Chapter 50: Substitute
The team had not been gone long when Nurse Olivia came to check on Callen. She spoke to Castor before approaching the bed. When she began moving the covers to get to the patient's arm, she could easily see that he was shaking significantly more than before. She wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm and looked down at his tired blue eyes. "Mr. Callen, how are you feeling?"
"Just cold," he said, his voice sounding weak and raspy.
"I can see that." She paused while taking blood pressure readings, raised the head of the bed to about a forty-five-degree angle, and checked it again. "I need you to stay like this for a little while, just to make sure your pressure remains stable. If you tolerate it well, we'll raise the head more." Olivia covered up his arm. "When I come back, I'll bring a heated blanket?"
"Thanks," he answered softly as the Nurse was leaving the room.
Agent Castor got up from the couch and walked over to the bed. "Can I get you anything, Agent Callen?"
"No. 'm good."
Castor studied G for a moment. As exhausted as the Senior Agent appeared, there was still unease in his eyes.
He's worried about his team. This man needs a diversion.
"Do you stay this cold all the time?" Castor asked.
"Pretty much." Callen let out a shaky breath. "What day is it?"
"Wednesday."
After a pause, G asked, "Have you heard from Sam?"
"Not yet. But Hetty said to expect this to take several hours."
Callen looked worriedly at the door and then turned his head toward the window. "Where are they?" he asked softly.
"I wasn't given that information. You know Hetty – She operates on a 'need to know' basis."
G pressed his lips together, glanced up at Castor, and then nodded once.
Castor was fairly certain he saw Callen's eyes water before he looked away.
"All I really know," Castor explained, "is that they steaking out a specific location tonight, hoping that their suspect shows. Whatever's going down, the FBI has teams ready to assist her in LA, and in San Diego."
"Sa…" Callen paused to let a huge shudder pass. "San Diego?"
"Apparently they're expecting something big to go down there… But…"
"Yeah. I know… Need to know," G finished. After shivering again, Callen closed his eyes a moment, taking a few calming breaths. "What time is it?"
Castor looked at his wristwatch. "About a quarter past four."
Callen began to shake even more. He brought his arms up beneath the covers and hugged himself tightly.
One diversion, coming up. Castor slid his phone from his back pocket. "Don't know if you heard, but I have a new baby."
Callen looked up at the brunette. "I remember you telling…" G's breath hitched from a cold shudder. "…me that you and Katie were adopting… a newborn."
Considering the Senior Agent's current state, Castor was a bit taken back that he would recall a conversation that took place more than three months ago. He pulled up a picture on his phone and held it up in front of Callen.
G blinked a couple of times and focused on the photo. "Girl?"
"Yes. Savanna Marie."
"She's beautiful… How old?"
"Six weeks. I can't believe how fast time has gone. I'm already scheduled to come back to work this Monday."
"Why are you up here? You should be at home with your family."
"It's not a problem at all. My in-laws got into town last night. When Hetty called, I gladly jumped at the chance to get out of that tiny apartment for a little while."
G looked at him with a faint smirk.
"Don't get me wrong," Castor continued. "… my wife's parents are wonderful people. It's just that… this is their first grandchild." Castor grinned sheepishly. "You can only imagine the level of doting." Castor swiped over to another picture. "This is Savanna's half-brother. He's been in and out of the foster system most of his life. We've started the process to adopt him, as well."
Callen glanced up at Castor and then his gaze returned to the picture in front of him. "How old is he?"
"He'll be five next month… They said it may take another four to six months to get all the signatures and paperwork in place."
Callen got a far-away look in his eyes, as he stared at the picture of the little blonde boy. "That's a long time to wait," G said, as if talking to himself.
Agent Castor was still holding his phone up in front of Callen, flipping through baby photos, when Olivia returned a little while later. He stepped away from the bed and took a seat in on the couch.
"I come bearing gifts," Olivia said to Callen, while spreading a heated blanket over him.
Callen seemed to relax some when she had finished tucking the blanket snugly around his right side.
The nurse went around to the far side of the bed and checked G's blood pressure. "I'm going to raise your head up the rest of the way, Mr. Callen. Let me know if you feel light-headed." The nurse pressed the bed control button, slowly raising the head of the bed.
When the bed stopped moving, she took another blood pressure reading. "How do you feel?"
