Kensi was almost entirely sure that Jack was gone for good this time, and positive that she no longer had any urge to try to find. What she was even more aware of was the fact that her entire midsection was aching and she had to have been hit by a train in addition to the initial accident, because otherwise she wouldn't be hurting this bad. Though, she was lucky. The paramedics at the scene
had told her that it could have been much worse, as if she hadn't already figure that out. The passenger door to the car was gone, blown off by the first impact, but Kensi had thrown herself off to the side at the last second, the combined force from both the speeding car and the hood crashing through the side slamming her into the dashboard but leaving her relatively unharmed. If you could consider multiple broken ribs and extensive facial bruising unharmed...
Jack had been completely unscathed, climbing out of the car on his own before setting off on foot, probably worried that the police would catch up to him. As she watched him go, her voice stuck in her throat, choking her with both the temptation to call out to him and the urge to let him walk away. The other driver had been faintly confused but stayed by her side all the same, going as far as to ride in the ambulance with her on the way to the hospital. However, eventually he fulfilled his duty as a good Samaritan and went home to his family, leaving Kensi alone in a hospital bed, regretting every decision that she'd made in the past week.
I should have slammed the damned door in his face, she thought to herself, though she knew that she didn't really believe it. Having Jack back in her life even for those few, miserable days was enough to put everything into perspective. The fiance that she loved had never come back from serving in the marines, something that she couldn't force through her own head in the days before his diagnosis.
The nurse at the door averted her eyes when Kensi raised a hand to swipe away tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes, somehow sensing that there was something deeper than a traffic accident at play here.
"Miss Miller? Your aunt is at the front desk. Is it alright if I send her up?"
Hetty, of course. Kensi probably shouldn't have used one of her established aliases, one that came with a next of kin attached, but she hadn't been thinking clearly and creating a new person on the spot came with its own disadvantages. Besides, she'd been considering telling Hetty everything anyway. The older woman was far less likely to fly off the handle than the agents on her team, and she may even be able to help.
"Yeah, I'd like to see her," she said quietly, nodding to the nurse.
Almost instinctively, she pulled at the damned hospital gown, trying to manipulate it into covering more of her body in the hope of manufacturing as much self confidence as she could before she had to face her boss. Hetty was an intimidating woman when she wanted to be, and Kensi never like to appear vulnerable in front of her. Not that Hetty would ever hold it against her.
In fact, Hetty was far from the picture of a stern operations manager when she turned up at the foot of her bed, stiff with panic but otherwise keeping her composure.
"My dear girl," she whispered, surprised at the extent of her injuries. The hospital hadn't specified while they were on the phone, leading Hetty to suspect that it had been minor. Her hand reached out instinctively, ghosting over her agent's bruised face, taking care not press too hard. Kensi looked down at the blankets that had fallen so that they only covered her knees, avoiding the operation manager's eyes at all costs. The shorter woman sat at the edge of the bed and waited for the junior agent to acknowledge her, hoping that she would feel comfortable telling her the truth.
Not for the first time, Hetty wondered if she'd made a mistake. She'd known that Jack was searching for Kensi, and no one got to her agents if she didn't allow them to. Initially, there was some doubt about the effect that he would have on her only female agent. A strict background check had shown that Jack's prescriptions had been left unfilled and revealed a short stay in a rehabilitation facility. But Hetty also knew how much it would mean to Kensi for Jack to seek her out. Even if the two didn't end up reconciling, they at least deserved some closure.
Now, she wasn't so sure. This reunion seemed to have yielded disastrous results.
"Where is Jack, Kensi?" she asked faintly, hoping that both the use of her first name and the initial shock of learning just how much her boss knew would somehow get through to the younger woman.
Kensi swallowed visibly, but didn't answer, still staring intently at her lap. Shame welled in her throat, unable to be tampered down anymore. Of course Hetty knew.
"He's gone," she answered finally, silently hoping that she wasn't lying and Jack really hadn't gone back to her home, though now that she thought about it, he had to go back to get his wallet at the very least. "I don't think that he would hang around after that."
"I should think not. Assaulting a federal agent is a very serious offense."
Blinking slowly, trying to process the older woman's words, Kensi raised her head to meet Hetty's eyes for the first time in what felt like days. "There was no assault, Hetty. It was an accident."
"Miss Blye."
"A car accident," she clarified, knowing how ridiculous it sounded even to her own ears. Over the course of the few days, she'd had to lie through her teeth to the people that her well enough to know when she was lying, but now they were expected to believe her? "Jack was drunk, but he didn't do this."
Large, owlish eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "I wish I'd known that before I asked your teammates to find him. Mr. Deeks was considerably upset."
And if she didn't get a hold of them soon, Jack would be too.
