Thank you SO much for the wonderful feedback about the first chapter. I apologize for this chapter taking longer to get out than I'd planned - but real life got in the way and I was dealing with some writer's block, but it's finally finished.
Three Hours Earlier
The drive to their witness's house was taking entirely too long in Kensi's opinion. She thought she preferred the quiet today but as it turns out, she's far too used to having her ear talked off most of the time she's in the car.
"So, uh…how are Michelle and the kids?" she asks, looking over at Sam.
If he thinks anything of the fact that apparently Kensi can no longer deal with the lack of conversation, he doesn't let on, "They're great. Kam keeps asking when you and Deeks can babysit again."
"Oh…"she hesitates briefly, "yeah, that…uh…that would be fun."
Sam glances at her then, chuckling at her unease, "Don't worry, I know Deeks ends up doing all the work and waits on both of you girls hand and foot all night."
Kensi shakes her head and laughs lightly, "Last time, he gave us pedicures," she recalls, smiling softly at the memory. Then, as if realizing that she maybe shouldn't have revealed that little tidbit, she glares at Sam, "DON'T tell him I told you that."
Trying to suppress the laughter that seems desperate to escape, Sam shakes his head.
"What…?" Kensi eyes him suspiciously.
"He's got it bad," he explains and then quickly holds his hand up to cut off the retort he sees on Kensi's lips, "That's a good thing, Kensi. You two are a good thing."
"I thought you didn't like the idea of your coworkers dating?" she questions, remembering their conversation from a couple of months ago – the day she and Deeks had learned that their relationship was the worst kept secret in Los Angeles.
"As coworkers, it's risky, for you two and for all of us," Sam clarifies, "but as my friends, I'm happy that you two are happy. You're good for each other."
She can feel the blush rising up to her cheeks and she smiles at Sam's words. Unsure how to respond, she simply nods and gives him a small smile. Turning her head to gaze out the window, Kensi lets out a small sigh as she settles in for the remainder of their drive.
She is so lost in thought that she doesn't know if it's been five minutes or twenty when she suddenly hears Sam telling her that they've arrived at the witness's house. She looks at Sam blankly for a second and shakes her head slightly as though to clear her mind, "Right, sorry. Let's go."
. . . .
"I'm starving," Kensi complains as she and Sam step back outside.
Their witness had proven to be rather unhelpful. After she refused to leave with the agents to go to the boatshed, they interviewed her for over an hour and hit dead end after dead end. Either she was too afraid to divulge any information or she truly didn't have any that was pertinent to their investigation.
If Kensi was grumpy before this little excursion, she was doubly so now that they'd basically wasted an hour and missed lunch.
"I don't keep Twinkies in my car," Sam teases, "you're going to have to wait until we get back to the mission."
"Ha ha," Kensi rolls her eyes. Standing beside the passenger side, Kensi pauses and looks across the top of the car, "Hey, Sam?" her voice is softer, more serious, "Thank you, for what you said earlier. It means a lot."
Before Sam can respond, there is sudden movement on the street as a car comes flying around the corner. By the time he sees the barrel of the gun in the open window of the back seat, he barely has time to warn Kensi before the first shot rings out.
The following seconds are a frenzied mess of tires screeching, engines revving, glass shattering, and guns firing. Unable to do more than fire a few shots at the speeding sedan, Sam curses to himself as the car vanishes as quickly as it had appeared.
Silence settles around them as the chaos subsides and as he pulls out is phone to report to Eric, he calls out to Kensi, "You good?"
The only response he gets is a barely audible groan.
"Kensi?" panic is rising in Sam's voice as he quickly strides around to the other side of the car. He isn't prepared for the scene he finds in front of him and he sucks in a quick breath as he drops to the ground beside her.
He almost forgets that he had dialed Eric until he hears the tech operator calling to him on the other end of the line. Snapping back into action, Sam stands up and reaches into his backseat to grab a towel before he turns back to Kensi as he yells over the phone, "Eric, we need an ambulance NOW. Kensi's been shot."
. . . .
As he watches the ambulance speed away, sirens wailing, Sam's phone begins ringing.
