Thank you to my dear beta, Keviana, for getting this one started for me. Best wishes, my friend.

Chapter 24: Breakthrough

Callen's eyes opened wide with the closing of the door latch. He took in a startled breath of air. Sam realized that the sound had broken through G's haze. He moved closer to the bed. "You good?" he asked, as soon as the panicked blue eyes had once again realized that they were in the hospital.

Callen squinted his eyes, a look of concentration, as if visualizing something in his head. "Pictures…" he said softly to himself. "Those guys in the pictures…" Callen turned his head to the right and looked up at his tall partner. "Sam. I hurt those boys."

Sam tried to hide his disappointment. He had hoped that Dr. Lee was wrong when he predicted that Callen would remember the incident with the Head of Security. "You don't need to worry about that right now."

G's gaze drifted away from his partner. He shook his head slowly. "How could I do that?" he asked in barely more than a whisper.

"You had a bad reaction to some medicine. You didn't know what you were doing, G. You were hallucinating."

Now staring straight ahead, he asked, "Who were they?"

"Don't know their names. They're techs from Radiology."

Callen looked up at Sam. His eyes filled with tears. "Are they dead?"

"No, they're not dead."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No. I'm not lying to you. Did they look dead in the pictures?"

Callen looked away. After thinking for a moment, he responded, "Maybe?"

"Well, they're not. I'm telling you the truth, G. They're fine. One of them has a broken nose and the other one's bruised up a little. You mostly just scared them."

Callen lowered his head. He lay there quietly, his brow furrowed, apparently not completely convinced the young Radiology Techs were alright.

It wasn't long before Callen's worried look was replaced with a pained expression. He shifted his weight.

"You need anything, G?"

Callen shook his head 'no.'

There was a light knock at the door. Nurse Anna entered the room carrying a bag of IV solution and two small containers. "Good. You're awake, Agent Callen." Even though her patient did not make eye contact with her, she immediately noticed his jaws were clinched; he was clearly trying to conceal the pain he was experiencing. "I brought you some apple juice and Jell-O." She laid the items on the portable table. "I just need to change out this IV bag and check your vitals."

Sam swapped places with Anna so she could have access to G's IV.

While the nurse tended to her tasks, Sam got a notification on his phone. He dug the phone out of his pocket.

It was a text from Hetty: How is your partner?

Sam replied: Starting to hurt again. Having trouble separating dreams from reality. But at least he's aware of it. Not sure I convinced him he didn't kill those guys from radiology.

So he's awake and talking.

Off and on. Sam paused to take a look at his friend. Think his pain has eased up. Getting sleepy again.

I'm hoping the worst is over.

Me too.

I wanted to let you know that I spoke with Mr. Callen's nurse a little while ago. We both thought it best if someone he's familiar with provided his personal care in the morning. I'll be there at 5:30 am to assist Anna before her shift ends at 7:00. Mr. Deeks is scheduled to arrive at 6:30 to relieve you.

Hetty I'm good. Deeks doesn't need to come up here.

Not up for discussion, Mr. Hanna. You WILL go home and get some real sleep. And by the way, you owe me 17 minutes of rest for returning early tonight. And don't bother texting back your arguments. My phone will be turned off in 3 seconds. Good night, Agent Hanna.

Sam sighed loudly while pocketing his phone.

Callen raised an eyebrow at his frustrated partner. "Hetty?" he slurred.

"How'd you guess?" the big SEAL grumbled.

Anna had to hold back a smile as she removed the blood pressure cuff from her patient's arm. But her eyes narrowed when she spotted a new red mark on Callen's upper arm. She lifted the sleeve of his gown even higher and found four more marks.

Callen had lowered his droopy eyes and didn't seem to notice when the nurse reached across and checked his right arm.

When she found the same pattern on the other arm, she gave Sam a questioning look.

Sam pressed his lips together. With sadness in his eyes, he explained softly. "Woke up and didn't know where he was. Only lasted a few seconds."

Anna nodded. "Just make sure you call us if it's more than you can handle safely. I can assure you, Agent Hanna, we won't use these…" The nurse paused to lightly touch the restraint around Callen's wrist, "…unless absolutely necessary."

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

On her way out of the room, the nurse pointed to the items she had left on the bedside table. "See if you can get him to eat something."

Sam opened the Jello-O and picked up a plastic spoon. He looked up to find his droopy-eyed partner gazing at the wall in front of him. "Here's some Jell-O, G."

No response.

Sam scooped up a spoonful and held it up to Callen's mouth.

After two rapid blinks, G looked down at the red gelatin being offered him, and turned his head away.

"Come on, G. Eat this."

"You eat it," Callen responded softly, sounding like a much younger version of himself.

A smile tugged at the corners of Sam's mouth. "I'm not the one who's gone five days without eating."

Looking somewhat like a stubborn child, Callen continued to avert his gaze. "Not hungry."

"The nurse said you need to eat something."

"I don't want it."

Sam's urge to smile had vanished by now. "Eat this Jell-O, G. It's not that much."

Callen shook his head.

Sam tilted his head down and looked at Callen with raised eyebrows. "You know I can make you eat this, right?" The persistent Agent pushed the spoon closer so that it was just a fraction of an inch from touching G's lips.

Callen looked down, with slightly crossed eyes, at the invasive plastic utensil. He turned his head to the right and looked up at Sam's face, as if determining the seriousness of his partner's watered-down threat.

