Sadly…still not mine…bugger! And I still don't have a beta reader so any and all errors are mine alone. On with the story.
Enjoy.
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CHAPTER 9: August 7th
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Everyone took turns on Day 4 encouraging Marty to wake up. Callen came by and read the sports section of the newspaper and magazines about sports to him. He noticed that he was somewhat restless and took that as a good sign.
When it was Sam's turn, he regaled Marty with some embarrassing stories of G. Callen, the legendary agent. If Callen had heard him, Sam would have been in big trouble. Sam was chortling when he told Deeks, "You wouldn't believe this one time Deeks. Callen had to go undercover as a hairdresser. I was in stitches hearing him with a french accent talking about hair products. He even had to style some woman's hair! I don't think I've ever seen anything like the style he came up with. And he sold it to the woman as the newest style out of Europe. He actually convinced her she would be the talk of the party she was attending. It's a good thing the operation ended before she went to her party because what happened was in the newspapers. She had come completely unglued and was screaming she was going to kill her hairdresser because she was sure he had been paid to humiliate her in front of her friends!".
Eric came and talked about the waves and how all the surfers were missing him. He told him they had asked Eric to let him know they were wishing him well and that his cover story was that he had been injured in an accident but would be back to the beach in no time.
Nell read to him or talked to him about Kensi and how she had been by his side for the entire time except when Hetty forced her to take a break. Every time she said Kensi's name, she saw his nose twitch. She reminded herself to ask Kensi what it meant.
Hetty talked about trips she had taken and the various exotic teas tasted. She promised him his own tin of the Gushan Silver Needles White tea he had enjoyed while initially discussing his assignment in her office. She ended her visit with "Oh Mr. Deeks, quit laying around. This is getting ridiculous. Kensi has been inhaling chocolate. If you don't want to come back to a partner with diabetes, you should hurry and wake up."
Some friends from LAPD came by to visit as well. Lt. Bates had been involved in wrapping up the case, but he had called Hetty every day for an update on 'the kid's' condition. She and Lt. Bates had discussed Marty thoroughly. Lt. Bates admitted to Hetty he was sorry to see him resign from the police department but he knew Marty was finally going to be where he truly belonged. When it was his turn to talk to him alone, he talked about all the undercover operations Marty had completed and reminded him again that he had the highest success rate in the department.
Through it all, though it appeared Marty just lay there, sometimes he heard them talking, he just couldn't find the energy to respond in any way and would drift off again listening to the voices.
Kensi was there all day except when she was ordered to take a short break and go home and shower. She only left the room when someone was there. Once she went home, she spent a little time at the neighbors with Monty and took him for a walk. She knew he was missing his 'Daddy' and assured the dog that Daddy would be home soon, smiling every time she thought of Marty as 'Daddy'.
By the end of the day, there still hadn't been any sign Marty was going to wake up any time soon so Sam snuck back into the room while Kensi was in the bathroom and told him "Come on, enough is enough. You're scaring Kensi. I expect to see you awake tomorrow morning, bright and early." He then snuck back out of the room before she returned. "He couldn't have his gruff reputation taking a hit now could he" he thought to himself.
Kensi sat back down by Marty's bedside and laced her fingers in his. She was tired of waiting for him to wake up but she kept reminding herself of what Dr. Wilson had said. Thinking about when Marty would wake up, she drifted off to sleep. It was the first night since he had been admitted to the hospital that she slept all the way through until morning. She had a dream during the night where she got everything she had never known she wanted. When she remembered it later that morning, she marveled at how her unconscious mind had made the decision about her future for her.
She remembered the dream "They had been walking on the beach hand in hand with Monty roaming around when Marty stopped, turned to her and told her he wanted to ask her something. He had trouble getting his thoughts together and finally just blurted out "Do you remember when we were undercover as Melissa and Justin looking for the Russian mole?"
She had simply said "Yes."
"You know, I still have what's required", waving his hands down his body, "to help you make some little mutant ninja assassins" he looked at her with trepidation. She could tell he was worried that he had ruined their 'thing', but her heart was soaring.
She grabbed his hand and said "I'm not ready yet, but I will be one day and the only person I would want them with is you."
Marty wrapped his arms around her waist and began twirling her around and laughing with wild abandon. "How did I get so lucky, Princess? I never thought I would want children but I do. But I feel the same as you. You're the only one I want them with!"
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August 8th
Kensi was half asleep in the chair she had occupied for days holding Marty's hand when she thought she felt a small twitch of his fingers. It was early in the morning with the sun streaming through the window of his room and turning his hair to molten gold. "Marty, come on, move your fingers again" she said. She was holding her breath waiting when another small twitch was felt and she could see his eyes moving under his lids as if he was looking for something. Smiling, she continued to encourage him "Come on Marty, wake up. It's time for you to show me those beautiful blue eyes. Make a little effort here Sweetcheeks, my butt has been asleep for days."
