Chapter 17

N/A: You're absolutely right; too many questions without answer, some conversations pending and, above all, Callen is still hurt.

- "What is going on Hetty? It must be a hell of operation if everybody is working on Christmas."- asked Callen genuinely surprised.

Hetty was shocked by Callen's commentary, but it wasn't the moment for the conversation the answer would require.

- "A bloody nightmare indeed, . But it's over now. Nothing to worry about. Why don't you rest for a while and let us finish the work? Then I propose a celebration."

Lay on the couch Callen felt sleep shortly, but some minutes later he awoke abruptly from a bad dream that made him nearly jump from the couch and hiss in pain. Sam, who was watching his sleep from his desk, was there in no time.

- "G!"- he exclaimed putting a hand on his forehead.

- "I'm ok, Sam..." - Callen said still shocked to protest further the caring of the big man.

- "Oh, no, you're not. C'mon let's clean this" – Sam said pointing G's eyebrow- "and let me take a look at your arm. And do you know what? You can change that winter clothes for something more suitable for L.A. What? Are you coming or do I have to carry you?" – He said smiling and offering his support to Callen who was too weak to refuse it.

Once on the locker room Sam helped Callen to take the vest and the shirt. He was shocked at the sight of Callen's bruised body and the makeshift bandages his friend was wearing, but he tried to mask his emotions and make fun of the situation.

- "What the hell is that G? You've got more tape than a mummy! I know you love Halloween, but ... I need to teach you some SEAL tricks. C'mon, let's unwrap you, and if you are a good boy I let you to disguise as an elk. I guess Eric still has those green leggings somewhere."

- "I'm still conscious, Sam" – said Callen with a half-smile on his face – "and by the way, I'm also happy to see you."

Sometime later while Callen was still tidying up, Sam went to talk to her boss:

- "Hetty, I don't like this. He has lost a lot of weight these days and he's running a fever. Even if he's good at hiding it, he is in a lot of pain. His shoulder is killing him although the bullet wound seems nearly closed, I think it's infected. He needs a cast in that broken arm and to get his knee checked, I wouldn't be surprised if he has something more than a strain in it. Hetty… it's a miracle he survived" – and seeing Hetty rising her eyebrow he added, "again." – Sam was shaky about G's condition- "I've cleaned all the cuts, and I've put a big elastic dressing around his chest to support his ribs, but he needs antibiotics, fluids and a something stronger for the pain that the two ibuprofen tablets I gave him."

- "I'm well aware of that Mr. Hanna." – Hetty answered- "I did some phone calls before and, right now, Mr. Bricks must be arriving at my house, where, at the occasion of the attempt against the Consul of Burundi's life, I had installed an ICU room with all the necessary elements."

- "Mr. Bricks as in Dr. Bricks, the micro-surgeon, candidate for the Medicine Nobel Prize?" – asked Sam in amazement. – "Do you kidnap him, Hetty? On Christmas?"

- "Don't ask, Mr. Hanna, sometimes is better not to know certain answers."

Soon thereafter, the team had finished the tasks and Ops was closed. A better looking Callen, shaved, bandaged, freshly showered and dressed in his gym sweater and shorts, entered on the open space helped by Kensi who seemed to have the need to hug his friend from time to time, as she wasn't believing yet that Callen was there. Deeks and Kensi although exhausted, didn't want to go home.

- "Okey, dokey, Marty's house, cold beers and pizza for everyone. We need to celebrate" –said Deeks to Callen, who still had his good arm around Kensi shoulders.

- "No way, Deeks! Beer and pizza on Christmas? Besides, G needs a proper and healthy meal"- said Sam.

- "And you need to go with your family" –added Callen.

- "Gentlemen, ladies" - intervened Hetty- "a toast is in order, but we're all tired and I'm afraid our stomachs won't appreciate my Herradura reposado from D.F. right now, so I propose you to postpone Christmas' celebration. Tomorrow, at Dovecoat for a special lunch."

- "Are you cooking, Hetty?" - Asked Callen, with a sudden interest.

