Sam had no clue how long he was out. When he woke, he discovered he was clean, his leg was dressed and he was feeling no pain. His eyes searched his surroundings and he discovered he'd been moved to a more private alcove within the infirmary. Based on the medical paraphernalia hanging off his body, he must have been kept unconscious for a few days. His thoughts immediately went to Callen and he searched with his eyes for someone to ask.
"Ah, you are awake," the medic said walking over to Sam's bunk. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I had a long winters nap," Sam joked before turning serious. "How's my partner?" He could tell by the look on the medic's face he was not going to like the answer.
The doctor grew serious. "Your partner is borderline critical, but stable condition. We have him sedated and incubated to give his lungs a break. We are having a little trouble adjusting his medications." The man hesitated for a moment seeming tense. "Last night he broke through his sedation medications and regained consciousness."
"I'll bet that wasn't a pretty sight," Sam said knowingly. "Callen doesn't do sick well."
The medic seemed relieved by what Sam told him. "You're right. It wasn't pretty. He was only conscious, not even fully conscious, for maybe a minute before we got to him. But in that space of time, he ripped his IVs out and was halfway out of the bed."
Sam slid up a little higher in his hospital bed. "When can I go see him?"
Rubbing his thumb and his forefinger across his chin, the medic contemplated the request. "You just woke up so let's give your body a few hours to recover. Eat a good lunch and then in the afternoon we'll get you up."
Sam thought the doctor's recommendation was fair so he nodded in agreement. "When are you planning to take the breathing tube out of Callen?"
Heaving a sigh, the medic's face grew unhappy again. "This afternoon, though with all the troubles we are having finding the right dosage of meds to use on him, well I am afraid he is not going to react well again. The objective is to bring the patient slowly back to full consciousness. Your partner seems to go from 0 to 60 in 2.2 seconds."
"Let me be there," Sam requested earnestly. "I can keep him calm."
The doctor nodded his head slowly in agreement. "Alright. I'll try anything not to have a repeat performance of last night. My med tech, who was trying to restrain him, ended up with a black-eye. Your partner has a mean punch."
"Yeah, he's scrappy for his size," Sam said drolly and the other man laughed.
Later that day, Sam was standing on the far side of Callen's hospital bed as the team got ready to remove the breathing tube and lessen his sedation. The removal of the tube went fine and Callen's lungs continued inflating on their own well. The medical team was pleased with the results. They also reduced the amount of sedation he was receiving and they could start to see signs of his body reviving itself.
Things seem to be progressing along nice and slowly when suddenly Callen's eyes opened and he started to thrash. Immediately, Sam placed his hand on Callen's good shoulder and started talking to him. "It's Ok G. I'm here. You're in a hospital. You need to relax."
Callen's eyes sought out the speaker and the minute he locked eyes on Sam, his body visibly relaxed. The medic team, who had been unconsciously holding their breath, sighed in relief. Callen's blood pressure which had spiked upon his awakening, dropped back to an acceptable level.
Callen felt like crap. His body hurt, his throat was sore and he didn't know who these people around him were, except for Sam. Slowly as Callen was able to focus more, it dawned on him while he didn't know where in the world he was, he did know where he was...a medical facility. His body started to automatically panic again.
Sam, who was watching his partner closely, saw exactly when Callen realized where he was and he quickly stepped in again to stop his partner from going into a full scale meltdown. "Don't go there G. Stay with me. I'm here for you."
Sam knew Callen hated hospital with a passion, though he had not successfully gotten the reason why from his tight-lipped partner as of yet; but he was working on it. For now, he tried to keep Callen focused on him so the man wouldn't do anything that would cause the doctor to heavily sedate him again. Callen hated being sedated as much, if not more, than being in a hospital; Sam thought it all stemmed back to a control issue.
Callen started to try to sit up and a look over at the medical team told Sam they didn't want their patient to try to do that yet. Sam didn't want to physically restrain Callen since he knew it might make his partner struggle more; instead he used his voice. "Don't try to sit up. Not yet."
"Sam," Callen pleaded in a voice rough from disuse. He gave every indication he wasn't going to listen as he continued to move.
Sam saw one of the med techs preparing a syringe to inject into Callen's IV line. Quickly catching the supervising Doctor's eye he said, "Give me a minute. Please." The doctor waved off the tech for the moment as Sam turned his attention back to his partner. "G, listen to me. If you don't knock it off and lay there quietly, they are going to sedate you again. I know you don't want that." Sam hated to see the fear and distress that crossed Callen's eyes at the thought of being knocked out, but he hoped by telling Callen the truth the agent would stop trying to move.
Slowly, Callen's body relaxed and he lay there calmly, though it was still very clear he didn't trust the people around him, except for Sam. The team needed to perform some more tests and they looked to the doctor for guidance. Sam saw their hesitation and he said to the doctor, "Explain what you are doing and he'll be alright." Catching Callen's eye he added, "Or I'll have Hetty come and keep him in line."
A flare of panic lit Callen's eyes. "She's here?" he managed to rasp out.
Sam gave a little smile without answering.
Later that day, the Doctor pulled him aside out of Callen's earshot and told Sam that their patient was being cooperative. Sam couldn't help laughing which puzzled the doctor. "Trust me Doc. It won't last."
Sure enough, less than 48 hours later when Sam was in the rec room playing cards and swapping stories with the SEAL team stationed onboard, one of the med techs came looking for him. "Sir, we have a little problem and the Doctor thought that you might be able to, ah, help with it."
"It's Sam. And what did my partner do now?" he asked, sighing. The SEALs sitting around Sam appeared amused by their comrade's behavior.
"He disappeared," the man said a bit embarrassed. "We have never had this happen before with any of our patients."
Sam got up from the chair he'd been sitting in and snagged the cane the Doctor had insisted he use for a few days. "Yeh, but I'll bet you never treated any of Houdini's relatives."
The med tech was taken back. "He's related to Houdini the magician?"
"He might as well be," Sam answered. "I have seen him disappear from places you wouldn't believe. Comes in handy as a NCIS agent. Any planes missing?"
The med tech looked startled and the SEALs stared at Sam to see if he was serious. "Are you saying your partner could steal a plane off a highly secure, state-of-the-art, United States of America aircraft carrier?" one of the SEALs asked incredulously.
"Not steal. Borrow. And yeh, he could do it." It was clear they didn't believe Sam which was fine with him. Callen was unbelievable most of the time which is what made him a great agent.
"Do you need our assistance Sam?" one of the other seated SEALs inquired.
Sam hesitated for a moment as he thought back to the last time he and Callen and been on an aircraft carrier. Callen had taken to sneaking up on the flight deck, much to the deck Chief's chagrin and sitting in an out of the way corner. Callen told him that being below deck for long periods of time made him feel the need for fresh air and isolation. This was a different carrier, but built the same. "No thanks. I have an idea where he is located."
"This is a big ship," the medic reminded him.
"Yeh. But my partner is as predictable as he is unpredictable." Sam walked away as everyone stared after him.
"How does a SEAL stand to work with a partner like that?" one of them wondered aloud. They all shook their heads and went back to their card game.