Sam pressed his lips together and let out a breath through his nose. "Just eat the Jell-O, G," he said calmly. "Don't make me do this the hard way."

Now, seemingly convinced his huge partner might actually force-feed him, Callen parted his lips and allowed the scoop of Jell-O to be deposited into his mouth. When he had swallowed, G reached up for the container Sam was holding.

"Nope." He pulled the container back. "I'm doing this. You'd just sit there holding it all night."

Frowning down at his feet, Callen obediently lowered his arm to the mattress.

Sam tried to force back another smile. "Now eat up, before I call Hetty to come back up here and tend to you."

The thought of his boss taking charge of his care apparently proved to be an even more effective threat; although the process was a slow one, Callen allowed Sam to feed him every bite of the red Jell-O.

Sam tossed the disposable spoon in the trash, and looked up to find his partner had already closed his eyes. He stood there a few moments, torn between leaving Callen alone so he could rest, or making sure he stayed alert and connected to reality. At least for the time being, G recognized him and knew he was in a safe place.

Sam came to the conclusion that it would be in G's best interest if he were awake and focused on his surroundings. He determined to do everything he could to prevent his friend from slipping away again.

"G." When he did not get a response, Sam called his partner's name more loudly. "G!"

Callen startled awake and looked up at Sam.

"What day is it, G?"

Callen furrowed his brow in confusion, and his right hand went to the bandage on his forehead.

Sam lightly batted Callen's hand away from his head. "Leave that alone."

"I asked you a question. Do you know what day it is?"

Callen shook his head negatively and then reached up and rubbed the wound on his forehead again.

"Uh. Uh." This time, Sam wrapped his fingers around Callen's forearm and gently brought it down to his side. "Don't mess with that."

G's forehead creased as he looked up, trying to see what was stuck to the skin above his eyebrow. "What is it?"

"It's a steri-strip," Sam said flatly.

Still futilely attempting to see the bandage, Callen asked, "Why's it there?"

"Because you fell and busted your head. And if you don't want to have to get stitches, you'll leave it alone."

Callen cut his eyes up at Sam and then looked down at the bed sheets.

"It's Saturday, G. Saturday night." Sam looked at his watch. "Almost Sunday morning," he added. "Do you know where you are?"

"Yes," Callen replied while groggily rubbing his left eye with his back of his hand.

"No 'yes/no' answers, G. Tell me where we are."

"Hospital," he slurred as his eyes, once again, closed.

"G!"

Callen's eyes blinked open.

"Stay with me. City?"

Callen's brow furrowed again. "What?"

"Tell me what city we're in."

"LA. Why are you asking…"

"What was the last case we worked together?"

"Sam. Why are you…"

"Shut up and just answer the question."

Callen's eyes narrowed. He paused for several seconds. "What was the question?"

"Exactly. That's why I'm asking you all these questions. What was the last case we worked together?"

A look of concentration appeared on Callen's face.

Ten seconds passed.

"G?"

"I'm thinking," he responded with a hint of irritation… "A flash drive..." he said softly, as if thinking aloud. "LAX… The guy who was trying to leave the country with military documents… Williams?... Wilson?..."

"Willard."

"Yeah, Willard. We were closing in… he made us."

"He made you," Sam corrected.

"Chased him through the airport. He almost got away when you took a tumble down the escalator."

"You would remember that," Sam muttered. "That little girl stepped right in front of me. Had to jump over her."

The left corner of Callen's mouth lifted a little. "It was like watching in slow motion."

"Okay, G."

"You just kept falling… and falling…"

"Keep it up. You're gonna be falling."

Callen paused. His weak smirk disappeared. He began blinking more slowly, again. "Did I pass?"

"You're close. That was week before last. There've been four cases since that one."

Callen stared straight ahead. "Four?" he whispered.

"We closed out the Thompson case two days after we secured the flash drive at LAX," Sam explained. "Last week we went to Pendleton and tracked down a missing shipment of weapons. Thursday and Friday we followed up on a lead of a possible new sleeper cell in Burbank. Then this past Monday, we assisted Homeland Security with a case."

Callen lifted his head from the pillow. His breathing rate began to increase. He shook his head lightly a few times. His troubled gaze scanned the room as if trying to retrieve the missing information.

When Sam saw that his partner was distressed over the loss of such a big chunk of time, he placed a reassuring hand on Callen's shoulder – Maybe this was too much, too soon. "It's alright, G. It'll come back to you. Give it some time."

Callen let his head fall back to the pillow and then closed his eyes.

With his hand still resting on G's shoulder, Sam stood quietly for a little while. He was giving his friend just a few moments to gather his thoughts when he noticed Callen had already dozed off again.

Sam shook his head in disappointment. He would like to have kept G awake and talking a little while longer. But his partner was just too physically and emotionally exhausted at the time.

Sam came around and sat in the chair next to the bed. With his arms crossed over his muscular chest, and one leg crossed over the other, he leaned back in his chair. He sat there, lost in thought, watching his sleeping partner. G had a long way to go. He was still pretty beat up. And his orientation was definitely inconsistent. But he was beginning to recognize people; he knew where he was. Feeling some relief, Sam let out a long breath. Hearing a hint of Callen's customary banter had renewed his hope that they would get through this – G was breaking through the fog.