Cringe... another dialogue-heavy chapter. (And just for the avoidance of any doubt, this follows on from the previous chapter so still 'Two Days Earlier'...)
CHAPTER THREE
"Poor family," Kensi spoke quietly to Deeks as they left the marine base after meeting with Mrs Briggs and her son.
"Yeah," Deeks agreed, serious for once. "And if the Wonder Twins are right, the package wasn't even meant for him. That really sucks!"
"Permanently blind…. That sucks for anyone, intended or not," Kensi said. They walked soberly back towards the car. They were just getting in when Kensi's phone rang, and seeing it was Eric again, she answered it on the first ring. "Hang on, slow down Eric! Let me put you on speaker so Deeks can hear too," she said, placing the phone on the dash so she could do her seatbelt and start manoeuvring the car out of the car park as she spoke.
"Callen and Sam need back up," Eric explained, some urgency in his tone.
"Back up?" Deeks queried. "Where, what's going on?"
"North of the city, the warehouse district," Eric informed them, starting to prattle as he always did when worried. "They were supposed to be picking up Henderson for questioning, but Callen's comm doesn't seem to be working properly, and Sam says it looks like Henderson has got himself a hostage, and now there's a second shooter too. Callen's trying to rescue the hostage and apprehend Henderson, but Sam is split between backing him up, and keeping back a bunch of civilians who seem hell bent on a suicide mission. Sam says they're totally disregarding that shots have been fired, and are trying to help him rescue the hostage, but honestly they're more hindrance than help..."
"Shots fired?" Kensi echoed, concerned. "Are Callen and Sam okay?"
"Sam thinks Callen took a hit, but he lost sight of him shortly after."
"Lost sight of him… What do you mean, lost sight of him?" Deeks demanded. "Why is Callen going after Henderson alone? Why not wait for back up? And what the hell are the civilians playing at?"
"Well everyone is all riled up," Eric said, delivering the blow. "The hostage Henderson has is a young boy."
"Son of a… What the hell happened here?" Deeks exclaimed as they pulled up outside the warehouse almost half an hour later. They had been on their way when Eric had updated them that Callen and Sam had already been taken away by ambulance, and told them Hetty wanted them to take a first look at the scene. LAPD had secured the perimeter, and they flashed their badges as they ducked under the tape.
"It was lucky Sam managed to keep all the civilians back," Kensi agreed, looking at the fallout from the explosion. The building structures themselves were unharmed, but a lot of debris and rubble from roofing tiles had been pushed in the direction of the more populated area.
"Except for Callen and the boy…" Deeks agreed. "No casualties. Very lucky."
"Let's see if we can find any sign of Henderson," Kensi said, picking her way forward over the rubble towards the warehouse. They hadn't gone more than a few yards before they were prevented from continuing by a HazMat official, suited and masked, who started to talk animatedly with Deeks, while Kensi walked a wider arc, looking at the building from a different angle. Eventually Deeks joined her.
"We can't do anything else here right now," he said disgustedly. "The whole building has been sealed, and HazMat are clearing the air inside it. Apparently whatever exploded released a load of toxic fumes!" Kensi paled.
"Let's ring Ops, and see if there's any word on Callen and Sam," she said quietly, and Deeks gently touched her shoulder whilst getting his phone out of a back pocket.
"Eric? Any news?" he said, when Eric picked up at the first ring. "What's going on?"
"Well, Sam's been given the all clear. Hetty arrived at the hospital even before they did, so they're both waiting there…. Callen is in surgery."
"Surgery?" Kensi asked with concern.
"To remove the bullet. He was shot. It went into his ribs. I don't think it's anything major. I mean, it is major, because he's in surgery, but it's not like last time…." Eric drifted off.
"What about the fumes?" Kensi said.
"I don't know yet!" Eric said with frustration. "Sam and Hetty aren't answering their phones, Nell is still trying both of them – I guess we'll know more when they do?" he finished a little lamely.
"Thanks Eric," said Deeks, ending the call. Kensi was quiet, and Deeks touched his hand to her shoulder again. "He'll be okay," he said quietly. "I mean, it's Callen, isn't it. He's like the original superhero. Superman, Spiderman, no, wait, Batman. Maybe all of them rolled into one."
"Oh yeah," said Kensi, grateful for her partner's joking to alleviate the tension she felt inside. "And what does that make Sam?"
"Good point," mused Deeks. "He's got the Challenger. That must make him Batman, y'know, with the Bat-Mobile?"
"I'm sure Callen will be thrilled that you've demoted him to Robin," Kensi chuckled, getting into the car.
