Is it wrong that I love writing these dangerous situations for our beloved Greg? :)
"I don't know."
"Really? Or are you again..."
"No, I mean it! I don't know, Nick!" Greg yelled at him. He was just about to get out of his hospital bed. "Why should I be lying?"
"I don't know, I'm sure you'd find a reason," Nick replied a little bitter. Weeks have passed and Nick still couldn't quite forgive Greg for lying, although he knew he, somehow, did the right thing.
Greg gave him a look. "Could you stop attacking me for a while and think about how I'm feeling right now?"
"I'm sorry. It's just, you scared me... I thought you were dead."
"Yeah well I'm not. But I'm pissed. I can't believe this is happening again..." He stood up, then felt a bit dizzy and sat down again. "Could you hand me my clothes, please?"
As Nick did, he asked, "Why? You're not planning on leaving just yet, do you?"
"Why not? I'm okay, I..."
"You just got here an hour ago. Unconscious and beaten! No way they're gonna let you leave."
Greg rolled his eyes. "It almost doesn't even hurt."
"Greg, come on. They need to find out why you don't remember. You could have some serious head trauma..."
The doctor walked in. "Everything looks fine. Aside from the black eye and the bloody nose we can't find any injuries."
Greg smiled relieved, but Nick wasn't all too content with this. "So why doesn't he remember what happened?"
"We're still waiting for the tox results, but it's very likely he was drugged."
"Who would want to drug you... again?!" Nick said outraged.
Greg didn't pay attention to him. "Can I go home now?" he asked his doctor.
He nodded. "Your vitals are looking good and aside from low blood pressure, I think you're good to go."
Greg was supposed to take it easy for the next few days, but he couldn't rest quite so quickly. Nick insisted he talked to Russell first to find out what happened as soon as possible.
"The last thing I remember is leaving the lab. I was on my way to Mrs. Douglas' but I guess I didn't make it there." He laughed a bit, trying to lighten up the mood.
Neither Nick nor Russell laughed, though. "And that's it? Nothing else?"
He shook his head.
"Sara processed his car. She didn't find a sign of an accident, it looks like he just pulled over. There was no sign of a struggle in or near the car, either," Nick explained.
"So how did he get the black eye and bloody nose?"
"Well maybe there wasn't a fight. Maybe someone asked me to pull over and then hit me." Greg scratched his neck.
"His wallet and cell phone are gone, so... looks like a robbery."
"Who's dumb enough to rob a CSI?" Russell said a bit disbelieving.
"It's a shady neighbourhood, these people there rob priests. They have no scruples. Everyone's fair game." Nick tried to make some sense of this.
"But this theory only works when he wasn't drugged. Robbers usually don't drug their victims." Russell looked a bit thoughtful as he watched Greg scratch his neck repeatedly. "What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "Nothing, it just itches like hell."
"Did the doctor say what it is?"
"No, I didn't tell him."
Nick took a closer look. "I think I know what this is..."
All three of them hurried down to pathology. David applied a blue liquid to confirm Russell's and Nick's suspicion. "Something's been injected into your neck..."
Henry texted Russell to let him know about the results of Greg's tox screen. "Roofies again," he said surprised.
Greg shook his head desperately. "What's going on? This isn't Novak's work, is it?!"
Russell patted Greg's shoulder. "I doubt that. I'm sure it's a coincidence. We'll find out what's going on." He tried to sound as sincere as possible, but this thought had crossed his mind, too. It could be someone working for Novak. It was just too weird to be a coincidence, he thought. Still, before they knew anything, he didn't think it would help to alert Greg.
"You know, he had some black stains on his fingertips when I found him," Nick looked thoughtful. "Maybe ink?" It didn't take them long until they suspected Mrs. Douglas' involvement. They had no idea why or how, but since he was on his way to her home, and given the recent events with her, they figured this was a possibility. To top off the confusion, Nick had just received a text message sent from Greg's phone. "Greg, is there any chance you sent me a text message with time delay?"
He shrugged. "I don't think so, why?"
"Because I just received one asking me to meet you in two hours near where you were found..."
Greg took a look at the phone. "I don't know that address... Or at least I don't think I do." He shook his head. "I really don't know, I'm sorry..."
"You know what, maybe you should go home and get some rest. I'll check this text message out. Russell and I will find out what happened with you, alright?"
Greg nodded tiredly. It was an exhausting day for him but he was sure he wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight.