Title: Slipping Away
By: Missa
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the characters or anything else from the show... if I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting here writing this fiction :P
Pairing: None
Rating: PG-13 - You know, just to be safe
Warning: character death
Summary: It's not a murder, not a suicide, but a natural cause death... one that will soon cause major problems for one of the CSI's.

***

Chapter 1 - The Cough

CSI Greg Sanders really wanted to do a good job on this case, after all he was working with Grissom. He was delighted to have found the tissue lying on the victims counter, hoping some DNA could be taken off of it. He leaned over to get a closer look before bagging it, feeling proud at what he'd found.

((A Few Months Later))

Three girls walked down the hallway of their school, hoping the class they wanted to go into was open. They had just passed in a large assignment a few days before and wanted to know what their mark on it was.

When they walked into the classroom, they didn't see their teacher.

"Darn! I need to know if I failed that or not," one of them said.

They turned to leave but one of them didn't move from the spot where they were standing.

"Just check on his desk, I'm sure our assignments are here somewhere... I really want to know what I got on it," another of them said.

They rummaged around their teacher's desk until one of the girl's finally gasped.

There was a body on the ground under the desk, it was a teenage girl that looked no older then 13.

"I can do this," Greg coughed, "You can put me on the case."

Grissom shook his head.

"Greg, look at you. You're in no condition to even be at work. What with that cough and the fact that you're completely exhausted-which is very unusual for you. Just see a doctor, and get some rest okay? There will be other cases, this is Vegas after all," Grissom explained.

Greg claimed once more that he was fine, but Grissom didn't change his mind, leaving Greg nothing to do but go home. He walked away, still coughing.

Greg had been coughing a lot lately, but he didn't think of it as anything more than a cold that he couldn't shake. After all, he didn't have the best immune system in the world, so he was probably just having a hard time fighting it off.

He watched as Grissom assign the case to Nick and Sara, the case that he wanted to work on.

"I'm perfectly fine..." Greg said to himself, "I could have taken that case."

Grissom gave him the rest of the day off to go and see a doctor, but Greg just left and went home. He knew that there was nothing wrong with him, Grissom was just being overly-cautious.

For hours, he mindlessly flipped through channels on his television, not really paying attention to what he was watching. During one of the commercials, he found himself falling into one of his coughing fits once again, this time feeling a pain in his chest. The more he tried to stop coughing, the more he coughed.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, his coughing ceased. Greg felt relieved, but this was short-lived as he looked down at his hand.

Red.

He'd just coughed up blood.

"The vic's name is Lori Burns, she was found dead under her science teacher's desk. Three of her friends found her here while they were looking for their assignments. I'm off to have a chat with the teacher, so you two have fun processing here," Jim Brass said to Nick and Sara as they arrived on the scene.

Brass walked off to question the teacher, Mr. Waterson who taught in the classroom where the DB was found.

"When were you in your classroom last, Mr. Waterson?" Brass questioned.

The teacher looked at the clock, and then looked back at Brass.

"2 hours ago. It was lunchtime. I was marking the assignments, didn't have a class after that so I decided to come home," Mr. Waterson explained.

"When was the last time you saw Lori?"

"That was also at lunchtime, her twin sister Tori and her always sit in my classroom at lunch and eat... sometimes they'll even write things all over my boards... takes forever to get all of that stuff off though," Waterson explained, "today was just like any other day. They ate their lunch in here, because you aren't allowed to eat in the hallway. They wrote a few things on my board, and then they left when the bell rang."

"And you left after that to go home? Since you didn't have a class?"

Waterson nodded.

"Then why was your door unlocked?"

Waterson shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't got a clue. I was sure I locked it when I left."

Brass continued his questioning, while Nick and Sara took photographs of the DB and the surrounding area.

"It looks like someone shot her," Sara pointed out, "Hey... what's this black stuff on her hand?"

Sara pointed to the black smudges that coated the victim's palms. Nick bent down to get a closer look, but was unsure of what it was. He snapped a few photographs of it.

"She's so young... she had a whole life ahead of her that was taken away. Some people just make me sick..." Nick said, half to himself as he and Sara continued to process the scene.

Nick looked on the floor on the other side of the desk.

A black white-board marker.

"I think I might have found what that black stuff is," he said as he put on his gloves to retrieve it.

"And what's that?" Sara questioned.

Nick picked up the marker carefully and held it up to show Sara before putting it into an evidence bag.

"Hmm, could be," Sara replied.

***

Chapter 2 - Testing

Greg quickly washed the red liquid off of his hand, realizing that he needed to see the doctor after all. Coughing up blood was never a good thing - and it meant that this wasn't just a cough that refused to go away.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number to the doctor's office, only to find out that the doctor was book solid for weeks. Only patients with emergencies could get an appointment.

"No, it's not an emergency. You can just schedule me in whenever there is an opening. Thanks," Greg told the receptionist.

He hung up the phone and sighed.

I guess I can wait. How bad could it be? he thought.

He put on his coat and got into his car, driving to the nearest pharmacy to pick up some cough medication. Once he arrived, he walked down the aisle and stopped once he found what he was looking for.

"This should hold me," he told himself as he picked up a bottle.

As he walked towards the cash register, another coughing fit attacked him.

"Hey, are you okay?" a passerby questioned.

"Yeah, it's just a little cough," Greg reassured in between his coughs.

Once he finished coughing, he noticed more blood on his hand. It was only a small amount, so he brushed it off on his pant leg as he paid for the cough medication.

After he'd gotten back into his car, he popped a pill into his mouth, hoping that it would get rid of his nasty cough. If only for a little while.

