Just something I've been wondering about since the season premiere. Was there any kind of a reason why the writers chose to give Callen a fractured vertebrae? Probably not, but I have a twisted mind that comes up with all kinds of craziness.

xxxxx

Callen entered the boat shed and stiffly walked over to the refrigerator, rubbing his lower back with his hand as he did so. Damn, he was sore. That tumble down the stairs while apprehending General Omer Abidi hadn't done him any favors. His back was really throbbing. Luckily, since Mexico, he was becoming quite adept at hiding any back pain symptoms when they arose. He took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then opened the door to the freezer, took out his cold pack and brought it over to the sofa. He reached for his duffel bag on the floor and pulled out his bottle of ibuprofen and swallowed four tablets down with some water. Then he laid down with the cold pack between his back and the back of the sofa, curled up as best he could and put a pillow between his knees. It was one of the positions to help manage his pain that had been suggested by the physical therapist after he had fractured his vertebrae. He breathed a sigh of relief as the cold began to penetrate through the pain and he closed his eyes.

xxxxx

Sam grabbed the bag of food from the back seat of his car and started walking towards the boat shed. As he walked, he thought about how drastically the lives of he and his partner had changed with he, himself, living on a boat and ironically, Callen temporarily living in a boat shed. He really hoped that the work on Callen's apartment over Deeks' bar would be done soon as he really didn't think this was the best living situation for his friend. He wondered what Hetty would have to say about it if she knew, but of course she didn't know and there was no way of getting in touch with her. He opened the door of the boat shed and walked inside, surprised to see his partner asleep. It was then that he noticed G's positioning. He'd seen his partner asleep enough times to know this was definitely out of the norm for him.

"Hey, G? Wake up."

Callen opened his eyes and his heart sank when he saw his partner. He could feel the stiffness in his back and knew sitting up without letting on he was in pain was not going to be easy. He gave it his best attempt though and slowly sat up. From the look in Sam's eyes, he knew he wasn't fooling him. "Hey, Sam...did you bring dinner?"

"What's going on, G?" Sam asked as he put the food down on the table.

"Nothing." Callen knew that as much as he lied while undercover, it never seemed to work with his partner. He casually tossed the pillow aside and attempted to look innocent. "What did you bring?"

"Did you hurt your back again?" Sam's mind immediately went to the fall, G had taken when he'd tackled Abidi and he mentally berated himself for not even thinking twice about it. At the time, Callen had gotten up quickly though and had seemed to be okay.

Callen shook his head. "It's fine...just twinged it a little bit...no big deal."

Sam sat down on the sofa next to his partner and his eyes took in the cold pack. He kicked himself for never even questioning the state of G's back. He hadn't appeared to have any issues when he returned to work and Sam had just assumed he was fine. "How long has this been going on, G?"

"It hasn't been," Callen insisted.

Sam ran his hand over his face, unsure what to think. "How much pain are you in?"

Callen sighed heavily. "It just stiffens up on me sometimes, Sam. The doctor said it could happen, especially when you take down a suspect on concrete stairs." He smirked, but Sam didn't seem to find the humor in what he'd said.

"I should have gone after Abidi," Sam said, guilt immediately setting in.

Callen gave his partner an incredulous look. "Why? Because we knew that was going to happen? Give me a break, Sam."

"Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"About what?" Callen was starting to get irritated now. He really needed to get himself into Deeks' apartment as soon as possible. The boat shed had too many privacy issues. Evidently, Sam had no problem at all showing up at all hours of the day or night. Immediately, he felt bad thinking that way though, knowing that his partner was only looking out for him. "There's nothing to talk about, Sam. Like I said, I twinged it a little bit. Sometimes my back bothers me, but not enough to interfere with the job."

"Yet."

Callen's eyes narrowed. "If you're worried that I'm not capable of having your back, just say so."

"Whoa, I didn't say that, G. I wasn't even thinking that. I'm worried about you. You're too good at hiding things...things that might be serious and I have no way of knowing what's going on with you."

"It's not serious."

Sam sighed to himself. They were just going around in circles and he knew Callen wasn't going to admit anything to him. He was just going to have to watch him more closely in the future. At least now he knew there could possibly be a problem. He hadn't even suspected that could be the case. "Fine...We'll drop it." For now, he added mentally.

Callen looked back at Sam, his mind filled with suspicions now that his friend was going to let this go so easily. He wasn't sure he trusted that at all. He was going to have to watch himself. He knew that the slightest misstep was going to put him directly under Sam's laser sharp focus. He was going to have to be very, very careful. "So...dinner?" he asked, genuinely interested in whatever Sam had brought them to eat.

Sam smiled as he stood up and got the bag. "Steak tips from Gino's."

"Yeah?" Callen's eyes lit up. Gino's made the best tips around. "Thanks, Sam."

"You're welcome. I'm going to go heat these up a little in the microwave. You just rest. I'll be right back."

Sam returned a few minutes later with the heated food and a couple of beers. The two men then shared a nice dinner, neither of them bringing up Callen's back. After dinner, they chatted for a bit before Sam announced he was going to head back to his boat. "You can stay here if you want to," Callen said. The accommodations weren't great, but it wasn't like living on a boat was anything luxurious either.

Sam shook his head. "No. I need to check on a few things back there. I'll pick you up in the morning."

"I can drive myself to work."

"I'll pick you up."

Callen recognized the stubbornness in Sam's tone and decided to give in this time. "Okay. Thanks, Sam, and thanks for bringing dinner also."

"No problem…" Sam gazed at Callen for a long moment, wanting to say something more about his friend's back, but in the end, he decided to keep silent, at least for the time being. "You take it easy, G...I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Sam."

"Good night."

xxxxx

After Sam left, Callen sat for a long time, his thoughts in a turmoil. He had really downplayed his symptoms to his partner and he was pretty sure Sam knew it. He was beginning to wonder about the long term effects of what had happened in Mexico. He wasn't a kid anymore and he knew his body didn't heal up as quickly or as easily as it had in his younger days. He dug through his duffel bag and came up with a prescription bottle of Oxycontin. He had filled it when he'd been released from the hospital, but he'd never taken even one pill. For the first time now, he was tempted. Lots of people took painkillers, but he had never been one of them. Even when he'd been shot five times, he'd only taken over the counter meds once he'd been released from the hospital. Now...now he was beginning to feel differently and he didn't like what he was feeling at all. He couldn't take the pills while back on field duty. He knew he ought to get rid of them, dump them out and be done with it. He juggled the bottle from hand to hand and finally stuck it back in his duffel bag. He knew the pills were there if he needed them, but for now, he was going to tough it out. Hopefully, his symptoms would begin to improve sometime soon.