Hello again! Thanks again for the tips I received on the story! Read and Review if you can!

Disclaimer: I don't own any character (only in my dreams). They are all apart of CBS. The storylines are original and all mine.

September 22

Mr. Stokes walked through the door with Warrick not too close behind. Mrs. Stokes looked at the both of them with a half smile on her face. She wasn't mad at Warrick. Nick talked about him sometimes when she called her son for the weekly "how are you" talks. Nick often talked about how he and Warrick were so much alike.

Mrs. Stokes got up form the chair next to her son and looked up at Warrick. His face was still wet from the tears he shed when he was talking with Mr. Stokes down the hall. She wiped the tears with her hand. She walked to him and embraced him. He hugged her back and thanked her for everything that she had done. He turned around and faced Mr. Stokes and gave him a firm handshake.

"Sir, I enjoyed the conversation we had. It made things a lot easier," Warrick confessed as he ended the handshake.

Mr. Stokes gave Warrick a napkin form the cafeteria with a number on it. Warrick studied the paper and the looked back up to Mr. Stokes

"Call me when ever you need to talk. My son is lucky to know you and to be a part of your life," Mr. Stokes started, "I really think you're good for him," He said with a smile as he led his wife out of the room.

They quietly walked out of the room and down the hall. It felt as if weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. They

knew that Nick was in good hands with Warrick.

It had been 3 hours since Nick had been sedated. Grissom was left in the waiting room thinking about Nick and what he must be going through. He began counting the hours that Nick had been in the hospital. He was mid count when he noticed Lindsay and Catherine walk in hand in hand. They had gotten a lot closer and were getting to know each other better then the other had ever thought possible. Catherine still looked like crap. She had changed her clothes and did her hair, but she still looked the same.

It was around noon, and Lindsay had asked her mom if she could come to see Uncle Nick. Catherine felt that she should be able to see him.

Grissom looked at Catherine with wide eyes as she led Lindsay to the waiting room.

"Hi Mr. Grissom," Lindsay said as she hugged him

"Well, hello Lindsay," He said giving her a hug back. He was a sucker for kids. "How's school?"

"It sucks," Lindsay said bluntly

"Hey, hey, hey. Language!" Catherine said in her motherly voice.

Lindsay rolled her eyes and Grissom had a smile escape from his lips. It was the first real smile he had had the whole time he was in the hospital.

Lindsay corrected herself and stated, "It stinks. There are you happy now?"

"Yes, very!" Catherine said plopping down on the chair next to Lindsay.

"How is he doing?" Lindsay asked in a low tone with her eyes at the floor. She looked exactly like Catherine when she did this.

"He's doing a lot better then he was before sweetheart," Grissom stated looking up at Catherine to see her reaction.

Lindsay nodded her head and then began digging through her backpack. The intense movement made Catherine and Grissom look at Lindsay with confusion.

The digging finally stopped as she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a bear with a blue hat and a shirt that said "Don't mess with Texas" on it. The bear also had a lasso in one hand and a magnifying glass in the other. It had a balloon tied to a hook in the back of the head. The balloon read, "Get well soon!" It also has a bag of M&M's tucked between the stomach and the arm of the bear. Everyone knew that Nick loved M&M's.

Grissom laughed as he saw it. It was Nick in bear form.

Lindsay in Catherine looked at Grissom blankly as the same question went through their heads, "What is he laughing at?"

"What's so funny?" Catherine asked bluntly.

"Yeah, it took me 2 hours to find this bear in my closet!" Lindsay said with a frown on her face.

"You mean you already had a bear that looked like that?" Grissom asked with a smirk on his face.

"No, no, no. I made this bear for Uncle Nick when he was in the hospital the first time." Lindsay said with her hands on her hips. This gesture also reminded Grissom of Catherine.

"You know, Nigel?" Catherine said to him.

Grissom had an understanding look on his face. He had a quick flashback to when Nick was in the hospital.

He returned back to the present and asked Lindsay another question. "So if you made it for him the first time, then why do you have it?"

Lindsay looked at her mom and the looked at the ground. "He gave it back to me after I was trapped in the ravine. He said that when I gave it to him it made him heal faster. So he gave it to me for good luck." She gripped the bear even tighter then before.

The chat was bittersweet. They were forced to remember when Lindsay was in the ravine and Catherine had to save her, but hey also had to remember how caring and sweet Nick had been by giving it back to her.

Catherine turned away and grabbed something from the massive purse she was carrying. She pulled out a burger, fries, and a drink and passed them to Grissom.

