"Hey Greg...what's up?" She asked.
Greg slowly walked in and sat down in the chair opposite Catherine. He shoved his hands into his pockets so they would stop shaking. Or be less noticeable. "Can I...ask you something?"
Catherine put her pen down and gave Greg her full attention. "Of course. That's what I'm here for."
Greg nodded slightly and thought about how to go about saying this. "What if you found something out about a friend of yours...and it was your job to...like...get them in trouble for it. But if you didn't tell anybody, no harm would really be done."
Catherine could see right through Greg. "Well...what's more important to you, your friends or your job?"
"That's the tricky part." Greg mumbled.
"Greg...you're a smart guy. Use your judgement. If you think that whatever it is you know can go without anyone else knowing..." She trailed off, not exactly wanting to tell Greg to lie or destroy evidence or whatever he was planning on doing.
Greg was surprised at that answer. He had expected Catherine to basically tie him down until he told her what he had found out. He had a hunch she knew what it was about, and she too was very good friends with Nick. "Okay...thanks Catherine." He said with a small smile. He stood up and began to leave, but was stopped at the door by Catherine's voice.
"I'm sure that whatever you're doing, Nick appreciates it." She said. Greg turned, but Catherine had already gone back to her paperwork. Greg shook his head and his smile widened as he left the lab and headed for the hospital.
"You're absolutely positive that there's nothing you can do?" Warrick asked for the third time.
Dr. Manah shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. The damage to Nick's optical nerves can't be fixed. His orbital bone shattered upon impact with the window, and attempting surgery with that injury could make him go completely blind. I wish there was more I could do."
Warrick sighed. "Thank you for everything you did do." Manah nodded slightly before turning and leaving Warrick standing outside of Nick's room. He clenched his teeth and forced himself to go into the room and tell Nick the bad news. His legs felt like lead as he walked across the room and sat down in the plastic chair still next to Nick's bed. His eyes were closed, but Warrick knew he was awake because Nick slightly lifted his hand when he heard Warrick sit down.
"Hey." He said weakly. His voice sounded the way his body would if it could talk. His skin was beyond pale. Nick had never been a big guy, but just looking at him you could tell he weighed a lot less than he should. The only way to describe how he looked was weak.
Warrick hated the way Nick looked and wished there was someway he could change it. "Hey buddy." He responded. "Listen man...I've got some bad news..."
"My eyes aren't gonna get any better, are they?" Nick whispered.
Warrick shook his head as Nick slowly opened his eyes. "No...they can't fix it." Warrick said. His voice sounded hollow to his own ears.
Nick nodded slowly. "I guess I deserve it."
Before Warrick could contradict Nick's statement, there was a soft knock at the door, followed by Greg slowly stepping in and blushing slightly.
"Uh sorry...am I inturrupting?" He said hesitantly.
Both older CSIs shook their heads. "No," Warrick said, "Not at all. What's up?"
Greg let the door close behind him and shoved his hands back into his jeans. "Can I...can I talk to Nick for a second?" He asked shyly.
Warrick looked at Nick quick, who slightly nodded. "Yeah, of course man. I need to get something to eat anyway." Warrick patted Greg on the shoulder as he passed him on his way out. Greg took Warrick's place in the plastic chair and stared down at the floor under his feet.
"What's up G?" Nick's voice sounded very different, and if Greg hadn't just seen him he wouldn't believe it was Nick who was speaking.
"I...don't exactly know how to say this." Greg said. He was still staring at the floor. "I was at your house...they told me to and it was a mess and I don't know why but I thought th-"
Nick cut Greg off. "You know, don't you?" He asked.
Greg looked up and met Nick's eyes. He was a little surprised the older man didn't look mad. "How did you know?"
Nick laughed slightly and winced from the pain that the action had caused in his ribs. "You're an easy read man. Besides, I figured someone else would eventually."
"Warrick knows too." Greg said, and Nick nodded. "I didn't tell anyone else though. Except kind of Catherine...she knows it has something to do with you somehow but she doesn't know what."
Nick smiled. "Greg, it's your job to find the evidence and tell people what you found out."
Greg shook his head. "But I don't want to tell anyone. It doesn't make any difference. Whatever it is that you did was a long time ago and it's not your fault Eric came after Jeremy and you. So it doesn't matter why he did because he's dead now so everything's good."
"I don't want you to get in toruble for not telling Grissom what you found out. You coul-"
This time it was Greg who cut off Nick. "I put it back where I found it. If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, how is anybody ever gonna know?"
Nick sighed. He knew there was no way he would be able to change the stubborn ex-labrat's mind. Compromise was the only option. "Fine. But if for whatever reason someone does find out and you're gonna get in trouble for it, you tell them I made you lie about it. Say I would tell them you manipulated evidence or whatever. I won't let you get fired for covering for me. Deal?"
