#blunt force

[ejzah]

Blunt Force, Part 4

***

“You ready to try that breakfast yet?” Kensi asked, nodding to the tray with the typical suspects for a liquid diet. He shrugged indifferently, but she seemed eager for something to do.

“I suppose.”

Kensi almost tripped over herself to get it for him, and he wondered if she was normally like this, or if the situation made her nervous. He had know way of knowing for sure having only met her yesterday. Well, that he remembered.

Setting the tray on the rolling table and carefully positioning it over his bed, Kensi took the plastic lid covering a small plate, revealing a bowl of lime jello and what he assumed was chicken broth.

“My favorite flavor. I guess it’s my lucky day,” he joked. To his surprise, Kensi smiled, almost looking relieved. “What?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just…the first time you were in the hospital once we were partners, you made a big deal about the jello,” she explained, waving her hand through the air.

“So, what you’re saying is I’m predictable.”

“No. It’s nice to know some things are still the same.”

With that comment to occupy his thoughts, he grabbed a spoon and started in on the small cup of jello. It didn’t taste bad, but he wasn’t particularly hungry. His thoughts drifted again.

He wondered if anyone had told his clients they would need new council. The district attorney would just love that. He’d been searching for an excuse to force Deeks out for months, and partial amnesia would be perfectly valid, unlike his frequent citations for Deeks’ appearance.

A second too late, he recalled that wouldn’t be necessary since he wasn’t a public defender and didn’t have clients anymore. Apparently he’d swapped out a briefcase and suit for a gun and a badge sometime along the way.

And wasn’t that something to wrap his head around? Even though he’d considered leaving criminal law, it surprised him he actually made that jump and so far to the other side. A dark voice in his head murmured that he’d always been the violent type, but he brushed that away with a shake of his head.

“Is your headache getting worse?” Kensi asked unexpectedly, and he inhaled deeply, glancing up from his uneaten jello.

“What, no I’m fine. Why?”

“Oh, you just do this thing with your eyebrows and your lips part a little bit.” She gestured to her own eyebrows.

“Wow, you really do know me well,” he murmured, and she flushed, which made him wonder just what their relationship was.

“One of the hazards of working together everyday, I guess,” she said, clearly embarrassed. “We’re pretty good at noticing each other’s quirks and judging moods.

It felt a little surreal every time Kensi made some reference to their partnership, work, or a detail of his life he couldn’t remember sharing with her. Hell, she knew things about him he couldn’t even remember experiencing at all. It left him with a strange sense of loss, an emptiness he couldn’t quite verbalize.

He supposed at the very least it seemed he was happier as a LAPD liaison than he had as a public defender. The thought that left a very low bar for comparison since he’d been pretty miserable for most of his tenure with the county law department.

His musing was interrupted once again, but this time by a nurse with a wheelchair.

“Mr. Deeks, I’m here to take your for your test and physical therapy evaluation,” she informed him. “Would you like any help washing up or any other tasks?”

“No, I think I can handle it,” Deeks said, easily transferring himself into the wheelchair without any assistance. It gave him a moment of pause, because he’d never used one before, but he shook it off, accepting that there were certain things he just wouldn’t understand for now.

He brushed his teeth and watched his face, attempting to use the plastic comb on the back of the sink to tame his hair before eventually giving it up. It looked like “styled by pillow” would be it until he could shower.

When he rolled back into the room, Kensi and the nurse were waiting for him.

“I’m going to get breakfast while you’re gone,” Kensi said, quickly adding, “but I’ll be back here when I’m done.”

He considered telling her again that she didn’t need to stay with him day on and day out. He didn’t think that would work any better than less time, so he just settled on a nod of appreciation.

“Ok. Sneak me back a donut, ok?” He winked as the nurse rolled him out of the room.

***

When Deeks returned from his CT scan and physical evaluation (he’d been deemed physically sound, but would need to use a wheelchair until he left since he was still a fall risk), he found a tiny brunette woman in his room in place of Kensi. She sat with a laptop propped on her folded legs, furiously typing away.

