Stolen Innocence
Chapter 4: The truth comes out
A/N: Finally got the next chapter of this story up. I wrote it instead of studying because I was getting tired of studying.
"Last year after the shift ended I drove the two hours over to my uncle's house," Greg began his story. He kept glancing over at Nick then Grissom, as if he was reassuring himself that they were still there. "He took me in after the fire and when I accepted the job here, he got a transfer too. Any time I had a problem I called him and he'd help me out, usually by just listening. He always greeted me at the door with two cups of hot cocoa and then we'd exchange presents. Last year was different though. The house was dark when I drove up and he wasn't standing by the door. I unlocked the door with a spare key he'd given to me and went in. there was no Christmas decorations, no music, no food cooking, it just felt wrong. I was right.
"I walked around the downstairs, calling his name, but nobody answered me. I went upstairs and tried his bedroom first but no one was there. I still don't know how I figured it out but I knew he was in the room above the garage. That's where he kept everything that he still had of his brother, my father. I went in the room, calling out his name so I wouldn't scare him, but I could have popped out of nowhere and not scared him. He was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, his blood. He had taken his gun, gone up to his memory room and killed himself. The last person I knew from my family was dead and I was just standing there, staring at him.
"I spent the rest of Christmas at the hospital because after I called the paramedics, I passed out. One minute I was freaking out to the dispatch lady, the next I was waking up in the hospital. I found out a few days later that he left me everything, including a pretty good sum of money he'd made in the stock market. I gave it all to the suicide prevention help line. I didn't want his money or his things because I felt guilty. I thought it was my fault, that I didn't visit or call him enough, that I made him feel neglected and unloved."
"It wasn't your fault Kiddo," Grissom soothed the kid, who was on the verge of hysteria. Greg's breaths were coming out in rapid gasps, in between of the sobs that shook his entire frame. Grissom and Nick could tell how much his uncle's suicide had shattered the young man and couldn't believe that he'd managed to keep it hidden for an entire year. "Nicky, check the pizza and see if he has any sleeping pills. That might be the only way we can get him to calm down."
Nick nodded and ran to Greg's bathroom. He found a package of sleeping pills and ran back to the living room. He gave the pills to Grissom then went to check the pizza. Grissom had the more difficult task of getting Greg to take one of the pills. Luckily, Greg wasn't thinking too clearly and took the pill without protest.
"The pizza's finished," Nick said as he came back into the room. Grissom nodded and helped Greg, who was almost asleep from a combination of exhaustion and the pill, into a more comfortable position. The lab tech was asleep within a few minutes.
"We'll save the pizza until he wakes up," Grissom told Nick, who agreed. Grissom stroked Greg's hair while the young man slept. He wanted to protect Greg from his terrible memories. "The poor kid. I can't believe all that he's been through already. Losing his family must have been hard enough but then to lose his uncle, the man who raised him after his family's deaths. It's so much so fast."
"He'll be all right Griss," Nick noted the tenderness that his boss was stroking Greg's hair with and smiled. "He's a strong kid. He'll be just fine as long as we don't let him forget that he's not alone."
A/N: Finally got the next chapter of this story up. I wrote it instead of studying because I was getting tired of studying.
"Last year after the shift ended I drove the two hours over to my uncle's house," Greg began his story. He kept glancing over at Nick then Grissom, as if he was reassuring himself that they were still there. "He took me in after the fire and when I accepted the job here, he got a transfer too. Any time I had a problem I called him and he'd help me out, usually by just listening. He always greeted me at the door with two cups of hot cocoa and then we'd exchange presents. Last year was different though. The house was dark when I drove up and he wasn't standing by the door. I unlocked the door with a spare key he'd given to me and went in. there was no Christmas decorations, no music, no food cooking, it just felt wrong. I was right.
"I walked around the downstairs, calling his name, but nobody answered me. I went upstairs and tried his bedroom first but no one was there. I still don't know how I figured it out but I knew he was in the room above the garage. That's where he kept everything that he still had of his brother, my father. I went in the room, calling out his name so I wouldn't scare him, but I could have popped out of nowhere and not scared him. He was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, his blood. He had taken his gun, gone up to his memory room and killed himself. The last person I knew from my family was dead and I was just standing there, staring at him.
"I spent the rest of Christmas at the hospital because after I called the paramedics, I passed out. One minute I was freaking out to the dispatch lady, the next I was waking up in the hospital. I found out a few days later that he left me everything, including a pretty good sum of money he'd made in the stock market. I gave it all to the suicide prevention help line. I didn't want his money or his things because I felt guilty. I thought it was my fault, that I didn't visit or call him enough, that I made him feel neglected and unloved."
"It wasn't your fault Kiddo," Grissom soothed the kid, who was on the verge of hysteria. Greg's breaths were coming out in rapid gasps, in between of the sobs that shook his entire frame. Grissom and Nick could tell how much his uncle's suicide had shattered the young man and couldn't believe that he'd managed to keep it hidden for an entire year. "Nicky, check the pizza and see if he has any sleeping pills. That might be the only way we can get him to calm down."
Nick nodded and ran to Greg's bathroom. He found a package of sleeping pills and ran back to the living room. He gave the pills to Grissom then went to check the pizza. Grissom had the more difficult task of getting Greg to take one of the pills. Luckily, Greg wasn't thinking too clearly and took the pill without protest.
"The pizza's finished," Nick said as he came back into the room. Grissom nodded and helped Greg, who was almost asleep from a combination of exhaustion and the pill, into a more comfortable position. The lab tech was asleep within a few minutes.
"We'll save the pizza until he wakes up," Grissom told Nick, who agreed. Grissom stroked Greg's hair while the young man slept. He wanted to protect Greg from his terrible memories. "The poor kid. I can't believe all that he's been through already. Losing his family must have been hard enough but then to lose his uncle, the man who raised him after his family's deaths. It's so much so fast."
"He'll be all right Griss," Nick noted the tenderness that his boss was stroking Greg's hair with and smiled. "He's a strong kid. He'll be just fine as long as we don't let him forget that he's not alone."