Chapter Four

"Greg, Greg, Greg." Brass gently tapped his cheek, trying to wake him up. "C'mon, you alright?" Other than the blood running down the side of his head, he didn't look too bad, so the Captain attempted to pull him to his feet. Helped him to his feet more like, as the younger man was so determined to get up. "Easy, easy..." He spoke softly, supporting his unstable weight against his side. "You took a nasty blow there. Shouldn't you lay down until an ambulance gets here or something?"

"The suspects?" He held the side of his chest, feeling the bruises already beginning to form.

"We've got people covering the access road, we'll pin him down. You okay?" He continued to give him a concerned look, wondering what even happened to knock him out like that. "You should sit this one out. At least get yourself seen at the hospital."

"No, I'm good." Greg brushed his fingertips across his forehead, feeling blood dribbling from his hairline. "I'm gonna start wearing a helmet to work." He grunted, grabbing his gun from the dead leaves. At least the suspects didn't think to take his gun with them. He would have really been in trouble then.

"He's gone." As they reached the road, Brass leant against his knees, panting heavily. "Secure the area. Call in for more backup." He ordered his team, grabbing his phone from his belt to call it in. "Sanders, you better get that looked at."

"Yeah, I know the drill." Greg held his head, perching himself on the hood of one of the police cars. He reached into his pocket to find his cell, but it wasn't there. He searched his other pockets, hoping he had just left it at the scene. But then he realised that his CSI ID was no longer attached to his vest and his wallet was gone from his jeans. "Damn it." He pushed himself to his feet, hurrying over to Brass. "Uh... the suspects got my ID . . . and my wallet . . . possibly my phone."

"While you were out?" Brass guessed, watching as Greg double checked. "We better find him then."

"My phone is low jacked if that helps. I can get Archie from the lab to locate it."

"Here." The Captain handed him his phone. "Make the call then get yourself to the emergency room. That head looks bad. Get one of the deputies to drive you."

Greg gave him a nod, quickly making the call to Archie to fill him in on the case. He told him to contact Captain Brass when he got a location on his cell, before he gave the man his phone back. He caught a ride from a deputy to the hospital, spending the rest of his afternoon waiting to be seen by a doctor.

"Headache?" The doctor looked into each of his eyes with a little pen light, getting a slight nod from his patient. "I'll get a nurse to stitch that up for you, then I'll organise a head CT." With his gloved hands, he gently felt the back of his patient's head, checking on the swelling of the first blow. "Any pain there?"

"Nope, just the front." Greg titled his head to the side, noticing a nicotine patch stuck to the back of his doctor's neck. The man looked as though he was about the same age as him, he even had a wedding ring on his finger. He could see the impression of the band beneath the white latex glove on his hand. "Are you married?" He queried.

"Divorced." He answered, snapping the gloves off his hands. "I can getcha some pain killers for the ribs in a moment." He noticed the man holding his side again. "Can I take a look?"

"No." Greg objected, pulling himself away from the man. "Just get me some pain killers, so I can get out of here."

"That head is going to need seeing to before you go anywhere. There could be some damage that we can't see yet. I'll go and book the head CT now. Would you like us to call anyone for you? It says here your husband is your next of kin."

"No." Greg shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to feel like a damsel in distress in front of his husband. "We're separated. And I don't need anybody."

"Okay, I'll go and find you a nurse." He smiled at him, before he made his way out of the cubicle. He pulled the curtain closed once he was gone, leaving Greg alone again.

Greg rested his head back against the pillow, waiting for what seemed like hours for someone to come back. He started to count the ceiling tiles above him, noticing thick clumps of dust in the vent and an unusual looking scuff mark directly above him. He sat up a moment later, inspecting the sheets that he had been sitting on. He had never been conscious about small details or germs before he started out in the field, but now he was constantly aware of every little detail around him.

When the curtain to his cubicle finally slid open, Greg sat up straight, growing in pain from the tenderness of his ribs. "Finally," He sighed in relief, until he noticed Nick stood in his cubicle, rather than a nurse. "I told them I didn't want you here. What are you doing here?"

"Brass, he called me from the lab." Nick took a step closer to the bed, fearing the worst at the sight of the blood running down the side of his lover's head.

"Why?" Greg gave him a confused look, Brass had never cared that they were married before.

