A/N: I had to remove this chapter and re-add because of "technical error." (ME)

Anyway, I wanted to make sure the readers knew that our boy is not very vocal this chapter. But there were some things we needed to know about his past and we couldn't very well talk about him if he was listening. I hope to have him more awake and talking in the next chapter. Thank you for sticking around.

Chapter 34 – New Light on an Old Case

Just as promised, Dr. Lee, accompanied by Nurse Olivia, arrived at 6:10. After exchanging polite greetings with Hetty, Sam, Kensi, and Deeks, the Doctor went to the bedside to check on his patient.

Callen responded to most of the Doctor's questions with one-word answers. And he managed to remain impassive throughout the examination, with the exception of his eyes squeezing shut during the inspection of his broken ribs.

Dr. Lee made some notes in the medical chart and then handed it off to the nurse. "Well, the lab work looks good," he reported, addressing Hetty since his patient did not appear to be the least bit interested. "His temperature is still down; actually, running below normal due to the medication he is on."

"Yeah, about that, Doc," Sam interjected. "He's been really cold. How long's that supposed to last?"

The Doctor sighed. "As long as your partner is taking the Florozine, I'm afraid… And that will be until the Neurologists agree that he is out of danger; that there is no longer any bleeding in his brain. My guess is, they won't discontinue it for several more weeks... And unfortunately, Agent Hanna, it will more than likely get worse the longer he takes it."

Sam folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the floor.

Dr. Lee, once again, directed his attention to Hetty. "Besides the intense cold, the nurses have noted that he is groggy for a period of time soon after receiving the Florozine. The grogginess, and the temporary dizziness, are to be expected. But overall, he's doing very well."

Hetty nodded. "That's good to hear."

"His injuries are healing and he's much more mobile than would normally be expected, considering the condition he was in when he arrived and his negative reaction to some of the medication."

A small smile appeared on Hetty's face as looked over to her injured agent. "Our Mr. Callen has always managed to bounce back rather quickly."

"Why does that not surprise me," the Doctor responded with a smirk. "The Physical Therapy notes state that he was up in a chair three times today, and actually, took several steps with only moderate assistance. If he keeps progressing at this rate… let's see… it's Monday night… I think we'll have him out of here by the weekend."

Callen startled and quickly looked up at Dr. Lee with wide eyes. All it took was the mention of going home and the Doctor now had his patient's undivided attention.

Trying, unsuccessfully, to fight back a smile, Dr. Lee made eye contact with Callen and continued. "I'm asking for someone in Orthopedics to take a look at you, Agent Callen. I want to make sure you leave here with your wrist more stabilized than it is now. I've been going back and forth between a removable splint and a cast."

"Cast!" came a quick, simultaneous response from Sam and Hetty.

Dr. Lee's eyebrows lifted. He looked over at Hetty for a moment, and then at Sam. A smile returned to the Doctor's face when he turned and studied Callen. "So… what you two are telling me, is that if we immobilize his wrist with something he can remove, he won't wear it at all?"

This time, there were four responses in unison. "Yes!"

Callens mouth gaped and his brow furrowed. He then briefly directed his offended gaze at each team member present.

Dr. Lee chuckled. "Well then, that settles it. A cast it is."

Callen, apparently not liking the direction this part of the treatment plan went, began frowning at the wall in front of him.

Dr. Lee finished up his visit and gave his usual instruction to call if any questions or concerns arose.

Not long after the Doctor was gone, Callen's shivering intensified to the point it was noticeable to everyone in his room. Hetty offered him more of her special tea, which he gladly accepted.

It was a different story, however, when the dreaded Florozine was presented to him at 7:00. He glared at the medicine cup Olivia was holding in front of him. "No thank you," he said stubbornly, under his breath.

Of course, Hetty heard his response to the nurse from across the room and immediately marched to the bedside. "Mr. Callen?" she warned.

"No, Hetty," he protested, his voice raw and weak. "I'm not taking any more."

"This is not a matter for debate."

Callen looked away from Hetty's stern stare. And after a long pause, he responded softly, "I'm too cold."

Hetty was thankful that no one saw the momentary look of pity in her eyes. She knew her boy was absolutely miserable. But she couldn't go soft now - could not allow a repeat of what had happened earlier when he missed several doses of his medication. It was crucial that he take the Florozine on schedule; his health was at stake. Hetty swallowed down the uninvited lump that had formed in her throat. "Mr. Callen. You can either take these two capsules on your own, or I will call in as many people as it takes to force you to take them. It's your choice."

