Chapter 49: Past Secrets

Around two-thirty, Callen woke up with a soft gasp.

Deeks looked at him from where he sat on the couch, finishing up a sandwich.

Sam put his phone away and walked over to the side of the bed, waiting while his partner looked around the room in confusion.

G blinked a few times when he finally located Sam's worried eye. Then he brought his hand up to rub his eyes, inadvertently clonking himself in the forehead with the cast.

Sam's look turned less serious. "Careful, G. Wouldn't want you to brain yourself with that thing while you're still getting over a concussion."

The look he got from Callen was brief, but deadly.

G pushed the covers down and made to sit up.

"Woah," Sam said while applying downward pressure to Callen's shoulder. "Where are you going?"

G grimaced with the effort to push himself up against the big SEAL's hand. "Need to get up."

"I don't think so."

"Gotta go to the bathroom," said through gritted teeth, sounding a bit desperate.

"Okay. Just hold on a minute."

By this time, Deeks had joined Sam at the side of the bed. "What do ya need me to do, Sam?"

Sam removed his hand from Callen's shoulder and began pressing the release for the siderail. "Maybe pull that massive pile of covers off him so he can move."

Deeks walked to the other side of the bed and did as requested, pulling the covers down to the foot of the bed. Before he could make it back around with the rolling IV machine, Sam had hoisted Callen up to a sitting position on the side of the bed, and was holding him steady.

Callen's head was lowered and he was taking in small, controlled breaths.

Without taking his hands off of Callen's shoulders, Sam ducked down so he could better see his partner's face. "You okay there, Buddy?"

Callen took several more slow breaths before looking up and nodding once. "Yeah," he answered softly.

"You want me to get the nurse to help?"

"No." He shook his head and then lifted his head. "I'm good."

After sharing skeptical glances, Deeks and Sam helped Callen to stand.

G winced on the first step, paused for a long moment, and then continued taking careful steps across the room, while Sam gave him some support, and Deeks moved the IV contraption.

On the way back from the restroom, Callen headed toward his chair.

"You sure you want to sit, G?" Sam asked. "Seems like it would be warmer in bed."

Ignoring the question, Callen, slowly and stubbornly continued on his chosen course.

"The chair it is," Marty said, while scrambling to slip into the space between the chair and bed, to plug in the IV machine.

Callen had just eased down into his chair, and Deeks was gathering the blankets from the bed, when Nurse C.J. knocked and entered. "I brought some more protein shakes," the nurse said, setting the two containers down on the portable table.

He walked over to Callen and began checking the IV placement and tubing. "My shift ends in a little while. Olivia is on the schedule again this evening." After checking the settings on the IV machine, he moved to face his patient. The nurse carefully picked up G's casted hand and briefly examined it. "Any swelling or pain since they put this on?"

Shivering slightly, G looked at his hand, and shook his head negatively.

"Good deal." C.J. gently lowered Callen's hand to the arm of the chair. "Do you need anything? A snack? Something warm to drink?"

G looked up at the nurse. "No," he answered softly.

"Just press your call light, if you need something. And work on those shakes, pretty soon."

As soon as C.J. left the room, Deeks and Sam went to work layering the blankets over Callen.

G's eye flicked from Sam to Deeks, and then to his lap. "Thanks," he said timidly when they had him tucked in to their satisfaction.

Sam turned and picked up one of the protein shakes. He studied the label for several seconds. "Are these things any good?"

Sam's question was clearly answered by the look on G's face.

"I bet Kensi would like it," Deeks predicted, as he tossed his sandwich wrapper into the trashcan.

"Of course, she would," Callen agreed. "Your partner will eat anything."

"You have a point there, Callen. The girl does like food."

Sam huffed. "Some of the stuff she eats doesn't even qualify as food."

"What about food?" All heads turned to see Kensi walking through the door with her arms full of stuff.

"Keennz!" Deeks dragged out with a big smile. "Sam and Callen were just talking about you."

She placed a tote bag in the closet. "Oh yeah?" She turned and gave each Senior Agent a questioning look.

