Chapter Text
A/N: More information about the Murphy case will follow, but I didn't think it would be necessary to recap it to the characters, they already know what it is so it would be too much exposition at this point. All will come out, rest assured. Many thanks to my patient beta, Rinne, who has cleaned up the punctuation even though I can never remember her tips.
Chapter One
His head was pounding and there was a fireworks display going on behind his closed eyelids. Even the slightest movement set off another burst. Taking a shallow, shaky breath, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs slowly opened one eye, then the other. A figure moved into his line of sight, blurry and shadowy.
"Hello Jethro," said the blur. 'How are you feeling, my friend?"
"Where am I?" croaked Gibbs, his throat dry and scratchy.
Doctor Mallard poured a cup of water from a the pitcher on the bedside tray and handed it to Gibbs. "You're in hospital, it appears you were in some sort of fight. You've got a severe concussion, some internal bleeding and a broken leg."
Gibbs went to feel his head but found he couldn't raise his right hand, it was handcuffed to the railing.
"What the hell is this?"
"Now, Jethro, please try to stay calm," soothed Ducky.
"Calm? Why am I handcuffed to the bed?"
"Do you remember anything at all, Jethro?"
"No! Ducky, why am I cuffed? What's going on?"
Ducky tried to calm his old friend. "Murphy's been found murdered. He's been stabbed and they found your prints on the knife."
"That's crazy," sputtered Gibbs.
"I know, Jethro, but you were very irate about his acquittal, the police are certain it was you."
Gibbs started coughing, but he continued to fume. "Well, they're wrong. Where's Tony? Kate? What do they say? Get them in here!"
"There's more, Jethro. Tony's in ICU."
Gibbs' face paled. "ICU? Was he there? Did he see what happened? Is he going to be okay?"
"Please, Jethro." Ducky looked worriedly at the monitor tracking Gibbs' heart rate and blood pressure. "If I tell you what they believed happened, will you promise to stay calm?"
"DUCKY!"
"All right! The police believe, and the evidence backs their theory, that you got very drunk after Murphy's trial and decided to confront him, that you went to his house, barged in and started a fight with him. They think Tony knew what you might do and followed you. He heard you fighting with Murphy and tried to stop the two of you. During the course of the confrontation, you stabbed Murphy, then, in a drunken rage, you turned on Tony. He was beaten badly and stabbed multiple times."
"How seriously is Tony injured?" whispered Gibbs.
"It's very serious, I'm afraid. He's lost a great deal of blood. He was stabbed in the torso; his left lung was punctured, as was his spleen. His liver was also damaged. They had to remove the spleen, and luckily, they were able to repair the liver. He's in a coma, on a respirator. They're not sure if he's going to make it."
Gibbs closed his eyes in pain. Not Tony. Please, don't let Tony die. He remembered his last words to Tony had been cruel and cutting.
"I would never hurt Tony like that," he whispered. "No amount of alcohol would make me try to kill him."
"I know, Jethro," replied Ducky soothingly, "but our team has been forbidden from having anything to do with the case. Paula Cassidy and Cassie Yates have been brought in to investigate, as well as another forensic specialist. Of course the rest of us aren't sitting back twiddling our thumbs. Kate and McGee are going over Murphy's case with a fine-tooth comb, and Abby is re-running tests on the evidence."
"I need to see Tony."
Frowning to himself, Ducky replied, "I don't know, Jethro, you're accused of trying to kill him. I'm not sure if they'll let you up there, or if they'll even let us take the handcuffs off."
"Please, Ducky." Gibbs' eyes were desperate, he had to see the younger agent, to see for himself how badly he'd been injured, and if those injuries were caused by himself.
"I'll see what we can do." Ducky rose from his chair. "You just lie back and try to get some rest.".
Gibbs didn't say anything, he just lay there with his eyes closed, thinking back to the last time he remembered talking to Tony. It wasn't pretty.
TBC