Chapter 10

"Greg, dammit wake up!" Nick cried, angrily pounding his fist on Greg's chest. He had lost another one of his best friends and it was his fault. He never should've left Greg alone.

"Nick…Nicky, stop!"

"No! Please, man, wake up; breathe!"

Nick suddenly felt strong hands grab his arms and pull him away from Greg's lifeless body. He tried yanking away, but they were too strong and he was too weak. Greg was dead and he failed to protect the kid. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the pale body that was lying in front of him and it was so hard to breathe. His knees collapsed underneath him and his body shook with heartbreaking sobs. Greg's dead. Greg's dead. Greg's dead. Conrad won. He watched some policemen dragged Conrad's body out of water and placed him away from Greg's. Suddenly, just as he was about to go strangle the dead body, he saw something. No, he wanted to see something; he was just imagining it…right? He stood up and looked at Greg's fingers carefully; he was positive they twitched. His eyes widened and he ran back down the hill; they twitched again.

"G? Come on man can you hear me?"

"Nick," Grissom said sadly, "We were too late."

"No! I saw his fingers move, he's alive!"

"Nick you're seeing-"

All of a sudden, Greg's body jerked, startling both Grissom and Nick, and began coughing violently, sputtering out lake water and puke.

"Greg!" Nick said happily as he rolled Greg to his side to help him breathe better. "It's alright, Greg, you're okay." Thank you god. "I need the paramedics!"

When Greg finally finished puking his guts, Nick grabbed his shoulders and brought the shivering kid to his chest. "Oh god, I'm so sorry, G. I never should have left you alone."

"N-N-Nick?" Greg rasped.

"Yeah, bud, it's me. You're okay."

"Con-Conrad?"

"Don't worry about him, alright? He's dead."

"G-Good." With that, Greg's body sagged and Nick thought, for a moment, that he stopped breathing again. But, thankfully, instead the kid just passed out from exhaustion. After a couple minutes, the paramedics took Greg from Nick's protective hold and wrapped him in a cluster of blankets before strapping him onto a gurney. They didn't even protest when Nick jumped in the back with them, but forced him to have a blanket. He actually didn't even notice he was shivering until it was pointed out. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders as the paramedics placed an oxygen mask on Greg's face which, by the way, was finally gaining its color back. Nick smiled weakly and grasped Greg's limp hand, enveloping it in his to warm it up. That's when he noticed the cuts on Greg's arms, and they weren't old ones. He frowned and pulled back the blankets to see the gown ripped and coated in blood. The bastard had tortured Greg again! He guessed he was so busy in trying to make the kid breathe, he missed it; he was glad he was in the ambulance, or he would've loaded another clip into Conrad's dead body.

"You're gonna be okay, man. You're safe now."

~+CSI+~

When they arrived at the hospital, Greg was whisked away to the emergency room. His casts got wet, obviously, so that needed to be removed and replaced immediately. Nick also caught wind that Greg had a mild case of hypothermia, therefore that needed to be taken care of as well. And last, but not least, the incisions made by Conrad's knife had to be cleaned and stitched before Greg caught more infections.

When he was finally placed in a different room, Nick demanded that he sit with him and the doctor didn't refuse. The patient seemed to be more relaxed anyways when he had someone visiting.

"How is he?" Sara whispered, not wanting to wake the peacefully sleeping man up. She went over to the other side and brushed away the blonde curls from Greg's forehead

"Gettin' better," Nick said, squeezing Greg's hand lightly.

"That was close, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…too close."

~+CSI+~

The next few hours were quiet and serene. Greg's, now bandaged, chest bobbed up and down steadily and the only thing he needed to aid him in breathing was the nasal canal snaked underneath his nose. Greg's physical health wasn't something to really worry about now, but Nick felt they needed to keep a keen eye out for his mental health. Greg's mind was probably going to play tricks on him, plague him with nightmares and even cause him to say things he normally wouldn't say. Well, they would find out when the kid woke up…and hopefully that was soon.

