Title:Last Drink Tonight
Author:Nicksfriend
Disclaimer:I do not own or have any sort of connection to CBS or the CSI franchise...wish I did though it would be nice to have a little extra cash.
Summary: A trip to a missing person case is interrupted by a drunk driver.
Waiting area
Grissom's description of what had occurred in the ICU was numbing to the crowd, they were hoping that Nick was actually improving then another set back. Nick would be in the ICU for days, and the planned visitation with his friends had been canceled.
Warrick stood,"Listen, I've got to be back at work this afternoon so since sleeping beauty is going to rest I'm going to take advantage and go home myself and attempt to get some Z's." he moved towards the door, Sara stood to follow also. He knew that if anything changed that he would get a call from Catherine,Nick's protector.
Sara's movements stopped as she approached the door, turning around to see her supervisors, at Grissom and Catherine,they looked exhausted, especially Grissom, she tool a deep breath, they would not like what she was going to say but it needed to be said, "Have you guys thought that maybe after all that Nick has been through that it might be better if he didn't remember. I mean, would it be such a bad thing?" she shrugged her shoulders, a sad look on her face, turned and continued to follow Warrick out of the door.
"She may have a point, Nick hasn't had the best life evidently, and it seems it wasn't the dream childhood you always thought he had Gil." Catherine looked over to her colleague, who seemed to be stung by her words,knowing how hard he had been on Nick in the past,his guilt evident on his face.
He shrugged,"I would've never thought that Nick could've been abused as a child,I guess I assumed he had a dream childhood, a Father who is a renowned judge, his Mother a prosecutor for the DA's office." he paused,reflecting on his own life," I was only nine when I lost my father, I guess one thinks that's the worse thing that can happen to you when your nine."
Catherine's thoughts went straight to what Nick had confessed to her years ago, that at nine he had been abused, molested by a crazed babysitter, and in her mind that ranked right up there in the top two of the worse things that could happen to you at age nine."Listen, I'm going to go and say good-bye to Greg then run home and take a nap. I'll run back by here tonight to check on the boys." she stood to leave,but turned to see that Grissom might not have heard a word she had said,"Gil?"
He raised his head to see Catherine, tears in his eyes, a rare sight to see,"I think he recognized me, he seemed to look at me as if he knew who I was, but it was brief and then he lost consciousness."
She nodded, hoping silently that it was true, that Nick had a flash of recognition but she couldn't get her hopes up, and maybe it was like Sara had said, maybe Nick needed to forget his past and move forward."Call me later Gil." she then walked out the door to where the physician offices were located, she needed to see Dr Holt before she left.
Desert Palm
Greg's room
Greg's parents had arrived to see that their son was doing better and felt relieved that he was actually better than they had hoped. After a long visit that had told him that they needed to get a motel room and they would be back after a shower and a nap.
He glanced up at the clock hanging in his room and wondered how the visits with Nick had gone and if any of the guys would come back to visit.
He was about to see if the nurse could bring him something to read when he heard a knock at the door,"Come in!"
Sara and Warrick peered around the door into the room,"Hey, we came to say good-bye."
"What? I told you that all the food would have already been served Sara, he didn't even save us a crumb." Warrick teased as they entered into the room.
"Yeah, there's nothing like hospital food, yum." He rolled his eyes and motioned for them to sit down in the room with his good arm."Hey, how did the visit go with Nick?" excited to see if Nick had recognized them.
Sara had that expression, the one that made you know that something was not right,"Nick had a set back. He developed a collapsed lung and they had to put in a chest tube."
"Yeah, they think it might have been caused from the fractured ribs but he's out for the rest of the day, he'll have to have some fairly heavy pain medication until that thing is out of his chest." Warrick walked over and sat down rather abruptly,"Dammit, that boy can never get a break." He felt frustrated hat he couldn't do more for his friend.
Greg and Sara nodded in unison, it was as if Nick Stokes had a big target painted on his chest that said 'Abuse Me!'.
"He's going to be alright though?" Greg felt that Nick's body might not be able to take much more, and neither could his mind.
