I didn't expect to update anything for a while, however I got inspired today and wrote this up rather fast. I like it, I hope you do as well!

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Chapter 2

The monitors beeped in a predictable pattern, the little electric green line flickering to the beat of G's steady and strong heart. Sam sat in the corner, shadowed by the dim late night lighting in the hospital's ICU unit. Visiting hours had ended a long time ago, but Sam had managed his way into Callen's room. It wasn't due to his incredible power of persuasion; Sam figured the only reason he was allowed to stay was the pity he received from nurse Emma. The day had been long but a storm of guilt was raging in the big man, making it impossible for Sam to fall asleep. The emotional pain and exhaustion had shown in Sam's eyes when he was caught in the hall making his way to Callen's room well after midnight.

Instead of sleep Sam sat in the corner of his partner's room, watching the unconscious man's chest go up and down with each steady breath. Quietly listening to the soothing hum of machines monitoring G's vitals as time ticked by. The agent's mind traveled to the moment Callen's blue eyes fluttered closed in the parking lot of the warehouse.

"G!" Sam shouted, falling at his friend's side, painfully scraping up his skin under the expensive pants Hetty had lent him earlier. In the intensity of the moment Sam hadn't cared about his mistreated knees or the lecture he'd receive later about the price of the jeans. "Callen, come on, open your eyes. Don't you dare fall asleep!" Sam yelled, shaking his friend non-injured shoulder roughly to coax the man awake.

Sam had seen how hard his partner had been hit and Sam was well aware the probabilities of a concussion. A serious concussion at that. The sound still echoed in the large man's ears, that cracking noise sounded as loud as thunder when G's skull had been impacted first with Steve's fist in the front and second when the back of his head slammed into the blacktop. That sound, bone to ground had been deafening in Sam's ears.

Reaching down Sam gently grabbed the back of his partner's neck, lifting him up off the rough ground. The skin on the back of Callen's neck was already slick with sticky, warm blood pouring out from the skin torn from the rough impact. A bruise was already forming on Callen's pale forehead from the knuckles of the dead man beside them.

"Damn it!" Sam screamed out in frustration and helplessness, wanting nothing more than his partner's eyes to fly open and glare at him for being annoyingly loud.

Sam was well aware that head wounds bleed terribly, but still his stomach turned and pulse raced seeing such a startling amount of blood coming from the back of G's head. And than there was the shoulder wound, still weeping openly at its own pace. There was just so much blood.

With his free hand Sam pulled out and flipped open his cell phone, his finger danced over the keyboard, expertly entering the familiar three numbers. "I need an ambulance," Sam spoke in a relatively calm voice. Maintaining a sense of stability on the outside as he continued to freak out on the inside. Sam was shaking so hard he knew he probably hadn't sounded as calm as he wanted to. How could he remain calm when his partner was bleeding so damned much?

Sam's partner was shot again, injured again, dying again. And this time Sam felt a great deal of responsibility for the cause. It had been his idea, Callen hadn't even wanted to do the act and have voiced his opinion several times. "Come on, G." Sam yelled down at his partner again, hanging up on the operator telling him to stay on the line, that the ambulance was in route.

Head wounds were tricky and dangerous, Sam knew he needed to get his partner awake as soon as possible. The longer G remained unconscious the more deadly the situation became. "G open your God damn eyes!"

There! There Sam saw it, at first subtle than more defined. A small but growing flicker of emotion on Callen's pale face, pain corrupting what used to be peaceful oblivion. The quick movement under the lids of his eyes was the next sign, the fluttering struggle to get his eyes open. G was waking.

Sam had been so relieved in that moment he let go of the breath that he had been holding, only to suck it back in the next second. When G tried to speak everything changed and for a moment Sam was completely lost in a title wave despair. Only gibberish came out, the man's mouth, just breath and sounds as G struggled. Arms moving uncoordinatedly to the side, barely lifting off the ground as Callen's legs twitched. It was terrifying, freezing Sam's heart and actions as he stared down at his normally strong and stoic partner.

G's eyes, once bright blue were now dull, nearly gray in color. Worst of all, Sam could see the haunting fear behind them as Callen looked up at him. Than, as abruptly as G had awakened his body went slack and his eyes fell closed.

Frozen in panic Sam stared down at his partner, unsure of what he had just witnessed. Fearful of what it meant and terrified that Callen was once again unresponsive.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and Sam had flinched harshly in response. Ready to fight, ready to defend his broken friend. The parametric backed off, hands up in a non-threatening gesture. Clearly the man had seen something in Sam's expression to be afraid of.

Looking back Sam wondered if the paramedics thought he had been insane. Jumped off the deep end and killed everyone in the parking lot during some twisted episode. After releasing G into their care silently he had been quickly asked about the events prior. Somehow Sam had managed to explain they were federal agents working a case. Bad guys were subdued, his partner was down, Sam wasn't at fault, yet in his mind the accusing finger pointed to his own chest.