- "Any suggestion Mr. Callen?" - Hetty asked back knowing that Callen was going to take the bait.

- "Stroganoff stew and sharlotka!"- exclaimed G happy as a little child.

- "You know Mr. Callen that I don't cook anymore, but we can always negotiate… I'm willing to do an exception if you pass a little medical checkup."

- "No hospitals, Hetty! Besides Sam already checked up on me!" - Said Callen defensively.

- "As far as I know Mr. Hanna is not a doctor. But no, no hospitals. At my place. Now. You can spend there the night and perhaps help me in the kitchen tomorrow, who knows? maybe you'll learn something after all."- Answered Hetty in calm.

- "Zar's recepy?"- Callen asked again.

- "Zar's recepy." - Hetty agreed-"Do we have a deal, ?"

- "Deal." – confirmed G with suspicious mind.

That being said, the group exit the mission with Sam half carrying G between laughs and protests. Knowing that Callen was safe, Eric and Nell ran to Eric's parents hoping to arrive in time for a nice dinner. Kensi and Deeks went to pick Roberta up to go together to Julia's house and, finally, a reluctant Sam agreed to go home once he checked Callen was in Hetty's car with the seat belt properly fasten. For the first time in ten long days of frantic activity and intense emotions the mission was empty and dark. Only the lights of the palm Christmas tree remained on.

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Daniel, knowing from Hetty the situation, prepared Hetty's examination room and brought a reluctant Dr. Bricks who waited already in there.

Hetty's smooth drive and the classical music had made Callen to cat nap all the way; he only waked up when the Jaguar stopped at the front door. He was feeling better after the ride and just happy to be alive and at home.

Hetty entered the house first:

- "William! What a pleasure, welcome to my humble home"- greeted Hetty shaking a firm hand to a tall man on his fifties who looked very pissed off.

- "Hetty, you can be very persuasive, but was it really necessary to send your gorillas to my house at Christmas? I don't know how I'm going to explain that to my wife."

- "You'll figure it out eventually, William, you always do when we play poker, like that time…"

- "Enough!" – cut theatrically Dr. Bricks- "could you tell me, please, the reason why I'm here?"

- "Here is your reason, William"- Hetty said as Callen entered the room helped by a happy Daniel.

- "Mr. Callen this is Mr. Bricks. William this is the agent who needs your services."

- "Dr. Bricks" – corrected the doctor.

- "Hetty…" - started to protest G.

- "We have a deal Mr. Callen and I assume you're a man of honor."

- "Stroganoff stew" -sighed Callen, confident after all that the check- up will be nearly a routine one.

- "With Zar's recipe." – smiled Hetty.

At the sight of Hetty's treatment room, all the alarms turned red in Callen's head. It was an operating theater full equipped, sterilized and ready to use. An operating table on the center surrounded by everything a hospital with the latest technology should have.

- "Well Mr. Callen, I don't intend to spend here also the night, the sooner we start the sooner we finish. So, please, get off your clothes and lay down on the table"- The doctor said.

Callen started to look around for escape routes, but Hetty had already closed the door.

- "I don't trust him Hetty"- whispered G.

- "C'mon Mr. Callen, just let me help you with the sweater and take the baskets off. That would be enough. I expect you to fully cooperate with the doctor here."

Reluctantly Callen did was he was told and shortly he was bare chest seated on the table legs hanging on the side and holding his left arm.

- "Oh my …!"- Exclaimed the doctor at the look of Callen's bullet scars. - "I see that it's not precisely a virgin territory. I strongly recommend you to change your profession, Mr. Callen."

- "William, please!" – said Hetty.

Dr. Bricks grimaced and after a quick and general examination he told Callen:

- "All right, I'm going to hold your left hand and I want you to squeeze my hand with all your strength. Let me know if it hurts." – He said doing it at the same time.

Callen squeeze feebly the doctor's hand.

- "Any pain?" – asked the doctor touching gentle Callen's arm without releasing his hand.

