Grissom looked up as Nick walked in the door. He looked tense and kind of afraid. Grissom sighed.
Nick studied Grissom. He could never quite tell what the man was feeling. He closed the door gently behind him and cautiously walked further into the room.
"Sit down," Grissom commanded in a calm tone.
Nick complied and sat in the chair in front of the desk. He knew very well that this meeting could end in yelling and shouting. This was the fourth time this month he'd been late for work.
Grissom knew Nick had been struggling with the events of Nigel Crane and Kristy Hopkins these past few months, but thought that four times in one month was a little to much.
Grissom prepared himself.
"Nick, this is the fourth time this month you have been late for work," he said.
You think I don't know that, Nick thought angrily, but stayed quiet.
There was a long pause before Grissom started again.
"I can't have you being late for work that often," Grissom said.
Nick kept quiet.
Nick's silence was puzzling Grissom. The past three times this had happened Nick had come in apologizing and making up excuses and promising it wouldn't happen again.
Nick had come up with the conclusion that making excuses and promises wouldn't work. This wasn't going to stop. His problems weren't just going to fly away, so he stayed quiet.
Grissom studied Nick for the first time since he had walked in. The young man had dark circles around his eyes from lack of sleep. His hair was mussed up and he was slumped in his chair. If the chair hadn't been there he probably would be sitting on the floor from sheer exhaustion.
Grissom let up some. It wasn't entirely Nick's fault he was late. Grissom realized he had worked four doubles in a row this week, plus Grissom had made him finish the ever growing pile of paperwork on his desk.
Nick stared at Grissom, wondering how long he would keep him here.
Grissom sighed, "Nick, you need to take better care of yourself."
Nick snapped at that, "I can take care of myself just fine."
Grissom hadn't meant to say that out loud and knew it would cause an argument.
"Nick…" Grissom started.
"I don't have to take this shit!" Nick interrupted, raising the volume level.
"Nick calm down," Grissom demanded.
"You know what?" Nick asked.
Not waiting for a reply he said, "You can cut slack for everyone else. When Warrick gambled on the job, when Sara got that DUI, when Catherine comes in late, but the four times I come in late you practically chop my head off!"
Nick was now yelling. A couple of lab techs had their heads stuck out into the hallway, trying to find the source of the tremendous amount of noise.
Grissom had no reply for Nick, and Nick wasn't expecting one. Nick stormed out of his office and out of the building.
Grissom sighed and sat down at his desk. He was thinking about the last thing Nick had said when Warrick walked in.
Warrick had heard the commotion all the way from the ballistics lab. He walked into the room and sat down in the seat Nick had previously occupied.
"That was loud," Warrick commented.
Grissom nodded.
"You think he'll be okay?" Warrick asked.
"He will be," Grissom replied uneasily.
Warrick nodded, not totally convinced.
"So did you get any prints off that gun?" Grissom said, already back to business.
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I can't believe him, Nick thought.
He was driving down the Strip, trying to push the conversation he'd just had out of his mind.
He turned on the radio and kept driving.
About two minutes later he heard the faint sound of police sirens. He thought nothing of it and kept driving.
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The sirens were really loud as he stopped and waited for the light to change. They seemed to be getting really close.
The light turned green and he started to turn. As he reached the middle of the intersection a speeding car came into view. It was headed right for him!
Nick didn't have enough time to get out of the way and the other car smashed into his Tahoe. The impact sent the Tahoe rolling and tumbling to the other side of the road and down into the ditch.
As the cop cars reached the intersection they found a smashed car and a bunch of debris. The officer that had been right behind the speeding car had seen the Tahoe roll into the ditch and ordered some of the officers to check on the driver.
Other officers checked on the man in the speeding car. Paramedics arrived five minutes later and pronounced him dead.
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The officers down in the ditch didn't believe anyone could've survived the crash. As the stared at the vehicle one of the officers realized it was department issued. This speeded things up a bit. The rescue team arrived with the "Jaws of Life" and carefully began cutting of the top of the vehicle.
As the roof was pulled off the vehicle the bloodstained interior was revealed. The rescue team quickly and carefully pulled out the man. The paramedics had a stretcher ready and he was loaded onto it. They got the man as stabilized as they could and then loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and shipped him off to the hospital.
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A/N: Okay that is two chapters down, the next one will probably be the last, WARNING: POSSIBLE character death. Please review, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.