By the way...I am totally bull shitting all this doctor stuff...I tried to get some online help and information from my medical books...but ya'll know how that goes...

I kinda made up the conditions and symptoms as I went so bear with me here. Sorry for my naïve tongue when it comes to the medical department...I'm much better with forensic science and those areas than medical science... –shrugs—Oh well.

And, for the record...this story wasn't beta'd...just so everyone knows...I'm on my own from here on out –sniffle—but hey...

I WILL SURVIVE!

Disclaimer: Oh, and just so everyone knows...I don't own anything related to CSI or any of the characters...don't sue me cause you won't be getting much...just about 100 pairs of shoes :)

Spoilers: Grave Danger

Chapter 9

(Tuesday Morning)

The doctor from earlier had finally reported on Riley's condition, saying she was stable but still needed to be monitored. The good news was that she was being moved out of the ICU and into a regular hospital room. The entire group flocked to the smaller waiting room, and was taking breaks to make double coffee runs to keep them alert.

Tony, Troy, and Marcus all had to go in for work, while Jabari and CJ had to go to their classes. Leaving only Kiersten, Shaun, Pot Roast, Jon, Thomas, Deven, and Nick left. The doctor from earlier reappeared at the door and waited for them all to acknowledge him.

"Family of Bryn Riley-Ann Turner?" Doctor Sians asked, drawing everyone's attention, Nick being the only one who raised his eyebrow at the name.

"That's us." Jon said standing up. The doctor raised a skeptical eye brow at them all.

"Brothers." Shaun, Pot Roast, and Thomas said.

"Uncle." Jon replied.

"Sister." Kiersten informed him.

"Boyfriend." Deven answered.

"Brother." Nick lied...Deven had stolen his answer.

The doctor looked at them doubtfully, but let it slide. "She's awake now. Her condition is still stable but she's is on the support of a breathing machine. She's drowsy and, trust me; it looks a lot worse than it really is. It's merely cuts and bruises, but it looks pretty nasty."

"She um...she said earlier that she couldn't move her arms or legs..." Nick replied tentatively. Everyone turned to look at him and he shifted uncomfortably under their gazes.

"Yes, that was merely from shock. The impact from the other car knocked her unconscious for a moment, and when she came to her nerves were shot. The signals her neurons were sending to her brain weren't being received due to over load on stress and her unconscious state. She'll be fine though, she is able to move her arms now and she can shift her legs, but they're still hard to carry for her because of the medication she's under." The doctor explained and Nick nodded. "You can visit her one at a time, but keep it light and don't upset her." With that, the doctor left them alone to decide who went in first.

Kiersten stepped forward. "Can I go first?" She asked and all the men nodded. She slowly made her way into the room and left all the men standing around awkwardly waiting for something to do.

"So Thomas..." Shaun began and everyone looked up at him even though he had only spoke to Thomas. "Chicken out before you could say 'sister'?" He cracked a small grin trying to lighten the mood. Everyone erupted in laughter and Nick smiled, shaking his head.

"Yeah actually, that doctor was so cute. Too suave for his own good...I was gonna make a move on him but I chickened out." Thomas replied and they laughed again.

"Sorry Tommy, I don't think he's gay." Pot Roast said and Thomas shrugged. "That nurse that left earlier was hot though." He replied smiling and Jon and Shaun nodded and chuckled in agreement.

"I think the male nurse was cuter." Thomas objected.

"Well you would." Deven replied and everyone laughed again. Thomas shrugged again innocently.

"Like I can help it."

"Are you gonna ask for his number when he comes back?" Shaun asked.

"The doctor or the nurse?"

"Dude, I don't know. That isn't really my area of expertise. Which ever you think is hotter."

They all laughed again and Thomas nodded. "I'm asking both."

Nick shook his head as he laughed softly and looked towards the door as Kiersten walked out, smiling. All he laughter stopped and every one stood up. "How is she?" Jon asked.

Kiersten smiled. "She wants to know what the Hell is so funny out here that ya'll are laughin so hard." Kiersten drawled and they all smiled. That sure sounded like Riley.

Jon shook his head. "I'm goin in next." He chuckled and made his way through the doors, as Kiersten took Jon's seat next to Nick.

"BRAT...Bryn Riley-Ann Turner...it's an ellipsis of her name." Nick stated as Kiersten nodded and smiled.

