One week later…

Callen quietly opened the door to Deeks' room and slipped in with two cups of coffee in hand. Kensi was curled up in a ball on the chair next to Deeks' bed, sleeping soundly. Callen quietly stepped up to Kensi and waved the coffee beneath her nose. Her eyes slowly flickered open and she smiled gratefully at the treat her friend has presented her with. She could tell by the delicious aroma that it wasn't the swill that the hospital tried to pass off as coffee. She stretched the kinks out of her legs and back, then took the coffee and got to her feet. She took a long savory sip as she stared down at her partner.

"How is he?" Callen whispered.

"The procedure to repair his teeth went really well," Kensi whispered back. "They had a hard time sedating him, but Dr. El-Kebbi managed to get it done."

Callen raised an eyebrow, "he fought it?"

Kensi smiled sadly, "like a tiger." She took another sip of her coffee. "He doesn't like being put under."

Deeks whimpered in his sleep and stirred slightly. Kensi was immediately by his side, placing a comforting hand on his chest and whispering, "It's okay. I'm right here." She watched him intently for a moment to make sure that he was indeed comforted. Once she was satisfied she turned her attention back to Callen.

Callen noticed a dark purple bruise on Kensi's forearm and he frowned, "what happened?"

Kensi looked down at the bruise and shrugged her shoulders, "I got a little too close the last time he woke up."

"That hasn't gotten any better?"

Kensi rolled her head back and forth trying to work out the kink that was causing her discomfort, "No. If anything I would say they are getting worse. Dr. El-Kebbi wants to move him to the psychiatric ward, but I told him over my dead body."

Callen raised a questioning eyebrow, but decided that a change in subject might be best, because nothing gets Kensi riled up mare than the discussion of her partner's sanity. "Any word on his eyes?"

"The doctor said that he is healing well from his surgery, but that it is too soon to know if he will have sight in his left eye yet. There is still too much swelling on the optic nerve."

"He has the surgery on his leg today…right?"

Kensi sighed and walked over to the window, taking another long sip of coffee before she answered, "Yeah. They should be coming in any minute now to prep him. It's going to be his third surgery in one week."

Callen looked back at the blonde sleeping in the bed, "He is going to be okay… you know that right."

Kensi leaned her forehead against the cool glass, "Yeah. I know." She didn't sound convincing. "How is Sam doing?"

Now it was Callen's turn to sigh, "He finally got off the CPAP machine and his lungs sound a lot better."

Kensi turned and leaned against the window, "But?"

Callen walked over and leaned next to her, "but… this whole stroke thing has him depressed. I've never seen him like this before. He just sits there staring at the wall all day. Michelle tries to get him to talk, but he just stares at that damn wall. He isn't eating like he should be and he isn't sleeping."

"So I'm guessing that means we still don't know how he got water in his lungs?"

"Nope. We still don't know." Callen was curious about that, but he honestly wasn't completely sure he wanted to know the answer, because the thought of his friend being water-boarded made his stomach sour.

"How are the skin grafts doing?" Kensi thankfully interrupted his thoughts.

"The body hasn't rejected them, so that is a good thing."

"I need to go see him," Kensi pinched the bridge of her nose. "I might go do that today while Deeks is in surgery."

"He would like that," Callen smiled.

"Give me the keys," Deeks mumbled in his sleep. His fists clenched tightly at his side and he began to thrash about in the bed. Kensi slumped her shoulders, "He says that a lot," she told Callen as she walked over to comfort her frightened friend. She placed her hand on Deeks' chest and he sucked in a sharp breath. "It's okay," she whispered. "I'm right here."

Deeks shot upright in the bed, his arms flailing around violently. Kensi wasn't quick enough and Deeks grabbed her painfully by the wrist. "Leave me alone," he choked out.

"Deeks!" she shouted. "Deeks, it's okay."

Callen walked over, ready to intervene, but Kensi shook her head, letting him know to stay back. Callen had seen this a few times before with Deeks and he had even seen it with Sam, but no matter how many times he saw his friends wake up in such terror, it never got any easier. "Deeks," Kensi hissed at the death grip that he had on her wrist. "Deeks you need to calm down. It's me…Kensi."

"Kens?" His trembling voice reached her ears. He immediately let go of her wrist and she pulled it protectively to her chest. "Yeah," she said breathlessly. "I'm right here."

Deeks gripped the covers tightly as he struggled to get his breathing under control. "S…sorry," he said somewhat embarrassingly.

"It's okay," Kensi assured him, "You didn't hurt me."

"I'm not sure that I believe you," he said as he fell back onto the pillow.

"You have a visitor," Kensi quickly changed the subject.

"Oh?"

Kensi sat down in the chair next to the bed and placed her uninjured hand on his shoulder, "Yeah. Callen is here."

Deeks let his chin drop to his chest, "how's Sam?"

Callen shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, "he's doing okay." Callen hated lying to him, but everyone had decided that it was probably for the best if Sam and Deeks didn't know the severity of each others conditions. They didn't need that burden.

There was a soft knock at the door and Deeks tensed.

Kensi patted his shoulder, "It's just the nurse," she whispered.

The door opened and Nurse Kat walked in, followed by Dr. El-Kebbi.

"Dr. El-Kebbi is here too," Kensi added. They had learned early on that since Deeks was essentially blind at the moment, he didn't react well to surprise voices.. So Kensi made it a habit to announce who was in the room and the staff had learned not to speak until she had done so.

"Hi-ya Doc," Deeks said with his best forced smile.

"Hello Mr. Deeks," Dr. El-Kebbi smiled back. "We are here to prep you for the surgery to repair you leg."

Deeks body tensed again, "Okay."

"I'm going to get out of here," Callen announced. "Good luck Deeks and I will come back to check on you when you are done."

"See ya," Deeks replied. Kensi waved goodbye to Callen and then turned her attention back to Deeks. "I'm going to stay right here with you until they take you into surgery okay?"

Kensi watched as the Kat approached Deeks' IV stand, "This is a little something to help you relax okay?" Deeks nodded his head and Kat injected the clear fluid into his IV line, "I will be back in a moment to check on you okay?" Deeks nodded again, "thank you."

Nurse Kat headed out the door, followed by Dr. El-Kebbi, leaving Kensi and Deeks alone in the room. "Hey," Kensi said softly. Deeks turned his head in her direction, "Hmmm?"

She smiled, "I'm going to be here when you wake up okay?"

"That would be nice," he slurred. A goofy grin spread across his face and he chuckled softly, "I'm glad you're here Fern."

Kensi leaned over the bed so that she was hovering right next to his ear, "It's where I want to be," she whispered.

Deeks was high as a kite from the drugs and his goofy smile grew wider, "I love you Fern."

Kensi's heart fluttered in her chest, "I love you too," she whispered. She bent over a littler further and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. The feel of his warm lips on hers sent butterflies to her stomach. Deeks smiled dopily, "You kissed me," he slurred happily. She pulled away and chuckled. She missed seeing this side of her partner, "You kissed me first."

Nurse Kat entered the room again with several other orderlies, "We will take good care of him," she said as they began to roll Deeks out the door. Kensi waited until they disappeared down the hallway before she slowly started making her way to Sam's room. She smiled to herself as she weaved through the crowd of people, "he loves me."