Well, this one is FINALLY beginning to wind down (really this time lol) I really appreciate those of you who have stuck through this, especially with all my ups and downs. Thanks so much :)
xxxxx
Callen slept fitfully through the night with Sam and Hetty keeping vigil at his bedside. "Mama? Mama please don't leave me. Please don't die." His voice was tremulous, sounding on the verge of tears.
"Shhh, shhh Grisha, everything's alright." Hetty gently stroked his head until he calmed down. Then she turned her head towards Sam. "I hate when this happens. It always makes me feel so helpless. It just breaks my heart."
"It happens often?" Sam asked.
"He's always had nightmares on and off, since he was a boy, even before he remembered what happened to his mother."
Sam nodded sadly. He could well imagine Callen had a wealth of subject matter on which his nightmares had been based on. Not for the first time, he wished things had been different for his friend.
The night dragged on slowly with neither Hetty or Sam getting much sleep. "Hetty, you should go home," Sam said, shortly after dawn. "G wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself. Go home and I'll call you as soon as there's some change. At the very least, rest for a few hours."
"I could say the exact same thing to you, Mr. Hanna."
Sam stared back at Hetty, realizing she was not about to leave Callen any more than he was.
Finally, at a little after 8 a.m., Callen slowly opened his eyes and rewarded Hetty with a sleepy smile.
"Well, it's good to have you awake again." Hetty placed her small hand gently on his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief at the noticeable different she felt. "You've been asleep for quite a long time. Are you feeling better?"
Callen mentally took an inventory of his symptoms and nodded. "I am...my headache is gone." He really hoped it was gone for good this time. He was getting very tired of all the yo-yo symptoms that he was experiencing. The headaches and other symptoms were brutal.
"You need anything?" Sam asked. Like Hetty, he was relieved to see his friend awake and alert once again.
Callen shook his head. "No thanks. I'm good."
"You may want to think about having a bit of breakfast," Hetty suggested. "It's been a while since you've eaten."
"Sure, Hetty. Maybe just some toast." He really had no appetite, but he knew how concerned she was about him and didn't want to add to her worries.
"I'll ring the nurses station. I'm sure they can have someone bring you something," Hetty said.
There was silence for a short time and then Callen, in danger of drifting off again, forced himself to be more alert. "Did Deeks go home?"
"He went home yesterday," Sam replied. "He and Kensi were very worried about you. I should let them know you're doing better."
"Perhaps you should wait a little while, Mr. Hanna. It's still relatively early. They may be sleeping in this morning."
"Yeah… maybe you're right." There was silence once again with Callen appearing very drowsy, and neither Hetty nor Sam wanting to disturb him.
The silence was broken when a nurse came into the room. "How are you feeling today?" she asked, smiling brightly as she placed a blood pressure cuff on Callen's arm. "It's good to see those pretty blue eyes of yours open."
"I'm feeling better."
"That's good to hear. Can I get your temperature?" She placed the thermometer under Callen's tongue and looked pleased when she got the reading. "98.7. I'd say that's a tremendous improvement."
"That's really good, G." Sam said.
"Dr. Carlisle will be very glad to hear this," the nurse said as she prepared to leave the room. "He's doing rounds a bit later than usual today but should be in at some point this morning. I noticed that you buzzed the front desk. Is there something I can get you?"
"I'm actually the one who rang," Hetty informed the nurse. "I was wondering if he could get some toast?"
"Of course," the nurse said, smiling. "Is there anything else you'd like to go with it? Some eggs or maybe some juice?"
"Sure, eggs and orange juice sound good," Callen said. He had wanted to say no, but he had seen the hopeful look in Hetty's eyes when she mentioned the eggs and didn't have the heart to refuse. He'd eat a decent breakfast and everyone would be happy.
xxxxx
"Hello?" Kensi answered the phone almost immediately, trying not to wake Deeks, but his blue eyes opened the moment her cell phone rang. "How is he?" Kensi listened to Sam, then smiled, her gaze meeting Deeks'. That's really good news, Sam. Tell him we're thinking of him and that we love him. Okay, bye."
"That definitely sounded positive." Deeks grinned as Kensi snuggled up next to him in their bed.
"Callen's temperature is back to normal. I was so worried, Deeks. Hopefully, this time he'll really start to get better."
"Let's hope so." Deeks yawned, and allowed his eyes to close, still sleepy.
"How are you feeling today?" Kensi rested her head on Deeks' chest, tempted to get back to sleep but knowing she needed to get up and try to get herself situated back to regular everyday life.
"I'm good, baby. You don't need to be worrying about me.
"I'm always going to worry about you." She forced herself to sit up and looked down at her fiance. "Can I make you some breakfast?"
Deeks' eyes opened part way and he squinted at Kensi. "Toast?"
"You don't think I can make anything more than toast?" she asked, looking insulted.
