Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It really does mean so much to read your comments and thoughts, I try my best to incorporate your ideas and suggestions as I write. SO PLEASE KEEP ON REVIEWING! Okay well here is the next chapter, hopefully, you enjoy it.

:)

Ch.11

Tricks of the Mind

"We need to get them out of this hospital," Sam whispered outside of the room to Hetty and Callen.

"We can't be sure that Sparrow is going to come after them," Hetty replied.

"but we also can't be sure he isn't already here." Sam replied

"We can have Deeks sit down with a sketch artist." Callen retorted

"He's not going to leave Kensi's side." Sam answered "And to be honest I don't blame him, any of the nurses, doctors, police and patients could be working for Sparrow, or could be Sparrow. And we can't protect them because we have no idea what Sparrow looks like."

"Sam I understand what you are saying, but Kensi is still too critical to move to another location." Hetty responded "Once she has gotten better we'll move her to a more secure location. But until then, one of us will always be with them."

Sam remained still for a few moments before nodding his head in response.

"We should go back in there." Hetty sighed moving towards the door. The two men nodded and then followed close behind the small woman.

Callen stopped in the doorway and pulled out his phone from his pocket as it began to buzz against his leg. "It's Nell,"

"Ask Eric to start combing the hospital security footage for Sparrow's second in command…uh C- Carver." Sam quickly said as Callen backed away from the room.

Deeks slowly turned to Sam with an eyebrow raised at the man's request. "You think Carver is in the building?"

"if Sparrow is coming after you and Kensi, then we need to be thorough."

Deeks quickly looked back towards Kensi after her hand shifted within his. "Kens?" He sweetly cooed rubbing gingerly against the back of her hand. "it's me. Deeks."

She grimaced in pain as the anesthesia was wearing off and the pain was starting to flood through her body. "Deeks…" she groggily slurred,

Deeks gave a small smile and shifted slightly in his chair. "Yes, Kensi, yes I'm here."

"he's…dead." She slurred out slowly squeezing her eyes shut as a tear slid down her cheek.

"No, Kensi, just open your eyes, I'm right here. Please, Kens just open your eyes." Deeks pleaded encasing her hand with both hands. "Please just open your eyes."

Kensi's breaths became labored and the heart monitor's steading beeping became frantic as Kensi face contorted in pain and she pulled her hand away and tried to shift to her left trying to get away from the man's touch. "They killed him!" She groaned. "He's dead!" A nurse ran into the room and came to Kensi's aid.

"Sir I need you to move out of the way." The nurse ordered to Deeks.

Sam came over and rolled Deeks' wheelchair away from the bed allowing the nurse to tend to Kensi.

"No! I need to be…Kens!" Deeks called out "Kensi, please, just open your eyes. I'm right here."

Kensi's heart rate spiked again and she gasped as the pain increased in her body. "He's dead. He's dead." Another nurse jogged into the room and went to the other side of the bed. The second nurse looked up to the first for directions.

"She's having a panic attack. We need to sedate her before she injures herself more." The first nurse directed in a medium whisper over Kensi's continued mantra.

The second gave a quick nod and began to jog out of the room to get the necessary materials.

"And page Dr. McGrath." She shouted as the second nurse disappeared down the hallway. The nurse then turned her attention to Kensi, still squirming in pain and panic repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Kensi, my name is Lauren, do you know where you are?" The nurse asked sweetly trying to calm the woman in the bed down. She waited a few seconds before answering her own question. "You're in a hospital. You had a major injury to your chest that your doctors fixed in surgery. I know the pain is intense but it'll be a lot better if you breathe."

The second nurse came back into the room with a small case in hand and returned to her side of the bed. She grabbed a syringe from inside the case and shifted towards Kensi's IV drip. The nurse inserted the tip of the syringe into a tube that connected to Kensi's arm and then gave a nod to the first nurse.

"Okay Kensi, we're going to give you something to help calm you down." She explained while giving a quick nod to the second nurse who then began to press the syringe's contents into the drip. "It'll also help with the pain. You should start to feel better real soon, alright. It's okay, you're safe and nobody is going to hurt you." The nurse continued to speak, as she watched the heart monitor's sound and numbers begin to slow and fall back down to a normal rate.

Kensi words and breaths started to slow and the grimace on her face disappeared as the drug traveled through her bloodstream. Her speech became softer and slurred until it was inaudible and she was unconscious again.

