Kensi stumbled down a long, empty hallway, barely seeing the clean gray tiles beneath her feet. As more medical personnel entered Deeks' room, along with a variety of medical paraphernalia, Dr. Morita had requested that Kensi return to main part of the floor, away from the infectious disease wing.
Despite Dr. Morita's insistence that it was mostly cautionary. The more quickly they treated any possible symptoms, the better the outcome. It did nothing to reassure Kensi.
More than anything, she hated to leave Deeks alone. He'd tried to cover his fear, and everyone else likely bought it, but she'd seen it in the fine trembling of his hands and his widened eyes. As she'd walked through the sliding doors, she'd looked over her shoulder, and saw his spine slump and anguish in his eyes.
Taking a few calming breaths, Kensi found a bench near the end of the hall and say, sliding her phone from her pocket—she'd had to retrieve it from the nursing staff since personal outside belongings weren't allowed in a quarantined room. She needed something to concentrate on, even if for a moment.
There were a series of texts from Nell, each one more concerned than the last, which Kensi wasn't in the mind frame to think about just yet. She sent off a vague update, then turned to Sam and Callen's messages. Theirs were to the point, requesting more information for the cases reports. She responded to each, focusing on the familiar, procedural task.
When she was finished, she went back to her unread messages, scrolling down until she found an unread message. She inhaled reflexively, realizing it was from Deeks. Her thumb hovered over it for a full five seconds before she pressed it, and rubbed her suddenly clammy hand on her jeans.
"Hey, missed you this morning."
It was a simple message, one that he could have sent any day. Except today, she'd purposely avoided Deeks, too wrapped up in her own concerns. And now she might never spend another morning running with him. Or lazing in bed. She might never get to touch him again.
"Oh god," she gasped. Her phone clattered to the side as she drew her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her knees. Kensi sobbed quietly, almost silently, her shoulders heaving with the force of the tremors.
"Kensi?" A large, familiar hand settled on her back briefly, and she sat up to find Sam standing over her.
"Sam, what are you doing here?" She hastily uncurled, swiping the hem of her sleeve over her face, like it could hide her puffy eyes and tear-reddened cheeks.
"I thought you could use some company," he said, eyes roving over her.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that. You guys have to be swamped without us there," Kensi told him, even as something that approached relief spread through her. As much as she didn't want anyone to see her lose control, waiting all alone was awful.
"Nah, Callen and Nell took charge. They have it covered. So you're stuck with me." Sam offered her a half-smile, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze.
Kensi held out for another second before she she caved. "Ok," she whispered. She scooted over, making room for him, and once again tucked her legs up by her chest.
"So, how's Deeks doing?" Sam asked. "I know you told Nell that he's fine, but I know you're leaving things out. Otherwise you'd probably be wherever he is." Shaking his head, he muttered something that sounded like "inseparable".
Kensi fiddled with her nails, staring down at her knees instead of meeting Sam's stead gaze. "He has a fever and feels kind of nauseous, so his doctor decided it was time to monitor all his vitals. Maybe up his treatment. You know, just to be safe and it might be a reaction to the medications, but, uh," she broke off, wiping at her eyes again. "I'm really worried."
Sam wrapped his arms around her shoulders, tugging her into his chest. He felt solid and sturdy when Kensi felt like she might crumble into pieces.
"Hey, it's going to be ok. I know it's scary, but Deeks is a fighter. He doesn't know how to give up." He gave her an extra squeeze. "And he knows if he even thinks about it, we'll all be there to smack that notion out of his head."
"Thanks, Sam." Her words were muffled against his shirt, but Sam seemed to get the message.
"We got your back."
They sat like that for several more minutes until Kensi felt a little less like the smallest thing would set her off on another bout of crying.
"Have you eaten anything all day?" he asked, giving Kensi a disapproving look when she shrugged.
"It's been crazy and I'm honestly not hungry at all."
"Uh-huh. Passing out isn't going to do anybody good. I'll be right back."
Sam headed off down the hall, once again leaving Kensi in the mostly empty hall. She counted tiles to block out the intrusive worries until he came maybe five minutes later with a cup of coffee, a small sandwich, and a packet of Oreos.
She laughed softly when he handed her those first. "Deeks would have my butt if I didn't keep you properly sugared up," he explained, chuckling himself.
Kensi popped a cookie in her mouth, washing it down with mediocre coffee. Surprisingly, she found that she was hungry and had eaten half of the sandwich in a few bites.
She was about to eat the last cookie, a voice crackled over the ceiling speaker.
"Dr. Morita to room 126, stat!"
"That's Deeks' room," she whispered, the rest of her sandwich dropping from her numb fingers.