A/N: Hello my amazing readers! I can't believe it's the 10th chapter already. There's going to be one more, the epilogue which will hopefully be posted next week.
I want to thank all of you for reading and especially 'Divergent 004' for reviewing the last chapter.
Special thanks to my beta Quen.
So, who else is excited about the season premiere because I am.
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS Los Angeles nor its characters.
Enjoy!
Nell wakes to the theme song of SpongeBob Squarepants coming from the TV.
For a moment she thinks that she's at her parents house for Christmas and that her nieces are watching cartoons, but then the events of the past day come rushing back and she's left gasping for air.
She abruptly stands up but the sudden motion causes her vision to get blurry and her head to spin.
"Watch it there, turbo," Deeks says and catches her before she hits the glass-topped coffee table.
"I'm ok," she says after she's seated back on the couch. "How long did I sleep?"
"For about two hours," Deeks replies after glancing at his wrist watch.
"How long has it been since we left the hospital?"
"Over three hours, I think."
Nell nods and stands up. "We can go see Eric now. I'm going to get changed and freshen up and then we'll leave."
"Ok," replies Kensi.
It takes Nell exactly 17 minutes to get ready (she was counting) and then they're out the door.
The ride to the hospital, this time around, takes way longer than it should, in Nell's opinion.
(It's only a 45 minute ride, thanks to it being five in the morning, with most of the citizens of Los Angeles being fast asleep.)
To Nell though, it seems like a lifetime.
When they arrive outside the ICU, Hetty, Sam and Callen are already there.
"How have you been?" asks Callen.
"I've been wondering when people are going to stop asking me that," Nell replies.
He chuckles and Nell manages a smile because how often is it that Callen laughs or makes a sound resembling laughter anyway. "Not anytime soon."
Thankfully, the doctor arrives a few minutes later. "Are we expecting anyone else?"
Hetty replies negatively.
"Ok then. Like I said earlier, all of you can see him for a some time but only his immediate family can stay with him until he's discharged."
"His immediately family has not arrived yet," says Hetty.
Nell reminds herself to thank the older woman later, for remembering to contact his family because the thought hadn't even crossed her mind.
"Then his emergency contact, which is... you Miss Lange," the doctor says looking up from her tablet.
"I'm his girlfriend."
The words are out of Nell's mouth before her mind has had the chance to properly come up with the idea. She could never allow herself to be absent from Eric's side on a technicality.
"Why didn't you mention that earlier Miss?"
Nell search her head for a believable excuse. "We just got together and we... hadn't told our friends yet. Besides, I didn't know that I wouldn't be allowed to stay with him overnight. Can I see him now?"
"Of course," the doctor replies and opens the door. The room is small but has a big window from which Nell can see the sun rising. The sunlight does very little to improve Eric' appearance - on the contrary, it makes him look more dead than alive but in Nell's opinion, the most important thing is that he's still part of this world.
The first thing she does when she reaches his bed is to get a hold of his left hand. It's cold and the skin doesn't feel like the same way it did all the other times they've held hands. Nell's eyes roam over his greasy blond hair, his pale skin and his chapped lips, currently open to accommodate a chest tube, which is pushing air to his lungs.
"He looks pale," says Deeks, obviously trying to break the heavy silence that has filled the entire room.
"You should have seen your own face when you got shot. You looked paler than most of our dead guys," says Kensi.
Nell thinks she hears a slight quiver in Kensi's voice but she dismisses that thought immediately.
"I take offence to that comment Kensilina."
''Good."
"Still, that wound is going to leave one nasty scar," says Deeks.
"Which we will probably never see because Eric doesn't make it a habit of walking around the Mission shirtless," says Callen.
"That was one time and you all know that it wasn't my fault."
"It's still your fault if you lose a bet."
"Gentlemen, I believe it would be better for everyone if you took this argument outside."
Leave it to Hetty to get everyone out of a semi awkward situation that easily.
After Hetty's order, one by one the team members take their exit but not before slightly patting Eric's other hand or one of his feet or simply ordering him to get better soon.
They do the same thing to Nell as well, minus the patting her feet or ordering her to get better soon.
At the end, it's just her, Eric and Hetty. She's thankful for Hetty not asking her any questions because she hasn't made one sound or said anything since she entered the room and she doesn't believe that she can do either of those yet.
Hetty looks at Eric for a long moment, with a strange look on her face that Nell can't decrypt, and then she exits as well, leaving her with an unconscious Eric.
She spends a ridiculous amount of time starring at his steadily rising and falling chest, still trying to convince herself that her best friend, partner and something more, is going to be okay. When that doesn't work, she stands up and hugs him, mindful of his injury and still holding his left hand with her own.