She about danced for joy when he turned his head toward her voice. It took a few more minutes but she could see his lids beginning to flutter. "Come on, open your eyes, I'm right here. Come on Shaggy. Everyone has been waiting to see you."
Marty could hear someone talking to him as if they were miles away. He was still so tired he wanted to go back to sleep but felt someone holding his hand and wanted to see who it was. As more of his senses became functional he realized he could smell something…sunshine and gunpowder…Kensi…his everything. He now knew it was her talking and just had to see her so tried over and over again to open his eyes. "Why do they feel so heavy? Where am I?" He kept concentrating on opening his eyes and finally met with some success. Everything was blurry and the sun hurt his eyes causing him to snap them shut several times, but after numerous tries, he finally was able to keep them open and make out her face and her long brown hair.
"There you are. I've been waiting for you to wake up."
"Did I die? I feel like I died…whoa, deja vu…I'm in the hospital…again…really?" his voice was low and raspy.
Kensi reassured him "Don't worry about that right now. Just concentrate on getting better. Everyone has been worried about you."
"What happened? How long have I been here?" he coughed a little as he whispered.
Kensi handed him some water stalling for time as she tried to figure out what to say. She wasn't sure she should say anything, but she could tell he was starting to get anxious so answered him "You've been here for five days."
"Five days? Did I get shot? I don't feel like I got shot." To say Marty was confused was an understatement. He was desperately trying to remember something, anything. He felt like he was disconnected from reality and needed something to keep him grounded. "Kens…tell me…I can't…I can't remember what happened." he was beginning to get agitated.
Pushing the call button to summon a nurse, she encouraged him "Shhh Marty, it's okay. You're fine now. Take slow breaths with me…in…and out…in…and out. That's right, just follow my lead. You'll feel better in a minute." She was gratified to see him breathing in time with her and could tell he was calming down.
When the arriving nurse saw that Marty was awake, she paged the doctor and began taking his current vitals. "Are are you feeling Marty?"
"Um...confused mostly." he replied looking at Kensi the whole time.
"That's to be expected, everything is looking good. You're temperature is back to normal. I've paged the doctor. He should be here in a couple of minutes to tell you what's going on."
The doctor walked into the room just as the nurse finished with Marty and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Dr. Wilson. I've been overseeing your care since you got here."
"What's wrong with me Doc?" came the response with another cough.
"You've been a very sick man, but I'll let Kensi give you all the details later. What you need to know right now is that you're getting better and will make a full recovery. I'm encouraged by your progress, I was actually expecting you to take a little longer waking up" he smiled while looking over Marty's records. "You should be able to go home in a few days as long as someone stays with you."
"Why am I coughing?"
"You had pneumonia." Dr. Wilson told him he would probably be coughing for a while to completely clear out his lungs from the bout with pneumonia, but it was a good thing. The more he coughed, the faster his lungs would clear.
"Is that why my throat feels so dry? It was hard to get his words out. They came out raspy and just above a whisper. He just didn't have the strength yet to talk any louder.
"No, that's from the vent" Dr. Wilson replied.
"I was intubated? Just how bad was I?" Marty murmured to himself.
"Thanks Doc" Kensi took over the conversation from Marty who appeared deep in thought. "Marty, I'll be right back" she said, motioning to Dr. Wilson to leave the room with her. "I'm just going to get you a special treat."
"You're all I need Princess"
"Shh" Once they were both outside the room, Kensi told the doctor about Marty's initial reaction and asked if there were any details she should keep from him.
"You know him better than I do, follow your instincts and I'm sure it will be fine. If he gets too upset, call one of the nurses and if necessary, she'll contact me."
"Okay. I know he just woke up, but can he have some coffee? He usually mainlines the stuff and I know it will calm him down as weird as that sounds."
"I don't think one cup will hurt though I don't usually recommend it. But you know your partner better than I do, and if you think it will calm him down I'm willing to give it a try. One cup only though and make sure it's decaf, he doesn't need any stimulants right now. I wouldn't even allow him one cup of decaf if his kidneys hadn't healed as well as they have." the doctor cautioned.
"Got you." she returned to the room and noted the nurse was still there talking to Marty about getting him cleaned up and changing the sheets to making him feel more comfortable. "Marty, while the nurse is finishing up here I'm going to run an errand. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Kens…" his look told her he didn't want her to leave him.
"How about you let the pretty nurse give you your sponge bath and change the sheets. By the time she's finished I'll be back, I promise" Kensi reassured him running her fingers through his messy hair.
