A/N: This chapter sorta kinda maybe has a cliffhanger ending, and I'm sorry for that. lol, it's the monkey's fault I swear. I wasn't going to post this, because... well... I was starting the last chapter, and halfway through... the creative spark that I'd used to write this sort of started to diminish... and I couldn't figure out a good way to end this. So I didn't want to leave everyone is suspense for too long, but I shall post this anyway, and hope that I'll get the last chapter written soon. Enjoy! And be sure to let me know what you think of it!
Chapter 8 - See The Doctor Frown
Greg was told later on in the week that his body had been resisting to the previous medication. He was also told that if his body resisted to the new medication, then he wouldn't get better. Because of the medication switch, Greg's quarantine was extended another week. He wanted the people who cared about him to be with him during this time of need, but he didn't want them to catch what he had and suffer the way he was.
Greg feared sleep after the nightmare that he had, he was scared that the second he closed his eyes it would return. He became even more frightened when the doctor told him that the new medication would make him drowsy. Every time that he would feel like he was about to fall asleep, he did whatever he could to fight it. He didn't want sleep. He didn't want the nightmare.
I wonder if that's how they really feel? he thought to himself. I wonder if they are all glad that this happened to me. I wonder if they are all waiting for the phone call that tells them that I'm never coming back.
"No, that's crazy," Greg said out loud, despite the fact that he wasn't alone in the room. The nurse who was in there gave him a funny look, but Greg paid no attention and returned to his thoughts.
I wonder if they miss me.
His thoughts were interrupted when the doctor came in.
"I'm just here to do a quick check up. You'll have to come with me so you can have another x-ray done. I want to see how much of the bacteria is in your lungs," the doctor explained.
Greg slowly got himself out of the bed and walked out behind the doctor. After the x-ray was taken, he was told he could go back to his room, but instead Greg stayed.
"I need to ask you something..." Greg began. The doctor turned around to face him again.
"Honestly. What are the chances that I'm going to survive? I mean... are the chances high that my body will reject this new set of medication as well?" Greg questioned.
The doctor sighed, and for a moment he didn't speak.
The look in Greg's eyes signaled that he wasn't going to leave before he got an answer. "The chance that your body will take this medication isn't very high."
Greg nodded and returned back to his room without saying another word. He had hoped that the doctor would have told him something more positive. He laid on his bed, trying not to think about what would happen if the new medication didn't work when the telephone on the side of his bed rang.
He leaned over and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"It's Grissom, I got the number when I called the front desk. How are you holding up?"
The real reason that Grissom had called was to let Greg know how he'd been feeling. Lately, he couldn't do anything without being overwhelmed with guilt. He felt responsible for what happened to Greg because he was the one that had helped process the scene. He felt that the only way he'd overcome the guilt was to tell Greg how he felt, and just hope that eventually he got better.
"Pretty good," Greg lied, he wanted to tell Grissom what the doctor had told him, but he didn't want to get everyone worried so he kept it to himself.
"That's good," Grissom replied.
Grissom just couldn't bring himself to say it. He wasn't the type of person who let all of his feelings flow easily. As long as Greg was doing better, that's all that mattered, and not the fact that he felt extremely guilty. After the conversation ended, Greg wished that he had told Grissom the truth. He knew that he didn't want everyone to be worried, but he also knew that by lying he was filling them with false hope.
"Warrick, is something on your mind?" Catherine asked.
"No... what makes you think that?" Warrick replied.
Catherine looked down at what Warrick was doing. He was dusting for fingerprints with a swab.
"Oh, damn!" he exclaimed when he saw was he was doing.
He looked at the swab in his hand and flung it across the room.
"Listen, it's okay to be worried about Greg..." Catherine tried to say but Warrick cut her off.
"No, it's not okay when it's affecting my work. What if there were prints there? What if Ecklie finds out?" Warrick asked.
"No one is going to tell Ecklie, and if our killer left prints there, there are probably prints somewhere else," she tried to reassure him.
One very long week later, Greg was very eager to get to see everyone again. He was sleeping most of the time because of the new medication, but when a nurse told him that it was the day his quarantine was lifted, he tried his hardest to stay awake.
Greg watched the door for hours. Just waited for the second that his friends would open it and come in to visit him. He wanted them there more than anything. He knew that if they could be there with him, then he could have the strength to keep fighting and not let the disease beat him.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw the knob turning, but he was disappointed when the only thing he saw was a doctor. Greg examined the look on the doctor's face.
He was frowning. It was never good to see a doctor frown.
"Are my friends here to see me?" Greg asked hopefully. Just praying that they were in the waiting room, and that any second they would come in.
The doctor shook his head.
"They aren't coming. They can't. I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