"G," he exhales.
"I'm on my way to the hospital, I'll meet you there," Callen informs him. "Eric and Nell are searching Kaleidoscope looking for the car that shot at you two. You didn't catch any of the plate or get a look at anyone inside?"
Sam sighs and climbs into the driver's seat, "The whole thing lasted less than twenty seconds, G. They were gone before I even had time to move out from behind my car."
"How was she?" Callen sounds hesitant to even ask.
"Stable enough for them to take her. Conscious, though she kept drifting off. There was a lot of blood," Sam shakes his head, trying to erase the sight of Kensi lying on the pavement, blood quickly soaking her shirt, from his mind.
"Someone needs to call Deeks."
Sam nods silently as he pulls out of the driveway, "Let me." The words rush out before Sam can even think whether or not he actually wants to be the one to deliver that news.
"You sure? We can just have Hetty do it," Callen offers when he senses the uncertainty in Sam's response.
There is no amusement in the chuckle that escapes Sam, "I think he'd rather talk to me than to Hetty." He knows that there have been trust issues between the two ever since Hetty sent Kensi away last year and he imagines that he'll have better luck keeping Deeks calm.
"Whatever you say, big guy. See you in ten," Callen disconnects the call and Sam makes the rest of the drive to the hospital in complete silence.
. . . .
Sam sinks down into a chair in the waiting room at Pacific Beach Medical Center and pulls out his phone. As he scrolls through his contacts and hovers over Deeks' name, he takes a deep breath. He had decided not to call from the car – telling himself that he didn't want the distraction as he raced along the streets to the hospital and but if he's being honest, he needed the time to prepare himself – but now there's nothing left to do except call even though he still hasn't figured out what to say.
How is he supposed to tell Deeks that his partner took two rounds to the upper body? Or that she was bleeding so heavily that she was drifting in and out of consciousness and was rushed into surgery before he and Callen even arrived at the hospital?
How is he supposed to tell him that his girlfriend, the woman he loves, won't be coming home tonight?
As it turns out, he doesn't have any more time to figure all of that out because while he is busy staring at his own phone, Kensi's phone – which has been in his pocket since the paramedics gave it to him and he'd forgotten he even has – starts ringing. Pulling it out, Sam glances down at the screen even though he's already pretty sure he knows who it is.
Deeks.
He sighs and after a slight hesitation, answers the call.
"Deeks."
When the call connects and he hears the voice on the other end of the line, those annoying pangs of worry disappear. But only because he's fairly certain that his heart is about to beat right out of his chest.
Because the voice he hears isn't Kensi's.
"Sam?" He is trying desperately to keep his voice even but he's pretty sure he's failing, "Is Kensi there?"
He hears the muffled voice of Callen in the background before he hears Sam respond quietly, "It's Deeks."
"Sam!" he repeats, louder, "What's going on? Where's Kensi?"
This time, Deeks hears Sam let out a long, slow breath and that single, wordless response practically knocks the wind out of him.
Something is wrong. Very, very, wrong.
A split second later, and without waiting to hear what happened or to find out where he is even supposed to go, Deeks is on his feet and rushing out of the building.
There are a million thoughts screaming in his mind and all he can focus on is the deafening silence on the other end of the phone.
It feels like an eternity, but in reality, Deeks only makes it a few steps down the hallway before Sam speaks and stops him in his tracks.
"Deeks? You still there?"
Leaning his back against the closest wall, Deeks drops his head to his chest and closes his eyes. He takes a couple of deep breaths, attempting to prepare himself for whatever Sam is about to tell him. Ultimately, only one thing matters right now.
"Is she…" he exhales sharply, "Is she alive, Sam?"
Before he even finishes asking the question, Deeks can't decide if he actually wants to know yet – he isn't sure if he's ready to hear any of the potential worst-case responses.
A life without her flashes before him - there is so much he hasn't told her, so much he still wants to do with her, and he refuses to think that the life he wants with her is potentially about to turn into a lifetime of dreams that have no chance of coming true.
