Nick's cell phone rang suddenly, slicing through the silence in the room. He took it out of his pocket and read the display before tossing it across to Grissom, who caught it with a frown of confusion on his face.
"It's Ecklie," Nick said as Grissom read the caller ID. "I'll end up getting fired if I have to talk to him right now."
Brass sighed. "I can't see him being too happy with the way we didn't inform him on what was happening, but there was no real reason to other than departmental policy."
"Fuck departmental policy." Nick said. "What good would that have done? Ecklie would have made us fill out all the paperwork and get permission for overtime from the sheriff to go and save Alex. Ecklie's a jackass."
Brass tried, but failed to stifle a laugh. "That's true. Just try to hold back from telling him that to his face. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want you to stick around for a little while. You need to have a job anyway, you have a kid."
On cue, the Dr. Jaskin returned to the waiting room, looking down at the clipboard in his hands. Everyone immediatly stood, looking at Jaskin expectantly.
Jaskin looked up and smiled softly. "Don't worry, everything's fine. Alex is awake and given his condition, is very fidgety and wants to go home. We're going to keep him overnight just to be safe, but he should be able to go home tomorrow morning. You can go in and see him if you'd like."
Jaskin quickly shook hands with Nick before turning and going back down the hall to his office. Nick turned around to face everyone in the waiting room, all with relieved expressions on their faces. They looked at Nick, waiting for him to speak and tell them what to do. He didn't know what to do, so he looked at Warrick.
"Let's go see him," Warrick with a small smile that spread throughout the room.
Nick nodded somewhat weakly. "Yeah," he said.
Everyone in the waiting room quietly filed out and down the hall into Alex's room, where they spread out around his bed. When they entered, Alex had been staring up at the ceiling in obvious boredom. When he heard the door open, he looked over and smiled when he saw everyone coming in. At first he was surprised that there were so many people, but then he wasn't because he had known all along that they'd all be worried about him and would come to see him.
"Hey guys," Alex said, rather cheerfully for someone in the hospital after what he had just been through. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking at Syd and Zach.
They both nodded. "Yeah, we're fine," Zach answered. "I didn't even know anything had happened until I got home."
"How are you feeling?" Nick asked, feeling the sense of unease he had had before starting to return.
Alex shrugged as much as his broken collarbone would allow. "Fine. My arm hurts and my ribs kinda do too, but other than that I feel normal. When can I go home?"
"Tomorrow. They wanna keep you here overnight just to make sure you're okay," Nick said.
Alex sighed. "How long do I have to keep my arm in a sling for?"
"I don't know. Just relax, would ya?" Nick said, shaking his head at his son.
"I can't. I'm bored," Alex complained. "Hospitals aren't entertaining."
Warrick looked over at Nick. "He gets that part from you."
Nick smiled slightly. "Yeah, I don't blame him there." He looked at the wall for a few moments before he spoke again. "I'm gonna go try and find the doctor and some food or something. I'll be right back."
Nick left quickly, but no one other than Warrick had noticed that his hands had started shaking when he was leaving. Warrick followed Nick out a few seconds later and found him at the end of the hall, sitting on the floor with his back pressed up against the wall and his head in his hands.
Warrick knelt down in front of his best friend and pulled his hands away from his face to reveal the tears falling from Nick's dark eyes. His face was pale and his hands were still shaking.
"What's wrong man?" Warrick asked softly.
"He almost died. Reskin almost killed him, because of me. Alex almost died."
"But he didn't."
Nick rested his head against the wall behind him. "But he almost did. Because of me. I should have never taken him. He would have been much better off without me. What if he gets killed because of me?"
Warrick put his hands on Nick's shoulders and squeezed them firmly. "He's not gonna because he has you to protect him. You're the only one that ever gave a damn about that kid. No one cared about him before you. He needs you. Who knows what would have happened to him if he had stayed living with Steph and Mark or been sent with someone else. This wasn't your fault."
"Yes it was," Nick said.
Warrick shook his head. "No it wasn't. You did your job, and Reskin wanted to punish you for it. You couldn't control that Nicky and you know that. Alex needs you as much as you need him."
Nick closed his tired eyes. "I was so scared Reskin was going to kill him."
"I know," Warrick said. "We all were. But you saved him. He's gonna be okay."
Nick opened his eyes and looked at Warrick as he nodded slowly. "Reskin's lucky you thought to take my gun away. I would have killed him without even having to think about it."
Warrick smiled. "I know, that's why I took it away so now the son of a bitch has to rot in jail. And everyone else is going to be okay, right?"
Nick smiled as well and nodded slightly. "Right."