- "Maybe ..." - asked Callen.

- "Mr. Callen! This is not an answer!" – adverted Hetty.

- "Ok, ok, maybe a little…" - said Callen that time.

- "You know how it works, "Yes" or "No" answers are in order!" – Hetty was starting to lose her patience.

- "Yes" - said Callen in a tiny voice.

- "All right, and in a scale from one to ten being ten… "- asked the doctor.

- "Yes, I know; I know… maybe 5"- replied Callen.

- "Mr. Callen…" - Hetty menaced.

- "7… "- answered Callen.

- "Ejem"- cleared her throat Hetty.

- "And rising!" - Exclaimed Callen as the doctor turned his arm.

- "Mr. Callen, you have without any doubt your ulna fractured." – Dr. Bricks said nonchalantly.

- "I could have told you that without all the probing" – said Callen angry retiring his arm from the doctor's hands.

- "I can see your knee is very swelled…"- started to say the doctor.

- "No broken!" - Exclaimed Callen as Dr. Bricks began to manipulate his joint.

- "It's like you supported a great pressure, how do you get hurt?" - Asked the doctor innocently.

- "Well, I was shot on the shoulder when I hanged from a helicopter and I felt, but I succeed at falling on my left side." –Called said making Hetty smile and the doctor freak out.

- "From a helicopter? A landed helicopter I guess."

- "Look, if I give you the details I'll have to kill you, ok? My knee is not broken; I'll be good in no time." – Callen was loosening his calm.

- "Actually, William, the helicopter was already flying, he fell from 12 meters– explained Hetty- "Eric connected with the helicopter's camera and Nell calculated the height."- she clarified.

- "Why did you want to fell on your left side if you were injured in your left shoulder?"- if may I ask - the doctor was curious.

- "Bufff, I've got a broken rib on my right side and it's easier to survive with a broken arm than with a lung punctured. Really, I'll be fine the moment you stop to torture me!"

- "Let's check your shoulder and make a set of radiographies, and if everything is in order you'll can rest and I'll be free to go."- said Dr. Bricks taking off the bandage Sam had put on Callen's wound and starting to poke with his fingers G's sensitive and hot skin.

Callen went pale, little sweat drops formed on his upper lip and his breathing become agitated, but he didn't complain. The doctor and Hetty exchanged worried looks the moment Callen closed tightly his eyes and lowered his head.

- "All done." - The doctor patted gently Callen's leg. – "Could you please, Hetty, take his temperature and control his pulse as I prepared the X-ray?"

As Hetty put the thermometer in Callen's mouth and took his wrist to find his heartrate, he felt the need to justify his actions:

- "Did you see everything? I'm sorry Hetty, I couldn't…" - started Callen.

- "Mr. Callen, the fact that we're maintaining this conversation right now it's a miracle, and we must be grateful for that. But, for now, close your mouth, be still and don't break the thermometer if you don't want a larger one to be placed in another part of your anatomy!"

One minute after Hetty announced:

- "103.5 and 98 pulsations."- she wasn't very happy.

- "Mr. Callen, please, lie down"- the doctor said helping his patient on the table who bit his lip in pain at the sudden movement. Dr. Bricks prepared the X-rays and sometime later he was studying attentively several radiographies of Callen's arm, shoulder, ribs and knee as Callen tried to find a more comfortable position for his sore body. Some minutes later Dr. Bricks was ready to pronounce what to Callen was more a verdict than a diagnosis.

- "Well, well, well, the good news first: incomprehensibly, you only have a sprain in that knee of yours..."

- "I told you"- grunted Callen.

- "… and you don't have a broken rib, but three fissured ones. It would be healed in two months if you rest enough. The cut on your eyebrow looks clean now, but these butterfly strips won't be enough to close it properly. If you don't want an ugly scar you'll need some stitches when the swelling lessen. Today just a silicone patch will be enough."

- "Now the bad news, William" – urged Hetty.

- "Well, I'm afraid that your two broken fragments of your ulna weren't correctly aligned the moment the bone started to consolidate and the fracture needs to be reset. But the shoulder's wound is worrying me."