"Thanks Catherine but….," Grissom started to talk but was cut off by Catherine.

"When was the last time you ate?" Catherine said with her hands on her hips.

He thought about it and realized that it had been 49 hours since the last time he ate.

"Well, I am hungry," He said as he pulled back the paper. "Thanks Cath." Grissom said. Lindsay coughed and looked up at the ceiling while humming a tune. Catherine rolled her eyes and then looked at Grissom.

"And thank you Lindsay," Grissom said offering her a fry from his container.

The burger was just the way Grissom liked it; ketchup, pickles, cheese, lettuce, and extra onion.

He wiped his mouth and was about to say a second "thank you" when both Lindsay and Catherine offered him a stick of their gum. He waved it away as a way of saying "No thank you."

"No. You need it," Catherine said holding her nose.

"Badly," Lindsay stated shaking a stick of gum in his face. Lindsay received an elbow in the shoulder from Catherine.

"WHAT!" She whined, "I'm just saying what you wanted to say!"

Grissom sat there with his jaw open as the girls offered him gum. He did a quick breath test and then quickly took the gum from both Lindsay and Catherine. They broke into a quick laugh fit.

Lindsay felt good knowing that she was taking her mom's and Mr. Grissom's minds off of Nick.

Warrick had been sitting in the chair next to Nick's be for an hour before he woke up.

Nick eyes opened then shut quickly as the light came in contact with his pupils. He tried to wipe his eyes when a familiar feeling caught his attention. He was restrained and began pulling on them.

"Stop Nick," Warrick said while leaning forward in the chair.

"Why am I tied up like an animal?" Nick asked with concern in his voice.

"You don't remember?" Warrick asked while scooting the chair closer to Nick.

"If I remembered, would I be asking?"

Warrick took a breath and was about to explain.

"You punched out an EMT and a nurse, you scratched Brass, and kicked Sara square in the jaw," Warrick stated as he looked into Nick's eyes.

"I scratched Brass and kicked Sara?" Nick said in shock.

"Yeah, but I saw that punch you gave the EMT and the nurse, POP!" He said as he got up and fake punched the air.

This brought a smile to Nick's face as Warrick laughed it off.

"How are they?" Nick asked.

"Well, Sara's really isn't that bad and Brass….." Warrick was about to finish his statement but was cut off by Nick.

"Not about that, about…you know."

"We're all a lot better now that you're awake and breathing. Do you remember anything that happened the last 4 days?"

"I've been in here for 4 days?"

"Yeah….you were on machines. You couldn't breathe on your own so they stuck a tube in your throat."

Nick looked confused as he tried to touch his throat but was unable to as the straps kept him tied to the bed.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he relaxed on the bed.

Nick finally got up the guts to ask Warrick the question he had been thinking about for quite some time.

"How…..did you find me?" Nick asked as he looked into Warrick's eyes.

Warrick looked down and was trying to think of what to say.

"Don't do that, Warrick. I'm not a little kid OK? Just tell me. Alright? And don't you dare lie either," Nick said while trying to sit more upright on the bed.

"Walter Gordon, the man that took you, put a webcam in the coffin with you. We watched as the ants came. Grissom was able to identify the ants and narrow the search down to plant and tree nurseries. Sara and Brass had a talk with Gordon's daughter and found out that she worked at a nursery in western Vegas."

Nick's stomach began to flip flop in his in his body. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Nick stated as started to breath heavy.

Warrick found the nearest trash bin and held it for Nick. Nick had emptied his stomach into the bin just as his parents walked back in.

"What happened Warrick?" Mrs. Stokes asked as she rubbed Nick's back.

"I told him about the webcam," Mr. Stokes sighed as the words left Warrick's mouth.

Nick laid back in the bed as his mother wiped his mouth. He hated being treated like a kid.

"Can I get these things off, please?" Nick pleaded with the three of them as the stood there thinking about whether it would be a good idea or not.

"Please," Nick looked into his mother's eyes, knowing that she was a sucker when it came to pleading.

"OK, I'll be right back," Mrs. Stokes said as she got off of the bed and was about to walk out of the door.

Warrick and Mr. Stoke stood in front of the door as they both began negotiating with her.

"Mrs. Stokes…………." Warrick started

"Dear………………….." Mr. Stokes said while looking at his wife with stern eyes.

"Cisco, please," Nick said while holding up his hands, showing his restraints.

Mr. Stokes looked at Warrick with a knowing look. Mr. Stokes backed away from the door and assumed that Warrick would too.

