Chapter Text
Once More, with Feeling
Much to the amusement of the ER doctor, Tony was still buzzing from the adrenaline after his near fall. Taping the gauze over a scrape on his arm, Dr. Adams shook his head. "All right, Agent DiNozzo, we're done here. I'd suggest not driving until you've had a chance to decompress a bit and no more falling off of any buildings, alright?"
"Hey, Doc, I didn't fall, my partner caught me and he's my ride home."
"Well then, I think you owe the man a beer and probably a steak. Go on, get out of here, I've got real patients to take care of."
"Aye, Aye, Sir." Giving a salute, Tony bounced off the exam table, grinning at the pretty nurse that had helped clean the scrapes as she listened, wide-eyed, to his retelling of their capture of Lt. Arnett's terrorist wife. He wasn't sure he was going to buy McGee a steak, but beer and pizza sounded pretty good right now.
In the waiting room he looked around, but saw no sign of his fellow agent. Figuring the man was in the bathroom, he pulled out his phone and dialed, giving one last smile to the nurse as the doors into the emergency department swung shut. After ringing the required number of times, the call kicked over to voice mail and Tony stared at his phone before scrambling to leave a message.
"McGee, I'm ready to go, where are you?"
After five minutes and no sight of his wayward partner, he tried again. "Not funny, Probie. Doc says you're supposed to buy me a beer so hurry it up."
While he waited again, DiNozzo poked his head into the various bathrooms around the waiting room, looking for familiar shoes in any of the stalls. When that also failed to turn up McGee, he called again, this time a different number.
"Hey, Boss."
~DiNozzo, did you get cleared to come back to work?~
"Yeah, just cuts and bruises, but..."
~Good, then you and McGee get back here.~
"That's the thing, Boss. I can't find McGee and he's got the car keys."
~What do you mean, you can't find him? Did you try his cell?~
Gee, why didn't I think of that. Luckily, he couldn't receive a head slap over the phone for thinking something. "I left two voice mails, guess I'll go see if the car's still in the parking lot." Another pretty nurse, this one a blonde, approached with a bulky manila envelope.
"Excuse me, Agent DiNozzo?"
"Yes?" Worried or not, DiNozzos always notice a beautiful woman.
"Our storage for patient's personal effects isn't really set up for weapons. Since you're his partner, could you sign for Agent McGee's gun?"
Tony automatically took the envelope, feeling the familiar shape of the SIG Sauer inside. "Where's Agent McGee?"
"He's already been taken up to surgery."
"What?" Tony remembered that he was still on the phone. "Boss?"
~I heard, Tony. I'm on my way.~
All that was left for Tony to do was to wait and wonder exactly how McGee had been injured and just how in the hell he'd missed it.
---NCIS---
It was a tense drive to the hospital. "You didn't notice anything about McGee?"
"No, Gibbs, I was focused on Tony. McGee seemed to be favoring his wrist, but I did not think anything of it. After all, he had just pulled Tony up and over the wall. I did not think he was injured."
"That's the problem, Ziva, you didn't think." Gibbs' shoulders sagged as he shook his head. "Neither did I."
---NCIS---
"Any word yet?"
Tony stopped pacing when Gibbs and Ziva arrived. "No, they won't tell me anything."
"They'll tell me." Gibbs stormed off to get some answers.
"He gave no sign of something wrong?" Shifting uncomfortably, Tony tried to answer Ziva's question.
"No, I mean I was still kinda bouncing off the walls, if you know what I mean, but I don't think I missed anything. I must have, though, because it didn't take long for them to decide to operate. What kind of friend am I if I didn't notice how bad he was hurt?"
Ziva didn't know what to say, but at least Gibbs' return meant that she didn't have to try.
"Boss, anything?"
Gibbs scrubbed at the sides of his head. "They can't find his medical proxy forms, so they won't tell me anything. I called Ducky, he's bringing copies."
