"Hetty, should I arrest the team now?" he asked in a shocked tone, stepping into the makeshift tunnel bridging the space between the hallway and the quarantine area. " Are you worried that they have another agenda? What if they kill Deeks or let him die to cover something up? I can't just stand by and let them!" Callen tried not to raise his voice, but this didn't make sense.
"In a nutshell, Mr. Callen, this is the team that developed the biochemical that was injected into our Mr. Deeks. However, it had only been tested on animals, and was far from ready. Last week, it seems two vials went missing. These vials contained the only doses large enough for a human, and certainly no one knows if there are any residual effects, even if all traces are removed through the exchange transfusion. It was in the very early stages of trial."
"So one of the doctors on the team is a double agent? Or, do you think they were working as a unit, to split the profit?" Callen tried to wrap his head around this information.
"Good question. Each doctor was given a polygraph last week, and all passed. But, we all know agents are trained in how to fool those machines. The medical team has been living under in-house arrest until there's a break in the case—partly for their own protection. If it wasn't one of them, then there may be someone else on the inside. We don't know if the original purchaser knows the chemical came from the U.S. but we cannot tip our hand and admit it. That would be suicide in the court of public opinion, and SecNav has threatened to shut us down if we rattle too many cages and jeopardize the country's image. As hard as we have fought against bio-terrorism, we would be open to untold criticism and covert attacks."
"What if the CIA just wants all of this to go away, and orders the team to let Deeks die? Hetty, we have to question the doctors now and figure out if we can trust them."
"What will happen to Marty Deeks in the meantime, Mr. Callen? I am afraid we need them. The CIA director assures Granger that the doctors will do everything in their power to save Deeks, but I want them watched closely. We have not been given complete control over this situation, but we may have to take it."
Stepping back into the isolation room, Callen ignored the questioning stares of Kensi and Sam, and surveyed the doctors. He was familiar with one of them on staff, an Indian lady he had met before when Deeks was shot. She was fitting two new bags of blood into the needles in his arm. He approached her and said as loudly as he dared through the facemask he was wearing, "I need to speak to you in private. It is crucial, and will only take a minute." She nodded and followed him just outside the room.
"Doctor, how is he? What are his chances?" Callen began.
"His chances are not good, but I think you know that. What else?"
"Do you feel the special team is doing everything they can to save him?"
"I know about poisonings, but very little about biochemicals," she said. "I can tell you that so far, there is nothing I disagree with in their treatment plan. I wish there was a simple antidote, but an exchange transfusion is not unheard of for other types of poisoning."
"I need you to scrutinize every move that is made, and let me know if there is any indication that the team is not acting in the best interest of Detective Deeks. It may be a matter of national security. An agent will be in the room at all times. Think you can do that?"
"Absolutely, Agent…"
"Callen."
"OK, Agent Callen, now I need to return to my patient."
Once back in the treatment room, Callen noticed Kensi's hand shaking as it rested on her leg. He caught Sam's eye, and Sam nodded toward Deeks, shaking his head almost imperceptibly.
A drainage tube had been inserted into his abdomen through a small incision. Callen took in the severity of Deeks' injuries, excluding the internal havoc wreaked by the biochemical. His head and face showed signs of swelling and discoloration. Electrodes had been added to his forehead, and there were multiple leads attached to his chest. His left forearm was horribly swollen and bruised, and had a grotesque curve to it. There was a narrow tube draining blood from that same arm, while tubes attached to two bags of whole blood led to his other arm, and an IV led to the back of his hand.
There was bruising on his ribcage, where it was apparent he had suffered multiple kicks. A tube protruded from his chest, sending air bubbles through a jar of liquid under the bed. Now a tube protruded from his abdomen on the same side, draining into a separate container.
As one of the doctors pulled back the sheet, Callen gasped. The grapefruit-sized black area on Deeks' thigh was even more alarming in the light of the hospital room than it had been on the helicopter. This was the discovery that had exposed the involvement of Dr. Stevens, and Callen tried to assess the reaction of the other doctors, but the suits made it virtually impossible. After consulting with the other team members, Dr. Stevens approached the agents.
"We need to biopsy tissue from the darkened area to determine how to treat it. This may be very unpleasant to watch. Why don't you let us come and tell you when we know more?"
Sam asked, "Shouldn't you wait until the transfusion is finished? Can he afford more blood loss?"
"Normally, we would, but this area really concerns me. If it is a buildup of toxins or necrotic tissue, I am not sure if the transfusion could cause it to spread through the bloodstream. This is uncharted territory for all of us, and we need to know what we are dealing with," she reasoned.
Kensi was now shaking all over as she stood to face the doctor. "So is Deeks your lab animal now? How can you not know the consequences of something you created? What kind of doctor are you?" She was becoming hysterical, and fought against Sam, who tried to usher her out of the room.
"Sam, get her out of here. Call Hetty when you can, and she'll fill you in. I am staying," Callen said.
"You are a murderer!" Kensi screamed, as Sam carried her bodily from the room.
Dr. Stevens looked shaken. "You know," she stated.
"Yes, and I am here to make sure you do everything in your power to keep him alive. If he dies, you and your team will never see daylight again. I will personally make sure of that," Callen said icily.
"Agent Callen, we will talk more later, but I assure you, I could not live with myself if this young man doesn't make it. This has been a tragic nightmare," she finished, turning to rejoin the others. Callen noticed the dark circles under her weary-looking eyes as she turned.
