Chapter 3 - Results and Isolation

As soon as Catherine drove away, she debated with herself on whether she was going to tell the rest of the lab. She knew that it wasn't her business to say anything about what she'd seen, but also... she couldn't help but feel like Greg wouldn't tell them himself.

In the end, she ended up confronting Grissom about it.

"Well did he see a doctor?" Grissom questioned after being told that Greg had been coughing up blood.

Catherine nodded.

"Well what did the doctor say?"

"Not much... just took an x-ray, and that it probably wasn't pneumonia. Oh, and Greg had to take some sort of skin test..." Catherine informed.

Grissom's face fell and he walked over to his desk and sat down--not saying a word.

"What?" Catherine asked.

Grissom sighed, only making Catherine more confused.

"What the heck are you not telling me here?" she questioned in a more demanding tone.

"It's nothing... I'm just worried about Greg..." Grissom lied, he has his suspicions to what was wrong.

As he was speaking, Nick walked in to give them the good news that the case was solved. The news about the case quickly left his mind when he heard Grissom say he was worried about Greg.

"What's wrong with Greg?" Nick questioned.

Grissom looked as if he was about to speak, but Catherine cut in. "It's nothing really. He just had that awful cough for weeks now," she lied.

She didn't want this spreading all over the lab because she wasn't even sure if she should have told Grissom in the first place.

Nick could tell that Catherine was lying. The worry and fear depicted on both Grissom and her faces were proof enough that there was something else going on, but he didn't push the question any further. He changed the subject and explained how he and Sara had cracked the case with the girl found in the classroom in such a quick time.

"Good work, Nick," Catherine and Grissom said in unison.

Nick smiled and walked back out of Grissom's office, starting to feel worried about his friend. He decided that he would

drop by after his shift and check up on him.

After Nick's visit, Greg decided that he would give Catherine a call.

"You told them?" Greg asked Catherine in an angry tone.

"I'm sorry Greg. I was worried about you... but I only told Grissom. Don't worry, it hasn't spread around the lab or anything. I promise that nothing more will be said," Catherine explained as Greg coughed.

"Then how come Nick came by? Asking if I was all right, wondering if anything was wrong?" Greg managed to say before he started coughing even more.

Catherine explained what had happened when Nick came into the office while she and Grissom were talking.

"Okay... but I have to go. I've got a call coming in on the other line. Bye," Greg said as he clicked the button, "Hello?"

Greg listened to what the person on the other line was saying. It was the doctor. He wanted Greg to come into his office immediately.

Once he was off of the phone, he quickly got in his car and drove to see the doctor. The doctor had his results... and he sounded worried.

Upon arrival, his stomach was filled with butterflies, and he feared the worst as he opened the door and took his seat in the waiting room.

"You don't have to wait, Mr. Sanders. The doctor wants to see you right away," the receptionist told him.

Greg gulped. That was never a good thing.

He slowly made his way over to the room where his doctor was waiting. Once inside, his doctor closed the door and spoke in a very quiet tone.

"Your results came back. And they confirmed my suspicions. I'm afraid that you have... tuberculosis."

Greg felt as if someone punched him in the stomach. But it explained why the doctor had his mouth and nose covered and wasn't standing very close to him.

"T...tu...tuberculosis?" Greg stammered.

The doctor nodded. "But don't fret. Nowadays we have medication for it. As long as you follow the directions very carefully, and don't miss any doses, it will kill off the bacteria inside of you."

That didn't make Greg feel any better.

"Have you been around anyone who could have given this to you?" the doctor questioned.

The tissue. The tissue that I collected from that victims house... the one who had died from tuberculosis. Greg thought.

He explained about the tissue, and the doctor told him that it was very rare to have something transmitted that way, but it was still possible.

"Now, I'll have to give you this prescription... but by any chance do you have anyone who could pick it up for you? You'll have to be left in quarantine because you have active TB in your system. And that can be transmitted to others if they breathe in the bacteria. Also, the people who have been around you are going to have to be tested for this as well. Such as family members, co-workers, friends, and such," the doctor explained.

Greg nodded and mentioned that he could probably get Catherine or Grissom from his work to get the medication for him. All of this was happening so fast and he didn't want to believe that any of it was real.

Time seemed to race and before Greg realized it, he was back at home... and Grissom had agreed to pick up his prescription for him.

"You shouldn't come in. I'm really contagious I guess... but thanks for..." Greg began to cough, "thanks for getting this for me."

"It's no problem. Anything to make sure that you get better. You'll definitely be missed at the lab," Grissom told him.

Deep down inside. Grissom felt responsible for what happened. He was told that what gave Greg the tuberculosis was the tissue from that crime scene that the two of them were at. At the time, they both had to be tested for it... and both of them came back negative. But now, Greg had it, and Grissom felt guilty. If only he had been the one to pick up that tissue, then it would have been him and not Greg who contracted the illness.

A few days later it was concluded that no one had gotten active tuberculosis from Greg, but Catherine had contracted a mild latent case. The doctor assured her that she would be fine, as long as she took the medication to get rid of the bacteria before they became active.

Greg's friends from the lab called him almost everyday. Grissom would ask how he was doing, trying to hide the guilt he felt. Catherine would always make sure that he was taking his medication. Nick, Sara and Warrick would let Greg know what was happening at the lab.

He hated being away from everything. He hated being isolated. All he could do was eat, sleep, watch television and talk to his friends on the phone. He was forbidden to step foot out of his house.

Late one night as Greg was trying to fall asleep, he remembered that he had another dose of his medication to take. Quickly, he bolted out of his bed and rushed over to his bathroom. He flicked on the light, but his eyes weren't adjusted to the quick change so he stumbled around looking for the bottle he wanted.

"Damn it!" he said as he heard the sound of a bottle dropping to the floor, "that was the one I needed."

He bent down and picked the bottle up, noticing that it had opened during the fall. He took a pill and rinsed it down with a glass of water, then returned back to bed-- unaware that a quarter of the bottle's contents had fallen out and rolled under his bathroom counter.