Chapter 7: Theradin

It had not even been one full hour before Callen began to rouse. Still lying on his back, the head of the bed slightly elevated, he bent his left knee. Hetty went to his side and watched as he shifted slightly in the bed, and grimaced. G moaned softly and then seemed to relax. A few seconds later, he stirred again and winced. This time the moan that followed was a bit more forceful. She reached out and carefully rested a hand on his upper arm, hoping that he would calm if this was, in fact, a nightmare. He stilled for a few moments, obviously being comforted somewhat by her touch. Hetty stood, quietly watching him, not completely convinced that he would settle back to sleep. Her suspicions were answered when he moved again. She was certain now: he was in pain.

Just then, Anna quietly entered the room with a new bag of IV solution. The younger woman noted the look of concern in Hetty's eyes as she came closer. Anna hung and connected the IV bag and watched Callen's small unsettled movements for a few moments before speaking. "Not quite the two hours we'd hoped for."

"I'm afraid not," Hetty responded, her voice low, with a hint of melancholy.

The nurse paused, once again, thinking. "I'm going to find someone to assist me in getting him turned. I'll bring some pain medicine with me. Maybe he'll agree to take it."

With her gaze still locked on Callen, Hetty smiled and shook her head. "Oh, I don't think there's much chance of him agreeing to it. But we'll get it down him somehow."

The young nurse exited the room, realizing that she was about to see the side of her patient she had read about in the nurses' notes: adamantly opposed to taking pain meds. Upon first reading the note, she had hoped that Monica had been slightly exaggerating. Now she wondered if Monica hadn't been telling the exact truth. Inhaling, Anna hurried to find a strong nurse to help her, all the while thinking how grateful she was that her husband wasn't like this when he was sick.

In the hospital room, Hetty realized that Callen was becoming slightly agitated in his unconscious state. Not wanting to add to his distress, she lifted her hand from his arm and took a small step back.

Callen's eyes opened suddenly. Almost instantly, his breath hitched and he shut his eyes tightly. Clearly in pain, he held his breath for several seconds.

Hetty couldn't help the concern that filled her. This was a blatant reminder of how bad he had been when she had treated him with first aid back at Ops. It had been less than three days ago, but it felt like a month ago, with the amount of stress and emotional turmoil she and her agents had been through. She wished that she could banish his hurt. Just this once.

Anna and a tall, muscular, male nurse entered the room just as G released his breath.

Callen squirmed, and then straightened out his left leg, inadvertently pulling the top of the covers down below his waist. When he was able to fully open his eyes, he looked up at Hetty with a pained expression. "Hetty…" His voice was soft and hoarse. "I've got to get up."

Hetty moved closer and reached through the rail. Placing her palm on his shoulder, she asked him calmly, "Where are you hurting?"

He began to take in quick breaths. "Please," he whispered. "Just let me get up."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Callen. That's just not possible at this time," Hetty said, her voice a touch quieter. She was unsettled by the look of betrayal in Callen's eyes that followed her words. She removed her hand and stepped back from the bed.

Anna came to the bedside, eyes full of sympathy. "Mr. Callen. This is C.J." She glanced with her eyes to the large man standing behind her. "We're going to turn you onto your side and try to make you more comfortable…" She held up a tiny cup that contained a single dark blue capsule. "But I'd like you to take this pain medicine before we do."

G looked at the cup, breathing hard, then up at Hetty and shook his head.

Hetty took a step closer, lowering her chin. "You need to listen to the nurses. They are following the doctor's orders."

Callen's breathing became more strained. He looked up at Anna with panic in his eyes.

Anna realized what he was frightened of, so she added quickly, "This is the new medicine the doctor told you about. It shouldn't knock you out; just help with the pain so you can rest."

Callen narrowed his eyes and turned his head to face the window.

Anna looked at Hetty with concern, asking with her frown, now what?

The petite woman met her gaze before she moved up against the side of the bed. "Mr. Callen. You can either take this, or I'll send the nurse for the sedative."

Callen cautiously turned his head and peered over at Hetty, as if determining how serious she was. What he saw was his Operations Manager glaring at him over the top of her glasses. G averted his gaze and set his jaw, now panting through gritted teeth against the pain.

"The choice is yours," Hetty said, pointing to the medicine with a long, slender finger. "This pill… or the shot that makes you sleep."

Anna looked from the patient, to Hetty, then back to Callen, wondering if this "battle of wills" was a common occurrence in their working relationship. She was fairly certain it was.

Callen closed his eyes. He took a few short breaths through his nose, and then opened his eyes to look with disdain at the little medicine cup in the nurse's hand.

Grateful that she didn't have to order the sedative that her lead agent hated so much, Hetty poured a fresh cup of water, took the medicine from the container, and held it up to Callen's lips.