The moment she registered him, she set the laptop to the side as his nurse rolled him into the room. He assumed the mystery woman was either a friend or someone from the same agency as Kensi.

“This will be fine,” he said, indicating the end of the bed. After laying down for so long, it was a relief to be upright and slightly more mobile. Even if the position did bring back a touch of nausea.

“Do you need anything else, Mr. Deeks?”

“No, I think I’m good. Thanks, Amanda.”

“Of course.” She offered him a smile and pat on the shoulder. “I’ll come check on you in a little bit.”

“Hi, I’m Nell Jones. I work with Kensi,” she explained. Once she’d left the room, the new woman stood up, smoothing her hands down the skirt of her dress.

“Marty Deeks, nice to meet you,” he replied, deciding to roll with it.

“Nice to me—” she started to say back before she caught herself with a sheepish laugh. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. So, are you my new keeper?”

“Only temporarily. Our boss, Hetty, ordered Kensi to home for a few hours, so here I am.”

That was good.

“I see you drew the short straw.”

“No, I offered,” she corrected him seriously. “We’ve all been worried about you, so I jumped at an excuse to come.” She shrugged, though she didn’t look any less earnest. “I needed to see you were ok for myself.”

“I am. If you count partial amnesia as ok,” he said glibly.

“Yeah, that’s something I’ve only seen in movies and tv before,” Nell Jones admitted. “It must be weird.”

That genuinely made him laugh. “Yeah, it kind of is. In my mind, a new “Pirates of the Caribbean just came out, which was not as good as the first and I have a deposition in the morning.”

“I guess the good news is that you no longer have a deposition,” she pointed out, drawing another half-laugh from Deeks.

“That’s very true.” He grabbed the kid-size cup of grape juice still left on his breakfast tray, leaning back in the wheelchair, and gestured to the chair Nell Jones had previously occupied. “Make yourself comfortable.” He cleared his throat before taking a sip of the very sweet juice. “So, Kensi told me all about 2012 me. What’s your perspective, Ms. Jones?”

She made a face and held up a hand. “Oh, that sounds so wrong for some reason. It’s just Nell. And do you mean who you are or our relationship?” she asked.

“Either. Everything is a revelation.”

Taking a seat, Nell smooth her dress down, regarding him with a tilted head.

“Well aside from colleagues, you’re my friend, pseudo older brother.” She smiled conspiratorially. “You’re the kind of guy you can tease and joke with, but you’re also always there to lend a shoulder or defend depending on the situation. You’d walk me to my car late at night and block a bullet for me. Or help move a couch up three flights of stairs.”

“You make me sound like some kind of superhero,” Deeks commented. Her open and enthusiastic admiration made him uncomfortable.

“You are in a way. The whole team is really. But you’re you have a really special way of connecting with people that makes you different,” she explained.

“I guess I’ve always been a people person. It’s how I conned my way out of a lot of detentions. Or as the majority of supervisors have lamented, a trouble-maker.”

“You still are sometimes, but only in the best way. Honestly, if we didn’t joke around and act a little silly sometimes, we’d be miserable.”

He noted the difference between her and Kensi’s descriptions. Kensi had mentioned a rocky start while Nell presented a mostly positive version.

“You’re also really good at giving nicknames,” Nell added.

“Really? The prosecutors aren’t so appreciative.”

“They don’t know what they’re missing.”

“What’s one of nicknames for you?”

For the first time, she hesitated, then softly answered, “Sometimes you call me Nellosaurus. Or Velma and I call you Shaggy.”

“Like—?”

She nodded. “Scooby-Doo.”

“Gee, thanks,” he drawled, and she made a noise of protest.

“It is said with love. I happen to think Shaggy is an amazing character,” she insisted, trying to keep a straight face.

They broke into unexpected laughter, Nell nearly doubling over in an attempt to regain composure. Eventually, she sat up again, wiping under her eyes.

“Can I hug you?” she asked unexpectedly.

“What—yeah, I guess,” Deeks said, a little throw off by the wide swings in mood. Coming towards him, she bent down, wrapping both arms around him. Her hands just met in the middle of his back, and she squeezed him gently, pressing her face into his shoulder, with a shaky inhale.