Callen sat staring blankly at the space in front of him.
Olivia placed her hand on G's shoulder. "Mr. Callen?"
He blinked several times and then turned his head toward her.
"Mr. Callen. Do you feel okay?"
G quickly swiped his lips with his tongue, and then gave her a half-convincing nod.
She tucked the covers around his left shoulder and arm. "Your lips look dry. When's the last time you had something to drink?"
G lowered his head and gazed down at his lap. His brow wrinkled and a lost look came across his face. "I… I don't know."
The nurse's concerned eyes, met Agent Castor's.
Easily reading her signal, Castor stood. "I'll make sure he has something to drink."
Olivia mouthed "Thank you," and then glanced up at the IV machine. "I'll be back in a little while to change out the IV fluids."
The nurse stopped next to Castor on her way to the door. "His blood pressure dropped a bit when I raised his head," she said, keeping her voice low. "If you notice him looking clammy, or if he becomes unresponsive, call me."
"I will."
Castor stepped up to the bed when the nurse had gone. "Do you want tea or water, Agent Callen?"
Still looking a bit confused, and beginning to shake more, G squinted up at Castor. "What day is it?"
"Wednesday… Your nurse said you needed to drink something. Do you want water or tea?"
"Wait… Did I ask you that already?"
"Yeah, you did." Castor wasn't sure if Callen was cold or just shaky. But seeing how much he was trembling, Castor made the drink decision on his own.
Hot tea it is.
Agent Castor located the large thermos, and poured the ceramic mug half full of Hetty's tea concoction.
G slid his arms from beneath the stack of blankets, reached up and took the mug Castor was holding. But between the awkward cast, and the relentless shaking, it was all he could do to hold on to the cup.
Castor took the mug from Callen's hands. Then without a word, he brought the warm drink up to G's mouth, hoping he was successful in hiding the uneasiness he felt with practically handfeeding the toughest undercover agent he had ever known.
Castor held his ground when the stubborn Senior Agent weakly attempted to take the mug back.
Finally conceding, G timidly glanced up at Castor, and then took a sip from the mug being held for him.
With only two more, unsuccessful, attempts to hold the cup himself, Callen eventually finished his tea.
He quietly thanked Castor, pulled his arms back under the blankets, and closed his eyes.
Agent Castor put the mug down, returned to the couch, and looked over toward the bed. He let out a long breath, thankful that Callen was not shaking as much, and that he had not asked about the case again.
Olivia returned just after the supper tray was delivered to the room. She changed out the IV solution, lowered the side rail, and set the food in front of Callen.
It was immediately obvious to Castor why Callen appeared to have lost weight since he had seen him last.
With a sick look on his face, G had turned his head away from the food in front of him.
Olivia stood beside the bed, arms crossed, giving her patient the best 'this won't do' look. "Mr. Callen. I know you're tired of hearing this, but Dr. Lee said, in order for you to be discharged, you have to start eating."
Callen looked up at her with miserable blue eyes and a wrinkled nose. "It smells bad."
The nurse looked away for a moment, making every effort not to smile.
When she had regained her composure, she looked at him and asked, "What sounds good to you right now?"
Without hesitation, G answered just loud enough to be heard. "An Uber ride to take me to my house."
Castor chuckled, Olivia gave up on holding back her smile, and G just sat there looking at her with a straight face.
"Mr. Callen, I meant, what sounds good to eat." Still smiling widely, Olivia turned toward Agent Castor. "Please make sure this man doesn't get his hands on a cellphone. I'd hate to have to report to your boss that he's gone missing."
Castor shook his head. "You and me both. Talk about a career-ender."
The nurse paused a moment, and then began shuffling things around on Callen's food tray. Like a magic act, packages were opened, some items were removed from the tray, others rearranged.
"Okay," Olivia said gently, when she had finished reconfiguring the tray. "I need you to eat at least half of the broth, four crackers, and this container of Jell-O."
G visibly tensed and turned his head away.
Olivia sighed softly and gave her patient a sympathetic look. "Take your time, Mr. Callen. One bite at a time…There's no rush." The nurse took a quick look at her watch. "Dr. Lee should be here around six. That gives you close to an hour. Start with the broth. It's what you need the most."
With his face still partially turned toward the window, Callen gave the food an apprehensive, sideways look.
