Instead of trying to pull his hand away from whatever it was that was causing the feeling around it, Greg slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head off of the uncomfortable mattress he had fallen asleep hunced over on. He was still sitting in the same chair he had been last night. He had been so tired that he had just leaned forward, rested his head next to Nick's side and let his tired eyes close. He had fallen asleep almost instantly.
Nick.
Greg looked down at his left hand and saw that it was still intertwined with Nick's. He had fallen asleep, still holding Nick's hand. Greg frowned at the feeling, knowing that there was something wrong about it. His eyes quickly flashed from Nick's hand in his own to Nick's face. Upon doing so, Greg's heart skipped several beats. He felt his breath catch in his throat and his stomach flip when Nick's brown eyes met his own.
Nick's hand was gently squeezing Greg's, which was where the tight feeling had come from. His hand was warm against Greg's, which is why Greg was so confused. His mind had come to accept the fact that when he woke up, Nick wouldn't ever again. But here he was, staring back at him, his warm hand in Greg's, his chest moving up and down slowly with each steady breath.
Greg tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, but it only got bigger the longer he looked at Nick. He felt his hands start to shake and knew there was nothing he could do to stop them, even though he wasn't interested in even trying right now. All he wanted to do was figure out a way to find out if he was dreaming, or if this was real. He didn't want to get his hopes up because he knew that he could very well wake up in a split second and Nick wouldn't be there. But right now he was, and he didn't seem to be going anywhere, and this felt as real as anything ever had.
Finally, Greg was able to force words to come out of his mouth. "Nick...you're supposed to be-"
Nick cut him off. "I know." His voice seemed far away, but it was still there.
"But you're n-"
"I know."
Greg shook his head slowly. "They said you wouldn't be here longer th-"
"I know."
"Then how come yo-"
"I don't know." Nick said with a shrug.
Greg was still shaking his head. "Not that I wanted you to, I'm just sur-"
"I know." Nick said with a small smile. "I don't know what's going on or why. All I know is I feel kinda weird and don't remember falling asleep before. But when I woke up you were still here."
Greg finally stopped shaking his head. "I wasn't gonna leave you alone. I didn't wanna leave." He looked down at their hands again. "I didn't want to let go, so I didn't."
Nick smiled again. "Neither did I."
The people in room 423 at Desert Palm's Hospital were apparently trying to break the world record for the number of people in one hospital room at a time. There was almost more people in that one room than on that entire floor altogether. Nick was still laying on his bed with Greg, Warrick and Catherine on his right. Grissom, Brass and Sara stood to his left. Dr. Lindser and three other nurses stood at the foot of Nick's bed, flipping through some papers and glancing back and forth between each other, the papers, and Nick. Last but kind of least, Ecklie was behind all of that near the door, out of the scene but paying as close attention as anyone else was.
Dr. Lindser sighed before he spoke, breaking the silence in the room. "I'm just going to be completely honest, because there's really no other way to explain this. I don't know what happened, how it happened, or why it happened. The tests we ran and charts from the last couple of days indicate that Nick did in fact die for about three minutes last night."
This was a surprise to everyone, especially Nick, because he was pretty sure he was alive right now.
"But," Lindser continued, "he came back. All on his own. Somehow, someway, he just did. I know that sounds far-fetched, but given this whole situation's aptness for the extraordinary over the last two years, I guess it makes more sense than something normal happening."
"So what's gonna happen next?" Grissom asked, too anxious to wait any longer.
"You're not going to believe me, but he's in perfect health right now. It's like he just got rid of the disease in one night. As suddenly as it had come it, it went away. No one's ever lived as long as he did with it, so I didn't expect this to happen because it never has before. All of his symptoms are virtually gone, save for some fatigue and muscle weakness, but that'll subside in a few weeks when his strength's back up." Linsder explained.
"So he's magically fine?" Warrick asked, not believing it.
Lindser nodded. "Yeah. This may sound weird, but I'm sorry it turned out like this. I mean, I wouldn't have told you all that he was going to die if I didn't think he was. He actually did, but it didn't last. I'm sorry I told you that and caused you all so much inconvienance."
