was happy to hear this and hoped that the right case would come quickly. But in the meantime he took the file that Horatio gave him and headed to the evidence room to retrieve the items he was to work on.

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