April Fools Nightmare
Chapter Eight

Authors Note:

It has been a really long time since I updated this story, but real life has been kicking my butt lately. Work has been crazy leaving me usually too tired to write. Work has calmed down this year though, and I have started writing again. I can't guarantee it will stay this way though. Writer's block also had a major impact on updating this story as well as other stories. If all goes well this story should have just three or four chapters left until it's finished. I'm hoping that I can actually get it finished soon.

It seems that when work is too crazy I find it difficult to stay focused long enough to write much. When I write with someone else, however, they seem to keep me focused and I can actually write. Unfortunately, my friend that I used to write with has been MIA almost everytime we plan to write for the past five months or so. If anyone else would like to write stories with me just send me a PM.

"Man you need to sit down," Warrick told Nick as the shorter man paced back and forth through the waiting room of Dessert Palms Hospital. They had been waiting for over an hour already without word about Greg's condition. It was even with everything that he had seen being a CSI; he still had trouble believing that this was the second time in one day that Greg had been injured. It had not even been 12 hours since they had last been here.

"I can't do this, Warrick." Nick stopped his pacing momentarily to look out in the hallway and then at the taller man. "This is my fault. Greg's going to die without knowing how sorry I am."

"He's not going to die. Greg is strong; he's a fighter, Nick. He's not going to let that lunatic win and he's not going to blame you. Besides you said the paramedics were able to get his heart beating again," he assured him. He could tell Nick was barely holding himself together.

"But he wasn't breathing on his own," Nick turned to start pacing again. He walked to the window on the far side of the room and back to Warrick who sat on a chair near the doorway. He hated waiting in hospitals.

"The doctor's know what they're doing Nick, they'll help him breathe on his own or they'll hook him up to a ventilator until he can breathe on his own again." Warrick told him hoping he was right. He wished he felt as confident their friend would survive as he was trying to sound.

Nick was about to comment when the door to the waiting room opened and a doctor with brown graying hair entered. "Family of Greg Sanders," he spoke looking between Nick and Warrick.

"I'm Warrick Brown and this is Nick Stokes, we're CSI's, we work with Greg," Warrick told the doctor when the other man seemed to suddenly lose his ability to speak.

"I'm Doctor Bradford. I know you must be anxious o find out about your friends condition since this is his second visit in 24 hours, so I won't make you wait any longer. Right now Greg is in a medically induced coma. As a result of the strangulation Mr. Sanders had petechiae bleeding on his neck as well as extensive bruising, but our main concerns were his trachea which was crushed; that's why he is not breathing on his own and the paramedics had to intubate him. He is on a ventilator now. We will also have to monitor him to find out if there were any adverse affects from the oxygen deprivation, since we can't be certain exactly how long he was without oxygen. He was very lucky CPR was administered when it was. Another minute or two and we would not have been able to revive him."

"He… He's going to be ok," Nick asked. He could not get the image of Greg lying on the floor lifeless out of his mind. He had almost lost Greg twice in one day and was not sure he would ever be able to forget what had happened today.

"He is in a coma like I said, but I am confident it will not last more than a few hours to several days at most. I do expect him to make a full recovery though," the older man nodded. "He also suffered trauma to the right side of his jaw, we took x-rays, but his jaw was just badly bruised; it looks worse than it is. If you would like to see him you can, he has just been moved to a recovery room on the 5th floor. I will have a nurse come to take you to his room as soon as they have him settled in."

"Thank you, Dr. Bradford," Warrick said. He felt relieved as he looked at Nick who slowly slid into a seat near the windows looking defeated and lost. "Nick, you alright man. Didn't you hear him; Greg is going to be fine?"

"Warrick," Nick spoke softly, "He was nearly killed twice today because I didn't want to be reminded of my own stalker. I wouldn't even consider the possibility that Greg might have his own stalker. This is all my fault and he may never wake up; you heard the doctor, he's in a coma."

"Nick, you need to calm down. This is not your fault, Greg should have made you believe he was being stalked or he should have gone to Brass or Grissom when you thought he was playing a prank. He had other options to seek help, but he chose not to. His doctor expects him to make a full recovery; you have to hold onto that. He will be awake soon and he will tell you himself that it is not your fault," Warrick told the older man.

"The doctor said he's concerned about the oxygen deprivation he suffered while he was… while he wasn't breathing. Greg could be brain dead or have severe brain damage. He may never be the same again. He may never be able to work in the lab or out in the field, he'll never get to be a CSI," Nick said.

"Come on man, you can't think that way. This is Greg Sanders; he would never leave us like that. He's too stubborn; it's his second job to joke with us and make us laugh after a tough case. We really don't give him the credit he deserves, but the lab would not be the same without him around to make us laugh. He's going to be fine, back to his old crazy self in no time; you just have to have faith in him," Warrick told him.

"Greg," Nick spoke as he sat in an uncomfortable wooden chair with a pale blue plastic cushion beside Greg's hospital bed. Warrick had left to go back to the lab and let everyone else know how Greg was. "I'm sorry, if I would have just listened to you when you tried to tell me about the stalker all of this could have been prevented. You have to wake up Greg, so I can make it up to you. We can do anything you want. You just have to wake up for me," he pleaded taking the younger man's limp hand in his.

