Dan looked at Greg and received a nod. He would continue the story. He
would give these people the facts. And they would understand, because they
saw this everyday.
"What Greg doesn't remember is that he was stabbed repeatedly," Dan began. "He also doesn't remember meeting me the first time, although he was awake when I arrived."
"Actually, I have vague memories, but they're fuzzy," Greg interjected, then grinned. "You kept trying to push a teddy bear into my arms as they strapped me down to a gurney. I kept pushing it back at you." With that memory, Greg shook his head. "The only clear thing about that is the teddy bear though. I didn't want a bear. I wanted my Fuzzy."
"By the time the ambulance arrived, Greg's parents were already dead," Dan said. "There was nothing I could do for them but find their killer. But there lay a small boy, weakly begging his grandfather for his mom and dad. I didn't have the heart to tell him they couldn't come to him. And having a girl not much younger, I couldn't seem to walk away from Greg or the grief I saw in his grandfather's eyes. So, I was there when Greg and his mother were loaded into the ambulance. I stayed through the night while Greg was in surgery and his mother's belly was cut open to bring into this world the life she so fiercely protected."
Reaching back into his memory, Dan started where Greg left off.
"Greg had forgotten a stuffed rabbit - Fuzzy - he'd had all his life at his grandparent's house, just a few blocks away. Knowing he would never get to sleep without it, they took a stroll over to drop it off. They found the back door unlocked and blood all over. His grandmother went next door and called the police. I lived a block and a half over and was out jogging when she came screaming out of the neighbor's house. That's how I got tagged on the case."
Sitting back, Dan organized his thoughts for a moment and let everything he'd said so far sink in. Then he continued.
"When I walked in… there's no possible way to describe it. I'd never seen so much blood. I didn't know that much blood could come from just three people. Greg's grandfather was knelt over the boy, pressing both hands to the two worst wounds he could find. I grabbed hand towels from the kitchen and tossed them to him. I checked out Greg's parents, but his father was dead. His mother was unconscious, and even as her pulse faded into oblivion, she held her hands over her unborn child to protect her. Greg's mother died as the paramedics arrived. We couldn't save the mother." Dan looked up with pure steel in his eyes. "But by God, we could save the child."
"They were transported to the hospital. As Greg said, Grace was born. A beautiful, healthy baby girl."
By this time, Greg's breathing was back to normal. The glassiness was gone from his eyes, and the taste of shock had receded. He took over where Dan left off.
"Grace and I share our birthday. Soon she'll be 20 and a junior at MIT, majoring in molecular biology. She wants to be a CSI." At this, Greg grinned. "She still hasn't figured out how to get over my dead body, though."
At Greg's attempt at humor, Grissom released a breath. When Greg had first come to Vegas, he'd sat down with Grissom. For days after the telling, Greg had turned morose and depressed. Grissom had recommended seeing the LVPD psychologist, or find some other release. Obviously, Greg had learned to deal with it.
Grissom looked at Greg and received a nod. "I've known about what happened since before Greg came here."
He looked at each of his CSIs. "I've known Greg and Dan since the incident, because I was called in to assist on the case. At the time, I was a coroner on loan to the bay area. I performed the autopsies on Greg's parents. Greg and I met when he was just a boy. Imagine my shock when I walked into interview him, without bothering to first read his resume and get a name. There he sat, a grown memory. Imagine his shock when I walked in and there I stood, the man who'd autopsied his parents. " Deciding to lighten the tense atmosphere, Grissom added, "Imagine all of our shock when he brought Marilyn Manson with him."
Chuckles followed that statement as everyone became a little more loose and at ease.
'It's time,' Dan thought. 'He's had enough time.'
"There's one thing you haven't asked, Greg," Dan said, turning to look the young man in the eyes. "You haven't asked me who he is."
"What Greg doesn't remember is that he was stabbed repeatedly," Dan began. "He also doesn't remember meeting me the first time, although he was awake when I arrived."
"Actually, I have vague memories, but they're fuzzy," Greg interjected, then grinned. "You kept trying to push a teddy bear into my arms as they strapped me down to a gurney. I kept pushing it back at you." With that memory, Greg shook his head. "The only clear thing about that is the teddy bear though. I didn't want a bear. I wanted my Fuzzy."
"By the time the ambulance arrived, Greg's parents were already dead," Dan said. "There was nothing I could do for them but find their killer. But there lay a small boy, weakly begging his grandfather for his mom and dad. I didn't have the heart to tell him they couldn't come to him. And having a girl not much younger, I couldn't seem to walk away from Greg or the grief I saw in his grandfather's eyes. So, I was there when Greg and his mother were loaded into the ambulance. I stayed through the night while Greg was in surgery and his mother's belly was cut open to bring into this world the life she so fiercely protected."
Reaching back into his memory, Dan started where Greg left off.
"Greg had forgotten a stuffed rabbit - Fuzzy - he'd had all his life at his grandparent's house, just a few blocks away. Knowing he would never get to sleep without it, they took a stroll over to drop it off. They found the back door unlocked and blood all over. His grandmother went next door and called the police. I lived a block and a half over and was out jogging when she came screaming out of the neighbor's house. That's how I got tagged on the case."
Sitting back, Dan organized his thoughts for a moment and let everything he'd said so far sink in. Then he continued.
"When I walked in… there's no possible way to describe it. I'd never seen so much blood. I didn't know that much blood could come from just three people. Greg's grandfather was knelt over the boy, pressing both hands to the two worst wounds he could find. I grabbed hand towels from the kitchen and tossed them to him. I checked out Greg's parents, but his father was dead. His mother was unconscious, and even as her pulse faded into oblivion, she held her hands over her unborn child to protect her. Greg's mother died as the paramedics arrived. We couldn't save the mother." Dan looked up with pure steel in his eyes. "But by God, we could save the child."
"They were transported to the hospital. As Greg said, Grace was born. A beautiful, healthy baby girl."
By this time, Greg's breathing was back to normal. The glassiness was gone from his eyes, and the taste of shock had receded. He took over where Dan left off.
"Grace and I share our birthday. Soon she'll be 20 and a junior at MIT, majoring in molecular biology. She wants to be a CSI." At this, Greg grinned. "She still hasn't figured out how to get over my dead body, though."
At Greg's attempt at humor, Grissom released a breath. When Greg had first come to Vegas, he'd sat down with Grissom. For days after the telling, Greg had turned morose and depressed. Grissom had recommended seeing the LVPD psychologist, or find some other release. Obviously, Greg had learned to deal with it.
Grissom looked at Greg and received a nod. "I've known about what happened since before Greg came here."
He looked at each of his CSIs. "I've known Greg and Dan since the incident, because I was called in to assist on the case. At the time, I was a coroner on loan to the bay area. I performed the autopsies on Greg's parents. Greg and I met when he was just a boy. Imagine my shock when I walked into interview him, without bothering to first read his resume and get a name. There he sat, a grown memory. Imagine his shock when I walked in and there I stood, the man who'd autopsied his parents. " Deciding to lighten the tense atmosphere, Grissom added, "Imagine all of our shock when he brought Marilyn Manson with him."
Chuckles followed that statement as everyone became a little more loose and at ease.
'It's time,' Dan thought. 'He's had enough time.'
"There's one thing you haven't asked, Greg," Dan said, turning to look the young man in the eyes. "You haven't asked me who he is."