Sam responded with a sideways glare at Deeks. And G looked back at her with just a hint of a smile.

"Hetty sent some more tea, and I brought you another mug," Kensi said, placing a large thermos and a black mug on the shelf beside Nell's Tootsie Roll basket. "I'm supposed to tell you it's lavender tea with a touch of… something… I can't remember… Anyway, she said she used to make it for you when you couldn't sleep."

Callen gazed toward the window as if recalling something. "Valerian root," he said in barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah. That's it… And Hetty sent some more clothes. She said to tell you she's sorry she didn't send something warmer. She said long-sleeves weren't practical with the IV and cast."

"How'd she know…" Deeks shook his head. "Never mind. It's Hetty. She knows everything."

Kensi stepped closer to Callen's chair. "Speaking of cast. I want to see it." She gently peeled the covers down off Callen's right shoulder. Her eyes widened, as soon as his arm was exposed. "Blue. Nice choice."

Just then, there was a light tap at the door and nurse Olivia stepped inside. "Good afternoon, everyone. I'm about to take report from C.J. Just wanted to pop in and see how things were going." She spotted the cast that Kensi had just uncovered, and a grin spread across the nurse's face. "Ocean blue, I see. Who picked the color?"

Callen looked up at her with a blank expression.

"Uhh," Deeks hesitated. "Callen didn't have a preference. So, a couple of the Ortho Techs chose the color for him. Specifically… female Ortho Techs."

Kensi turned and exchanged smiles with Olivia.

With a look of confusion, G's gaze moved from Deeks, to Kensi, to Olivia, then back to Deeks.

Now Marty was smiling. "Aaannd… the man, clearly, has no clue," he drawled.

Callen peered up at Sam, looking completely lost.

Even Sam had begun to smile at the point. "You really don't have a clue, do you? G… It's the color of your eyes."

It was obvious from the expression on Callen's face, that he was oblivious to the eye-color connection.

"It's okay, partner." Sam patted G's shoulder. "I'll explain it to you someday."

While making an effort to suppress her smile, Oliva looked at her watch. "I'd better get back down to the desk before they come looking for me." She made eye-contact with Callen. "If you get tired, call and we'll get you back to bed." The nurse exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Kensi was pulling the covers back up over Callen's shoulder when her phone vibrated an alert for an incoming message. She stepped off to the side, slid the phone from her pocket, and studied it for a moment. After pocketing her phone, her expression became more serious. She looked at Sam, and then at Deeks. "Well, guys? It's showtime. Castor just got off the elevator."

Sam's brow furrowed. "He's early."

"Apparently, Hetty moved the time," Kensi said as she opened the door.

Castor stepped inside, dressed in his typical dark jeans, long-sleeve black shirt, and his badge prominently displayed just to the right of his belt buckle. He quickly scanned his surroundings before closing the door behind him.

With his lips parted, Callen stared up at Sam with wide eyes.

Sam looked at his friend apologetically. "G. We have an Op. Castor's gonna stay here with you until we get back."

Callen looked even more confused when Kensi fished three earwigs from the front pocket of her jeans, handing one to Sam, and one to her partner.

The three of them had just situated the small Comms in their ears when Callen sat up straighter in his chair, the covers falling to his lap. "You found Zamora?!" he asked, a look of alarm on his face.

Sam stepped a little closer to where Callen was seated. "G. We aren't sure. It's just a lead."

Callen's breathing suddenly became fast and labored. "No!" He looked over to Kensi with panicked eyes. "She can't… go," he managed to get out between breaths.

Marty and Agent Castor both took a few steps back, giving Sam full access to the space around Callen's chair.

Kensi's eyes filled with deep concern. "Callen. What's wrong?"

Never taking his eyes off of the female agent, he seemed to be becoming more panicked.

Sam placed a gentle hand on Callen's shoulder. "G. What's going on. Kensi's part of the team…"

Callen began shaking his head. He reached up and batted Sam's hand away. Then, without warning, he pushed himself up to standing.

