I'm sorry for the way the last one ended, but hopefully this makes it up
Disclaimer: I don't own *crying*
"Callen where is she? Is she okay? Please tell me she is okay!" Eric yelled as he made his way up to Sam, Callen, Deeks and Kensi in the waiting room of the hospital. Before Callen replied Sam and Callen shared a look
"She's alive, but barely." Callen replied wary to his reaction. "She's a tough girl Eric, they said she should have died from her injuries hours ago, but when we found her, she was still fighting. She's in surgery now, they are trying to determine the extent of her injuries."
His comments broke him, to hear that she was barely hanging onto life. What had those bastards done to her? As he zoned out to the rest of Callen's explanation he fell into the chair behind him. What if he could never say all of the things he wanted to say to her? What if she never came back to him? What if he never heard her sweet voice telling him to calm down? Or if – no he refused to think of this anymore. He had to be there for her when she woke up. Not alongside her in a hospital bed.
"Family of Ms Jones?" The doctor asked as he passed through the door of the waiting room, exhausted after spending hours in surgery.
"Yeah that us doc.?" Callen replied, approaching him, with Eric right on his heels, eager to latch on to every bit of detail.
The doctor frowned but continued none the less as he figured it would be easier to deal with them then that little ninja, who gave him grief last time. "She's stable for now, she just came out of surgery, and she suffered internal bleeding from multiple shots taken to the ribs. One of her ribs broke and punctured a small hole in her lung. I don't know how she lasted as long as you said she did, or how she managed to climb up those stairs. But she is definitely a fighter."
Eric stared at him in horror, this wasn't where she was meant to be, she should have just stayed in at ops, working alongside him. "Can we see her?" He asked, gesturing to the four of them surrounding him.
"She is in ICU currently and only one visitor at a time, we are hopeful that she will wake up within the next few hours." The good doctor replied. "Who would like to be first?"
After a few looks shared and a bit of gentle nudging, Eric found himself making his way up to her room with Doctor Allen.
"Alright here we are. I'll give you some time." Dr. Allen stated as he lead the young man into her room.
"Thankyou" Eric replied automatically, but only having his eyes on Nell. She looked so vulnerable with all of the tubes and wires hooked up to her. He had never seen her like this and it killed him. She shouldn't be lying here like this. Maybe it was him who had pushed her to this. Oh God if it was him, he would never forgive himself.
It had seemed like forever had past as he sat in the chair next to Nell's bed, when the rest of the team came up to see her. "Hey Eric, how you holding up man?" Deeks asked as they crowded around her bed, each saying their own words of encouragement.
"I'm okay, I just need to stay with her for a while."
"Okay, we will leave you guys for a while and we will be back in the morning to check on you two. Alright?" Deeks said, assuring the technician.
He had no idea what time it was, but something throughout the night had awoken him from his sleep in the uncomfortable hospital chair. The sound came again as he looked around the room, taking in where he was.
"Nell?" Eric wondered aloud as he peered at her. "Nell, hey come on, wake up for me."
"Mmmm Eric" She breathed as she came into consciousness, groaning as her muscles protested whatever little movements she was doing. "Where am I?"
"Hey, you're at the hospital, after the mission went south, we had to bring you here." He rambled on, glad that she was awake and talking. "I'm just going to message the team, we were all so worried about you. I thought you were gone." He sobbed.
As Nell's eyes widened she replied "I wouldn't leave you like that Beale."
"I know, it's just there is so much that I want to tell you, I just can't seem to find the ri-"
"I love you!" Nell interjected, effectively cutting him off, making him drop his phone. "I can't think of any other way to say it other than I. Love. You."
"Nell" He whispered shocked about her confession. He grabbed onto the chance to say what his heart had been telling him for a long time. "I love you too. I love you so much and I thought I would never get to say those words to you and it killed me. I'm so sorry it took me so long to say it."
As Eric leaned over her to press the call button for the nurse, to alert them that she was awake, Nell leaned over and whispered in his ear, ignoring the agony in her stomach. "Remember that, I love you." He shivered at their proximity but it only made him want her more. As he pulled back, he caught her face and brought her lips to his for the sweetest kiss she had experienced in her life. Any pain that she was feeling, miraculously disappeared and any fears she had where whisked away with them. They pulled back from each other, only when they ran out of air and he couldn't contain the smile that crossed his face. He had finally said those words that had haunted his dreams for the last few days.
"Now, how are you actually feeling?" He asked her when he had settled back into his chair and had messaged the team.
"I'm really sore. How long was I down there for?" She replied confused as to the details and why he wasn't looking at her. "Hey, Beale, tell me"
"Well, after they took you, I lost track of them and well-I couldn't find you, they were keeping you hidden in a house that was completely off the grid. It took me days to find you, I couldn't sleep until I knew that you were ok. I'm so sorry!" He replied as tears leaked down his face.
"Days…" She whispered softly "I don't blame you Beale, there was nothing you could do for me, I wasn't paying attention to them I was day dreaming and they surprised me."
"But I left you in their hand for 2 days, I couldn't find you." He responded guiltily, blaming himself.
"But you did find me." She said holding up a hand to stop him from continuing. "Now stop this pity party, I need MY Beale back. The one who did find me!"
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