The nurses waited a few minutes, checking all the monitors for any abnormalities and then quickly looked over Kensi, making sure she hadn't popped any of her stitches. They both gave each other a nod after completing their examination.

Lauren looked at the rest of the people in the room, her eyes stopped on Deeks who remained motionless, with a very concerned and frazzled look on his face as he stared at his balled-up hands in his lap. She turned her attention back to the other nurse "Would you mind updating her chart?" She asked quietly, the other nurse gave a small nod and then walked out of the room. Lauren walked closer to Deeks whose demeanor didn't change with the new presence nearby.

She looked over to Sam and Hetty and gave them a small reassuring smile

"Why don't we go outside and let Kensi rest a bit." She said,

Sam nodded and grabbed the handles to Deeks' wheelchair following the nurse out of the room. Deeks continued to stare at his fists as the four gathered outside the room.

"It's common for patients who came in unconscious, to wake up confused and anxious." She said trying to reassure the three agents, she slowly knelt down trying to make eye contact with Deeks. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," Lauren placed her hand on top of Deeks right hand "You did nothing wrong."

"Agents?" A man in a white coat asked as he hurried down the hall, Lauren quickly removed her hand and rose to her feet. He joined the small circle and held out his hand to Sam. He shook it as the man in the white coat began to speak.

"I'm Dr. Kyle McGrath. The doctor in charge of Ms. Blye's care while at this hospital." He moved his hand to Hetty who also gave it a shake and then moved to Deeks who remained still and distant in his wheelchair. Dr. McGrath left his hand out in front of Deeks for a few seconds before bringing it to his coat pocket. "I'm sure Lauren has informed you that Ms. Blye's reaction after waking is completely normal. I told the nurses to give Ms. Blye a small dose of fentanyl which is a mild sedative, and acetaminophen for the pain."

"Is it an addictive drug?" Deeks asked quickly while still staring down at his lap as the image of Kensi strung out on PCP back in the warehouse flooded his mind.

"No," McGrath began "I was one of the doctors who performed the initial examination of Ms. Blye, along with the fact that I have read over her charts, I am very much aware of Ms. Blye's highly probable drug addiction to PCP. For that reason, I prescribed acetaminophen which is a non-narcotic to limit the chance of her becoming addicted to another substance. However, acetaminophen isn't a very strong pain reliever. That along with the withdrawal symptoms after a drug addiction, she will be in some significant pain." He paused a moment to allow the three to process everything. "we'll do everything we can to keep her as comfortable as possible, but she'll still be in discomfort."

"When will she wake up?" Hetty asked

"Fentanyl sedation usually lasts about thirty minutes to an hour. I strongly recommend that when Ms. Blye wakes, there only be a psychologist in the room with her. The psychologist will be able to help her come to terms with her current situation."

Sam nodded to the doctor understanding his recommendation, before looking down at Deeks who still sat motionless in the chair.

Dr. McGrath quickly looked down at Deeks and then to Lauren, "I think it's time for Mr. Deeks to go back to his room."

Deeks instantly looked up at the doctor standing before him and shot him an angry glance. "I need to be here when she wakes up." He growled,

Dr. McGrath nodded at the man's words and then let out a sigh "As Ms. Blye's primary doctor, I can't allow that. Like I said the only person that should be in the room when she wakes should be a psychologist. I'm sorry. But at this time, it wouldn't be beneficial for her if you were in the room."

Deeks opened his mouth to speak again but Dr. McGrath quickly held up his hand stopping him "She needs time to process and recover from everything that happened to her, and you need time to recover from your own injuries. In a few days after Ms. Blye has been able to process everything with the help of a psychologist, I'll revisit your request and reassess if it is beneficial for both of you. But as of right now, you need to return to your own room to allow your body to heal correctly and not risk further injury to yourself."

Lauren slowly stepped behind Deeks' wheelchair and wrapped her hands around the handle as the shaggy-haired man stared at the doctor with a vehement look on his face. Dr. McGrath glanced up to Lauren and gave her a nod signaling to her to begin pushing the wheelchair.

"I'll go with him," Sam sighed before following after Lauren and Deeks. Hetty stood silently with Dr. McGrath for a few minutes watching the three walk down the hall and disappear in the elevator before speaking.