Greg nodded. "Deal." He pulled his hands out of his pockets because he knew they had stopped shaking and let them rest on his knees. "So how are you feeling?"
"Better." Nick was able to hold back a yawn but couldn't stop his tired eyes from closing.
"I'll let you rest." Greg said as he stood and made his way to the door.
"Thanks." Nick mumbled right before the door closed behind Greg, just in time for him to hear it. Greg couldn't hold back a smile as he started walking down the hallway and out towards his car in the parking lot. He passed by Warrick on his way out.
"Everything okay?" He asked, a fresh cup of coffee in his hand.
Greg nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine."
Warrick smiled. "Good...I'll see ya later."
"Goodnight." Greg said as he walked away, his legs and heart feeling lighter than they had when he walked in earlier.
Jeremy paced back and forth in front of Nick's door. Warrick had checked on him about two hours ago, then had left when he had finally fallen asleep. His little brother had been in the hospital for over a week, and he still hadn't gone in to see him yet. What a great brother he was.
Everytime he passed in front of the small window on Nick's door, Jeremy looked through it, hoping Nick would be awake. He was practicing in his mind what he was going to say when he finally got the chance to talk to his brother. He knew that no matter how much he ran it over in his mind, it still wasn't going to be easy. Seeing how Nick looked--so pale, skinny, and weak--made Jeremy hate himself even more. He knew that what had happened to Nick was all his fault. He gave him the package that sent Eric after him. To protect his older brother, Nick wouldn't tell them where it was. Jeremy stopped in front of Nick's door and closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he saw Nick's looking back at him through the tiny window. This is it. His last chance to try and do something right.
He slowly reached out and turned the handle on the door and pushed it open, keeping his eyes on Nick's the entire time.He was surprised his shaky legs carried him all the way over to the chair. He stood next to it for a second and was about to turn and leave, until he saw the look in Nick's eyes. He couldn't let his brother down again. So he sat in the plastic chair and smiled as best as he could.
"Hey Nick." He said. The greeting sounded stupid and out of place, but it was the only thing he could think of.
Nick didn't smile. "Hey." He said quietly. Nick's eyes were still on Jeremy, because if he looked anywhere else he wouldn't be able to see him, even if he was sitting only three feet away.
Jeremy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Look, I...I'm sorry. I never meant for it to end up like this. I swear to you I didn't know they would come after you."
"Even after you told them I had what they wanted?" Nick said coldly.
That felt like a dagger right to Jeremy's heart. "I didn't know what else to do...I thought you would give it to them."
"Why would I? You told me not to and I promised you I wouldn't. I just thought you didn't hate me so much and that you wouldn't tell them I had it."
Jeremy shook his head. "I don't hate you Nick. If anything, you're the one that hates me. I seem to remember you telling Eric to kill me a couple times."
"That's because I knew he wouldn't."
"Just like you knew he wouldn't kill you? If he had any bullets left, he wou-" Jeremy stopped himself and looked at Nick. He suddenly realized what Nick had been trying to do. "You knew he had no bullets left, didn't you?" He asked.
Nick nodded. "Ever since I can remember, Eric always talked about how perfect the number six was. I can't remember why he liked it so much, but he always had six bullets in his clip no matter what."
"So you counted all the ones that had been used? What if you were wrong?"
"I wasn't sure if it was five or six after he shot my ear, so that's why I told him to shoot me. So he wouldn't have anything left to shoot you or Warrick."
Jeremy didn't know what to say. He wished it has been something other than, "Tony had a gun too though."
Nick frowned slightly. "Oh yeah..."
Jeremy moved right along. "I'm sorry Nicky. I know I've never been a good brother no matter how hard I try.I didn't want you to get hurt like that...I would have never forgiven myself if you had..." He trailed off, not wanting to think about his little brother dying. "I just...I can't stand to see you hurt. I never know what to do because I get so worried. This was never my intention."
Sleep was tugging at Nick, and he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stay awake. "I know it wasn't. It was Eric's intention to kill me, not yours."
"I would never want anything bad to happen to you. You're my little brother man...I love you kid."
Nick smiled for the first time in the last ten minutes. "I love you too Jere."
Jeremy smiled at the nickname Nick had always used for him. When he was little, for whatever reason, Nick couldn't say "Jeremy", so he just said the first syllable. And he still does.
Jeremy could tell Nick was about to fall asleep, so he decided to let him get some more rest. "I'll leave you alone...I'll come back later. Get some rest Nick."
Nick nodded slightly as his eyes closed. "Okay...bye." He said sleepily.
Jeremy left quietly. He sighed in relief when the door closed behind him. He felt better, although he knew that things were nowhere near perfect. But he had no clue what was still to come.