- "The bullet is still inside…"- said Callen guilty – "…I just couldn't…"

- "If the bullet doesn't move it's better to let it inside, but in your case the sharp pain indicates that you're developing an infection, and the tenderness, that you may have some necrotic tissue. I strongly recommend to take the bullet off as soon as possible, but after the study of the radiographies, I'm pretty sure that also the healing tissue from a previous injure is preventing this one to cicatrize in an appropriate way. Anyway I need to open it to know for sure.

- "Have you heard Mr. Callen? I think the Stroganoff stew must wait till you exit the hospital."

- "But you promised me!"- Callen wasn't happy, about the perspective- "No hospital, Hetty."

Looking in the eye to the doctor he asked:

- "Can you fix me?"

- "Here and now?"

- "Here and now."

Dr. Bricks had a look around and answered:

- "Well, it's an unusual request, but I guess I have all I need to do it."

- "Good. Because I'm not going anywhere."

Hetty knew better than contradict Callen when he was so determined, she was fully aware that if she tried to force him to go to a hospital he will run at the first opportunity and this time he wouldn't come back.

- "Ok, Mr. Callen, ready to start? I don't have all the time here." – Dr. Bricks said while moving around the table.

- "Wait, what are you doing?"- Callen asked alarmed, seeing the doctor preparing an oxygen mask and a large tube in a tray already fully equipped with chirurgical instruments.

- The proper treatment is to put you under general anesthesia to reset your fracture, extract the bullet and debride the wound. As you know, for the ribs there's nothing more to do than a lot of rest and patience. We have to reduce the swelling on that knee and to stitch the cut on your eyebrow. Your temperature is starting to rise and it's a risk to wait more time. You're certainly dehydrated and probably anemic and we need to start an IV with fluids as soon as possible to restart your electrolyte's level. Then, antibiotics, vitamins and iron injections to compensate the blood lose and a close monitoring during at least two weeks.

- "No way" – said Callen stubborn, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

- "Mr. Callen…" - Hetty intervened.

- "Hetty, really, I can't, today I can't do it. It was already too hard. If you want me to stay: no hospitals, no induced sleep, no drugs. You know what they do to me. Right now I… I just can't."

He slowly turned his head, his blue eyes stared at Hetty's and she knew he have won this battle… but the war wasn't finish. She also knew that there're pains worse than the physical one, nevertheless she hate to see him suffer.

- "William,"- Hetty addressed to the doctor- "you've heard Mr. Callen. Could you possibly proceed without knocking him out?"

- "Well, to debride the bound would be very painful, but it's always good to have a patient conscious, in fact the level of pain it's the best indicator to know if we are cutting necrotic or healthy tissue. Honestly, I can't break an arm and put the bone in place with the patient awake; the intense pain would cause too much stress on the heart. Mr. Callen,"- he added- "you belong to a hospital, your body had suffered a severe trauma and this is a complete irresponsibility."

Hetty stared to the doctor – "Mr. Bricks, do you need to remind you last time…?" -she started threatening him.

- "Of course, Hetty, we don't need to discuss it any further." – Dr. Brick cut her quickly and put a new pair of sterile gloves.

At this point Callen didn't know whether he was or not relieved about the doctor's decision. He was cold, tired and hurting all over after the previous poking and prodding; at the sight of an IV in the doctor's hand he didn't know if he would be strong enough to endure what it was about to happen.

- "Let's take some blood to analyze and start with the hydration" – he said. Disinfecting G's right forearm and fixing a thigh tourniquet, he produced a needle and expertly he stabbed it on the vein. Callen went pale when the doctor filled the tubes of blood, but he didn't make a sound. – "Now we'll let run the saline for a while before we started with your shoulder to ensure your body recovers some fluids."- Dr. Bricks said fixing the IV with surgical tape.

