Summary: A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decided to not play nice.
Disclaimer: This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.
Author's Note: Hey all. I hope you all had a most excellent weekend and watched plenty of football. I know I didn't! Thanks for the reviews and I am glad many of you are happy once again. I am getting sad as this story is drawing to an end. This is the second to the last chapter! But I am working on a new piece though I am finding it to be a struggle. So, don't let me hold you back. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Last chapter should be up by Wed, Thurs at the latest. Bye!
Breath for me
Written by: duffshel
#16
Grissom sat in the plastic chair in the hospital chair. He wasn't allowed to go into the ER surgery room with either of his guys. The waiting was driving him insane. Nick had been breathing on his own in the ambulance, but there had been signs of a struggle to get much air in. It was going to take a lot of work to get him stable. Warrick didn't want to leave Nick's side, but two doctors had been able to get him away and into his own room. The cuts on his chest had been bleeding again and the shattered bones in his leg were taking their toll again.
The silence was heavy in the room. An elderly woman sat across the room with a box of tissues as her companion. She was the only other person in the room. He was about to get up for a coffee run when the doors burst open. Greg tripped over the threshold.
"Damnit!"
"Greg, watch it."
Catherine walked away from her younger colleagues over to Grissom's side. Her face was tight with concern. She was the mother of the unit and it showed at that moment. There were tear tracks on her face and her jaw was tight to keep it from quivering.
"How are they? Is Nick…?"
"No! They got him breathing on the way here. The doctors are working on them both now and will let us know what is going on as soon as they are able."
Catherine nodded and dropped herself into the chair to his right. Sara had managed to get Greg to his feet and was pulling him over to the other two. Both of their eyes were red and puffy. They pulled two chairs over and placed them directly in front of their seniors.
"They are going to be fine?"
Grissom turned to face Greg, "They are in surgery right now. We will know soon enough. Is Brass coming?"
"Yeah, he is going to follow once he has the scene secured. He is getting a hold of Ecklie and will have day cover the scene. We don't have to leave until we know something."
All four leaned back in their chairs and focused on different parts of the room. No one could look at another with the fear of breaking down. It was hard to know one might not make it out of this alive. Nick was injured and it was severe. They all knew it. It was hard.
"I am going to get some coffee. Anyone want something?"
Greg jumped to his feet, "I will come. I need to move around."
Sara and Catherine shook their heads and looked towards the double doors. Gil nodded his head towards the younger man and they walked in the opposite direction together. Their steps were heavy as they left.
!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+
The room was bright. Warrick groaned as he rolled onto his left side away from the lights over the bed. His body moved slower than he would have ever imagined possible. The IV in his hand pulled, but he really didn't care. His mind was sluggish in its process of what had happened.
From what he could tell, this was a hospital room. Warrick's brow furrowed at that thought. He couldn't figure out why he would be in the hospital. There was something wrapped around his leg and it was heavy. The sheet was easy to move. A thick, white cast was wrapped around his right leg.
"What the fuck? What is going on?"
His lips fought to form the words and his voice was slurred. This had to be some sort of joke. There was no reason that he should be in the hospital with a cast on. Nick must have cheated at basketball again.
"Wait! Nicky!"
The thoughts flooded Warrick's head too rapid for the man to sort them. He cried out at the assault. All he knew was that Nick was hurt and might be dead. They had been captured by a crazy man and now Nicky was suffering for it. He had to get out of that damn bed and find his brother.
Warrick found the IV with a shaky hand and pulled it out. The pain was nothing to him in his moment of panic. He pushed himself upright with both hands and carefully lifted his leg down to the floor. There was nothing he could see on that side of the room to use to help him walk, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He would use the wall if he had to.
"Okay. On your feet Brown."
He moaned as the cuts in his chest shifted with the movement. Those had been forgotten and were much more painful that Warrick thought they would be. The room spun around his eyes as he stood straight. His body leaned forward as he attempted his first step. Warrick threw his hands out to catch himself on the wall.