"Wait! No, that's not what I meant. Kensallina? Let's not tell Sam and Callen about this conversation, okay?" Deeks back-pedalled rapidly, climbing in beside his partner. "Ops, or hospital?"
"Let's swing by the hospital to check in with Sam and Hetty, and we can decide what to do from there," Kensi decided, swinging out onto the road.
"Sam!" Kensi cried out, running towards him. She stopped a pace away, taking in the dust on his clothes and his overall weariness, reaching out to embrace him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he replied shortly, and then, hugging her back, softening it, "Sorry, Kens. I'm fine. I'm just worried about G."
"How is he?" Kensi asked, almost at the same time as Deeks, joining them, demanded, "What the hell happened?"
"God knows," Sam sighed, still reeling from the earlier events which had all happened so quickly. He wasn't sure he had really processed it all yet. "Callen's in surgery, but he shouldn't be too much longer. Hetty's waiting down there, I came up to get her a cup of tea. She's pretty shaken, not that she'd admit it."
"We all are," Kensi sympathised. "I'm just glad you're okay. And Callen will be too, right?"
"I hope so," Sam said blackly, and Kensi looked worried at the heaviness in his tone. "He didn't look good."
"Let's go and find Hetty," Deeks suggested, striving for lightness. "There's no point assuming the worst up here." Sam and Kensi nodded, and they all quietly returned to the theatre floor. Double doors at the far end of the corridor were opened as they arrived, and Sam could see Callen being pushed on a gurney by three medical personnel, a myriad of pipes and tubes surrounding him. Hetty appeared at their sides, and they all watched in silence as Callen was wheeled past them. He was pale, and a small cut on his forehead had been stuck over with butterfly strips. There were bandages on both arms, and an IV tube going into his right hand. A clip on his finger and pads stuck to his chest connected to monitors displaying pulsating green lines and sounding an echoing beep that rung in their ears long after he was gone and the corridor was empty. Far more troubling was the ventilator still breathing for him. Hetty took in a sharp gasp, almost imperceptible, her poise quickly recovered as she turned towards the surgeon following Callen.
"Are you here for Agent Callen?" the surgeon asked, and they all nodded, still shocked to silence by what they had seen. "Come this way," the man said gently, and his tone did nothing to make any of them feel more at ease. They all settled into a small family room, with comfortable chairs. A room where many people had spent many hours waiting for news, good or bad.
"The good news," the surgeon began, "is that the bullet to his arm did very little damage. I see he's no stranger to being shot…" Sam almost smirked. "He'll need to rest the arm to allow the muscle to heal, but I'm confident there'll be no long term effects. He'll be sore from where the bullet lodged in a rib and cracked it, but again we've repaired the damage, and bar a small risk of infection in the bone, which we're treating with strong antibiotics, there is little to be concerned about long term."
"I sense some bad news," Hetty sat up straight, unemotional, a pillar of composure and strength in front of her team.
"Certainly some 'less than good news'," the surgeon agreed. "I understand you don't know the exact nature of the fumes he was exposed to as yet?" Hetty shook her head as the surgeon continued. "It is the bigger concern. It appears to have had a paralysing effect on his lungs. Now I must stress," he looked around at the four worried faces fixed on him, "we believe this to be temporary, but in order to give his lungs a chance, we will be keeping him sedated and on a ventilator. We'll continue to monitor closely, and that along with how he is when he wakes up will give us a better idea of what to expect going forward. It's possible he may have some permanent lung damage, but it's far too early to be looking at worst case scenarios yet. I'm afraid it'll be a bit of a waiting game over the next few days."
"Can we see him?" Sam asked hoarsely.
"Of course," the surgeon replied. "Give them a few more minutes to settle him up in the ICU, and then you can sit with him as much as you like, though I must request only two people in his room at a time whilst he is still sedated." They all nodded their thanks as the surgeon held the door for them and they trooped out, none of them wanting to make eye contact with each other. Kensi slipped her hand in Deeks' and he squeezed it reassuringly. They made their way up to Callen's room, and found him alone. They all hovered in the doorway, still trying to reconcile with the sight of their fallen team leader and friend in front of them.
"We'll just go in and quickly say hi," Kensi said quietly. "And then we'll leave you two with him. Okay?"
"Thank you, Ms Blye," Hetty acknowledged, and Sam nodded.
"How did this happen, Hetty," he said, rhetorically, the two of them sinking wearily down into chairs that lined the corridor outside Callen's door.
"I don't know, Mr Hanna," she replied. "But for now, it is not important. For now, we wait, and pray for Mr Callen."