Chapter Two – Hanging in the Balance

A gunshot.

Greg didn't want to believe it, but that was definitely a gunshot. He hoped it was a car backfiring or a loud door slamming shut, but who was he kidding. He knew exactly what that sound was and it struck fear in his heart.

He couldn't lose him, not now.

Greg hurried round the corner with his heart in his throat. He felt the blood draining from his arms, but he had to keep his gun arm trained in front on the suspect fleeing the scene. He should have called out to stop her, tried to shoot her or something, but he was more concerned with the man lying flat on his back in the middle of the alley.

He was still. Too still.

What if he was already too late?

"Nicky," He dropped to his knees beside him, waiting until Crystal completely disappeared from his sights, before he searched Nick for a bullet wound. "Nicky, c'mon… please, please," His chest and stomach were clear, but there was blood seeping into his white shirt from somewhere. He tore it open from the top, popping a few buttons, until he could see where the blood was spilling from.

His shoulder.

"No, no, no…" Greg crawled over him, plugging the hole with his hand. "Oh, you freaking idiot. It's just a stupid truck. Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"Greg…"

"No goodbyes," Greg grabbed his phone from his pocket, feeling as though he could barely speak, but he needed to get Nick some help. "Control… yeah, this is CSI Sanders. I have an Officer down in alley," He straightened up to see where they were. "An alley south of Malpassat road. Requesting backup and paramedics. Officer down with a gunshot wound. I repeat Officer down. Suspect is a white female. She's armed… on foot. I repeat, send paramedics to my location. Officer down." He waited for control to confirm the paramedics, before he ditched the phone at his side. "Nicky, don't you dare pass out on me." He shook him to keep him awake. "Stay with me."

"Ow," The older man croaked, clutching his chest. "It's… it's not… a stupid truck."

"Yes it is." Greg fumed, clutching the man tighter. "It's just a thing. An object. It's not worth your life. Your life is worth so much more than a hunk of metal."

"I'll… I'll tell her you said that." Nick bit his bottom lip, managing to tilt his head down to see where he was shot. He groaned as he writhed in pain, wishing he had never left that bar. "I could really use a drink right about now."

"The drink is what got you into this mess."

"Since when did the team start victim blamin'?" He cracked a smile at Greg. "Did you… did you say… south… Malpassat?"

"Yeah… why does that matter?" Greg held his open wound a little tighter, feeling the blood running through his fingers. He quickly shrugged off his jacket, holding it tight to the man's shoulder. "Nick c'mon, stay with me."

"Warrick," The Texan breathed out a deep breath. "He… he died… a block from here."

"Don't you dare die on me. I will never forgive you if you do that to me." Greg clutched him tighter, trying to keep him with him. "You have to fight for me, okay? I won't let you die." His eyes fogged up with tears threatening to spill, but he could see a slight smile spreading across the older man's lips. "Why are you smiling?"

"I knew… I knew you loved me, G."

"Yeah," Greg smiled back, adoring the look in his eyes. "I never said that I didn't. In fact, I think I loved you from the first moment I saw you." He affectionately brushed his thumb across the man's cheek, looking into his beautiful big brown eyes. "First day I saw you… I saw you walking through the lab with Warrick. You smiled at me, without knowing who I really was. Your smile… the look in your eyes when you saw me… that was the moment I fell in love with you. And every look you've given me since has made me feel closer to you."

Nick breathed out a deep breath, anxiously licking his top lip. "If I had the nerve… I would have… I would… kissed you right there."

Greg lost it.

The tears he had been struggling to hold onto immediately fell free, dripping from his chin onto the man lying beneath him. "Oh, Nicky," He gently brushed his thumb across the stubble on the older man's chin. "You didn't have to do all this just to get me back." He leant a little closer, letting his eyes linger across his lips. "Why do you always have to do everything the hard way?"

Before he could speak, Greg bridged the gap between them, sealing his lips over Nick's for the first time.

