Chapter Twenty:

The rest of the night was uneventful. Tony fell back to sleep almost immediately, and Gibbs sat silently and watched him, suddenly a bundle of coiled energy. The previous conversation made him hesitant to say anything, no longer trusting his traitorous tongue. The prospect of the impending conversation had him feeling nervous, doubting himself and his own worthiness. Oddly enough, Tony seemed quite peaceful. There were no more full blown nightmares. Tony stirred restlessly a couple of times, but seemed to be able to chase away the bad dreams on his own.

Morning came, along with a herd of doctors. Gibbs excused himself while they examined the now awake Tony, promising to return when they were done, and headed for the visitor’s lounge. When he got there he was surprised to find a very anxious Ducky, pacing the room and muttering to himself.

Seeing Gibbs enter the room from the ICU, he rushed over to him. “Jethro, where in the blue blazes have you been? I’ve been sitting here for over an hour, worried to death. When eight o’clock rolled along, no one came in here to get visitors for Anthony. Did something happen? Has he taken a turn for the worse?� Ducky demanded of Gibbs.

“Relax Duck. Tony’s okay. As a matter of fact, he seems to be doing a lot better. He’s awake and much more alert.� Pausing, he gave Ducky time to digest that. “He had a particularly violent nightmare during the night and ripped out his IV’s. Karen came and got me and I was able to snap him out of it. She and the doctors decided it might be better if I sat with him for the rest of the night. They didn’t want him to have another one. Apparently I’m better than a sedative. Maybe that explains why I can’t seem to get the team to do any work,� he joked.

“I rather doubt that, Jethro. You seem to have quite the opposite effect on young Timothy,� Ducky rejoined, relieved to hear Gibbs’ explanation. “Well, I am very pleased to hear that Anthony is doing better. What do the doctors say?�

“They’re in there with him now. I’m sure Dr. Anderson will come and talk to us when they’re through.� Gibbs said, as he crossed over to a chair and eased himself down.

Ducky studied Gibbs for a minute. There was something different about him, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. He finally attributed it to relief over Tony’s progress, but in the back of his head he felt there was more to it than just that. Promising himself that he would think more about this later, he crossed over to a chair and picked up a large shopping bag. “I took the liberty of stopping by your house and getting you more fresh clothes. We mustn’t let the people here get the wrong idea about NCIS agents,� he said, as he handed over the bag. “I have included a towel, wash cloth and shampoo this time. I thought you might be feeling a bit grungy.�

“Thanks Duck. I guess we wouldn’t want my appearance to scare Tony any more than it usually does,� Gibbs quipped, and again, for a second, Ducky saw a flash of that expression he couldn’t identify, before it was replaced with the usual intense gaze of Gibb’s blue eyes.

“Quite right, Jethro,� he said, bothered by the inexplicable, and sat down in the chair next to Gibbs.

As they sat together waiting for the doctor to come in, Ducky filled Gibbs in on what had been happening at work. Cassie had been able to seize Nichols’ account and they had successfully retrieved over three quarters of a million dollars. They discovered that Lynch had met Nichols during his brief stint in the Navy, and Nichols had used him to spy on the enlisted men in his unit. Therefore, Nichols always knew what was going on with the men assigned to him, was able to head off almost all bad behavior, and his service record filled with glowing evaluations from his superiors. As a reward, Nichols had been promoted and transferred to purchasing at just about the same time Lynch had been discharged for drug use. Lynch had stayed in touch with Nichols after that, and when Nichols had hatched his embezzlement scheme, Lynch was the logical choice in partner. Nichols threw a little money his way, and used him as his outside man. All of this had been learned from Nichols’ last night when he decided to cooperate fully, hoping to lessen the severity of the charges against him. Ducky assured Gibbs that Legal had no intention of doing that, and that the team was still digging, hoping to find even more evidence of misconduct, so as to increase the number of charges Nichols and Lynch would face.

“And you really must call Timothy, Jethro. When you stopped calling him hourly, demanding information, he became concerned that something had happened with Anthony. I assured him that you would have let us know if that were the case, but I’m not sure he believed me,� Ducky chastised gently. “You don’t have a reputation for being forthcoming.�

“Apparently I’m working on overcoming that,� Gibbs said enigmatically, and then quickly followed with, “I’ll give him a call after we talk to the doctor.� Ducky was about to respond both of those comments when the doctor did, in fact, appear at the door. Ducky suspected that Gibbs had seen him approaching.