- "Mr. Callen," - Hetty called to the injured agent- "try to relax! I'm afraid your heart will jump out your chest if you don't breathe as I show you. I know you have trust issues, but it's me having your back in here- she said touching briefly the Sig on her pocket and holding his hand."

- "Ok Callen, you know that there isn't an easy way to do it, right?"- Asked the doctor while taking a big syringe with lidocaine and adjusting a mask to his face. - "The lidocaine will help with the pain, but you still would feel everything. If it is too much or you need a break just let me know, please."

- "Go ahead"- Said Callen closing his eyes. He was lying still, breathing the entire deep that his damaged rib allowed. He was good at enduring and hiding pain, his survival had depended on it so many times!, but the feeling of the needle being injected again and again on the wound was just horrible. Less than five minutes after the doctor reopened the wound and started to cut the death tissue and cleaning with an antiseptic solution, he was sweating profusely and moaning.

Hetty took his right hand and with skilled fingers pressed a concrete point at the side of his palm.

- "Acupressure, Mr. Callen, don't sub-estimate a millenarian technique."

In spite of Hetty's massage, some minutes later Callen moaning turned into a groaning, and tears appeared on the corner of his eyes when the doctor finally extracted the bullet. Pain was much worse than he thought and he was on the verge of collapse.

- "Almost done" – Dr. Bricks said, leaving the bloody scalpel on the table. -"I just need to suture the skin and in some days you'll be as good as new. By the way, it was a foolish thing to use the Celox on the wound like that" - the doctor commented as he took the curve needle and started to stitch up Callen's shoulder – "don't you know that in spite all the advantages is a very dangerous procedure that usually leads to an infection if the wound isn't perfectly clean?"

- "Bleeding…" - managed to say Callen.

- "Yes, yes , but the doctor who take care of you …"

- "No doctor… just me." – Callen blinked rapidly as the gesture could help to shoo away an invisible ghost. He turned even paler at remembering the night that he believed was his last one.

Dr. Brick was shocked as well as Hetty. She presumed that his agent had had some help; her respect for him couldn't be bigger. She tried to comfort him wiping the sweat of his face with a wet cloth.

- "Well, Mr. Callen, you can rest now, once we'll bring you to a room you can sleep as much as you wish." – Said the doctor putting a dressing over Callen's wound, and more than happy to have finished torturing the poor man. – "However I recommend maintaining the IV until tomorrow, the antibiotic for now can go in there, but after it goes intramuscularly as well as the iron and the vitamin complex for at least one week. I know, I know, it wouldn't be very comfortable to seat down" – he answered at Callen's killer glare. - "Hetty, could you please ask someone to help Mr. Callen to a bed? Thank you."

Exiting the treatment room, Hetty had the feeling that she was missing something. She went downstairs, called for Daniel and when she was giving the last instructions to move the agent, she realized that the gun in her pocket was missing.

- "Oh bugger!" - She said heading to the stairs followed close by the man.

- "AHHHHHHHHHHGHGGGGGG" - Callen's spine-chilling cry sounded on the silent house.

Hetty and the retired agent entered the room gun in hand finding Dr. Bricks holding the cracked left arm of an unconscious Callen who still held Hetty's gun in his good hand.

- "He forced me to do it, Hetty, he menaced me with…, I… I…"- tried to explain the doctor.

- "Bloody stubborn"- said Hetty taking and securing the gun and caressing Callen's pale cheek- "Just tell me that you succeed at resetting the fracture."

The doctor worked fast and precisely. Another set of radiographies was done and finally a splint was ensuring the immobility of the broken bone.

Between Daniel and the doctor Callen was carried to his room, the same room where he slept during three of his teenage years living with Hetty. Once properly installed, the doctor proceeded to give into Callen's hip an anti-tetanus injection, and then rubbed his temples with alcohol. With a moan Callen came back to the word of the living, he opened his eyes barely enough to take a look to the splint of his arm and a weak smile appeared on his face; just a second after he fell asleep.

After she thanked and said good bye to Dr. Bricks. Hetty installed herself in a rocking chair next to Callen to spend a presumably long night.