Enjoy . . .
Grissom gripped Nick's hand tightly as the ambulance drove at a dangerous speed. The younger agent had miraculously gained consciousness when they were halfway away from the hospital. "Hey Nicky," Grissom struggled over the lump in his throat.
He watched as Nick struggled to say something, anything. But the long clear tube that had been forced down his throat only minutes ago, had successfully prevented him from speaking. Instead Nick squeezed Grissom's hand; it was the only thing he could do.
The confused look that Nick had given Grissom had made his heart jump into his throat. Grissom tried to explain, unsure if Nick had even caught any of it. "Nicky your hurt, just relax!"
Nick's eyes opened wider after Grissom had told him. Grissom thought that that meant Nick had understood, but Nick's heart rate dropped so quickly. It had only meant that Nick had panicked when he became more aware of what was going on, and having massive internal bleeding had clearly made Nick turn onto the edges of sanity.
Grissom listened to the male medic explain on the radio that Nick wasn't going to last long without an operation, a very risky operation. Grissom had been so caught in the moment, it didn't even register that he needed to find out what had happened.
Obviously Nick had been attacked, but who would do that to Nick. The Texan that did everything in his power to get into EVERYONE'S good graces, nobody's name came into mind. They had had some bad cases, but the only person that could ever . . .
Grissom gasped when the realization hit him, Nigel Crane. But that's impossible! Grissom assured himself. It could have been a simple break-in. Grissom tried to convince himself. It couldn't have been one though; nothing looked to be out of place!
Nick was once again stabilized, but unconscious again. Relief poured in through him when they pulled into the emergency section of the hospital. A group of people was waiting for them, Doctors, nurses, and Brass.
Grissom gained a new respect for these people at that exact moment. They worked quickly to pull Nick out of the ambulance, once he was on solid ground he was wheeled at an increasing speed. The entire group was running along side of the stretcher yelling things he only vaguely registered.
A strong arm caught Grissom's shoulder at that moment. Brass! Grissom swung around looking into the shocked eyes of Brass. "I didn't know it was that bad!" Brass spit the words out, instantly feeling nauseous. Brass had never seen that much blood in his life, and he had seen a lot over the years.
Anger coursed through Grissom and he had to fight the urge to pummel Brass.
"Yes it is THAT bad, he was drowning in his blood because these morons couldn't get there quicker!" Grissom found himself yelling louder than he ever had in his entire life. But that didn't matter anymore, one of his surrogate sons was dying.
His entire team was his family, and if he lost one of them, he would lose them all, including himself. Suddenly he was lightheaded, the room was spinning unnaturally fast, and the sensation of falling consumed him.
Brass was quick; he managed to catch Grissom as he descended towards the hard tile floor. People rushed over, helping Brass with Grissom's dead weight.
Grissom just had a breakdown. Brass felt as if someone had just slapped him in the face. If Grissom is like this then how bad is the rest of the team? Brass silently wondered.
TBC