“Dr. Anderson,� Gibbs said, standing and offering out his hand.

“Gibbs,� the doctor said, shaking the proffered hand. “Thanks for sitting with him last night. The uninterrupted sleep did him good. He’s looking much better this morning. We were all pleased with the change. His temperature is down another degree, and he seems much more alert. I’ve ordered more x-rays of his heart and chest, just to be sure he didn’t do any damage during last night’s dream, but I don’t expect to see anything.�

“He’s going to be radioactive by the time he leaves here, Doc,� Gibbs said.

Laughing at Gibbs’ remark, Dr. Anderson said, “Maybe so, but not finding out about problems until they magnify to the point of requiring more surgery would be much worse.�

“What are his blood oxygen levels like, Doctor?� Ducky asked.

“They’re looking better today. Dr. Pitt will be by sometime this afternoon to look at the chest x-ray and the oxygen level reports. I’ll be eager to hear what he has to say about the pneumonia.�

“Are you anticipating any secondary infections?�Ducky inquired.

“We’re certainly hoping not. As you know, the longer he stays on a ventilator, the more that risk exists. As soon as he is a bit stronger, and Dr. Pitt gives us the all clear, I want to try and wean him off it. I know that will make him more comfortable as well.�

Gibbs stood and listened to the two men discussing Tony’s condition. It felt good to have Ducky there to ask the important medical questions. For the last two days Gibbs had felt so overwhelmed by the situation that he had merely listened to the doctors’ reports, never questioning the information he was given. He let his mind wander a bit, content in knowing that the doctor was pleased with Tony’s progress. He snapped back to attention when he realized they were discussing the nightmares.

“Night terrors are probably to be expected, given what happened,� Dr. Anderson was saying. “They should diminish over time. He may need a little help working through what happened, but it’s too early to tell yet. Over the next few days, as he moves back onto a more normal sleeping pattern, it may help if there is someone with him at night that he trusts. I was hoping we could prevail on you, Gibbs. It seemed to work well last night.� Dr. Anderson said, looking expectantly at Gibbs.

“Of course,� Gibbs replied. “Had intended to anyway.� And at that, Ducky and Dr. Anderson looked surprised, although both wisely chose not to comment. Seeing their expressions he grunted, “I’ve had my own experiences with night terrors,� and again, his remark was met with wise silence.

Dr. Anderson cleared his throat. “Well then, I’d best get back to my rounds. Just wanted to let you know what was going on. Tony won’t be ready for visitors for an hour or so, while we run tests and get the x-rays. I’ll have a nurse let you know when you can see him. I guess we’ve just rewritten the visitor rules for you Gibbs,� he said with a warm smile.

“Rule #8 â€" Never take anything for granted,â€� was Gibbs’ response.

Dr. Anderson chuckled. “Well I’ll see you later today.� And he turned and went back into the ward.

“Well, that’s most excellent news, Jethro. I’ll be sure and update everyone when I get in this morning. Director Vance made a point of coming down to see me last night just to learn about how Anthony was doing. You will need to let Abby come see him tonight. She won’t be put off another day. I really should be quite angry at you, Jethro, for making me deliver the bad news to her yesterday. Abby can be very vocal in her displeasure.� He said, shuddering a bit at the memory of their confrontation.

“Tell her to come, Ducky. Tony’ll be glad to see her.�

“Very good, Jethro. Well, I must head in. The dead are calling to me. Make sure you remember to phone Timothy. These last few days have been hard on him and Ziva.�

“Will do, Duck. Thanks for everything,� Gibbs said, truly grateful for all that Ducky had done. Gibbs knew that he was one of the best men he had ever known.

“My pleasure, Jethro. Take care of yourself. I will speak to you later,� and with that, he headed towards the door.

After Ducky left, Gibbs pulled his overnight case out from under the chair he had stashed it beneath, grabbed the paper bag, and headed to the lavatory to clean up. Once done, and feeling refreshed, he headed out of the hospital, to call McGee and replenish his body’s usual levels of caffeine.