"Really…you're telling her to give me a sponge bath…really? I'd rather you had your hands all over this awesome body Kens."
"Now I know you're feeling better" she laughed. "I'm just going to call the guys and get you a surprise. Behave yourself or you won't get it." With that she gave him a light kiss on the forehead and headed out the door. Running out to her car, she called OPS to let everyone know Marty was awake and things were looking up. She dashed to Starbucks and got him his soy latte just like he liked it, making sure to ask for decaf. She picked up some coffee for herself along with some pastries and headed back to the hospital.
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"You look much better. Were you good while I was gone?"
"You make it sound like I'm five Kens. Give me some credit for being a grown man" Marty pouted.
"No pouting or you won't get your surprise, she held up the bag and the cups from Starbucks.
"Coffee…really…I get to have some coffee? Elation tinged his words.
"Yes, I got the okay from the doctor for you to have some coffee…one cup only though. I also got you the cheese Danish you like."
Sitting down in the chair by his bedside, she told him. "Here's your treat." She handed him his coffee and danish then proceeded to enjoy her own. He only took a couple bites of the danish as she consumed her pastries content watching her while she finished. He took one more bite of it and then laid it down.
"Thanks Kens…I really enjoyed that."
"Are you done already? You didn't eat much."
"Yeah, I guess sleeping for five days has really taken it out of me. I actually feel sleepy again but I want…no I need to know what happened to me."
Setting her cup down, Kensi leaned against the bed. "Move over" she instructed him, stretching out beside him, then gathering him into her arms. "What do you want to know?
"Are you trying to seduce me Kensalina?" he murmured as he snuggled into her side and tucked his head under her chin like a little boy.
"You're in no shape right now to even think about seduction, Shaggy. You couldn't handle me right now, but I know in just a few days, I'll be in very good hands" she smirked "Hold that thought until then. What's the last thing you remember?
"Um…I remember I was undercover as Max, right?" God, I hate that alias. There were guns involved I think…yes that's right. I was at a meeting between a guy…Riccardo?...and some buyers…at a warehouse?"
"Go on" she encouraged him.
Trying hard to recall the meeting, he continued "I opened the door to where the guns were…it was, um, I think it was a boxcar. After that it starts getting fuzzy. I…I remember I felt edgy and a little sick. I thought it was just nerves you know…so I ignored it…I wanted to get the meet over with and end this case…the meet was successful and Riccardo was elated…why do I remember whiskey?
"You're doing great, just take your time" giving him another kiss on the forehead she waited while he continued gathering his scattered thoughts.
"A toast…Riccardo toasted the completion of the deal with whiskey…I didn't want to drink it, but figured Max would…and I wanted to maintain my cover. Then…there's nothing…it's all a blank…I think I remember hearing voices…but I couldn't recognize them…and I saw my dad. Kens…he had a knife and he was coming at me with it…it was huge. He is dead right?" he was getting more and more agitated, so she began to rub light circles over his back to calm him down She was so glad it was Marty talking to her and not his alias. "I think I was seeing monsters…one of them attacked me and I tried to defend myself but I couldn't…then I saw black skies…there were colors all around me…rainbows…and eyes, lots of eyes, but I couldn't find yours…more colors…I was hearing some kind of music but I couldn't tell what it was. I thought I was going crazy…did I go crazy?" his voice was broken when he asked her that question.
"No Marty, you didn't go crazy. Do you remember anything else?"
"The rest is a just a jumble sounds and images until I heard you. You're why I woke up. I had to see you. Tell me what happened Kens…I need to know"
Pulling him even closer, she wrapped a leg around him and began talking. "You were drugged. The door handle was coated with a drug developed by a Mexican cartel combined with DMSO so you would absorb it through your skin. Do you remember Harvey?" at his murmur of acknowledgement, she continued "He also dosed your glass of whiskey with Rophenol and LSD.
"He "roofied" me? and then dosed me with LSD?" Marty blurted out. "That's why I can't remember?"
"Yes, he was working for the Mexican cartel to take out Riccardo and his men. He decided to get you out of the picture before he ambushed the others. He didn't know about the raid and it went down before he could put his complete plan into play. He was going to kill you.
"You were so affected by the drug combo you didn't know what you were doing let alone what anyone else was doing by the time the raid began. Harvey was going to shoot you in the head, but as incapacitated as you were, you were able to deck him." Kensi could feel Marty's breathing slowing down and his body becoming almost boneless in her arms and knew he was almost asleep so she whispered "Let it go for now. I'm here and we'll talk more later. You're safe with me." Before she knew it, she was asleep as well.
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AN: Are you happy? Marty's awake!