"The doctor feels this is a minor setback but he should be feeling better in a few days, the tube is already doing the job of allowing the collapsed lung to improve so he thought he might have the tube out fairly soon, if he doesn't have any more complications." Warrick answered, he just wanted to see his friend, he needed to see his friend.
Everyone in the room sat silent for a few minutes when another knock came on the door,"Good afternoon Mr Sanders." an older,gray headed woman entered the room,"My name is Carol Lester, I'm your physical therapist." she walked over and shook Greg's good hand.
"Hi, these guys are my friends Warrick Brown and Sara Sidle." Greg felt he needed to introduce his friends.
She nodded and shook their hands,"I have a tight schedule to keep and Mr Sanders and I have to get to work. He needs to be taught how to use the bathroom by himself and how to walk on his own before he can leave our hospital. So please leave so I can get to work." letting them quickly know she was there for one thing only, to get her patient up and about so he could proceed towards discharge.
Warrick and Sara looked at each other and smiled, Greg just might have met his match.
"Guess we better get going then." Warrick winked at Sara as he stood to leave, Sara attempting to stifle a giggle and Greg looking as if he could vomit.
They quickly exited, leaving behind Greg behind to be taught the essentials, a look of shock and horror on his face.
LVPD
Brass walked into his office, closed the door, drew the blinds then took a seat behind his desk. He then reached into the drawer and pulled out a bottle of bourban and a glass.
With a shaky had he poured a glass and reflected on the words of the doctor. The words echoing in his mind regarding Nick; child abuse, chest tube, prolonged stay due to his injuries and possible complications. He lifted the glass to his lips and emptied it in one quick gulp. The sting of the liquor didn't numb the feeling he had in his chest though. His friend, whom he assumed had experienced the best of life, had actually been a victim.
He kicked himself, seeing the signs of someone who was having difficulty dealing with what life was dishing out, the tears in his eyes when he took the gun from Nick's hand after his encounter with Nigel Crane, the emotion he elicited inside the box in which he had been entombed by a crazed father, Walter Gordan, and how each time he had bounced back,each time he dealt with the traumatic experience by just brushing off the pain and moving forward. How he had thought that Nick was just being brave, but now he knew it was actually just learned behavior.
Who would have ever had guessed, the happy go lucky guy who seemed to let nothing bother him was probably internalizing all these years the pain and suffering he had experienced,then all of a sudden, his mind could take nor more and it decided to shut off itself off to the rest of the world, to his past and to the present.
He had dealt with his share of pain and near death experiences during his life, during his career, but he been rewarded with metals and wooden plaques, recognition for all his suffering and the scars left behind.
He turned to look at the plaques hanging on his office wall and those sitting on shelves gathering dust. He wondered why people thought that a piece of wood or a shiny piece of metal could give comfort when you felt that the world had let you down. What had Nick received?Memories that nobody would dare not even talk about in a public place, hidden secrets that he dare not want his friends to know about, ashamed of the stigma it would elicit.
He slammed his fist against the heavy wooden desk,"Dammit!" It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair that Nick Stokes had to suffer so many times and had nothing but the scars to show for all that he had endured,yet he could not help but to think,what great strength his friend had shown over the years, his honesty and hard work, his caring for the victims, what great characteristics he had seen in this man who had been so bruised by the world. A victim who cared for the victims who couldn't care or speak for themselves.
He knew what he had to do, he would be the father figure to Nick, the father who would never abuse his child, the father who would never cause his son so much pain as Nick's father and mother had caused him,he would make it right,he would be there for Nick, the way a father should be for his son.
He placed the bottle and glass back into the drawer and stood to leave, he needed to get some sleep, Nick would need him, Nick would need his team, his friends, his family. They would be three when he started to recover from the memories of his past, he would need them.
Desert Palm
ICU
He was awake but his sticky eyes didn't want to open,they were too tired, too heavy. He lay listening to the sounds of the ICU, of his own heartrate beat on the monitor, the sounds of the bubbling of the underwater seal at his bedside, a sign that his chest tube was functioning fine. The pain growing in his side at the insertion site of the chest tube but he would endure, he was just too tired to open his eyes, too tired to see a world he did not recognize.
