Over the next six months, Amanda watched Callen slip further and further into a deep depression. On some days he drank from noon until he passed out. When he was sober, he laid in their bed with his hand on her pillow. Or sit on her side of the bed with her closet door open, staring at her clothes. There were those days when he did nothing but stare at her rings. He still spent time with the kids, but was thankful to have Heather and Madison to help when he'd had too much to drink.

Amanda did everything she could to make her presence known. She'd sit and watch Patrick as he slept, whispering softly how much she loved him. Callen must have heard because on many occasions he walked into the room and looked around. Amanda would sit in the bathroom as Callen showered and listen to him cry. Once or twice she move her rings from one spot in the room to another and was elated when Chrissy saw her and started talking to her.

"I miss you Mommy." She told her.

"I miss you too, Chrissy. I wish this hadn't happened."

"What's going to happen now?"

Amanda sighed. "I'll be here as long as I can. We can talk whenever you want."

Callen walked past Chrissy's room and stopped when he heard her talking. He stood there listening to the one-sided conversation. With a sigh, opened the door and smiled at her. "Hey honey, who are you talking to?"

Chrissy smiled widely. "Mommy."

Callen's heart sank as he walked into the room and knelt down in front of her. He smiled at her as he brushed a few strands of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Chrissy, you can't be talking to Mommy."

"Yes I can, she's right there." Chrissy said pointing to where Amanda was sitting.

Callen turned and looked at the spot on the bed. "I don't see anything."

"You can't see her, you're too old. Your mind is too closed." She told him.

He laughed and shook his head. "Yes you're right. I was going to make myself a sandwich, do you want something?"

Chrissy looked towards where she said her mother was sitting. "Mommy do you want something?" After a brief silence, "I'll take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"Which peanut butter and what kind of jelly?" he asked.

"Honey peanut butter and apricot-pineapple jelly." She grinned.

Callen stood and kissed the top of her head. "Just the way Mommy liked them. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Ok Daddy." She giggled.

Amanda found herself under the shade of a large tree and smiled, remembering the scene from when she was in the coma. She rolled to her side and found Chris staring at her strangely. "Are you about done?"

Amanda laughed. "What do you mean am I about done?"

"With your whole fantasy or nightmare, whatever you want to call it?" He asked snidely.

She sat up, looking down at him as a cool breeze made her shiver. "What are you talking about?"

"You're still alive."

Amanda's smile faded. "No I'm not, I'm dead. I died from Rat Fever or something like that."

"No Amanda." He said and sat up, resting his arm on his knee and looked out at the lake nearby. "You're very much alive and in fact it's high time you wake up. It's been six months Amanda."

Confused, Amanda got up and walked to the edge of the lake. Her white gown whipping around her ankles. "No Chris I woke up, I went back to work, we had kids, it has been five years."

Chris waved his hand over the water and told her to look at herself. Amanda was flabbergasted when she saw herself lying in the hospital bed. "You never woke up, everything you thought happened over the last four or five years never happened."

"It was a dream?" She asked on the verge of tears. "But, I don't understand. How, I woke up, I know I did."

"No, for the last few months your condition improved and they took you off the ventilator. Callen, my parents and your parents have been paying for your extended medical care."

"So Chrissy and Patrick never happened?" She asked looking up at Chris.

"No, and they can't happen until you wake up." He told her. Amanda turned her back to him, trying to grasp that everything was a dream. "I know it's hard for you to understand this now and it will be even harder when you wake up."

"They were real, I felt them move in my stomach and I remember the pain when I gave birth to them." She cried. "They're real."

"Amanda it was a dream." He said holding onto her arms.

She pulled away. "No, you're lying to me. It was you and Dad and George who told me it was time to die."

"Your father and my father are very much alive. Dad's gone into remission, he's cancer free."

Amanda shook her head. It couldn't have all been a dream, it had to have been real. "What will happen when I wake up, will I have children?"

"I don't know that Amanda. You're just going to have to live your life and find out." He told her as she leaned into him.

"They aren't going to pull the plug on me or anything are they?" She laughed nervously.

Chris laughed. "Of course not. Callen wouldn't let that happen. He loves you more than I've ever seen one person love another. He only works when they absolutely need him and spends as much time as he possibly can at your side. But it doesn't matter. It's time to wake up and live the rest of your life. I can guarantee it won't be anything like your dream. You're going to live a very long and happy life."

"But you said you didn't know."

"That much I do know, I've been assured of that. This is just a bump in the road."

"What about my injuries, will I ever walk again?"

"You will walk, but it's going to take a lot of work. You've been lying in a bed for months. I will warn you that it won't be easy, but I know you can do it."

"I still can't believe it was all a dream." She said as they walked along the bank of the lake.

Callen was finishing up the last of some paperwork before heading to see Amanda, it had been months since the accident and he so missed her. When the doctor told him it was a waiting game, he never imagined it would be this long. He didn't even know it was possible.

Sam walked past and patted him on the back. "Give Amanda our love."

Callen smiled up at him. "I always do."

"I know you do." He said nodding. "I just pray she wakes up. I miss her, Michelle and the kids miss her too."

"YOU miss her?" Callen laughed. "I'm ready for all of this to be over. She needs to wake up already."

"Any day," Sam told him. "Any day."

"I hope it's soon, I don't know how much longer I can afford all of this." He admitted.

"We've all told you that we'd help." Sam reminded him.

"I know, but she's my wife. I can't ask you all to help pay her medical bills."

"We would help in a heartbeat." Kensi said as she walked into the bullpen.

"I know, but I've got to do this on my own." He said stubbornly.

Callen stood up and picked up his bag, putting some files in it before he zipped it and slung the strap over his shoulder. "Any messages you want me to pass, Kensi?"

"Yeah," She said with tears in her eyes. "Tell her I miss my best friend and that she needs to wake her ass up."

Callen dropped the bag and walked to Kensi with open arms. "I've been telling her that for months now."