"It's also a great misjudgment of her personality. Once, her mom called her a brat, and Riley put on hand on her hip and cocked her head, she said 'I ain't a brat, I'm a stubborn know-it-all'." Kiersten informed him and he laughed. After a few minutes of silence Kiersten smiled again. "She told me about the bar..."

Nick sighed and hung his head.

"Nick..." She was cut off by the opening of the doors as Jon came out and walked down the hall.

They all looked at him confused. "Where are you goin Jon?" Shaun asked as the large man hurried down the hall.

"She wants Sour Patch Kids!" He called back as he took off in search of a vending machine. Shaun shook his head.

"She's a spoiled brat."

"She ain't a brat...she's a stubborn know-it-all." Nick replied and they smiled at him.

One hour, four visitors, and Sour Patch Kids runs later, two men sat anxiously awaiting their turns. So far Deven and Nick were the only two who hadn't been in to see Riley. Thomas exited the room and Deven stepped forward. "I wanna go first." He replied and Nick nodded. It was fine with him...once he saw Riley he didn't think he'd want to leave her.

Nick sighed and ran a hand over his days worth growth of beard. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Kiersten hand him a cup of coffee. He smiled gratefully and accepted it. "Thanks."

"You should go home and get some sleep."

Nick shook his head fervently. "I haven't seen her yet."

"Well you're not gonna wanna leave her once you do..." Kiersten stated and Nick sighed, apparently she had the same gift Catherine had...a woman's intuition.

"Are you a mom by any chance?" Nick asked and she smiled and shook her head.

"No, the intuition comes naturally with raising these guys all my life." She jerked her thumb towards the men behind her. Nick smiled and shook his head. "Go home Nick, just change and shower...Deven will probably be in there for a while." She pointed out and Nick sighed again.

"No...I...I wanna see her."

"Waiting around isn't gonna make you able to see her any quicker."

"No Kiersten." He said firmly and she sighed.

"You're as bad as these guys." She rolled her eyes and sat down in a chair next to Pot Roast. Nick sipped his coffee and began pacing the floor. He looked at his watch.

5 minutes...

Deven had been in there for five minutes. Nick sighed again and sat back down. He knew he probably should go home and get some rest, Riley and Deven would still be a while...but his legs weren't agreeing with his brain. He sighed and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts, but soon falling asleep.

Riley sighed and looked away from Deven's concerned face. They had been talking about nothing for the past half hour, neither wanting to discuss the issue of what happened at the bar a few days ago, and Nick's suspicion that she was cheating on him. Deven refused to leave her side, but wouldn't look her straight in the eye, and that was annoying her.

"Dev...you can't just sit here for an hour and not say anything..."

"I'm sorry Ry, but..."

She sighed again as he chickened out of what he was going to say. She looked towards the window of her room and saw the stars shining through the nearly black clouds covering the sky, and her mind began to wander...

I wonder if anyone has called Danny to let him know I'm not comin into work for a while...man he's gonna be pissed. Eh, Thomas or Jare Bear, will explain it to him. I wonder what they're doin right now...

She glanced back at Deven and saw that he still had his head down. "How long?" He finally asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"How long what? How long will I be in here? How long has it been since either of us has spoke? How long has Nick thought I was sleeping with you...? Okay, I don't know, about ten minutes, and since Thursday, but he's probably been chewin that thought since we started dating." She drawled.

Deven sighed. "How long have you and Nick been seeing each other?"

"Officially or do you want the long version?" He opted for the long version, not really wanting to hear the story, but knowing it would buy him more time. She began to tell him about how Nick had shown up a few months ago at the bar and asked her on a date, then after the big game they had gone out on a date. Soon one date turned into two, two turned into three, and by then Nick and her had officially become an item.

"You weren't really going to the library all those times were you?" Deven asked and she shook her head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have been okay with it?" She asked, already knowing the answer. Deven dropped his head.

"Well were you gonna keep it a secret forever...? Didn't you think we'd eventually figure it out?"

"No and no. I figured I would accidentally let it slip or finally decide to tell everyone before ya'll put the pieces together. If you figured out anything it would be that I was seeing someone, but you wouldn't know who."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want it to be more awkward than it already was."

"Riley...I hate to say it...but it'll be a while before its not awkward, if we do ever get passed this."

"And you knowing that I was dating Nick wouldn't have done anything...so I just didn't tell you."