In an instant, all color drained from his face, and he crumpled.

Sam was barely able to catch G before he hit the floor.

Kensi darted from the room.

Sam awkwardly held his partner's limp body, with one arm wrapped around Callen's torso, and a strong grasp of G's upper arm.

Deeks quickly moved to Sam's side. "What do you need me to do Sam?"

"Help me get a better hold on him. I'm putting too much pressure on his ribs." Then the SEAL began sounding out orders. "Need to get him to the bed. Castor… Get the blankets off the floor so I can move."

Agent Castor bundled up the covers that had dropped to the floor at G's feet and quickly drug them out of the way.

Deeks simultaneously lifted Callen's legs, rotated, and draped the backs of G's knees over Sam's awaiting forearm.

Sam had just fully scooped his partner up when the door flew open. In hurried C.J. and Olivia, with Kensi right behind them.

Deeks, Kensi and Castor moved back against the far wall, and watched nervously as one nurse lowered the head of the bed and the other began untangling, and gathering the IV tubing dangling from the unconscious patient's hand.

"Okay," Olivia said, looking up at Sam, who was still cradling his friend. "Go ahead and lay him down."

Sam gently laid G down on the bed, while Olivia maneuvered the IV machine around the foot of the bed, handing it off to C.J.

Once the IV machine was situated and plugged in, C.J. quickly wrapped a blood pressure cuff around the patient's upper arm.

Kensi brought her finger to her ear and tapped her earwig. "Eric? Nell?" she said softly. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, Kenz." Eric's voice.

"I need Hetty."

"She's right beside me, Kenz. She can hear you."

"Miss Blye. Is there a problem?"

Sam and Deeks both turned and looked at Kensi when they heard Hetty's voice in their Comms.

"It's Callen," Kensi began to explain. "Castor got here earlier than we were expecting, and we hadn't had time to tell Callen about the Op. Something spooked him. Specifically, me going on the mission with the guys? He just sort-of… lost it. Stood up really fast and passed out."

"Is he injured?"

"No. Sam caught him."

"Have the nurses been notified?"

"They're with him now."

"Good. Keep me updated. Better yet, keep your Comm open so I can hear… Mr. Beale. What's the current traffic situation?"

"Nell just checked with LAPD," Eric reported. "They have the accident cleared. We can go back to our original departure time. That should give the Team plenty of time to get to Daw Yee before the restaurant opens."

"Miss Blye. Can the others hear me?"

Deeks and Sam both turned to Kensi and gave her a nod.

"Yes, Hetty. We all have our Comms in."

"Good… Stay with Mr. Callen as long as possible. But you need to leave the hospital no later than three-forty. Understood?"

"Understood," the three chorused.

Kensi moved up next to Sam to get a better look at how Callen was doing.

He was still out. His face was pale and his breathing was shallow.

"He's as white as a sheet," Kensi thought aloud.

C.J. glanced up at her from the opposite side of the bed. "He's going to be okay," he said reassuringly. "Looks like his blood pressure bottomed out. Did he get up too fast?"

"Yes," Kensi answered. "He was upset about something. Jumped up out from his chair. Caught us all off-guard."

A minute passed when C.J. let out a breath. "Here we go," he said from where he was intently watching the blood pressure readings. "He's stabilizing."

Olivia stepped away from the bed for a moment. She returned with a damp washcloth and began gently blotting Callen's face and neck.

"I don't understand, Sam," Kensi said softly. "Do you think he's hallucinating again?"

Sam turned to Kensi. "He's definitely not himself. But I don't think he's hallucinating, Kenz."

"I don't either," Deeks agreed. "But something sure freaked him out."

Kensi and Deeks shared worried looks.

"There you are," Nurse C.J. said.

All heads turned toward the bed, where C.J. was smiling down at his patient.

Callen was blinking slowly, looking dully at the space around him.

"Hetty," Kensi said softly. "He's awake."

Hetty breathed out. "Mr. Hanna. My apologies for not allowing the time needed to prepare Mr. Callen."

