Whether it is from a mistake or something else, there must always be the choice to…

WALK AWAY

LA Mercy General Hospital

"Time to check on 307" One nurse said as she handed a clipboard to another nurse.

"The Appendix? That poor guy." The other nurse responded.

"Yea. He's been here 2 days and barely had any visitors. All he has been doing it looking at pictures on that tablet of his." The first nurse said.

"I hope someone sees him soon. He looks so sad." The other replied as she walked toward the door and opened.

"Mr. Beale?" The nurse asked as she stepped inside. The man lying on the bed scrambled to close the tablet.

"Yea?" He said as he laid back, looking out the window.

"How have you been feeling?" She asked as she went checking his monitors.

"I'm tired. I can't sleep." He said, his voice almost monotone.

"I'll see about getting you a sedative. Are you hungry?" She asked.

"No." Eric answered.

"Really? Because it shows here you haven't eaten since yesterday and even that was less then is normal. You have been past your surgery enough that you should be getting your appetite back." She said, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not hungry." He repeated.

"Ok. I'll see about the sedative for you. Is there anyone we can call for you?" She asked.

"None that would care right now. They are all busy with something else." He said.

The nurse decided not to push further and left, leaving Eric alone. He opened the tablet and returned to looking at the pictures of himself and a red head smiling for the camera

First Church of the Resurrection

There was a knock on the door to the room.

"It's Sam. Everyone decent?" The voice on the other side of the door asked.

"Yea, come on in." Kensi replied as she opened the door, letting Sam, Callen, and Deeks all in.

"How is it going in here?" Callen asked.

"We are almost ready. Hetty is putting the finishing touches on Nell." Kensi asked.

"Good. The sooner we get this over with, the better." Deeks said, his usually cheerfulness nowhere to be found.

Kensi grabbed his arm and pulled him into a far corner of the room.

"What is with you today? You have been an utter grouch since we got here. If it's the Best man hitting on me then trust me, you have nothing to worry about. He isn't even in your league." Kensi said, softly stroking his cheek.

"It's not that. I would actually pay money to see you kick his ass. It's just that none of this feels right." Deeks said.

"How?" Kensi asked him.

"Are you serious, Kens? You and I both know who should be up there with her." Deeks said.

"This is Nell's decision. If this is what she thinks is best then we need to be there to support her. Regardless of how we feel about it." Kensi said.

"Just don't expect me to act friendly to them. I wouldn't trust them with my jock strap." Deeks said.

"If Kyle touches me one more time I'm going to break his hand." Kensi said.

"Excuse me." Hetty's voice came out as everyone looked in her direction. Nell walked out behind her dressed in a gown that hugged every curve. The gown stopped right below her shoulders and dipped to her mid back.

Sam and Callen both had smiles as she stepped up to them and gave them hugs.

"Thanks for coming, guys. It means a lot to me." She said.

"We are a family. It's what we do." Sam said.

She walked over to Deeks.

"I know you don't agree with this. But thanks for being here anyway, Deeks." She said.

Deeks gave her a half hearted one arm hug but didn't respond at all.

"Please don't do this, Deeks." Nell said in response.

"I'm here. That is all that matters. This is your day, Nell, not mine." He said.

"You ready for this?" Callen asked her.

"No. But I can't really back out now, can I?" Nell said letting out a breath.

"See you guys out there." Kensi said as Nell, herself, Michelle, Rose, and Sam all left.

Deeks and Callen went and took their seats in the main church as the Groom Anthony came out with his groomsmen, who were almost exact carbon copies of him. Same look, same tan, same hair cut.

The priest nodded as music started to play. Rose walked down the aisle, following by Michelle, then Kensi. Kamhrin sprinkled flower petals along the path as the groom's nephew walked next to her with the ring pillow. The music changed and the priest waved for everyone to rise as Sam walked down the path with Nell holding on to his arm. Outwardly Nell was smiling but Kensi could tell her brain was running in overdrive. They stepped up to the alter as the Priest asked who gives the bride away.