McGee had little to add to what Ducky had already told him about the case. Gibbs did learn that Cassie had declined to bring Ziva and McGee up on insubordination charges and that Vance had not pressed the issue. Gibbs made a mental note to thank Leon and Cassie for that next time he talked to them. Cassie had assigned them to cold cases and it sounded as if they were both bored to distraction. Gibbs brought him up to speed on Tony and rang off.

Heading over to Starbucks, Gibbs flashed to the last time the team had been on cold cases for any length of time. It was unusual for them to be rotated off active call, but periodically the powers that be decided every team should stand down for a week. Last time it happened Tony had driven the whole bullpen crazy. It had begun slowly. Monday had moved tortuously slow, interrupted only the squabbling of his team, as Tony pestered and teased. On Tuesday morning, there had been a loud scream coming from the break room. Everyone had run in, to find an administrative assistant, hyperventilating and pointing at the water cooler, in which swam a very realistic plastic water moccasin. Tony’s only response had been a self satisfied smirk. On Wednesday morning, everyone on the entire floor discovered their computer mice would not work. There was much cursing and slamming, until it was discovered that the balls had been removed and were now housed in the receptionists’ top desk drawer. On Thursday, no one had a single pen which would write â€" the end of each pen had been dotted with superglue.

Oh, but on Friday, Tony had gone in for the kill. When Ziva arrived at the office and pulled her desk chair back to sit, every single item on her desk, phone included came sailing off. They had been secured to the pushed in chair with a very thin, clear, fishing monofilament. McGee ended up with his fingers super glued to his keyboard. But the piece d’resistance had been the bathrooms. There was not a shred of toilet paper to be found in any bathroom and when the automatic hand dryers had been turned on, talcum powder had flown out and all over the unsuspecting victims. But the most creative prank had been the toilets. All of the levers had been greased, so that one’s hand slid off them when trying to flush. After conquering this, every time one was flushed, an amazing number of bubbles appeared in the bowl and then overflowed onto the floor. The janitor later discovered an empty liquid ivory soap bottle, opened and upended, in the bottom of the basin of each toilet. Everyone had known that Tony was responsible, but no one could prove it.

When he got to the store, he noticed people looking at him. Gibbs was embarrassed to discover that he had been laughing out loud and he glared and quickly schooled his face. He sobered quickly, however, when he remembered that all of this had been several months ago. Before California and the arrival of Vance. There had been no practical jokes for a very long time. Gibbs realized that Tony needed to do more than one kind of healing and he vowed to find a way to help him.

After getting his coffee and a bite to eat, Gibbs returned to the hospital and Tony’s room. The day quickly fell into a routine. Gibbs would sit by Tony’s bed watching him sleep, and talk about anything of no consequence that occurred to him, when Tony was awake. Tony would listen with interest until he dropped back off to sleep. Nurses and doctors would come in and poke and prod. Karen kept him supplied with coffee and food, and when she felt he was nearing desperation, she would stay in the room long enough to introduce a new topic of discussion, carrying the burden of conversation for a while.

Dr. Pitt arrived late in the afternoon. As he entered the room he was amused to see Tony, sound asleep in the bed, and Gibbs, absentmindedly holding his hand, and discussing the merits of the 9 millimeter vs. the .45 automatic handguns. Gibbs had just stated his preference for the 9 millimeter because it had less recoil and was launching into the reasons this was important in law enforcement, when Brad felt the need to interrupt. “I always thought I should be carrying a berretta, myself,� he said, and smirked when Gibbs jerked around in his chair.

“I thought you just armed yourself with hypos,� Gibbs sassed, as he stood to welcome Dr. Pitt. “How ya doing, Brad? I was wondering when you were going to get here.�

“I got held up at Bethesda. No rest for the wicked, you know. So, how’s our boy doing?�

“Better. He’s staying awake longer today and seems much more attentive,� Gibbs almost bragged.

