Chapter 68
Kensi walked back to Deeks's room, having found Caro and updated her on the fact that he'd woken up. The little nurse had given her a hug, telling her how happy she was for them and that she'd let Dr. Shaugnessy know. Even unconscious, Deeks had quickly become a favorite of all the nurses. Kensi looked up and saw the woman she was just thinking about, headed her way. She stopped outside the door to his room and waited for Moira. When the doctor reached her she smiled widely at her as she said "That was quick! I just talked to Caro a few minutes ago."
Moira looked confused and said "What was quick?"
"You getting here. I just told Caro that he woke up and here you are."
"He's awake? That's great news! I haven't talked to Caro, I just started my shift. I'm on nights the next couple days and was coming to check in on him. How does he seem?"
"He's a little confused and I know he's in pain, although he didn't say so. A friend of his was here and they had a nice visit until he fell asleep again."
"That's to be expected. His body went through an ordeal and he'll sleep a lot as he heals. He'll still need pain medication which will also make him sleepy. Let's go in and I'll check on him." She reached for the door handle but Kensi stopped her.
"I need to warn you Moira, he's going to beg to be released as soon as possible. He hates hospitals and he'll lie through his teeth about feeling good enough to go home. If that doesn't work, he'll try using his puppy dog eyes on you!" Both women laughed at the picture that formed in their heads at Kensi's words. The laughter came to an abrupt halt when they heard a scream from inside the room. Moira flung the door open and the two women charged inside to find Deeks in the middle of a full blown nightmare. He was thrashing around on the bed and had already torn out his IV. The monitor showed that his heart rate was high and going higher.
Kensi rushed to his side and grabbed one of the hands he was flailing around. "Deeks! Baby, I'm here and you're safe! Wake up! Come on, baby, wake up!"
His eyes opened but were unfocused. "No! Don't! No more, please, no more!" he whimpered.
Her heart broke at his words and she squeezed his hand, rubbing circles into the back of it with her thumb. "Deeks, it's over! You're in the hospital now! I need you to wake up! Look at me baby, I'm here, you're safe! " She said again.
He blinked a couple times as he came fully awake and then asked "Kensi?"
"Hi baby. I'm here; no one is going to hurt you again! I won't let them." She said softly as she leaned down and kissed him, feeling his whole body trembling. She stroked his hair back from his forehead and then down his arm, trying to calm him. She could feel the trembling slowing down and knew he was coming out of it. He looked over her shoulder and frowned at the strange woman standing behind her. He knew the white coat meant she must be a doctor but he didn't know her.
Moira stepped up to the bed and introduced herself. "Mr. Deeks, I'm Dr. Moira Shaughnessy. I'm the doctor who's been taking care of you. I need to fix your IV now, is that okay?" Moira was being cautious, not sure if he was fully awake yet, not wanting to scare him. She couldn't even imagine the demons that had been stalking him in that nightmare.
"It's Marty."
Moira smiled as she recalled Kensi telling her he'd insist on her using his first name. "Well, Marty, it's nice to finally meet you! I've heard all about you from your friends. I feel like I already know you."
Deeks raised his eyebrows and asked "Hopefully it was all good? Anything bad was just them being jealous of me." He smiled at her, feeling somewhat embarrassed at how their first meeting had gone.
Moira smiled back and said 'Yes, all good. You've got a lot of people who've been waiting for you to wake up. How are you feeling?" She started to fix his IV and was watching him carefully.
"I'm good. When can I go home?"
Moira started to laugh. "Kensi knows you only too well! She warned me you'd be begging to go home as soon as possible. Let's take it one day at a time. You're healing nicely but you aren't ready to leave us just yet."
Deeks pouted and then turned his eyes on her, widening them and trying to look as soulful as possible. Moira forgot what she was doing as she stared into them, thinking he really was adorable. She blushed when she heard Kensi laughing behind her. "I warned you Moira! Puppy dog eyes!"
Moira laughed along with her. "You really are good at that, aren't you Marty?"
"Apparently not, seeing as it seems I'm not going to be able to go home today." Deeks grumbled, pouting at her.
"One day at a time, Marty, one day at a time." Moira finished fixing the IV line and proceeded to check all his vitals, then turning him slightly on his side to look under the bandages on his back and legs. He grunted a little at the pain of the movement but didn't complain. When she was done, she patted him on the arm and said. "Be a good boy and you'll get out of here sooner, rather than later."
Deeks jaw dropped open slightly at being spoken to like a child and was about to say something about it when he saw the look in the woman's eyes and he realized she was teasing him. He smiled and said, like that good boy, "Yes, Dr. Shaughnessy."
