Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS: Los Angeles or any of its characters. I just like to play with them and if given the opportunity, break 'em a little.

Author's Note: Hey guys, I had this writing exercise where I had to describe a coma patient's awakening in only 500 words. Thing sat in my computer for a couple of years before I decided to expand it and this is the end product. Big thanks to Lizard971 for the beta job and as always whatever mistakes you may find I'll take full responsibility for them.

Hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave me a review if you are in the giving mood ;) Happy Reading!

Awakening

By Laz

Kensi stood at the foot of the bed. He still looked pale, although not as pale as he had been a week ago, when they brought his almost lifeless, blood-covered body through to the Emergency Room. She shuddered at the memory, still able to see the pool of blood on the sidewalk, after the target had shot him instead of the girl they were trying to rescue. She had demanded to accompany him in the ambulance, therefore witnessing the attempts to keep him alive until they reached the hospital and they whisked him away through some doors where she couldn't follow.

She'd been waiting forever for him to wake up.

If she could bully him into waking up she would, but she had no idea what was going on inside his mind. She had a good idea what went inside his body, but that was through the doctor's extensive report. She asked the doctor to level with her and give her the truth and the truth is what she got. She got all the unpleasant details about how the bullet's path wreaked havoc inside him. How it missed his heart but nicked the pulmonary artery. How it collapsed a lung and caused internal bleeding. It had been touch and go for the first couple of days. The doctor didn't give them false hope; he kept saying "We're doing what we can," or "He's holding his own," or something equally non-committal. And yet she had no idea what was going on inside his head, if he was living in a nightmare or if he was inside some dirty fantasy of his.

He finally began stabilizing three days after the shooting. His vital signs had been improving slowly but surely since then. She looked down at him and still cling to hope. Deeks was not supposed to be silent; he was not supposed to look vulnerable and fragile. She could only sit by his bedside, talk to him and watch how his once full of emotions face had been steadily looking as if void of life for the past week. She couldn't help but to be reminded of Callen. Last time it had been him in that bed fighting to live and he pulled through. Deeks had to do the same.

Someone walked into the room and she recognized her favorite nurse. "Hey Stacy."

"Hello dear, I'm just gonna refresh the antibiotics for your boy here; we don't want that infection to come back, do we?

"He's not my boy, Stacy."

"You know what I mean, Kensi" She had a sweet voice, caring eyes and pretty much the whole 'warm' package. If Deeks only knew she had been providing him with his sponge baths! He probably wouldn't mind, Stacy was still beautiful for her age and Deeks had no problem with older women. But if Kensi liked Stacy, it was because she showed that positive attitude she needed. "How is he?" Stacy checked the vital signs and changed the IV bag.

"His vital signs have been steadily getting stronger. Dr. Fuller started weaning him from the ventilator today. He thinks it may be time to let him do some of the work."

"He thinks Deeks is ready?"

"That's what the vital signs are saying." Kensi allowed herself to smile. Finally, some good news.

"I know the waiting seems never ending but his injuries were severe and he needed his rest."

"I know but I want him up and annoying me." She quickly realized she said that out loud and desperately looked at Stacy "Don't tell him I said that."

"I won't" she chuckled and continued "You've been a great partner, but he's going to need your support and patience when he wakes up. The recovery part is not easy, and I'm sure he will annoy and even anger you. Although, I think this is not news to you; I've seen his scars."

"Is not, but it kind of comes with the territory."

"Let me tell you something. My mother was convinced she was a psychic, and I can tell you right now, she couldn't see a damn thing even if it was staring at her right in the face. But I've seen so many people come and go through these halls for so many years, I've learned how to read people, and your partner right here is strong yet vulnerable. He might be silly at times and fix everything with a joke, but that's just to distract people while he collects himself." That drew a small smile out of Kensi. "He looks like a big goofball." Stacy winked at Kensi. "So now, he needs time to get himself together…by taking some time off from the real world."

"I just want him to be okay."

"I know sweetheart, and he will be. A handsome fighter like him won't stay down for long. He has to impress the ladies with the stories of his scars."

"Seems like you know him pretty well."

"I've seen many like him before." – She scribbled something in the chart. – "Here we call it the hero complex, but I suspect your partner is the real deal."

"Another thing you shouldn't tell him or his ego will grow two sizes."

"Fine, but I'll definitely have a talk with him about having some self-preservation. He cant keep collecting scars like this."

Stacy patted her on the shoulder before leaving. "I'll be at the nurse's desk if you need me." And Kensi went back to guarding her partner's sleep.

"She's right you know… about that self-preservation thing. If Hetty has a say in it you'll be a great agent, but you need to learn to take care of yourself too, and you're not very good at it." She can't really stand the beeping interrupting the silence so she continues talking. "The girl is fine. You actually got to her in time. You also got the guy…but you need to work on your timing next time." Kensi got up from the chair, worked all of the kinks and knots of her body and started pacing.

She could tell it was dark outside… another day had gone by. Another day her partner lay in a hospital bed. Another day he was still breathing through a tube. Hopefully that would change soon.