"I guess you can make oatmeal or cereal...do we have any cereal?"
"There are a couple of omelets in the refrigerator," Kensi said.
"Oh okay...an omelet sounds really good."
Kensi kissed Deeks. "One omelet coming up. Hetty even left notes taped to each dish with instructions on how to heat them."
"She positively spoils us."
"She does." Kensi nodded in agreement as she pointed towards the nightstand which had his prescription on top of it with a bottle of water. "Don't forget to take your antibiotic, okay?"
"Yes dear," Deeks said, grinning at her.
Kensi smiled back at him and headed off into the kitchen.
xxxxx
The next couple of days went well for Callen. His blood counts were almost back to normal, he was much more awake and alert and his appetite was slowly returning. He had also finally convinced both Hetty and Sam to sleep at home during the night, promising that he wouldn't attempt to leave the hospital. He was getting exceedingly bored though, his laptop, reading material and t.v. only providing periods of distraction. He was more than ready to go home.
"How are we doing today?" Dr. Carlisle asked as he entered Callen's room for morning rounds.
"Good, really good. I'm sure I'm well enough to go home today." It was what he said every day. So far it hadn't worked, but it couldn't hurt to try.
The doctor smiled in amusement. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Really?" Callen asked in surprise.
Dr. Carlisle nodded. "Barring any unforeseen complications, I see no reason why you can't go home. You're going to have to take it easy, but I don't think we'd be able to hold you here much longer anyway."
Callen smiled. Finally, he was well enough to go home and he'd be able to get his life back again. It had been a long uphill climb but it seemed as though this particular battle had come to an end. He was still feeling upbeat when Hetty came into his room late morning. He didn't even notice the grim look on her face. "Good morning, Hetty. How are you today?"
"I'm fine, Mr. Callen, but more importantly, how are you?"
"I'm really good, Hetty. Guess what? I'm getting out of here tomorrow."
"That's good news…" Hetty said with a sigh.
Callen looked at her closely, finally picking up on her mood. "You don't look like it's very good news...What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"No, no. I'm sorry. Nothing's happened. It's just… well, Bartholomew is about to be released as well. He'll be getting transferred back to prison the day after tomorrow."
"Oh." Callen took a few moments to digest that. His first thoughts being that Bart hadn't gotten what he deserved, not even a fraction of what he deserved.
"Oh don't look so down," Hetty said. "The important thing is that you'll be going home. I don't suppose you'd consider spending a day or two with me at Dovecote?"
Callen nodded. "Sure. Hetty. Whatever you'd like."
"Really?" Hetty looked at him in surprise, unsure if she had even understood his response or perhaps he had misunderstood her question. You'll come to Dovecote?"
"Yes, Hetty," Callen said, grinning. "I will, just as long as you promise not to overdo it on the coddling."
"Well, I will do my best," Hetty said, smiling fondly at him. "You will need to allow me just a little bit of taking care of you though. You've been through a lot."
"Okay, just a little."
xxxxx
The rest of the day was a good one. Sam, Kensi and Deeks, and Eric and Nell all came in to visit Callen so he didn't have to come up with ways to entertain himself. It wasn't until that evening, when Kensi and Sam had gone off to get dinner, that he found his thoughts beginning to drift back towards Bart.
"What's going on with you, Callen?" Deeks asked. "You look about a million miles away."
"Maybe not that far," Callen said. "I was just thinking about Bart."
Deeks nodded. "Yeah...it's pretty hard to forget about that guy."
"I just hate that he's getting away with everything he did to us Scott-free."
"Not quite Scott-free, man. He'll be going back to prison."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Callen said dejectedly.
"I know it sucks, but…"
At that moment, Kensi and Sam came back into the room, carrying bags of food and drinks. Deeks' words died on his lips and they dug into their dinner, but Callen couldn't seem to get his mind off Bart. He picked at his food, not feeling very hungry. Finally though, the inkling of an idea began to form in his head.
"G? Something wrong with your food?" Sam asked, a bit worried as he looked at his friend. He really hoped Callen would continue to eat well when he got out of the hospital. Of course, Hetty would look after him while he was staying with her, but then he'd be home on his own.
"No, it's good," Callen said as he took a bite of pot roast.
"He's thinking about Bart getting released from the hospital," Deeks explained.
"Actually, I may have a plan," Callen said, smiling thoughtfully as he began working the details out in his head. "You guys are going to have to help carry it out though."
"You know we'll do whatever you need," Kensi said.
"What she said," Deeks said. "There's no love lost between me and Bart. That's for sure."
"You know you don't even need to ask, buddy," Sam said, looking at his partner warmly. "Whatever it is, you've got it."
"Don't worry, Sam," Callen said, his eyes sparkling and a smirk on his lips. "I'm pretty sure you're going to like this."