AN: this chapter may be a bit different as I'm trying to include more characters into this story.

Chapter 3

After emptying his stomach of what seemed to be the last few weeks of food Greg had stumbled back to bed, huddling under the covers and dropping into a deep sleep only to awaken to dry heave into the bin he placed next to his bed.

Greg was not happy, after this rude awakening he had spent the last few hours feeling exhausted and wanting to fall back to sleep but the combination of his body aching and the sharp pain in his chest kept him from doing so and he resorted to simply tossing and turning in his bed, often slipping into a doze and coughing himself awake.

During one of his light sleeps he heard his mobile ringing but unfortunately he had left it on the kitchen counter and he couldn't bear the thought of putting one foot out of bed, instead choosing to lay there and feel sorry for himself. He heard the phone go off again, choosing to ignore it yet again and slipping back into a light sleep.

Once again his sleep was interrupted, though this time it was by the doorbell ringing, Greg closed his eyes and tried to will them away, thinking it was likely a neighbour come to complain about all the noise he had been making. Whoever was at the door was insistent though and Greg forced himself upright and out of bed, stumbling and wheezing as he made his way to the front door.

Nick had just finished a gruelling double shift, closing the case on a prostitute's murder and had decided to drop on by and see how his friend was doing. He felt his jaw drop as the door swung open; he had seen Greg look bad before but nothing like this. His face was drawn and his skin pale making his eyes look dull and sunken.

"Hey man, you look like hell." He said in greeting

"I'm fine. Looks worse than it is" Greg mumbled, stepping back to allow Nick to enter the apartment. Greg flopped down onto the sofa, the motion causing him to cough harshly and causing Nick to frown.

"Somehow you look bad but manage to sound even worse. Do you need me to get you anything?" Nick asked, forehead wrinkling in concern.

"It's ok, got enough supplies earlier, despite what people seem to think I can look after myself. I think I'm due another dose of meds though." Greg said, motioning towards the bedroom where he had left them signalling Nick to wander down in to the room to find them and walking back and handing them to Greg along with a bottle of water.

"Griss said you had a chest infection. How long till you're able to go back to work?"

"Aww Nicky, missing me already?" Greg said in a teasing tone, reassuring Nick that he probably would be fine as his sense of humour still seemed to be intact.

"Yeah we miss having someone to do our dirty work." Nick replied, smirking at Greg who merely grunted in reply.

Nick stayed for a while longer, the television on in the background but his focus more upon his friend feeling concerned at his raspy breathing and coughs.

"I know I'm gorgeous Nick but it's off putting having you stare at me like that, I just don't swing that way." Greg said in a teasing tone, causing Nick to roll his eyes in response. Eventually Greg managed to convince Nick to leave and let him rest. Though not before Nick managed to force feed him some food (which Greg later bought back up once he'd left) and drink enough water to remain hydrated. Once he had left Greg collapsed on the sofa, falling asleep to the drone of the television.


Grissom sighed and looked at Greg's number on his phone, debating whether to ring him or not. Eventually he hit the call button, not really having a choice. Jim had just called and they had a big high profile case that night, one which required all his csi's on scene.

"Sanders." Answered a raspy voice from the phone.

"Hey Greg." There was a long pause as Grissom instantly began debating his decision to call in his sick csi.

"Did you need me to come in?" Greg broke the silence

"There's been a triple homicide of what seems to be a family in their home. It's a high profile case; Ecklie wants all members on board."

"What's the address and I'll meet you out there." Grissom hesitated before answering

"Greg if you don't feel up to it you don't have to. There are plenty of us to take care of this."

"I'm fine." Greg replied in a strained voice, fed up of people doubting his ability to look after himself and looking for any excuse to keep his mind active to distract him from the heavy feeling in his chest. "The fresh air will probably do me good anyway."

"I'll send Nick to pick you up on the way." With that Grissom ended the call, feeling pretty lousy for dragging Greg in but not showing it as he entered the room to give out the assignment to his remaining csi's.

"Brass just called about a big case. Triple homicide in the Shirley house."

"The defence lawyer?" Catherine asked, picking up the case file.

"Yes, the victims are apparently a woman and two children." Catherine's eyes narrowed at the mention of the children's bodies, her mind automatically going to think of her own daughter.

"No sign of a husband?" Warrick asked, crossing his arms as he did so.

"I don't think she had one." Nick interjected.

"Here's the address, Warrick and Catherine you go in one car, I'll go with Sara and Nick you need to pick up Greg on the way."

"Greg? But I thought he was off sick." Sara turned to Grissom a confused look on her face.

"I phoned and he said he was fine and well enough to work." Grissom responded, feeling as if he were having to defend him decision.

"Griss I went by there this morning and he did not look healthy. You know Greg; he's like the rest of us, too devoted to his work."

"Nicky it was his choice and he's obviously feeling better. Now let's go whilst the scene is still fresh." With that Grissom left the room feeling pretty guilty still, the rest of his team trailing behind.


Nick jumped into his Denali, muttering to himself over Greg and his stubborn fool attitude and drove the familiar route to his apartment. He pulled outside the building and spotted Greg, waiting for him on the wall, looking as ill as he had earlier in the day.

Greg was still feeling pretty awful but at Grissoms phone call he had heaved himself from the sofa and stumbled into the bathroom and the shower, his body feeling a bit more normal after his shower and less like a wet noodle as the water revived him. He'd put on a thick jumped before grabbing his meds and putting them in his case and heading down the stairs to wait for Nick. He'd just sat down on the wall (getting down those stairs had taken a long time and a worryingly large amount of effort) when Nicked pulled up.

Picking up his case, Greg wandered over to the large vehicle, putting his case in the boot and walking round to the passenger's side where he met the very disapproving face of Nick Stokes glaring at him as he opened the door, mumbling a hello and slid into the seat. Nick pulled away from the pavement, looking towards the road but turning round to glare at Greg every so often. Finally Nick broke the tense silence in the car.

"You look like crap man, what the hell are you thinking! You shouldn't even be out of bed." Greg felt anger bubbling in his chest (and a cough but he was too stubborn to let that out now).

"How many times do I have to say I'm fine? It's just some chest infection. Why don't people trust me to be able to look after myself, because surprisingly I am old enough and have been living on my own long enough to know how. Now quit harassing me and let me do my job." Greg folded his arms over his chest and looked out of the window, trying to ignore how breathless his little rant had made him.

"We're just looking out for you Greggo." Nick responded in a hurt voice, Greg shifted uncomfortably in his seat as guilt over upsetting him made itself known. The rest of the journey was made in awkward silence and eventually they pulled up outside their crime scene where the crowd of media had already appeared. Nick leapt out the car, grabbing his case and made his way to Grissom, leaving Greg to follow behind feeling pretty lousy at how he had treated his friend and regretting coming out as the cooler air of the evening caused him to cough harshly.

End chapter