Greg's exhaustion didn't fully hit him until the paramedics had whisked Nick away from him. He didn't feel extremely tired until Nick's hand was no longer in his. The moment that happened, he felt like he was going to collapse. It was taking most of his remaining energy just to keep his eyes open, which he didn't even want to do anymore. He was thinking about just laying down in the middle of the floor and going to sleep, but then he saw his friends running down the hall towards him, so he figured he'd stay awake a little longer, for them.
Upon seeing how unsteady he was, Warrick braced Greg by putting his arm around his shoulder and holding him still. "Did they say anything about Nick?" he asked.
"He woke up," Greg answered.
"They're done with him already?" Catherine asked in astonishment.
Greg shook his head. "No, they just took him in. He's still passed out."
"Greggo," Grissom said, using Greg's nickname which he rarely does, "you're not making much sense. What did they say about Nick?"
Greg sighed. "They didn't tell me anything. Nick woke up. He told me."
"When did Nick wake up?" Grissom inquired.
"In the ambulance," Greg replied. "He woke up and could even talk to me. He said that he couldn't feel anything and that he thought he was in shock. But he knew that he had died and said that I didn't look good either. Then he passed out again and no one told me anything. They just took him...wherever the took him, and now he's there."
Grissom nodded slowly. "Okay, now we need you to go somewhere. You need someone to check you out more thoroughly."
Greg shook his head in protest. "I'm fine. I don't want to go anywhere, I don't want to fall asleep."
"Greg, you're not doing too well man," Warrick said. "You need to rest."
"I don't want to fall asleep," Greg repeated.
"Why not?" Catherine asked softly as she placed her hand on his arm gently.
Greg dropped his eyes to the floor. "Because if I fall asleep, I'll be asleep for a while. Then if something happens to Nick...I'll be asleep and won't know. What if something happens to him? I don't want to wake up and find out that he didn't wake up too. What if he's not going to wake up ever again?"
No one could stand there and look at Greg and tell him Nick was going to be fine because no one knew if that was true or not. No one knew what was going to happen to Nick, but they wanted to make sure nothing happened to Greg. They knew they could ensure that he would be okay again, physically anyway.
"Greg, what would Nick want you to do?" Warrick asked, already knowing the question.
"That's not fair Warrick," the younger man replied. "You know what he would say. Everyone does. But he's not here to say it so it doesn't matter."
"Yes it does," Warrick said. "You did everything you could for him, we all did. You did all you could have. Now it's out of all of our hands. Nick's not going to give up now, you know that."
Greg shook his head slowly. "What if he doesn't wake up?"
"What if he does, but he can't see you because you're in too bad of shape because you wouldn't let yourself get better? You need to get some rest Greg, or it won't matter if Nick wakes up or not," Warrick responded, and seemingly won Greg over in doing so.
The younger man sighed in defeat. "Fine," he said softly. "I'll consider my own health, but for only for you Warrick."
Warrick smiled and shook his head at Greg. "Nah man, not for me. For Nicky."
After a quick blood test and a few x-rays to make sure nothing was broken, Greg was declared as being "over-exhausted and in dire need of nothing but rest and plenty of food and fluids." So after he forced down a hospital hamburger and a few bottles of water, he was escorted to his own room where he changed into clothes Archie had brought for him to make him more comfortable. Even though he was technically fine, Greg still couldn't leave the hospital for a while because of the sensor still in his heart and in case something happened to him. Besides, he wouldn't be able to leave with Nick still there in his unknown condition.
So Greg retired to his room and reluctantly crawled into the uncomfortable bed that felt like a cloud to him. He didn't care about the paper sheets or the bumpy pillow; it was better than laying on the cold mattress on the cement floor in Lanser's hell hole.
The room was warmer. The bed was better and more welcoming. The atmosphere was even suitable, even though he hated hospitals. The only thing Greg could argue with right now was the company, or lack thereof.
Greg would go back to that stiff mattress in the bunker if it meant he could be laying with Nick.