Another hour later, Greg finally began showing signs of waking up. But he seemed…troubled, like he was caught in a nightmare.

"G? Greg, man, can you hear me?" Nick shouted worriedly and started shaking Greg's shoulder.

Greg suddenly whimpered and it broke Nick's heart. Yep definitely a nightmare; shit! It, now, made him more desperate to wake his friend up.

"Greg come on, buddy. Open your eyes. You're safe now, alright? Conrad can't hurt you anymore."

Immediately, Greg's eyes flew open and gulped in a ton of air, breathing erratically. Almost like he was drowning…again. The younger man searched the room with his big brown eyes in panic until Nick grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to make eye contact.

"Greg, listen to me; Conrad. Is. Dead. I killed him myself."

Greg knew. He had a feeling that Conrad was dead, but the nightmare he just endured…it was almost as worse as the real thing. He could still actually feel the knife cutting his chest, the cold water entering his lungs, and the feeling of peacefulness overcoming him. And even before that, he dreamt that he was back in that barn and where he was now was just a set dressing. He hoped to god that wasn't true; he hoped to god that he really had been rescued and that Nick was really looking him in the eyes, trying to calm him down.

He knew he should probably tell Nick this, but he was too scared; he was too worried that the Texan might think that he was weak and hate him. He didn't want to believe that, but while he told everyone what happened, he left some things out…crucial things. Like how Conrad constantly degraded him, made him think that he was worthless and that his team hated him…that everyone hated him. And he knew it was probably true, but he'd play it safe for a while until he was able to walk. Then he could quit and maybe go back home with his mom, because he knew everyone in Las Vegas would be better off without a screw-up like him.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. After a few moments, his breathing slowed down and his heart began beating at a normal pace.

"That's it, G, you're okay. I gotcha, bud."

Greg smiled weakly at Nick and the Texan did the same.

"You alright now, kid?"

But what Greg heard was, "Are you done freaking out like a fucking wimp?" Greg winced inwardly, but casually nodded his head.

"Okay." Nick grinned as he pat Greg's back gently. "So…how are you feeling?"

"Like someone tried to drown me," Greg said, attempting humor.

Nick chuckled and leaned back in the chair while folding his arms over his chest. "That's understandable. Do…do you want to talk about it?"

Greg clenched his jaw and looked down at his hands. It'd been almost a week and they were still shaking like crazy…and Nick did not miss this.

"Greg, remember before? It gets better when you talk about it; you get better."

Greg winced again. Just talk about it so I can leave; you're such a burden.

"I…not right now. Anyways, it's nothing to worry about, I'm fine."

Nick sighed; Greg was hiding something from him and was going to find out one way or another. But not today. The kid, even if he denied it, was still in pain, he was still fragile, so today was not the day to impose.

"Alright, whenever you're ready, I'm here for you."

The CSI nodded before yawning loudly and leaning back on the pillows. The drugs always seemed to know when he was up. His mind became clouded and everything was getting out of focus.

"Get some sleep, kid," he heard a faraway voice say.

"Nick," he groaned, his eyes fluttering close.

Nick leaned forward in his chair to hear his friend. "Yeah, G?"

"S-S'rry."

"For what?" Nick frowned, clearly confused…and worried. Why would Greg be sorry? Nothing was the kid's fault. If anything it was his own; he left Greg when he had a feeling the call-out was a fake and he failed to get any evidence to find him when he went missing. Yeah, he was a great friend.

"F-For being a burden. I k-know you don't want t-to be here." With that Greg's head lolled on the pillow and he was asleep within seconds.

Nick rubbed his mouth as he heard this. "Damn."

TBC

It's a short chapter I know :( but it was something to keep you guys satisfied and because I promised it today :) Hope you liked and the next chapter will be up, hopefully, soon. Preview: Nick has to convince Greg nothing was his fault and that no one hated him. Poor Greggo :(