"Mr. Stokes, Mrs. Stokes, I don't think it's a good idea. I want Nick free; just as much as you do, but do you want someone else getting hurt?" Warrick pleaded with them.

Mrs. Stokes didn't seem to budge much but Mr. Stokes knew that Warrick was right.

"Sorry Poncho. We can't do that," Mr. Stokes said as his heart sank.

Nick dropped his hands in defeat as he looked at Warrick with cold eyes.

"C'mon man please. I won't hurt anyone else I promise," Nick said with a southern drawl.

Warrick looked at Mr. Stokes and his eyes said it all.

"What do you think Warrick?" Mr. Stokes asked.

"Why do you care what he thinks? I'm your son. Why don't you ask me?" Nick said with a prissy tone.

"I care about what he thinks because he cares about you. We talked and you two seem much closer then I ever thought. He probably knows what's better for you then we do!" Mr. Stokes said in an authoritive tone.

"This is horse crap!" Nick said as he started pulling at the restraints.

Nick began to fling his body as he tried to free himself from the restraints. Mrs. Stokes knew then that Nick was not ready to be taken out of the restraints.

"I'm sorry, baby," Mrs. Stokes said, "But you're just not ready yet. We know you're angry, but you need to wait til you're ready."

Nick relaxed and looked at the trio standing there looking at him. He exhaled and said, "Can I talk to Warrick, alone?"

"Sure. Whatever you want son," Mr. Stokes said as he led his wife into the hallway.

Warrick pulled up the chair and sat there quietly looking at Nick. Nick turned his head so that he was facing Warrick.

"Now, Warrick, I want you to be completely honest with me. What did you talk to my father about?" Nick asked with a certain fury in his eyes.

"I simply told your dad how tight we are," Warrick said as he inhaled. "I told him that we were like brothers and that I would do anything to make sure this didn't happen again. Nick, I'm so sorry about what happened, OK? You don't know how hard it was to watch you down there," Warrick stopped and dried his glossy eyes.

"So, you guys watched me? For how long? The whole time?" Nick said as he stared at Warrick with cold eyes.

"Yes. But it's not all bad. If it wasn't for that webcam, we never would have found you," Warrick said as rubbed Nick's arm in a sympathetic way.

Nick looked at Warrick and his eyes began to soften. Nick inhaled and began to relax.

"That is a good point," Nick said as he loosened the grip on the restraints. "I should have known that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me," Nick said as his eyes watered.

Warrick's eyes began to water as he grabbed Nick's hand. "Never," Warrick said.

"We're still brothers right?" Nick asked Warrick.

"Always, til the end," Warrick said as he wiped his tears from this eyes. "Man, I missed you." Warrick said while he grabbed a tissue and wiped Nick's tears.

"You know I hate feeling weak," Nick said as he turned his face away from the tissue.

"Nick, come on man, don't be this way," Warrick said as he tried to wipe the tears anyways.

Nick gave up the fight and turned his face back towards Warrick's.

"One word about this, and they'll never find your body!" Nick said as he laughed

Warrick laughed too but not at the joke. He was laughing because he had his friend back.

"So who else is here?" Nick asked as the smile quickly faded.

"Ummm, not sure. I'll have to go see. You don't mind do you?" Warrick asked as he stood up and backed the chair out.

"No, not at all man. Do you think you could get me some M&M's?" Nick asked as a pleaded for REAL food.

"Sure man. Anything you want. Be right back," Warrick was about to walk out of the room when Nick asked for one final thing.

"Do you think you could get a nurse to take these off? I don't want them to see me like this," he said motioning to the restraints.

Warrick thought about it and realized that he wouldn't want his friends seeing him tied up like an animal.

"Sure thing man,"

On the way to the waiting room he asked a doctor to remove the restraints. She agreed and decided to remove them.

He ran to the waiting room where he saw Catherine, Lindsay, Sara, Grissom, Brass, and Greg in the order.

"Guys! Good news," Warrick said as he walked in.

They all drew there attention to Warrick was panting from the run.

"Nick's awake and he wants to talk to all of you. Come on guys," Warrick said as he ran back down the hall.

All 6 bodies were up and running to the room.

Warrick was the first in followed by Grissom, Catherine, Greg, Brass, Sara, and then Lindsay who had to run back because she forgot the bear in the waiting room.

Nick had the biggest smile on his face when he saw 6 of his closest friends so happy to see him.

Should I continue? Review please!

-CSIFanatic08