"I'm still down as your next of kin. We haven't exactly told any of them that we're not together anymore. So he called me. When he did, I immediately thought..."

"You can't be here."

"Why?"

"You're supposed to pick, Jackson up from day care and, Colt from school. What are they gonna do..."

"Would you relax for a minute. They're with my sister already. I picked em up hours ago. Have you been here by yourself all this time?" He ignored the younger man's pre-Modonna outburst, taking another step closer. "As soon as I got the call... I just had to be here for you." Blocking Greg's exit from escaping the room, Nick asked, "What are they doin'? Your heads still bleedin'. How long have you been here? Have they even seen you yet?"

"Yes, Nick. You don't need to be here. Don't fuss. I hate it when you fuss." He dropped back to the bed, holding his ribs in agony. "If you really wonna be helpful, go and find my doctor to sign me out of here. I want to go home."

He glanced at the clock over Nick's head, realising he had been waiting in the hospital for nearly four hours now. Half of that was spent out in the waiting room, while the rest of it was waiting for a scan that he didn't even need.

"You know I'm not gonna do that. This is where you need to be." His husband knew how much he hated hospitals, so he didn't give in to his demands. "Is this still bleedin'?" He lightly touched his fingertips to the side of Greg's head, causing the younger man to flinch away from him. "It looks like it's still bleedin'. When's the last time they saw you?"

"Just go away, Nick." He gave him a push away from the bed.

"Fine." Nick backed out the door, deciding to find Greg's doctor for him, in hopes of speeding things along a little. "Excuse me," He stopped at the nurses' station, giving the young brunette behind the desk a smile to get her attention. "I need to speak to Greg Sanders' doctor."

"Eh," She searched her desk for the paperwork, nodding as she found the patient file. "Doctor Doyle. He's in surgery with another patient at the moment. We're a little short staffed today, so he's covering the emergency ward and surgeries."

"Another doctor then?" Nick urged. "His heads still bleedin' and he wants to go home. Can you get somebody in to see him?"

"Sure." She nodded slightly, waiting until he walked away, before she picked up the phone.

Instead of returning to Greg's cubicle, Nick searched around the hospital for himself, finding a senior nurse on her coffee break. She was more than happy to take a look at Greg, only he wasn't in the cubicle when they got back.

"Wait here one second, I know where he'd go." Nick hurried through the waiting room towards the exit, grabbing the younger man's arm as he reached the parking lot. "What are you crazy now? You can't just discharge yourself like that. Your heads still bleedin', you friggin' idiot."

"Like you care. Let go." Greg pulled his arm away from him. "What are you even doing here?"

"Would you just get back in there? We don't have time for another battle of egos right now. You could have some serious internal damage or somethin'." He grabbed for his arm again, leading him back to his cubicle, where the nurse was waiting. "Where'd you think you were gonna go anyway? You don't have your wallet or your car here."

"If I wanted lecturing I would have called my mother." Greg tilted his head to the side, allowing the nurse to clean his head up a bit. "Did you even tell the boys where you were going?"

"Can I just do somethin' for you without you moanin' about it?" His husband took a seat on the end of the bed, giving the nurse a smile as she stuck a bandage over his head. "Thank you." He thanked her again, turning his attention to Greg on the bed once she was gone. "Why were you chasin' down a suspect in the first place? You have no business..."

"Shut up, Nick." The younger man cut him off, tilting his head back against the pillow behind him, so he didn't have to look him in the eye. "Like you've never gone all vigilante on a case."

"They could have killed you. You're a CSI, you have no trainin'..."

"Yes, I know. Do you have to keep going on about it?" He glared at him. "I'm fine, just leave me alone. I don't want you here."

"Too bad." He stayed put, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm stayin' whether you like it or not."

"Then I'll go." Greg swung his legs off the bed again.

"No you won't." His husband pushed himself to his feet, holding Greg in place on the bed. "Your head has already taken a serious blow, this time it could have done some serious damage. You could have some internal bleedin' or somethin', then where will you be? You need to be here."

Greg gave out a reluctant sigh, turning his attention towards the curtain as it was pulled open. He shrugged Nick's hands off his shoulders, letting the doctor examine his head for a second time.

