Please enjoy chapter 4!
"Hey man" Nick said as he entered Greg's hospital room.
"How you feeling today?" He asked as he sat down.
Greg swallowed and moved his lips slightly, "Bit better".
Nick smiled, "Yeah? Well I have another gift for you" he said, pulling a smaller bag from inside another bag he had placed on the floor. "I think this one's from Judy on reception" he said as he read the label, "Yeah, let's see what it is" he said pulling it out, "Well this is nice of her; you got a new pair of pj's. Might be a little while until you can get them on but they'll be better than the crap the hospital gives you".
"I'll tell her you said thanks" Nick said as he folded them back up and placed them back in the bag.
"You want to watch some T.V?" Nick asked after a few moments silence.
Greg rolled his head ever so slightly to face his friend and nodded gently.
"Ok, maybe we could watch one of those DVDs that Archie sent you?" Nick asked, "You have about a hundred of them" he joked.
Everyone from the lab had sent him get well soon gifts. A lot of them however Greg couldn't use yet, probably wouldn't be able to use them for a while actually, but the thought was still there.
On the plus side though, Nick was grateful for all the chocolates that people had sent to his friend, as it meant he could eat more of them whilst he was there.
"Hey Greg, how are we doing this morning?" His doctor asked him as he came into his room.
Greg nodded slightly in response, and Nick didn't say anything, knowing that the doctor wanted Greg to speak.
Ever since he had woken up, Greg didn't say anything for weeks, and then when he could speak, he hardly said anything. So his doctors made sure that he spoke regularly.
"How is your new pain medication working out?" His doctor asked him.
He had been started on a new pain relief when the one he was on before wasn't working as it should. Whether it was to do with the other drugs in his system or the pain just being too much for Greg to handle, Nick didn't know. But they had changed it over yesterday after Greg could barely bear to move even the smallest bit, and actually began to tear up from the pain.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked as his friend screwed his eyes up in pain.
Greg let out a small sob and a few tears ran down his face, "Pain" was all he could muster out and Nick pressed the call button for a nurse.
"Alright man, they're coming" Nick said comfortingly as he placed his hand on the man's arm.
"Are you alright?" The nurse asked as she stepped into his room.
Nick gave her a shake of the head, "No, he's in a lot of pain".
She nodded and came over to his bed, picking up his notes, "I'll go and see what we can do. I won't be a minute".
Nick nodded to her and offered a small smile in thanks and then turned back to Greg. His skin, although still bruised, was stark white and he had a small amount of sweat gathering on his brow as his face screwed up in pain.
Nick couldn't find any words to say that would make him feel better, so waited until the nurse arrived back with his doctor, who had a new IV bag with his pain meds.
"Better" Greg replied in answer to his doctor's question.
"That's good" he replied, checking his stats, "Any more attacks since last night?"
Nick frowned slightly as he glanced to his friend.
"No" Greg answered in a croaky voice and he coughed slightly to clear his throat.
"Good. How is your chest?"
Greg shook his head slightly along his pillow, "Still tight".
His doctor nodded and came closer to him. "Alright, I'm just going to give you a look over. Would you like Nick to leave or stay?"
Greg's eyes flicked to Nick and he looked back to his doctor, not saying anything.
"Alright, Nick do you mind waiting outside? It won't take a minute".
Nick was a little taken back that Greg didn't want him to stay. He had been in the room before when Greg had a check-up, so he couldn't be sure as to why he didn't want him there now.
"So you've had no trouble breathing since yesterday?" The doctor asked as he moved Greg's bed into a more sitting position and reached behind to take off his hospital gown.
"Had little more trouble last night" Greg told him.
"Ok, how so?"
Greg took as deep of a breath in that he could manage as a stethoscope was pressed against his chest.
"Think it was an attack" Greg told him brokenly as he coughed.
His doctor held a cup of water with a straw in front of him and he took a few sips.
"Did you call for a nurse?"
Greg shook his head. "Greg, you must press the call button whenever you feel like one of these anxiety attacks is coming ok?"
"How did you handle it by yourself?"
Greg shrugged slightly. His doctor took away the stethoscope and looked at him, "Greg?"