She can feel his even more steady heartbeat beneath her cheek, from where her head lays on his chest. That's when the fact that he's alive sinks in and her body visibly relaxes against his. She stays in that position - half draped across his abdomen, half balancing on her tip toes - for a while, ignoring her protesting back.
Two days later, the doctors remove him from ventilation and extract his breathing tube. All they can do is wait for him to wake up on his own.
Nell never leaves his side - except for the times when Hetty orders her to go home to catch a few hours of sleep, take a shower and change clothes. She doesn't leave the hospital to eat - usually one of the guys bring her takeout 3 times a day, along with updates on the case.
They're still on the lookout for Morrison but the other people who worked at the restaurant (both associated or not with the Mob) have given up enough valuable information about the illegal business that Morrison ran that they don't have to serve time.
Nell feels somewhat relieved that no one is going to jail, even though she knows that she probably shouldn't.
Eric and wakes up three days after the Showdown (that's how Deeks calls the day the OP ended and Nell prefers it to calling it "the day Eric was shot")
The guys are scattered around the small room, some sitting and some standing, eating Chinese takeout. They all come by the hospital after the work day is over to check up on Eric and have dinner.
Nell's sitting in her usual spot - the chair on the left side of the bed that Eric's been occupying for the last three days. She's also not paying much attention to the conversation that the group is having, which is why she's the one who hears Eric groan first.
She's about to tell them about it but Eric beats her to it. "C-can you guys... keep it down?"
His voice is low and husky from lack of usage but to Nell it has never sounded sweeter.
Every conversion comes to a halt and their attention shifts to him. A chorus of "hey buddy" erupts and Nell simply throws herself at him, holding onto him for dear life, tears of relief streaming down her face.
She pulls away after a few seconds because she's well aware of the presence of her teammates.
"You scared us all Eric," Callen says in his "boss voice".
"Sorry."
Nell helps Eric into a seated position.
"You should be. What you did was reckless and almost got you killed," continues Sam.
"I'm not planning on getting shot anytime soon. Or never again," he says and drinks some water from a plastic cup that Nell offered him.
"Like you can plan it," Deeks scoffs. "Anyway, we better go now and let you get some rest. We'll come by tomorrow morning."
"Don't let him do anything stupid in the meantime Nell."
"I'll do my best," she replies, wiping away her tears.
The moment the door is closed, Nell's right fist makes contact with Eric's left shoulder and the latter yells in pain.
"What was that for?" he asks while rubbing his aching shoulder.
"For getting in front of a bullet and almost dying."
"He was going to shoot you, I had no other choice."
"Of course you did. You could have shot him instead."
"That was not the first thing that came to my mind."
"It should have been, Eric. Sacrificing yourself is not the solution. It's the stupidest thing to do. You shouldn't have done it."
"It's your fault, you know," says Eric after a few moments of silence.
"How is any of this my fault?" asks Nell. Kensi had somehow managed to convince her that what had happened to Eric had not been entirely her fault and now Eric confirms on her worst fears.
"You entered my life like a hurricane and turned everything upside down. You drove me mad by finishing my sentences and doing everything I did better. You still drive me crazy, but good crazy, and you intrigue me to no end.
"You've become such an important part of my life that when I saw that guy aiming a gun at your chest I knew that I had to do something to prevent him from killing you, because I can't live without you anymore Nell."
Nell is so taken aback by Eric's speech that it takes her a ridiculous amount of time to come up with an answer but it's too late because the next moment, a nurse enters the room.
"What is going on here?''
"Nothing," replies Eric quickly.
"Are you sure?" the nurse asks in disbelief. "Because you BP skyrocketed. You should be resting instead of arguing with the lady. I can call security and have her removed."
"That won't be necessary."
"Are you sure?"
''Absolutely."
"Okay. If you need anything just press the button."
"I will. Thank you nurse."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Nell apologises as soon as the nurse is gone.
"Don't apologise, I'm fine."
"Did you mean what you said?"
"No."
"No. Yeah. I mean yes."
"Are you sure about that Wolfram?"
Eric smiles at the nickname and nods. Nell stands up from the very uncomfortable chair and hugs him, being mindful of his injured shoulder.
"That's good because I can't live without you either. Oh and if you try anything this stupid ever again, I'll kill you myself."
"I won't. Getting shot hurts a lot," he replies, strocking her hair.
"Promise me?"
"I promise."
That was my favorite neric scene so far. Did you guys like it as much as I did? Let me know.
Until next time
~F