"Let's just hope this doesn't get any worse before I see a doctor."

Greg switched on the radio and smiled when he heard one of Pink's songs playing. Halfway through the song he felt a wave of fatigue fall over him. Soon, just keeping his eyes open and his hands on the wheel became extremely difficult.

Since when do side effects from medication occur that fast? he thought.

It had seemed to take an eternity, but 10 minutes later, Greg arrived back home. The second he walked through the door, he quickly made his way over to the couch and let himself slip off into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, he was awoken by the sound of someone knocking at his door. It was Catherine.

"I hear you've still got that nasty cough. Did you go to see the doctor like Grissom wanted you to?" Catherine questioned when Greg coughed as he answered the door.

"No, I'm fine. Plus, the doctor is booked solid," Greg explained, trying to hold back his coughing.

Soon, a full blown coughing fit fell over him and it took several moments for him to be able to stop. Once he did, Catherine caught a glimpse of something red on his palm.

"Greg... is that blood on your hand?" she questioned.

Greg tried to hide his hand but Catherine grabbed ahold of his wrist to bring his palm into her sight again. She examined it and concluded that it was blood.

"Okay, you claim that you are fine, and then you start coughing up blood. Do you want to give me your definition of the word 'fine'?" Catherine asked.

Greg knew that she was right. He wasn't fine.

"Come on, we're getting you to a doctor. I don't care what you were told. They can be booked all they want but you're seeing someone about that," she urged.

He didn't want to, but he also knew that Catherine wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. When she was worried about someone, she would stop at nothing to make sure that they were okay.

Catherine drove him to the doctor's office, and explained to the receptionist what had happened. After a few moments of negotiation, Greg was able to see a doctor.

"So, you're saying you've had this cough for a few weeks now? And just recently you've noticed blood while you were coughing?" the doctor questioned.

Greg nodded.

"I see. Any other things happening? Or is it just the coughing?"

Greg didn't bother mention about the fatigue he was feeling, he figured it was just a side effect from the cough medication that he'd taken. He shook his head.

"Okay. We'll if you'll come with me we can have an x-ray done. Just to see if there is anything in your lungs or chestthat might be causing this to happen," the doctor said.

Greg followed the doctor into the x-ray room while Catherine waited patiently, hoping that nothing was wrong with him.

The doctor had a suspicion that it might have been a case of pneumonia, but after taking the x-ray, he wasn't so sure.

"I'm going to have to give you a skin test. You'll get the results in about... two to three days."

Greg wasn't sure what the skin test was for, but he let the doctor do his job. The doctor explained that it would take two to three days for the results to come back, and that he should just stay at home and rest until he knew for sure what was wrong.

Catherine could tell by the look in the doctor's eye that something was wrong. The doctor didn't disclose any information about what he thought might have been wrong, and he wasn't going to until the results from the test came back. Still, Catherine could just see that whatever was wrong with Greg... was something serious.

On the drive back, Greg began to cough a bit more and it made Catherine begin to panic. She pulled the car over to the side of the road and checked to see if Greg was okay.

"Yeah, it's okay, I'm fine," he claimed once he stopped coughing.

Catherine looked at his hands and saw no signs of blood, so she returned her attention to driving and started up the car once more. After dropping Greg off, she watched in her rear-view mirror as he coughed while he walked into his house. She bit her lip.

I really hope he's going to be okay, she thought to herself as she drove away.

***

Chapter 3 - Results and Isolation

As soon as Catherine drove away, she debated with herself on whether she was going to tell the rest of the lab. She knew that it wasn't her business to say anything about what she'd seen, but also... she couldn't help but feel like Greg wouldn't tell them himself.

In the end, she ended up confronting Grissom about it.

"Well did he see a doctor?" Grissom questioned after being told that Greg had been coughing up blood.

Catherine nodded.

"Well what did the doctor say?"

"Not much... just took an x-ray, and that it probably wasn't pneumonia. Oh, and Greg had to take some sort of skin test..." Catherine informed.

Grissom's face fell and he walked over to his desk and sat down-not saying a word.

"What?" Catherine asked.

Grissom sighed, only making Catherine more confused.

"What the heck are you not telling me here?" she questioned in a more demanding tone.

"It's nothing... I'm just worried about Greg..." Grissom lied, he has his suspicions to what was wrong.

As he was speaking, Nick walked in to give them the good news that the case was solved. The news about the case quickly left his mind when he heard Grissom say he was worried about Greg.

"What's wrong with Greg?" Nick questioned.

Grissom looked as if he was about to speak, but Catherine cut in. "It's nothing really. He just had that awful cough for weeks now," she lied.

She didn't want this spreading all over the lab because she wasn't even sure if she should have told Grissom in the first place.

Nick could tell that Catherine was lying. The worry and fear depicted on both Grissom and her faces were proof enough that there was something else going on, but he didn't push the question any further. He changed the subject and explained how he and Sara had cracked the case with the girl found in the classroom in such a quick time.

"Good work, Nick," Catherine and Grissom said in unison.

Nick smiled and walked back out of Grissom's office, starting to feel worried about his friend. He decided that he would

drop by after his shift and check up on him.

After Nick's visit, Greg decided that he would give Catherine a call.

"You told them?" Greg asked Catherine in an angry tone.

"I'm sorry Greg. I was worried about you... but I only told Grissom. Don't worry, it hasn't spread around the lab or anything. I promise that nothing more will be said," Catherine explained as Greg coughed.

"Then how come Nick came by? Asking if I was all right, wondering if anything was wrong?" Greg managed to say before he started coughing even more.

Catherine explained what had happened when Nick came into the office while she and Grissom were talking.