"Damn it, can this day get any more screwed up?" Frustrated, Tony resumed pacing as the guilt continued to eat at him.
---NCIS---
Knowing that he needed to make a copy instead of taking the original to the hospital, Ducky quickly used the copy machine before heading up one level to Abby's lab. She was busily setting up soft music and aromatherapy in her office when he arrived. "Abigail, my dear."
"Ducky, are they back yet? Poor Tony, McGee better be taking good care of him." She started pulling candles out of the bottom drawer of her desk.
"What is all this?"
"It's for Tony, of course, to help him relax. What's up?"
Ducky sighed, knowing this was not going to be pleasant. "It appears that Tony was not the only member of the team injured during the arrest."
"Gibbs? Something happened to Gibbs?" She started to panic and Ducky grabbed her arms to keep her still.
"Not Gibbs, it was McGee that was somehow injured. Now I am on my way to Bethesda with copies of his medical records that they seem to have lost. Do you wish to go with me?" Not waiting for an answer, he steered her towards the door.
---NCIS---
As soon as Ducky and Abby arrived, Gibbs took Ducky with him to find some answer while Abby retreated to the waiting room to find answers of her own. "Ziva, why didn't you tell me about McGee when you called about Tony?"
"I did not know he was injured, Abby. He did not complain of any discomfort when he left to take Tony to be examined."
Spinning around, Abby glared at Tony. "He drove? He was hurt bad enough to need surgery and you made him drive you to the hospital?"
"I didn't know, okay? I didn't know he was hurt."
Abby saw her own fear reflected in Tony's eyes as his voice broke and she threw herself into his arms. "I'm sorry, Tony, I'm sorry."
---NCIS---
"It's about time." Gibbs stood as Ducky entered with another doctor behind him.
Knowing tempers were short, Ducky didn't waste any time. "Jethro, this is Dr. Howell, he was Timothy's surgeon."
"What happened to him?" By now the rest of the team was standing behind Gibbs.
"First, let me apologize about the mix-up with Agent McGee's paperwork. We'll be looking into that."
Gibbs was losing patience quickly. "My agent?"
"Agent McGee presented with a most unusual injury. The strain and twisting caused one of the smaller bones in his wrist to slip out of place, necessitating a surgical stabilization of the dislocation. The surgery was successful and we were able to repair the damage before any permanent loss of function could occur. There's pins holding his wrist together while it heals, but we'll be able to remove those in about six weeks."
Unnoticed by the rest of the group, Tony paled as he heard what happened to his teammate. His mind filled in the details as he remembered hanging off the edge of the parking garage, McGee's arm his only connection to safety.
Dr. Howell continued, not knowing the devistation his words were causing. "Depending on how successful his physical therapy is, Agent McGee could return to full field status within six months, possibly a bit sooner and, if we're lucky, he won't develop arthritis in that wrist. He'll be in recovery for a few more hours, but you can see him for just a few minutes if you'd like. I understand his usual nurse is with him."
"His usual nurse?" Shocked, by the time Gibbs asked the question, Dr. Howell had already returned to his duties.
---NCIS---
"You back with me, Tim?" Smiling, she bent down and watched as green eyes came into focus.
"Greta?"
"Don't I always come take care of you when you're hurt? You just rest, you're going to be fine."
"Where's my team, are they here yet?"
"Not yet. You just rest for now, alright?" As soon as he was asleep she stepped aside to pull a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. She stared at the names on the medical proxy form before wadding it up and shoving it in the medical waste bin. "Sorry, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I don't share.
She walked out to the nurse's station and tapped the charge nurse on the shoulder. "Laura, Agent McGee has requested no visitors."
"All right, Greta, I'll make sure to pass the word. Are you staying up here with him or are you going back downstairs?"
Greta smiled as she turned back to McGee's room. "Taylor is covering my shift down in ER for me. I don't want Tim to be totally alone tonight."