He looked up to him and then looked away, "Think I passed out" he admitted.
His doctor sighed slightly and shook his head. "Greg, these attacks are serious. We need to control them before they get out of control. It's understandable that you're having some anxiety, panic. But it can be worked on. We can work on it".
Greg didn't say anything, just turned to look the other way as his doctor looked over his still healing injuries.
"I think we can start some physical therapy tomorrow if you feel like it?" He started after a moment. "It's been a while since you've been mobile so the sooner we can start the better".
Greg nodded in response and his doctor bought his gown back up and tied it around his neck.
"I'll send Nick back in" his doctor said as he jotted something down and then walked out. Not even half a minute later Nick was coming back in.
"Hey" he said as he took his seat again, "what happened yesterday?" he asked softly with concerned eyes.
Greg closed his eyes and sunk into his pillows, "Had a panic attack" he said quietly, embarrassed about his new problem. As if he didn't have enough.
Nick shook his head slightly, "Why didn't you tell me man? Were you on your own? You should have gotten them to call me".
He didn't get a reply. Nick sighed and sat back in his chair. "You know, I had a few little panic attacks after the whole plastic box thing" he admitted, "I know what they're like. I know what they're like when you have to suffer through them on your own" he told him. "I just want you to know that you're not alone".
Greg didn't respond, didn't know how to respond. But he heard what Nick said. He had heard every word and the meaning behind them.
"Anybody want to come with me to see Greg later? I'm hoping if I take some food he might be able to eat something" Morgan said as the team packed up their cases.
"Yeah I'll join you" Finn said.
"Me too", Sara added.
Russell nodded, "I'd like to come".
"Make that a full house" Nick said with a smile.
Morgan smiled back, "Alright. Well you guys go to the hospital, I'll grab us some food and we can eat there with Greg".
"Hey" Sara said as she opened the door to his hospital room.
Greg's eyes moved over to them and he offered a small attempt at a smile, although it was barely visible.
"Morgan's on her way with some food to join us, you up for a burrito or something?" Nick asked as they all settled around his bed.
Greg raised an eyebrow in response and the team didn't expect anything more.
It was only a quarter of an hour later when Morgan turned up, four bags of take out in her hands, "Hey guys, I've got food".
The team gathered, taking their food gratefully and Russell pulled the tray over Greg's bed closer to him.
"I got you some fries and a few other things. I didn't know what you might fancy so I got it all" Morgan said and smiled at him.
She placed the fries and other bits on the tray in front of him and Nick scooted his chair closer.
"You want me to pass you some fries?" He asked him.
Greg didn't respond so Nick picked up a few and brought them to his friend's mouth, however Greg turned his head away from him slightly.
The team shared a look and Nick looked to Greg, "You want something else?"
He didn't answer again so he put the fries down and dusted his hands off.
He began to eat his own food and asked a few more times if Greg wanted anything but the answer was always the same.
Soon they had all finished, apart from Greg whose food was still sat on the tray.
"Look" Finn said quietly as she nodded to Greg, making everyone look at him. Sometime between them chatting and eating, Greg had fallen asleep again and his mouth hung open slightly as he breathed slightly irregular.
They could only spend about an hour with Greg until he would fall asleep. He was constantly tired and you could tell that recovery was taking it out of him.
"Poor guy doesn't even want to eat anything" Nick said sadly as he sighed.
"He's on the mend. The doctor said it would be a while until he can do certain things. But he'll come around eventually" Russell told him reassuringly. But Russell just hoped he was right.
Greg was asleep and the hospital bed was propped up slightly. Russell had called in to see him and tentatively sat down next to him. He couldn't believe they had actually found him alive. He couldn't believe that he had actually woken up.
Russell believed that Greg would have given in to the pain and torment long ago. But he was wrong. When Brass called him about a tip off of a possible location as to where Greg was, he was running to his truck after Nick. It was typical that the Texan had overheard the conversation. Had they not found Greg, Russell knew that it would have been the last straw for his colleague.
They had gotten to the point now where Greg was able to talk and they knew he didn't have any serious brain damage. Well, not that serious anyway. He could talk and it seemed as though his head was all there too. Which was just a small thing from the whole incident to be thankful for.