"While I want the best care for them, for their safety we need the least number of nurses and doctors working on them as possible," Hetty informed

Dr. McGrath nodded in response, "Agent, um…Callen already inquired about this a few hours ago, and we've made the adjustments for you. There are only three doctors on Mr. Deeks' and Ms. Blye's cases. Myself, Dr. Coulson, and Dr. Westbrook. Like I said before I am the doctor in charge of Ms. Blye, Dr. Coulson is in charge of Mr. Deeks, and Dr. Westbrook is the doctor on call if myself or Dr. Coulson are ever unavailable or away with another one of our patients. For both Mr. Deeks and Ms. Blye there are two sets nurses one for the day shift and one for the night shift. In total for both of your people, there are only 11 medical professionals tasked with their care."

"And the psychologist?"

"I'm going to give Dr. Matthews a call once we finish up here. I'll also give you his information so you can do a full background check if you need. He's a phenomenal psychologist and has a military background so he'll be able to understand Ms. Blye's situation more than our other psychologists."

"Thank you for understanding our circumstances" Hetty replied she turned her head towards the far end of the hall where Callen was walking towards the two in a fast manner.

"What happened?" He asked, "I went to call Eric and Nell and…"

"Agent Callen, right?" The doctor interrupted while holding out his hand.

Callen shook it and looked at the man before him "You're the doctor assigned to Kensi, uh Dr. McGrath?"

"Yes, I was just informing Agent Lang about our discussion earlier on the medical staff for your agents."

Callen nodded and then looked to Hetty still confused on where Sam and Deeks were.

"Sam took Deeks back to his room, Kensi woke up and had a panic attack and had to be sedated for her own good," Hetty explained

Callen looked back to Dr. McGrath who began to explain again Kensi's situation and his recommendations for her recovery.

Lauren helped Deeks into his bed and resituated his monitors and IV bag around the bed. Sam watched as Lauren moved around Deeks and then pulled out his phone.

"I'll be right outside, Michelle's calling" Sam explained

Lauren turned to the man and gave him a nod in response and then returned to work. Deeks remained silent but looked to Sam quickly before returning his sight to his hands. Sam let out a small silent sigh at the sight of his friend so shaken up and then walked out of the room pressing the phone to his ear.

Lauren checked all of the monitors making sure they were correct before quickly examining Deeks. She lifted his gown checking the dressings over his wounds.

"You've reopened some of your stitches." She sighed "I'll need to fix that."

"What does it matter," Deeks growled still staring at his hands.

Lauren raised an eyebrow at the man's response and then returned to checking his body.

"I'm going to be blunt with you. I understand that you're shaken up," She said moving to the other side of the bed. "But blaming yourself for everything isn't going to help anyone."

Deeks closed his hands at her words. She began to press gently against his torso as she continued.

"You need to be strong, for yourself," she pressed softly against his side and he hissed in pain. "and for her…You're pretty tender right here, I'm going to order an ultrasound to make sure there isn't any internal bleeding." She moved down to his legs checking his dressings. "Stop acting like she's dead."

He looked up at her and glared, she stopped her checkup and glared back at him. "She's not, and you're not. You can't let your enemy win. And sulking and giving up is doing exactly that."

He clenched his jaw at her statement. The two stared at each other in silence for a while before Deeks finally let out a sigh and nodded agreeing with Lauren's words.

"How?" He asked

"First off, by not shutting out those who are trying to help you. You've got so many who would do anything for you, and pushing them away isn't going help. Trust me." Lauren responded moving back to his left side. "I'll be right back to redress your wounds." She finished putting her hand on top of his before walking towards the door. She stopped in the doorway and looked back to Deeks "You need to talk to someone, you went through something horrible and keeping it bottled up inside," She shook her head "It's not going to make it better."

Hetty and Callen stood outside of Kensi's room, following Dr. McGrath's orders. They watched as a nurse checked Kensi's body and monitors before leaving the room. The hallway was bustling with patients, visitors, and medical staff as the two remained stagnant against the nurses' station watching their friend's room.

"Sam's right," Callen whispered to Hetty pushing his hands into his pant pockets. "We have no idea if any of these people are working with Sparrow. If he was going to attack, we wouldn't be able to stop it ahead of time."

"I know." Hetty agreed gravely, "but at the moment we have no choice."

Callen sighed and nodded his head agreeing with her words.

A man walked up to Kensi's room and read over her chart. Callen and Hetty quickly pounced on him.