“I was really worried about you,” she whispered.

***

A/N: I get to call Nell tiny, because I am also very short. I keep expecting to have this story finished up, but then there ends up being more to write

[whumpookies]

Whumpingo: Blunt force trauma

Kan çiçekleri knocked out from behind.

Hey look @99point9percentwhump I got 1 line 🤣

[wombywoo]

/my head is bloody, but unbowed/

[strawberrinoz]

i made a new save file to fully experience 1.6. here’s a farmer redesign (click for better quality if you’re on the mobile app… 🙁)

she goes by ruru. she has rbf. she’s an aspiring crazy cat lady and she has no concern for her well being

ok that’s it ty

[venaacavaa]

This is so real

[bee-ina-boat]

I have a vision

[gremmlingamer]

[faunandfloraas]

They have a way with words.

[turtleblogatlast]

Headcanon that Leo really loved to give his family massages growing up. We know that he’s good at them from the episode “You Got Served” and we know he likes spas and relaxation and getting massages himself from when he tried to get these in “Bad Hair Day” and from when Donnie made a tennis ball massage machine in “Smart Lair.”

So I think it’d be cute to think that maybe one day Leo overheard Splinter complaining about a bad back and immediately Leo thinks back to a comic or movie or something he saw where a massage helped so he offers to give one and it actually ends up helping Splinter.

Then April swings by the Lair at a later time and mentions her back hurting because of her backpack from school and Leo’s all like “I gotcha!”

From there, he occasionally manages to convince Donnie to sit for one because Donnie’s shrimp posture does not help him any (Leo pokes fun at how sandpaper-y Donnie’s shell is despite knowing it’s always like that and Donnie smacks him for it.) Donnie usually prefers hand massages instead however as all his typing and inventing adds up over time, and shoulder massages too once he starts wearing his battle shells more. Leo also figures out how to give massages to Raph and Mikey’s shells as well, though it’s a struggle at first to not scratch his hands on Raph’s spikes.

I think since Leo has such bad luck with spas and the like, he tries giving himself massages (though it’s not as helpful.) Like, with how his abilities work his legs are probably always aching from his portal jumping and one foot landings, so maybe he branches past back massages out of a need to help his own aches too. (Though he really wants a shell massage himself, the same way he’d give them…the one time with Donnie’s tennis ball massage machine was but a short moment of what Leo’s been missing out on and what he’ll continue missing out on…)

I don’t know, I just think it’d be cute to think Leo could have honed his massaging skill this way in order to help out his family (and also partially because he wants a massage himself.)

[ejzah]

A/N: Thanks so much for your lovely response to this story! It’s been a little while since I’ve really whumped Deeks. I’m trying to keep the medical and concussion/TBI parts fairly accurate, but I will take some liberties.

***

Blunt Force, Part 2

Kensi sat there for however long it took for the tears to subside and some of the immediate grief to dampen. She felt completely rung out; exhausted in a way that went beyond the physical.

Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out, unsurprised to see a text from Callen, asking for an update. Pushing herself up with a wince, Kensi went over to the single sink, cupping handfuls of cool water over her face. A quick check in the mirror confirmed her cheeks were blotchy and her eyes red. No one would miss that she’d been crying.

With a sigh, she dried her hands and face, finally leaving the relative privacy of the restroom to find a secluded waiting room to call Callen back.

“Kensi, how’s Deeks?” Callen answered her, not wasting time on greetings.

“He’s awake.”

“Good.”

“Deeks has amnesia,” she blurted out, relieved to tell someone else.

“You’re joking,” Callen responded, and she snapped back,

“Would I make something like this up?”

“You wouldn’t,” he said carefully. “Are you sure this isn’t one of Deeks’ games though? You know he is.”

“I thought he might have been messing with me too at first, but it’s legitimate. He thinks he’s still a public defender.” She paused. “Callen, he didn’t recognize me.”

Callen paused for several seconds, then spoke in a softer, slightly uncomfortable tone. “Did the doctor give a prognosis?”

“She’s seeing him now. I mean, he’s alert and still Deeks…just from six years ago.”