"Okay... but I have to go. I've got a call coming in on the other line. Bye," Greg said as he clicked the button, "Hello?"

Greg listened to what the person on the other line was saying. It was the doctor. He wanted Greg to come into his office immediately.

Once he was off of the phone, he quickly got in his car and drove to see the doctor. The doctor had his results... and he sounded worried.

Upon arrival, his stomach was filled with butterflies, and he feared the worst as he opened the door and took his seat in the waiting room.

"You don't have to wait, Mr. Sanders. The doctor wants to see you right away," the receptionist told him.

Greg gulped. That was never a good thing.

He slowly made his way over to the room where his doctor was waiting. Once inside, his doctor closed the door and spoke in a very quiet tone.

"Your results came back. And they confirmed my suspicions. I'm afraid that you have... tuberculosis."

Greg felt as if someone punched him in the stomach. But it explained why the doctor had his mouth and nose covered and wasn't standing very close to him.

"T...tu...tuberculosis?" Greg stammered.

The doctor nodded. "But don't fret. Nowadays we have medication for it. As long as you follow the directions very carefully, and don't miss any doses, it will kill off the bacteria inside of you."

That didn't make Greg feel any better.

"Have you been around anyone who could have given this to you?" the doctor questioned.

The tissue. The tissue that I collected from that victims house... the one who had died from tuberculosis. Greg thought.

He explained about the tissue, and the doctor told him that it was very rare to have something transmitted that way, but it was still possible.

"Now, I'll have to give you this prescription... but by any chance do you have anyone who could pick it up for you? You'll have to be left in quarantine because you have active TB in your system. And that can be transmitted to others if they breathe in the bacteria. Also, the people who have been around you are going to have to be tested for this as well. Such as family members, co-workers, friends, and such," the doctor explained.

Greg nodded and mentioned that he could probably get Catherine or Grissom from his work to get the medication for him. All of this was happening so fast and he didn't want to believe that any of it was real.

Time seemed to race and before Greg realized it, he was back at home... and Grissom had agreed to pick up his prescription for him.

"You shouldn't come in. I'm really contagious I guess... but thanks for..." Greg began to cough, "thanks for getting this for me."

"It's no problem. Anything to make sure that you get better. You'll definitely be missed at the lab," Grissom told him.

Deep down inside. Grissom felt responsible for what happened. He was told that what gave Greg the tuberculosis was the tissue from that crime scene that the two of them were at. At the time, they both had to be tested for it... and both of them came back negative. But now, Greg had it, and Grissom felt guilty. If only he had been the one to pick up that tissue, then it would have been him and not Greg who contracted the illness.

A few days later it was concluded that no one had gotten active tuberculosis from Greg, but Catherine had contracted a mild latent case. The doctor assured her that she would be fine, as long as she took the medication to get rid of the bacteria before they became active.

Greg's friends from the lab called him almost everyday. Grissom would ask how he was doing, trying to hide the guilt he felt. Catherine would always make sure that he was taking his medication. Nick, Sara and Warrick would let Greg know what was happening at the lab.

He hated being away from everything. He hated being isolated. All he could do was eat, sleep, watch television and talk to his friends on the phone. He was forbidden to step foot out of his house.

Late one night as Greg was trying to fall asleep, he remembered that he had another dose of his medication to take. Quickly, he bolted out of his bed and rushed over to his bathroom. He flicked on the light, but his eyes weren't adjusted to the quick change so he stumbled around looking for the bottle he wanted.

"Damn it!" he said as he heard the sound of a bottle dropping to the floor, "that was the one I needed."

He bent down and picked the bottle up, noticing that it had opened during the fall. He took a pill and rinsed it down with a glass of water, then returned back to bed- unaware that a quarter of the bottle's contents had fallen out and rolled under his bathroom counter.

***

Chapter 4 - Throwing Darts at Ecklie

Greg's routine became repetitive. Wake up, watch television, have a small lunch, talk on the phone, take a dose of medication, eat supper, more television, more medication and then sleep. The tuberculosis was affecting his appetite so he only ate small portions of food, and gave up breakfast all together.

He hated the taste that his medication left in his mouth, and he dreaded the two times a day that he had to take it. But he didn't dare skip a dose. He knew that if he missed a single one, then he risked having the tuberculosis bacteria continue spreading. He needed every single dose to kill it off... the bacteria dies very slowly.

"I hope that Greg is okay. I mean... tuberculosis... did you ever read those stories back from Edgar Allen Poe's time in high school? Do you know how many people were killed by that disease? I... I don't want Greg to become one of those statistics..." Nick trailed off.

"And he won't. Come on Nicky, that was a long time ago. Now they have medication for it. As long as he's taking it, he'll be back here in no time," Warrick explained, trying to stay optimistic.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Nick replied.

He started to walk away when Warrick questioned where he was going.

"I'm going to go ask Grissom if I can use the phone in his office to call Greg."

"What about your cell phone?" Warrick asked.

Nick laughed. "That thing has been dead for days. I can't find my charger."

With that, Nick walked off in the direction of Grissom's office when he heard Grissom talking to someone. It sounded like he was talking to Greg on the phone.

"Stop skipping meals. You need to keep your immune system strong."

Nick didn't want Grissom to know that he was standing just outside his office, he wanted to listen in to the conversation.

"Greg, get yourself a glass of water or something. It should help the cough if only a tiny bit."

A pause.

"That cough sounds worse, you're taking your medication right?"

Nick bit his lip.

"No, I'm not trying to sound like Catherine. I just noticed that your cough sounds worse."

Another pause.

"Greg... Greg! Come on that cough is getting worse and you know it... all right... bye."