With his lips slightly parted, he looked up at her for a moment, seemingly contemplating what she had just told him. He turned his head, looked up at the nurse, his ocean blue eyes signaling his surrender, and he reached up to take the medicine cup.

Hetty walked to where Kensi and Deeks were seated on the couch, sat down in the chair between them and the bed, and let out a long, shaky breath. She sat silently for a while, recalling so many times in the past when she was forced to intervene when it came to Callen's well-being, unable to erase from her memory, that sad look of betrayal in his eyes each time.

Sam went into the hall to take a break and stretch his legs – to clear his head. When he returned, Callen's eyes were closed. Sam could not determine, at first, if his partner was pouting, or if the medicine had kicked in. A few minutes later, he knew the answer when he heard Callen's even breathing.

Callen was still out, ten minutes later, when Eric and Nell hesitantly entered the room.

"I brought snacks," Nell whispered, placing a gift bag, overflowing with chips and crackers, on the shelf beside the Tootsie Pop basket.

Deeks stood and gave Nell his seat on the couch.

Kensi playfully bumped Nell's shoulder with hers. "Thanks for the goodies, Nell. That was sweet."

"You're welcome. I sneaked in some of your favorites. They're in the bottom of the bag."

"Well, the gang's all here," Deeks said in a soft, but cheerful tone. "I think a group hug is in order."

Sam extended his opened palm to stop the incoming blonde from coming any closer. "Don't even think about it, Deeks."

Marty immediately gave up on the idea of messing with the 'big guy.'

Eric awkwardly moved from the door to stand beside Sam and Deeks, and then peered cautiously over toward the hospital bed. "Is he asleep?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yes," Sam answered.

Nell's eyes narrowed. "They're not still sedating him, are they?"

"No," Kensi answered. "Just a catnap. The medicine they have him on makes him loopy for a little while. He'll probably wake up soon."

Sam huffed. "Then he'll be back to complaining and asking for his clothes." Sam turned to Eric, his expression becoming more serious. "So, you two have anything new for us on the case?"

"Not really. It's been pre-tty quiet today."

Hetty daintily folded her hands in her lap. "That usually means one of two things."

"Yep," Nell chimed in. "Either something big is about to happen, or they've been spooked and are getting ready to bug out."

Hetty sighed. "And I don't like either scenario. At. All."

"All the other agencies have shared everything they have on Zamora," Eric added. "Nell and I have been digging into the old cases, trying to find anything that would help. This guy is one twisted dude."

After a pause, Nell gazed over to where Callen was sleeping. "Have you told him about the case? That Zamora's here in L.A.?"

"Yes." Hetty joined the analyst in gazing over at the bed. "He knows."

"How'd he take it?"

"It concerns him," Hetty responded, keeping her tone void of emotion.

"Well that's understandable, considering what happened to him."

Sam felt his chest tighten with worry. Callen's past with Zamora was news to him, and he wanted answers. "Hetty!" Sam paused, making sure his sudden outburst had not disturbed his sleeping partner. "What am I missing here? Why didn't G tell me he had dealings with Antonio Zamora before we worked that case together in 2008?"

Hetty closed her eyes and let out a long, cleansing breath. "Oh, Mr. Hanna. I suppose this is just one of many things in Mr. Callen's past he chooses not to talk about."

Nell lowered her eyes bashfully. "I'm sorry, Hetty. Since it was in the case files, I just assumed everyone knew."

Hetty patted Nell on the knee. "It's quite alright, Miss Jones. You and Mr. Beale are to be commended for your thoroughness. You may very well find information in these old cases that we need for his arrest. Then, hopefully, Mr. Callen can put this evil man out of his mind for good."

Kensi exchanged worried glances with her partner. "Is Callen in any kind of danger?"

"No, dear. He is not in any immediate danger. His identity was never compromised."

"What happened, Hetty?" Kensi asked. "Between Callen and this Zamora guy?"

Hetty looked up at the ceiling for a couple of seconds before beginning her explanation. "It was in 2005, three years before the case Agent Hanna was involved in." Hetty gazed off to her left, as if visualizing the past in her mind. "Mr. Callen worked a case for us in Honduras. His undercover assignment was to infiltrate a ring that was involved in… well, in everything: drugs, weapons, guns for hire, human trafficking. This was just one of many organizations masterminded by Antonio Zamora. Mr. Callen successfully planted himself in Zamora's crew. Our operation was going as planned; we were close to gathering enough intel to make the appropriate arrests… until Callen suddenly went silent. Someone in Zamora's organization discovered a hole in Mr. Callen's cover. Our tech department in D.C. had made an error when developing his backstory. Zamora and his men weren't able to determine who Mr. Callen was working for, they just knew he wasn't who he claimed to be."

