Chapter 25

Suddenly Nell felt a gun at her head, she tried her best to get up again but her ribs hurt too much. She was ready to give up, prepare for the worst to come but then she hurt familiar voices scream: "Federal Agents lay down your weapons!" The men opened fire on the NCIS Agents, they quickly took cover behind one cave wall as their opponents did and meanwhile Nell whispered into Eric's ear: "The team is finally here, hang in there Eric please." She tried her very best to ignore the wave of pain, by thinking about the wonderful dinner with the man she loved so much once they finally got out of here.

Finally after all gunmen were taken out, Callen was the first who reached Nell and Eric, closely followed by the rest of the team. He and the rest clearly looked very concerned for the well-being of their two Techies, Deeks quickly felt for a pulse on Eric and said: "He's still breathing but I suggest we get him out of here fast." Kensi meanwhile was taking care of Nell, asking her: "How are you feeling Nell? Can you get up on your own?" Nell's eyes slowly fluttered open and with all the strength left inside of her she finally answered: "Like…a…punchingbag….my ribs…hurt" Kensi and Callen slowly helped Nell up from the ground and had to help her walk because she could barely hold herself up her own two legs. Sam and Deeks meanwhile carried the still unconscious Eric, of course Callen was already thinking of the fastest to get out of here because the time was definitely a big enemy in this case. On the way back, Callen took care of ordering a Medevac for Eric and Nell because the injuries of the two definitely needed to be treated in the next hospital and because Eric hadn't woken up since the rest of the team had arrived to rescue him and Nell, Callen and the rest of the agents were definitely the most concerned about his medical condition.

*Please Eric wake up, don't leave me* Nell thought as she tried her best to hold herself in in an upright position even if she had a very hard time in doing so because of all the pain she felt in her ribs. But no matter how much pain she had to endure she would continue to fight it, for herself and Eric, she fought back some tears that threatened to escape from her eyes as she shortly looked at the still unconscious figure of the man she loved and didn't know if he would life another day. Nell couldn't imagine a life without him, after she had been with him through so much, so much memories she had with him since they had started working together at OPS and she couldn't imagine working alongside a better colleague than him. Outside the cave, the two were later then put into the Medevac Chopper and as Nell lay there on the stretcher right next to Eric, she really hoped that the help didn't arrive too late for him.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax and thought of the good times she had spent together with him. Down on the ground, Nell and Eric's team sat in their cars again still trying to cope with events that happened just a few minutes ago and they all were clearly very concerned for the safety of their two friends. One of the doctors had given them the address of the hospital where they would take Nell and Eric, on the way to the hospital Callen pulled out his cellphone out of his pocket to notify Hetty of the current situation, their mighty little leader said after Callen's short report: "Thanks for the update Mister Callen, I will meet you and the rest of the team at the hospital."

"Ok bye Hetty." Callen answered and ended the call

The chopper finally dropped down on the landing pad of the nearest Hospital, the doctors rushed both of the stretchers inside the building because time was in Eric's case really their big enemy. "We've got two patients, one male and female: Mister Beale needs to be brought into a free operation room right now because he's losing a lot of blood from a head wound. Miss Jones had more "luck" than her colleague, only a few cracked ribs and definitely needs some painkillers. While Eric got wheeled into the ER, the stretcher where Nell was on got brought one floor up into a normal room, where she got some painkillers because of the big amount of pain she suffered right now due to the cracked ribs. A very concerned Kensi was the first one to arrive at the reception desk of the hospital and asked the receptionist at once: "Do you know anything about the condition of Nell Jones and Eric Beale?"

"Mister Beale is in surgery right now, so I can't say anything solid on his medical condition. Miss Jones is at room 145 on the first floor and stable." The young receptionist with the name Laura replied after she had looked into the computer in front of her.

"Thank you Laura." Kensi then said and returned to the others with the news of Eric's and Nell's condition. "I hope he gets through surgery without any problems." Deeks said as the first one to react to the uncertainty of Eric's health, he then asked the rest of team: "Anyone wants some coffee?" All of them ordered one, realizing that tonight would probably be a very long night.

Later they still sat in front of the reception desk, had been waiting for a doctor to arrive for quite some time now they heard a male voice clearing his throat next to them and saying: "Are you the colleagues of Miss Jones and Mister Beale?" Callen was the first one to get up from his seat and answered: "Yes we are how is he?"

"Fortunately Miss Beale got through surgery without any problems, you can see him now but only two at a time because he still needs a lot of rest." Doctor Andrews replied and then Callen turned around to face the rest of his team and said: "Kensi and Deeks you can go in first to Eric, me and Sam will wait here for the arrival of Hetty." After Deeks and Kensi had left, Callen and Sam talked about the medical condition of Nell, till Hetty arrived.

AN: Eric didn't give the weapon to Nell, because in his mind he felt that it was his duty to protect the woman he loves. Thanks to- kekej for reviewing this story and adding it to his/her favorite stories list, Thanks to- miss tarletone for reviewing this story.

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