After Grissom hung up the phone, he placed his face in his hands, just as Nick walked in. When Grissom heard someone enter, he quickly lifted his head back up.

"How's Greg?" Nick asked.

"He's fine," Grissom lied, "I was just talking to him."

Nick walked closer to Grissom's desk.

"I heard you... his cough is getting worse," Nick told him.

Grissom sighed. He couldn't lie, Nick had heard the conversation.

"His cough is getting worse. The whole time that he was on the phone he was coughing," Grissom explained.

"Oh," Nick said quietly.

"Sometimes that's just how illnesses work. They get worse before they get better. I'm sure that Greg will be fine. Just as long as he keeps taking his medication, and he told me that he's taking it and hasn't missed a dose," Grissom explained.

"Yeah, I know," Nick replied.

The two of them fell silent until Ecklie walked into the room.

"Hardly working here I see," he said.

"Come on, Conrad. We were just getting an update on Greg," Grissom told him.

"You'll do that on your own time. Right now, the only thing that is important is your work... not your friend," Ecklie snarled in a harsh tone.

"No," Nick stated boldly.

"Nick, don't," Grissom warned.

Nick paid no attention to Grissom's warning.

"Yeah, work should be a high priority, the top priority, but Greg is sick. He had tuberculosis, and that can kill a person! So I'm sorry for spending two damn seconds trying to find out how he's doing!" Nick exclaimed.

"I don't want to hear you talking in that tone..." Ecklie replied.

"Do you honestly think I give a damn about what you want? You told me that worrying about my friend is unimportant. And then you expect me to just kiss your ass and smile as I go back to work? No, I'm not going to do that. If you're going to get angry at me for caring about my friend... then I'm not going to give a damn about what you want," Nick continued.

"Nick, stop it," Grissom tried to intervene, but neither Nick or Ecklie were listening.

"Hmmm, taking a few attitude lessons from Sara I see?" Ecklie spat.

"What the hell does she have to do with this?" Nick questioned.

Grissom stood up and walked between the two arguing men.

"Would you to stop this? It's not going to accomplish anything!" he said, trying to get it to stop.

"You're right. It won't accomplish anything, but this will," Ecklie turned to Nick, "Nick, you're suspended for two weeks. No pay. Now leave."

"Fine!" Nick replied as he stomped off.

He walked angrily down the hall until Sara stopped him to ask why he was so angry.

"Why am I angry? Ecklie. That's why I'm angry. I'm suspended for two weeks because I refused to kiss his ass when he told me that the situation with Greg was unimportant. Excuse me for spending two seconds worrying about a friend. I think I have a reason to be worried and irritable... Greg's cough is getting worse," Nick was fuming with anger, and Sara had never seen him like this before.

"Nick... calm down. Just go home and do what everyone else in the lab does when Ecklie is on our case. Throw darts at his picture. Ecklie bugs everyone from time to time. Now, what's this about Greg's cough getting worse?" Sara questioned.

"I don't know. Grissom told me. He was on the phone with him. You can ask him because I'm going to go hometo give Greg a call," Nick said as he started to walk away, "plus, you know, the whole suspended thing."

After a few steps, he turned around to face Sara again.

"But I think on my way home I'm going to go buy some darts."

***

Chapter 5 - Lying

After two weeks under quarantine, Greg was finally allowed back to work. The two weeks had felt like an eternity and he couldn't have been happier to see everyone again. He was far from cured of the tuberculosis, but he was no longer contagious. Nick also returned to work the same time as Greg, and was delighted to be able to see his friend again.

The doctor had wanted to see him as soon as the two weeks were up, but Greg never returned the phone call. He knew that if the doctor heard his cough, he wouldn't be permitted back to his work, and he wanted more than anything to go back.

There was a small welcome back party held for him. They decorated the lounge room with a large banner that read "Welcome Back Greggo!", and different colored streamers. Catherine had baked a large chocolate cake, and Greg couldn't wait to taste some of it.

"Thanks you guys. This is awesome," Greg told them.

Although he was permitted to work again, he still hadn't gotten rid of the cough, and if anything, it had gotten worse. He tried not to think about it, and continued taking his medication as the doctor directed, hoping it would get rid of the cough soon.

He wasn't the only one who had noticed that his cough was worse. Even though Grissom was glad to have him back, he wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. He wanted to make sure that Greg was feeling better before he returned.

"Greg, maybe you came back a bit too soon..." Grissom began.

"What do you mean? I'm not under quarantine anymore," Greg coughed.

"No, the cough," Grissom pointed to Greg's hand, "Look, there's blood. Didn't the doctor notice that that's getting worse?"

"The doctor didn't say that it was worse. In fact, he said that it was getting better," Greg lied, trying to hold in his coughing to prove that he was all right.

Grissom didn't want to send him home if the doctor said that he was alright, but he just wanted him to have more time to get better without the stress of work.

Grissom sighed. "Okay. You don't have to take more time off. But the second I see that you are getting worse, you're going home to rest. Understood?"

Greg nodded.

"Man, I can't believe that Greg's doctor said he was okay. Did you see the way he's been coughing more?" Nick asked.

"Yeah I know. And he's been avoiding Grissom. I heard Grissom tell him that if he hears Greg get any worse, he's sending him home," Warrick replied, "That Greg is a good person... but sometimes he's just so stubborn."

Nick and Warrick sat in the locker room as they watched Greg stumble in, clearly having one of his coughing attacks.

"Greg..." Warrick began.

"No, don't tell me that I should go home. I've heard that five times already today. I'm fine. I just need my medication, it's time for another dose," Greg opened his locker and took out a medication bottle.