"It's Moira." They grinned at each other, each thinking they liked the person they saw in front of them. Moira turned to Kensi and said "Everything looks good. Let Caro know if you need anything. I'll come back before I go off shift to check in again.'
"Thanks, Moira. For everything."
"You're more than welcome. I'll see you two later." Moira said as she left. As the door closed behind her, the two in the room heard familiar voices greet the doctor. The rest of the team had arrived. Kensi knew neither Moira nor Caro would complain that Sam and Callen were here after visiting hours. They'd all become very friendly and the hospital personnel had become used to them being here at all hours of the day and night. The door opened and their teammates walked in.
"Well, it's about time Sleeping Beauty! I was starting to think you were going to sleep forever!" Said Sam as he walked up to the bed and grasped Deeks's hand, squeezing it hard enough that Deeks winced a little.
"Forever? How long was I out?"
"We brought you in a little over four days ago."
"Four days? Why was I out so long?"
Kensi stepped closer to the bed and put a hand on his shoulder, ready to calm him as Sam continued. "Your injuries were bad enough that they kept you under sedation. One of your broken ribs punctured a lung when you pushed McGonagle off the platform, spoiling his aim and saving my life. They intubated you to let your lung concentrate on healing. They just took the tube out early this morning and started to decrease the sedation."
"Intubated?" He shuddered, closing his eyes, now glad that he'd slept through the whole thing. He'd been intubated once before and it hadn't been a pleasant experience, one he'd hoped never to have happen again. Suddenly he opened his eyes, looked up at Sam and said. "McGonagle and Robinson! Tell me you got them?" His voice showed his agitation and Kensi squeezed his shoulder.
Callen answered. "McGonagle is dead and Robinson is in jail. He sang like a bird, giving up Parks and Timmons as well as naming a mole inside both LAPD and NCIS. It's been a busy few days!"
"McGonagle's dead? He's really dead? I can't say I'm sorry! Who got him?"
All three answered as one. "Hetty!"
Sam and Callen proceeded to tell them both about the raid and how McGonagle had gotten the drop on Granger and Hetty's words after she'd shot him. The last got laughs from both Kensi and Deeks as they pictured the diminutive woman saying she'd only saved Granger because he was almost trained and she didn't want to have to start over. The two men filled them both in on everything else that had happened, mostly for Deeks sake as Kensi knew pretty much all of it already. He was upset when he found out an LAPD officer was dead at the hands of another. He smiled when they told him how pissed Kensi had been when she found out they'd kept her in the dark until it was all over. How Hetty had promised her that she could be the one to let Timmons know how many additional charges were being filed against him, to make up for it.
"Can I go with you when you do?" he asked Kensi. "I'd pay money to see that!" He grinned ferally at her and she knew exactly how he felt.
She smiled and replied "If you're a good boy and do everything the doctor says, we'll see." He pouted again and got about as far with her as he had with the doctor. The others laughed and they continued the visit with him a while longer, telling him that Nell, Eric, Hetty and Granger all sent their best and that they'd be in tomorrow to see him.
All three made a point of telling him everything positive that Granger had said about him and Deeks grinned. "I knew there was a heart under that gruff exterior, we just had to dig a bit longer than I thought."
The others hmmphed, knowing Deeks tended to see the best in everyone but they had to admit, he'd managed to get to the Assistant Director when no one else had. At one point, when Callen and Kensi were talking to each other, Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket and thumbed it open. Keeping a careful watch on his partner, he scrolled through the pictures until he got to the one he wanted. Finding it, he checked again to make sure his partner was otherwise occupied and held the phone out to Deeks.
Frowning, wondering why Sam was handing him his phone, Deeks reached out and took it. He looked at the picture staring back at him and his mouth dropped open. He was about to laugh hysterically when Sam, who somehow knew it, reached out and put a hand over his mouth. Looking up at Sam, Deeks saw the warning on his face and nodded. He'd have to wait until later to give in to the laughter. When Sam took his hand away, Deeks mouthed to him "Send it to me?" Sam looked torn, he wanted to give Deeks something funny to think about but he knew his partner would be pissed if he found out that he'd shared the picture of him in the blonde wig. Looking at the fading bruises on Deeks's face, he made his decision and nodded yes and Deeks grinned up at him. That look alone would make it worth the wrath of Callen when he found out. Sam knew it was inevitable that he would. Eventually, the two men took their leave when they saw Deeks was fading. After they left, Kensi sat down and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. She stared at them, not saying anything.
"What's wrong Kens?"
"How can you ask me that? I almost lost you, again."
"But you didn't! You guys saved me, just like I knew you would."
"You knew we would?"