"Who knew?"

"Kiersten and Jon...both found out by accident."

Deven didn't particularly want to know how they had found out what was going on. "So...what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ry...what happened before the whole bar thing?" He asked as she sighed and began to tell him about how Nick had blown up at her, so she drove around for a bit before heading into work, only to have Nick come and drop off her stuff.

"...You know the rest. I went to see him after a few days later and found him passed out, we argued more, and I took off...and landed myself here." She gestured around her. "Proof in context that running from your problems doesn't solve anything...you just land yourself into a bigger shit 'sit'." A shit 'sit' was Riley's term for a shitty situation you can't get out of.

Deven shook his head and sighed, reaching out to grab her hand and push a piece of red hair from her face. "I didn't like the fact that you...you were with him...I still don't." He said softly and Riley looked down to her other hand that was picking at the blue hospital blanket covering her lower torso and legs.

"Well...you don't have to worry about that...we aren't...together, anymore." She replied. Deven didn't look up from his hands.

"I miss you Ry."

Riley swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up into his crystal blue eyes. "Deven...we can't. We're a mess. We-"

"But we can fix that Riley...it's us...we have to able to fix that."

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words slipped away from her, and she ended up closing her mouth and looking away. She shook her head and dragged her gaze back to his. "Deven...we're too different."

His eyes bore into hers and he paused. "That's what made us work...we had things that were different about us...but we had things that were the same."

"Deven, we're too messed up. Our relationship, that way, is too broken to be fixed."

"Please, I said I was sorry. I've said I'm sorry so many times..."

"That doesn't erase the pain and the memory of what happened Deven." She pointed out softly.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he looked away, he hated when she saw him crying and weak. He swallowed the large lump that had formed in his throat and he shook his head slightly. "I don't know what else to do Riley."

Her shoulders slumped a few inches as she was hit by the memory of their last conversation like this...when they had broken up. "And that's why we can't work Deven. It isn't that we won't work or that I won't try...its that we can't."

Deven dropped his head and quickly wiped away the tears on his face. He nodded slowly, still not looking at her. "I don't think I can not have you in my life." He admitted and she covered his hands that was holding hers with her other one.

"I can still be your friend."

"I'm still going to love you."

She shrugged. "Friends love each other."

He shook his head. "Not the way I love you..." He looked at her and leaned in slowly and kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger on her skin. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. She felt a tear slip off his cheek, and mix with her own tears; eventually both fell and landed on the blue sheet above her. "I love you Riley...I'm sorry." He kissed her temple before quickly standing and leaving the room.

She closed her eyes and kept her face semi-straight as her tears fell. She pressed the call button for the nurse, and she entered almost immediately. "Yes Miss Turner? Is everything okay?" She asked, noticing the tears. Riley wiped away the tears quickly and nodded.

"Please refuse any more visitors. I'm kind of tired." She asked and the nurse paused a minute before finally nodding and taking another step into the room.

"Do you need anything else?"

Yep, how about some pain killers for my broken heart...

Riley thought, but instead she shook her head and turned on her side. She lay down and closed her eyes, trying to let sleep come to her. It should have been easy with the emotional exhaustion she was feeling and all the sedatives coursing through her...but her eyes refused to close.

The young woman nurse watched the patient carefully, before she nodded for a final time and walked out of the room.

Go to sleep...go to sleep...go to sleep...

And soon enough, she did.

Nick had been about ready to walk into Riley's room when the nurse cut in front of him. "I'm sorry sir, but she's refused anymore visitors...she needs her rest. You can come back tomorrow." The much smaller nurse informed him. Nick looked at her slightly confused. This tiny nurse, which he could probably pick up and move out of the way with no trouble, stand her ground in front of Riley's door.

Why would Riley refuse visitors...or, maybe he was the reason she was refusing people. He was the only one she hadn't talked to. Maybe that wasn't just coincidence.

Nick stood there, gaping at her slightly, before turning away and walking out of the waiting room, and practically running out of the hospital doors. He remembered that he had been brought there by the ambulance with Riley, and his car was still at the scene. He sighed and made his way home, calling Warrick and asking him to drop his car off at his house.

Warrick asked no questions, and offered no words, for which Nick was thankful. He didn't want to deal with anything right now.

She had obviously changed her mind about talking to him...of course she had. She was scared and confused, surrounded by dozens of people she didn't know at the scene...she clung to a familiar face.

