Thank you for leaving so many lovely reviews on the recent chapters. To Skippy and Linda and the anonymous reviewers: it means a lot to me to read the nice comments you've left, again!
Dots, part 7
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
This man was at least a head larger than the woman who attacked him, yet he was floored and out of action in a matter of seconds. Was it only surprise or a matter of practice?
Callen hardly paid attention to what actually happened and he was in no shape at all to assist the woman. Besides, it all happened so fast. It was as if he blinked his eyes twice and the situation had changed completely. The larger man who was about to shoot and kill him was no immediate danger anymore. He didn't know how and he didn't really care either.
By now the pain and the shock took over the adrenaline of the sudden action. Then, there was the knowledge that it nearly had been too late this time. He studied his own wounds for a while before nausea hit his brain. Was it a glimpse of bone-tissue he caught sight of in his hand? His hand, which tried to cover the wound in his side. The warm and wet spot on his clothes made him realize he was still losing blood.
He fought hard to keep his focus on the here and now around him and on where he made a possible mistake. At the very moment Callen expected to be the next victim, she appeared as some guardian angel.
Dark blond hair, very dark and large eyes and a very serious and determined look on her face. He wanted to ask how and why she eliminated the other man. Why make this decision, how did she know that he was a victim of a crime, and not this other man?
Yet there was a worried look in the nearly black eyes which Callen tried to focus on and she shook her head. "There's no need to talk."
More short sentences came his way.
"You'd better lie down."
A pause, then "I'm going to press this hard to try and stop the bleeding."
Maybe he hummed something as a confirmation, Callen didn't know.
He felt weak, nearly disorientated. His vision blurred, all felt foggy and there was a far-away, nearly ringing sound which made whatever it was that she said, hardly reach his brain.
She spoke again, calm actually. Not to him, but about him. Words like 'shot', 'emergency' and 'hospital' — he understood. It was all so logical. All about...
He didn't know. It was too much to process anyway. He simply was soothed by the sound of her voice and he decided he could give in to the tiredness that took over his will to understand what was going on.
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
Good Samaritan Hospital parking garage
Some people watched from a nearby distance what was going on. None, however, were giving a hand. It felt like minutes later to her that heavy steps came her way.
She expected the paramedics and she looked up. Instead a large, bold man hurried her way. She reached for the gun she had kicked out of the hand of this other man, not sure if she needed to protect this other man right now.
"G!"
It sounded alarming and oddly enough, the man neglected her presence. In a split second, she decided not to let go her pink vest, not to take and aim the gun at the man, despite the fact he came so near.
"Stay where you are."
She never raised her voice, nor did it crack or sound emotionally.
Sam slowed down, carefully raising his hands as if to show he never had any bad intentions. "It's okay. I'm a federal agent, and he is my partner."
He squatted next to her, shocked to see his partner, pale and motionless on the tarmac. It reminded him of the 5th of May, yet there were less wounds.
She read the worry in his eyes and understood. She nodded and concentrated on what she was doing and said "He's lost quite a lot of blood. Paramedics are on their way. They should be here any minute now. If there's something else you feel like doing while you're waiting, please check on that man. Do you have handcuffs, like a police officer has?"
"Who is it?"
"Didn't ask for his ID. He was about to kill this man, your partner. I… well, couldn't let that happen, could I?"
He hummed as if he understood, yet he didn't. From the pocket of his jacket he took a set of zip-ties and grabbed the other man's wrists. Then he tied them behind the back of the still unconscious man. "I don't get it. G stopped him?"
She looked up and simply shook her head.
Before she got a chance to explain, some paramedics hurried their way. In a matter of seconds, they took over the care for Callen and she got up and stepped back. Another paramedic arrived with two armed LAPD officers. They wanted to know what happened. Although he had not been around, Sam tried to describe what he had just heard.
"He was shot twice by this man."
"Only once as far as I can tell. I mean, I heard only one shot. The other man talked to him and he replied," she corrected.
"What were they talking about?" Sam asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I was too far away and I wasn't paying attention to it either, actually."
"So, both of these men have a story to tell. From what I can tell, this one will be the first to talk. How about we take him to our bureau?" One of the police-officers suggested.
"My co-worker is involved, so it means my case. Perhaps it'd be better if we take him in."
Sam took his phone to make the arrangements, although he paid more attention to the medics who were now putting Callen on a gurney.
"Fiji Way, 13669," he then simply mentioned to the police officers. He then hurried to follow the medics. "Wait, let me join you!"
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
Good Samaritan Hospital, fourth floor || one hour later
Hetty watched the large senior agent pace the private waiting area nervously. Although she understood his current mood, she felt she needed to calm him down.
"He is going to be okay, Mr. Hanna. You heard what doctor Holbrook explained before he went to operate on your partner."
"I know," he grumbled.
"Now, now, Mr. Hanna. Something else is bothering you, and you'd better tell me," she tried.
He was quiet for a moment, but never stopped pacing until he finally found the right words. "This utterly stupid idea. Whose was it, yours, Granger's, or —"
She shook her head. "Now, it never was a stupid idea. And it was not mine, Sam. It was something the assistant director and your partner planned and which they thought was carefully plotted. It turned out it wasn't, but it's not something anyone can be blamed of, am I right?"