"Any nausea, dizziness or anything like that?" Doctor Doyle asked, lightly feeling his patient's head with his fingertips. He grabbed Greg's file from the nurse behind him, taking a look at the younger man's obs. "Okay, we'll take you up for your head CT now. Your blood work is fine, pressure and temperature... we just need the scan to make sure. Nurse, could you..." He motioned towards the bed.

"What about his ribs?" Nick stopped the doctor from disappearing again. "Can you check them too?"

The doctor looked at Greg's husband a moment, before he turned back to his patient who had refused any kind of examination earlier. Instead of refusing to be seen this time, Greg raised his t-shirt, letting the man see his bruised and battered ribs.

"Well, I don't think they're broken." Doctor Doyle reported, removing his latex gloves. "We can do an x-ray to be sure, but I think they're just bruised. They'll probably cause you some discomfort for a while, but we can get you some pain killers for that. Let's get your head scan sorted out first."

"Okay," The nurse stepped forwards, securing a patient ID band around Greg's wrist. "We'll take you up for your head CT now. Mr Stokes, there's a relatives room down the hall." The nurse directed him to it, while she took Greg off to the elevator.

Nick grabbed himself a coffee while he waited, hoping that everything with the scan was going to be okay. He found his way to the relatives room shortly after that, finding a young mother holding her baby boy tightly in her arms. He took a seat opposite them, realising that if their own baby had survived, they would have been born right about now.

They could have been here to have a baby, rather than stitches to Greg's head.

He started to wonder if they would have had another boy or their first little girl. He was hoping for a girl when he first found out that Greg was pregnant, but now, he wasn't so sure if he even wanted anymore children. He wouldn't give up the two he had for anything in the world, but he couldn't bare going through anything like that again. He didn't even want to put Greg through anything like that again.

He already had enough on his plate at the moment.

"Mr Stokes, hi." A nurse found him in the relatives waiting room, after Greg returned from his CT scan. "Your partner is back from his scan and has been moved up to the ward now. You can go and see him if you want. The doctor will be with you shortly."

"He's okay?" He stopped the woman from walking away. "There wasn't any..."

"I'm sorry, I don't know how the scan went. The doctor will answer any of your questions as soon as he's reviewed Greg's scans. Follow me, I'll take you up to the ward." She waited for him to grab his coffee and jacket, before she led the way. "It's not too busy up on the ward right now, so he should be able to get some sleep after the doctor's reviewed his scans. Have you two been together long?" She queried, catching a slight nod from him. "Don't worry too much about him. It always looks worse than it is with a head injury. I've stitched way worse wounds than his."

"I just don't like him to be in here at all."

Nick followed her to the ward, finding Greg in a ward of his own in the far bed by the window. He wasn't in his work clothes anymore, making him look uncomfortable as he was in one of the familiar itchy hospital gowns that took away everyone's dignity.

As soon as he saw him, Greg turned his head away, closing his eyes as he heard Nick's footsteps approaching. "I know you don't want me here." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, making sure that Greg was okay for himself. "I just wanted to see you. Make sure you were okay. I still care about you."

"Can you just go?" The younger man's voice croaked, sounding as though he was about to cry.

"Greg please, we need to talk." He took a step closer, begging him for another chance. "I miss you. I feel like I'm lost without you. I hate this bitterness between us. I just want it to stop. I want you back, baby. I'll do anythin', just please, let me in."

"Please . . . don't . . . just go."

"Greg, what are you so scared of? I'm not gonna hurt you again. I wouldn't do that, not after everythin'..."

"Go!" He shouted at him, keeping his head turned so he wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

"You know, your Mom gave me crap about how I'm not givin' us a chance, but it's all you, Greg. It's always you. We always have to do everythin' that you want to do. Everythin' is always about you. I didn't act how you wanted me to act after we lost our babies, so you threw me out. And you've only got yourself to blame for all of this." The older man snapped at him, turning for the door behind him again. "She's right about one thing though, you are too selfish to ever be part of a family."

"Just go!" Greg kept his head turned away from him, feeling his tears bubbling to the surface. He turned his head to the side after a few minutes, realising that Nick really had gone, immediately making him regret it again. "God, what's wrong with me?" He shouted at himself, wiping the tears from his eyes as his nurse returned.

