Chapter 12: Poison
Hetty had been waiting in Callen's hospital room for about thirty minutes when the three aides who had taken him from the MRI room brought him in. He was still unconscious, but it was apparent from the groan that escaped when he was lifted onto the bed: the sedative was wearing off.
Hetty could see that he had been cleaned up and changed into a fresh gown. His short hair was wet and three Steri-Strips had been used to close the cut on his forehead. Hetty retrieved a pair of flannel pajama pants from the closet, handed them to one of the aides, and stepped out of the room.
A few minutes later, Anna came down the hall to Callen's door and Hetty followed her into the room.
The aides had just raised the rails and covered the patient. Anna thanked them for their assistance and they left the room, taking the empty gurney with them.
While Anna checked Callen's vital signs, Hetty walked to the opposite side of the bed. She was unsettled by how pale his skin appeared against his wet hair and the bruises on his face and arms. She reached up and tried to wipe away a bit of white residue at the corner of his mouth.
Anna looked up from the blood pressure cuff she was holding. "Oh. Let me get a washcloth. That's mouthwash. I swabbed his mouth, while ago, when we were washing him off." The nurse went into the bathroom and returned with a wet cloth. She gently dabbed the corners of his mouth, careful to avoid the cut in the middle of his bottom lip.
Landon, who had just come on duty, walked into the room, nodding a greeting to Hetty, and moved to the bedside. He handed Anna a small package he was holding, a somber look on his face. "C.J. said you requested this."
"Yes. Thanks. I wanted to stabilize his wrist before connecting his IV. He's moving that hand way too much."
"We should have splinted him when he came in through the ER." Landon said, exhaling. "Sorry."
"That's alright. Who'd have thought he'd be able to move around this much with a broken wrist?" Anna took the IV splint-board out of the package, placed it on the palm side of the patient's hand and wrist.
With eyes still closed, Callen grimaced and moaned, pulling his arm away from the female nurse.
Landon carefully reached and held Callen's arm still while Anna secured the splint with Velcro straps. After releasing the patient's arm, Landon looked at Anna with concern. "You look exhausted. You need to go get some sleep so you'll be ready for duty at three."
All eyes went to Callen as he took in a quick breath, let out a raspy groan, and then mumbled something in Russian.
Hetty placed her hand on his left forearm. "Shhh."
Anna continued when the patient had relaxed. "I'm staying until I can talk to Dr. Lee. I want to tell him, first-hand, what's been going on."
Anna reattached the IV tubing to Callen's hand and had just set the IV pump machine when Dr. Lee entered the room. The nurses stepped aside.
With his brow furrowed, and eyes glued on his sleeping patient, the doctor hurried to the bedside. He stared at Callen for a moment and then looked at Anna. "You feel pretty certain this was a reaction to the Theradin?"
"Yes, Sir. He became progressively more disoriented as the night went on. I thought, at first, it was just the nightmares Monica had noted in his chart."
The hospital room door opened and Deeks cautiously stepped inside. Seeing Callen surrounded by medical staff, he hesitated.
Hetty moved to the corner of the room, at the foot of the bed, and motioned for Marty to come join her.
Dr. Lee began studying the patient, once again. "You said on the phone that he was hallucinating?"
"Yes. Miss Lange would be better able to describe his thought processes... He was speaking in another language."
Dr. Lee raised his gaze from the hospital bed to the Operations Manager who was now standing in the corner with her detective.
Hetty let out a breath through pursed lips. "Yes, I too, at first, thought he was just dreaming. Earlier last night, he woke up asking for a stuffed animal he had as a child. But, every time he woke up, he was more disoriented… I don't think he even recognized me, at times."
