Title: Stoic
By: it-glitters
Pairing: Greg/Nick
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: PG-13
Series: 1) Bewilderment, 2) Take Me Home, 3) Cynics, 4) Blood Spatters, 5) Hello Mr. Sanders, 6) Hitting The Wall, 7) Capable Of Murder, 8) The Good Boy, 9) Crying Shame, 10) As I Lay Me Down
Summary: Greg begins to recover.

***

Catherine quietly entered the private hospital room and saw Greg turned away from the door, curled up on his side. She was reminded of the time the lab exploded – only this was worse. So much worse.

She moved closer to the bed. "Greggy, it's me."

There was no response, so she moved to the other side of the bed. IV antibiotics dripped silently into his vein, fighting off the infection that had set in his slashed wrist. His brown eyes had lost all their spark and the joyful exuberance had left the young man. With his good hand, he reached out for her.

"Greg...I'm so...I'm...." Her sentence was choked by her own tears. He let go of her hand and pulled his body closer into itself.

"Can I have some water, please?" he whispered to her.

She nodded and placed the straw at his lips. He drank as deeply as he could from his position and let the straw drop from his lips when he was finished.

"Do you need to question me?" His voice never rose above a whisper.

"Not right now, sweetie. We know what we need to know."

"Why did they have to take a SAE? They know what happened." He used the formal title for the kit, unable to say the word rape.

"It's standard procedure, honey."

"I didn't like it."

Catherine didn't know how to respond to that, except to stroke his shoulder. "You should be sleeping."

"Can't sleep."

"I could get the doctor to give you something."

"Will you stay?"

"Of course. And everyone is just outside. They're worried about you."

"I can't see them."

"It's alright, they'll understand. Will you be alright until I get back?"

Greg nodded and pulled the thin hospital blanket up. He shivered.

"Do you want another blanket?"

He nodded again and Catherine took an extra blanket out of the closet and covered him. She left the room and closed the door behind her to be greeted by four anxious faces. "He's in shock. He doesn't want to see anyone."

Nick felt a pang of jealously rip through him. His boyfriend was less than 20 feet away in a hospital bed and was refusing to see anyone but Catherine. He just wanted to see Greg. Catherine went to the nursing station to see about getting Greg some sedatives and Nick felt a familiar hand on his arm. His eyes meet Warrick's.

"Nicky, it'll be okay. He'll want to see you tomorrow. Right now, he just needs time."

"I hope so," he said as he leaned in for a hug.

....

With the exception of Catherine and Nick the team went home for rest. Though Greg refused to see him, Nick passed the time uncomfortably dozing in plastic hospital wait chairs. Catherine spent the night in Greg's room, intermittently sleeping and calming Greg when the nightmares made their way through his drug induced sleep.

When Greg awoke the next day, Grissom was waiting for him. He had sent Catherine down to the cafeteria for coffee. Greg was still curled up on his side – he was to beat up to lay on his back – and too ashamed to lie on his stomach, leaving his rear exposed to the world.

"Hey Greg – how are you feeling?"

"Don't want to answer that. Have you talked to my folks?"

Grissom hesitated, but answered yes.

"What did they say?"

"Greg, it's not important."

"No – it is. You told them what happened and they said what?"

Gil didn't want to answer, but Greg was adamant about getting the answer. "They said that you probably liked it and not to call so late."

Greg's face remained unchanged, but the way he repositioned his body betrayed his stoicism.

"Greg?"

"I want to talk to Nick. Can you call him?"

"Don't have to – he never left."

"Really?" Grissom thought for a moment that he saw some of Greg's original spark.

"I can get him in a minute I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Ok." Greg propped his head on his good hand.

"It's more yes/no type things. We figure Robert Cohen broke into you home and used chloroform to knock you out. Then he took you to the warehouse to meet up with Kelly Gordon. He kept you there until we found you."

"That's basically it – do you need to know anything else?" Greg flinched – he didn't want to re-live everything.

"Not really. You're going to need to meet with a councilor."

"I want Nick," Greg demanded.

Grissom sat up and left the room to find Nick. He was sitting next to Catherine, holding a cup of coffee in his hands. Nick looked up at Gil hopefully.

"He wants to see you."

Nick shot from his chair and practically ran into Greg's room. He stopped short when he saw Greg curled up.

"G."

"Nicky."

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired of people asking me that." Nick watched Greg shift uncomfortably in the bed.

"You need help, G?"

"I want to go to the bathroom."

"Let me help you up." Nick set down the coffee and went to the bed to help Greg up. Everything was fine until Nick tried to lead him to the bathroom and Greg had the beginnings of a panic attack.

"Nick, let go!" Greg's breathing was labored and Nick let Greg fall to the ground. "Get away!" Nick stepped back, heart breaking as he watched his boyfriend crawl to the bathroom crying.

Nick picked up his coffee and took the seat next to the bed and waited. It took Greg five minutes to come back from the bathroom. "Is that coffee?" Greg asked, staring at the cup in Nick's hands.

"You want it?"

Greg nodded and reached for the cup. Nick was careful not to touch Greg as he handed over it over. He watched Greg stare at the bed – knowing that he wanted to sit, but couldn't.

"Greg, do you want to talk?"

"No. I want to leave. I don't like the hospital."

"Do you want to stay with me?"

"No. And yes. I'll freak out I think. I can't..."

"G, if you want to stay, you can. Your rules. I promise I won't cross any lines."

"I don't even know what the rules would be." Greg sipped his coffee and thought. "Can you stay with me? I want to sleep in my bed."

"Okay."

"Will you bring your gun?" Nick was a little unnerved by the question, but it made sense that Greg would want a sentry.

"G, you get yourself ready and I'll talk to your doctor and get you set up to go." Nick went outside to where Catherine and Grissom were waiting. "He wants to go home."

"Alright," Catherine said, scanning the hallway for someone who could help them.

"He wants me to stay with him."

"Alright Nicky," Gil said as Catherine went to the nurses' station. "I can get you a few days off to help Greg recover."

....

An hour later Greg was in Nick's truck, lying across the back seat. "G, I need to go to my house and get some things. Do you want to come with me or do you want me to drop you off first?"

"I want to go with you."

Nick set the car in gear and made his way back to his apartment. When he got there he scanned the parking lot for anything unusual. When he was sure it was all right he parked. "Do you want to come inside with me?" he asked, looking back at Greg.

"Yeah."

Nick helped Greg out of the car and broke the contact as soon as he could. He didn't want to upset Greg – it seemed that every time he held on too long, Greg would begin to panic. They went inside and Greg immediately went into the bedroom and burrowed into Nick's bed.

"Catherine is picking up some prescriptions for you. She said to call when we got in and let her know when to come in. She wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted."

Greg hugged Nick's pillow to his chest, but said nothing. Nick took out his duffel bag and packed what he would need for the few days he would be spending at Greg's. The last item that he packed was his gun.

"We're ready to go," Nick said, and saw Greg peeking out at him from underneath the bedding.

"Can I keep this?" he asked, nodding down to the pillow he was still clutching to his chest.

"Of course."

***

Next story in series - You Tell Me.