Thanks so much for your support, as always :)
xxxxx
The paramedics secured Callen onto the stretcher and prepared to transport him into the ambulance.
"Where are you taking him?" Sam asked anxiously, his eyes on his partner who now had an oxygen mask on his face.
"We're going to take him to the UCLA Medical Center. They have one of the top neurology departments in the United States. It's his best chance."
"He's my partner. Can I ride with him?" Sam pleaded with the paramedic who had answered his previous question.
The paramedic hesitated for a few moments then nodded. "Sure, you can come along."
Sam turned to Kensi and Deeks. "Can you take care of Madison?"
"Of course Sam," Kensi answered. "We'll meet you at the hospital after we drop him off."
"Thanks guys." Sam gave them a grim nod then headed into the ambulance after his partner. The doors were then closed and a few moments later the ambulance left the area.
"Come on," Deeks said, grabbing Madison's arm roughly, causing him to whine pitifully. "You'd better hope he pulls through this or I'll really give you something to whine about."
xxxxx
They sat in the small waiting room, none of them speaking, just silently waiting for news. They were all there, Sam, Hetty, Kensi, Deeks, Eric and Nell. The only sounds were an occasional clearing of someone's throat or a muffled cough. None of them had any words. They were each caught up in his or her own private thoughts. No one spoke at all until a grim-faced doctor came into the room. Six sets of eyes looked at him anxiously and Sam immediately got to his feet. "How is he?"
"Miraculously, he's still alive," the doctor said. "Right now he's been intubated and will be transferred to the ICU so he can be closely monitored."
"But how is he?" Sam persisted. "Is he going to be alright?"
"I can't tell you that," he doctor answered quietly. "We're not sure how long he was deprived of oxygen and right now he's in a coma. My best advice would be to hope for the best but prepare for the worst."
"Meaning what?" Hetty asked, finally composing herself enough to speak.
The doctor sighed. "Meaning that even if he does regain consciousness, there are no guarantees to what kind of brain injury he may have sustained."
The team members exchanged looks of dismay, none of them wanting to accept what seemed to be a poor prognosis.
"Well, I for one am not giving up," Hetty stated, looking up at the doctor. "Can I see him?"
"Of course," the doctor said with a nod. "For now, I'd like to limit it to two visitors at a time. And I'm not meaning to sound overly pessimistic. I've seen countless cases which have turned out better than expected over the years. Sometimes the power of love and family can work wonders. Sit with him, talk to him. It's not going to hurt and may help a great deal."
"Well, there's no shortage of love here," Hetty said with a smile. "If that's what it takes, then I think Mr. Callen's chances are very good indeed."
xxxxx
Eric and Nell went into Callen's room first. Nell's eyes immediately brimmed with tears when she saw Callen attached to the various wires and monitors, looking frail and small in the hospital bed. She sat next to Callen and took his hand gently as Eric stood awkwardly beside her. "Callen? It's me, Nell. Eric is here too."
"Hey, Callen," Eric said softly.
Nell sniffled then got her emotions back under control. "Everyone is pulling for you. You just need to fight hard to get through this. We know you can do it and we'll all be with you, every step of the way. We'll do whatever we can to help you."
They stayed there for a little while before Eric gently put his hand on Nell's shoulder. "We should give the others a chance to come in."
Nell nodded, her eyes filling with tears once again as she stood up then leaned down over Callen to give him a kiss on his cheek. "You hang in there...we'll be back to see you soon."
xxxxx
"We should have had a better security system in the bar," Deeks mused quietly, his eyes filled with guilt.
Kensi took his hand and squeezed it. "This isn't your fault, sweetheart. This guy was determined to get to Callen. If it hadn't been there, it would have been somewhere else."
"Still, it was there," Deeks said insistently. "What if he had hurt my mom? We need to beef up security there."
Kensi sighed, then nodded. Roberta's safety was a legitimate concern. "We'll look into it," she said. "But for now, let's just concentrate on Callen and doing whatever we can to help him get well."
"Do you think he will?" Deeks spoke quietly, making sure that Hetty and Sam weren't listening to him. "Get well? The doctor didn't sound very hopeful."
