Chapter Six: No More

There had been another murder. It was called in only a few minutes after shift started. Being listed as high priority, all the members of the night shift had gone in. It was something that Greg was thankful for.

Nearly two weeks had passed since his episode during work. The several days following that were the hardest. With everyone watching him closer, Greg had to be careful about everything he did. He felt crowded. Thankfully, all the attention died, it was passed off as the stomach flu. Greg wished desperately that was all it was.

The money Grissom had given him had been enough to secure a sure spot on a list, and with passing time, as he became worse, he would slowly climb towards the top. Still it wasn't easy as that. You had to consider blood type, age, any illnesses the donor had. The most difficult part of that was finding one that hadn't been damaged prior to donation.

Greg knew that things were getting worse. It had been a near seven weeks since he was officially diagnosed. They had given him an estimate of ten weeks, at the most. It wasn't just time that tipped him off. With each passing day Greg found it harder to get up and going. Everything took more effort. He found himself short of breath from just walking from the DNA lab to the break room.

He was getting sick more often, even at times he hadn't anything in him. Earlier this afternoon, there had been blood. Greg knew that it had moved into more serious stages, knew that he should have called his doctor. But he hadn't.

Instead he had drug himself into work. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain himself to everyone. But he couldn't hide any longer. He hadn't even bothered to hide himself before coming in. This was the day he had been dreading. He wasn't able to express the feeling he had when he heard they were all leaving to another Crime Scene.

Greg often wondered how the team was able to handle such things sometimes. They saw death every night almost. Greg himself, had never seen a dead body before, parts of bodies sometimes, some cases weren't all that pleasant, not that any of them were.

Greg wondered dully how they would react, after he was gone. Would he just be another face? Would anyone mourn, or would life go on as normal. Greg rubbed his head gingerly as he stood up. Making his way towards the restroom, Greg pushed his way in, grabbing onto the sink as a wave of dizziness passed over him. These spells were getting worse too, more frequent and lasting longer.

Greg rubbed his head again, trying to rid it of the pounding headache. He gripped the sink tightly as he took a step back, trying to balance himself out. His knees buckled, dropping him to the ground, his arms unable to support his weight. His head caught the side of the sink, and it was the last Greg remembered.


They had been at the scene for several hours now, and still had many more to go. A double homicide, a couple of preteen girls. Nick couldn't understand people sometimes. Even after all these years of watching and listening, there were still some things he would never understand.

He was on his way back to the lab now, they had some more DNA samples, but Nick doubted it was anything helpful. Still, if Greg could get a head start on this, maybe they would be done for comparison when the rest of the team returned.

The DNA lab was his first stop, but Greg was not there. It wasn't a surprise, DNA had been slow, Greg had more in likely finished, and had found something else to do. Nick sent him a quick memo, but was surprised to find the young lab tech's pager still on the table next to him.

Nick picked it up, shaking his head. Greg normally carried it with him. He tossed it back on the table top before leaving. Coming across the next occupied room, he stuck his head inside. "Hey Archie, you know where Greg is?"

Archie shook his head, glancing up from the magazine he was reading. "Haven't seen him since the start of shift."

Nick nodded, leaving him and making his way to the break room. Once again, it was empty. Fighting off a long sigh, Nick made his way back to the DNA lab, scribbling a quick note for Greg to run the new samples asap, before making his way back outside. He needed to get back to the scene, this was only a quick run.

He stopped down the hallway, turning around and heading back. He might as well since he was here already. Pushing open the door, Nick had only taken a few steps in before coming to a dead stop.

"Greg?" his voice was quiet, filled with uncertainty.

The young lab tech looked up at him, then back down. He was on the floor, leaning against the far wall of the bathroom. There was blood on the sink right above him, and blood on the floor next to him. Greg was had drawn his knees up under his chin, had wrapped his arms around them.

Nick knelt down in front of him, slightly surprised to see him crying. "Hey man, what happened to you?" he asked, though it was fairly evident what had happened.

Nick covered the gash on the young lab rat's head, pulling his hand back quickly in surprise. Greg was burning up, not only that, his skin was pale, and a blue tint had taken hold of his lips. "Greg, can you hear me?" he asked, more than scared now.

Greg didn't answer, his head resting on his knees now. Nick gave his shoulder a small squeeze, standing up. "I'll be right back, I'm going to get some help."

He was surprised when Greg grabbed his arm, pulling him back down. "No," Greg told him, "don't."

Nick looked back at him, more than confused now. He grabbed Greg's hand, pulling it free of his shirt. His fingers were like ice, as opposed to his forehead. This was more than a freak accident. "Greg, what's going on?" he asked, clasping Greg's hand in his own, trying to chase off the chill.

Greg ignored the question. "Just take me home, don't call anyone."

Nick shook his head, "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No," Greg argued, coughing, "no hospitals, no doctors. I just want to be home, please?"

He was begging; Nick let out a sigh, watching the young man. He was trembling, and it seemed for the first time he actually noticed how drawn his face was. Nick got to his feet, pulling Greg up behind him, ignoring his protests.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," he told him again firmly, wrapping an arm around his chest once seeing that Greg wasn't able to keep up on his own. "Now, you can either help me, or I'll drag you there."

Greg shook his head, not being able to follow everything that was happening. The hospital was the last place he a wanted to be. Still he could see that Nick wasn't going to let up, and he was too tired to argue at this point. The only thing he knew was that he wanted it to all stop. He was to weary to fight against it anymore.

TBC