Life, Lies and Video Surveillance
By Cortexikid
Chapter 8: Witzelsucht (Part II)
A/N: Still dedicated to lisbonloafers! This is the direct continuation of chapter 7 "Dwang."
Disclaimer: If I owned NCIS: LA I'd be living it up in sunny Los Angeles. Seeing as I'm still in Ireland I can say whole-heartedly that I'm not the owner of a successful police/military procedural.
WARNING: Contains accidental drug-exposure and subsequent side-effects.
WOTD: WITZELSUCHT; wit·zel·su·cht noun. A feeble attempt at humour/humor.
Dull vibrations of raised voices, continuous beeping of machines, dozens of frantic feet walking briskly and the squeaking of well-worn-wheels was blocked out hastily by the gentle snapping-shut of a door and the shuffling of tired limbs across a gleaming white floor. The body of an exhausted and restless man lowered into an uncomfortable chair to the right of an even more uncomfortable-looking hospital bed that currently housed the limp form of one Special Agent Kensi Blye.
The steady beeping of a heart monitor was a small comfort in the dead of the night as wide azure eyes drank in every inch of the unconscious woman, waiting for a sign of the impending end of her slumber. Shakily, the anxious man brought up one hand to close over his mouth, rubbing his aging beard wearily whilst the other attentively reached for his partner's hand that lay at her side.
It had been only a little over an hour since Deeks found Kensi in that alley with a puncture wound in her neck and an empty syringe at her feet, but it felt like a millennium. Time seemed to have stood still from when his unwavering gaze met her unfocused one, her two-toned eyes rolling back into her head as she lost consciousness, her body going limp in his arms.
Deeks bit his lip as the events of the last sixty minutes replayed over and over in his head like an infinite film reel – from his partner's collapse to his frantic yelling at Eric to get a damn ambulance, to finally hearing the sirens and pushing his way into it – never letting Kensi's hand go as Sam and Callen followed swiftly behind, to the gurney being engulfed into the chaos that was the ER, to him being pushed back by a stern nurse and told to wait as a multitude of people took his partner away from him.
After they drew blood to run a whole host of tests and got Kensi settled into a room and on an IV and heart monitor, Deeks was summoned to the small private ward where he now waited dutifully on word from a doctor. The waiting was the hardest. He looked down at his colleague, partner, friend, as she lay motionless, unaware of the events around her and thought no, this is the hardest. While Deeks never liked to see any of his loved-ones hurt, the unknown fate of his partner was downright unbearable.
Before that thought could fully leave his brain, the hospital door creaked open. Deeks' head snapped up, his heart thumping in his chest thinking at long last he was going to get some news, preferably of the good variety. He couldn't help the twang of disappointment in the pit of his stomach when his eyes landed instead on a petite, bespectacled brunette.
"Mr. Deeks," Hetty Lange nodded, her lips in a firm line as she walked closer to the bed, her gaze falling onto Kensi instantly.
"Hetty," Deeks mumbled in acknowledgement as he absentmindedly squeezed Kensi's hand.
The Operations Manager's hawk-like orbs fell to their joined hands with interest. Deeks' eyes darted from Hetty to his hand wrapped around his partner's smaller one and pulled away rapidly as if burned, clearing his throat nervously.
"So...uh, you—you hear anything from the doctor?" he croaked, not able to look her in the eye.
"Well, being the emergency contact, I thought I was privy to such information so, imagine my surprise when a nurse told me to wait in here to be informed along with Miss Blye's...fiancé..." Hetty trailed off, fixing Deeks with one of her formidable stares.
The LAPD liaison's jaw dropped at this, a familiar sensation of discomfort, dread and a little fear seeping into his veins at her words.
"Well I—I told them I was her partner Hetty, it isn't my fault that they took that to mean...something else," he grumbled, knowing well it sounded like a sorry excuse and not the most belivable but just not giving a damn. Hetty could think what she wanted – he had every right to be in this room, just like Kensi had when he'd been shot.
Hetty pursed her lips but remained silent, choosing instead to take a seat on the empty chair beside Deeks. Some things were just better left unsaid.
"Any idea what could have been in the syringe?" she asked quietly, her attention trained on her agent, her liaison firmly in her peripheral vision.
"LSD, GHB, BMW...whatever it is, Kensi is gonna have one hell of a headache tomorrow," Deeks muttered trying and failing to adopt a small smile.
"A worthy talent, Mr. Deeks."
"What?"
"The art of deflecting one's pain with humour."
"I'm fine."
"I've heard when people say that, it really means that they are the exact opposite." Hetty tilted her head to look at him but he kept his azure gaze on the bed.
"Yeah well I'll be...good, when Kensi wakes up," Deeks swallowed nervously, aching to reach out and clasp her hand again but not daring under the watchful eyes of his boss.
Before another word could be spoken however, the hospital door opened and in walked a doctor, Kensi's chart in her hand.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Delaney, which one of you is Miss Blye's Emergency Contact?"
"That would be me, Henrietta Lange," Hetty responded, standing up and shaking the doctor's hand.
The doctor then turned to Deeks, "and you are?" she asked politely.
Deeks leapt up out of the chair, wiping his palms on his jeans, clearing his throat.
"Uh I'm—Detective Marty Deeks...her uh..." Deeks trailed off, his eyes darting to Hetty.