Warrick was forced to take a couple of deep breaths first before he tried to get back upright. The cast was heavier than he had even thought possible. He couldn't bend his knee at all since it went up to mid-thigh. As careful as he could, Warrick turned himself so he was perpendicular with the wall and limped along it. There was another light from across the room.
It was slow process, but the door was now only about two feet away. His breathing was labored and his body was on fire. Warrick reached forward to grab the knob when something ahead of him caught his attention. His head lifted too quickly causing the room to go crazy. It took another moment to get back to normal, well as normal as he could at that moment.
There was a machine beeping and Warrick was pulled towards it like a horse to water. His eyes found the machine with little difficulty since it was just an easy turn to the left. It was an EKG and it was currently taking readings. Warrick slowly moved his eyes down all the wires to come across a bed. A sob escaped his lungs.
Nick was as still as death on the white cotton. Warrick felt as if he had been slapped as he looked upon his partner. A new surge of strength coursed through the tall CSI and he propelled himself to the waiting chair by the bed. His body was thankful for the support when he finally sank down into it.
"Nicky? Oh god man, please…"
Warrick reached out and touched the hand with its bandaged fingers resting outside the top sheet along side the still body. There was a breathing tube down the pale man's throat. Brown eyelashes rested on the Texan cheek bones. A harsh red marked his cheek. His hand was chilled to the touch. Warrick lifted the heavy limb to his lips and pressed a brotherly kiss to the knuckles, being careful not to harm the tender flesh that had been cut up so badly earlier.
"Come on man. Open your eyes for me! You have to wake up. I need you to wake up."
Nothing, but beeps and air shifting answered his pleas. Warrick held Nick's hand tight to his face and watched in fascination as the tears rolled down the man's arm. His body was hurting, but he was not leaving Nick now that he had found him again.
He didn't hear the door open behind him. The footsteps across the room were nothing under the beeping of his brother's heart. It was the hand on his upper back that brought him back to the present.
"You should be in bed Warrick."
Grissom's voice was soft, but clear. Warrick didn't turn around now that he knew who it was. He felt the comfort the other man was trying to give, but he didn't want it for himself. He was awake and able to move.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Yeah, they have him stable. I felt it best that you two were in the same room together. I had a feeling you would need to be near each other. It was a good guess I see."
"Thank you. I would have found him no matter where he was in this place."
"But he is going to be fine. It is going to take some time, but he will be just like new. His throat is constricted and he is having trouble breathing on his own due to it. His hip will need to have a few more surgeries to redo the damage and the doctor didn't rule out replacement yet. And the cut was cleaned and bandaged. The wound on his arm was minor and was closed off with some stitches. And as you can see, the cut on his face was cleaned and closed as well. No damage will come from the trauma of not breathing. The doctor's said it wasn't enough time to cause enough damage and his heart never really stopped beating."
Warrick looked at it and scowled, "What about that freak? Is he dead?"
Grissom knew it was coming eventually, "Yeah. He died on the table. I had him sent to Robbins back at the lab. His body is evidence."
The pain in Warrick's chest didn't dissipate at all with the news. He had hoped hearing that the killer was dead would help, but it really didn't. It didn't hurt any less.
"I should be happy at the news, but I'm not."
"He died and left you without a closure in seeing his punished. It was an easy way out. I am sorry. I was the one who shot him and took that away from you"
"I don't blame you for anything with that, man. The only thing to help with my pain now is for this bum in front of me to open his eyes and talk to me."
Grissom grabbed the other chair in the room and moved it closer to the bed. He sat next to Warrick and rested his hands in his lap. It was a situation he never felt good in since he really didn't know what to say to ease the pain the man next to him was feeling. All he could do now was stand by him and offer him his complete support.
"Is the rest of the team here?" Warrick broke the silence.
"Yeah, they are waiting outside. The doctor didn't want to overwhelm anyone so we are only allowed to come in one at a time. I wasn't expecting anyone to be awake. Would you like to see someone else?"
" No, it is fine. You were there on the scene. I remember your voice through the fog. You saved us."