Sam tapped his Comm. "I don't think it would have helped, Hetty. Whatever triggered him, is big."

"Hmm… Find out what's troubling your partner and see if you can get him settled before the three of you have to head out."

"I'll try, Hetty," he answered, and then moved all the way up next to the bed. He studied Callen for a moment. "You with us, G?"

G squinted up at Sam, a look of confusion on his face.

"It may take him a minute," C.J. said, while removing the blood pressure cuff from Callen's arm. The nurse looked across at Olivia. "Do you want me to do the documentation on this?"

"Oh no, C.J. You've already stayed over your shift. If you just make sure I have access to his blood pressure readings, I'll do the charting."

"Alrighty, then." C.J. checked the IV machine and then pulled the siderail up on his side of the bed.

"Thank you for your help, C.J." Olivia said, lightly touching her fingers to Callen's face and neck.

"Not a problem."

When the male nurse had left the room, Sam moved around to the other side of the bed.

G just lay there, shivering slightly, blinking dully up at his tall partner.

Olivia moved her fingertips to Callen's upper arm, and then looked across to Sam. "He's cold… Let's get him covered up."

Deeks handed them the bundle of covers that had been tossed onto the couch earlier. And together, Sam and Olivia untangled the sheet and blankets, and carefully layered them over Callen.

Olivia raised the siderail and looked over to Sam. "Your boss notified the desk that you all would be on an assignment tonight, and that she was sending someone to stay with him."

Sam tilted his head forward. "This is Agent Castor."

Olivia turned around to view the clean-cut brunette standing behind her. "Oh. In all the confusion, I didn't even see you when I came in."

Castor nodded once. "I'll be staying with Agent Callen until someone from his team makes it back up here."

"Good. I'm leaving the head of the bed lowered for a while… just to give him a chance to level out." The nurse could see the apprehension in the substitute Agent's eyes. She pointed to the red button on the bed control. "If there's a problem, or you need anything, just press the call light. I won't be far away."

"Will do."

Olivia picked up the damp washcloth and headed for the door. "I'll be back to check on him in a little bit."

Callen turned his face toward the door that had just clicked closed, and his eyes locked on Kensi. Within three short seconds, he had gone from listless and confused, to wide eyed and breathing hard again.

"Hetty," Kensi whispered. "He's doing it again."

"Well, that escalated quickly. I hear can him breathing through someone's COMM. I wish I was there so I could see him. What is he doing?"

Deeks pulled out his phone and hastily pulled up a contact.

Kensi peered over to the bed. "He's looking at me," she said softly. "He looks scared, Hetty. Should I leave the room?"

"No, dear… Oh… Thank you, Mr. Deeks. Mr. Beale has your phone video feed pulled up on the big screen…"

Sam and Kensi looked over to see Deeks standing off to the side, inconspicuously holding his phone up to face the bed.

"Miss Blye. Do not leave. Since it seems to involve you, I need you to help figure out what's going on… And Mr. Hanna. Your team only has twenty-two minutes before you need to leave. If you can't talk him down before then, I'll need you to notify the nurses so they can be ready to restrain him if necessary. He absolutely cannot withstand another injury from falling out of that bed. Am I clear?"

Deeks, Kensi and Sam all exchanged quick glances.

"Clear," Sam responded, a look of dread on his face.

Kensi took in a big breath of air, let it out slowly, and then cautiously approached the bed. "Callen?" Her voice was gentle. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Callen's breathing became even more elevated as he stared up at her.

When he tried to sit up, he was met by Sam's large palm to his chest, pressing him back down to the bed. "You can't get up yet… Talk to me, G. What's going on."

Callen gritted his teeth while futilely straining against Sam's hold. "She… can't go," he repeated.

Sam pressed down on Callen's chest a little harder. "You know she's more than capable of holding her on, G. You helped train her."

Now looking up at Sam with pleading eyes, Callen began taking in small panicked breaths. "D… don't let her… near… him."

"Zamora?" Sam could feel G's erratic heartbeat against his palm.

