Paranoia or Reality

Paranoia or Reality Chapter 22

Time blurred. As far as he knew, it was still the same day he jumped out of the plane for his life. His blue eyes blinked to adjust to the light. He attempted to turn his head and was pleased he could move it slightly. Even a little was a victory for him. Sam laid out on the armchair with his legs spreading out on the floor, and his arms crossed over his chest. His head rested on his right shoulder.

He should have looked peaceful, but he looked pained. Under the shadows of night, he allowed his grief of losing his wife, haunt him. During the day, he was efficient in locking his emotions away. He murmured Michelle's name a few times, and Callen felt for the big guy. Tough on the exterior, soft on the inside. That was Sam Hanna to a tee.

Large brown eyes met his blue, and he'd been caught watching him.

"Stephen." Sam stretched out his limbs and shoved the cobwebs of sleep from his mind. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Disorientated. How long have I been asleep?"

"Longer than Sleeping Beauty. Disney was about to rewrite the story to rename it, Stephen Beauty." Sam chuckled, pleased to lighten his spirits after the nightmare that took hold of him earlier.

"Ha! Ha!" Callen responded, knowing how good it was for this banter. "Mock me now. But I know you worry over me."

"That he does." At that moment, Leroy Jethro Gibbs entered his room. "I thought I heard talking." He gave him a warm smile, reaching his paler blue eyes.

"The doctor should be on his rounds soon. He'll be pleased to see you awake." He studied his younger friend further.

"You're in pain."

"No kidding." He clenched his teeth.

Sam pressed the button beside Callen's bed, alerting staff. A nurse entered within a minute of the button being pressed and saw the patient awake.

"Mr Campbell. It's good to see you've returned to the living." Immediately she took his blood pressure and temperature, noting them down on his chart. "Dr Harrison will be with you soon." She lifted her watch to take a closer look. "Sooner than I thought."

As if on cue, Dr Harrison entered Callen's room.

"Hello, Mr Campbell. Welcome back."

"How long have I been asleep?" All these jokes were grating on his nerves, he had no sense of humour left in him from the pain he was enduring.

"Three days."

Callen's eyes widened at the news.

"Now you're awake, we can send you to radiology for more tests. See how your spine is healing." Dr Harrison assessed Callen and noted the pain. He turned to the nurse. "What's the amount of morphine he's receiving?"

"5mg/hour."

"That should be helping." He looked at his patient and knew he was in considerable pain still. "I'll contact radiology and get Mr Campbell in for his MRIs immediately. I want to know what's causing him this much pain."

"Mr Campbell. We're going to give you an inhaler of Methoxyflurane to help you manage the pain. You inhale when you need it."

Callen blinked a few times, thankful for the additional pain relief. The nurse rushed out and within five minutes, she returned with something long and green. It had PENTHROX written in large letters and Methoxyflurane in smaller letters underneath. He took it into his mouth and inhaled. He held a vice-like grip on it, not letting it go out of his hands.

"You can relax your hand, Mr Campbell. If you drop it, either one of your friends can help you with it, or you can press the button for one of our staff to assist you."