Chapter 2 - Testing

Greg quickly washed the red liquid off of his hand, realizing that he needed to see the doctor after all. Coughing up blood was never a good thing -- and it meant that this wasn't just a cough that refused to go away.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number to the doctor's office, only to find out that the doctor was book solid for weeks. Only patients with emergencies could get an appointment.

"No, it's not an emergency. You can just schedule me in whenever there is an opening. Thanks," Greg told the receptionist.

He hung up the phone and sighed.

I guess I can wait. How bad could it be? he thought.

He put on his coat and got into his car, driving to the nearest pharmacy to pick up some cough medication. Once he arrived, he walked down the aisle and stopped once he found what he was looking for.

"This should hold me," he told himself as he picked up a bottle.

As he walked towards the cash register, another coughing fit attacked him.

"Hey, are you okay?" a passerby questioned.

"Yeah, it's just a little cough," Greg reassured in between his coughs.

Once he finished coughing, he noticed more blood on his hand. It was only a small amount, so he brushed it off on his pant leg as he paid for the cough medication.

After he'd gotten back into his car, he popped a pill into his mouth, hoping that it would get rid of his nasty cough. If only for a little while.

"Let's just hope this doesn't get any worse before I see a doctor."

Greg switched on the radio and smiled when he heard one of Pink's songs playing. Halfway through the song he felt a wave of fatigue fall over him. Soon, just keeping his eyes open and his hands on the wheel became extremely difficult.

Since when do side effects from medication occur that fast? he thought.

It had seemed to take an eternity, but 10 minutes later, Greg arrived back home. The second he walked through the door, he quickly made his way over to the couch and let himself slip off into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, he was awoken by the sound of someone knocking at his door. It was Catherine.

"I hear you've still got that nasty cough. Did you go to see the doctor like Grissom wanted you to?" Catherine questioned when Greg coughed as he answered the door.

"No, I'm fine. Plus, the doctor is booked solid," Greg explained, trying to hold back his coughing.

Soon, a full blown coughing fit fell over him and it took several moments for him to be able to stop. Once he did, Catherine caught a glimpse of something red on his palm.

"Greg... is that blood on your hand?" she questioned.

Greg tried to hide his hand but Catherine grabbed ahold of his wrist to bring his palm into her sight again. She examined it and concluded that it was blood.

"Okay, you claim that you are fine, and then you start coughing up blood. Do you want to give me your definition of the word 'fine'?" Catherine asked.

Greg knew that she was right. He wasn't fine.

"Come on, we're getting you to a doctor. I don't care what you were told. They can be booked all they want but you're seeing someone about that," she urged.

He didn't want to, but he also knew that Catherine wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. When she was worried about someone, she would stop at nothing to make sure that they were okay.

Catherine drove him to the doctor's office, and explained to the receptionist what had happened. After a few moments of negotiation, Greg was able to see a doctor.

"So, you're saying you've had this cough for a few weeks now? And just recently you've noticed blood while you were coughing?" the doctor questioned.

Greg nodded.

"I see. Any other things happening? Or is it just the coughing?"

Greg didn't bother mention about the fatigue he was feeling, he figured it was just a side effect from the cough medication that he'd taken. He shook his head.

"Okay. We'll if you'll come with me we can have an x-ray done. Just to see if there is anything in your lungs or chestthat might be causing this to happen," the doctor said.

Greg followed the doctor into the x-ray room while Catherine waited patiently, hoping that nothing was wrong with him.

The doctor had a suspicion that it might have been a case of pneumonia, but after taking the x-ray, he wasn't so sure.

"I'm going to have to give you a skin test. You'll get the results in about... two to three days."

Greg wasn't sure what the skin test was for, but he let the doctor do his job. The doctor explained that it would take two to three days for the results to come back, and that he should just stay at home and rest until he knew for sure what was wrong.

Catherine could tell by the look in the doctor's eye that something was wrong. The doctor didn't disclose any information about what he thought might have been wrong, and he wasn't going to until the results from the test came back. Still, Catherine could just see that whatever was wrong with Greg... was something serious.

On the drive back, Greg began to cough a bit more and it made Catherine begin to panic. She pulled the car over to the side of the road and checked to see if Greg was okay.

"Yeah, it's okay, I'm fine," he claimed once he stopped coughing.

Catherine looked at his hands and saw no signs of blood, so she returned her attention to driving and started up the car once more. After dropping Greg off, she watched in her rear-view mirror as he coughed while he walked into his house. She bit her lip.

I really hope he's going to be okay, she thought to herself as she drove away.