"Nick, I want you to cough as I pull out the tube, can you do that for me?"

Nick knew what those words were, but he just could not work out what they meant. He furrowed his brow as he tried to comprehend them. However the fact that the doctor was pulling a tube out of his throat made concentration difficult and started to cough as the tube slid out.

"Good. Now don't try to talk just yet, give yourself a couple of minutes for your larynx to relax."

Again, blah, blah, blah. He could hear the words, knew he knew the words, but could not make any sense of them what so ever. He tried to tell them so but he discovered he didn't know what words to form. This was not good. He was still groggy. That was it. Nothing to worry about.

He could feel someone run something over the bottom of his foot. His foot contracted spontaneously. Then the other foot. 'Stop that! It tickles.'

Someone gave him a sip of water. Catherine! He smiled up at the familiar face and was rewarded with a smile in return. Was she crying? She was smiling so it must have been good tears.

He felt like he had been hit by a train. Why the hell was he in........ what was the word for that big place with sick people...... hotel, no.... hospice?..... close....HOSPITAL..... That was it, he was in HOSPITAL.

"Nick, do you know where you are?" the strange man looked down at him. 'Yep, HOSPITAL,' he thought. He couldn't work out how to say the word so he nodded. Why didn't his neck move? WAS he hit by a train?

The doctor frowned at the lack of response from Nick. "Can you tell me your name?"

'Nick.' Now to form that word with his mouth. Concentrate...... concentrate.... Nothing. OK, this was just getting annoying now. Maybe if he had a little bit more sleep he would feel better when he work up. He closed his eyes.

= = = = = = = =

"Why isn't he saying anything?" Sandra Stokes didn't take her eyes of her son but directed the question to the doctor. Nick has fallen asleep again.

"Brain injury is not an exact science I am afraid. The adverse effects are many and varied. I am sure this is just temporary set back. The good news is that we can take off his neck collar. All the x-rays and MRI's show there was no damage to the spinal cord and the reflex tests confirmed that. I will arrange for a nurse to come and take it off. In the meantime, when he wakes up we keep talking to him and see if we can't get some sort of reaction."

= = = = = = = =

He woke up again as someone was turning his head from side to side. 'Geesh, can't a guy get some sleep around here.'

"Sorry to wake you honey, but you had to have this collar taken off." He looked up at the very attractive nurse. 'OK, she can wake me anytime.' He smiled up at her. Now what did she say?

He concentrated on the sentence. She called him... honey... term of endearment. That was nice. Now..... collar.... collar..... on a shirt? Well that didn't make sense. Why take off a collar and not the entire shirt?

He turned his neck to look around the room. 'Hey, I couldn't do that before? OH.... COLLAR..... around my neck.... So my head didn't move... OK, got it now. Neck brace.' He smiled as he finally worked out the cryptic sentence.

"What is it with him and smiling at pretty women?" He knew that voice. He turned his head and saw Warrick standing at the end of his bed.

'Hey man.' That was what he wanted to say but the words would not form.

"Even on his death bed he still gets more action than me!" Greg grinned down at him from beside Warrick.

What did he say? Death bed.... He knew bed, he was in it..... death..... death

"A corpse can get more action than you Sanders. How you feelin' man? Feel like talking? You want a drink of water or something."

Hold on.... Still trying to work out what Greg said. Talking..... I'm trying! Water...... water..... he pictures a glass of water in his mind. 'Yeh water would be good.' He tells his head to nod but.....

"Hey Nicky, I'm here too. You really scared us. Don't ever do that to me again Stokes."

He turned his head in the direction of the new voice. Sara. That gap tooth smiled looked down at him. What did she say.... scared...... what happened to that water?

"To YOU? I was in the car! Man, your driving saved my life. You were right, you are a better driver than me. I'll never hang shit on it again." Warrick laughed.

"Hey Nick, your frowning. You got a headache or something?" Greg looked a little panicked. "You think we should get the doctor?"

'Ahhhh slow down. I don't understand what you are saying! One at a time! This is too hard. I'm going to sleep again.

= = = = = = = = = =

"Did he say anything to you?" James Stokes asked the young CSI's when they came out of the room.

"No. He just sort of looked at us. He started off by smiling but then was just frowning. Kinda like he does at the lab when he is trying to figure something out," Warrick informed him.

"It was almost like he didn't understand us." Sara looked back in at Nick who was sleeping peacefully. "You don't think it's permanent do you?"

James had his hands in his pocket and shrugged. It was such a Nick thing to do. "The doctor is still confident he will make a full recovery. I suppose we have to wait and see."

"Anyone else sick of waiting?" Greg asked.

= = = = = = = = = = = =

He opened his eyes and saw his brother, Michael sitting beside his bed, and his sister, Kelly, beside him. They were talking to someone on the other side of the bed. He turned his head and saw Grissom and Catherine.

"Kelly and Nick were like twins. You wouldn't have thought they were born 12 months apart. Since he was born Kelly was by his side." Michael was informing Catherine and Gil about some of Nick's antics growing up.

Catherine noticed Nick's head move. "Hey there cowboy. How you goin?"

He smiled up at her. Kelly moved past Michael and took his hand. "Hey Nicky, can I get you anything. You want some water?"

Water... he knew what that was... he nodded his head.

She smiled at him, thankful for that small reaction from him. It was the first one anyone had gotten since he had woken up 4 days ago. She reached over and grabbed the cup with a straw from the bedside table. He took a sip and it tasted wonderful. Who would have thought water could taste so good.

Then they started talking at him again. One right after the other. He couldn't decipher what anyone was saying. God could they just SLOW DOWN!

"Slow down." His voice was croaky and barely above a whisper but it shut them all up instantly. All four were staring at him.

"What did you say Nick," Gil was the first to find his voice.

"Slow down. You're talking too fast and I don't understand what you are saying."

"Well we understand you and you don't know how good it is to hear your voice."

Slowly over the next few days, Nick's comprehension sped up and so long as everyone gave him a bit of time to digest their sentences, he could pretty much keep up with the conversation.

He still had a long road of ahead of him, months of physical therapy and comprehension skills again, but he was expected to make a full, if not slow recovery.

Finally everyone could stop waiting.