"Who are you?" Callen asked blocking the man's entry into the room.

The man took a step back in silence. He looked back and noticed the smaller woman keeping him contained. He reached into his jacket pocket, which made Callen pull out his gun. "Don't do it," Callen growled

"Agents!" Dr. McGrath exclaimed running over to the room, "This is Dr. Matthews. The psychologist I recommended for Kensi."

Callen lowered his gun but still kept it out, "Credentials?"

"That's what I was getting out." Dr. Matthews explained pulling his hand out of his pocket with his medical ID inside. He handed his ID to Callen who checked it and then holstered his gun. Callen handed the ID to Hetty who also checked it against the man in front of her before handing it back to the man.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot." Dr. McGrath explained "Agents this is Dr. Luke Matthews,"

Dr. Matthews held out his hand to Hetty and then to Callen greeting them. "I was just with another patient who becomes agitated with authoritative credentials, I forgot to put it back on before coming here. I'm sorry about that. It won't happen again." He explained

"Hetty?" Callen asked

"Nell said he passed the background check," Hetty answered. Callen nodded and then took a step to the side.

"I've read over Kensi's charts. and right now, my recommendation for her is to make her comfortable and safe not forcing to talk about what she went through. Slowly as I build rapport with her, I'll start asking her about her trauma helping her cope and fully understand what happened to her. Now this just what I've designed based on her charts, as I get to know more about her and her emotional and mental state I'll adapt to the best method for her recovery." Matthews explained trying to assure the agents. He looked down at his watch and then back to the agents. "She should be waking up soon." He explained while opening up the door. "If you wouldn't mind leaving,"

"That's not going to happen," Callen answered quickly

"Callen," Hetty retorted,

"Hetty," Callen shot back

Matthews nodded "I understand while you are so protective of her, but you need to understand that I have no idea what her mental state is right now, I can only go on what has happened, and what I know is that she had a panic attack when she woke up and you all were in the room. And I want to make myself clear, I'm not saying that the panic attack was your fault. I'm saying I have no idea where her mental state is at, and to try to keep her calm I need the least amount of variables."

"We'll be out sight," Hetty answered conforming to Dr. Matthews request.

"Hetty," Callen retorted

Hetty gave Callen a look "If it'll help Kensi even in the slightest, then we'll do it."

Callen nodded and let out a small sigh moving further away from the room. He looked through the window at his friend still unconscious on the bed. He let out another small sigh and clenched his jaw hating the fact he was leaving her alone.

"I'll notify you when I'm done with our first session." Dr. Matthews reassured walking into the room. He gave the two agents a small smile and shut the door. Dr. McGrath stood with the two for a moment letting them watch the psychologist take a seat on the opposite side of the room from Kensi before ushering them away.

"I'll inform the officer on her door to make sure no one comes into the room while you're not there." Dr. McGrath continued to reassure as the three walked towards the elevator.

"Thank you," Hetty answered as she and Callen entered the elevator. Dr. McGrath stood outside the door and gave the two a nod as the door closed.

Luke sat silently across the room from Kensi as he waited for her to wake up. He focused on her heart monitor's beeping for sounds of her awakening while he kept his eyes down on the chart in his lap. He thoroughly read over her file making sure that every detail was accounted for. He looked up as the heart monitor's shrill sound started to quicken. Luke gave the woman in the bed a small smile as he slowly rose from his chair. Kensi stared silently at the unknown man in her room tightening her muscles ready to put up a fight. He slowly raised his hands to be level with his head as he gradually walked towards her.

"Don't be afraid Kensi." He softly spoke, "My name is Luke, I'm a doctor at this hospital."

He came to her side and slowly brought one of his hands to his chest grabbing his Medical ID and then brought it closer for her to read. "I'm here to help you."

As Luke gradually moved his arm back something black flashed under his sleeve and Kensi grabbed his wrist stopping him from moving. She pushed up the sleeve allowing her to see his entire forearm. On his skin was a black tattoo of an eagle on top of an anchor holding a trident and pistol. She knew exactly what the tattoo stood for, but looked up at him wanting an explanation.

"SWCC, for 6 years, then I came back stateside and finished medical school." He explained, "But you already knew what the tattoo stood for since you work for NCIS, right?"

She let go of his arm but remained silent. Luke pushed his sleeve back down and replaced his ID. "I told you Kensi, I'm here to help you. You can talk to me."