“Well that’s not great,” Callen sighed after another long pause. “I need to go update Hetty.”

Kensi felt a surge of fury at both him and Callen. It was senseless; of course Hetty would need to know, but it seemed so callous with Deeks barely conscious.

“Let us know what the doctor says.”

“Right.” She started to hang up, but Callen asked,

“Hey, do you think he’d like any visitors?”

“I’ll ask, but it might be too overwhelming right now since he probably won’t remember any of you either.”

“Right. That’s going to be weird,” Callen mused. He sighed loudly enough it sent a blast of static in her ear. “Ok, let us know when you need a break.”

“I will,” Kensi said, knowing that she wouldn’t.

***

The doctor was still in with Deeks when she made it back to his floor. With nothing else to do, she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat on the bench at the end of the hall, sipping on the bitter drink. She kept going back to Callen’s mention of Hetty.

The implications of Deeks’ amnesia went so much further than just him not remembering the team. Assuming his memory loss didn’t resolve quickly, he wouldn’t be able to work with NCIS, or LAPD for that matter.

“Agent Blye?”

Her head snapped up, and she almost knocked her coffee from between her knees. She caught it at the last second, her hand shaking a little as she looked up into the kind, but vaguely concerned face of Dr. Lesley.

“Sorry. Hi. Is Deeks alright?”

“I just finished his exam. Mr. Deeks gave consent for me to go over the results with you,” she explained. “Would you like to come to one of the conference rooms with me? The chairs are more comfortable and the coffee’s better.”

“Uh, sure. But don’t you think Deeks should hear this too?” Kensi asked.

“I already filled him in. He was concerned he might not recall some of the details and figured you should know too.”

“Oh, ok.” Kensi nodded. At any other time, she would have been flattered that Deeks trusted he so quickly, but her brain had picked up on another indicator of memory loss.

She followed Dr. Lesley to a small conference room, which looked more equipped for staff meetings than patient debriefings. Dr. Lesley brought Kensi a fresh mug of coffee and a pastry from a white box before taking a seat across from Kensi.

“Alright. Based on the screenings I administered, Mr. Deeks doesn’t appear to have significant cognitive deficits aside from the amnesia,” Lesley explained.

“Amnesia seems pretty significant to me,” Kensi observed, methodically shredding her danish into minute pieces.

“It is. It would be worse though if he was showing signs of short term memory loss or trouble with executive function for example, which can be present with a traumatic brain injury and concussion. He answered all of the orientation questions correctly, aside from the date. Which makes sense since memory loss of the traumatic event is extremely common and he believes it’s 2006.”

“What about a brain bleed or swelling? I know you said the last scans didn’t show minimal damage, but could it get worse again?”

“It’s a possibility,” Dr. Lesley confirmed slowly. “I’ll order follow up tests to confirm there haven’t been any changes, but I’m not overly worried about it.”

Kensi nodded, worried enough for both of them. When had anything ever followed the normal path for their team?

When she didn’t say anything else, Lesley continued.

“I didn’t assess his overall motor function yet since Mr. Deeks said he was experiencing some dizziness and disorientation.”

“That’s not surprising,” Kensi muttered. It was more surprising that Deeks had been so alert. From her own injuries, she knew how debilitating a minor concussion could be.

“Do you have any questions? I know I just gave you a lot of information during an overwhelming time.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just…he’s my partner.” To her horror, Kensi’s eyes welled up again before she could even think of controlling her response. Looking down, she tried to force the tears back before it turned into full-on crying again.

She froze when Dr. Lesley laid a hand over hers, her touch cool, yet oddly comforting.

“It’s alright to not be ok,” she told Kensi. “You’re probably used to being strong all the time, but you don’t have to do this alone. Marty’s in the very best of hands right now.”

“Thank you,” Kensi whispered. “I appreciate that.”

“Of course.” With a final squeeze of her hand, Dr. Lesley retreated, gathering up Deeks’ file.

“Can I see Deeks now?”

“Yes, but I should warn you that he was pretty exhausted by the time I finished with him. He may be sleeping or irritable. I also ordered a liquid diet for his first meal, so if you can convince him to drink some, that would be good,” Dr. Lesley said.