Greg continued to cough and the bottle slipped from his hands and fell onto the floor, rolling towards Nick and Warrick.

"Come on, this is crazy. You're getting worse," Nick told him.

"Yeah, Nicky's right. Your doctor couldn't have told you that you were better. You're definitely getting worse," Warrick added.

Greg's eyes began to water, and he felt like someone was repeatedly punching him in the chest. He continued to cough. It was the longest that any of his coughing fits had lasted.

"I did see a doctor... it's not getting worse," Greg lied.

Nick and Warrick watched in horror as drops of red liquid began to seep out of Greg's hand, they were starting to believe that Greg was lying about seeing the doctor.

"That's it, man. You are going to the doctor. Right now, I don't care what you say. You are not fine, and you are going to see a doctor. Stop being so stubborn and get your coat," Warrick stated, getting up to walk over towards his friend.

"No!" Greg protested, leaning over, trying to grab his medication bottle, "I'm..."

He felt a loss of control as he fell over.

"Greg!" Warrick and Nick exclaimed in unison.

Nick rushed over to see if Greg was conscious or not, and Warrick bolted out of the room to call an ambulance.

Warrick ran through the hallway into Grissom's office. Without even bothering to ask Grissom, he picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.

Grissom's face turned pale as he heard Warrick frantically explaining what happened and that they needed an ambulance immediately. He didn't wait for Warrick to finish using the phone before he ran out of the room to find Greg.

"Nick, is Greg breathing?" Grissom questioned as he saw Greg on the floor and Nick kneeling down beside him.

Nick nodded. "Yeah... he's still breathing, and his heart is beating, but he's unconscious."

Grissom looked around and saw the blood in Greg's hand and on the floor.

"Why is there so much blood?" Grissom asked.

Nick explained how Greg had been coughing excessively, and how he refused to let someone take him to the doctor.

"No, this can't be happening..." Grissom whispered as he knelt down on the other side of Greg. "I thought he said he went to the doctor? What self respecting doctor wouldcall this better?" he asked.

"I think he lied. If a doctor saw this, there is no way that he would have been allowed back to work. I just don't understand why he is getting worse. It makes no sense," Nick explained as Sara walked in.

"What's going on here? What happened to Greg?" she questioned, rushing over to where Nick and Grissom were.

"He started coughing... and then he just... collapsed," Nick felt the tears forming in his eyes as he looked down at his friend.

"Is he..." Sara was afraid to ask.

"No... he's still alive," Grissom replied.

It felt like the ambulance took years to arrive, but when the paramedics finally came, half the people in the lab rushed to the locker room to see what was going on.

"I want to go with him," Grissom stated.

"Yeah sure, come on, quickly," a paramedic replied, loading Greg onto a stretcher.

Grissom followed as they put Greg in the back of the ambulance.

"Has he been takinghis medication?" one of the paramedics questioned Grissom.

"I'm not sure. He's been at home for the past two weeks on quarantine. We called him and he claimed he did," Grissom replied.

"So he just got off of quarantine? Why didn't he see a doctor?"

Grissom sighed. "He told us that he did..."

***

Chapter 6 - Hospitalization

"He lied to us. I was talking to his doctor, and he never returned the doctor's call," Grissom told Nick, Warrick and Sara who were seated in the waiting room.

"But why? Why would he refuse to see his doctor? Doesn't he want to get better?" Nick questioned.

"I think that maybe he knew he was getting worse... but yet he wanted to come back to work. He must have known that if the doctor saw him, he'd either be sent to a hospital, or told to go back home for a few more weeks," Sara suggested.

Just then, the doctor walked in.

"He's woken up. Luckily, this wasn't a major setback, but it still could have been avoided if Greg had just come in for the check-up," the doctor explained.

"Can we see him?" Sara asked.

The doctor shook his head.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. He's getting worse, possibly because he's missed a few doses of medication. A few days before, he called one of the nurses, claiming that he needed a refill of the prescription picked up. The nurse didn't even get topick upthe prescription, so he's only been on one set of medication for the past few days, and I'm just found this out now. If the nurse had bothered to tell me of this at the time, I would have noted that it's too soon for a refill and he most likely lost some of his medication," the doctor explained.

"Lost some of his medication?" Nick gulped.

"It's a possibility, and if it's the case, it's going to pro-long the treatment process. I think it would be best if he was kept in the hospital, and kept a few more days under quarantine. You all do realize that since he came back to work after missing some of his doses, he still might have been able to transmit the bacteria. Anyone who's had contact with him today will have to undergo another test."

"But Greg is going to be okay right?" Warrick asked.

The doctor nodded. "As long as he's kept here where it is made sure that he gets all of his medication."

"Where am I?" Greg asked a nurse who was in the same room as him.

"The hospital. You collapsed while you were working," she replied.

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"I'm not sure. You'll have to ask a doctor about that. Now I've had strict orders to make sure that you're eating, so what do you want? I'll bring up something up from the cafeteria," the nurse explained.

"Hospital food? Can't you run to the store and get me a bag of chips?" Greg joked.

He began to cough.

"Drink this. The doctor told me to give this to you if you started coughing," the nurse extended her hand and held out a glass of cloudy water. It probably had some medication crushed up in it.

Greg took a sip and felt as if he was going to gag.

"That tastes awful! What is it? Ground up chalk in water?" he asked.

"Don't you want to get better? You have to drink it, and tell me what you want to eat."

Greg took a few more sips from the glass and asked if the nurse would bring him up a hamburger. She nodded and left him to go get it.

"Well I guess I won't be heading back to work anytime soon..." Greg said out loud to himself once the nurse was gone.