"I know you're awake, but you don't have to open your eyes, I know you're tired." a sweet voice was talking to him, a voice that was familiar to him but he couldn't place the voice to a memory or place. He decided he needed to see the person whose voice sounded familiar so he pried open his eyes to see a beautiful red head standing over him, her curls were endless and her smile was like sunshine.
He attempted to respond but he couldn't find his voice, it had been lost with all the screaming he had done earlier, a mask still over his face to assist him getting enough oxygen.
"My name is Nicole, I'm going to be your nurse tonight." she gave him a smile and started her assessment, her gentle touch almost lulled him back to sleep but her voice caught his attention again. "Are you in pain?"
He shook his head, lying for fear they would give him more of the mind numbing drugs. He felt at h he needed to stay awake for a while,he wanted to see the man again, the man who had called him Pancho.
Nicole smiled at his answer but knew her patient was lying, his vitals were too elevated. She had dated this man and a huge part of her loved him more than she would ever allow him to know, but she couldn't handle the dangers of his job,him being here in an ICU bed proof was that his life was in constant jeopardy, she couldn't imagine losing him, even seeing him suffer was almost unbearable.
Nicole wiped away a tear from her cheek and continued to care of Nick, "Listen, your heart rate is up so I'm going to give you something for pain, you don't have to be so tough cowboy." a slip of words, a name she had given him long ago. The doctor had told her to be careful, not to give anything but facts but she had let it slip.
His eyes lit up, the name causing him to give her a puzzled look. She immediately bit her lip, realizing what she had done.
I will continue this later with my thanks...of which you all can't even imagine how thankful I am for your wonderful reviews but I need to run to the airport for a while, maybe more tomorrow. And for those who don't want to start another story, Nicole is from In God's Hands,an emergency room nurse who cared for Nick and she works prn in the ICU...Red headed and beautiful.
Time for giving thanks! Chapter nine
Csifan...as always thank you for reading...I agree Grissom needs to talk to Nick before he leaves this season...it had better happen! Thank you as always for being such a loyal fan...words are not enough to show my appreciation for all that you give to my stories.
NicknGrisfan...Did the parents abuse Nick? Did the father abuse Nick? I want to focus on Nick getting better right now but you have brought up some good points. Thank you for reading!
Snow whitecsi...that thrills me a lot that you are reading...Thank You...your review is what I love to hear.
CTess...I love Nick wumpage too....it's the best! Thank you for your review and for reading!!!
loststolenandfound...I am sorry I haven't updated in a few days but I've been with the family during the holidays...thank you for reading this story...it makes my day!
Stokesgirl...you know how I am.....Again great point...Nick's father was probably harder on Nick....him being the youngest child...maybe a bit of an ADD personality (mailbox baseball)....But you are on to something....Nick might have had a nanny or a relative who helped take care of their youngest....we'll see where the story takes me...but I'm not that predictable....I have a mind that wonders (lol) Thank you as always!!!
Lily G...poor Greg is about to get some wumpage too..you know that I can't leave them alone...must stick a medical emergency in there somewhere. THANKS FOR READING!
Gregalicious.....You are too funny...I always look forward too that sense of humor of yours...Thank you for reading...Keep Writing!!!
Nickyfan....Economy and management...WOW...We need somebody here in America who knows what they are doing...so get a degree and come and visit!For all the wondering minds ...Yes...I am a nurse with triage background,critical care and open heart...I can really put Nick into a lot of near miss situations...bless his heart...he is about to get wolloped in another story of mine...it's on the back burner for now...Got to get Chicken Pox finished first and a follow up to In God's Hands then poor Nick will never see what I have in store for him coming....it will be the story that I should have written after In God's Hands....Can't wait to set it out! Thank you as always...your reviews are appreciated!!!!
SuzSeb...Will his family visit....possibly but not for a while...but when they do...Brass will give them an ear full...promise! I love your story....I am reading and will review later,,,been out of town and I need to unpack and get settled back into writing...but I love your story!!!!
Audrey2419.....Thank you for reading!!!Grissom needs to follow up visit with Nick, I agree. Nick's parents won't be there for a while but something will happen....something that will change the way one sees Nick, especially Grissom! Thank you for reading as always!!!