There prb is only one more chapter after this. There is a sequel to follow though, more on that next chapter.
Chapter Twenty-One: Reality
He didn't remember very much. He remembered being cold; trapped somewhere in the dark, the cold stinging his face, his hands, his feet…his entire body hurt. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, not rationally anyway. The surface was just a few feet away, but he couldn't reach it, the single thought nagging him in the back of his mind.
Then the water was moving over him, pulling him away. He fought against it at first, struggling weakly, the water weighing him down. It was then he realized that it wasn't the water moving, but he himself was.
In the next moment his head broke the surface. Greg drew in a deep ragged breath, coughing and spiting at the same time, as his stomach heaved. He could hear people talking, shouting even, as the rest of his body was pulled from the water.
After that, everything became faint, reality mixed in with dream. So much in fact that he couldn't distinguish what was what. It had felt as though he had closed his eyes for only a minute, in an effort to clear out his head. When he opened them again, he could have sworn he was dreaming.
At first he could move, or at least that's what it felt like, his eyes blinking in the light. He was lying on a bed, wrapped in several heavy blankets, tucked clear in around his neck and over his head, leaving only his face exposed. As far as he could see, he was alone, and that thought frightened him.
Reaching up with an arm he pushed the edge of the blanket away from his head in order to get a better glance at his surroundings. A quiet voice alerted him that he wasn't alone, his attention being drawn towards the corner of the room.
Sara was standing near a closed door, her back facing him, a phone pressed against her ear. "His fever broke a few hours ago, the doctor says there shouldn't be any problems, he's been sleeping since," she said quietly, turning around to face him now. Her expression softened as their eyes met for a brief moment, and she turned away slightly.
"I'm going to call you back later, he just woke up," she finished, moving to hang up the phone.
She turned back to him, walking over at an easy pace, sitting down on the side of bed next to him. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly, reaching out with a hand.
Greg closed his eyes as her fingers ran along his forehead, "A little confused actually…what happened?"
"What do you remember?" Sara asked him, moving aside as Greg rolled on his back, rubbing his head gently.
Greg let out a little laugh, opening his eyes, "I'm still trying to figure out if this is real or not." His expression narrowed however as he saw the dark bruises that outlined her face. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, smiling at the same time. "Yeah, a few bumps, a few bruises. I'm okay, worried about you. If you wanted to go swimming we could have gone to Hawaii you know."
Greg laughed, yawning, "You know me, always looking for adventure," he glanced around the place again. "Where are we exactly?"
"At the town house, I told them I could keep an eye on you at our cabin, but they wanted to make sure you were okay. You fell asleep about an hour after Neff pulled you out of the water, but you were really out of it."
Greg blinked a few times, processing the information just given to him. "Neff pulled me out? I thought the guy hated me."
"Misunderstood, not hated, something that's not too difficult with you," Sara teased him lightly, feeling better now that Greg was sounding like himself.
Greg nodded, fighting off another yawn. "What about the others?"
"Randolph's down in Portland at the hospital, but he's supposed to be okay, they wont release any details, we're not family. Tom's down in ICU, they don't know if he'll make it or not. If he does, we'll have to come back up here for the trial."
Greg sighed, shaking his head, "If?"
"He was in the water a lot longer than you were," Sara explained to him, "you were lucky."
"You were talking to Grissom weren't you?" Greg asked suddenly, switching the conversation.
Sara nodded, "He wants to know if we want to come back early. I told him we would wait; we only have four days left. Give us enough time to rest up, get better, bruises to fade," she mentioned, touching her face gingerly.
"What?" Greg wondered, "You don't want to return to Vegas looking like you've been beaten to a pulp?"
"No," Sara told him shortly, her smile flat if there was one at all. "I'm going to get the doctor, and then we can get back to our own cabin so I can get some sleep."
It had been pointless to stay the last four days. The two had not attended any classes, and barely left the cabin during that time. The doctor there had let the two return to their cabin after checking Greg over one last time, double-checking that the bones in his hand were set just right. They would take longer to heal now, and Greg found them hurting worse than they had before.
The day they were supposed to leave, they spent most of the morning packing things up, and cleaning the cabin. Greg rubbed his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his suitcase, sitting down on the already made bed.
He had come down with a cold within the last day, something that didn't surprise him. They were going to leave early, that way they could stop by and see Randolph. The doctors would release no further information on his condition, and they had been left with only the promise that he would recover.
Greg glanced up as Sara came out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "That's everything, I think," she told him, dropping her own bag on top of his. "We should get going here soon."
Greg nodded in agreement, but instead of standing, grabbed her hand as she started to pull away. "Let's get breakfast first," he told her, "I'm hungry, and it'll give us a chance to stretch our legs before we get stuck in the car."
Sara laughed, coming back to sit next to him. "It's not that long of a drive to Portland," she smiled.
"It's the one from Portland to Vegas that has me worried," he muttered, shaking his head.
"We're not doing a straight drive," Sara answered, continuing before Greg had a chance to argue. "You're sick, and you have only one useable hand at the moment, so there is no way that you're driving. And if you think I'm making that drive in one shot, you're crazy."
"I can drive one handed," Greg protested, sitting up.
Sara shook her head, "I'm driving, that's final."
Greg frowned, staring up at her as she stood. "I still want breakfast," he complained.
She laughed, holding her hand out to help him up to his feet. "We'll still get breakfast," she rolled her eyes, already pulling her coat on. "Not very long though," she warned him. "I want to get on the road."
The diner was still busy even though today was the day everyone was supposed to head home. It was advised to do so before dark, since the roads that led up to the mountain were often frozen at night. Sara and Greg had to wait roughly forty minutes before a table opened up, and by then, Sara was hungry as well. After ordering, Sara left to the restroom, leaving Greg by himself. However, he wasn't alone for long.
He glanced up as someone approached, nodding at him to join when he asked. Greg let his napkin drop back down on the table, folded and creased in several spots as he had been trying to fold something, but it wasn't working all that well due to the simple fact he couldn't use his one hand very much.
"I heard you pulled me out of the water," Greg said lightly, looking up at him.
Neff nodded, folding his hands on top of the table. "Yeah, when I heard the gun the fire, and found Randolph and Sidle…Randolph pointed me off in the direction you two disappeared. I radioed for help; it wasn't that hard to find both of you. Left a pretty messy trail."
Greg nodded shortly, "I tried, didn't think anyone would find it. I couldn't even see what I left behind."
"Broken branches, scuff marks in the snow. It was easy enough to follow with a flashlight," Neff grew silent for a minute before continuing. "I wanted to apologize, for earlier. What I said, it was out of line. I'm sorry."
Greg shook his head, "You're just doing your job. I mean, we do it all the time, we listen to the evidence, but sometimes we let ourselves get ahead of the information. Then we make a mistake, we're human."
Neff agreed silently. "True, but not all mistakes can be fixed."
"Trust me," Greg gave him a smile, "this one can. And thanks, for what you did."
Neff shook his head as he stood up slowly. "I'm just doing my job," he told him quietly. "You take care, the both of you, take care."
Greg watched him go, thinking quietly about what he had said. His initial tone towards him had changed, sure enough, but still he wasn't sure if he favored the detective. It would be good to get back home; he was looking forward to it.
TBC