He heard her footsteps across the squeaky ward floor, stopping at his bedside. She clattered some things about on the tray table, before she made her way round the other side of the bed, to where Greg could see her.

"Okay?" The nurse spoke softly, pretending she didn't hear anything as she handed him a little plastic cup with some pain killers in it. "Painkillers." She smiled at him, handing him the glass of water from her other hand. "Your doctor said that your scans didn't show any damage. He's pretty rushed off his feet today, but he will come by and see you eventually. We're a little short staffed with this flu thing going around."

"Has Nick gone?" He asked her, handing her back the cups as he adjusted himself on the bed.

"Your husband?" She guessed, giving him a slight nod. "I can get him back or call someone else for you."

Greg shook his head, turning to look out the window beside him again. "No more visitors."

"Are you sure?" The nurse reached for his wrist, checking his patient ID wrist band with the file she was holding in her hands. "I know it's none of my business, but I think he loves you a lot."

"Not enough though." Greg looked at the chart she had in her hands, reading through his own notes upside-down. "More blood work? What are you looking for? Is something wrong?"

She shook her head, concealing his notes from him. "I'll go and find your doctor for you. He should have your x-rays back now." She smiled at him, making a quick getaway with his notes in hand.

Reluctantly, Greg decided to remain in bed, beginning to feel a little sleepy. He couldn't stop thinking about what Nick had said, making him feel as though he should have been the one to leave, while Nick took care of their boys.

If his mother thought he was too selfish too, then it must be true.

Dropping to his sister's sofa, Nick tightly closed his eyes, feeling his heart sinking in his chest as what he just said to his husband started to sink in. He let out a deep breath he didn't even realise he was holding in, releasing his tears from their prison at the same time.

His sister quickly set down the coffee she had made him, before she wrapped her arms around her baby brother's shoulders. "You said he wasn't that bad." She grabbed him a tissue, letting him dry his eyes before the children came in. "What did the doctors really say? Was there a problem with his scans?" She assumed the worse, since her brother was in tears.

Nick shook his head slightly, resting his head in his hands as he tried to think everything over. "He really doesn't love me anymore."

"Who?" Gwen gave him a quizzical look, realising who he meant, even though he stayed quiet. She gently placed her hands over his, wondering what brought him to that conclusion. "You know, Michael and I split when Lucas was two. I thought it was over for sure, but here we are thirty odd years later and we're still together."

"You were seventeen." Her brother pointed out to her, combing his fingers through his hair. He lowered his hands to his knees, feeling them shaking as his lower lip started to quiver again. "I feel numb inside without him. I thought that all this would just blow over..." He glanced up at his sister, gritting his teeth together as he tried desperately not to cry again. "But it's over. It's all completely gone."

"Nicky," His sister's heart broke for him. She pulled him in for a hug again, closing her eyes as she hugged him tightly against her shoulder. She felt a cold shiver running down her spine at the thought of her brother being all alone again, without a family to love him like they all had. "God, you've set me off now." She wiped her hands across her cheeks, pressing a kiss to the side of her younger brother's forehead. "You know what I think you should do? I think you should go back there and demand another chance. You're worth another chance. And so is Greg. You can't give up on this."

Nick shook his head, slumping back against the sofa cushions. "I don't think I am. And I have tried."

"For all of five seconds, it takes a lot more than that to make a marriage work." Gwen rolled her eyes at him, folding her arms across her chest as her nephew made his way into the room. Colt hurried straight for his father, climbing into the man's arms for a hug of his own. "I bet your kids think you're worth it." His sister climbed to her feet, leaving them to it.

"Daddy, where's Papa?" Colt queried, resting his head against his father's shoulder as he hugged him tightly.

"He's still at the hospital, bud." Nick looked down into his son's eyes, feeling his heart breaking from the sadness in them. He pressed a kiss to the centre of his forehead, holding his little fingers in his hand as he thought about what he was going to do. "Did you brush your teeth yet?" He asked, gently combing his fingers through his son's tousled hair.

"No, I haven't finished my hot chocolate."

"You better go finish it up then. It's almost bed time. I'll be right there." His father lifted him to his feet, sending him off to the kitchen. Once he was gone, Nick made his way across the room to the travel cot, watching his baby boy softly sucking his pacifier in his mouth while he slept. He hadn't had his bath or dinner yet, but he was soundly sleeping as though he had. "Hey, sis." He called out to her. "Can you make sure that Colt goes to bed?"

