I realize the chapters are a little short. But my brain is working in short, little spurts. Thank you for reading.

Chapter 38: Marathon

After receiving a text from Sam, that G might need rescued from Hetty's overzealous nurturing this morning, Kensi and Deeks decided to put in an early appearance at the hospital. They showed up around 8:00 to find Callen already sitting in a chair. Hetty had selected warmer clothes for him today – navy, straight-leg sweatpants and an oversize, faded blue t-shirt.

It was immediately obvious that Sam's suspicions were warranted, as Callen's wet hair had been neatly combed and his face was freshly shaven – clearly compliments of Hetty. To make matters worse, poor Callen was practically slumped over in his chair, barely able to keep his eyes open, while Hetty was holding a spoonful of oatmeal up to his mouth, determined he was going to eat the mushy breakfast that had been set up on the table in front of him.

"Mr. Callen. Stay awake for a few more minutes. You need to eat something."

Kensi exchanged a worried look with Deeks and then 'went in' for a rescue attempt. "Hetty? I think Callen's way too sleepy to eat right now," she said hesitantly, basically taking her life into her own hands.

Hetty didn't budge. "But he hasn't eaten a single bite." Now, looking even more determined, she firmly grasped G's jaw and tilted his face toward the awaiting spoon. "Mr. Callen. Open your mouth."

Callen's eyes squeezed closed and his right arm absently batted at the intrusive hands, his hand making contact with the spoon, causing it, and its contents, to go flying across the room.

"Oh, bugger."

Deeks' eyes grew big and Kensi tucked her lips between her teeth in order to refrain from laughing out loud.

Hetty stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Callen like she expected an explanation.

With a confused look, his tired blue eyes met hers briefly, and then he just gave up on trying to keep his eyes open any longer.

Hetty gave her sleeping Agent one more stern look and then turned to survey the damage. When she spotted the sticky oatmeal blob, that was now slowly sliding down the wall, and the spoon lying on the floor, she let out a breath and then, rather theatrically, threw her hands in the air.

Deeks stepped toward the door, bent over and picked up the spoon. "Hetty. Let us clean this up."

"Yeah, Hetty," Kensi agreed. "You can go on to the office. We'll take care of this."

Hetty nodded. "Very well, then. I need to make a call to the Director soon, anyway. We are very close to pinpointing the place and time of Zamora's next operation."

Hetty pulled a folded blanket from the foot of the bed and laid if over Callen's lap. "Oh, I received a message from Dr. Lee this morning. He is attending a function at his son's school this evening, and will be making rounds much later than usual. Could be as late as 10:00. Please pass the word to Mr. Hanna when he arrives later today."

"Will do," Deeks said with a playful salute.

Hetty gathered her handbag and a plastic bag. "There's tea in the thermos, if he should need it. And there are more fresh blankets in the closet."

"We'll take good care of him until Sam gets back," Kensi assured.

"Thank you, dear," she said while pushing the tray table away from Callen. "And please see to it that he eats something off of his tray when wakes up."

Kensi nodded. "Sure."

By the time Callen opened his eyes, fifteen minutes later, the wall had been cleaned, Deeks was sitting on the couch flipping through TV channels, and Kensi was standing at the small cabinet looking through Nell's treat bag.

Kensi was the first to notice he was awake. "There you are. Hetty went to the office so you're stuck with us for a while."

About that time, there was a knock on the door and H, the Physical Therapist entered the room. "Mr. Callen, your nurse said they got you up early this morning. You ready to go back to bed?"

G drowsily shook his head 'no.'

"Do you want to try walking some this morning?"

This time Callen responded with a nod.

"Okay." H looked at his watch. "They gave you your medicine at 7:00… I'll go see my next patient and then swing by the therapy gym to pick up a cane. That'll give you a little extra time to get out of your groggy stage."

When the Therapist had gone, Kensi rolled the small table closer to Callen. "Callen? Hetty said you had to eat some of your breakfast when you woke up."

G looked at the breakfast tray with disgust. "In that case, I'm not awake," he said, with a little hoarseness in his voice.

"Oh, no you don't," Deeks piped in, switching off the TV and getting up from the couch. "You know Hetty. She's probably watching us right now, making sure we're following orders."

Callen responded by looking away from the food tray.

"Come on," Kensi urged gently. "At least eat the toast and orange juice… Please?"

Callen looked up at Kensi's pleading brown eyes, and then looked down at his plate. After a long pause, he took a drink of the juice and began slowly eating the toast.

When the toast and juice had finally been consumed, Kensi took a plastic spoon from the little night stand, and slid a container of orange Jell-O in front of him.

