The sun was shining on Nick's face. It had just come up.
They weren't trapped under that house for much more than an hour, but it felt like days. Waking up, Nick felt a little pain in his arm, but it felt much better than it did down in that basement.
He was a bit disorientated. Where was he? Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Greg standing in the room, looking out a window. He appeared to be fine. Was this all a weird dream Nick had? But why was Greg here, then? And that smell, what was that?
He remembered. That's what hospitals smell like. That's where he is.
Greg turned around to smile at Nick, making the scratches on his face visible for Nick, confirming that this experience did happen. "Good morning," he said, still smiling at Nick.
"What time is it?" Nick asked, still a bit tired.
"Just past 6 a.m. How are you feeling?"
"Alright, I guess. Well I feel like a truck ran over my arm, but other than that I'm fine." Nick laughed. "How about you?"
Greg nodded. "They all made it out alive. Reed hurt her leg, but will be fine. Sara, Catherine and Ray only have a few scratches, and my shoulder's fine, too."
"Did they catch the officers?" Nick slowly sat up.
Greg sat down at Nick's bed. "They're on the run... Officer James almost ran over a family with a stolen police car and Brass wasn't able to pursue him any longer. We don't know where they're hiding..."
Nick sighed. "So it's still not over..."
"Don't say that," Greg said with a smile on his face. "I doubt they'll try anything anytime soon. We know who they are, they'll probably keep a low profile from now on."
"Wow," Nick said amazed.
"What?"
"An hour stuck in a basement, is that all to get you your optimism back?" Nick smiled at Greg.
Greg rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "I guess it put everything in perspective. All that time I felt bad, and what did I get from it? It buried me underneath a frickin' house!" Greg couldn't help but laugh. "I want to try to go back to how I was before all of this happened. Being broody all the time didn't help anything. If I have to fear for my life on a weekly basis I might as well enjoy the time in between these situations, right?"
Nick wasn't sure he liked what he heard. It was sure a healthier way to deal with this situation, but to make a U-turn like this after what they went through right now seemed odd. "You're sure you're not having a manic episode or something like that? A seizure, maybe?" Nick teased him, trying to act on Greg's idea. It was a nice idea, but Nick wasn't sure it's easy, or even possible, to realize this plan.
Catherine knocked on the door. "Hey, how's my bravest CSI doing?"
"I'm good Catherine, thanks. I'm so glad you made it out."
Catherine went over to hug Nick carefully and gently touched Greg's arm. "Me, too."
"So what are we gonna do about officer James and his gang?" Nick asked curious.
"Nicky, don't you worry about something like that now. You have to concentrate on getting better. We'll take care of it." Catherine smiled at him, touching his cheek.
"Come on Catherine, I'm fine, we can't waste any time on these guys."
"You know, you should follow Reed's example. She's already thinking about what movies to watch when she gets home. She's looking forward to a time out from work," Catherine said smiling while walking out the door.