Ch.3

It was two weeks before Greg had a day off.

When he got home from work, showered and grabbed a couple hours sleep before calling Leigh.

This time, instead of meeting somewhere, Greg told Leigh he would pick her up for their date. And, he was actually nervous when he knocked on her apartment door after she buzzed him in the apartment building.

When Leigh opens her door, she was dressed in faded jeans with worn spots at the knees and a vintage tee of Journey. "Hi. C'mon in." she says and motions him inside.

"I just need to find my sneakers and I'll be ready." She tells him when she shuts the door and hurries down a short hall. Greg glances around the place. It was pretty bare. Only a couch, an overstuffed chair, and TV along with an X-Box and several game cases scattered on the floor in front of the TV was in the living room. An Army flag was on the wall behind the couch. Greg grins to himself. 'She lives like a bachelor.' He thinks to himself.

"You're a gamer?" he asks as she walks into the room. "Oh, hell yeah!" she says making a face, making him laugh. "Maybe sometime, we'll play." She tells him.

They went to a miniature golf course, which Leigh sucked at but Greg had fun showing her how to putt.

Leigh purposely messed up just so Greg could show her, which meant his body was close to hers. Greg enjoyed it as well.

The whole time they played, they laughed and bantered with each other.

Over dinner, Greg and Leigh talked and bantered some more, enjoying their date.

At the end of the night, when Greg stopped in front of her complex, they sat in the car for a few minutes. Leigh thanked him for a great time as she took off her seatbelt. That's when she leaned over and softly kissed him. Greg kissed her back; they kissed for a few moments before she pulls away and they grin at each other then she gets out of the car.

Right before she shuts the door, Greg says "Leigh!" and she looks at him. "I had a great time too!" he tells her. She smiles at him. "I'll call you." He says. "Not if I call you first." She replies as she shuts the door. Greg laughs softly as he waits for her to get inside the complex before driving away.

On the way up to her apartment, Leigh thinks about kissing Greg. He was a good kisser (not that she had a lot of kissing experience! She only had two guys kiss her) and could still feel his lips on hers. She grins to herself. (Good god, she was having a girly moment! It surprised her. The last time she had one was after she lost her virginity before leaving for boot camp)

Over the next three weeks, they saw each other as often as they could. A few times, they saw each other at crime scenes, but kept it friendly, smiling or saying 'hi' to each other.

Greg liked to surprise Leigh by bringing her coffee and the occasional bagel for breakfast to her at work when he would be heading home after shift. They even got to have breakfast together twice! (Leigh worked days and swing shifts.)

Two weeks later, Leigh looks up from the newspaper she was reading when she feels her pony tail being swatted. It was her friend/partner Paul. "Did you get to see the boyfriend on your day off?" he asks teasingly as he sits down beside her. Leigh gives him a look. He gives her one right back. "Army, it's so obvious your with that CSI." He tells her. (Paul saw the way Leigh looked at Greg when he would bring her coffee or when her face lit up when Greg would call her) Before she could answer, a call came in and they hurried to their rig.

As they drove to the scene, Paul said "I'm sorry about earlier. But just so you know that I think the CSI and you make a nice couple." Leigh glances at him but doesn't say anything.

"What the hell?"She says suddenly and Paul looks out the windshield. It was a small mob of young people standing in the middle of the road. Leigh had seen this before and it didn't end well. "What are they doing?" Paul asks as Leigh stops and her eyes looking everywhere. Before she could even answer, the windshield exploded and Leigh felt a burning in her shoulder.

When she looked up, they mob came rushing towards them and seconds later, the rig started rocking.

Leigh grabbed the radio and called for help just as they rig started to go to the side and she screamed as her window was smashed.

Greg walks into the lab and Sara walks up to him looking grim. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asks. Sara swallows before saying "Greg is Leigh working right now?" He looks her quizzically. "Uh, yeah she's working swing tonight. Why?" he asks not sure why she was asking. (Sara was the only one who knew Leigh and him were dating and wouldn't ask about her like that at work.)

Sara looked at him, pained. "Sara?" he presses. "Greg, a few minutes ago officers responded to a call from an ambulance that was being attacked by a mob." She tells him gently. Greg was ready to bolt hearing this but Sara stopped him when she told him that CSI can't get near the scene because of the mob and the police was trying to get control. Sara saw the look on his face and wasn't surprised when he growled and stormed away.

"What was that about?" Catherine asks from the doorway of her office. Sara looks over her shoulder. "Someone Greg cares about is quite possibly in that ambulance that got attacked." She says quietly. Catherine's eyes widen. She had no idea Greg even had a life outside of work.

An hour later, Sara found Greg in the locker room. "Greg!" she says. "She's on her way to Desert Palm now" Greg was grateful she told him. He slams his locker shut and hurries out. "Thanks Sara." He says as he passes her. Sara nods and she hopes Leigh is okay.

At the hospital ten minutes later, Greg rushes into the ER. It was a madhouse inside. There were injured people everywhere.

Greg hurried up to the nurses' station to ask about Leigh only to be told to wait. Greg lost his cool and the nurses all jump when he slams his hand down on the counter. "Leigh Fox?" a nurse calls out from the inner ER doors.

Greg rushes over to her and she gives him a sad look. "Are you a relative?" she asks. "No, I'm her boyfriend. Her family lives in Kansas." He tells her. The nurse nods then quietly says "She's been taken up to the OR. That's all I can tell you." Greg felt sick as he nods. "Is it possible for me to get her dog tags? "He asks. "I'll see what I can do." The nurse tells him then leaves.

Greg walks out to the waiting room, but it's noisy, he steps outside to make a call. "Hey, she's been sent up to surgery and that's all they would tell me. Could someone come and get her clothes? "He says when Sara answers her phone. "I'm going to stay here. Hopefully they'll tell me something. Bye" he says then ends the call.

Catherine walks into the ER a few minutes later to find Greg leaning against the wall. She wasn't too happy that he took off from work, but couldn't reprimand him for wanting to be where his girlfriend was. Greg looks up as she walks up. "Any news?" she asks him. Greg shook his head. She gives him a sad smile and puts a hand on his arm.

The nurse that Greg talked to earlier came walking to him carrying a large plastic bag. "Here are her clothes." She says and Catherine takes the bag as the nurse starts to hand it to Greg. The nurse hands Catherine a small plastic bag. "This was taken from her shoulder as well" the nurse says. Inside was a bullet. Catherine and Greg look at each other in shock. "Um, thank you." Catherine says then quickly pulls her phone out of her pants pocket as she walks away. The nurse hands him Leigh's dog tags. "She's out of surgery. I can let you see her for a minute okay?" she says quietly. Greg nods.

When Greg walks into Leigh's room, he winces at the sight of her. She had been beaten. Memories hit him of his own beating three years ago.

Several hours later, Greg is sitting next to Leigh's bed.

He looks up to see an older couple walk in. "You must be the Greg she told us about." The woman said (who Leigh was a younger version of.)

"Hell of a way to meet the parents huh?" he father says with light humor. Greg nods, shocked to be meeting her parents.

"I hope she got a few good swings in!" her father says angrily.

Just then, a doctor walks in and glares at Greg. "That's my future son-in- law there young man!" he father says tightly. The doctor is so stunned at the tone that it takes him a few moments to speak.

Leigh had severe head trauma from the beating, which caused her to go into a coma. The doctors were closely monitoring her because of the swelling in her brain.

Greg went numb hearing this and looked over at Leigh.