G gave her a questioning look.

Without a word, the female just stood there, holding the spoon out for him to take.

Callen finally conceded and took the spoon from her. He had just finished off the gelatin when the Physical Therapist returned, a cane in hand.

"You ready to do this?" the therapist asked enthusiastically.

Callen looked up at the tall therapist and nodded affirmatively.

Kensi scooted the rolling table away and removed the blanket from her Senior Agent's lap.

The therapist propped the cane against the couch and knelt down on one knee in front of Callen. "Della is on her way up to assist. Since we are actually going to be walking today, I'm going to need to put this gait belt around your waist." H unfastened the wide webbing belt from his own waist and slipped it around Callen's torso. "I'll have to make it snug," he continued, "but I'll try to put it low enough to avoid those sore ribs."

Della entered the hospital room. "H, I have the wheelchair outside the door."

"Thanks," he said, glancing back at the young petite female, who was wearing matching black scrubs. He turned his attention back to the patient. "Miss Hetty came by and talked to me this morning, and explained why the name we have for you in the system does not match your actual name. She also asked that we not take you down to the therapy gym where you'd be exposed to so many people. So, we're going to walk in the hall… if you feel like walking that far."

"Where do you need us to be so we're not in the way," Deeks asked from where he was standing near the bed.

"You're good on that side of the room. We just need a path between here and the door."

Kensi and Deeks sat down on the side of the neatly made hospital bed.

Still half-kneeling in front of G's chair, the therapist looked directly into Callen's eyes, and spoke more softly than before. "At any time, if the pain gets to be too much, or you feel too tired, let me know. There's a wheelchair ready if you need to sit down."

Callen signaled he understood, with a small, single nod.

"Getting up may be the roughest part. Scoot forward in the chair." When the patient had complied, H continued. "Lean forward and then use that momentum to come to standing." He reached around Callen's torso, grasped the gait belt, and began the count.

On 'three', Callen rose to his feet, letting a soft groan escape in the process.

H put the cane in Callen's left hand. "This is backwards than what most people think. The cane needs to be held in the hand opposite the affected side. Which… is a good thing since your right hand is broken. I know it'll be a little tricky with that IV, but use the cane to lessen the pressure when you put weight on your right leg."

After steadying himself from a slight sway, Callen nodded.

Della unplugged the IV pump and wrapped the cord around the pole. The therapist stood and moved where he could reach behind Callen's back and grabbed hold of the gait belt. With one more assurance that the patient was ready, the three began slowly making their way to the open door: Callen, using the cane and taking small, painful steps - the therapist, walking beside the patient, his left hand holding onto the belt at Callen's back - and Della, with the rolling IV contraption in tow.

About ten minutes later, the crew returned, Callen's steps a little more uncertain than when he had left the room.

"Want to go to bed or sit for a while longer?" H asked once they had made it through the doorway.

"Can we stop by the bathroom first?" Callen asked, his voice giving away the exhaustion this little excursion had brought on.

The therapist took over IV machine duty and Della came to the center of the room to wait. "He did good," she said to the male and female who were still sitting, legs dangling off the side of the bed. "Got a little wobbly a couple of times, and started shaking about halfway through. But he walked to the end of the hall and back. That's a lot further than we were anticipating."

"That's great," Kensi replied cheerfully, as she and her partner hopped down off of the hospital bed.

"I know he's hurting," Della continued. "But he didn't want to stop. We literally had to make him turn around and come back."

"That's our Callen," Kensi said with a smile. "Tough as nails…"

"And hard-headed," Deeks added.

The bathroom door opened and the therapist continued escorting the patient and his IV machine further into the room.

"Bed or chair?" H asked.

"Chair," Callen responded without hesitation.

Now Kensi and Deeks could clearly see the shaking that Della had referred to.

The therapist made sure the trembling patient was safely seated and the IV pump was plugged into the outlet, and then he squatted down in front of Callen and began removing the belt from G's torso. "Did you get cold out there, or just run out of energy?"

Callen glanced at the therapist, seemingly embarrassed that he was not able to control his shivering. "Cold," he replied softly.

H pushed himself up to standing and grabbed the cane. "We'll be back, sometime after lunch to see if you're ready to do this again."

Callen nodded up at the Physical Therapist. "Thank you."

The therapist stopped, looked back and smiled at the patient before exiting the room. "Remember, next time we go for a walk… not a marathon."

Kensi and Deeks exchanged amused glances. They both knew, the return of G Callen's tough, stubborn, 'marathon' mentality was what was going to get him through this.