Hetty closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. "We lost contact with Mr. Callen for a little more than 72 hours. Zamora and his men had taken him to an abandoned building with the intention of extracting information from him. They wanted to know who he was working for and what information, if any, he had given his employer. Only Mr. Callen can say exactly what happened during those three days. Although his official report of the mission made no mention of it, the medical team who tended to him after he was located, stated that his injuries were consistent with those of being beaten and tortured. But what we do know, is that when Zamora did not get the answers he wanted, he ordered his men to go into the city and bring in a particular man who owed him money, along with his innocent family. With Mr. Callen restrained, Zamora forced him to watch while they carried out, one by one, the execution of each family member; a father, mother, and two young daughters."

Hetty let out a long breath through pursed lips. "When our team discovered Mr. Callen's whereabouts, Zamora and his men were long gone. Mr. Callen's wrists were still bound, tied to a pipe above him, the bodies of this family laid out in front of him, their blood pooled around his bare feet."

The hospital room fell still and quiet for a few moments, until Sam suddenly turned and practically bolted from the room.

All eyes went to the hospital bed when the commotion caused Callen to rouse just a bit. Hetty waited until she thought he had settled back to sleep, and then exited the room to check on the distressed ex-SEAL.

Hetty had just left when Nell noticed Callen began moving again. When she saw his eyes open, she went to the bedside. "Hey, Callen," she greeted sweetly.

G squinted up at the young Analyst and a small smile appeared on his face. "Nell?" he said with a dry, raspy voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Eric and I came to see how you were doing."

Callen raised his head and looked past Nell, to where Deeks and Eric were standing. After locating Kensi, seated on the couch, his eyes began searching the room.

Nell detected the unsettled look on Callen's face and she answered the unspoken question. "Hetty and Sam are taking a break. They'll be back in a little bit. Do you need some water?" she asked, quickly changing the subject. When Callen nodded, she poured him some water and handed him the cup.

Out in the hall, Hetty looked past the nurses' station to where Sam was pacing in the waiting area. She watched for a while, and finally made her way to him when she observed that his pace had slowed some and his fists were no longer clenched.

When she reached him, she stood there wordlessly, waiting until he was ready to talk.

Sam finally looked at her. His eyes were filled with anger. He tightened his left hand and pounded his fist into his right palm. "Hetty," he said through gritted teeth. "I need to punch something."

"Something? Or someone?"

Sam stopped his movement, looked at her and shrugged, his anger beginning to fade.

"What bothers you most, Mr. Hannah? That someone did this terrible thing to your partner, or that he kept it from you."

Sam hung his head and sighed. "I don't know, Hetty. Maybe both."

Hetty took a seat on one of the waiting room couches and patted the cushion right next to her.

With his head still lowered, Sam obediently sat down beside his tiny boss. After a pause, he visibly relaxed and shook his head. "It's just… no family… all the things he's been through…"

Hetty placed her small hand on Sam's giant knee and allowed him to continue.

"I know you and Nate keep telling me he's trying to protect himself. Just when I think I get it, something like this pops up… I'm his partner, Hetty. And he doesn't trust me." Sam raised his head and looked in the direction of Callen's room. "It makes me crazy. He keeps everything bottled up inside. It's just not normal."

Hetty pressed both her palms together and brought the tips of her index fingers up to her chin. "Oh, Sam. Sometimes it frustrates me, too. But it is his normal. I know this has been difficult for you to accept, but keeping it bottle up, as you say, is how he deals with it best. I think Nate would agree, it's not that Mr. Callen doesn't trust you. He's afraid that if he allows one tiny crack in that wall he's built between himself and the world, the whole dam is liable crumble."

Sam lowered his head, again, and let out a deep breath. "And he will drown."

After giving him a few moments, Hetty clapped both palms on her knees, stood up, and faced Sam. "Take as long as you need, Mr. Hanna." She used her thumb to point behind her, to the hall that led to Callen's room. "I'm going to go make sure the children have not burned the place down in my absence."

Sam smiled up at his boss. "I'll be there in a minute."

Hetty was turning to leave when Sam added, "And Hetty…"

She turned back to face him.

"Don't worry. I won't say anything to G… about what happened in Honduras."

Hetty nodded. "I think that would be best."

Sam's brown eyes suddenly filled with concern. "He's not going to be able to keep all this bottled up forever."

"You fear that, no matter how hard he tries, eventually the dam will break."

"He's been through too much, Hetty. It's bound to happen."

Well then, Mr. Hanna, when that day comes, you will be there to help put the pieces back together. He won't be alone; we'll make sure of it."