Greg now had a large bruise on the right side of his face in addition to the bruises from the car accident. The bruise did look bad, just like Dr. Bradford had warned them. What bothered Nick the most though, were the bruises that surrounded Greg's neck and the ventilator that protruded from his mouth. It was the only thing keeping the younger man alive, the only way he could breathe right now. He had come so close to losing Greg today, too close. When Greg was out of the hospital he didn't know if he would ever be able to let the younger man out of his sight again for fear of having to go through the pain of almost losing him again.

A sudden knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Sara standing in the doorway wearing her CSI vest and holding her kit. He knew as soon as he saw her, she was not there to visit Greg and make sure he was ok; she was there to process him. He and Warrick had already processed him though. There was no way Greg's stalker was going to get away with what he did to Greg because they did not follow protocol and process him before they visited with him.

"How's he doing," Sara asked as she slowly began to walk into the room.

"His doctor says he should be fine, he's in a coma now and can't breathe on his own as you can see," Nick said indicating the breathing tube with a wave of his hand. "His trachea was crushed, but they think he'll be fine. They are concerned there could be brain damage because we have no idea how long he was without oxygen, but despite all that, they think he'll be fine." Nick said with a bitter tone of voice.

"You don't sound like you believe the doctors," Sara said as she moved to stand on the opposite side of the bed from Nick. She looked over the mass of bruises and cuts covering the younger man's pale face and neck from the attack and car accident. She frowned; Greg had been through a lot the past couple of days.

"Why should I, he's in a coma. He can't breathe on his own, and he may have brain damage," Nick said. "He may never be the same again Sara, how can that possibly mean he will be fine?"

"It's only a possibility that there may be problems due to the oxygen deprivation. He may have just stopped breathing when you and Warrick got there, then he will be fine, because you saved him. The breathing tube is only temporary until his trachea heals enough for him to breathe on his own in a couple of days. And as for the coma, considering that he hasn't been getting very much sleep lately, it may do more good for him than harm. He needs the rest. You have to be strong and believe that he'll be fine. He needs you to be here for him when he wakes up, not to be a basket case full of doubt," Sara told him.

"Grissom send you here to process him," Nick asked trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, the doctor told me you have his clothes," Sara said.

"No, Warrick to them back to the lab when he went there," Nick shook his head.

"Alright, I still need to process him," Sara told him.

Nick shook his head and closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "He scratched the perp's hands and arms bad enough he bloodied his fingertips. I scraped his fingernails and swabbed his fingers for DNA already. Rick took pictures of Greg's injuries; he took everything back to the lab with him. You'll have to go back there to process them. I doubt you'll get any DNA off the swabs, since the nurses were forced to wash the blood off before we processed him. They had already disposed of the cloths they used when Warrick and I spoke with them. I'm afraid we didn't leave anything for you to process."

"Good, then I can spare a few minutes to visit Greg before I go back to the lab," Sara said.

Warrick walked into the Crime Lab feeling more tired than he had felt in a long time. Nick was having a hard time coping with everything that had happened to Greg, and if the younger man didn't wake up soon, he was worried Nick would be the one that was never the same again. As he walked down the hallway toward Grissom's office to let him know how Greg was Brass stepped out of another office.

"Warrick, how is Sanders doing?" The detective asked.

"The doctor says he's going to be fine, he's on a ventilator right now because his trachea was crushed. He has lots of bruising especially on his neck and jaw. The doctor's main concern is that we don't know how long he was without oxygen and if the oxygen deprivation will have any effect on him," Warrick explained.

"He's a strong kid, he'll be fine. Now I know you want to go and let Grissom and the others know what happened, but I need to get your statement. It's better to get this over with now."

"Yeah ok," Warrick sighed running a hand through his dark hair.

"Grissom is still at Sander's apartment with Catherine investigating the scene, let's use his office," Brass suggested. Warrick nodded and followed the older man into the strangely decorated office.

"…. He left me no choice," Warrick said finishing his statement.

"You didn't kill him," Brass told him. "I spoke to the hospital before you got here, they said the bullet missed his heart and hit his lung, but they expect him to make a full recovery."

"That's good," Warrick said closing his eyes momentarily as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Is there anything else you need?"

"You already gave me your badge and your gun at the scene. After you talk to IA you should get them back. I would suggest that until they are ready to talk to you, you go home and get some rest or go and visit Sanders. You should probably call Grissom and let him know how Greg is," Brass told him as he stood up from Grissom's desk.

"Yeah thanks. I just have to drop off some evidence for trace and DNA before I go. There's no way this guy gets away with this," Warrick said and stood up.

"I hear you. Oh when Sanders wakes up tell him we found Lisa, she was in Washington, she said she'll be here in a day or two," Brass said.

"I'll let him know," Warrick nodded and walked out of the room. He sighed hoping her return wouldn't cause more problems for Nick. Walking down the hall toward the trace lab he tried to prepare himself for the onslaught of questions concerning Greg he was sure he would be faced with as he entered the lab especially since it seemed several other lab techs congregated there at the moment, most likely talking about Greg.