“Oh, I can see that,� said Brad, gesturing to Tony’s sleeping form. “I heard you were his new favorite sedative, Gibbs.�

Gibbs turned and looked at Tony, noticing that he was asleep. Rather defensively he grunted, “He must have just dropped off. It’s been a long day.�

“For both of you, I’m guessing,� Brad said, deciding to let Gibbs off the hook. “I just looked over his chart. Everything is looking much better. His chest x-ray showed that the infection hasn’t spread, which is what I was hoping for. I’m pleased that his temperature has lowered. If he improves this much tomorrow, we can discuss taking out the breathing tube. We need to make sure his is stronger when we do that, and that the heart is healing nicely. Right now the ventilator is preventing the usual side effects of pneumonia, but when we remove the tube, the coughing and struggle for breath will come. You remember what it was like last time. I want to make sure that he can take that.�

Gibbs wasn’t prepared for that. He vividly remembered Tony’s recovery from the Y. pestis - the phlegm and blood, the pounding on his back so he could breathe. “Why do it then? Why remove the tube before the pneumonia is gone? Hasn’t he gone through enough?� Gibbs demanded, feeling anger and fear warring with each other.

“The longer the tube stays in, the more likely Tony will develop an infection. If that were to happen, we’d have to perform a tracheotomy and he could require long term ventilation. Getting rid of the tube as soon he is able is the best way to protect his lungs, Gibbs. It just isn’t going to be easy when it happens. The pneumonia isn’t going to go away completely until he is breathing on his own. He needs to fight off the last bit of it himself.�

“You think that time might be tomorrow?� Gibbs asked.

“I’m hoping. He’s doing really well. If he can tolerate this, it will speed things up even more,� Brad answered. “I wouldn’t say anything to him about it yet. I don’t want to get his hopes up. I know how Tony likes to talk, and how hard this must be on him. Let’s just see what another night does for him. I’ll be over here in the middle of the morning tomorrow and we can reassess the situation.�

“Yeah, okay. Thanks for filling me in Brad. I guess we’ll just see what happens tomorrow,� Gibbs said, not feeling nearly as cavalier as he tried to sound.

“Take care of him Gibbs. He’s my most famous patient - the star of many a journal article. I would hate to see something happen to him. I’ll see you in the morning,� he said as he took his leave.

Gibbs looked over at Tony, making sure that he hadn’t awakened during that conversation, and was reassured to see him still sleeping soundly. Not knowing what else to do, he sat back down in his chair and resumed talking softly to Tony.

The evening seemed to drag by slowly. Tony was awake again, and Gibbs was entertaining him with a recount of the case in New York that he had worked last week. Tony didn’t seem to be listening hard, although he was staring directly at Gibbs. Gibbs resolutely avoided his eyes. Gibbs didn’t want to know what Tony was thinking. He didn’t want to have a serious conversation about feelings with Tony right at the moment, but he sensed that was what was on Tony’s mind. He redoubled his efforts to distract Tony. And so he continued to talk, on and on and on. Gibbs didn’t think he had talked this much in the last six months combined, and was relieved when a very amused Karen announced that a Miss Abby Scuito had arrived to visit.

Abby came bouncing into the room behind Karen. She was dressed in yet another wild display of gothic imagination. Today’s offering featured white fishnet thigh-hi’s pulled over black tights, white fuzzy fur boots, a black satin circle skirt â€" not more than eighteen inches long, supported by a soft pink crinoline, and a black, pink, and white striped peasant blouse, tucked into the skirt and held securely by a six inch studded black leather belt which laced up in the back. She had once again iced her outfit with another set of wings. Todays were soft pink tulle, edged in pink marabou, and in her hand she carried a wand.

“Abs, what the hell are you wearing?� Gibbs couldn’t help but ask, knowing he wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

“I am Tony’s fairy god-sister. As long as he’s in the hospital I will visit him dressed accordingly. You better be careful or I’ll turn you into a toad, Mr. Grumpy!� she exclaimed, as she stood on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Then she spun towards Tony, wand held high, and announced, “Izzy Wizzy, you’d best get busy. I command you to get better.� And she waved the wand around in circles.

Gibbs snorted and Nurse Karen was bent double with laughter. Gibbs looked over at Tony and could see that he was amused as well. He had his hand out and was clearly asking Abby to come closer.

