Chapter 8:
Grissom had come back that night with a small box. Hailey was sitting on the bed and held the closed box in her hands. She took a deep breath and opened the lid. She pulled out a small daisy barrette and held it in her hands. She got a sharp pain in the top part of her head and she closed her eyes and winced in pain.
"You look so pretty." Grissom said adding the last barrette to her hair.
"I have to look pretty it's the first day of school." Young Hailey said.
"Are you nervous about kindergarten?"
"Nope." She turned to face him as he squatted down to her level. "Will you be there to pick me up after school Uncle Grissom?"
Grissom mentally went through his schedule, he had three lectures to day but he would be done by three. "I will be right out front waiting for you."
She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and gave him a hug. When he gave his word he never broke it, and she knew he would be waiting for her.
"Hailey?" She heard someone whisper her name. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the doctor that was holding her up. "Are you ok?"
The pain was now gone and she slightly shook her head. She looked around the room and she saw the doctor, a few nurses, and Julia. "Where's Mr. Grissom?" She asked.
"I'm right here." He said stepping from behind Julia.
"I want every one to leave." She said holding onto his hand. "What happened?" She asked when everyone left.
"You grabbed your head and you passed out." He said running a cold cloth on her forehead. The box had been moved to the table. "Maybe you're not ready yet."
Hailey shook her head. "I remembered." She said still holding the small barrette. "It was the fist day of kindergarten and you were doing my hair. You promised to pick me up after school." She said, remembering the flashback she just had.
Grissom smiled. "Yeah." Happy she remembered. This was going to work. He would help her all the way.
"I don't think I can do anymore today." She said.
"It's ok, you don't have to. You did really well today Hailey. We'll get you to remember everything over time." He said.
Grissom spent an hour talking to Hailey and then had to leave for the lab.
The next morning Hailey had played cards with Noah until he had is usual appointment. Hailey wheeled herself back to her room and saw a man she hadn't seen before. "May I help you?" She asked getting the man's attention.
He stared at Hailey for a few minutes until he realized what he was doing. "Oh, um...I know that you don't remember me, but um.. I was..well I still am..I'm one of your best friends." He said fidgeting with his hands.
Hailey tried to think, there was something about him but she couldn't put her finger on it. "I'm sorry." She said.
"Hey, it's ok. I understand. My name's Greg." He said. There was something in his eyes that cried out in emotional pain. "I just haven't seen you in a while." He glanced at the box he left on the chair. "I brought you some of the things you liked. Cd's, book's and stuff. I wanted to make you feel comfortable." He rambled, he was kind of cute when he did that. "I probably shouldn't have brought these things, they could confuse you, I didn't think of that."
"Greg." She said, coming over to him. "Thank you for the gesture."
Greg sat down and started to get emotional. "I'm sorry."
She couldn't help but feel guilty. She wanted to be the way she was, she wanted her old memories back, not to mention it wouldn't hurt to walk again. She placed a hand on the young mans shoulders. She looked at his wrist that had a bright neon bracelet. The sharp pain returned to her head, and again she blacked out.
"I told you this would be awesome." Greg yelled over the loud music.
"Twenty." The bouncer said. Greg paid his fee, and Nick handed him forty. Hailey smiled up at Nick. He couldn't help but think how cute she looked in her all black leather outfit, complete with purple butterfly wings and purple contacts.
The three walked further into the mass of bodies intertwining with one another. Although none of them did any drugs the vibes from the other people were rubbing off on them. They had all separated, which made Nick freak out. He couldn't protect Hailey if he couldn't see her. He moved through the crowd and saw Hailey dancing with Greg. Hailey had two glow sticks intertwined in her fingers and Greg had glow sticks that were on strings. He waved them around Hailey making this orbit type thing and she moved the sticks in her hand around in cool patterns around her body and under her legs. Nick stood there and watched them for a few minutes until they stopped. Hailey then found a half naked man to dance with. Nick felt someone come up behind him.
"Hi." She said moving her body close to his.
"Hi." He said politely.
"You're real cute." She said.
Nick could tell she was drugged and slightly pushed her aside. "Thanks." He said walking away towards Hailey. He pulled her away from the half naked man and led her a few feet away.
"It's a rave Nicky, try to have fun." She said grinding against him. The two suddenly became lost in their own world. They soon followed everyone around them, as Nicks head came closer to Hailey's. She braced herself as she kissed him back running her hands through the hair at the base of his neck. His tongue slipped out and became intertwined with hers.
Hailey woke up grabbing her head, wishing for the room to stop spinning. She opened her eyes and once again she saw the doctor, a few nurses, and Julia, but this time Greg was by her side holding her hand. She felt very tired and was instructed to rest before she had her physical therapy session.
As everyone left she asked Greg to stay. She took the bracelet off of his wrist and held it in her hand. It was neon pink, yellow, and blue. In the center it had the letters of her name spelled out. "We gave that to each other." He said pulling hers out of the box.
She looked at her bracelet that had the same colors but it spelled out Greggo. "You said you are my best friend, right?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"There's this guy, and I can't figure out who he is. He was in here with Mr. Grissom the first day, and I just saw him again in a flashback. We were at some sort of party or club or something."
"I think you're talking about Nicky. The night we gave each other these, he was at the rave too." He said.
"He has dark hair?" Greg nodded. "We aren't married are we?"she looked on her finger for a ring.
"Not yet. You two have been dating for a while, but that's it. Everyone at the lab thinks you two will be married one day." He explained.
She handed back his bracelet, and he slipped it back on his wrist. "I know this may sound weird, but...tell me about myself."
Greg pulled the chair over and sat down. He told her about when she first came to Vegas, and what she did for a living. He told her about the other CSI's and all the people at the lab. He left out the bad things on purpose thinking that if it was possible maybe she would only remember the good. She told him all about Nick, and how he was madly in love with her. He was half way through the story about when she and Nick had to process a decomposed body and stunk for days, when a nurse came and kicked him out, claiming that Hailey needed rest. She said goodbye to Greg, then slipped her bracelet on her wrist and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of what Greg had told her.