"We need to believe he'll get better," Kensi said. "Doctors don't know everything. We just have to hope and pray he'll get through this."
Deeks nodded. "It's just...sometimes I get so sick of this, Kens...the whackos we're constantly dealing with...the stuff they do...Who even does stuff like this, buries someone alive...I just don't get it. Sometimes I'd just like to run off with you and live together on a private beach where we wouldn't have to worry about anything, just each other and our future children. We'd just be safe and happy there."
"Our own private cocoon?" Kensi asked, smiling. "It's a lovely dream, Deeks and maybe someday it will come true. But for now, I think we need to stay in the real world, just doing the best we can to help keep people safe in whatever little way we can."
Deeks nodded, but he wasn't convinced. They couldn't even keep their own team safe half the time. Like Kensi, he wasn't yet ready to walk away from NCIS, but when stuff like this happened, it made that day seem closer rather than farther away.
xxxxx
Hetty sat with Callen, holding his hand and using all her inner strength to focus on keeping herself together. After Kensi and Deeks had spent some time with him, Sam had told her to take some time Callen alone, before he went in to see his partner. "I'm so sorry this happened to you," Hetty said gently. "You've had a very bad year, my boy and I'll never forgive myself for not being there for you and your team after what happened in Mexico. But this time, no matter what, I'm going to be here for you. You're not going to be alone. We'll all do whatever it takes to help you through it."
It was times like these that she was grateful for the money she had put away. She still had Dovecote and if necessary, she would sell it or do whatever it took to get Callen better. His well being was more important than anything to her. Of course, she knew she was jumping the gun and hated that she was even thinking this way, but sometimes it was hard not to be negative. He'd gone through so much and now here was yet another hurdle to challenge him. It just didn't seem fair. It didn't seem fair at all.
xxxxx
"Hey, buddy." Sam walked over to his partner, his eyes sweeping over the seemingly endless wires attached to him. "Bet you're not liking this too much." He sighed softly and sat down next to his friend, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry you got into this whole mess because of me. I hate that it happened."
Unexpectedly, Sam's eyes filled with tears and he hastily wiped them with the back of his hand. Sometimes he couldn't help but regret some of his life choices. He wondered what his life would have been like if he'd decided on a so-called "safe" career, like a teacher, a lawyer or a doctor. Then again, he would have never met Michelle, never met G. His mind went over the trade offs as he realized he would never trade the happy years he'd had with his wife and children, despite how tragically Michelle's wife had ended. Likewise, his partnership with Callen, except for being a father to his children, was the most important relationship he currently had. "You need to pull through this, G." He took his his hand and squeezed it encouragingly. "You have to."
xxxxx
The next two days passed uneventfully. Callen's condition did not deteriorate, but it didn't seem to improve either. In any case, he was never alone. The team stayed with him in shifts, one or two of them sitting with Callen, playing music, telling him sports scores, funny stories about work or just reading to him. They did everything in their power to hopefully bring about some change, any little sign to tell them that he was on the road to recovery. However, so far their efforts had been fruitless.
xxxxx
"So, my mom is coming over to visit you tomorrow morning," Deeks said. He'd come to sit with Callen after work that day, the third day of Callen's hospitalization. "She's dying to cook for you. Of course, that's not going to happen until you're doing better. I'm not really sure what it is about women wanting to feed people who are sick. I guess it's just that nurturing instinct. Kensi will nurse me when I'm sick, but as you well know, she doesn't exactly have the whole cooking thing going on." He chuckled, imagining Kensi making homemade soup from scratch.
"Momma used to make me the greatest chicken soup when I was home sick from school. Of course, this is just between me and you, but there were times when I'd fake being sick, just to get some of that chicken soup. I don't remember her making it any other time. Maybe she did. I don't know, I'm not sure. If you play your cards right, I bet you can get her to make it for you." Deeks thought about it for a few moments then glanced over at Callen. He started slightly then grabbed for the call button frantically, all thoughts gone from his head except for the fact that Callen's blue eyes were open, frightened-appearing and fixed on Deeks. He quickly took Callen's hand, doing what he could to calm him. "Hey Callen. It's so good to see you awake. Everything's fine. Everything's going to be okay."