Not too long after, the nurse returned, and Greg saw that she was carrying a salad and not a hamburger.

"Let me guess, they are all out of the good food? And I need something to drink," Greg told her.

"That's what that glass of water I gave you was for. And the cafeteria doesn't have any hamburgers made," the nurse replied.

"Chalk water and salad? Yum yum, this is the best dinner I've eaten in ages," Greg tried to laugh but he started coughing again.

The nurse faked a smile despite the fact she was started to get slightly annoyed.

"Just drink your water, okay?" she said before turning to walk away.

"If you're going out... could you run to Mc. Donalds and pick me up a Happy Meal?" Greg asked.

The nurse didn't even turn around to acknowledge him as he went into the waiting room to speak with the doctor who was talking to Nick, Grissom, Warrick and Sara.

"He's still coughing, so maybe you should go get him some more 'chalk water' as he called it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get him a Happy Meal from Mc. Donalds!" the nurse told the doctor sarcastically.

A smile fell upon Grissom, Nick, Warrick and Sara's faces.

"That's our Greggo," Nick laughed.

The doctor went in to Greg's hospital room tocheck on himand saw him trying to reach for a tissue as he continued coughing.

"Here, let me get that for you," the doctor said as he walked over and handed Greg a tissue.

"Thanks," Greg replied as he started to cough into it.

Blood.

"Umm..." he held up the tissue.

"Mr. Sanders, could you of by any chance misplaced or lost some of you medication?" the doctor questioned.

Greg shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so."

"Well why didn't you call? And why didn't you return my call when I wanted to see you for a check up before you returned to work?"

"I don't know," Greg replied sheepishly.

The doctor sighed. This conversation wasn't going anywhere.

"You have to be put under quarantine for a few more days. A week tops. You would have been able to return to work if you'd only called me... and not let this get worse," the doctor explained. Greg nodded.

For a moment, neither of them spoke until Greg broke the silence.

"Am I going to be okay?"

"If you keep taking your medication you will. I'm not going to lie to you. It'll take around 6 to 9 months to get rid of this. You'll be in the hospital for the next month, and if I see any major improvements after then, you'll be allowed to return home. Once you're home, I don't want you to return to work just yet. I want you to take it easy for another week or so, but you'll be able to have people visit you, by that time, you shouldn't have to worry about transmitting this. After you have a week or two of relaxation time at home, you'll be allowed to return to work, but I'll have to have a talk with your supervisor and make sure that you aren't given anything to strenuous to do," the doctor outlined.

"So I'm here for a whole month?" Greg questioned.

The doctor nodded.

"Also, you won't be able to have any visitors for a week. Then after that you'll be able to have family members, and a few of your close friends. We're unsure if you are still contagious, so for a week you'll be put in quarantine, and the only people in here will be doctors and nurses."

Greg sighed. He hated quarantine.

***

Chapter 7 - I Must Be Dreaming

Greg awoke to dead silence. Silence in his room, silence in the halls, the entire hospital was silent. It was almost as if he was the only one there.

His finger pressed down on his call button, but after waiting 10 minutes he realized that no one was coming.

Curiosity over took him and he rose from the hospital bed, slowly making his way over to the door. He peered his head outside to get a glimpse of the hallway, but he saw nothing. No nurses, no patients... nothing. One slow step at a time he made his way into the hallway. The floor was ice cold on his bare feet.

The walls in the hallway were painted a paleghost white, the floor was tiled in the same shade and the ceiling as well. The lighting in the hallway was dim and gave everything a slightly yellowish tint. Off in the distance, at the far end of the hallway he saw something. It was a light glowing withthe mostvibrant shade of white.

He felt drawn to the light, the rays that it gave off were warm and Greg wanted more than anything just to walk into it. Putting one foot in front of the other, he made his way closer and closer to the source of the light. The closer he got, the warmer he felt. The warmer he felt the more he wanted to get closer.

He started to hear quiet murmurs, coming from the direction of the light. As he got closer the murmurs got clearer and it sounded like a bunch of people having a large conversation filled with laughter and happiness.

Just as he thought he was about to reach the source of the light, something stopped him. A large glass wall. On the other side of the wall he saw the lab, and everyone was seated around a large table smiling and laughing. Their conversation was somewhat muted, but he could pick out bits and pieces.

"I'm sure glad that Greg is gone. His childish antics were so annoying," Grissom said with a huge smile on his face.

The rest of them laughed until Ecklie came into the room.

"Guess what I have," he announced with an unusual cheery voice as he held up a large piece of slate, "I got Greg's tombstone today!"

Everyone roared with laughter.

"No... this can't be happening... I'm not... I can't be..." Greg said out loud to himself.

He began tapping on the glass. "Hey! Can you hear me? I'm not dead! You guys!"

His friends didn't see or hear him, and continued laughing.

"Hey look everyone! I bought a mini-skirt!" Sara smiled as she got up to show everyone.

Greg slumped down onto the floor. He turned around and saw that there was something heading in his direction. Inch by inch, the hallway was becoming engulfed in a cold blackness. Inch by inch, it was getting closer to him.

"You guys! Please! You have to hear me! Please help!" Greg grew frantic as the blackness came closer.

He began pounding his fists onto the glass, hoping that he would knock it down, but it didn't budge.

Suddenly, he felt a tickle rising in his throat.

No... not now... he thought.

Soon enough, the tickle grew into a full on coughing attack. He tried to continue hitting the wall in an attempt to break it, but his coughing made it that much harder.

He felt a pain deep inside of him as he continued to cough, clutching his chest. The sounds of his coughing echoed through the hall. The cold blackness drew near.

