Chapter 17: Play with Fire Part 2

Through my dizzy and disoriented state, I could only focus on one thing as my thoughts began racing. Greg. Where is he? I need to find him. My eardrums were still ringing and the places where the glass had embedded itself in my skin stung as I tried to prop myself up on my hands and knees. A few feet away I could see Greg lying motionless on the ground, and my brain went into overdrive. I crawled forward, ignoring the glass pricking my palms as I moved closer to my unconscious boyfriend. I reached his side about the same time the EMT's did, shoving them off me as they tried to assist me. My hearing was slowly recovering from the initial blast as one of the paramedics knelt beside me, obstructing my view of Greg as they lifted him onto the gurney. "Ma'am," the medic's voice rang in my head. "Ma'am we need to get you outside so you can get checked out."

"I need to go with him," I stood up and moved next to the gurney. Grissom was there as well as they wheeled him towards the entrance and out to the ambulance. The sunlight hurt my eyes as we emerged and they moved him towards the ambulance. Grissom grabbed my arm as I tried to follow them onto the ambulance. "I'm going with him," my voice came out shaky.

"Mar, you need to get looked at. Your cheek may need stitches and we need to get that glass out of you," Grissom's voice soothed me as they lifted the gurney.

I felt the tears start to run down my face as they closed the back doors and put the ambulance in drive. "Grissom I wanna be with him," I cried harder as the sirens receded.

"I know," He soothed, running his hand up and down my back. "You can go see him as soon as we get you cleaned up."

"Doc," my voice came out shakier than before as I tried to calm myself. "I want Doc to do it."

"Okay," Grissom consented before he turned to the paramedic that was waiting to look at me. "She's insisting our medical examiner look at her. She's very distraught, I'll make sure she gets looked at." The medic nodded and moved away. "Hodges, Archie," Grissom called, beckoning them forward. "Take her to see Doc Robbins immediately, I need to talk to the director. Also, find Catherine and Warrick and tell them when they go see Greg to not leave unless Mar is with them."

Grissom's hand disappeared from my back as he moved towards Sara, who was sitting on the curb. "Mar, let's go see Doc," Hodges put a hand on my shoulder, guiding me back inside. I stood there, hearing what he said but not letting it register as the tears kept falling.

"Mar," Archie's face was suddenly within my line of vision. "Come on." He gently grabbed my hand so as not to irritate the glass fragments. With him leading and Hodges behind me, we made a silent line as we walked down to the morgue.

Archie pushed open the door and Hodges guided me through, Archie's hand never leaving mine and Hodges' never leaving my shoulder. "Come here Mar," Doc's voice pulled me out of my stupor as I numbly moved forward so he could assess the damage. "The cut on her cheek definitely needs stitches, as for the rest they don't look too deep. I'll extract the glass and bandage them. Why didn't a paramedic see her?"

"She wouldn't let them," Archie answered. "She hasn't said anything since…" He trailed off and a new batch of tears sprung into my eyes and began cascading down my face, stinging as they mixed with the cut on my right cheek.

"Okay, thank you," Doc waved them away and sat me down on the examination table before getting the supplies necessary to stitch me up. "Mar, I'm gonna stitch up the cut on your cheek first. It may hurt a bit, but it looks like you only need three or four stitches."

I nodded absentmindedly as he began to clean the cut with a cotton swab and wash away the blood. When he picked up the needle and thread I winced a little as he prepared to sew the cut closed. I shut my eyes and muttered a quiet, "Ow," as the needle went through my skin for the first time.

"I'm almost done," he said in a soothing tone. "This can't be as bad as getting some of those tattoos you have."

"I guess not," I mumbled.

"All done," Doc said and I opened my eyes. "Okay now let me see your palms." I held out my hands, which were littered with superficial cuts, some of which had glass in them. "I only see about six pieces in total, so I should be done in no time."

True to his word it only took him a minute to free my palms of glass and clean and bandage both my hands. The door to the morgue opened and Warrick came in just as Doc was helping me down off the table. Warrick took one look at me before scooping me up into a tight hug. It seemed like my eyes had an endless supply of tears, because they started falling again as I pulled away. "Let's go see Greg," Warrick wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I stepped out of the embrace momentarily to hug Doc, who returned the gesture. "Thank you," I whispered as I pulled away and tucked myself back under Warrick's arm.

"Anytime," Doc smiled at me. "Oh. And Mar?" I turned back around before I walked out the door. "Greg will pull through. He's a tough guy."