There still was a glare of something Hetty didn't recognize in the dark brown eyes of the former Seal.
"I should have been there to have his back."
She got it, the frustration he felt was finally clear to her and she nodded.
"Yet we decided that you would be at a distance. So there would be not a single clue that the so-called Thomas Roberts was under protection of any other person."
Hetty pursed her lips only shortly, a sign she understood but disagreed with Sam's way of reasoning.
"You may or may not blame me, or blame Granger or your partner. This is a decision we made, and some decisions turn out to be the wrong ones, Mr. Hanna. But there's no use to look back when there are too many things we need to find out. Am I right?"
He let out a deep sigh. "As ever."
He paused for a beat. "This Martin Blake is CIA, Hetty. What was he thinking, shooting a fellow agent?"
This time, the older woman carefully chose her words. "I ordered miss Jones and Mr. Beale to check how trustworthy agent Thomas Roberts really was."
"You really think Blake had a reason to suspect Roberts? And if so, why not inform our agency, Hetty? I mean, CIA and NCIS aren't always trusting each other, but they could at least have taken care of this matter like we would have. Talk to the ones in charge, see if there are any other suspicions and question the person. There wouldn't have to be a shooting like this. And then, why wasn't CIA working in pairs? That way, there would always be a fellow agent as a witness."
From behind her round, deep purple glasses, she looked up at him. Then she slowly nodded. "Another thing we'd need to check. I suppose Mr. Deeks and miss Blye could take care of that matter."
She took her phone from the small pocket of her jacket and got up while she was making the call to Deeks.
Some minutes later, she returned. Sam finally had stopped his nervous pacing and sat down, clearly thinking about what happened. Hetty took a seat next to him.
"Obviously, agent Blake is still not in a position to talk, but he sure will be questioned thoroughly by your co-workers. In the meantime, assistant director Granger will have a serious discussion with the CIA about this agent and his behavior."
"Any news about that victim of the deadly shooting then, the one outside near the LAPD office?"
She nodded a confirmation and said "He has been identified as Joachim Schiller. No legal address in town, nor anywhere else in the US, no green card, so LAPD contacted Homeland. All we know is that Schiller is from Argentina. We've got no idea why he was in town or why he was shot yet, nor if it was you partner who killed him or somebody else did. We'll have to wait for further ballistic research and more background information from Homeland. Miss Jones is working on this at this very moment."
Sam slowly breathed out and tried to keep he frustration he felt, hidden for his boss. "So we still have no answers at all right now. What do you think Callen found out so far?"
Hetty shook her head. "I really haven't got a clue, Mr. Hanna. After all, this case became very unpredictable in a matter of only one hour. This is far from what we've expected and perhaps Mr. Callen has some of the answers."
She peeked at her watch. "He should be in from surgery in matter of minutes. We'll wait and will be with him when he wakes up. So far, all we can do is wait."
o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)o)
The carefully applied make-up was removed just as carefully, Sam noticed when he stood next to the bed his partner was in.
Callen looked like Callen again, despite the fact that he was very pale. Anesthetics were still in charge of his body and it looked as if he was sound asleep.
The young doctor had invited them to see the patient and decided to explain to the two people who had patiently waited, what he saw and treated so far.
"The wound in his side was a through-and-through, soft tissue only. We needed six stitches on the back, four in the front. From what I've noticed, he's had worse," the physician softly explained to Sam and Hetty.
They both nodded and Holbrook continued. "He'll be up and running in a few days from now. Then, there's the other wound."
"What about it?" Sam raised his voice just slightly, worried about the announcement.
The man scraped his throat. "We've noticed he is right-handed. A bullet can do quite a lot of damage to the tissue, the connective tissue and the bones in a hand."
"So?"
The young doctor swallowed again, quite impressed by the way the tiny woman looked at him. "His right hand will need some time to recover. Quite some time, actually."
Hetty's glare made him continue "Perhaps some weeks, with physical therapy."
"He won't like that. Not a bit." Sam mumbled, his gaze going over his partner's face, still relaxed at this moment.
"He's on a blood transfusion?" It wasn't a question, more like a simple deduction of what Hetty saw.
Holbrook nodded. "He's lost quite a lot of blood.
There was a small nod again, meant for no-one in particular. Then Hetty suggested "Would you be so kind as to disconnect the IV once the blood's gone through?"
On the shocked expression on the doctor's face, she explained "There's a sedative running as well, I suppose? He won't react well to that, and rest assure that none of your nurses will be able to handle that." She continued with a sympathetic smile "Like you said, he's had worse and I've been there, every single time. Once he's awake, we can discuss using capsules."
There was a soft sigh, yet the younger man made a note of this change of the planned procedure for the nurses and he then closed the drip of the small bag which hung on the standard pole. "Please do take a seat. It won't be long until he will wake up."
There was one wooden chair next to the bed, with a dark brown cushioned seat, which Sam offered to Hetty. He took one of the set of stools which stood next to the table and the wait continued.
Thank you so much for reading