"You guys saved yourself. You two made it and are going to survive. I just helped out in the end. It was the least I could do after all."
Warrick couldn't help, but to smile. His boss was not considered a friendly person if you didn't know him, but if you were part of his team, his family, he gave you his full protection. It was nice to have and it took some of the pressure from Warrick's shoulders. He turned his smile back towards his partner.
"He wouldn't leave without me."
Grissom looked up at the comment, "What?"
"He got lose, but he didn't take off running. That was when he got shot in the hip. He got the keys from Ken and threw them to me. Nick only turned to leave when I was there with him."
Gil simply nodded his head. He knew Warrick needed to get it out and he would be there to listen. There was no hurry and he would let the young man talk his heart out if he wanted to. The beeping was soothing and Gil could feel his head get heavy now that his guys were in front of him. It was the gasp from Warrick that woke him back up.
"What? What is it? Do you need the doctor?"
But the other man wasn't listening. His full attention was on Nick in front of him, "Nick? Come on man. Open your pretty eyes for me."
Warrick's words were confusing to Grissom as he sat up. The man was continuing to talk to Nick and convince him to wake up. He didn't see why until he took a look at the pale hand within Warrick's grasp. Nick's fingers were twitching. He stood and leaned over the bed. He joined in the calls.
"That's it Nicky. You can do it."
Nick's eyes were twitching in their struggle to open. The words flowed into his ears as if they were traveling though honey. He couldn't make out the words, but the tones were encouraging. Nick wanted to see who it was talking to him. His heavy eyes fought back, but he finally was able to get them open. Warrick's smile was the first thing he saw.
"Mmm, hmmm."
Nick winced at the pain of trying to talk. He didn't understand. Like Warrick, he woke under the heavy sedation of drugs and his memory was foggy. His body hurt and ached in placed he didn't even know he had. But what made him panic was the inability to talk.
"Hey, calm down man. I got ya. You can't talk right now. Just relax."
The Texan turned wide eyes towards both men at his side. Both had smiles and looked extremely relieved so he allowed his body to relax slightly. There would be no way they would look like that if something was wrong. He just couldn't figure out what had happened.
Grissom laid his hand on Nick's stomach, "Just relax Nick. I am going to go get the doctor."
The lead CSI left the room and left the other two alone. Warrick's eyes were filled with tears and his lips quivered with suppressed emotions. He could feel Nick's grasp his in confusion. From his experience with just waking up, he had a feeling Nick didn't really remember anything either. He would fill his friend in on it later if he didn't remember eventually.
"It's good to see you awake man. I missed ya."
Nick wanted to smile back, but the tube in his mouth didn't allow him to achieve much of one. He tried to shift to get more comfortable, but pain erupted throughout his entire being. His throat burned as he attempted to cry out to show his discomfort.
The hand in his gripped with a death grip. Warrick made cooing noises and brushed his free hand against Nick's cheek. He really didn't know what else to do to ease the pain he knew the other must be in.
"I got you man. I got you. Don't fight it."
The doctor ran in the room first and left the door open. The CSI's all took a spot in the doorway and watched as the doctor immediately began checking over Nick. Catherine was shocked to see Warrick out of bed. She thought both men were still asleep.
Warrick watched as the doctor pulled a small bottle and syringe from the pocket in his white coat. He wasted not time in injected it into the IV line connected to them man.
"It's a sedative. He shouldn't be awake right now."
Everyone held their breath as they watched Nick fight off the induced sleep. His panicked eyes shut heavily and his face held its pained expression. Nick's hand fell out of Warrick's. The black man scrambled to grab it again. The doctor glared at Warrick once the other man was asleep.
"You should be back in bed. I need to take a look at your cuts. Come now."
Warrick allowed himself to be moved back to his bed by the doctor and Grissom. His body was heavy with exhaustion, but that pain in his chest, it was gone. Seeing Nick awake, even for that moment, was enough to ensure the CSI he wasn't dead. Warrick missed the doctor placing his IV back in. He fell asleep not too long after.
TBC…such a friendship…