Chapter Text
Charlee had been settled into a private room for nearly an hour, but Greg was still lingering in the hallway. Sara and Grissom had spent a few minutes with her before they finally relented and let Catherine take them to the hotel. They had promised to return as soon as possible, but Greg knew Catherine, and she wouldn't drive them back until they'd showered, eaten and rested. But, he also knew Sara who hated being told what to do, so if she decided she was coming back to the hospital then she would - with or without Catherine.
Everything had been going great since he’d made that first call to Sara. They’d quickly fallen back into the habit of nightly phone calls like when they were in college. He’d even started reading bedtime stories to Alex each night. The only subject that seemed to be off limits was anything to do with her fake death, something that Greg willingly ignored feeling that that was a discussion best had in person. Though he had spent nearly every night for the past weeks imaging Charlee’s return to Vegas and their reunion, he hadn’t expected it to be so soon.
Finally, after several suspicious looks from passing hospital staff, he entered the room. Once inside he hesitated by the door. Charlee's face was pale against the stark white of the hospital pillow, marred only by a spattering of cuts and scrapes; the similarities to the last time he saw her, laid out on the morgue table, made him nauseous. Stumbling slightly, he sank into the chair at her bedside. Taking her hand in his, Greg leaned against the bed trying to figure out where their lives had gone so wrong.
Sometime later he woke to the feeling of fingers threading through his hair. His back and neck protested as he straightened to find familiar blue eyes staring back at him - eyes he had feared he’d never see again.
"Hey." Charlee smiled sleepily.
"Hey, yourself." He squeezed her hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I was hit by a car." She joked.
“That’s probably because you were."
"Have you heard anything about Alex yet?"
Greg shook his head sadly. "No. I've been here with you. I expect Catherine will have an update when she brings Grissom and Sara back."
It was a relief that somewhere along the line someone had told her what had happened, he wasn't sure he could. He may have only known about his son for a short time and was struggling with the pain of the situation, he knew it was far worse for her.
"They'll find him." He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt. "We have the best lab in the country, it's what they do."
"I know." she fiddled with the edge of the cast on her arm.
They sat in silence for so long that Greg thought she'd fallen asleep again, but he found her staring back when he looked up.
"I'm sorry.” he apologized. "I shouldn't have asked you to come back. If I had just accepted that you felt it was safer for you both to stay away, then none of this would have happened… you wouldn't be hurt, and Alex would be safe…"
Her hand on his arm stopped him from Continuing. "It's not your fault Greg. If it's who I think, then we were never really safe."
"Phillips?" It was the one name that stood out in the file Catherine had given him. "I thought they finally Caught him and put him in prison. That’s what you said in your letter."
She cringed at the mention of the letter that most likely started the whole chain of events. "The son, the one I was running from, yes, but his father isn't much better…he’s the real reason I went into protection."
The afternoon passed slowly with Charlee drifting in and out of sleep thanks to the pain meds. Each time she woke, crying out for their son, Greg was there to calm her, holding her hand as she drifted back asleep, praying that they would hear from Catherine soon.