They had let Catherine ride in the ambulance with Greg. He was unconscious but she held his hand anyway for her own comfort reasons.
She was still boggled on why he was so determined for her not to drop her gun and risk his own life by being so defiant. She thought that maybe because he had already suffered some and saw no other solution but for her to stay armed.
She stared at his handsome pale face. He had matured so much in the last 3 years since becoming a CSI and already suffered so much. She thought about how steady he had held the gun and how his aim was really right on. As far as she or anyone else knew he had never fired a gun before in his life, but he seemed very aware of what he was doing.
She had to admit she really did not know much about him personally. They had only found out he was an only child during his last incident. They knew where he grew up and what his education was, but that was about it. He had kept his personal life to himself.
Greg did not want to carry a gun, she knew. He always said there were too many people carrying them these days as it was. Catherine agreed to a point, but in their job she felt safer having one. She wondered if Greg would change his mind now about that after what happened.
They arrived at the hospital, where they took Greg away into surgery right away. A nurse took Catherine into an ER room to get stitches for her cuts. Only the one on her arm needed them. She just ended up with a bandage on her face.
They had just finished stitching her up when Brass and Grissom came in to see her.
"Hey, you up to telling us what exactly happened in that room," Brass asked her.
Catherine looked towards the door as if hoping the doctor would come through with news on Greg.
Grissom practically read her thoughts. "No word on Greg's condition yet. They will let us know when he is out."
Catherine gave Grissom a small smile. "Thanks." She looked at Brass then.
"Do you want me to start after you left?"
"Sounds like a good enough place for me."
She recapped how she left Greg alone in the room, with the door open while she questioned the motel personnel. She told them how she came back to the room and was suspicious of Greg not responding to her calls. Then she said how she came in and saw Greg being held at knifepoint. She remembered Greg looking scared and in pain.
"I could see that he was scared but also in pain. I noticed blood on his hands and at his feet. Then the suspect wanted me to drop my gun." She went on to explain what happened when Greg told her not to put the gun down.
"I don't understand why Greg was so willing to risk his own life for mine. I mean he basically gave Tyler every reason to kill him." Catherine shook her head, still not able to grasp why he would be so foolish.
"Who know what goes through that kid's head at times," Brass replied with a poor attempt to make her feel better.
"Well Greg has proven himself a few times now to be quite brave," Grissom said to her.
"Yeah the kid has a hero complex," Brass grinned.
Catherine released a small smile. "So it seems."
Grissom still could not get over the fact that Greg actually shot Tyler twice.
"Has Greg ever mentioned to you him being able to shoot a gun?" Grissom had to ask Catherine, because as far as he knew Greg never had.
"No, never. I am as shocked as you are."
A doctor came into the room. He was still in scrubs. "Are you Greg Sanders co-workers?"
"Yes," Grissom said, and then proceeded to introduce them.
"Well, Mr. Sanders is a very lucky man. The stab wounds did not hit any major organs. The biggest problem we had was his blood loss. He has had at least 2 pints replenished already…going on a third. He has some muscle damage to his back and shoulder areas and some nerve damage to his lower back, where the smaller stab wound occurred. He will need some time for recovery, but overall he should make a full recovery physically, after some therapy."
"When can we see him," Catherine asked eagerly.
The doctor looked at his watch. "Well give us another 45 minutes or so to get him settled into a room. He's going to be in ICU for at least a day or two due to the major blood loss he suffered and his weakened condition. So just go up to the nurses station up there and they will let you know what room he is in."
"Do you know anything about Tyler Renning," Brass asked the doctor.
"No, but I will get someone else to find out for you. Right now I need to get back. Take care."
Catherine breathed a sigh of relief knowing Greg would be okay. She did note how the doctor specifically said Greg would be fine physically, but no mention of mentally. She hoped he would remain as strong as he had during the ordeal itself.
Brass excused himself for a moment to make a phone call. Grissom read the still worried expression on Catherine's face.
"Greg is going to be fine. He's got a strong spirit."
