As always, thanks for all the comments and support you've given this story. I'm not exactly overly confident about this chapter, but, hopefully it's okay…

xxxxx

It was a rough flight back.

Deeks basically passed out shortly after takeoff. Kensi sat beside him, her eyes filled with worry. "Everything is going to be okay," she murmured as she stroked his hair, pushing it gently back from his face. "We're going to get you to a hospital now and you're finally going to get the care you need. Then, when you're better, I'll take you home and nurse you back to health. Everything will be fine. I promise you."

The motion of the helicopter set Callen's stomach off once again. However, this time, there was nothing inside of him to throw up so he was accosted by painful dry heaves. He clutched his ribs, trying to minimize the pain, but that didn't prove to be very helpful. Sam watched his partner, feeling horrible and utterly useless. Bart, on the other hand, gazed at Callen in open amusement. "I guess getting him to puke his guts up didn't really help much, did it, Agent Hanna? Too bad. I'm guessing that poison is making its way through his system. Who knows how much time he has left?"

"Shut up," Sam growled. The look he shot Bart was filled with absolute hatred.

"Oh don't be like that, Agent Hanna," Bart said, smiling. "I was shot by Detective Deeks over there and I understand why he felt the need to do what he did. I don't feel any ill will towards him."

"I told you to shut up," Sam said again. "If you don't, I'm going to make you shut up." His mind was filled with images of him tossing Bart out of the helicopter and watching him tumble through the air until he would eventually hit the ground and smash every bone in his body. After everything Bart had put them through, it was a kinder fate than that monster deserved. Bart stopped talking but continued to take obvious pleasure in watching Callen's misery. Finally, Callen's heaves stopped and he laid curled on his side, his face pale and soaked with beads of perspiration. "G? Can you drink some of this for me?" Sam asked softly as he opened a bottle of water and moved it towards Callen's lips.

Callen quickly turned his face away. "I can't." he told Sam. As much as he was still suffering from almost unbearable thirst, he knew he would just throw any water up and he needed to put a stop to that if he could.

"Come on, G," Sam pleaded. "Just a little bit buddy, please? You're so dehydrated."

"I said no. It…it's just going to make me sick, Sam. I can't keep doing this." Callen looked on the verge of tears and Sam immediately backed off.

"Okay…I'm sorry. I'm not going to force you. Try to rest if you can." Without thinking, Sam put his hand on Callen's back to rub it in a comforting motion. Callen hissed with the sudden flare up of pain and flinched away from his partner.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry, G," Sam stated, his expression the perfect definition of the word guilt as he moved his hand away from his partner.

Bart, who was watching the scene attentively, started to laugh. "Oh my God…this is hilarious. How on earth could you forget what you did to him? You've got to stop making me laugh. It makes my stomach hurt!"

"You bastard!" Sam made a move to get up and go after Bart, but Kensi put her hand on his arm, successfully getting him to stop.

"Sam don't," Kensi said. "It's not going to help anything. We need to make sure he goes to prison for everything he's done." Not that there was really any doubt since he had escaped from prison to begin with, but why take chances? She looked pointedly at Bart's men who were also paying attention to what was happening, in varying states of alertness, depending on their injuries.

Sam shook his head. This was all getting to be too much for him. He felt very close to losing his grip on his emotions, reminiscent of when he thought G had drowned in the river. He was very scared for his partner and for Deeks as well. He mentally willed the time to move faster so that they could arrive at the hospital and finally get the medical care they so desperately needed.

xxxxx

Things moved quickly once the helicopter landed at the medical center. Gurneys were brought and Callen and Deeks, as well as Bart and his men were transported to the Emergency Room. Sam and Kensi gave details of what had happened to their partners to the attending physicians, but they were not allowed to accompany them into the exam cubicles.

"Kensi?" Sam said softly. He was seated in one of the hard, plastic waiting room chairs, watching as she nervously paced back and forth.

"I can't believe they wouldn't let me in with him. I wouldn't have bothered anything. I hope he doesn't wake up and find that he's all alone."

"Kens?" Sam tried again. "You really need to get looked at…"

Kensi stopped short and stared at him. "No. No, I don't need to get looked at. I'm fine."

"I beg to differ, Ms. Blye. If Mr. Hanna says you need to be looked at. I trust that he has made a wise and prudent decision, one that you should adhere to."

"Hetty!" Kensi turned around and smiled when she saw their operations manager. She then hugged the smaller woman tightly. "It's so good to see you."

"It's very good to see you too, my dear," Hetty said, returning her smile. She then walked over to Sam and embraced him. "Mr. Hanna. Welcome home."

