Here is the next Chapter . . .

Enjoy . . .

He was lightheaded, why was he lightheaded? Grissom tried to remember what had happened, he drew a complete blank.

It was as if a veil had been dropped in front of his mind. He didn't like that, because it meant that something bad had happened to one of his teammates. That meant that he needed to get out of this dark oblivion.

"I think he's coming around!"

That sounded like Sarah, which meant that she had to be okay.

"Let's hope so!"

That voice belonged to Warrick, okay so Sarah and Warrick down, just a few more to go.

Grissom struggled to open his eyes, but once he did ten sets of enormous eyes stared back at him. All of which belonged to, Warrick, Sarah, Catherine, Greg, and Brass. Where was Nick?

"Well hello sleepyhead!" Catherine greeted. One could easily tell that the smile was fake, why would she be staring down at him like that?

"Where's Nick?" Grissom asked, knowing that he was missing something. A feeling of unease had settled within him, and he was desperately trying to figure out why.

The fact that Grissom hadn't remembered had only added to the sadness that filled the room. "Grissom, how much do you remember about last night?" Sarah was asking this time. And the look on her face was really making Grissom feel even more antsy.

"My mind is a complete blank, why am I in the hospital?"

Warrick bit his lip, this would be bad. "Grissom, yesterday Nick never met you and Brass for lunch. You got a little worried, so the whole team came with you to his apartment. When we got to his apartment, we found Nick . . . and he had been attacked." Warrick stopped watching as his supervisors' face fell from curiosity to horror.

"He's okay though right?" Grissom inquired.

"Nick had stopped breathing a couple times on the way here, the medics were able to bring him back. When you arrived with him he was taken to have emergency surgery."

It took a lot for Grissom not to completely lose it. After Warrick had finished, the memories came rushing back to him. The panic, the shock, and the anger.

"Is he . . . alive?" Grissom stuttered.

Grissom tried to read the look on Warrick's face, but that was impossible. "He's . . . in intensive care, they had to tube him, he couldn't breathe on his own. There was a mass amount of internal bleeding."

Next Catherine stepped forward. "Gris . . . Nick's in a coma."

That was the moment Grissom had lost it, he was on his feet in a flash. "What room is he in?" When no one answered his frustration grew. He grabbed Brass around the caller and yelled, "What room is he in?"

Brass had relented, Grissom was a wreck and the team wasn't far behind. "Room 149, Grissom he doesn't look good, the doctors said it was nothing short of a miracle that he didn't drown in his blood!"

Grissom walked down the hall in the short pen-stripe gown. He was absolutely horrified of how Nick would look, after the doctors had given Grissom the long and horrifying list of injuries the young man had had, Grissom pictured a Frankenstein look-alike.

He stepped slowly into the ICU room his legs immediately froze. Was that Nicky? It couldn't be, Nick wasn't supposed to have a clear tube snaking from his mouth like that. He wasn't supposed to be covered head to toe in bruises and bandages. It couldn't be Nick.

The chair next to the bed was instantly occupied, Grissom knew he would be there for a while yet. "Hey Nicky," Grissom spoke softly.

Of course he knew that there wouldn't be an answer, but it felt better to talk to his comatose friend. "It's gonna be okay, we're gonna get who did this, and they're gonna pay!" Anger once again boiled it's way to the surface.

After talking to Nick for a few hours, Grissom decided to talk to Nick's doctor. "How long is he going to be . . . in an unconscious state?"

The doctor was touched be this group of people, they had stayed be both they're friends sides during this whole ordeal. "I'm afraid it's up to Mr. Stokes, his body is healing and it's times like these that you can be thankful that he's not aware! If he were, I would imagine it would hurt like nothing he's ever felt before."

Grissom nodded in his understanding. He turned around and faced his other teammates and spoke with venom. "Get your kits, we're going to work!"

TBC