AN: And one last little bit of the story. This one never really made it past a glimpse of a scene
This would have taken place probably on Friday, which you may remember was the day that Speed wisely decided not to go into work. In this version, Tim and Horatio never had their conversation about Tim's behavior, and therefore, Calleigh wasn't there to ask Tim if he was really up to working and nudge him into staying home. So, Tim unwisely goes into work, despite the fact that he's falling apart at the seams. This would have been the point where Eric would have gotten involved in the story, as well, instead of having been more involved from nearly the beginning.
Eric walked into the trace lab and found Speed sitting with his head resting in his hands. "Speed? You ok, man?" Tim had been having a bad week, Eric knew. Between the case, and something else he refused to tell anyone about, it was clear that Speed was having issues. He reached out to touch his friend's shoulder in concern.
"Don't! Don't touch me!" Speed jerked back from Erik's hand.
"Ok, man, I won't touch you," Erik replied in what he hoped was a soothing tone. "It's ok." He watched Speed back away until his back was against the counter of the lab. Speed was shaking, now.
"I don't…I'm fine. Just, I'm fine, ok?" Speed's voice came in gasps, which was worrisome.
"You don't look so fine," Erik said, moving closer. "What's wrong?" He reached his hand out automatically to steady his friend.
"Don't! It hurts, don't touch me!" Speed was hyperventilating now.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Look, see, I'm not going to touch you, ok?" Erik said, putting his hands behind his back. "See, it's cool." Speed nodded at that. "Where does it hurt?" he asked. 'It hurts' being something Erik could deal with. He wasn't at all sure what to do.
Speed shook his head almost violently. "Leave me alone, won't you?"
Erik paused. He really wished Calleigh were there. He had a feeling that she'd know what to do much more than he did. All he knew was that it wouldn't be good for Horatio to see Speed like this. He'd about have to put him on leave if he saw him, and Erik knew enough about his friend to know that vacation wasn't a word in Speed's vocabulary. Hell, he'd gotten shot and kept working without taking a sick day so much as a sick half hour. And that was only because the paramedics had insisted on checking him out. "I don't think that's such a good idea", he said finally. "Look, let's get out of here, ok? I'll take you home or something."
Speed wrapped his arms around his middle and shook his head. "I don't want to go home. I want to go back to work."
"Speed…Tim. You're not ok. You look sick as hell. You're not going to be able to concentrate, and do you really want to run into H right now? He's liable to make you go home right now. And make you take time off. Come on now, let's just get out of here. If you calm down, I'll bring you back, but you don't need to be here right now," Erik said.
"Fine." The word was barely above a whisper, but Erik didn't care.
"Ok. Come on, then." He led Speed down the hall, hoping they wouldn't run into anyone. They made it outside without being stopped.