"Fiancé," Hetty finished, her stare glued to the doctor. Deeks tried not to gawp in surprise, gave a gentle shake of his head and turned his eyes to the medical professional.
"Nice to meet you both. Well," she halted to look down at Kensi's chart, "it appears Miss Blye was dosed with a small amount of LSD-25. While relatively harmless by itself in comparison to most drugs, what's rare about this particular sample is that it seems to have been laced with saline solution and a number of other lysergamides that can be fatal in high doses."
Deeks' heart lurched.
"It was the presence of those lysergamides that caused Miss Blye to become disorientated and pass out. But luckily for her, it was 5 CCs of mostly saline solution and only a small amount of LSD, probably about 30 micrograms at the most, so not enough to cause permanent damage or have any lasting side-effects after tomorrow," the doctor finished, looking from Deeks to Hetty and back.
"When you say side-effects, what exactly are we talkin'?" Deeks asked, well-aware of the effects of LSD from his brief stint affiliating with the narcotics division but worrying about the trace amounts of the other unpronounceable chemicals in her system.
"Miss Blye shouldn't really experience anything else other than the normal reactions to being under the influence of LSD, but it really all depends on the individual. It could cause subtle changes in perception – auditory and visual, blurred, warped or intensified sight, a complete lack of anxiety along with the possibility of an intense religious experience and various other hallucinogenic occurrences."
"So, she'll be tripping?" Deeks asked, a small smirk rising on his face at the endless possibilities. The blackmail material would be priceless.
"To put it colloquially, yes."
Hetty and Deeks exchanged an evocative glance before looking back to the still unconscious NCIS Agent.
"Can I take her home?" Deeks questioned, keeping up his appearance of the worried fiancé.
"While I would prefer to keep her overnight for observation, people under the influence of LSD tend to react more positively to being in familiar surroundings with people they are accustomed to. If she were to remain here, we would have to restrain her for her own safety and that of the hospital," the practitioner cautioned, looking over the rim of her glasses as she made a note to Kensi's file.
Hetty and Deeks shared the silent opinion that Kensi Marie Blye would most certainly not react well to being restrained – not that she (even while high as a kite) would remain restrained for long. Again, the possibilities were endless and probably best explored in the comfort and safety of her own home and away from the general public.
"I'd like to take my...uh...fiancée home, if that's alright?" Deeks requested, his eyes adverted from his diminutive companion standing beside him.
"Very well, I'll have her release papers sent up as soon as she comes round, shouldn't be too long now," the doctor replied, walking around to the side of the bed and shinning a light into each of Kensi's eyes.
"Bring her straight back in if she has any adverse reactions, though that's an unlikely possibility. I'll be back in to check her over in about half an hour – if she's awake by then and is fit for it, you'll be free to go" she finished before nodding her goodbyes and leaving Deeks and Hetty alone to sit back down and wait.
As soon as the door snapped shut, the room was plunged into a subterranean silence – the beeping of Kensi's heart monitor the only disruption. Deeks' heart lifted a little now that he knew that his partner was going to perfectly fine – just a little out of it for the next couple of hours. That still didn't stop him from fidgeting however as he felt the steel gaze of one Henrietta Lange pierce his very soul. Slowly, he turned to look at his companion.
"It's a role you play well, Mr. Deeks. Perhaps your best one yet," she murmured, her fingers forming a steeple and pressed pensively to her lips as she regarded him.
"What role?"
"That of the anxious loved-one."
Deeks mouth opened and closed just as quickly. He really had no idea what to say to that so instead, posed a question of his own.
"Why did you tell her I was Kensi's fiancé?"
Hetty tilted her head to the side, resting her elbow on the arm of her chair.
"In our line of work Mr Deeks, I always find that if assumptions are already in place then it's best to not argue and just...roll with it," she replied, a cheeky gleam in her eye.
Before the detective could respond, a soft groan sounded from the bed.
"Kensi?" Deeks leaned forward anxiously, his hand coming up to lightly rest on her forearm.
"Hey Kens—can you hear me?"
Another groan omitted from Kensi's lips as her eyelids began to flutter.
"You're...pretty hard to...ignore," she rasped softly, her now half-open, glazed eyes finding his.
Hetty watched this exchange in silence for a moment, an enigmatical expression on her face. After a moment of quiet contemplation, she climbed out of the chair and began to walk to the door, her intention being to inform Mr Callen and Mr Hanna of their friend's status and to be in turn updated on the questioning of the apprehended men.
Deeks didn't notice her movement however as his gaze was now glued to his partner, his hand coming up to tuck a tendril of hair behind her ear. Hetty journeyed calmly to the door but nearly lost her demure composure when she heard Ms Blye's next query:
"Deeks? Why are you orange?"
A/N: Ha, ha! Dear god this is turning out to be a monster! Next chapter is the last in this Kensi-LSD-storyline. Did I write Hetty okay? Her characterization/unique quirkiness is just so damn hard to do justice!
Please Review =]
~Cortexikid
NEXT CHAPTER TEASER:
"Kensi! Back away from the stove!"Deeks yelled, leaping in front of her, blocking her view of the alluring kitchen appliance.
"I can make Snicker Doodles!" she grinned dopily, her face full of almost child-like wonder.
"You can't make Snicker Doodles."
"Yes I can! I made Snicker Doodles for the Russian guy that time when I was Justin and you were Melissa."
Deeks sighed and shook his head. It was going to be a long night.