She looked up at Grissom. "I know, but he was finally getting back to his goofy self after what happened to him last year. Now this happens."
"Well he has us to help him get through everything and if he needs counseling he will have access to that too." Grissom always had a calming affect on her. She felt better hearing the support offered.
Brass came back a couple minutes later. " I got word on our killer. He's going to live, unfortunately. We will be able to try to talk to him tomorrow they said. I have two uniforms on his door. I need to go back to the station. If you need me for anything you know how to reach me."
After Brass left, Grissom took Catherine to the cafeteria to grab something to eat, but all she did was pick at the salad she got. She couldn't stop thinking about Greg. She basically felt guilty about what happened to him. She should have never left him alone in that room.
They headed up to ICU and found out what room Greg had been placed in. The nurse told them that they would not be able to stay long. He was under heavy sedation and was not expected to wake up until the next morning.
Catherine did not care; she just wanted to see that he was safely resting in the hospital.
She went on ahead of Grissom into the room. Greg was lying on his left side in the bed, due to all the wounds on his back and right shoulder. He still looked very pale. She noticed he was still receiving blood through an IV along with a regular IV.
Seeing him in the hospital bed like that felt like déjà vu to her. It had been over 4 years since he had been in the lab explosion where he sustained some minor burns on his back. She had been responsible for that incident. She felt a tinge of guilt creep back into her mind. She wondered for a moment if that had been part of the reason he has been able to endure as much pain as he had to have been in after Ty first cut down his back. Greg had never talked about the scars that the burns had left on his back. They had been minor, but yet she knew he had to have had them.
Grissom came over, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"He's in good hands now. They'll make sure he is okay. He's just going to need time." Grissom just felt Catherine needed some kind of reassurance right then.
"Yeah I know." She looked at how peacefully he seemed to be now that he was in the drug induced sleep. She only hoped when he woke up he would be okay.
It was the eerie expression on his face when she tried to get the gun out of his hand that she still pictured in her head. She did not see Greg in his eyes at that moment. She only prayed that when he woke up again she did not see that empty look.
When Catherine finally made it home later that evening, she went into her Lindsay's bedroom. She had been worried about her mom, since her Grandmother Lily told her that she was involved in an incident at work.
"Mom, what happened to your face," Lindsay exclaimed when Catherine sat on the side of her bed.
"It's just a minor cut. I'm going to be fine. How was your day at school today?" Catherine did not want her daughter focusing on what happened to her.
"School was fine, but I am still not doing so well in Chemistry. I got a D on a test today."
Catherine frowned then remembered how Greg had offered to help Lindsay with her chemistry. The frown turned into a slight smile.
"Mom, what happened today? Grandma seemed rather upset but tried to hide it from me."
Catherine ran her hand over her daughter's hair. She seemed to be growing up so fast right before her eyes. She knew her daughter was old enough now to understand the things that could happen on her job. She just wanted to keep her sheltered from the horrors in the world, but some had already touched her. She sighed, resigning to tell her a little.
"You know about the serial killers case I've been working on with Greg, right?" Lindsay nodded her head. She knew mostly only of what the news said about it.
"Well today we were at another scene and I had to leave Greg alone in the room to collect evidence. He was taken hostage by the murderer who had staked the scene out. I came in and through a series of events was forced to give up my gun. But Greg managed to retrieve it and shot the suspect to distract him. Then Capt. Brass and officers came in and got him. Now both killers are in jail."
Lindsay knew there was more that her mom was not telling her. "What about Greg? I heard he was in the hospital."
Catherine felt a bit uneasy telling her about what happened to Greg. She decided to simplify things for Lindsay's sake.
"He was injured during the situation but he is going to be okay. He just needs a bit of recovery time."
Lindsay squinted her eyes suspiciously at her mom, but seeing as her mom was there with her safe, that was all that really mattered at the moment. She hugged her mom.
Catherine felt better having her daughter's loving arms around her. She smiled knowing she was still going to be around to see her grow up and she did have Greg to thank for that.