Crosshairs

Chapter 2

The intense pain that had radiated up her arm earlier had dulled down within an hour or so after the shooting. By now, the wound was mostly numb if sometimes tingling. She tried not moving it too much, but all in all, had been able to put it aside and focus on her work.

At the same time, she was feeling the after effects of the shooting. She felt agitated and restless, her muscles twitching every now and then in involuntary movement that annoyed the hell out of her. Nell pinched the bridge of her nose when the words on the screen were blurring in front of her eyes… again. She leaned back in her chair with a sigh, brushing a hand through her hair, feeling the sweat at the back of her neck. It was warmer inside of Ops than normal. Usually, they kept the room cool because of the servers, but today it felt like a furnace.

Returning to her search, Nell forced herself to focus, still trying to find the helicopter that had taken off from the roof of the warehouse with their prime suspects and shooters. It had flown under the radar and therefore they couldn't get a location by following the flight path. They were currently scanning the social media pages for photos, trying to locate their helicopter that way to at least get a general direction.

Nell coughed softly to clear her throat, swallowing with difficulty before deciding she needed a break. Eric glanced at her when she stood. "I'll be right back," she told him with a small smile.

Eric frowned. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just need a break. Think everything is catching up," she mumbled.

Eric stood and embraced her and Nell leaned into him, letting her partner hold her up for some moments. Pushing away from Eric, Nell gave him a small smile before turning away and making her way outside. She reached for the wall when her sight blurred again, feeling her way down the corridor and to the restroom.

Xxxxxxx

According to Nell, the data hadn't been copied to an external hard drive. Callen and Sam were bouncing off ideas between the two of them.

Callen was certain that they were missing something. Something just didn't sit well with him. Something felt off.

Why would someone go through the trouble of getting access to the codes for drones and leave them there on the table for the authorities to collect while they made off with nothing. There had been enough time to either grab the laptop or even to copy the data while the law enforcement officers were beginning their raid and were being kept busy by the shooters outside. Then the helicopter… that required forethought; it was impossible to get a helicopter to arrive within minutes of the beginning of the raid without it having been planned beforehand.

Something more was going on. It felt more like an ambush than a raid gone wrong.

Callen opened his mouth to argue his point when there was a scream for help from the upstairs corridor. He was out of his seat in a flash and after a brief glance at his partner charged up the stairs with Sam following.

They tore down the corridor to where the call had come from and stumbled into the women's restroom moments later. Callen stopped short while Sam charged further inside, instantly kneeling down beside Nell who was crumbled on the floor. Another woman knelt by her head, trying to keep it stable as Nell convulsed, her limbs flopping around, her body jerking off the ground. Her eyes were flickering rapidly under her lids.

Sam reached for her shoulders and rolled Nell over onto her side. "When did she start seizing?" he asked the other woman.

"She was like this when I came inside. I called for help right away," she answered and Callen glanced at his watch.

"At least twenty seconds, give or take," he suggested, seeing Sam nod. "Ambulance?"

Sam looked undecided, "usually seizures don't last long and we're not even five minutes from Cedars-Sinai. It will probably be faster if we take her ourselves once she stops seizing. But if the seizure continues we can't take her," he stated, glancing up at Callen.

He could see his partner's indecision, knowing that if they decided to wait and take her themselves and Nell didn't stop seizing they wasted valuable time. Callen took charge and turned around only to nearly crash into Eric. He took the younger man by the shoulders and pushed him back outside before he could catch a glance at his partner. "Call for an ambulance," he told him firmly, "Nell's having a seizure. Keep them on the line. We might cancel them if she stops convulsing. In that case we'll take her over to Cedars ourselves."

Eric jumped and started to push past Callen, but he held firm, shaking the tech for emphasis, "call an ambulance, Eric," he repeated firmly, emphasizing each word, "Sam is taking care of her." He forcefully turned Eric around and pushed him towards Ops, ignoring the wide eyed look the tech threw over his shoulder.

Callen turned back inside, watching as his partner kept a stable hold on Nell, softly speaking to her. Eventually, the convulsions started to slow down, some shivers and tremors remaining. His partner reached for her neck and checked her pulse, his frown tightening. Sam glanced up and again, they made eye contact, speaking without speaking.

Callen nodded and opened the door when Sam scooped up the younger woman and stood. Nell was still unconscious, her breathing rapid and strained, her appearance flushed. They would take Nell themselves and not wait for an ambulance. Hetty stood just outside, glancing up at him with worry plainly written on her face. "Tell Eric to cancel the ambulance. We'll take her to Cedars ourselves," he told their boss who nodded and stepped aside to let Sam pass.

Callen let the door fall shut behind him and hurried past Sam, downstairs to have a car ready.

Xxxxxxx

Sam had slipped into the backseat with Nell in his arms and Callen closed the door behind them before jumping into the driver's seat and peeling away. It was a short trip to Cedars - especially with the way he was driving - but the tension hung thick inside of the car.

Nell's breathing was labored and she hadn't regained consciousness.

Callen met his partner's eyes in the rearview mirror, silently prompting him to start talking.

"She's burning up. Her heart rate and blood pressure are increased. Breathing is strained," Sam told him softly.

"Infection?" he suggested quietly.

Sam shrugged, "bit early for an onset and a very strong one at that."

It had been just over five hours since Nell had been shot and Callen had to concede the point. It was very early to develop an infection that strong. He focused on driving, knowing he wouldn't be able to solve that puzzle anyway. He wasn't a physician. Sam had enough field training to know what he was doing, but he too was no doctor.

Callen screeched to a halt in front of the emergency room and sighed in relief when there was a team waiting for them. Most certainly Hetty had called in advance and announced their arrival.

The door to the backseat was yanked open and Nell's body was lifted by several hands. Sam followed her out of the backseat, listing symptoms and stats as Nell was lowered onto a gurney and wheeled inside.

Callen followed them inside, his mind racing.

Xxxxxxx