Hanging By A Moment

Another jarring pain went through his arm just after he started falling again. Several steel bars jutted out from the cement foundation and walls, and one snagged him at his restraints. The bindings were all that held him from a deadly fall.

He groaned through clenched teeth, closing his eyes to try to make the pain disappear. His weight tugged on his bound hands, sending tormenting pressure through his broken arm.

He ventured a look down.

The courtyard was at least fifty feet down. He saw the cement pit below him. Jason Henler's body had disappeared, no doubt sunk to the bottom of the pit.

"Nick!" Amy laid down on the floor and reached for him. She stretched herself as far as she could, and her fingers brushed his hands. "Nick, hold on!"

She was mumbling something else, something that sounded . . . irrational, panicked. She's trying to save me now?! Not that he was complaining about that, but she just chased him down and tried to shoot him.

Something wet dropped down on his face, startling him. He glanced up at Amy. She was actually crying, this time harder than before.

Nick was on the verge of tears too. He groaned again. His arm felt like it was bending, more and more with each second. He felt weak all over as the pain became excruciating.

Amy croaked out another sob and grasped at his hands. "Hang on," she said, "Hang on." She kept repeating it. Nick couldn't help but wonder if she wanted him dead on her terms.

She started pulling on the bindings, a coarse rope. Nick bit down hard on his lip, stifling a yelp. She slid back, inch by inch, bringing him up.

Suddenly the rope started to give way. Nick's eyes shot open wide, looking from the rope to Amy. She just stared at him morosely, and tugged at the rope.

The knot gave.

Nick yelled, terrified as he slipped. He grabbed out to the bar with both hands, not caring that it would hurt when he grabbed the steel bar. It at least was something sturdy to keep him from death.

The pressure on his right arm was too much, and Nick immediately let go. He hung by his left hand only, his body swinging around from his measly grip. The ground below taunted him, and above him, Amy grabbed the gun.

"Goodbye, Nick," she said. Nick's eyes darted up to her. Despite his precarious situation, she lowered the gun at an angle, aiming for him. "I hope you understand."

She cocked the gun and moved her finger over the trigger.

"I do! Amy, please!" Nick asked frantically. His left arm shook, sending dangerous vibrations to the rest of him. His hand was getting slick and he tightened his grip as much as he could. "Amy, you don't have to do this."

She tipped her head to one side and smiled at him. It was sweet and sincere, something that, like everything else about her, threw him off.

"Nick. If you understood, you'd know I have to do this," she said. "I wish things could have been different."

Nick saw her finger slide back.

"How!" Nick shouted in a last-ditch effort. "If you hadn't killed Faye Green?" Risking her fury wasn't the wisest thing, he knew, but Nick was running out of options—and time. His left arm was giving way. Nick reached for the bar with his right arm, gritting his teeth as he made himself grip it.

"Faye tried to steal him!" Amy yelled. "She's to blame, not me!" She started to cry again, fresh tears leaving trails down her face. "I thought you saw that."

Nick tried to respond, but his arm hurt him with such intensity he never thought possible. He shut his eyes, trying to block out the pain just so he could hang on longer.

Maybe he was postponing the inevitable.

"It doesn't matter," she said, suddenly tossing the gun to the side. "That part of my life is over." Her eyes flickered to his arms. She saw the fatigue in him and stepped to the side. "Goodbye, Nick."

Her eyes lingered on his as Nick understood something. Though she'd tried, she couldn't just kill him. She wouldn't shoot him, even if part of her demanded it. No. Instead, she would leave him to his own death.

She stepped back again, her eyes never leaving his. But as she stepped backwards, her foot caught on another steel rod. She gasped as she stumbled. Her hands flailed as she tried to catch herself, brace her fall, anything.

Amy screamed as she failed. Her screams went with her, echoing off the bare structure as she plummeted to the courtyard. Nick's eyes followed her, until he quickly shut them as he heard the sickening thud of human flesh and bone on hard ground.

He started to shake.

Not just his arms. All of him. I'm not going to get out of this. Nothing was close to him, nothing to jump down to or move to. There was the level above him, but it seemed so far away.

Better that than Amy's way. With agonizing determination, Nick pulled his weight up with his left arm. His muscles spasmed, but he kept pulling. He flung his right arm onto the floor. His fingers just barely reached the edge.

He knew this was going to hurt like hell.

He pulled up with his right arm, yelling along with the protest his arm was making. That pressure seemed to bend his bone more and more. He succeeded in pulling himself up a few inches when he heard the bone snap.

He screamed and let go, falling slack with just his left hand gripping the bar. His arms throbbed, one broken, the other tiring. I can't do this.

He swallowed as he saw the ground taunting him. There's no way out of this. His mind took him away from the pain, if only for a brief moment. He thought of his family. Texas. Catherine and Lindsay. Warrick. Greg. Grissom. Sara.

If he could go back, maybe he would have told them all things he'd never normally say. How much he appreciated their support. Their friendship. How he respected them. Admired them.

If he'd known he would end up like this, hanging with just moments left, maybe he would have gone along with Amy Henler. Maybe Jason Henler would still be alive. Maybe he would have found another way out. Maybe.

"Mrs. Henler!"

Nick almost let go at the sudden shout. It startled him, but at the same time gave him hope.

He knew that voice.

"Grissom!" he yelled.

"Hang on, Nick!" It was Warrick too. Nick's lip quivered. He was trying, but it just hurt too much.

"Please hurry," he whispered. As if in response, he heard the echo of footsteps, hurrying up that flight of stairs.