“I’ll try, but he’s pretty stubborn. I guess it’s part of the reason we worked together so well,” Kensi joked.

“Good. Most of my stubborn patients have something to prove. And he’ll need your support to get through this.”

Kensi smiled faintly, not overly reassured by the sentiment. She didn’t know if Deeks would want her around once he r got to know her again.

***

In contrast to earlier in the day, Deeks room was as dark as it could get, his bed lowered almost completely. He lay on his side, face buried in his pillow. She closed the door quietly in case he was sleeping, moving silently to the chair by his bed.

“Who’s there,” he muttered, making Kensi jump a little in surprise.

“It’s Kensi,” she whispered back. He turned his head, the slit of one eye visible in the dim light. “Go back to sleep.”

“Wish I could.” He sounded miserable, and as she sat down, she saw the faint lines of pain creasing his forehead. “What time is it?”

“A little after one,” she answered. “Dr. Lesley said lunch should be coming soon. Maybe there’ll be some lime jello.”

“Oh god no,” he groaned, swallowing convulsively. “I don’t even wanna think of how awful it would feel to throw up right now.”

“Is there anything I can do? Do you need more pain medication?” She’d already half-risen from her seat, but he waved her back down with a limp hand.

“I just had some. Doctor’s ordering Zofran.” He tensed suddenly, and Kensi grabbed the plastic basin nearby, ready to hand it to him. Clenching his fists, he inhaled through his nose several times, his lips tightly clamped together before he finally relaxed again, his head falling back on the pillow. “God, this sucks,” he sighed.

She hated seeing him in so much pain and discomfort. Kensi didn’t know what possessed her, but before she’d fully registered the action, she’d reached out and brushed his hair back from his temple. Deeks tensed at her touch, and she started to pull back, completely embarrassed.

“Don’t stop,” he begged. “‘S only thing that doesn’t hurt right now.”

Kensi stayed frozen for a few seconds while she process the revelation that Deeks found her comforting. Slowly she slid her fingers back into his hair, carefully drawing the tips through his curls, working through the knots and tangles.

Deeks made a small sound of relief, leaning into her touch. After a few minutes, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep. She ran her knuckles across his cheek in a soft caress.

Studying his now peaceful features, she knew this was something she could and would do for him. She would be here as long as he let her. Even if he wasn’t her Deeks anymore.

***

A/N: You didn’t think I was going to let Deeks off quite that easy did you? At least he has Kensi to take care of him.

[hehe-etc]

sketching the blorbos <3

[funkervogt]

Im not good at project zomboid at all but heres my girl her name is Tiffany Grace and she loves her life so much

[crowhoonter]

A brute is rampaging in the Brockton Bay downtown area by my apartment, causing a general ruckus

Me, a thinker 3: Well well well, look at this. Another Brute class thinking that because they are big and strong means they're better than everyone else. Would you be surprised to learn that I'm a thinker? Do you even know what that means buster? My mind is running a thousand calculations a minute to beat you, to turn every move against yourself. Your silly little musclebound tantrum cannot begin to compare to my genius intellect, truly brains are better than braw-

He hits my body once with a single finger, turning me into a fine red mist

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

today’s whump prompt for writers:

whumpee suffers blunt force trauma to the head and has a part or half of their head shaved during the procedure of saving their life, thus the pitch black stitches from where they were hit and were then patched back up are painfully visible, and every time caretaker looks at those stitches, they are reminded of what whumpee went through. and caretaker can’t let it show on their face how disturbing the sight was to them, otherwise whumpee might think caretaker is disgusted by them now (when that is not the cast).

bonus because whumpee’s (partly) shaved head and their stitches can be a constant reminder of their trauma, what whumper did to them, and also the now shaved head (even if their head was shaved by a nurse, not by whumper, in order to prep them for the surgery/in order to best treat their wound) can be a symbol of dehumanization, depends on the context and the vibes and how whumpee feels about their situation.

another bonus if they suffer concussion, too.

chef’s kiss.

[andr0nap]

late night were-woowoo doodles