Grissom shook his head. "There's no need for an apology, not after all you've done for us and for Nick. You had sufficient evidence to believe what you did, and ultimately you were right."
Nick rolled his eyes and laughed lightly. "Don't mind him." He said to Lindser. "He tends to relate everything to science or poetry, or both. It's something you come to expect, but never really get used to I guess."
Two days later, after extensive testing and precautionary observation, Nick was released from the hospital and allowed to go home. Dr. Lindser said his goodbyes and wished both Nick and Greg his best, telling both of them to call him if they ever needed anything at all. After promising to do so, Nick and Greg walked of Desert Palm's to the parking lot where Greg's Denali was waiting to take them home.
The car ride was silent the entire twenty minute duration it took for them to get home. Neither one of them had anything to say at the moment and spent the time thinking about everything they wanted to say rather than actually saying something to begin with. They thought it would be worth it to think it out rather than winging it and not getting everything they wanted to be said to be known to the person sitting next to them. So twenty minutes of silence was well spent, or so it seemed until they stepped into their home and all that had been forgotten.
Nick walked in first, followed closely by Greg. As soon as the ex-labrat had closed the door behind him, he was pinned against it by the Texan, who had captured him in a breathtaking kiss. Greg fell back against the door and quickly responded without even having to think about it, like he had been expecting it. Greg snaked his arms around Nick's neck and pulled him closer. Nick agreed that closer was a good idea, so he did his part by firmly putting his hand on Greg's hips and pulling the younger man flush against him, holding him in place against his body.
As the kiss escalated, the two men slowly made their way from the living room, down the hall and into the bedroom. They fell over onto the bed, Nick falling on top of Greg, pinning him now against the soft mattress of their bed. Greg's hands were laced through Nick's hair and the older man's hands were resting under Greg's shirt on the smooth skin of his waist. Their legs were tangled together as their hearts pounded against their chests, pressed up against each other's.
They only pulled away reluctantly and broke the kiss to catch their breath. Greg's hands slid down and rested on Nick's back as he stared up into the other man's eyes. Nick kept his hips pressed against Greg's, not wanting the contact to ever go away. Tears had formed in Nick's eyes, and just as one had started to slip down, Greg gently wiped it away with his thumb.
They had tried to say what they had wanted to say through physical action rather than just saying it, and it had mostly gotten the point across. But now they had remembered what they had wanted to say and were determined to actually verbally say it.
"I'm sorry." Nick said, eliciting the memory of their first encounter after lunch into Greg's mind.
"For what?" Greg said, mimicking what he had said years before.
Nick's response was different. "For putting you through all that. I know how hard it was for you and I just kept making it worse."
Greg smiled slightly. "Will you stop saying sorry? You didn't do anything wrong Nicky. What I went through was nothing compared to what you had to deal with. But it's all over now. You're okay and I'm okay. We're okay."
"I know." Nick said softly. "I just thought I was never gonna see you again, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. But I'm still here."
"And I'm glad you are." Greg added.
Nick smiled as well. "Me too." He bent down slightly and kissed Greg's neck softly. "Thank you."
Greg slid his arms back up around Nick's neck. "For what?"
"Staying with me through all of this and keeping me from going crazy." Nick whispered into Greg's ear. "I would have died a long time ago if it wasn't for you."
Greg shook his head. "No, you wouldn't have. You don't give yourself enough credit. You fought hard. You always do. And I'll never forget that."
"It's easy to do when you have something to fight for." Nick said as he moved up and looked Greg in the eyes again.
Greg kissed Nick softly. "I didn't have that much to do with it."
"Yeah, you did Greg." Nick said, still smiling. "I know why I lasted so much longer than everyone else did. I know why I got through this and why Lindser couldn't figure it out."
Nick reached back and slid his hand into Greg's as he kissed his forhead gently. "I had you."
This is for real, this time I mean it
I'm coming clean, please don't let go
I said from the start, that you could take it or leave it
I'd prefer that you keep it
Don't let go
This is the best thing
That I've ever had for real
Don't let go
Thank you everyone who read this and a special thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm going to be writing another Nick and Greg story hopefully soon after I get my other story "The Pretender" finished. I hope you enjoyed this story and thanks again.
Song is "This is For Real" by Motion City Soundtrack.