Karen looked over at Gibbs and said, “Why don’t you take a break? Let Abby stay and keep Tony company for a little bit; you go and get a coffee. Fresh air will do you good.� When it looked like he might argue, she sought out allies. “Abby,� she said. “Gibbs has been sitting here for hours. Don’t you think he should get a little exercise while you visit with Tony?�

“Of course he should,� Abby said. “You go on and get out of here Bossman. I’ll keep Tony entertained for a bit. Go on, scram,� she said, as she made little scooting gestures with her hands and magic wand.

As Gibbs left, he could hear Abby launching into a rant about how difficult it must be not to be able to speak. ‘Ha, you don’t know the half of it Abs,’ he thought as he headed for the elevator. Stepping in he savored the feeling of being alone and silent for a moment. Gibbs was by nature a solitary person. Although he liked people, and had even loved some over the years, he spent the majority of his free time alone. Today had been a struggle. He had been torn between wanting to talk to Tony about what he had heard last night and wanting to pretend that it had never happened. Now that he sensed that Tony was at least willing, and possibly eager, to entertain the possibility of there being a “something� between them, he had been more acutely aware of Tony’s presence than ever before. The urge to do more than hold his hand had been overwhelming. All of this scared him. He didn’t feel like he was in total control around Tony right now, and Gibbs liked to be in control.

The elevator spit him out on the ground floor, and Gibbs was once again surrounded by humanity. Gibbs steered himself across the street to the Starbucks. He idly tried to remember what he had done before there was a caffeine pusher on every other corner. Standing in line, he wondered what Abby was discussing with Tony. He was surprised to discover that he was jealous of her easy rapport with him. He hoped she wasn’t wearing him out. Tony tired so easily right now. His thoughts had switched over to how different it would be to go back to work and not have Tony there, when he heard,

“Are you going to place an order, mister?�

He looked up, and saw a black haired, multi-studded, young man staring at him. He looked just like one of Abby’s boyfriends. He could feel the glares coming from the people behind him in line. “A venti coffee, black,� he mumbled, and watched as the barista filled his cup. Paying, he ignored the looks his fellow addicts were throwing him, and slowly headed out the door.

Once back out in the night air, Gibbs decided that Karen was right. He really did need a change of scenery. Cradling his coffee, he set out down the block, deciding a brief walk would do him good; allow him to think about something different for awhile. God it felt good to move. He hadn’t realized how cramped his legs had gotten, sitting in a chair all day. He wondered what Tony felt like, confined to a bed, not even able to sit up. Did his muscles ache, or could he even feel them around the other pain he must be experiencing. As he walked he thought about what would happen when Tony was released from the hospital. He obviously couldn’t go back to his own apartment right away. He would be weak and need help doing things. His leg would be in an air splint, and he would be dependent on crutches. He would have dressings that needed changing regularly. Abby would offer her apartment up to him Gibbs knew. That was going to be unacceptable. Tony wasn’t staying with Abby. Tony was just going to have to stay at his house until he was well enough to be on his own. He resolved to explain this to Tony later. It would give him a halfway safe topic of conversation. He walked on, barely glancing at his surroundings, thinking about the things he needed to talk to Tony about.

Before he knew it he was back in front of the hospital. Deciding his break was over, and worrying about what was going on up in Tony’s room, he headed back in. When he got back to the ICU he was surprised to find only Karen in Tony’s room. She was leaning over the bed saying something softly to Tony. Glancing up when she heard Gibbs enter, she said,

“You just missed Abby. Tony was getting tired, and she knew it was time for her to leave. She’s really an amazing young woman,� the admiration in her voice sincere. “Well, back to work with me. I’ll talk to you both later,� and she left them alone.

“Hope you had a nice visit, DiNozzo. God knows what Abby had to say to you,� Gibbs said gruffly as he approached the bed.

Tony was once again looking intently at him, and then he raised his right hand, and pointed to himself with his index finger, right below the chin. He then lifted his hand higher, and touched his finger to the mask which held the breathing tube in place, right below where his mouth would be.

Gibbs then knew what Abby had been doing during her visit. “Yeah, I missed you too, Tony� he said softly, and gathered Tony’s hand in his own and sat back down.


Author Note: Abby and Gibbs are proficient in American Sign Language. Tony was using ASL to sign “I missed you�.