That's all he was...a familiar face.

Nick sighed and after a grueling near hour walk, he made his way into his house. It was trashed. Nick looked around confused before remembering what he had done.

He moaned, grabbed some clothes, threw them in a bag, snatched up his wallet, and called a cab. He ordered the driver to take him to the first hotel they found.

Nick was in no mood to fix the mess he made. In his mind, he was pulling a Riley...ignoring the mess and wishing it would just go away. He knew that wasn't fair to think like that. She had been through a lot the past few days, and she didn't even know one fact that might spin the entire situation back to a much happier dimension...

He loved her.

But then a horrifying thought entered his mind...what if she did know, and didn't want to see him because of that.

No...no, she can't know...I barely knew...I only found out a few days ago, it shocked the hell outta me...no way does she know...right?

Riley woke up the next day and looked around her. She bolted upright and immediately lamented it. A sharp pain seared through her head and lower back, and she fell back against the pillows. It all slowly came back to her...the fight, the bar fight, the argument with Nick, the accident, her talk with everyone, her talk with Deven...

"Nick..." She said softly and slowly sat up. Did he come to see her yesterday? She remembered Kit commenting that nick was anxious to see her. And then after her long talk with Deven she had felt drained, and not up to seeing him. She sighed and pressed the call button. The nurse pooped in, with her tray of breakfast and a smile. "Um...can you reinstate visitors please?" Riley asked cautiously.

The nurse nodded and set the tray on the metal tray by her bed, and wheeled it over so that it was in front of Riley. "Yes I can."

"Um, was there a man out there yesterday with short brown hair, brown eyes, about six inches taller than you?" She asked giving a semi-vague description of Nick. The nurse thought back and nodded.

"Yes...I sent him away after you requested no visitors. Do you want me to send him away if he comes back?"

"No! No, no, no...if he comes back, tell him I want to see him first."

"And if he doesn't come back..."

Riley thought about it, but didn't answer as she turned towards the window, silently praying that he came back today.

Bite. Bite. Bite.

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

A loud scream...it was his own.

Walter Gordon's recorded message burner into his ear, and Nick physically flinched away as if it was actually burning him.

The cool barrel of the gun pressed itself against Nick's chin...

But it wasn't Nick holding the gun.

He was strapped down to the box, bonded by handcuffs.

"No! No! No! Let me go! Get the ants off of me!"

"We'll help you Nick!" Warrick's voice called out and soon a cold blast of ice shot through the top of the Plexiglas coffin.

It was chilling him...suffocating him.

"No! No! You're suffocating me! It isn't helping!" Nick exclaimed frantically, his voice cracking.

"Yes it is Nick! It's helping! We're helping you!" Grissom called from above the coffin and pressed his hands against it.

Suddenly the coffin started crushing around him.

Grissom was pressing the lid down and squishing him in there...

Trapping him.

Nick's hands were suddenly set free, the bonds ripped away, and Nick pressed back against the coffin.

"No Nick! You're making it worse!" His mother screamed from outside the box and Nick looked at her confused.

She wasn't supposed to be here...

"Stop it Nick! We're helping you! You don't know what you need!" Catherine demanded.

Bite. Bite. Bite.

The ants continued biting his skin.

The people around him continued blasting the icy air in...smothering him.

"Stop fighting it Poncho...you can't fight it anymore!" His dad yelled at him.

"You never could! It was never enough Poncho!" Grissom yelled, smiling wickedly.

"No, you couldn't Nick...you couldn't ever fight it...you couldn't even fight me." Walter Gordon replied menacingly and Nick tried to get away from him, but the box was growing smaller.

Nick frantically beat the box, he twisted and turned and flailed his arms and legs, desperate to get away.

"God! Make it all go away!" He yelled, his voice cracking.

And his wishes were granted.

Someone pulled the trigger.

Nick bolted up in the bed, breathing heavily, blanketed in sweat. He frantically brushed off his arms, face and swatted away a gun that was there. His sheets were tangled around his legs and torso, preventing him from moving hardly at all.

Where was he? And he remembered.

The events of the days before crashed into him like a head on collision...ironic.

He sighed and wiped his hand down his face as he looked around the small hotel room, trying to control his breathing.