Sam's response is quick and firm, "Yes–"
"Oh thank God," Deeks whispers to himself as he rubs his hand over his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"—but she's in surgery," Sam explains, his voice laced with an unspoken apology. "We're at Pacific Beach Medical—"
"I'm on my way," Deeks hangs up without waiting for a response and not really wanting to know anything else. She's alive, and that's enough for him right now.
Pushing off the wall, he turns for the main doors of the police building, and breaks into a jog. On his way out, it barely registers that Bates is calling after him, asking him where the hell he's going. But he doesn't hesitate for even a second – he doesn't care that he probably shouldn't leave, especially without telling anyone, all he cares about is getting to her.
. . . .
Deeks hurriedly pulls into a parking spot outside of the hospital and turns off the ignition but he can't seem to make himself get out of the car. Leaning his head back against the headrest, he takes a few deep breaths as a myriad of conflicting emotions rush at him.
He's trying to find comfort in Sam's assurance that Kensi is alive, but not so deep down, he's terrified that she isn't going to be okay. And he's angry that he wasn't there to have her back and angry that bad things always seem to happen when they are separated. And he is desperately trying to ignore the fact that the last time he was at a hospital, he had lost Thapa.
Mostly though, he's just anxious to see her, anxious to touch her, and anxious to hold her.
Letting out one more big breath, he gathers himself and steps out of the car. Striding purposefully through the doors of the hospital, he almost immediately sees Sam, who is leaning against a wall as though he has been waiting for Deeks to arrive.
"What happened, Sam?" the question comes out louder and more forceful than Deeks had intended but Sam doesn't blink at the harsh tone in his voice.
"Two gunshot wounds," Sam can practically see the air leave Deeks' lungs as soon as the words leave his mouth and the pained look in the detective's eyes is one that Sam knows all too well. He's been there – he knows the feelings of helplessness that take over when your partner is injured or when the woman you love is in danger – but even he isn't sure he's ever felt exactly what Deeks must be feeling right now, when he thinks about the fact that Kensi is both of those people to him.
Taking a quick breath, he continues, "One did a little more than graze her upper arm. Flesh wound, probably just needs stitches. The other was high in the chest. No exit wound. She went into surgery just before you called me."
"Damn it," Deeks exhales loudly and his eyes are darting around, desperately seeking something to focus on before he finally closes them and takes a deep breath. He feel Sam's strong grip on his shoulder.
"Let's go sit down, we'll wait for the doctor."
Opening his eyes, Deeks looks at Sam and gives a slight nod, "Right, yeah. Let's go."
As they walk down the hallway, something in the hospital gift shop catches Deeks' eye, "Hold up," he mumbles to Sam as he abruptly turns into the store. Returning a couple of minutes later with a plastic bag, he holds it out for Sam to peek inside.
Sam claps him on the shoulder as he lets out a laugh, "She'll love it."
. . . .
They've been sitting in companionable silence for almost an hour and up until now, Deeks has surprised even himself with how calm he has been considering the love of his life is in surgery because she took a bullet to the chest.
Calm is a relative term, of course. The reality is, Deeks can't stop himself from getting up to pace from one side of the waiting area to the other every ten minutes, and the silence in the room is laced with worry. But Deeks hasn't yet burst through the operating room doors in search of Kensi, so he considers that a win.
Sam is the only one sitting – he's been in the same seat since they got back to the waiting area and Callen left to help Eric and Nell try and track down the shooter. And while he appears calm, Deeks can tell he's on edge – the number of times Sam has pulled out his phone to check for updates from his partner is bordering on compulsive.
Deeks is grateful that Sam is the one waiting with him. Deeks knows that on many levels, Sam probably understands what he is feeling right now and even though they haven't talked about anything at all in the past hour, his presence is comforting.
Dropping himself into the uncomfortable chair next to Sam, Deeks leans forward with his elbows on his knees and turns to his friend. His voice is quiet and there is an unmistakable sadness in his tone, "What if she's not okay, Sam?"
..tbc..
And the story got away from me a bit, so while I was originally planning only two chapters, that's not going to cut it so there will be one more.