More than anything he wanted to scream, but his coughing made that impossible. The more he tried to stop, the more he coughed. After moments of this torture, Greg decided that he just didn't have the strength to fight anymore. He looked up and saw that the darkness was just inches away from him. It felt as if icy hands were just waiting to snatch him into the cold unknown.

Greg closed his eyes as a scream finally escaped him.

"Mr. Sanders! Mr. Sanders, wake up! You're having a bad dream," a nurse who was in the room with him said. Greg opened his eyes to see that he was in his hospital room again, only this time he wasn't alone and it wasn't silent. He let out a sigh of relief.

It was just a dream... just a horrible, terrifying dream...

"His body is starting to resist the medication..." the doctor explained to Grissom.

Grissom had come in to get an update on Greg for the rest of the lab, since Ecklie had told them that they all couldn't go in at once when they had to work.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Grissom asked.

"We'll have to ease him onto another type of medication, and just hope that his body doesn't resist that as well."

"And if his body does resist to it?" Grissom was almost too afraid to ask.

The doctor sighed. "He won't get better."

Grissom felt a lump forming in his throat. He still felt guilty that Greg was the one in that hospital bed and not him. Either of them could have picked up that tissue, and Grissom wanted more than anything to turn back the clock to change it so that Greg never would have gone near it.

He nodded as the doctor walked away.

***

Chapter 8 - See The Doctor Frown

Greg was told later on in the week that his body had been resisting to the previous medication. He was also told that if his body resisted to the new medication, then he wouldn't get better. Because of the medication switch, Greg's quarantine was extended another week. He wanted the people who cared about him to be with him during this time of need, but he didn't want them to catch what he had and suffer the way he was.

Greg feared sleep after the nightmare that he had, he was scared that the second he closed his eyes it would return. He became even more frightened when the doctor told him that the new medication would make him drowsy. Every time that he would feel like he was about to fall asleep, he did whatever he could to fight it. He didn't want sleep. He didn't want the nightmare.

I wonder if that's how they really feel? he thought to himself. I wonder if they are all glad that this happened to me. I wonder if they are all waiting for the phone call that tells them that I'm never coming back.

"No, that's crazy," Greg said out loud, despite the fact that he wasn't alone in the room. The nurse who was in there gave him a funny look, but Greg paid no attention and returned to his thoughts.

I wonder if they miss me.

His thoughts were interrupted when the doctor came in.

"I'm just here to do a quick check up. You'll have to come with me so you can have another x-ray done. I want to see how much of the bacteria is in your lungs," the doctor explained.

Greg slowly got himself out of the bed and walked out behind the doctor. After the x-ray was taken, he was told he could go back to his room, but instead Greg stayed.

"I need to ask you something..." Greg began. The doctor turned around to face him again.

"Honestly. What are the chances that I'm going to survive? I mean... are the chances high that my body will reject this new set of medication as well?" Greg questioned.

The doctor sighed, and for a moment he didn't speak.

The look in Greg's eyes signaled that he wasn't going to leave before he got an answer. "The chance that your body will take this medication isn't very high."

Greg nodded and returned back to his room without saying another word. He had hoped that the doctor would have told him something more positive. He laid on his bed, trying not to think about what would happen if the new medication didn't work when the telephone on the side of his bed rang.

He leaned over and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"It's Grissom, I got the number when I called the front desk. How are you holding up?"

The real reason that Grissom had called was to let Greg know how he'd been feeling. Lately, he couldn't do anything without being overwhelmed with guilt. He felt responsible for what happened to Greg because he was the one that had helped process the scene. He felt that the only way he'd overcome the guilt was to tell Greg how he felt, and just hope that eventually he got better.

"Pretty good," Greg lied, he wanted to tell Grissom what the doctor had told him, but he didn't want to get everyone worried so he kept it to himself.

"That's good," Grissom replied.

Grissom just couldn't bring himself to say it. He wasn't the type of person who let all of his feelings flow easily. As long as Greg was doing better, that's all that mattered, and not the fact that he felt extremely guilty. After the conversation ended, Greg wished that he had told Grissom the truth. He knew that he didn't want everyone to be worried, but he also knew that by lying he was filling them with false hope.

"Warrick, is something on your mind?" Catherine asked.

"No... what makes you think that?" Warrick replied.

Catherine looked down at what Warrick was doing. He was dusting for fingerprints with a swab.

"Oh, damn!" he exclaimed when he saw was he was doing.

He looked at the swab in his hand and flung it across the room.

"Listen, it's okay to be worried about Greg..." Catherine tried to say but Warrick cut her off.

"No, it's not okay when it's affecting my work. What if there were prints there? What if Ecklie finds out?" Warrick asked.

"No one is going to tell Ecklie, and if our killer left prints there, there are probably prints somewhere else," she tried to reassure him.

One very long week later, Greg was very eager to get to see everyone again. He was sleeping most of the time because of the new medication, but when a nurse told him that it was the day his quarantine was lifted, he tried his hardest to stay awake.

Greg watched the door for hours. Just waited for the second that his friends would open it and come in to visit him. He wanted them there more than anything. He knew that if they could be there with him, then he could have the strength to keep fighting and not let the disease beat him.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw the knob turning, but he was disappointed when the only thing he saw was a doctor. Greg examined the look on the doctor's face.

He was frowning. It was never good to see a doctor frown.

"Are my friends here to see me?" Greg asked hopefully. Just praying that they were in the waiting room, and that any second they would come in.

The doctor shook his head.

"They aren't coming. They can't. I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

***

Chapter 9 - Slipping Away

"I'm sorry," the doctor began.