The room was plain, small, and by far not the classiest, but it was affordable. Sleeping on the hotel sheets had made him uncomfortable, but he knew he would have been a hell of a lot more uncomfortable at his own house...

He sighed and threw the plain white covers off of him, and walked shakily to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and dried his face with a towel and shaky hands.

He hadn't prepared for that.

He hadn't had a nightmare about the box in months...

He sighed and turned on the shower, peeling off his clothes and finally getting a control on his breathing, Nick stepped into the shower and tried to wash away the remnants of his nightmare.

Nick walked through the front gates of Hell...actually he walked in his front door...but at the moment, there was no difference. He sighed as he set the wall plaster he had bought from Home Depot down and surveyed the house. He had a lot of work ahead of him, fixing the holes in the walls, replacing the carpet, his mattress, couch, repainting the wall in the living room, hall, and bedroom...

He sighed and looked at his watch.

7:23 p.m.

Riley would probably be up by now if she was still on her nightshift schedule...the nurse had said that he could visit her tomorrow...but the question was if he wanted to.

Guess he wouldn't know that answer unless he confronted it...

But first he had to change...fresh clothes were needed, and food wouldn't hurt either. He sighed and went into his room. He stopped short when he saw Riley sitting on the edge of his bed, her head down, hands underneath her thighs. Nick looked at her hunched form skeptically. He wasn't going to be fooled twice.

She looked up to his face and let a few tears slip down her cheeks. Nick reached out to brush them away and almost gasped when he felt her flesh beneath his hands. "Riley...you're here...you're, you're real."

She sniffled. "Nick...I'm sorry. I shouldn't...I shouldn't have run out like that."

Nick shook his head and knelt down next to her, cupping her face in his hands. "No...you were angry..."

"Then I turned away visitors at the hospital...I'm so sorry." She said between sobs and Nick cradled her in his arms. He sighed, hating the thought of her crying.

"Please...please, don't cry Riley...please don't. I'm not mad."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

He felt her plant a soft kiss on his neck...right on the crook of his neck. In the place he liked. He shuddered and felt her kiss him again. She was moving her hands around his body now, kissing along his neck...his jaw...his lips...

Her lips felt soft and flush against his own. They barely touched his own, teasing him almost. Slowly she applied pressure to his shoulders and laid him back against the bed. She let her hands grip his shoulders, then slip slowly down his sides and under the cotton of his T-shirt. Her slim fingers ran up and down his chest, savoring the feel of him as Nick's hands worked to pull off the form fitting maroon corduroy jacket she was wearing.

She pulled away from him, smiling deviously, and pulled the jacket off her shoulders. Nick smirked up at her and she giggled, a new habit with her in the bedroom. He went to reach for her again but she was gone. Her furred his brow and blinked.

He was back in his living room...he had never left. He looked around him confused and then to the hallway leading towards his room.

Nick took off running and plowed through the open doorway, expecting to see her sitting on his bed, but instead saw nothing...not even the scent of her perfume lingered. He sighed and looked down to see his current 'situation' and sighed.

"Damn..." He murmured to himself and leaned against the door jam. Nick's phone began to ring and he unhooked it from his belt, to see the display of Grissom's name.

Oh shit...I ran out on a scene...I didn't even say where I was going. And the only contact I've made with them was to tell Warrick to drop my car off at my house.

He felt a wave of guilt wash over him and he answered his phone. "Stokes."

"Nick, we need you in here. We're all pulling doubles and we're loaded with cases."

"Griss...I'm sorry about running out on the scene a few days ago..."

"Don't worry about it Nick. But I had to take you off the case because of your obvious relationship with one of the victims."

Nick was quiet for a moment. "Okay...thanks Grissom. But...I don't think we have to worry about my relationship with her anymore."

There was a pause on the other end. Nick had obviously made the older man uncomfortable with this news and it was a minute before he finally spoke. "Okay Nick. But I still need you to head up the other cases with Greg. Cath, Sara, and Warrick are working with me on the collision."

"Okay. I'll be there soon Grissom."

"Alright."

"Hey Grissom..."

"Yes Nick?"

"...Thanks for understanding." Nick said.

"You're welcome Nick." Grissom said sincerely and they hung up. Nick looked back at his house.

Okay, I need to take care of something...

Oh...Goodness...what is going to happen next?

Reviews rock...and people who review rock...so...reviewing makes you rock...so you should review...—smiles—you know you want to :)

-Chella Belle