Kensi looked at the door to check no one would see her and placed a tender kiss on his head before leaving for the night. She didn't cross path with Hetty as the latter made her way into Deeks room. The small woman sat on the chair Kensi had just vacated minutes before.

"She cares a great deal about you. The whole team does, and they miss you dearly." She took a moment to just look at him. "I believe you have taken enough time young man. Carolyn is in perfect health, although there might be a case of transference there; you are her hero now. My point being, life goes on, you managed to save her so you can stop this nonsense and come back to us. I can make it an order if you prefer."

He remained unresponsive. "Not to worry, Mr. Deeks, I'm a very patient woman." She opened her book and just sat by his bedside and read for hours.

He opened his eyes in a lazy attempt to see where he was; there was a dull ache throughout his body, and he could feel the cold temperature seeping through the sheet covering him. He would need to remind someone to turn down the air conditioner; he was a human being for crying out loud not a frozen dinner package in a fridge. Suddenly he got the nagging feeling that something was wrong. His senses were kicking in one at the time, but taking their sweet time doing so. He knew he was awake but his vision was not working. He wanted to speak, but something prevented him from doing so, and he suspected it had something to do with the plastic taste in his mouth. He wanted to get up, but his body wouldn't respond to any of his commands, only sending ripples of pain throughout every single one of his cells. Something was seriously wrong. He wanted to groan and moan, but the sounds never made it past his lips.

It seemed like the only sense that hadn't let him down was his hearing. There were beepings, some faster than others, and there was a whooshing sound too. Not sure what it meant, he kept fishing for more sounds. That's when he heard it, a female voice. The fog in his mind wasn't allowing for much coherent thought or anything at all really, but there was just something about the voice that was talking to him. It wasn't Kensi's, that much he knew. He focused hard on the voice and tried muting every other sound in the room. He figured it could only be the other woman who gave a crap about him; Hetty. She was there with him. His vision was somewhat clearer now, so he moved his head enough to see her. He needed to make sure it was 't all in his head. He needed to see with his own eyes that she was really there. And she was. He forgot the pain, the cold, the beeps, and concentrated on her. She was reading out loud but then she stopped. "Welcome back Mr. Deeks." She said and continued reading. He could no longer keep his eyes open so he let the sound of her voice lull him back to sleep.

Kensi took the day off after Hetty called her to say Deeks had briefly woken up the night before. When she got to the hospital he looked the same to her, but Hetty was sure he would wake up today and she had to be there for him. She didn't want him to wake up alone. It was now midafternoon and he still slept unaware of her presence. She started pacing, getting all anxious and somewhat disappointed too.

Two hours later she saw his eyes twitching. "Come on, Deeks. Wake up or I'll punch you for keeping me waiting all this time." He didn't open his eyes in a lazy attempt to see where he was. No, he snapped them wide open and got all worked up. The heart monitor was going crazy trying to keep up with the accelerating beats of his heart. He was in full panic mode.

"Nurse!" Kensi yelled at the same time she pushed the call button.

"Take it easy, Deeks. You're on the ventilator. Just focus on me, look at me. I'm right here." But in his haze, the words weren't getting through and she alone couldn't hold him down with the sudden strength he displayed. Next thing she knew, he was ripping the tube out and there was blood coming down the corners of his mouth. The doctor and nurses crowded him, and pushed her out of the room.

Outside she paced and called Hetty. Minutes later Dr. Fuller came out to talk to her.

"Is he alright?"

"He's going to be fine. We sedated him. Unfortunately, waking up to having something jammed down your throat can feel as bad as it sounds and some patients panic. He only did superficial damage by taking the tube out himself so his throat will be even sorer for a while. We'll be moving him to a regular room soon. You can relax now, the worse is over."

She smiled and thanked him before she went back in the room. She was surprised to find Deeks fighting to stay awake. He would close his eyes and lazily open them again. He was losing the fight to stay conscious. Kensi took his hand and cradled it between hers to ground him. "It's okay Deeks. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise I'll be right here when you wake up," she said reassuringly and felt him squeeze her hand firmly. As his grip relaxed, his eyes closed and he drifted back off to sleep.

Several hours later, Deeks regained consciousness again. He was visibly relieved to discover that the ventilator was gone for good and replaced with an oxygen mask. The head of the bed was slightly elevated to help with his breathing. He struggled for several minutes before getting his eyes fully open. "Remember running...to get… the girl" he said in a voice slightly louder than a whisper while his breath fogged the mask.

"You were shot when you used your body to shield her. And yes, she's fine"

"How?"

"You weren't wearing your vest."

"Oh…" He closed his eyes tightly, and Kensi didn't know if he was trying to remember or if he was in pain.

"How you feeling?"

"Like I was hit… by a truck." That answered her question.

"Want me to get the nurse, get you something for the pain?" He shook his head. "You seriously have to stop getting shot."

He didn't have the energy to get into that so he changed the subject. "You ate… my Jell-O?"

"Not yet."

"Thank you."

"For what, not eating your Jell-O? Because the moment you fall asleep again, it is gone."

"…being here…"

"Nowhere else I rather be partner."

Finis ?