"Of course! I knew you guys wouldn't stop until you found me, I just hung on until you did." He squeezed her hand and let it go. Reaching out, he put a hand under her chin and lifted her head, making her meet his eyes. "I had complete faith in you and in the team. You're the best at what we do and I trusted you to find me."
She smiled at him and leaned up to kiss him. He raised his hand behind her neck and deepened the kiss. Neither heard the door open behind them.
A laughing voice said "Am I interrupting?" Deeks didn't recognize the voice but Kensi did. She smiled against his lips and kissed him for a few seconds longer before moving away.
"Hi Craig!" Kensi turned and smiled at the ER nurse standing in the doorway.
"Hey Kensi. Moira told me Marty was awake and I wanted to finally meet him. I'm just heading off shift and thought I'd drop in."
Deeks was looking from one to the other in confusion. Who was this guy and why did he seem to know Kensi so well? He felt a stirring of jealousy as he took in the very good looking man dressed in scrubs who was moving further into the room, his girlfriend happily smiling at him. Kensi stood up and made the introductions. "Marty Deeks, this is Craig Trent. He's an ER nurse here and he saved your life."
"He what? How?"
Kensi realized they hadn't filled him in on the attack at the hospital and could kick herself for her words. Sighing she said "McGonagle found out where you were through the mole at NCIS. He got in here dressed as a janitor and stabbed you in the leg, nicking the artery. We think he hoped you would bleed out before anyone realized it, his way of cleaning up loose ends. Craig happened to stop in to check on you and sounded the alarm. They had to stitch you up but because he discovered the injury so quickly after it happened, there was very little damage."
Craig smiled at the man in the bed, expecting to get a smile in response but he found the detective staring at him with an odd look on his face. Craig tilted his head a little, his smile fading as he wondered what was going on, when he saw the man's eyes flick to Kensi and then back to him. His smile returned, bigger than before, realizing that he was jealous! He thought about how to make him realize that he wasn't interested in Kensi and a thought came to mind. He could kill two birds, as it were.
"So, um, I hear you know Talia, I mean, Agent Del Campo, pretty well. Anything you can tell me about her?"
Deeks heard the interest in the nurse's voice and he felt relieved. He smiled at him for the first time, realizing he'd come off as less than grateful to the man. "Yeah, I know Talia pretty well. The least I can do to thank you for saving my life, is to fill you in on some things about her." He held out his hand to Craig, who took it and shook.
Craig said "We also have a mutual friend. Tara Langley?"
"You know Tara?"
"Yeah, as an EMT she comes into the hospital quite often. She and I have become friends. I've been out with her and Dave a number of times. I hear it was you that introduced the two of them."
The two men traded stories about Tara and Deeks was stunned when he found out that Tara had been on the rig that brought him to the hospital, all of them commenting that it was a small world. Deeks filled the nurse in on some things about Talia until Craig looked at his watch and realized how long he'd been there. He'd been at work for ten hours and it was time to head home and get some sleep. He was on shift early the next day. He stood up and shook Deeks's hand again, promising to stop in again when he had the chance. Kensi walked him out.
After he left, Deeks said "I like him! I think he'd be good for Talia."
"That's exactly what I thought! They'd be perfect for each other!" Kensi said, a little too enthusiastically.
Deeks started to laugh and then gasped as the pain hit. The meds were wearing off. Kensi quickly came to his side. "What's wrong? What do you need?"
"I think it's time for some more of the good stuff Kens. Damn, this hurts!" He gritted his teeth and clutched the bed covers as another wave of pain flowed over him. Kensi reached out and pushed the button that would release the morphine into his IV line and watched as the lines of pain started to ease off his face. He sighed with relief and opened his mouth to say thank you but yawned widely instead. She smiled as she watched him fight the sleep that was overtaking him, talking quietly to him until he lost the fight and drifted off again.
She sat looking at him for a while, thinking about what he'd said about having absolute faith that they would find him. She hadn't had that same faith. She'd been beside herself with worry and fear. She found herself wondering again if they could do this, be both partners and lovers. If she had to choose, she'd pick lover, even though she'd never trusted anyone to have her back in the field the way she trusted him. She remembered Michelle's words about it all being worth every moment of worry and fear to have the moments of love and happiness and felt something lift from her heart, a weight she didn't even know had been there. They'd make it. Whether as partners and lovers or just lovers, Marty Deeks was stuck with her, now and forever. She yawned, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was. She put her head down on the bed, tightly holding his hand in hers as she drifted off herself.
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A/N – thanks to yellowcallalilly for the prompt about the picture of Callen in the blonde wig being shown to Deeks. It will come up again; I just can't let it go.