I shot him a grateful smile as Warrick led me upstairs and to the car, where Catherine was waiting. She pulled me into a tight hug which I gladly returned before pulling away. She planted a kiss on my cheek before opening the back door, gesturing me inside. I gave her a grateful smile as I climbed in, antsy to go see how Greg was.

We pulled into the parking lot and my stomach was in my throat as I threw open the door and practically ran inside with Catherine and Warrick hot on my heels. I stalked up to the reception desk and the woman seated behind the counter scanned me up and down with her eyes before scoffing and turning back to her computer. "Excuse me," I asked, my voice in no way polite.

"How can I help you?" She asked in a bored tone.

"We are here to see Greg Sanders. He's the criminalist who was injured in the lab explosion about half an hour ago." My voice came out rushed.

"You need to adjust your tone, missy," the woman snapped at me.

I slammed my hands down on the desk, not caring of I made them bleed or that I made the entire reception go quiet. "Listen here lady. I have had one hell of a day and that is my boyfriend in there. If you don't stop being a bitch, get the stick out of your ass and tell me where he is right now I swear to god…"

At this point Warrick came over and pulled me away from the counter as Catherine went to go find a doctor. He kept one hand planted firmly on my elbow and he whispered to me to calm down. If this had been a cartoon my face would have been fire engine red and steam would be pouring out of my ears; that's how pissed off I was right now. Luckily for everyone Catherine rounded the corner with the doctor who was very polite and understanding, and gave us his room number after briefing us on his condition. Greg's back was turned when the explosion went off so the majority of his upper back was damaged by the explosion. The burns would leave scars in some places but other than that he was going to make a full recovery.

Catherine and Warrick stayed behind to ask him a few more questions while I went to go see him. I found his room easily enough and quietly pushed open the door. The doctor had told us that he would be sleepy for a few hours, but that was just the pain medication. I pulled one of the hard plastic chairs up to his bedside and took in his sleeping form. His right arm was tucked under his head and his left arm, the one whose hand had the IV, was resting on his midsection. I gently grasped his left hand and laced my fingers with his, silent tears falling down my face.

After a few minutes of deafening silence, he stirred slightly which caused me to sit up as he came too. Running my fingers under my eyes to wipe away any tears, I reached my hand up and began running it through his hair. "Hey baby," my voice hoarse from crying. "How you feeling?"

He sighed before squeezing the hand that was holding his. "I'm okay. How are you?"

"I'm okay too." I sniffled before continuing. "I was so worried."

"Don't cry," he reached out with his right hand and ran his thumb under both my eyes, catching the tears before they fell further. "I hate seeing you cry."

The door opened and Catherine and Warrick came in, both of them smiling when the =y saw he was awake. I dropped my hand from his hair and laced it with his right hand before untangling my other one with the hand that had the IV. "How are you feeling Greg?" Catherine asked kindly.

"I'm pretty tired," his gravelly voice responded.

"This won't take long Greg, I promise." Catherine's voice reassured him.

Warrick pulled up a chair alongside me before speaking. "Why don't you tell us exactly what happened, as best as you can remember."

Greg sighed before speaking, "Mar and I were working through cases, and she left to go get coffee while I was mixing solvents."

"Either of you notice anything prior to the explosion? A power surge? A spark? A smell?"

I shook my head no before Greg answered, "Plastic. Burning plastic. I turned around to see where it was coming from. Then after that…" He shook his head ever so slightly. "I'm sorry."

I squeezed his hand in reassurance before I spoke, "It's not your fault."

"Are we done?" He asked in a tired voice.

"Yeah, we're done," Catherine said. "Feel better, alright?"

"Get some rest," Warrick chimed in.

"Guys I'm gonna stay here," I said, not taking my eyes off Greg, who had closed his eyes and fallen asleep. "Please tell Grissom that I'm taking some time off."

"How much time?" Warrick asked.

I glanced at Greg before looking up at my two colleagues. "As long as he needs."

You lose any sense of time when you're in a hospital. The minutes, hours, and days blur together until you don't know what year it is. I had dozed off while sitting next to Greg, and when I woke up he was staring at me, looking a little more alert than he had when I last saw him. "Hey," he spoke.

"Hey you," I sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and yawning. As I straightened up I winced at how sore my back was. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," he spoke truthfully. "Why don't you go home and change into something more comfortable? Or go get something to eat. You must be starving."

I waved him off before reaching out and bushing some of the hair away from his eyes. "I don't want to leave you."

"I'll be fine for a few hours," he responded as he reached out and laced our hands together.

"I'm not leaving," I spoke more firmly before bringing his hand to my lips and giving it a gentle kiss. "You scared me, Greg. I thought… I thought I might have lost you."