With his gaze now averted, G parted his teeth, just enough for Hetty to slip the blue capsule into his mouth. He didn't even bother reaching for the cup when it was put up to his lips; he simply took a drink, obediently swallowing the medicine.

After checking Callen's vitals, Anna moved to lower the head of the bed, pulled the covers down to the foot board, and motioned for C.J. to move to the other side. "You've slid down in bed a little. We're going to need to move you up higher before we turn you."

C.J. and Anna lowered the bedrails. Using the draw sheet, they lifted the patient and shifted him up toward the headboard.

Callen looked away, avoiding eye contact with those who were now handling him. Except for a soft gasp, he was silent while being turned to his left side.

Anna placed a pillow between Callen's knees and looked over at the male nurse. "If you'll hold him in place for just a minute, I'll do a quick skin integrity assessment." At C.J.'s nod, Anna opened the back of the untied gown, this time not startled by the bullet scars. She rubbed on Callen's back, concentrating on the reddened areas from where he had been lying on the mattress. Her hands were as gentle as possible, applying just enough pressure to soothe him. Now knowing that her patient wouldn't protest her touching him, she took the opportunity to sneak into his care what she had decided was necessary: comforting touch.

Within sixty seconds, C.J. felt the patient relax in his grip. He watched carefully as the patient blinked tiredly, almost looking like he was experiencing calm for the first time in hours. Glancing at Anna, C.J. caught that she was focused on rubbing the bed sheet wrinkles out of the patient's back. He went back to watching the patient while she continued, monitoring for signs of pain or otherwise.

C.J. looked up at Anna with a grin when he saw Callen's eyes finally close a few minutes later.

Anna, allowing a small smile to touch her features when she realized what C.J.'s look meant, carefully replaced the gown. She placed the pillows behind Callen's back and C.J. positioned one under his right arm. They pulled the covers up over the patient before quietly leaving the room.

Hetty went to the room's closet and, standing on her tip toes, retrieved a blanket from the shelf at the top. She came around the bed, to the side Callen was facing, and turned off the light above him. The petite woman took a seat in the straight-back chair next to him and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. She watched her agent for a while. The magic the nurse had just worked on Callen was nothing short of miraculous. She had never seen Callen react like that to anyone. Thankful that he was resting peacefully for the time being, she sighed, and nestled into the chair.

It wasn't long before Hetty sat straight up in her chair. Her senses were telling her something was wrong. Something was off about Callen's breathing; he was still asleep but his breaths were not even. She wondered if he was experiencing pain in his sleep. Or maybe the nightmares were returning. She found either scenario to be disturbing. She had thought the pain medication would last at least four hours. There was a greater chance that it was nightmares.

Hetty remained sitting straight and ready to act as time wore on. Listening. Waiting.

Over the next hour, Callen became more restless and occasionally Hetty would hear him mumble a phrase or two in his sleep, each time nearly bringing her to rise to her feet. What he said wasn't clear enough to distinguish the language, but she was certain it wasn't English.

Then suddenly, Hetty heard Callen's body jerk violently beneath the covers and his breathing become more labored. Hetty let the blanket fall from her shoulders and finally stood to her feet. She saw Callen's wide blue eyes shining in the near-dark, lit only by the faint light entering the hospital room window through the short drapes. Hoping she could get him to settle back to sleep, she chose not to turn on the light right above his head. Instead, she quickly and silently made her way around the bed, to the other side of the room, and flipped on the light in the doorway.

Even from that distance, she could see that Callen was panicked. He was cautiously surveying his surrounds as he lay on his side, breathing hard.

Hetty returned to her position on other side of the bed and placed her hand on Callen's lower jaw and neck. His rapid heart rate pounded against her tiny fingers. "Mr. Callen," she said softly, trying to get him to calm down.

Just then, Nurse Anna opened the door and stepped inside. "I saw the light on… Is everything okay?"

As Anna made her way to the bedside, Callen heard her footsteps and became more agitated, bringing up his hand to attempt pushing Hetty's hand away, trying at the same time to look over to where the nurse was.

Hetty removed her hand from his neck, hoping he would not further injure his fractured hand trying to push her away, and took a hold of his arm above his elbow. "Mr. Callen," she repeated, a bit more forcefully than before. "What's wrong?"

Callen's eyes met those of his concerned boss. "Hetty?" he whispered. His tired eyes searching the side of the room he was facing before looking back at Hetty. "Gde ya?" Where am I? He asked in Russian, between quick breaths.

"You're in the hospital," she replied gently in English.

Callen glanced down at Hetty's hand that was still holding his arm, and then looked back up. "Was I shot?"

Hetty gave him a small smile. "No… not this time. You fell. But you're going to be just fine. They're taking good care of you."