Olivia turned to Castor. "Would you mind getting him started?"
"Not at all." Castor rose to his feet.
"The broth may be a challenge tonight."
"Why is he so shaky?" Castor asked, keeping his voice low.
"Being miserably cold is an unfortunate side-effect of his medication. But tonight, seems to be extra rough." She looked back and
The nurse glanced back at her patient and then started making her way to the door. "I'll be right back."
Castor was relieved when Callen brought his hand from beneath the covers and picked up the spoon without additional prompting. But when he saw the small amount of liquid that actually stayed on the spoon, he had no doubt that Callen was going to require some assistance… maybe, a lot of assistance.
By the time Olivia returned, G had gotten only four or five partial spoonsful down, with more going on the table and onto his t-shirt than into his mouth.
"Brought you some apple juice," the nurse announced. She peeled back the seals of the two small containers, while watching her shivering patient out of the corner of her eye. She dumped the juice into Styrofoam cup and then began looking around the room. "Did I see a ceramic cup in here somewhere?"
Castor pointed to the shelf. "He used it for his hot tea, just a little while ago."
"That'll work." Olivia went to the sink and rinsed the mug. She made it back to the bed just as Callen attempted to drink some of his juice, and sloshed some of it onto his t-shirt.
He looked down at his clothes, let out a small breath, and then gave the nurse a quick glance.
In that brief moment, Olivia clearly saw, both frustration, and embarrassment in his eyes. "It's alright," she said patiently, while pouring the warm broth into the mug. "Your medication has usually worn off a little by this time of day. For some reason, you're just shakier tonight.… When you've finished your tray, I'll get you a fresh shirt… In the meantime…" she slid the ceramic mug closer to G and then pointed to Agent Castor. "Why don't you let him help you with the liquid stuff?"
When the nurse had gone, G reluctantly allowed Castor to hold the juice cup while he drank from the straw, but stubbornly struggled to grasp and maneuver the warm mug himself.
Olivia returned at a quarter till six, just in time to see her patient slide the portable table away. She did a quick examination of the tray: A few bites of Jell-O have been eaten, more than half the broth is gone, one of the two cracker packages is empty. "Are you sure you are finished?"
Callen answered her with a tired look.
Oh, yeah. He is so done.
She collected the food items that had been taken off the tray earlier, handed the tray to someone in the hall, retrieved a dark green t-shirt from the closet, and then returned to the bedside.
Callen eyed the siderail a moment and then looked up to the nurse. "I need to go to the restroom," he said softly.
"Do you want me to get you…"
"No," he responded quickly. "I want to get up."
"Oh… Okay," she said while tossing the clean t-shirt onto the couch and snatching gloves from the wall dispenser. "Let me disconnect your IV," she said while simultaneously donning her gloves and moving to the other side of the bed. "It'll make things easier if you don't have to drag this thing in there. I'll be quick."
As promised, less than two minutes later, the pump had been turned off, the IV disconnected, a strip of paper tape applied to his hand, and the nurse was on her way back around the bed. She lowered the side rail and pulled the covers down to the foot of the bed. "Here we go."
With a few soft groans and a hiss or two, Callen managed to scoot over to the side of the bed.
Olivia then slowly helped him come to a sitting position on the side of the bed.
"Woah," she said, when she had to keep her patient from tilting too far to the right.
Agent Castor moved closer. "Can I help?"
"Yes. Please. Just keep a hand on him and make sure he doesn't fall. I need to check his blood pressure before he stands."
Castor stepped up even closer, put out a hand, and grasped G's shoulder.
Callen swayed two more times while Olivia was getting the blood pressure reading. Both times, Agent Castor tightened his grip of G's shoulder, keeping him upright.
"It's a little low," Olivia said, while putting the blood pressure cuff away. "But I think it'll be okay if you don't get in a hurry."
Callen eased forward, placed his socked feet on the floor, and carefully stood.
The journey to the bathroom was slow, and a bit wobbly.
And the return trip was even slower, as Callen was shaking had gotten worse.
When they had Callen sitting on the side of the bed, Castor held him steady while Olivia carefully changed him into the clean t-shirt.
They helped G lie down, and were relieved when he relaxed and his trembling lessened.
Olivia reconnected the IV, raised the siderails, and made sure Callen was tucked in before exiting the room.
