A/N: So, I'm back...and hence I posted another chappie. And so here we are! Usual disclaimer. Rock on.

Chapter 37- Show Me the Way

"Show me the way
Show me the way
Take me tonight
To the river
And wash my illusions away
And show me the way
Show me the way
Give me the strength
And the courage
To believe that I'll get there someday
And please show me the way"

Show Me the Way by Styx

Nick left Greg's room and was immediately escorted away to dispose of his suit. When he had been properly sterilized, he went to find Sara. He had no idea what to say to her, or how to tell her that Greg had prepared himself to die.

He found her where he had left her, in the waiting room. She looked at him, and all he could do was shake his head. "I'm sorry, Sara," he whispered. "I tried to make him realize that he couldn't give up, but he said he's tired of fighting." He paused, then whispered, "He said to tell you he loves you, and that he's sorry, and good-bye."

"No," whispered Sara, tears filling her eyes. "No, it can't be. He…he can't die." She turned her tear-stained face up to Nick. "He can't, Nicky," she whispered. "I still need him."

"I know," said Nick, just as quietly, reaching out and pulling her to him. "I still need him, too."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Sanders?" asked a nurse, coming up to her with a clipboard. "We've had a request from Mr. Sanders that he be officially listed as DNR."

"DNR?" repeated Sara, emotion causing her voice to break slightly on the words.

"Yes, ma'am. Do Not Resuscitate, meaning that if he stops breathing or his heart stops beating, we're not to bring him back." The nurse paused, then said gently, "As his wife, you can overrule him by saying he is mentally unstable and unable to make the decision…"

"No," said Sara firmly. "He wouldn't want to be a vegetable. He wouldn't want that. You're to respect his wishes. I will not overrule him."

"Sara, think of what you're saying," urged Nick, brow furrowed. "You're telling them to not try and save his life if it comes down to it! You're giving him permission to die!"

"If you love someone as much as I love Greg," said Sara calmly, though tears still glittered in her eyes, "you have to know when to let them go."

"No," whispered Nick, stepping away from her. "No, Sara, you have to fight. You have to fight for him even if he won't fight for himself."

"I've done all I can," said Sara softly. "It's up to him now. He is the only one who controls his fate. Don't you understand?" she asked Nick. "Even if I said 'no', he'd find another way, if it's really what he wants. He trusts me, and I won't overrule that trust."

Nick shook his head violently, turning away from Sara. "I don't understand how you can stand there and justify allowing him to die. If you really loved him, you'd try and keep him here."

"No," said Sara quietly, though she looked as if she had just been slapped in the face by Nick's words, "if I really loved him, I'd realize it may be time to let him go." She began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" called Nick after her.

"I'm going to see if Grissom is here yet," said Sara emotionlessly. "He'll want to say good-bye to Greg." She strode out of the waiting room, leaving Nick behind.

Grissom walked slowly into Greg's room, dressed up in his haz-mat suit. Greg didn't even bother looking over at him as he approached the bed. Greg's breathing was worse, his breath coming out in short painful gasps that hurt Grissom to hear almost as much as they hurt Greg to take.

Grissom gave Greg's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Hey, Greg, how are you doing?" he asked him quietly, looking concernedly at the young man.

"Griss…I'm sorry," managed Greg before he burst out coughing. Screwing his eyes up, his entire body shook with wracking coughs. When they had subsided, he said, "I guess this is good-bye."

"No Greg," said Grissom firmly. "Don't you dare go saying your good-byes yet. All you need is to hold on for the medicine to work, and then you'll get better."

Greg closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. "No, Griss, it's not going to happen. I mean, look at me…"

"No, Greg, look at me." Greg turned his head toward Grissom, dark chocolate eyes unreadable. "You have to hold on. Hold on for Sara. Hold on for your child."

"Gil, I can't," whispered Greg brokenly. "It's too hard, just too hard. I'm so cold, and everything's so dark…" Greg closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillow.

