Please forgive any medical inaccuracies that I may have written. Thanks again to all who have read and reviewed. Your comments are greatly appreciated.
Chapter 5:
The days turned to weeks as the team continued to share the bedside vigil as well as undertaking their day to day NCIS cases. Even Arkady and, more surprisingly, Granger had taken their turn on several occasions. Cards and messages were received from friends and colleagues including Nate, who was abroad on a mission, Gibbs, Abby and Tim from the DC office and the Hawaii 5-0 team, all of which were read to Callen and kept for his recovery. The doctors and nursing staff went about their duties and continued the care of their patient. Dr Grant caught up with Hetty one day, although their paths had crossed on several occasions as he kept her appraised of his patient's progress.
"Hello Hetty, how are you?" he asked
"Very well, Michael. Do you have any news?"
"Yes, I do. I've just got the results of the latest CAT scan. There are no signs of any bleeds or indeed brain damage. Over the next few days I will gradually reduce the medication that is keeping him under so I can take him off life support. Then it, will be up to him."
"That's good news indeed. How are the other injuries responding? He's certainly looking better" commented Hetty.
"Extremely well, I'm pleased to say. Much of the bruising and swellings have gone. I will need to check his arm but all the breaks, internal injuries and stab wounds appear to be healing very well with no infection or complications. I'm really pleased with his progress."
"Thank you, Michael, for all you and your team have done. I'm very grateful"said Hetty, her voice thick with emotion.
"I will warn you that once he wakes up, the real work will begin. He'll have to work hard to get back to a level of fitness when he can return to work. And that's just his body. I don't know him but I'm concerned about his mental state. Physically his injuries were traumatic but the ordeal would've had an enormous effect psychologically as well."
"Yes, I am aware of that. And I'm quite worried about the likely psychologically effect as well." Hetty sighed. "He's had a rather unconventional upbringing which has made him an exceptionally good agent, specialising in undercover work. He is a lone wolf – a tribe of one as a dear friend called him. However, he has gradually learned to trust a select few, namely myself and the rest of his team. I have to say that my team, under his leadership, is rated as the best NCIS has. His friends will be there to help him – if he lets them. No one likes to show weakness and Mr Callen is no exception. He's been seriously hurt before – gunned down in a drive by – and survived; I think it made him stronger. This may be different – we'll just have to wait and see."
"Indeed. I'll keep you updated" said Dr Grant as he left Hetty to go back and sit with Callen.
Sometime in the middle of night, Sam came into the room and found Hetty asleep in the chair beside Callen. Taking a blanket he gently placed it over Hetty before taking a chair and putting it the other side of the bed so that he could speak to Callen quietly without disturbing her. A couple of hours later she woke up and, feeling the blanket, smiled and said "Thank you. I assume that was you, Sam?"
"Yes. Why are you still here? G's out of danger now" asked Sam.
"I could ask the same of you, Mr Hanna. You should be with your family."
"I am. G isn't just my partner or a work colleague, he's a friend and therefore family, especially as he doesn't have any of his own. Y'know I spend more time with G than with Michelle and she understands; she's in the business and appreciates the importance of the relationship partners have."
"Indeed, Sam, and that's why I'm still here. Circumstances have meant that I have no family of my own. I may be your Ops Manager and to other managers, you would all be just assets but each one under my care is a name and a face and therefore my family. I have great affection for those under my charge but, as you say, I have history with Mr Callen. He is much more like the son I never had." Hetty shook her head as if annoyed with herself for opening up.
"Perhaps you should tell him. I'm pretty sure he thinks of you as more than just a manager. You are the closest person he has as a mother figure, seeing as his own mother was murdered when he was about 4."
Hetty smiled. "I'd like to think so but I shouldn't have said that, Sam. It makes it sound as if I hold Mr Callen in higher esteem than anyone else. I don't. Every time I send any or all of you out on a case, I worry whether someone won't return. Thankfully you all have done so."
"Hetty, I've said it before. You don't have to worry about me or the others. We all know you and G have history even if we don't fully understand how or why. That's between the two of you and you will tell us if you want to and when the time is right. That won't affect our work or stop us behaving professionally. G is my partner and a friend. I love him like a brother. He's a colleague and friend to the rest of the team as well including Nell and Eric. We all care very much about each other and would do anything for one another, put our lives on the line and even die for them. You know that and know that G would do the same." Sam paused for breath.
"Perhaps you should follow your own advice and tell Mr Callen" said Hetty, smiling at her agent.
"I think he knows but you also know that we all hold you in great esteem as a manager and agent but also love and care for you too as a person – even if you scare us a little," Sam said with a grin.
"Only a little?" countered Hetty with mock seriousness.
"Mmm. We've shown on many occasions that we'd do anything for you. Did you know when Mattias was after you, G got all his cash together and posted a bounty for info on Mattias' whereabouts?"
Hetty was shocked "No, no I didn't."
"I don't think he had to pay out as Mattias killed Salazar and his crew. However he defied Granger and went off the reservation to find you."
"Whilst it was very much appreciated, I didn't believe I was in danger. I was a little upset with Mr Callen for his reckless actions and told him so" countered Hetty.
"That's the point, Hetty. It wasn't reckless. Yes, he was very emotional and extremely angry you were in danger but everything he did was thought through professionally. Plus I was there to rein him in! But we all supported him."
"Mr Callen is very lucky to have friends like you and the others. Separately you are quite dysfunctional but together you make one hell of a team!" said Hetty proudly.
"Yes, and we're lucky to have someone like you guiding us" countered Sam. "Now, are we both going to stay here or are you going to go home and get some proper rest?" asked Sam.
"Very well, Sam, I'll go home now but I'll be back in the morning. I believe Dr Grant will be taking Mr Callen off the life support tomorrow. He feels his condition has improved immensely and the meds keeping him in a coma have been reduced sufficiently for this to happen. I want to be there as no doubt you will."
"That's good news, Hetty. Now get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow. Will you let the others know in the morning?"
"Yes, I will. As we don't know how long it will take Mr Callen to wake up, we can continue the visits. Even after he awakes, he won't be discharged for a while."
The next morning Hetty went to work to speak to Granger and the team in person and tell them the latest situation and what was going to happen later that morning.
"That's good news" said Kensi, "Do we know how long it takes before he wakes up?"
"No, Dr Grant couldn't say. And he didn't want to give us false hope by speculating. Every case is different as it depends on the individual. I promise I will update you as soon as I can. In the meantime we can continue the visits as we've been doing. He'll still be in hospital for a while after he regains consciousness."
Hetty left them to return to the hospital where Dr Grant was preparing to remove the life support equipment. Sam was waiting outside and greeted Hetty. They watched as Dr Grant removed the tube from Callen's throat and anything that was connected to the machine. Giving Callen a final examination, Dr Grant switched off the machine.
Hetty and Sam held their breaths. The monitors still attached to Callen's body continued to register his heart beat and his other vitals. To everyone's relief the display remained constant. Dr Grant, after checking his patient was breathing on his own, turned and gave them the thumbs up sign. They turned and hugged each other and when Dr Grant left the room, hugged him as well.
"All appears to be fine. His vitals are good and he's breathing on his own. Now it's up to him; he'll regain consciousness when he's ready" Dr Grant said.
Hetty phoned DC to update Director Vance while Sam contacted Ops to update Granger and the team. Vance said he would let Gibbs and his team know the latest situation as they had been kept in the loop because Gibbs and Callen were close, with Abby and Tim having worked with Callen as well.