Callen's breathing began to slow, but the fear had not left his eyes. "Sem vse v poryadke?" Is Sam alright?

"Yes. Sam's alright."

"Kensi? Deeks?" he pressed, worried.

"Everyone's fine."

G closed his eyes briefly and swallowed. "Chto sluchilos'?" What happened? He asked when he had reopened his eyes.

"You were investigating a crime scene when someone fired a sniper round at you. Sam pushed you out of the way and off of a platform. It seems he landed on top of you in the process of saving your life."

The fear in Callen's eyes was now being replaced with confusion. He turned his head to the right, but was unable to see the other side of the room while positioned on his side. He looked up at Hetty with narrowed eyes and asked in Russian, "Gde Sem?" Where's Sam?

"I sent him home to be with his family. Sam is just fine," she said, attempting to reassure her Senior Agent. "The suspect is now in custody, thanks to your team."

Calming, Callen's breathing slowed and he blinked tiredly up at Hetty. His energy was fading fast.

"Everyone is safe now." Hetty began rubbing small circles on Callen's upper arm and shoulder, and began speaking softly to him in Russian. "Eto khorosho spat'. Ty v bezopasnosti." It's alright to sleep now. You are safe.

Callen closed his eyes and Hetty felt the tension leave his body beneath her hand.

Hetty removed her hand from Callen's arm and gave the nurse a troubled look.

"Hopefully, he will rest a little while, now," Anna whispered, her eyes showing her surprise at the language use they had both displayed, and the details that Hetty had divulged about how her patient had received his injuries. Mainly the sniper part.

Hetty nodded. "Maybe so," she said softly. "He slept soundly for a little more than an hour after you gave him the pain pill."

"He can have another one at 11:30." Anna checked her watch. "That's in about two and a half hours," she said, still keeping her voice low. "I'll be checking on him in the meantime. Oh… and he'll go for his MRI in the morning around 5:30 or 6:00. When I told Radiology that Dr. Lee was concerned that there had been some neurological changes over the past few days, they moved him to be first on the schedule."

"Thank you, Ms. Harris."

Anna gave her patient another concerned look before leaving the room.

At around 10:45, Callen began to stir again. Hetty turned the light on above his bed. She watched helplessly as his sleep gradually became more fitful.

Anna checked on her patient at 11:30 and found him to be restless and mumbling in his sleep, Hetty standing at his side. "Another rough night, I see."

"Yes, it is. He's been restless for nearly an hour."

"Dr. Lee had hoped that the Theradin would reduce the pain enough for him to rest. Maybe enough of it will build up in his system with the second dose. Press the call light when he is awake and I'll bring him another pill."

"Thank you, dear."

The nurse left the room, concerned at how tired Hetty sounded and looked.

It was close to midnight when Callen opened his eyes. He stared straight ahead, as if looking right through Hetty.

When alerted by the call light, Anna came with the medicine. She removed the pillows from around the patient and slowly rolled him onto his back. She raised the head of the bed and poured a cup of water. "Mr. Callen. I have your pain pill."

G continued to stare expressionless into space, not seeming to notice he had been spoken to.

Hetty reached up and patted the side of his face. "Mr. Callen?"

The only change in Callen's expression was a slight narrowing of his eyes.

Hetty sighed, looked across to Anna, and reached out her hand.

The nurse took the dark blue pill and placed it in Hetty's palm. Allowing someone to force a pill down her patient was not ideal. But in this situation, it seemed to be the best way. At this moment, this man was just not alert enough to follow commands, and it was obvious that his boss was experienced at caring for him.

Hetty slipped her right hand behind Callen's head and tilted it forward slightly. With his jaw now a bit more relaxed, she was able to push the medicine into his mouth.

While Hetty continued to hold his head forward, Anna put the cup water to his lips, giving him several sips of water.

Callen, seemingly unaware of his surroundings, swallowed automatically.

Anna leaned in close to Callen and studied his mouth. "Do you think it went down? I don't want him to choke on it."

"We should know in a matter of seconds. I've recently witnessed his reaction to a pill dissolving in his mouth."

Both women watched intently for close to a minute before Hetty finally spoke. "Well. It appears to have been swallowed." She gently lowered his head to the pillow and slid her hand from behind his head.

Callen turned his head slowly toward Hetty and looked straight into her eyes. His lips parted as if he were about to speak. Then his mouth closed and his brow wrinkled in confusion, all recognition fading from his expression. He turned his head to face straight ahead, once again staring blankly into space.

Hetty frowned down at him and shook her head, wondering deep in her soul whether it was more difficult to deal with a medicated Callen, or a regular stubborn Callen. The sigh that she released was laden with the possibilities of the fact that she might be dealing with the more difficult of the two.