"Goddamnit, no, Greg!" exclaimed Grissom. He ripped his hood and gloves off and grabbed Greg's hand. "You can't die, Greg. This is not your time to die! Not now, not yet."

Greg squeezed his eyes closed even tighter, one tear leaking from the corner of his eye. "I don't wanna die, Griss," he whispered. "I don't wanna die."

"Then you have to hold on, Greg,' said Grissom, kneeling next to his bed. "Hold on for Catherine, and Warrick and Nicky. Hold on for me. Hold on for Sara, for Nicola, for your unborn child. Hold on for everyone who loves you."

Greg nodded, slowly. "I'll try," he whispered. "I'll try."

Suddenly, a nurse rushed in. "Mr. Grissom, you're going to have to leave! You've been exposed to an extremely harmful microbacterium."

Grissom stood slowly, still looking at Greg. "You'd better try, Greg," he told him, as he allowed himself to be ushered out. "Remember what you told Sara in that song you gave her? 'I'm not willing to lay down and die because I am an Innocent Man.' Fight, Greg."

"I will," whispered Greg, brown eyes full of renewed hope. "And tell Sara that I will. Tell her I'm fighting for her."

The nurse frog-marched Grissom from the room and straight into a decontamination shower. Once there, a male attendant stripped Grissom and showered him down, unmercifully scrubbing at him. Then another nurse gave him an injection, presumably to get rid of the infection, if he had happened to contract it. Yet another nurse made him sign a bunch of papers stating that he had taken his gloves and hood off of his own free will, and the hospital was not at fault in any way, shape or form if he happened to become infected with the microbacterium.

Grissom sighed as he signed the papers. His arm still smarted from the injection, but it was worth it, as long as Greg pulled through this.

Later that day, Dr. Martinez came in to update Greg. He was sitting up in his bed, and, though he still looked drained, he looked a lot better than he had before. "Well, Greg, I've got some good news," announced Dr. Martinez, crossing over to his bed, no longer wearing the dreaded hazardous-materials suit. "According to your most recent blood test, your t-cell count is up to fifty. That means that you no longer have to be in a sterilized environment."

"Thank God," said Greg, smiling slightly. "I was beginning to get lonely in here all by myself."

"Well, there's more."

Instantly, Greg was all ears. "What's going on?" he asked seriously, leaning forward slightly.

"Your immune system is responding to the antibiotics. You are no longer contagious, and the infection is clearing up as we speak."

"Excellent," said Greg enthusiastically, smiling widely. His cocked his head slightly at Dr. Martinez. "So that means that Sara…"

"Can now come visit you?" interrupted a voice from the doorway. There was Sara, beaming at him, one hand resting on her large belly.

"Sara," whispered Greg, tears glinting in his eyes. He reached one hand out to her, and she willingly stepped forward to take it.

Dr. Martinez smiled as well, though she added in undertones to Sara, "He's still very weak. Try not to stress him out."

Sara nodded to her as Dr. Martinez took her leave. Turning back to Greg, Sara smiled at him through the tears in her eyes and slipping down her cheeks. "Thank God, Greg," she whispered. "I was so afraid you were going to die."

"What, and leave you here to name our child all by yourself?" asked Greg, mock-surprised. "I think not." He smiled at her. "Besides, I wasn't ready to go. There was too much I hadn't said," admitted Greg softly.

Sara squeezed his hand gently. "Same for me," she whispered. "If you had died, I would've killed you."

"Yet another reason why I couldn't die," he said, smiling. "God knows your wrath frightens me more than anything else. I'd rather stand up to a firing squad than your rage," he added conspiratorially.

Sara punched him playfully in the arm. "Damn right you should be afraid of my fury," she growled jokingly.

Greg winced. "Don't let Nick and Warrick hear you say that," he pleaded. "They'll never let me live down how whipped I am."

"What, Greg's whipped?" asked Warrick loudly from the doorway as he, Nick and Catherine strode into the room, all three grinning at Greg.

"Damn," swore Greg under his breath, giving Sara a look. "You see what happens when you speak?"