As he sat, reading a book, sitting with Greg in case he woke up, Russell just happened to glance over as Greg began breathing a little erratic.
He placed his book down on the side table and focused on his young colleague. All of a sudden Greg's eyes were open and he scanned the room around him in panic.
"Hey, it's just me here, you're in the hospital" Russell old him, trying to calm him down
Greg looked at him with unfocused eyes and frowned.
"Hey, buddy it's me, you're ok" Russell said to him and grabbed his hand. He held it softly because of the cast and bandages still wrapped around it, but made sure Greg knew he was there.
Greg couldn't help the build-up of tears that he felt coming from behind his eyes. He could have sworn he was just back there. Back with the people who had hurt him so badly.
"It's alright, I've got you" Russell said, breaking through his thoughts. It was only then he realised he was crying. In front of his boss.
He tried to pull away and stop the tears but he was still so weak and he couldn't stop the tears from falling.
"Hey" Russell said to him, grabbing his hand a little tighter, "It's alright to be scared".
Greg closed his eyes, now his boss thought he was scared. It was bad enough that he was crying, but now his boss said that made it seem one hundred times worse. Sure it had been over three months since he had even seen his boss, but being so weak and looking so vulnerable was not the first thing he wanted to do.
He choked slightly as he tried to hold in a sob but it only made it worse. Russell moved to sit on the edge of the bed and cradled Greg into his side. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, Greg needed it. It was so hard to even talk to his friends, let alone show any emotion. He so badly wanted to call out to them, let them know what he wanted, what he needed, but he just couldn't.
Russell shushed him as he cried into his jacket and he was struggling to keep his own tears at bay. Seeing Greg break down like this was not unexpected, in fact he was surprised it was only happening now. But it broke his heart to try and imagine what sort of hell Greg went through.
"I've got you now; you're going to be fine. You hear me? You're going to be fine" Russell comforted, and soon enough Greg had fallen back to sleep in his arms.
"Hey, you need to head to the address I just sent you now" Brass said sternly down the phone.
Russell took his phone from his ear and saw the message Brass had sent through, "Is it a new scene?"
"No" Brass told him and paused for a second, "Somebody just called the department, they said… they said Greg was there".
Russell was speechless… "Greg"?
Nick who was just a few feet away heard his friends name and immediately went over to Russell with hopeful eyes.
"The guy sent a photo too, it's a picture of Greg" Brass explained down the phone.
"Nick and I are on our way" Russell told him as he quickly followed Nick outside to the parking lot, where the Texan was already jumping in his truck.
"Uniforms are on their way, I'll meet you there" Brass said before hanging up his cell.
"Hey, how did your physical therapy go?" Finn asked as she and Morgan came to visit him.
"Ok" Greg said as he shuffled in his bed slightly.
"Yeah? What did you have to do?" Morgan asked him.
Greg just shrugged slightly, "Just tried to move my legs a little, and my arms".
"That's good" Finn said, "You have another session soon?"
Greg nodded and looked to the side table, "Can I have a drink?"
"Sure" Finn said as she brought a plastic cup filled with water and a straw in it up to Greg and she then held it in front of his lips for him. After a few sips Greg drew back and thanked her.
"Everyone keeps asking how you're doing at work" Morgan told him, "I think Henry mentioned that they might visit you tomorrow".
Greg raised his eyebrows slightly to acknowledge that he had heard her but didn't say anything.
Morgan looked to Finn, unsure of whether to try and make some sort of conversation but Finn shook her head slightly, "Why don't we all watch some T.V.?"
"Hey, do you fancy coming into the lab with me tomorrow?" Nick asked Greg as they were sat in his hospital room. They had been sat in silence for about twenty minutes, with Nick glancing to Greg every couple of minutes. His friend had been sat in the chair in his room for days, not being able to even walk around the halls to get a change of scenery.
"Am I allowed?" Greg asked him with a monotone voice, but Nick could see the hopeful look in the younger man's eyes.
Nick nodded, "I don't see why not, I'll check with your doctor but I'm sure we can work something out".
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