Nick's hand slipped a bit, his grip sliding to the end of the steel bar. Nick yelped at that.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," he said over and over to himself. He was losing feeling in his arm. He couldn't make his muscles work. Slowly, he saw his hand slip further, his muscles twitch uncontrollably, his body give up.

"Nick!!!"

Nick's heart dropped to his stomach. His grip gave, and he fell, the whole while staring up. Grissom and Warrick stared back, fear of the inevitable in their eyes.

They moved further and further away. Nick heard nothing but the sound of air rushing by him. His legs hit first, but instead of a chorus of cracks and pain, he heard goop and slosh.

The rest of his body sank in after his feet, diving into the wet cement. Nick shut his eyes as the speed halted and his heart bounced back to his chest.

Whether it was the force of the fall, the impact, or the fear catching up to him, Nick was out.

The EMTs swarmed around Nick's cement-clad body. He lay on the bare floor of the construction site.

Grissom didn't know how bad Nick was. He only watched, trying to pick up pieces of what the EMTs whispered. They didn't say much, and that spoke loudly to Gil. The only thing he understood so far was the brace on Nick's right arm.

Brass was confining the media to the parking area while Warrick started to process the scene. Grissom knew they were too close to really work, but someone had to do it. Warrick kept glancing down at Nick as he photographed the level from which both Nick and Amy fell.

The coroner pronounced Amy Henler dead as soon as he arrived. Not that it was a surprise. The splatter was enough to prove she was gone. Gil shuddered, thinking that Nick could have ended up in that condition, if he'd fallen anymore to the left.

He clenched his teeth as the EMTs checked Nick's pulse for the twentieth time.

"Pretty strong," one of them said. Gil straightened up at that. "Should we move him?" He understood their hesitation to do so. They didn't know how badly hurt Nick was, and moving him could make things worse. But what else could they do here?

Nick groaned, startling the two EMTs.

"Nick," one of them said. The name sounded foreign coming from the EMT, but it still caught Nick's attention. Slowly he opened his eyes.

And grimaced.

"Don't move. Just tell us how you feel," the EMT said. Nick shut his eyes but reopened them after a long breath.

"Did you guys die," he said with a wheeze, "or am I still alive?"

A wave of relief covered Gil, and he allowed himself to chuckle. Nick heard it and lifted his head from the ground to see his boss. The movement panicked the EMTs, but Nick seemed unhurt there.

"Hey Gris," Nick said.

"Hey Nick," Grissom said, moving closer. "How are you feeling?"

Nick swallowed as if he were thinking about it. "Sore."

Grissom could have laughed at that as he glanced away at the height from which the CSI fell. 'Sore' was to be expected.

"Arm hurts," Nick added, cringing. The EMTs nodded, exchanging looks.

"How about your legs, Nick?" one asked. "Can you feel them? Move them?"

Nick nodded, and wiggled his legs and feet to prove it. That seemed to make the EMTs relax. They stood up.

"Okay," one said. "We're going to get you checked out at the hospital, especially that arm."

Nick merely nodded as the EMTs left to bring in the wheeled stretcher. Nick started to look around the site. He smiled up at Warrick, who smiled broadly and waved at his friend. Nick's eyes moved down again, as if he relived his fall. But he stopped and studied the body lying not far from his.

David from the coroner's office was making some final notes on Amy Henler. Nick frowned and just watched him for several moments.

Suddenly his eyes shifted to Grissom.

"She's dead?" Nick asked. Grissom nodded, and Nick seemed to relax. He laid his head back down against the floor and just shut his eyes. His chest expanded visibly as he took in a deep breath and sighed.

"Hey Gris?" he called out. Grissom went to his side.

"What is it, Nicky?"

"Jason Henler's dead too. Shot," Nick summed up. "She dumped him in the cement."

"David!" Grissom called over his shoulder. The young coroner's assistant looked up from Amy Henler's body. "You have another customer." He pointed at the cement with a little grimace.

A rickety noise caught their attention as the EMTs returned with the stretcher. Nick frowned at it, but didn't object as they moved him onto it. His face tightened with a wince as he was jostled, but he didn't make a sound. Grissom watched and felt a pang of pride. Nick was being so brave when he shouldn't have to be.

The EMTs wheeled him towards the parking area. Gil walked alongside his injured CSI, ready to shield him from the press.

He could already see the flashes of cameras and hear questions being fired off at Brass. The detective held them at bay, but they instantly turned from him when the stretcher came in view.

"Nick!"

"Mr. Stokes!"

"Mr. Grissom!"

Gil sighed and shot a look to Brass.

"Back up, people! Come on!" the detective bellowed. The officers 'securing' the scene stepped up their efforts, and the EMTs moved Nick along through the crowd.

"Gris?" Nick said suddenly, almost unfazed by the attention.

"Yeah, Nick."

He chewed on his lip for a second. "I don't think she knew what she wanted."

Grissom raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?" he asked. Nick shrugged with a wince as he thought about it.

"She just wanted someone to love her," he said, his eyes slightly glazed as focused on some memory. "She wasn't happy."

Gil shook his head. "No, she wasn't.

A faint smile came over Grissom's face. He hadn't expected Nick to be so lucid, or even thoughtful—especially when it involved the woman who kidnapped and tried to kill him. Then again, Gil knew he often underestimated the young CSI.

"Hey Gris?" Nick said again, as the EMTs started to lower the stretcher to load him into the ambulance.

"Yeah, Nick?"

The young CSI offered his boss a sheepish grin.

"I think I'm ready for a vacation."

a/n: when I began this story, I knew it would be a quick and exciting one—which is why I decided to write it. It's not perfect, as none of my stories are, but I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and reviewing!