When he kissed him, he felt as though the whole universe had come to a halt. He took his breath away. He made him feel as though they were the only two people alive. He didn't even stop to see the flickering lights coming their way. He wasn't even aware of their presence, until a paramedic literally dragged him away from him.

"No." Greg gasped for breath.

"Single gunshot wound to the shoulder." The other paramedic reported, examining Nick between them. "Looks like a through and through. I've got a pulse. Get me some packs. He's losing a lot of blood."

"If you want us to help your friend, you're going to have to stand back, sir." The smaller paramedic pushed Greg aside, opening the bag he had with him.

"Get a line in and call the hospital. He's gonna need blood."

Greg clambered to his feet from all fours, feeling his heart racing in his throat watching the two of them working on Nick. His blood was still dripping from his fingers, but there was nothing he could do to help him.

He was utterly useless once again.

He could barely speak when the first patrol car arrived on scene. He managed a few vowel sounds and pointing in the direction he last saw the suspect, but he couldn't give them what they really needed.

He didn't even register the fact that Grissom had arrived, until the man was insisting he go with Nick.

"No, I have… I have to stay here."

"Greg, you're no use to us here." His supervisor dragged him away from the blood pool in the middle of the alley.

"I'm a witness."

"Greg, we have the scene. We've got security cameras. We've even got the slug from Nick's shoulder. There's nothing more you can do. Go with Nick. Keep us updated." Grissom practically loaded him into the ambulance himself. "Greg," He looked at his CSI lying on the gurney, grateful that it wasn't a slab. "We're not losing him. Don't let him out of your sight."

"I won't." Greg promised him, taking a seat beside Nick. He watched the paramedic listening to the older man's heart through a stethoscope, before he gave the driver the all clear to set off.

"Gil, we've tracked down the shooter." Brass called out to him, ushering him over to the squad car. "She ran home to her pimp. He's laying down some heavy gunfire on my men. But we've got him surrounded at a fleabag motel two blocks from here. Is Nicky…?" He heard the sirens echoing down the alley as the ambulance finally took off for the hospital.

"I've sent Greg to the hospital with him. Take me to the motel, Jim." Grissom insisted, climbing into the passenger seat of his car.

"Gil, I don't think that's a very good idea."

"They took a shot at one of my guy's." Grissom sounded angry. "I'm not letting them get away with it. Take me to the motel."

Going against his better judgement, Brass decided to drop behind the wheel of the car and do as the man insisted. He knew it was the King of bad ideas, but he wasn't about to get into an argument with Gil over safety issues when one of his guy's had just been shot.

"Alright then, but you're staying in the car."

He couldn't believe he had almost lost him, again.

Greg paced back and forth in the waiting room of the hospital, avoiding the brightly lit Christmas tree in the corner as he tried to think. He had always been a huge fan of Christmas before. He used to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night as a child, just to see if Santa had been yet. He'd be the first one up in the morning, hurrying his parents along so he could start opening presents. He loved the smell of the turkey cooking throughout the day. The traditional games they got to play and the visit to his grandparents houses.

He hadn't celebrated one quite like it since he left home.

He missed those Christmases.

"Damn it," Greg kicked at a chair, spinning to look at the clock behind him. He didn't know how long he had been waiting now, but every tick of the clock felt like torture.

His mind kept going over the events of the night, jumping to the worst possible outcome every time. He could have done so much more to prevent any of this from happening. Maybe if he had returned his calls or let him know he was coming back, he wouldn't have gone out on his own and got mugged in the first place. Maybe if he drove him home when he asked, they never would have seen Crystal and he'd be safe and sound at home by now. Maybe if he had been braver, he could have chased down Crystal himself and stopped her from ever pulling the trigger on Nick.

Greg turned for the Christmas tree in the corner, feeling his eyes burning with tears.

Nothing had ever terrified him more than the thought of losing, Nick.

If he could have just one thing this Christmas, it would be Nick. He didn't look so bad on the way into the hospital, but anything could have happened since the last time he saw him. He couldn't relax until he laid eyes on him again, but he was starting to worry that would never happen.