"It's good to be home, Hetty," Sam said, smiling warmly at her. "You can't imagine how good."

"No, but I expect to be filled in on everything that has happened." She sat down in the seat next to him and then patted the empty seat on the other side. "Come, Ms. Blye. Sit with me."

Kensi did as Hetty requested and sank down on the chair.

"Now tell me," Hetty addressed Kensi first. "Why is it you don't want to be seen by a doctor?"

"Because I don't need to be. I'm fine," Kensi stated. "Besides, I need to wait here to see what's going on with Deeks. They're going to need to do surgery on him."

"I think they're likely going to wait on the surgery, Kens," Sam said gently. "I'm sure Deeks' temperature is pretty high. I think they'll treat his infection and once that's under control they'll remove the bullet."

"Mr. Deeks was shot?" Hetty asked. "How is he? How bad is it?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't even know where to begin, Hetty," he said. "He was shot in the shoulder, but it happened days ago and I didn't have any supplies to be able to treat him properly. He developed a pretty nasty infection."

"I…I still don't even know how he was able to stay so strong for as long as he did," Kensi said quietly.

"I think he was running on pure adrenaline and will power, Kensi," Sam said. "He really wanted to do what he could do to help us get through this…especially you. That man loves you so much."

"I love him too," Kensi said, her eyes welling with tears. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to keep herself calm. "I really wish they had let me stay with him."

"I'm sure you'll get to see him soon," Sam said with a smile. "But, before then. You really need to get looked at."

"May I ask what's wrong?" Hetty asked, first looking at Sam and then at Kensi.

"I…I just got hit on my back, Hetty," Kensi said, staring down at the floor. "It's really nothing. Sam is overreacting." Her own eyes met Sam's and she silently pleaded with him not to say any more.

"It's not too bad," Sam said, but her wounds at least need to be cleaned and dressed, as well. He hadn't seen her back, but he knew that she needed to be looked at, if for no other reason than to give him peace of mind.

"I'll see someone after I get word on Deeks, okay?" Kensi relented, knowing that Sam wasn't going to back off on this.

Sam nodded and Kensi sighed softly.

"You haven't yet mentioned Mr. Callen," Hetty said, her eyes studying Sam closely as she asked the question. "What happened to him and more importantly, how is he?"

"G…" Sam shook his head and then met Hetty's eyes with his own. "He's not good, Hetty. It's too long of a story to go into right now and much of it you're going to find pretty unbelievable, but the main thing is that he's been poisoned. I tried to get it out of his system, but, I just don't know." He ran his hand over his face, obviously distressed.

"Poisoned?" Hetty asked, looking shocked by Sam's words. "And this…all of this… it was orchestrated by Bartholomew?"

Sam nodded.

"Because of me?"

Sam and Kensi exchanged a long look, but neither of them said anything to either confirm or deny Hetty's assumption.

"Oh come now, I think the two of you know I'm far from fragile. Please, tell me, why did he do this and did you take him into custody?" Honestly though, she already knew the answer to why Bartholomew had done this. He still blamed her for being imprisoned. However, she never would have suspected the lengths he would have gone to in order to get back at her.

"He's actually here in the hospital, Hetty," Kensi said. "Deeks shot him."

"Deeks saved my life," Sam said quietly. He realized that he hadn't even had a chance to thank Deeks for doing so.

"He barely knew Mr. Callen," Hetty said to herself. "I don't understand how he even found him and the three of you as well."

"He has a lot of money, Hetty," Sam said softly.

"And money can buy power," Kensi said. "Even in prison."

"It's obviously bought him a lot of both," Sam said. "He did a lot of preparation for this so called 'game' of his and he did it from behind prison walls."

"And he had a lot of help," Kensi explained. "Everything was so well planned and…just evil."

"I'm so sorry you all had to go through this," Hetty said, her eyes filled with sadness and sympathy. "If Bartholomew was so set on revenge against me…I wish he had come after me directly, not gone after the four of you."

"He's crazy, Hetty," Kensi said as she took Hetty's hand and squeezed it gently. "We never would have wanted him to go after you."

"Well, I certainly didn't want him to go after you," Hetty said with a sigh. She glanced over at the door leading to the treatment portion of the ER and shook her head. "I wish someone would come out and give us some information."

"You're not alone in that," Sam said, his eyes also on the doors. He felt like he was going to go crazy if they didn't get word soon.

xxxxx

Finally, after about another hour of waiting, a doctor emerged from behind the treatment area doors and approached them. "Sorry to have kept you waiting so long, Kensi," he said, his eyes serious as he looked down at her. "Can I speak freely or should we go somewhere more private?"