"As her grandmother, I do." Hetty responded.

LA Mercy General

Eric woke up from his drug induced sleep to find someone in the room with him. Eric groaned as he slipped his glasses on. "Surprised to see you here."

Nate set his book down and turned to Eric. "You think there is somewhere else I should be?" He asked him.

"Figured you would be at the wedding with everyone else." Eric replied.

"Half a wedding, really." Nate said as he moved his chair closer to the bed.

"And how are you holding up?" Nate asked.

Eric looked at him with an Are you serious? look on his face.

"I'm in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy, no one has come to see me, and I'm losing my best friend. How do you think I am holding up, Doc?" Eric asked.

"And now you have your answer." Nate said, a slight smile on his face.

"To what question?" Eric asked.

"Why am I here and not there?" Nate said.

"Thanks, Nate." Eric said as he laid back, relaxing a bit before he closed his eyes again. Nate gently took his glasses off, setting them on the table. He took out his phone, took a quick picture of Eric sleeping, and texted it to a number before returning to his book

First Church of the Resurrection

As the Priest continued to drone on the sound of a phone beeping went off. Everyone looked around trying to find where it came from. Deeks looked in his pocket and found it was Kensi's phone.

Kensi stepped down as Deeks walked up handing her phone.

"Sorry, work." Kensi said to the Groom who was rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Didn't know Nate was in town." Deeks said, looking over her shoulder.

Kensi pulled up the message and saw the picture of Eric.

"Oh." She said, it was the last thing she expected.

Nell walked up to them.

"Everything alright, you two?" She asked him.

"That depends." Kensi said as she showed Nell the picture.

"He is in the hospital?! When?" Nell exclaimed.

"A few days ago." Deeks admitted.

"And you two didn't think to tell me?" She said, her face red.

"He asked us not to tell you." Kensi said.

Nell rubbed her forehead and turned to the priest.

"I have a reason why I should not be wed. I'm sorry Anthony, but there is somewhere else I need to be. I'm sorry to hurt you but I have to go." Nell said as she grabbed the folds of her gown and walked down the isle. She called out to Callen who tossed her a set of keys, which she caught with little effort.

Everyone stood dumbfounded as Callen and Sam joined Kensi, Deeks, and Michelle.

"Took her long enough." Sam said.

Kensi heard whispering from Anthony and the groomsmen. She picked up the words "Score with the bridesmaids" from one of them.

"Oh hell no!" Michelle said.

Sam looked at the two women. "Do you want to? Or should I handle it?" He asked.

"We got this, Baby." Michelle said. Kensi just nodded.

Sam waved past him as Kensi and Michelle stepped up to the Best man and the offender and without saying a word punched both of them in the face.

"Come on, guys. Let's get out of here." Kensi said as they walked down the path and out the doors.

LA Mercy General

Nell pulled the car into a parking spot and shut it off. Inwardly cursing herself that she didn't change beforehand she was worried how he was going to react. Running inside she found the nurses' station.

"What room is Eric Beale in?" She asked, trying to catch her breath.

"Room 307. Right over there." The nurse pointed.

"Thank you." She replied as she stepped up to the door and opened it slowly.

Nate looked up as she walked in, stepping up to her as she closed the door.

"This is your doing." She said, mild annoyance in her voice.

"Just looking out for you." Nate said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll yell at you later but for right now…." She threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you" She said.

Nate opened the door and stepped out, leaving her alone with him. She moved around the bed and sat down, reaching out and taking his hand in hers.

At the feeling of her touch he stirred, grabbing his glasses and slipping them on. When he saw her he immediately withdrew his hand from hers.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

If Nell was caught off guard by his tone of voice, she didn't show it.

"This is where I belong." She said in a low voice, her eyes not leaving him even though he wouldn't look at her.

"Could have fooled me." Eric said.

"Eric, please. Don't do this." Nell asked as she reached out and took his hand with her left.