"C'mere," he motioned for me to lay down with him.

"I don't wanna hurt you," I whispered.

"You won't," he reassured me, gently tugging my hand. Sighing, I slipped off my boots and crawled in next to him. The cramped hospital bed was infinitely more comfortable than the chair I had slept in, and I sighed in content before entangling my legs with his. "Isn't that better?" he murmured with his forehead pressed against mine.

"Mhm," I hummed in agreement as I tucked our entangled fingers between out chests. He slipped his right hand under his head, which I copied before he pressed a delicate kiss to the tip of my nose, which made me giggle.

"There's that smile," he grinned at me.

We lay like that for hours; talking, sleeping, stealing kisses. It wasn't until the clock on the wall read seven pm that the door opened. Visiting hours were almost over, so I figured it was the doctor telling me to leave. Greg was asleep, so I ever so gently turned over so my back was pressed to his front and I brought out entwined fingers up to my chest. "Catherine?" I whispered.

She turned around and sent me a smile, which I returned. I felt Greg shift slightly behind me, indicating that he was waking up. "What time is it?" His groggy voice hummed in my ear.

"Late," Catherine replied.

"Do you want me to leave so you guys can talk?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, that's alright," Catherine spoke.

"How long have you been here?" Greg asked.

"A while," Catherine admitted. "I've got a lot of time on my hands."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her response as Greg spoke again, "You figured out what happened in the lab, didn't you?"

"Yeah," She pulled up the same chair I had occupied hours earlier. "Yeah, and I wanted you to hear it from me. Both of you." She launched into an explanation about how the hotplate under the fume hood had been accidentally left on, and she had place an unknown liquid under there that had resulted in the explosion. "I'm so sorry," she finished, glancing down at her hands.

"It's not your fault," Greg spoke. "Anyone could have made the same mistake."

Catherine shot us both a sorry smile before standing. "Like I said, I just wanted you to hear it from me first. Now get some rest, and feel better."

"Hey Catherine, wait up," Greg called out. "Please take Mar home and make sure she eats something."

"Greg," I protested.

"I'll wait outside the door," Catherine gathered her coat before stepping outside.

I turned back over before speaking," Greg I don't wanna go home without you." At that moment, I realized something. My apartment, it wasn't home without Greg. No matter where I went or what I did, I could never call any place home unless he was right by my side.

"I don't want you to go either," he admitted. "But you need sleep and a proper meal and you are going with Catherine. Please?" He pressed his forehead to mine.

"What about Anthony?" I asked in a whisper, still freaked out about my creepy manager who always seems to follow me with his eyes whenever I'm in my building. It was severely unsettling.

"Call Nick or Warrick and have them stay with you," he suggested. "I was going to do that myself, actually. I don't like you being there alone."

"Fine," I consented. "But I will be back first thing in the morning." I gently untangled us and stretched once my feet hit the floor. Turning back around, I bent over a place a lingering kiss on his lips. "Sweet dreams," I murmured once I pulled away.

"Sleep well, baby girl," Greg responded. "I'll miss you."

I shot him a smile before exiting the room and following Catherine to her car. "I'll take you back to the lab so you can get your car," she told me as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Nicky should still be there so you can talk to him."

"Thank you," I said as she dropped me off in front of the crime lab. Making my way inside, I first went to my locker to grab my bag before I went to find Nick. I found him in the break room, surrounded by papers.

"Hey there," Nick smiled as I sat down next to him. "How's Greg?"

"Good," I smiled. "He should make a full recovery within a few weeks."

"I'm happy to hear that," Nick ruffled my hair before returning to the papers in front of him.

"Nick I have a favor to ask you," I said.

"Sure, what's up?" He put down his pen and turned to face me.

"Well my building has a manager named Anthony and he gives me the serious creeps, and with Greg in the hospital I'm all alone and normally that wouldn't be a problem but there is just something really unsettling about this guy so I was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble, if you could stay with me for a few nights?"

"Not a problem at all," he smiled at me. "Just let me finish up here and then we can go."

"You are seriously the best," I smiled at him. "I need to go find Grissom, but I'll meet you in reception." I moved through the halls towards Grissom's office, and as I reached my destination I almost collided with Sara, who brushed by without a word. "Grissom, is now a bad time?" I asked uncertainly.

"No, what do you need?"

"I was just wondering if I could take a few weeks off?"

He smiled at me, "How long?"

"Until Greg comes back," I answered immediately.

"Of course," he pulled me in for a hug. "I'm glad you're both okay."

"Me too." I let go and bid him goodnight before meeting Nick at reception and heading home.