Greg felt his heart skip another beat. He knew what the doctor was going to say. It was obvious by the look on his face. He was going to say that Greg's body had resisted to the new kind of medication, and that he wasn't going to get off of quarantine. He wasn't going to get better.

Soon, Greg learned that it wasn't all the doctor had come in to say. Results from the x-ray had come back, and showed that the tuberculosis had spread throughout Greg's body. It was like a cancer, spreading and taking over.

The worst part of it all is that he knew he was going to die alone. He couldn't be in the presence of everyone who cared about him. It was just like his dream. He was being taken into the dark unknown, he was all by himself, and there was nothing anyone could do.

"How long do I have left?" Greg had to force his lips to form the words.

The doctor sighed. "A few weeks... a month... a year, it's not really something that can be predicted. It all depends on how quickly the bacteria is spreading."

Great, Greg thought, I'm going to die, and I have to suffer all that time, all alone.

Greg asked if he could be left alone, and the doctor quietly walked out. One by one, tears began to fall down his cheeks. He didn't want to die.

His friends at the lab found out about Greg's condition the next day. A feeling of sorrow fell upon each of them as they tried to contain their tears as they worked. Even Ecklie felt the tears building behind his eyes. He felt awful about what he'd said to Nick. He'd called what was happening with Greg unimportant, and now he was finding out that Greg was going to die.

Grissom took it the hardest. He blamed himself for all of it. If only he'd been the one to pick up the tissue, then Greg wouldn't be in the hospital, all alone, awaiting his demise.

Both Sara and Catherine fell into a state of denial. Refusing to believe that this was happening. They thought that any second, the doctor was going to call again and let them know that Greg was fine. But the call never came.

All of Warrick's emotion was turned into raw anger. Anger towards everyone else for being so sad, anger towards the case that he couldn't solve, and anger towards the doctors for not being able to save Greg's life. He wanted more than anything to cry like the others, but anger was the way he let out his feelings.

Nick withdrew himself completely. He knew what it felt like to be staring death in the eye. He knew what it felt like to be all alone, and want more than anything to see the people that he cared about. Greg was going through the same thing that he did when he was buried alive, but with one difference. Nick survived that, and Greg was going to die.

One by one, they called him and said their goodbyes. It was an emotional time for each of them, including Warrick who finally shed a tear as he talked to Greg.

When it was Grissom's turn to speak, he was unsure of what he was going to say. He had lost a CSI before, Holly Gribbs. When she died he told himself that he wouldn't let that happen to another CSI ever again...

"Greg... I'm sorry," he began.

"Why? You have nothing to be sorry for," Greg was confused.

Grissom sighed, and decided that it was now or never.

"The tissue. We were working on the same case, and you picked up the tissue. If I had been the one to pick it up, then I would be in your place and you would have been okay."

Greg was unsure of how to reply.

"Grissom, it's not your fault, and I wouldn't rather having you in this position. There was no way you could have known that the tissue was infected, and there was no way that you could have stopped it," he explained, "don't blame yourself for this. It's just my time."

Grissom agreed.

After the phone calls, the team returned back to working on their cases. None of them wanted to leave the lab, in fear that while they were gone the doctor would call again and let them know that Greg was gone.

"Okay... so this is where she was murdered... but why is there blood spatter all the way in the other room?" Nick asked Sara who was working on the case with him.

The grim reality had sunk in with her a week later, and the only thing that was on her mind was Greg. She didn't want him to die.

"I... I don't know," she replied quietly as she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She slowly reached down her hand, expecting the worst.

"Hello," her voice shook as she answered it.

It was Grissom.

"You and Nick have to come back to the lab right now."

Sara burst into tears. She knew why they had to go back.

The two of the returned to the lab in silence. Both of them suppressing the tears that they wanted to shed. Neither of them wanted this to happen to Greg.

When they arrived at the lab, everyone was seated in Grissom's office, and the phone was on the table in between them.

Catherine quietly got up and took Nick and Sara into the hallway to explain what was going on.

"The doctor called. Greg... he... he wanted to talk to us all again. He's in there on speaker phone... and by the sound of his voice, he doesn't have much longer."

The three of them quickly returned to Grissom's office.

Everyone was crying.

"Greg?" Sara asked.

He didn't reply.

Sara knew what happened, she could tell by the look on everyone's faces, the tears in their eyes.

"No..." she whispered.

A doctor soon came on the line to explain that Greg had passed away.

When the shift ended, they all returned to their vehicles in silence and drove off, listening to the Avril Lavigne song that was being played on the radio.

Na na, na nana na na

I miss you, miss you so bad

I don't forget you, oh it's so sad

I hope you can hear me

I remember it clearly

The day you slipped away

Was the day I found

It won't be the same, oh

Na na,

na nana na na

I didn't get around to kiss you,

goodbye on the hand

I wish that I could see you again,

I know that I can't,

I hope you can hear me

I remember it clearly

The day, you, slipped away

Was the day I found

it won't be the same, ooh

I have had my wake up

Won't you wake up.

I keep asking why.

I can't take it

It wasn't fake.

It happened you passed by.

Now you're gone

now you're gone

There you go

There you go

Somewhere I can't bring you back

Now you're gone

now you're gone

There you go

There you go

Somewhere you're not coming back

The day, you, slipped away

Was the day I found

it won't be the same,

No, the day you slipped away

Was the day I found it won't be the same, oh

Na na, na nana na na

I miss you

***

A/N: And that's all folks. The song used at the end is "Slipped Away" by Avril Lavigne for anyone that didn't know. And I'm terribly sorry for how I ended this, but that's just what my muse told me(and the evil monkey), anyways, I hope you liked it:)