It's safe to say that Greg fell into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes. He didn't think that that was going to happen though because his mind was racing with thoughts of Nick and what was going to happen. He had only gone back into his room after Catherine, Warrick, Brass and Archie had all promised to wake him up if anything changed. After they repeatedly said they would and yelled at him to get some rest, he did.
The ex-lab rat was used to having nightmares, which is what he expected. But he didn't have any terrifying or messed up nightmares. He only had repeating dreams about Nick. None of them made much sense because they didn't involve what happened or something bad happening to Nick. They were just basic dreams involving the two of them hanging out together like they always did. Greg knew he was dreaming, but didn't want to wake himself up for fear that those dreams would never be real ever again.
The only way he could tell that he had been asleep for quite some time was that when he opened his eyes, his room was much darker than it had been. Not only were the lights off, but there was no sunlight coming in through the windows. It wasn't completely dark though, so Greg figured it was about seven or so at night. He wasn't sure when they had arrived at the hospital, but he knew that it was well before anything in the evening.
It took a little while for Greg's eyes to focus, but they finally did. He didn't remember opening them, but they were definitely open now. He didn't feel much like getting up, so he just laid there, staring up at the dark ceiling above him.
Greg wasn't sure how to describe it, but he had a weird feeling. He felt lost and scared, but he was used to that ever since Lanser had kidnapped them. This feeling was different, and he didn't know what to do about it. He was tired and wanted to go home with Nick, but knew he couldn't, so he just continued to lay there. The feeling only intensified, and then began to make him feel extremely anxious to the point where he thought he was having a panic attack.
Then, for whatever reason, Greg looked over to his left. To him, it seemed like an involuntary movement, but it didn't matter why he did it. In doing so, Greg's eyes had to adjust to more darkness, which was concealing the reason for the anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach that had spread throughout his entire body. Hidden in the darkness was the reason he hadn't been able to get up and leave his room.
Nick.
Impossibly, Nick was sitting in the chair at Greg's bedside. He was seemingly huddled up against himself in what looked like pain. He was wearing clothes that were very recognizable to Greg because they were Nick's own black sweatpants and no shirt. Greg could see that the left half of his chest was covered in a large white bandage covering the area where Nick was shot, resulting in Greg burning him with the iron to cauterize the wound. He looked extremely pale and tired, but he was awake. And he was smiling.
"What the hell..." Greg finally managed.
"Hi," Nick replied, still smiling.
Greg shook his head slowly. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you," Nick said, and only after speaking a full sentence could Greg tell that his voice was hushed and very raspy, as if speaking was causing him a great deal of pain, which it was.
"Why?" Greg asked.
"Because I wanted to see you," Nick responded simply.
"How did you get them to let you walk around like this?" he said as he continued to look over Nick's battered body.
Nick shook his head. "I didn't. I convinced Warrick it was dire to my health that I see you, and he created a small diversion so that I could sneak down here to be with you. I couldn't relax unless I knew you were okay."
"I'm not the one who died," Greg said. "Are you even supposed to be awake, let alone doing recon missions throughout the hospital?"
Nick nodded. "I'm fine sweetie, stop worrying."
"I can't because I almost lost you then I got yelled at and had to come here and sleep even when I didn't know if you were going to live or not and then I wake up and you're here, telling me you're fine."
"I am fine," Nick said softly. "I told you that everything was going to be okay, and I'd never lie to you."
"I know," Greg said, his voice cracking as he was on the verge of tears. "This whole thing just sucked so much and I wish it never happened."
"Me too," Nick agreed. "But it did, and now it's over. So fuck it. We're both okay, and Lanser will be in jail for the rest of his life. And we get to go home and sleep."
"When?" Greg asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Nick sighed. "Not soon enough."
"Didn't think so," Greg said sadly. "What are the doctors gonna do when they find out you escaped?"
Nick shook his head. "I don't care," he said honestly. "I'm here with you, that's all that matters."