-1Painful Discovery
Two days had passed since Nick found out about Greg's injury. Even though he promised to keep it secret from the rest of the team, he kept a constant eye on Greg to make sure he was ok.
"How are you holding up?" Nick asked Greg. He settled down next to him on the couch in the break room.
"Good," Greg lied. He sipped his coffee as Nick watched him for a moment. They both looked up when Grissom came in the door.
"Guys, we have another case," Grissom said. "The whole team is on this one. Three people found dead in their home on Palm Avenue."
"Right, we're coming," Nick said as Grissom walked out. He watched as Greg winced while slowly getting off the couch.
"It's nothing, Nick," Greg said as he caught up to Nick. He obviously knew what the man was thinking.
Once everyone was at the scene, they gathered in the living room to see the bodies. It was obviously the family. A man and a woman, shot to death. Then there was their little girl, strangled. Sara shook her head as she photographed.
"Hey, Warrick, Greg, there's more stuff out here," Nick called from the back yard. "The girl might have been dragged in. There's signs of a struggle." Nick pointed to a broken toy on the ground and a small table that was knocked over by the large pool.
"The parents we're killed in the living room," Warrick said. "The girl had her swimsuit on. Who would leave their kid in the pool without watching?"
"Some people are just careless," Greg stated as he looked at the pool. He was amazed at it's size. It was very large, and it was at least twenty feet deep. His thoughts were interrupted when Warrick's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" Warrick answered. "Oh, hi, Tina. No, I'm at work. What do you mean! You know I'm busy! This isn't a good time, I'll call you later!" Warrick snapped the phone shut in an angry fashion.
"Trouble with the wife?" Nick asked as he examined the perimeter of the pool.
"Just stay out of it, alright?" Warrick snapped. Nick looked up, obviously angered by his comment.
"Look, man, it was a question! Just because it's been happening for some time doesn't mean you have to get all snappy now!" Nick snapped back. Greg kept his distance as Warrick approached Nick.
"Some time? What is that supposed to mean!" Warrick snapped. He lightly pushed Nick. This set him off.
"Tina has been calling you for two weeks while you were on the job to complain," Nick said. He pushed Warrick back, a little harder. "Don't you think it's time to tell her to wait until after hours?"
"I'll deal with my own family problems, got it!" Warrick shoved Nick, who shoved back. Then they really started fighting.
"Guys, cut it out!" Greg yelled as he watched the two hit each other. He hesitated for a moment before approaching them, he had never tried to break up a fight before. "Stop!" Greg shouted as he tried breaking the two up.
"Get outta here!" Warrick yelled as he shoved Greg away. Not noticing Greg gasping for air, he continued hitting at Nick.
"Please, stop!" Greg gasped, now standing directly behind Nick.
"It's probably your fault anyway!" Nick snapped at Warrick.
"Is not!" Warrick yelled back. He shoved Nick, hard, and sent him crashing into Greg.
"Ow!" Greg exclaimed, stumbling backwards. Nick had crashed into him, hard, knocking the wind out of him. He gasped for air and watched the two men continue to fight. "Uhh, it hurts," Greg cried to himself as he clutched his throbbing stomach. Suddenly his knees buckled and he collapsed, right into the pool. Greg couldn't bring himself to the surface, the weight of his wet clothes slowly dragging him down. He couldn't move, because it hurt too much. Struggling for air, Greg looked up as he slowly sank to the bottom of the pool. Then he blacked out.
"What's the commotion? Nick! Warrick! Cut it out!" Grissom yelled as he ran into the back yard. He separated the two men and yanked them into the house. "What were you doing! This is a crime scene! You could have damaged evidence!" Grissom glared at the two men.
"Sorry, Griss," Nick said as he looked at Warrick.
"We just had a little disagreement," Warrick said.
"Well, it waits until after hours," Grissom said.
"Where's Greg?" Sara asked, out of the blue.
"He's right…where did he go?" Nick said as he looked at the back yard.
"He was right behind us," Warrick said, looking at Nick with a puzzled expression.
"We were fighting and he tried to break us up," Nick said. "Then Warrick shoved me into him and then…" Nick froze and went pale. Suddenly looking down at the pool, he saw the water rippling. "Oh my god! Greg!" he shouted as he ran to the backyard, closely followed by the rest.
"Oh my god, down there!" Catherine pointed to the bottom of the pool. Before she could say another word, Warrick and Nick dove in.
The two men struggled to get Greg out of the water, the weight of their wet clothes was weighing all three of them down. They finally got him to the surface.
"Oh, Greg!" Sara cried as she proceeded to pull Greg out of the water. She was helped by Grissom and Catherine.
"He's not breathing!" Nick exclaimed as he pulled himself out of the pool.
"He needs CPR! Call an ambulance!" Sara exclaimed. Catherine ripped her phone out of her pocket and dialed 911 as Sara yanked Greg's shirt off. Once the call was over, everybody looked at Greg. They gasped when they saw the huge bruise on his stomach.
"What happened to him?" Grissom asked as he watched Sara giving Greg CPR.
"He had an accident," Nick said. "He was fixing Sara's satellite dish when he fell off the roof. He won't go to the hospital, says he fine." He looked at his young friend with worry.
Greg suddenly coughed and spit out some water. Sara had managed to wake him up. He slowly opened his eyes, then squeezed them shut again in pain. Clutching his stomach, he moaned and rolled onto his side. Sara rubbed his arms in an attempt to calm him down.
"Greg, buddy, are you ok?" Warrick asked. He frowned when Greg shook his head.
"It hurts so bad!" Greg cried as Sara wrapped her arms around him.
"I knew I should have taken him to the hospital days ago," Sara said, her eyes filling with tears.
"He'll be ok," Catherine said as she put her hand on Sara's shoulder.
"Oh god, I hope so," Sara cried. She hugged Greg close to her until the ambulance finally arrived.
Ok, let me know what you think so far. Preview for the next chapter: At the hospital, the team finds out just how dangerous Greg's injury is, and what the possible outcomes are.