"Oh it's okay," Kensi assured him.

"Alright. Your fiancé has a serious wound infection. I've started him on an aggressive course of antibiotics and some pain medication. We took x-rays of his shoulder and the bullet doesn't pose any danger to him so it's not anything that needs to be addressed right away. Our main concern is to get his infection under control and bring his fever down. Once that's done, we'll set him up with a surgeon for removal of the bullet."

"But he'll be okay?" Kensi asked anxiously.

"I'm cautiously optimistic," the doctor replied.

Kensi nodded. "When can I see him?"

"It will be a little while. He's sleeping right now. I'm going to arrange to have him transferred to the Medical floor and you'll be able to see him then."

"Thank you very much," Kensi said, a faint smile on her lips. She was still very worried about Deeks, but hopefully everything was going to be okay with him.

"That's good news," Sam said, after the doctor had left.

Kensi nodded. "It is."

"So…"

Kensi looked at Sam in confusion. "So…?"

"You said you would see someone after you got word about Deeks' condition," Sam reminded her.

Kensi rolled her eyes. "Sam, I really don't think…"

"Ms. Blye, you did tell Mr. Hanna that you would do as he requested," Hetty said, backing her senior agent up.

"Alright…" Kensi gave in and made her way over to the registration desk. The sooner she got it over with, the sooner she would be able to go and see Deeks.

xxxxx

Kensi didn't have to wait too long before her name was called and she went over to the treatment area to be seen. At that point, Hetty looked at Sam with questioning eyes. "Would you care to give me a little bit more information about Ms. Blye's injuries?" she asked him.

Sam looked at Hetty and hesitated before he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hetty," he said. "I really don't feel comfortable talking about it unless Kensi says it's okay. It's her story to tell, not mine."

Hetty was about to push him further, but then decided to do so would only serve to break trust between Sam and Kensi as well as Kensi and herself. Neither outcome was anything that she desired, especially after all that the team had been through. "Alright, Sam. That's fine. I appreciate that you wish to keep Ms. Blye's confidence."

"Thank you," Sam said as his eyes once again went toward the treatment area. "This is taking too long."

Hetty wanted to give Sam some reassurances, but in all honesty, she agreed with him. Her level of worry about her team's leader seemed to be rising with each minute that went by.

Finally, about 20 minutes later, a kindly-appearing older gentleman came out and walked over to Sam. "I apologize for the long wait, Mr. Hanna," he said as he looked around at the crowded waiting room. "Can you come along with me where we can talk in private?"

Sam immediately felt the butterflies begin to do battle in his stomach. Going somewhere to speak privately with the doctor wasn't the beginning he had hoped for. "Of course," Sam said as he got to his feet. "This is Hetty Lange... She's very close to G…"

"I'm Dr. Carlisle," the doctor said as he shook Hetty's hand. "If the two of you will please follow me?"

They followed Dr. Carlisle down the hall to a small office. He turned on the light and indicated the sofa and cushioned chairs. "Please, make yourselves comfortable." Sam swallowed hard, his emotions threatening to come to the forefront as he wondered if his partner and best friend had already died.

"I'm not one to beat around the bush," Hetty said after they had all sat down. "Please, tell us what's going on with Mr. Callen."

"Well, it's a complicated situation," Dr. Carlisle began. His lab tests and blood counts are highly abnormal. I'm assuming that's from whatever toxin is in his system, but we have not been able to identify it."

"But how is he?" Sam asked anxiously. "Is he going to be okay?"

"In addition to the effects of whatever poison he ingested, he has two cracked ribs and a touch of pneumonia. He's also severely dehydrated. There are also the lashes on his back, but they are surface wounds mainly just another source of pain for him."

Sam nodded in shame as he felt the heat flood to his cheeks at the mention of the lashes which he had personally delivered to his partner. None of this was particularly surprising to hear. "Will he be okay?" he asked again.

Dr. Carlisle shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't answer that question. Without knowing what poison he took, it's hard for me to say. Not to mention, he's in an extremely weakened condition right now. Of course, if you knew what the poison was, perhaps we'd be able to combat it and give him a fighting chance."

"So…you're saying he doesn't have a fighting chance?" Hetty asked, trying hard to keep herself together.

"Well, I've witnessed many medical miracles over the course of my career," Dr. Carlisle said. "So I don't want you to lose hope, but…if there's any way you can find out what he was given, or better yet gain access to an antidote, I'd feel a good deal better about his chances."

"We'll get to work on that right away," Hetty stated resolutely as Sam nodded. They would do everything in their power to get Callen on the road to recovery.