A microscope had been brought in and wheeled to one side of the room. One of the hospital staff had already applied a betadine wash to Deeks' thigh, and placed absorbent toweling around it. It was this doctor who picked up a scalpel, taking a surface sample about a centimeter in diameter that was immediately transferred to a slide, and placed on the microscope. To Callen's surprise, dark liquid, looking like very old blood, oozed from the area. The doctors placed a synthetic membrane over the wound, and all of them seemed visibly perplexed.
The blood bags were replaced again as they all waited for the tissue sample to be evaluated. One doctor from each team conferred, both looking at the sample numerous times. They approached the group, and Callen heard the CIA team doctor suggest a Mohs procedure, something Callen had heard of as a treatment for skin cancer. The staff doctor disagreed, preferring to irrigate the area first, and treat it with antibiotics to avoid too much muscle loss on the thigh. "The area is at least one inch deep, and 3 inches in diameter, meaning significant loss of muscle," he argued.
"But if you are wrong, the affected tissue may spread, causing even more damage," countered the CIA doctor. "Also, you may release more of the toxin into his bloodstream, and taint the new blood supply."
As these two and others on both teams discussed the options, one doctor moved slowly but steadily towards the IV that was inserted into Deeks' hand. Callen assumed the procedures were out of this physician's area of expertise, and he was going to check on other concerns. The hesitation and furtive glances towards the other doctors caused Callen's attention to focus on his movements, however.
Almost hidden in his fist, Callen saw a needle jutting out, visible only when the light reflected off of it. As the doctor brought the needle closer to the IV line, Callen crossed the room in two strides. He had made sure he could reach his gun after his conversation with Hetty, and now he brought it up to the doctor's temple.
"Hand over the syringe, or you're a dead man," Callen said between gritted teeth.
"I'm dead anyway," came the reply. As he jabbed the needle into the IV line, Callen hit him with his gun, knocking him to the ground in a tangle of tubes that were ripped out of Deeks' hand and arm. Callen quickly withdrew the syringe from the detached IV line, handing it to the doctor he had spoken to in the hallway. He searched the pockets of the unconscious man, and found a vial, handing that over as well.
"It's a coagulant," she said. It would have caused a blood clot that would have killed him."
"Make sure he gets a new IV bag in case any of it got in the tube." Callen grabbed the lifeless doctor under the arms, and dragged him from the room.
Sam was just returning from the other direction. He helped Callen remove the protective suit from the doctor, then zip tie his hands behind him. During the process, Callen explained, "He tried to inject a coagulant into Deeks' IV line to cause a blood clot. Maybe Granger and Hetty can meet you at the boat shed to interrogate him. I am not leaving Deeks. I enlisted one of the staff physicians to evaluate the CIA team's efforts to save him. We can't be sure this one acted alone. We better keep Kensi away from this guy, or he may not make it to the boatshed. Where is she?"
Sam sighed and said, "She was in such a panic that they gave her a sedative and put her in a room to sleep it off. They had a hard time, too. Kensi is fierce on a normal day, but this situation had her acting like Wonder Woman for sure!"
"I almost shot this guy when I realized he was trying to inject Deeks' IV. I hit him on the head instead so we could pick his brain. I want him to wake up scared."
"That won't be a problem. Hetty called Tuhon to come and help, and he would scare Attila the Hun. I'll make sure he is at the boatshed—with his knife collection," Sam promised. "By the way, Kensi is going to be pissed when she wakes up. We better get Nell down here to wait in her room. It's room 207. I'll call from the car once I get Rip Van Winkle situated."
Callen returned to the isolation room to find the Mohs procedure underway. He motioned for the staff doctor he had spoken with to come over and asked her, "Do you agree this is the best option, Dr….?"
"Asana," she finished. "Under the circumstances, yes. I am concerned about muscle loss—it may affect his regular activities, but there will be no activities if he doesn't survive." Callen nodded solemnly. "The area at the injection site, along with the blood vessels, is showing signs of atrophy that may be spreading. We can take a 'wait and see' approach after irrigating the area, but it may be too late to reverse the negative effects."
"All right. Thanks," he said, exhaling a sigh.
"For what it's worth, Dr. Stevens in particular seems to be trying desperately to save him. If he doesn't survive, it won't be her fault," she said, turning back towards the group working on Deeks.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Callen muttered under his breath. He was not ready to forgive anyone on the CIA team, no matter how badly they were needed. They had created this situation, after all.
The procedure took another hour, with the doctors removing tissue, examining the boundaries under the microscope to make sure they excised all of the affected area, then going back to remove more. I took three tries before they felt satisfied that the threat was removed, but had taken as little as possible each time to preserve as much muscle as possible.
Callen was able to see the area when he stood up, and he was instantly sorry he did. There was a virtual bowl cut out of Deeks' leg, looking like someone had taken a sharp ice cream scoop to his thigh. Callen felt weak just looking at it.
Dr. Stevens approached him and said, "I know it seems awful, but we really think it's the best option."
Callen asked, "What about the additional blood loss?"
"We are adding 2 more units past the transfusion total, and we will seal the wound against infection with a synthetic membrane," she said.
"What's next?" asked Callen. When will we know if he is going to pull through?"
"When the transfusion is finished, we will evaluate the head wound more closely and let the orthopedist set his arm. The CT scan showed a skull fracture with some swelling in the frontal lobe, but no bleeding. We expected his fever to go down during the transfusion, but so far, that hasn't happened. We may not know if he will make it for a couple of days. The injuries alone could be life threatening. I know he is special to his team. I wish I could tell you what you want to hear," she said apologetically.
"Yeah, me too," Callen responded.