"I gave him his third dose of Theradin, just before he went for the MRI." Anna explained. "I was hoping he would be out long enough for them to finish. But he woke up in the chamber of the machine. The staff in radiology said they got him out as quickly as possible, but he was terrified. They said he came out swinging. He rolled off the table fighting them; that's how he got the gash on his head. By the time I got down to him, he had punched one of the techs in the nose and had the other in a choke hold. "
"We were the enemy," Hetty said solemnly. "He thought he was on an assignment and that the Russian Mafia had captured him – that they were about to torture him…" Hetty closed her eyes. "And that I had betrayed him."
Deeks felt his jaw tighten, feeling slightly sick over what he was hearing. He knew Callen had seen things and done things that he didn't, or couldn't speak of. But, he never really thought about the things this private man must have gone through; the experiences, from before he was with NCIS, that haunted him. He tried to read how badly this was affecting his tiny boss, but all that he could see was her holding it together. His instincts told him that she was struggling with all that had happened, but he couldn't find an outward proof on her.
After several seconds of silence, Anna continued with her account of the incident. "One of our nurses had to hold Mr. Callen down while I administered the sedative… Dr. Lee. I'm really sorry that I didn't recognize the problem with the medication sooner."
"You can't blame yourself, Mrs. Harris." The doctor intoned, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "This is rare. I've only seen it once in all the times I have prescribed it, so I never thought to make a note of the warning signs. This was my responsibility. Unfortunately, it's going to take a while to get it out of his system. We won't be able to give him anything for pain or anxiety for 24 hours from the last dose of Theradin."
"That will be 5:30 in the morning, then," Anna stated, a slight sadness in her eyes.
"In the meantime, I will do some research on what would be best for him." The doctor leaned over and placed his palm on Callen's forehead, closely examining the new injury. "Did you close the wound?"
"Yes, Sir," Anna answered. "We cleaned him up – he had his blood, and the blood from the tech with the busted nose, all over him. I thought the Steri-Strips would decrease the chance of contamination until you could get here."
"I don't think I'll stitch him. The Steri-strips should hold. You did a good job."
"Thank you."
Dr. Lee straightened. "Any other new injuries?"
"I can't be sure since I wasn't in there when he fell. But I just put an IV splint on him. His wrist seems more swollen."
Dr. Lee picked up Callen's limp right arm and examined his wrist and hand. He met eyes with Hetty, gave her a small amused look, shaking his head. "His co-worker was right. He does think he's Superman. From the looks of these knuckles, he threw at least one good punch with this broken hand."
Hetty crossed her arms tiredly and gave a slight nod, inclining her head to the right. "When it comes to the 'fight-or-flight' mode, 'fight' is usually his response of choice."
"Agreed." Deeks echoed quietly. "The man does not run from danger."
"Any fever?" The doctor asked while pulling the bed sheets down to Callen's waist.
"Has not gone above 99.2." Anna responded.
Dr. Lee put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to the patient's heart for a few moments. "Who's the primary nurse today?"
"I am." Landon answered.
"Let's keep an eye on his heart rate. He's still a little revved-up."
"Will do."
"There's not a lot we can do about it right now. Can't give him anything to settle him down until in the morning. We'll just have to keep him as calm as possible until then."
Dr. Lee raised the bottom of Callen's gown and began examining his chest and stomach. He gently palpated the patient's abdomen.
Callen flinched and opened his eyes. With wide eyes, he stared at the man who was leaning over him. He looked down at Hetty who was still standing in the corner of the room. Then, from left to right, he slowly scanned the faces of each person standing around him. He looked down at the IV needle in his hand and then his gaze followed the tubing all the way up to the bag that was dripping medication into his vein.
"No," he breathed out and his breathing suddenly became frantic. Without warning, he reached over with his left hand, grasped the IV tube that was inserted in his right hand, and pulled.
Dr. Lee grabbed Callen's left hand and held it in place, preventing him from pulling the needle out.
Callen only fought harder. "No! Take it out!" He yelled, trying to yank his hand out of the doctor's grip.
Dr. Lee was losing his grip. "Need some help!"