He tried to tell himself that he was the most stubborn, strong willed man he had ever known. If anyone could survive something like this, it was Nick.

But how could he know for sure if he wasn't at his side.

Charging for the door at the other end of the hall, Greg hurried over to the front desk, demanding an update from the nurse wearing antlers on her head. He wouldn't take no for an answer either, trying every trick in the book, until she finally gave away the room he had been taken to.

"Sir, you can't go back there." The woman shouted after him, but he was already through the next set of doors.

Greg followed the sparkly green tinsel round the next corner, stopping as he found the right room. He pushed aside the angel wings on the door, smiling at the sight of the older man. "There you are, you beauty." He had the room all to himself, lying flat on his back covered in various tubes and wires. Greg could see the blood covered bandages over his bare shoulder, the purplish bruises to his exposed ribs, the cast around his arm and the shallow breaths as his chest arched up and down.

He really was alive.

Pushing open the door, Greg cautiously made his way inside, listening closely to every beep of Nick's heart on the monitor. He thought he would be used to the feeling of being in a hospital by now, but it never got easier. Every trip was filled with doubt and fear, whether it was one of their own or a survivor from their case.

It was even worse when it was someone he truly cared about.

"I don't know if you can hear me," Greg approached the side of his bed, reaching his hand out for Nick's. He gently stroked his thumb across the bruises on his knuckles, examining every detail of his peaceful face. "But I'm here for you, Nicky."

Greg weaved his fingers through Nick's, wishing he would squeeze his hand back, just so he had proof that he was really alive.

"I know I haven't exactly been there for you in the past. It's my fatal flaw when it comes to relationships. I left you when you needed me most… I always do… but it doesn't mean that I don't… because… I do… I do love you. I want you to know that. No matter what, I always have and I always will." He finally said it out loud, wishing he could wake up now to finally hear him out. "I'm not going anywhere, so don't you dare even think about leaving me."

Nick remained silent.

He didn't need a response though; just knowing that he was safe was enough to put his mind at ease.

"Sir, you can't be in here. You have to leave." The antler wearing nurse tracked him down, escorting two security guards into the room with her. "This area is for patients in recovery only. Visitors aren't allowed back here." She told him sternly, but he refused to step away from the bed.

"Sir, if you don't leave now, we're going to have to escort you from the building." A security guard with tinsel wrapped around his neck stepped forward, getting the younger man's attention. "There's a visitors waiting room at the end of the hall. You can wait there while your friend is in recovery."

"Sir, please." The nurse stepped closer. "I don't want to have to kick you out."

"Sir!"

"Okay," Greg raised his hands, taking a step away from the man he adored. "I'll go. I just wanted to be with him when he woke up."

"Please sir, you have to leave." The nurse directed him towards the door.

"Okay." He quickly leant down to the older man's level, pressing a kiss to his forehead, before he reluctantly left the room. "He doesn't like being on his own. I want to be with him when he wakes up."

"I'll make sure we keep you updated." The nurse promised him, pointing him down the hall. She stayed close to him on the walk back, almost as though she didn't trust him to find his own way back. "There's a drinks machine at the other end of the hall. Hot drinks are just round the corner. The coffees are a bit dodgy. I wouldn't recommend them, but the teas always come out alright."

"I'm fine." Greg pushed the door open, sighing softly at the sight of the Christmas tree again. He used to love this time of year, but he was starting to get sick of the sight of it all.

It was just there all the time, being rubbed in his face on the worst day of his life.

"I'll… leave you to it then." The nurse held onto the door, watching the broken man staring at the Christmas tree in the corner. "If you stay in the waiting room, a doctor will come find you as soon as we know anything. This friend of yours, he must mean a lot to you. If you're spending Christmas morning in the hospital with him… rather than with family, I mean."

"He means everything to me." Greg plopped himself down on an empty seat, watching the security guards backing off now that he was no longer a threat. They had no right to keep him from him, but he wasn't about to charge the door and hope for the best.

He needed Nick.

Thank you for reading!

Happy Holidays.

~ Holly