"Where are you goin'?" She gave him a curious look, giving him a smile as he grabbed for his jacket. "Aren't visitin' hours over? Shouldn't you go back in the mornin' or somethin'?"

Nick gave her a shrug. "I don't know, but I can't just sit home and wait." He adjusted his jacket collar, giving his sister a slight smile. "You were right, Greg's worth it. And I can't just leave him there by himself. He hates hospitals. Probably more than he hates me right now. I just... I need to talk to him." He made his way through to the kitchen, pressing a kiss to the top of his son's head. "Auntie Gwen is gonna put you to bed tonight. But I'll see you in the mornin', okay?"

"But I'm almost finished." Colt showed him his hot chocolate mug.

"I know, but I have to go back to the hospital to be with Papa." Nick brushed his thumb across the corner of his son's mouth, removing the chocolaty stain from his lips. "He doesn't like bein' at the hospital, especially by himself."

"Can I come with you?"

"No, I need you to stay here and take care of your baby brother for me." His father gently combed his fingers through his hair, giving him a smile as he looked into his eyes. "You can't leave your baby brother here by himself. He doesn't like bein' alone either. He needs you to look out for him."

"O-kay." Colt reluctantly agreed, throwing his arms around his father's neck for another hug. "Can you tell Papa that I need my red sneakers for tomorrow?"

Nick smiled at him, wishing he saw the world as simple as his son did. "I'll tell him. G'night, kiddo." He pressed a kiss to the side of his head, before he made a move towards the door.

"Nick," His sister stopped him from running out so quickly, trying to get him to see things realistically for a second. "Your emotions are runnin' really high at the moment. Your stressed and hurt. Both of you. It's not gonna just fix itself in a heartbeat. It's gonna take some time. And a little patience." She added, blocking his exit to the door. "A lot of patience, somethin' that you've never really been that good at. You've always wanted things right now, you've never been very good at waitin'."

"I can be patient." Nick reached for the door around her. "But I've screwed up just about every relationship that I've ever had. Greg gave me a chance when I just walked out on him. If I've really lost him... I need to know now. And I can't leave him there. He's terrified of hospitals. He wasn't even bothered about me, he just wanted to get out of there."

Gwen stepped out of the way of the door, wanting to wish him luck, but she didn't want to jinx it for him.

Her brother drove straight to the hospital, feeling as though he was about to cry again. He hurried through the hospital towards the ward where Greg was staying, finding him right where he left him, only he was fast asleep this time.

"Excuse me," He spotted Greg's doctor making his way through the hall. "Is he allowed to sleep. If he has..."

"There's no sign of a concussion or any swelling on his scans." The doctor stopped him from panicking. "I'd like to keep him in for observation since he was knocked out, but there's nothing of any concern really. All his tests really showed was that he's a little anaemic. We gave him some pain killers for his ribs, so he shouldn't be in any pain anymore. You're welcome to sit with him."

"He's okay?"

"Yeah." The man nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "He got lucky. He's gonna feel a little headachy for a while, but he'll be okay."

Nick thanked the man, before he inhaled a deep breath. He cautiously made his way over to Greg, not really wanting to get his head bitten off again, but he needed to know for himself if he was going to be okay. "Greg?" He whispered, giving out a small sigh of relief as the younger man was fast asleep.

Without a second thought, he leant over the sleeping angel, pressing a delicate kiss to his forehead.

He pulled up a chair beside his bed, watching his partner's chest slowly moving up and down with each breath that he took. It hitched a few times from the pain in his ribs, but he managed to sleep straight through the clattering noises from the trolleys outside and the occasional door alarm as relatives, doctors and nurses were buzzed through to the ward.

Remaining by his bedside the whole night, Nick fell in love with him all over again, wishing that Greg could give him another chance. He didn't expect him to after what he had already done to him in the past, but he couldn't bear the thought of being away from him for so long again.

It was evident to him that they needed each other now more than ever. They were falling apart without each other to fall back on.

Thank you for your reviews, much appreciated. Sorry if I scared yah with that last little cliffe, but I wasn't going to hurt Greg too much. More on the way soon, thank you for reading.

~ Holly