The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments before he slowly reached for the pitcher of water sitting on her side table. She followed his movements with her eyes watching him closely for any tricks. "Are you thirsty?" He asked as he poured a cup of water and handed it to her. She looked at the glass and then back up to the man. Luke held it out to her for a few more seconds hoping she would take the cup before he let out a small sigh and placed in back on the side table by the pitcher. "I understand your uneasiness about trusting me, but I'm not going to harm you, I'm here to help you." She watched as the man went back to his chair across the room from her. He situated himself and his materials before looking back up at the woman. "How are you feeling?" He asked. She remained quiet still deciding whether to trust the man in front of her or not. He stared back and twitched a small smile. "I'm just going to keep asking you questions. If you want me to leave, then you're going to have to answer them. So how are you feeling?"

She watched as the man went back to his chair across the room from her. He situated himself placing a journal on his lap before looking back up at the woman. "How are you feeling?" He asked. She remained quiet still deciding whether to trust the man in front of her or not. He stared back and twitched a small smile. "I'm just going to keep asking you questions. If you want me to leave, then you're going to have to answer them. So how are you feeling?"

Kensi rolled her eyes at the man's statement and then thought on the question, she was so focused on the new person in her room she had neglected the intense pain in her chest and the burning sensation she felt all over her body.

"Never better," She cracked, the man gave a small smile at the woman's stubborn words. He clicked his pen and scribbled quickly into the journal and looked back up at Kensi.

"Do you know where you are?"

"A hospital," She responded back watching the man scribble something else in the journal

"What are you writing?" She asked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Observations, thoughts, anything that I think is important." He answered with a smile.

"So you're a shrink." Kensi scoffed.

He chuckled at her observation, "Have a problem with that?"

She jutted her jaw and didn't respond to his question

"Do you know what day it is?" He asked trying to get her to talk again.

She paused for a moment thinking about the question. She closed her eyes as images of her time in the warehouse began to flood her mind. She slowly shook her head back and forth answering his question.

"That's okay." He answered rising from his chair and walking closer to her. He could tell she was starting to remember her trauma by her deteriorating demeanor. "Kensi I want you to remember that you are safe."

She looked back up at him and balled her hands into fists. Her eyes widen at the sight of a new figure in the room. Sparrow stood, playing with a bloody knife in his hands at the foot of her bed. She took in a sharp gasp at the sight of him.

"No!" She gasped as she squeezed her eyes shut, Sparrow's laugh began to echo in the room. Kensi clasped her hands over her ears trying to block out the loudening laugh. She felt the blade's tip press against her chest and her entire body tightened as the knife began to cut open her flesh. "No!" She screamed again.

"Kensi it isn't real." Luke raised his voice. "Open your eyes. There's nothing there." Kensi took in another sharp gasp as she felt the blade plunge deep into her chest. Her eyes widen at the immense pain emanating from her torso. Kensi looked at Sparrow who stood over her twisting the knife deeper and deeper with a giant sinister smile plastered on his face. She closed her eyes and twisted to the side trying to get away from the figure.

Luke stood beside her, continuing to speak comforting words while she fought against the hallucination. "Kensi, Focus on my voice. I need you to breathe. Can you do that, just breathe, nothing is there." Kensi tried to focus only on Luke's voice, following his directions, she took in a ragged breath as the pain slowly faded. Kensi remained still as she tried to control her accelerated heartbeat. She didn't want to open her eyes in fear of seeing Sparrow still in the room.

Luke waited a few seconds allowing Kensi to calm herself. "Kensi I want you to open your eyes now," Luke ordered. She hesitated but trusted his command and slowly opened her eyes. "Good," He smiled "It's over, you aren't in danger anymore." He grabbed the cup of water from the side table and held it in front of her. She slowly wrapped her hands around the styrofoam cup and brought it to her lips. He went to the sink and ripped a paper towel from the dispenser and came back to her side. Luke waited a few minutes allowing the woman to fully regain her composure. He lightly placed his hand on her shoulder which made her muscles tighten at the touch. She looked up at the man while he took the wet paper from her hand. Luke gave her a small reassuring smile trying to make her feel safe.

"You can trust me…I'm going to help you get through this."

Alright so I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, I have spring break coming up soon so hopefully, I can use some of that free time to update again. I'll try my best.

As always please review, favorite, follow, comment, suggest, message me or do whatever floats your boat.