Pitiful, he thought. Just pitiful. Four days and I'm still in bed. I need to get out, get busy. My house is probably a mess. dust everywhere. Those dishes in the sink. meant to clean them ages ago... These thoughts crowded Greg's head as he sat up in the hospital, brooding over his bad situation. The phrase NOT FAIR may have applied, but he was being fed, he could walk, and he wasn't wearing a gown. So he couldn't really complain about living conditions. Maybe the guy next to him who forgot that he had the ability to get up and use the bathroom. The room smelled awful at night.

Sometimes he got visitors. A news crew came in once, but he feigned sleep and they went away. Sara brought him a blue vase with a balloon in it. "I didn't know if you liked flowers and I wasn;t sure what would be appropriate, so I bought a balloon." Well, okay.

Emma, the girl who'd seen him that night, came by with some chocolates once and Nick came by just to say hi. Grissom only cameonce, to be the bearer of bad news. He'd be a great doctor. He'd come out and tell the family that their mother had cancer or whatever and he wouldn't frown or cry and even apologize. He might even smile. greg comtemplated the idea of Grissom's career as a pathologist when a nurse and his landlord came in.

"You're free to go." Greg felt like a high schooler arrested on prom night.
"Sweet." His landlord threw his bag of clothes at him and said gruffly, "Try to stay out of trouble. Oh, and your rent's due." Ass. Greg pulled on his clothes in the bathroom and was comtemplating the various methods of exiting when Nick, Warrick, and Sara came in.
"Need a ride?" asked Warrick.
"No, I thought I might hitchike home. Maybe helicopter back. I even thought about running the WHOLE way." He smiled. "You guys are very kind."

So his house wasn't too messy. A small layer of dust covered the counter, but that was cleanable. Sara picked up a framed picture off the side table next to the couch.
"Who's this?"
"Wanna here something funny? Her name's Sara. She's my little sister."
"Didn't know you had a sister."
"Yeah, well, this one doesn't count. She's a little crazy." He eyed the dishes in the sink, wondering what kind of bacteria may be growing between the plates. He looked at his answering machine. "For whom does the phone ring?" he said to himself. "Just enjoy messing with the stuff in my house you guys." Nick smiled.
"Cool place."
"It's an apartment Nick."
"Yeah but it's Greg's apartment."
"I'll alert the media." He pressed play.
You have 4 messages. I will play 4 new messages.
Message 1
"Hey Greg, it's Nicky. Dad's birthday is in a few weeks and I think you should actually buy him something this time. You know, instead of making him a rubber band ball. Anyway, call me back and let me know. Oh, and this time, don't call Mark Marky. He hates it. Love ya."
"Older sisters are a pain in the neck."
"You have another sister."
"Yeah, Nicky. She's the only successful one in the family. She's a tax attorney." Greg shrugged.
Message 2
"hello Mr Snaders! We would like to inform you that you've wo-"
"Honestly dont' care."
Message 3
"Dude, it's Joey. I gotta a problem. So Amy wants to get back together, but I dunno. Should I? I feel like I'm heading towards the iceberg or whatever you caled it when I was going to ask her to marry me. I still can't believe I almost did that. Seriously! Anyway, I may need some sort of intervention. Like a beer or a sandwich at Sonic. Or some corny movies. Or some classic Star Wars... Or-"
"Joey." Greg shook his head.
Message 4
Greg? It's Sara. I need to talk to you asap. Really this time, okay? Are you there? Pick up. Okay so you're not. Call me as soon as you get this. I mean it this time. I'm not just screwing around. Okay? I need you."
Sara looked at Greg. "You going to call her?'
"Yeah. Yeah, I will." Nick and the others looked at eachother and then at Greg. "We'll catch you later Greg. Griss is gonna cal you and tell you when you need to come back, a'ight?" greg nodded and looked at the machine.

As the door slammed shut, the entire week suddenly caught up with Greg. His legs felt shakey and suddenly his head felt light, lighter than air. He looked arounfd and felt the edge of his vision blackening. The sleep he'd needed the night he'd been attacked never really got slept. He fell onto the couch and fell into the best sleep he'd had all week.