Title: TIN MAN
Author: Michmak
Summary: A continuation of VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR. Greg learns some valuable lessons about friendship and family, as his fellow CSI's rally around him to support him through a difficult time.
Disclaimer: The only characters I own are the ones I create for the purpose of this story. All the rest? Not mine.
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TIN MAN
Grissom was sitting in Greg's hospital room, watching him sleep. It was 9:00 pm, and by all rights Grissom should be back at the station, working, but he had taken the night off.
He was in no mood to work.
Thankfully, no one had argued with him when he had told them to leave. Nick was dead on his feet, emotionally wrung out. It was always easy to read Nick, he wore his emotions and his heart on his sleeve, and this situation with Greg was killing him. Sara, who had wanted to stay, knew Grissom well enough to know that he needed time by himself with Greg, and had left with Nick promising to return as soon as they could.
Warrick had offered to drive Catherine back to her place. After promising to keep everyone apprised if anything new happened, they had finally left him.
And now, here he sat. Myriad thoughts and emotions floated through his head, but they all centered on the young man in front of him. The slight flickering under Greg's eyelids indicated REM - Greg was dreaming of something, and Grissom could only hope it was pleasant.
Grissom stared at his hands, which were loosely draped over his knees. He could still feel the weight of Greg's hand in his as he had told Greg they were family, and he smiled softly as he remembered the stunned silence that had greeted him. Grissom hadn't had family in a long time. He had often thought he was oblivious to the need for deeper human interaction, but the last couple of years that belief had been overwhelmed by the need in Grissom's soul to establish relationships with the people he had come - almost against his will - to care so much about.
The last few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster for the normally reserved man. Two intense and draining cases in a row - the first culminating in near disaster and Nick's two-day suspension, this last almost causing Greg's death, had forced Grissom to confront his burgeoning emotions head-on. Like a man who had spent all his adult life in stasis, he was now emerging into the light, blinking at the suddenness of it all.
His gaze drifted back to his young friend. Greg was going to have a rough go of it for the next little while, and Grissom vowed to himself that he would be there providing as much support as he could. He could not begin to imagine how he would react if he were in Greg's shoes - 28 years old, an implanted defibrillator forcing his heart to function properly, and an immediate future filled with the prospects of therapy, a fairly long recuperation, medical emergencies, and pain.
He raised a hand to Greg's face, gently pushing the young man's hair from his forehead. His skin was excessively cool to the touch, and Grissom sighed as he reached down and adjusted the sheets more firmly around Greg's thin frame.
Earlier that afternoon Greg had commented brokenly that he felt like the Tin Man, with no wizard in sight to fix him up. In a moment of blinding clarity, Grissom had known exactly what Greg had meant.
Grissom was a tin man himself, but his rusted heart had finally started beating. And, while there was some pain, it was overshadowed by the sheer joy of living.
________
Author's Note: All my first chapters tend to be rather short, so bare with me. Please R&R - let me know what you think.
Author: Michmak
Summary: A continuation of VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR. Greg learns some valuable lessons about friendship and family, as his fellow CSI's rally around him to support him through a difficult time.
Disclaimer: The only characters I own are the ones I create for the purpose of this story. All the rest? Not mine.
______
TIN MAN
Grissom was sitting in Greg's hospital room, watching him sleep. It was 9:00 pm, and by all rights Grissom should be back at the station, working, but he had taken the night off.
He was in no mood to work.
Thankfully, no one had argued with him when he had told them to leave. Nick was dead on his feet, emotionally wrung out. It was always easy to read Nick, he wore his emotions and his heart on his sleeve, and this situation with Greg was killing him. Sara, who had wanted to stay, knew Grissom well enough to know that he needed time by himself with Greg, and had left with Nick promising to return as soon as they could.
Warrick had offered to drive Catherine back to her place. After promising to keep everyone apprised if anything new happened, they had finally left him.
And now, here he sat. Myriad thoughts and emotions floated through his head, but they all centered on the young man in front of him. The slight flickering under Greg's eyelids indicated REM - Greg was dreaming of something, and Grissom could only hope it was pleasant.
Grissom stared at his hands, which were loosely draped over his knees. He could still feel the weight of Greg's hand in his as he had told Greg they were family, and he smiled softly as he remembered the stunned silence that had greeted him. Grissom hadn't had family in a long time. He had often thought he was oblivious to the need for deeper human interaction, but the last couple of years that belief had been overwhelmed by the need in Grissom's soul to establish relationships with the people he had come - almost against his will - to care so much about.
The last few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster for the normally reserved man. Two intense and draining cases in a row - the first culminating in near disaster and Nick's two-day suspension, this last almost causing Greg's death, had forced Grissom to confront his burgeoning emotions head-on. Like a man who had spent all his adult life in stasis, he was now emerging into the light, blinking at the suddenness of it all.
His gaze drifted back to his young friend. Greg was going to have a rough go of it for the next little while, and Grissom vowed to himself that he would be there providing as much support as he could. He could not begin to imagine how he would react if he were in Greg's shoes - 28 years old, an implanted defibrillator forcing his heart to function properly, and an immediate future filled with the prospects of therapy, a fairly long recuperation, medical emergencies, and pain.
He raised a hand to Greg's face, gently pushing the young man's hair from his forehead. His skin was excessively cool to the touch, and Grissom sighed as he reached down and adjusted the sheets more firmly around Greg's thin frame.
Earlier that afternoon Greg had commented brokenly that he felt like the Tin Man, with no wizard in sight to fix him up. In a moment of blinding clarity, Grissom had known exactly what Greg had meant.
Grissom was a tin man himself, but his rusted heart had finally started beating. And, while there was some pain, it was overshadowed by the sheer joy of living.
________
Author's Note: All my first chapters tend to be rather short, so bare with me. Please R&R - let me know what you think.