Callen winced when he tried, again, to push up against Sam's hand. "You can't keep… her safe," he breathed out.

Kensi leaned down closer to Callen and did her best to give him a reassuring smile. "Callen. I'll be fine."

Callen looked up at Kensi and shook his head. "No… You can't go." He began squirming beneath Sam's hand, straining again to sit up. "Sam… Don't let her… near… him."

Sam repositioned his hands so that he had each of G's shoulders firmly pinned to the bed. "G. Listen to me," he pleaded. "You've never treated Kensi any different because she's female. What's going on?"

Callen took several erratic breaths through gritted teeth. "You don't know… what he's… capable of…" His eyes were suddenly red and watery. "…what he does… to women," he said, in barely more than a whisper.

"Mr. Hanna," Hetty's voice sounded in their Comms. "I know I asked you not to mention his time in Honduras. But we need to get to the bottom of what's tormenting him… And quickly."

Sam shifted his weight to one foot, closed his eyes for a moment, and let out a breath. He leaned down closer to his partner, and looked him in the eyes. "G… Does this have to do with the family in Honduras?"

Callen suddenly stilled. As if visualizing a painful memory, he closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath.

Sam proceeded carefully. "Zamora did… things… to the mother?"

Sam knew the answer when he saw tears suddenly threaten to breach G's tightly shut eyes.

Callen nodded once and a single tear spilled over. With his eyes still closed, Callen whispered, "Her husband… He made us watch."

Except for a small gasp from Hetty, the room fell silent.

Kensi clasped her hand over her mouth, Sam closed his eyes and lowered his head, and Deeks briefly lost focus on keeping the phone video steady.

They watched helplessly as tears streamed down Callen's face.

A few moments later, Nell broke the silence. "Hetty," she began softly. "I went through this file several times. This wasn't in his report."

Hetty let out a breath. "He was protecting her honor," she said sadly.

Whether from being completely spent after the sudden surge of adrenaline, or from finally unburdening himself of the shameful memory he'd been carrying all these years, Sam felt the tension suddenly leave Callen's body.

Sam waited about thirty more seconds and then removed his hands from G's shoulders.

"Guys?" Eric spoke through their Comms. "Less than ten minutes."

"Mr. Hanna," Hetty said, back to her customary authoritative tone. "I'll have Mr. Getz follow up with him, if needed. Right now, I need you and your team to focus on the mission… shutting Antonio Zamora down, once and for all."

Sam straightened, looked toward the phone Deeks was still holding up, and nodded. Then he leaned down again, closer to Callen. "G?"

Callen brought a shaky hand up, whipped his face, and opened his eyes.

"We have to go now. We don't know if Zamora is even going to show. But if he does, we'll take good care of Kensi. We won't let him touch her."

Kensi patted Callen's arm. "Callen, I promise… I won't go near him."

Blinking slowly, G swiped his dry lips with his tongue and swallowed hard.

"You good, now?" Sam asked. "'Cause if you pull another stunt like you did a little while ago… jumping up and turning into a ragdoll, I won't be here to keep that hard head of yours from hitting the floor."

Now shivering more, Callen lowered his eyes, turned his head away from Sam, and gave a slight nod.

Sam placed his palm on G's shoulder, looked across the bed, and made eye contact with Agent Castor. "Call the nurse if he tries to get out of this bed."

Castor nodded.

Sam pointed to the protein shakes on the table. "When the nurse says it's okay to raise the bed, make sure he drinks those. There's hot tea in that thermos over there. It might help him warm up some."

Castor looked at Deeks with raised eyebrows.

Deeks grinned. "It's not just you, Castor. He's really bossy when it comes to taking care of his partner."

Sam rolled his eyes at Deeks and then looked down at Callen. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, G." He gave Callen's shoulder a firm squeeze and then walked around the foot of the bed and toward the exit.

Callen slowly turned his head toward the door and watched Kensi, Deeks, and Sam disappear into the hallway. When the door closed behind them, he let out a shaky breath, and a lone, uninvited tear made its way down his face.