Landon ran around to the other side of the bed. He reached across and pried the patient's fingers off of the tube, while Dr. Lee held on to the right arm.
With both shoulders and forearms now being forced down to the mattress, Callen became even more frightened. He began to squirm and kick his left leg. "Take it out," he panted.
Deeks, face dead serious, stepped up to the bed and secured G's left leg so that he could not move it. He hoped that they weren't all hurting Callen as he struggled.
"Need restraints!" The doctor said forcefully. "Four point!"
"Yes, Sir," Anna said breathlessly and ran from the room.
Within minutes, Anna was back in the room. She ripped open the four packages, letting the four cloth restraints fall to the bed beside the patient's right leg. She picked up one of the restraints and hurried around to Callen's left side.
G, breathed hard, watching Anna loop the cloth around his wrist and then tie it to bed frame at his waist. He watched her make her way to his left leg and secure his ankle to the bed, in the same way. With Deeks now out of the way, Callen could see Hetty. He shook his head. "Hetty," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes. "Oni otravlyayut mne." They poison me.
Hetty stepped up to the left of his bed, her eyes suddenly full of empathy. "No, Mr. Callen. This is not poison. It is medicine – medicine to help you." Hetty felt as if her heart would break when a single tear spilled down onto Callen's face.
G turned his head to the right, looking down at the arm that the doctor was holding tight. He watched Anna tie his right wrist, and then right ankle, to the bed.
With all four extremities now bound to the bed, Callen's panic grew. He pulled against the restraints to no avail.
Hetty reached toward him and softly stroked the side of his face. "Mr. Callen. Please be still. No one here is going to cause you any harm."
But G was beyond reasoning with. He moved his face away from her and made an attempt to sit up in bed, roughly pulling the ties on his wrists. He stopped suddenly, closed his eyes tightly, and held his breath against the pain. His already pale face blanched, and his head collapsed back down to the pillow. He took several short gasps of air before opening his eyes.
Hetty forcibly took Callen's left hand in hers, held it firmly, and began speaking to him in Russian.
Deeks recognized her words as the Russian lullaby she had recited to Callen the day he was admitted to the hospital. He watched in amazement as his team leader began responding to her soft words.
Callen stared up into Hetty's eyes. He still appeared disoriented and scared, but began to relax. His breathing slowed and, by the time Hetty had finished with the lyrics, he was no longer pulling against the restraints. Too exhausted to fight any more, he closed his eyes.
Hetty waited a few moments and then gently released his limp hand and lightly placed her hand on his lower arm, just above the restraint. She understood that he was still frightened and confused. She was grateful that, at least for the time being, he was calm.
Dr. Lee slowly and carefully pulled the hospital gown back down into place, and covered his patient with the blanket, bringing the top of the covers to Callen's chest. He let out a sigh. "Restraining him is not optimal. It will just add to his anxiety. But additional medication is contraindicated at this point. I feel certain he would have pulled out the IV, and eventually injured himself again."
"I have to agree." Hetty intoned quietly. "His judgment is impaired. He knows who I am, but seems to be stuck at some point in his past."
Finally breaking his gaze from the patient, Dr. Lee turned to Landon. "Let's keep the restraints in place, at least until I make rounds this afternoon. Even if he seems to be more coherent, there is a strong possibility of residual effects from the medication."
Landon nodded, then asked, "Do you want me to cancel the order for physical therapy?"
"Yes. And please contact me as soon as you get the MRI report." The doctor took another look at the patient. "I know it will be a major challenge without the use of medication, but, like I said before, let's try to keep him calm and quiet."
Landon followed Dr. Lee out of the room.
Anna looked across the bed at Hetty. "I hate to leave him like this."
"I understand, my dear. I know you are tired. Get some good rest. We'll keep an eye on him."
"I know you will. See you at three." Anna smiled softly in farewell, turned, and left the room.
Hetty and Deeks stood silently at Callen's side, both feeling apprehension about the coming hours.