Once G had been loaded up into the screaming ambulance the flashing red lights sped off, leaving Sam alone with the mess he had created. After taking a moment to watch the vehicle disappear Sam made the call he always dreaded, informing Eric, since Hetty was still unavailable, what had happened. He called Deeks and Kensi next, telling them to meet him at the scene. They needed to process this fast so they could go check on Callen. They also had the one living suspect to question. Henry was not pleased, yelling profanities that fell on Sam's deaf ears.

More than anything Sam wanted to be with his partner, but he also knew this would all be for nothing if they didn't get anything condemning for the case.

The next hour was a blur, on Sam knew he had lived through it, but couldn't for the life of him remember more than flashes. Vaguely he knew they had gotten their bad guy. The remaining dirty cop turned over giving them all the information they needed to put the latest dirt bag away. Kensi and Deeks had been the ones to go pick Goshen McCormick up. Apparently he had gone without much of a fight, though Sam honestly couldn't remember exactly what he'd been told.

In the back of his mind he knew they both had been concerned about him, as well as Callen. They had asked questions, well, Sam assumed they had.

The next thing Sam really recalled in complete clarity was being in the hospital. He remembered hearing someone call out for him and looking up to see a nurse leading a doctor to talk with him. Callen's doctor.

"Mr. Hanna? I'm Doctor Freedmen, I'm a consultant on your partner's case. My good friend Dr. Seagal was the one who cleaned out the GSW. The bullet had gone straight through, it cleaned up well. There should be no permanent loss of mobility in the arm, physical therapy will be necessary, but we don't anticipate it will take too much time."

Sam waited for the doctor to continue, but the pause lasted to long for him. Nodding slowly Sam's eyes stressed with intensely stared the doctor down, "I sense a 'but' coming."

The doctor humored the intimidating agent with a small weak smile, "But, I'm not here to talk to you about the GSW." He nodded, "I'm a neurologist."

Sam's heart fell at the news, he already knew in a way, his mind flashing back to the motion of G taking the hit. The force, the sound, the agent shuddered pushing the image away. "How bad?" Sam demanded, not wanting to be coddled. He would take this head on and be there for his partner.

"With all brain injuries we'll never know the true extent of the damage until the patient wakes up." Dr. Freedmen informed Sam, "I'm afraid from what I've seen in the scans and the general 'whip lash' like hit he took there may have been some serious damage."

The doctor paused again, allowing the bleak information to soak in. Sam nodded, "Okay, so what are we looking at here? What are the best case worse case…scenarios?" Sam frowned deeply, doing his best to remain calm. His hands were shaking at the unknown, so much unknown.

The doctor's eyes were filled with sympathy and pity, "Best case he wakes up completely fine." He told Sam calmly, "Worse case he doesn't wake up at all." The doctor held up his hand quickly, "However I have the highest hopes that will not happen. Unfortunately there is the possibility that if he wakes up he might have problems with eyesight and or speech problems." The doctor paused again, making sure Sam was still with him, "You see, the brain is rather fragile in certain situations. A strong hit from the front followed by a strong hit from the back can do very real and irreparable damage. With the impact your friend received, both the front and back, it rattled his brain severely. Until he wakes up I cannot say for sure what the issues, if any, he will have. However, I did want to prepare you for the worse."

"Doc," Sam spoke up, voice a high-pitched squeak. Clearing his throat Sam tried again, "Doc." Lower, much more Sam, "He woke up briefly before the paramedics took him here. G, he started talking but the words, they didn't make any sense. It was all jumbled…I…will he…" Sam couldn't finish his sentence.

Dr. Freedmen nodded, understanding the unsaid words, "I'm afraid that is troubling," Carefully the doctor reached out and patted Sam's arm in a consoling way, "Let's try and stay positive, as I said before he could still wake up and be completely fine. The brain is a complex machine…" With one last weak smile the doctor stepped away, dropping his arm, "A nurse will be by, if you would like she can lead you to his room."

Left in the hallway Sam stood with the information swimming around in his head. He was devastated. He had no idea how long he was there, thinking back Sam assumed it was only a few minutes. It had felt like an eternity at the time.

Hetty had shown up, the lecture had been somewhat of a blur. The message was clear, she wasn't happy with what had happened with Callen, but understood that it was a necessary risk for the case. There was something of a compliment for wrapping everything up and putting Goshen behind bars where he belonged. Still, even the small words of praise mixed in the lecture were drowned out by Sam's growing guilt.

"He might not come back from this," Sam muttered, only to look up and find Hetty gone. A nurse had come and gathered the team, Sam had stayed behind, unable to see his partner at that moment. Instead Sam left the hospital, going back to HQ to deal with his emotion the only way he knew how: beating down on the punching bag.

It was only later that night, after the rest of the team was gone when Sam reappeared at the hospital. Now he sat in silence, watching and waiting for his partner to wake up. Only than would he know what was the personal cost of bringing down the latest bad guy.

Well, that's it for this chapter! The next chapter G will be waking up! If you enjoyed this chapter please feel very free to tell me in a review! They make me smile!

- Strawberrywaltz