Sara gasped and punched him in the arm again. "Don't you dare blame this on me!" she exclaimed. "I'm not the one who's whipped!"

"She's got a point there, Greggo," remarked Nick, sitting on Greg's bed.

Greg glared at Nick. "Just whose side are you supposed to be on?" he demanded, still giving Nick the death-glare.

"Yours, Greg," said Nick calmly, the death-glare having no effect on him. "I'm always on your side."

"Could've fooled me," muttered Greg, switching his glare to Warrick. "And don't you even dare to say anything."

Warrick held up his hands defensively. "Dude, I didn't say anything!" he exclaimed. "Don't blame me for Nick thinking you're whipped." Under his breath, he added to Catherine, "Which he is."

"Hey!" exclaimed Greg. 'I heard that!"

"You can't deny the truth, Greg, " said Catherine calmly.

"Not you too," groaned Greg, leaning back against his pillows. "I almost died, and all your people can do is accuse me of being whipped? How is this even remotely fair?"

A sudden silence descended on the room after Greg's mentioning of his brush with death. Greg looked up at them seriously. "Hey, I was just joking, you know," he said quietly.

"Yeah," said Nick, slightly choked up. "But your almost dying was no laughing matter." He looked at Greg seriously. "I honestly thought you were going to die. You have no idea how scared I was."

"Probably not as scared as me," whispered Sara. "I thought I was going to lose you, Greg, and I wasn't ready."

Greg gripped her hand tightly. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry for everything you guys went through."

"It's not your fault, Greg," said Grissom from the doorway. He walked slowly into the room. "If anything, it's my fault for taking you out into the field."

"No, Griss," said Greg slowly. "It's most definitely not your fault. I love working in the field. You know that. I would've been pissed if you hadn't let me out into the field."

"Yeah, I know," said Grissom quietly. He joined Sara and Nick at Greg's bed. "I'm glad you decided to fight."

"I wouldn't have, you know," said Greg conversationally. "Not if you hadn't convinced me to. I was so ready to just give up." He looked up at Grissom. "Thanks, Griss. You convinced me to hang around and annoy you all for a little while longer."

"Hey, what can I say?" said Grissom lightly. "That's what I'm here for."

Greg looked up at Sara. "Are you ok?" he asked her quietly. "Is the baby ok?"

"We're fine," said Sara, just as softly. She gave him a half-smile. "Though I can't guarantee how we'd be if you had died."

"God knows how any of us would be if you had died, Greggo," said Nick gently. He snorted. "After all, there'd be no one here to make your kick-ass coffee. How do you make that coffee, anyway?"

Greg grinned widely. "That's a secret I'll share with only one person, Nick," he said. "And that happens to be my beautiful wife, who can keep a secret even better than I can."

At that moment, a nurse bustled in. "I'm sorry to disturb you all, but Mr. Sanders needs his rest, so I have to ask you to leave."

Everyone nodded. Catherine looked at Greg and said gently, "Keep getting better, Greggo."

"Yeah, man," affirmed Warrick. "We still need you around."

"Most definitely," said Nick, giving Greg's hand a squeeze. "If you had died, I don't know what we would've done," he said quietly.

The three left, leaving Grissom and Sara behind. Grissom squeezed Greg's hand gently, just as Nick had done. "I wasn't ready to let you go, Greggo," he told the younger man before leaving himself.

Sara was now alone with Greg, She leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. "I would've missed doing that," she told him, smiling at him, even as tears welled in her eyes.

"Well, we'll just have to get all that done and over with, won't we?" asked Greg with a half-smile before kissing her back.

"I'm glad you decided to fight," she told him, wrapping her arms around him protectively.

He smiled up at her. "I wouldn't have had it any other way, babe," he said, kissing her once more before leaning back against his pillow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll see you in my dreams," he informed her, a small smile stretching his mouth.

"I'll meet you there," she told him, laying down on his bed next to him and snuggling against him. There, the two of them fell asleep, curled in each other's arms.