Eric noticed that her hand was bare.

"That is right, Eric. I walked away." She said after he noticed.

"Why?" Eric asked her.

"I should ask you why you never told me that you had to have surgery. But since in the grand scheme of things my mistake far outweighs yours I think we should leave the 'Whys' out of it." Nell said.

Nell stood up, giving him a full view of her in her gown.

"You like….nice." Eric said, barely able to speak.

"Nice? That is all?" She said, one eyebrow raised.

"You look beautiful. If I hadn't already woken to Nate I would have thought I was in heaven." He said.

"I'm not letting you go that easy, Wolfram. I made my choice, and now you are stuck with me." She said as she leaned over and kissed him.

"I love you, Eric." She whispered to him.

"I love you too, Nell." He replied.

She could tell he was starting to get tired again.

"Go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." She whispered to him.

"Promise?" He asked her.

"Promise." She replied as she took his glasses off and he settled in. She leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead as she turned and stepped outside the room.

"Thank you, Nate. I owe you one." Nell said as Nate stood up.

"Just looking out for you, Kiddo." Nate said.

"Mind getting my clothes for me. I want to get out of this thing." She said, waving to the dress.

"I'll call Kensi and get your stuff. Let me know if you need anything else." Nate said as he gave her a hug and left. Nell went back into Eric's room and sat down, gently taking his hand again.

3 days later

"Thanks for picking me up, Deeks." Eric said as he climbed out of the wheelchair and into the passenger side of Deek's car.

"No problem. Glad to see you are feeling better." Deeks said as they drove off.

"So what was so important that Nell couldn't pick me up" Eric asked him as they drove.

"Beats me. She was rather mum on the subject." Deeks said.

As they drove Eric noticed that they were way off course heading to his place.

"Uh, you forget where I live all of the sudden?" Eric asked as he looked over at Deeks.

"Nope" Deeks replied, not elaborating any further.

Eric sat for a few minutes trying to figure out what was going on when Deeks pulled the car into a parking lot of a large Church.

"What are we doing here?" Eric said.

"You'll see. Now, hurry up." Deeks said as he climbed out and grabbed a bag from the back.

They entered the church and Deeks led Eric down the hallway to a large room. He opened the door and saw Callen and Sam getting dressed.

"You're late." Callen said.

"Yea, traffic is a bitch." Deeks said as he started to strip is clothes off and change into a tuxedo.

"Uh…guys. Someone want to fill me in?" Eric said.

Sam pointed at a garment bag lying on a table.

"Hurry and put that on." He said.

Eric wordlessly obliged. Changing into a suit that fit him like a glove.

There was a knock on the door as Deeks opened.

"Are you all ready?" Hetty asked as she stepped inside.

"Good to go." Callen said.

"Mr. Beale, you look very handsome." Hetty said as she gave his suit a once over.

"Is this your doing?" He asked her.

"Partially. But I can't take full credit for it." She replied.

Callen and Deeks let Eric out of the room as Sam left a different way. They entered the main hall of the church to find a Navy Chaplin standing there.

"Wait, this is a wedding?" Eric asked.

"Yep. You, my friend, are getting married." Deeks said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"But what about rings?" Eric asked.

"Got it covered. Just needed to get yours resized. And seriously? What kind of potential husband makes his future wife pay for the rings?" Deeks said as he pulled out a ring box.

Music started to play as Rose, Michelle, and Kensi all walked down the aisle, following by Kamhrin with Monty. The music then changed and Sam appeared, walking with Nell at his arm again.

They stopped at the altar as the Chaplin asked who gives the bride. Hetty again responded that she did as Eric held his hand out for Nell.

"Gonna walk away from this?" He asked her with a smile on his face.

"Not a chance, Wolfram." She said, returning his smile as the Chaplin began to speak.

This one partially was inspired by The One by BlackBear53 (Go and read it. I highly recommend it). I really wanted to play with the despair angle of Eric losing everything.

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