Tony had fallen back to sleep. Gibbs let go of the young man’s hand, walked over to his bag, grabbed a T-shirt that McGee had packed for him and changed out of the shirt Tony had vomited on. He threw that one in the biohazard waste bin. He wouldn’t be wearing it again. He’d never really cared for it anyway.

He set the alarm on his watch to go off in thirty minutes before walking back over to Tony’s side. He sat down and took the sleeping man’s free hand again and just held it. He had never had the chance to just watch Tony sleep before, and he realized he liked the sight. Tony was strong, with a personality full of energy, but now, sleeping, he looked vulnerable and innocent as a child.

The day was Thursday. He hadn’t even thought about tomorrow being Friday until he’d seen the date on his watch. Friday was the day he had a meeting with the other team leaders at NCIS headquarters. He should probably call Jen and let her know something about what had happened. Not that he cared what Jen thought, but she had the right to know. Now that Tony was out of the woods, so to speak, and he should be fine.

He had a feeling Ducky’s worry about him leaving the house had been as much for him to stay and watch Tony as it had been to keep from opening that can of worms. If anything he owed Ducky a nice bottle of Scotch, he thought, still taking in the sight of an innocent-looking Tony in front of him.

When Gibbs’ watch went off he hit the button and reset it for another thirty minutes.

"Hey there, handsome, think you can wake up for me?" Gibbs asked, standing now and gently cupping Tony’s face, his thumb stroking from forehead to temple.

The voice of Gibbs and the gentle stroking of his face roused Tony and he began to stir.

"You in there?"

"Five more minutes, Mom, I don’t want to go to school," Tony muttered, rolling over and pulling the covers over his head. He was fully aware but was playing with Gibbs.

"Come on, Tony, the faster we get this done the, faster you can go back to sleep."

Tony rolled onto his back once again. He opened his mouth to speak but instead began coughing. Gibbs helped him sit up. The cough attack didn’t last as long this time nor did it seem as deep. For once Gibbs was happy his Tony was in the hospital so they could monitor him the way he needed.

"Okay, there we go, Tony, let’s lay back again. Slowly, okay?" Gibbs guided Tony back against the elevated bed. "Think you can answer some questions for me?"

"Yes, Jethro. My name is Anthony Michael DiNozzo. The president is George W. Bush, and I work for NCIS."

"That’s good, but don’t get an attitude with me, young man. Who would you rather have asking questions, me or-"

Gibbs stopped when the nurse came into the room. He had earlier discovered her name was Beth, and this time she had a bunch of wires and some pads in her hand, causing him to arch an eyebrow.

"Okay, cutie, I tried to wait till you might be up. The doctor has ordered you be put on a heart monitor."

That worried Gibbs, and it showed in his expression. It wasn’t normal procedure to his way of thinking. Wasn’t that something they only did when they thought there might be more of a problem?

"Is that really needed?" Gibbs asked, careful to use a tone that didn’t sound like he was questioning her authority. He’d meant it when he’d said this was a woman he wouldn’t want to piss off.

"The doctor just wants to monitor his heart as a precaution. There’s nothing to be alarmed about. With your Tony’s background with the plague, Dr. Craft doesn’t want to leave anything to chance."

She put the wires and pads on the rolling bedside table as she checked his vitals again. She made a note that his temp was now up to 102.6.

Gibbs could read upside down and he noticed the numbers written there. "His temperature has gone up?"

"It could just be a reaction to the antibiotics doing their job. It doesn’t necessarily mean Tony is getting worse. The only way to know for sure is to keep a close eye on his vital signs."

Gibbs nodded. What had be been thinking? He knew those things, but he’d fooled himself into thinking Tony was already out of the woods, mainly because it was difficult for him to think of Tony being so ill. After all, he hadn’t been there more then five hours. That wasn’t long enough for Tony to be cured. Even a few days might not be long enough. It was one of those wait-and-see situations that he so despised.

"So, cutie, how did you answer the questions?"

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "He didn’t even wait for the questions, just gave me the answers."

"Been in this situation before, I’m guessing."

Tony just smiled.

"Okay, honey, let’s expose your chest a little."

"Trying to get into my pants, aren’t you?" Tony asked with a smile.

"Honey, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before," she said, playing with him.

"Ah, but you haven’t seen mine."

"Sweetie, I’ve seen better."

"Ouch," Tony said, putting his hand over his heart as if she’d hurt him.

Gibbs smiled at the banter. It was funny seeing Tony taken down so fast. He had this way about making people feel at ease around him, but the nurse just might have him beat.

Beth untied the top tie of his gown and exposed Tony’s chest. She used alcohol pads to clean several spots on his chest before peeling the backing off the pads.

"This might hurt coming off, might take off some of that manly chest hair with it. Of course I could always shave you first."

"No, I don’t think so. Anthony DiNozzo does not shave his chest," he said with a frown.

Beth smiled. "Then we’ll just have to be careful to pull them off slowly rather than ripping them off," she said, although there was the implication that it could go the other way if he pissed her off. " I might even be nice and use some alcohol to take off the excess glue."

Tony’s head fell back against the pillow. "This sucks."

"Yes, Tony, but you’re getting better, and that’s all that matters," Gibbs said, taking Tony’s hand as the pads went on his chest.

Beth had already plugged in the monitor, and now she turned it on before putting the pulse ox clip on his finger. She then took a new package of clear tubing from the cabinet behind him and plugged it up to a silver nozzle coming out of the panel on the wall above his bed.

"Okay, honey, the Doc also wants you on O2," she explained, putting the tubing over his head and into his nostrils.

While she was doing all this Gibbs watch alarm went off again.

"I think we can skip this round of questions, gentleman, since our young stud seems to be good for now and hasn’t slept since the last round." She winked at them. "Just don’t tell anyone."

Gibbs smiled as he reset his watch. Beth puttered around a little more, doing all those things nurses do to a patient and all the equipment hooked up to him, checking this and that, making sure Tony was set up right. As she was finishing her round of machine checks, a handsome man in a set of scrubs walked in, holding a PDA.

"Hey, Tom."

The man smiled. "Beth."

Both Tony and Gibbs were looking at the new person like ‘who the hell are you’.

"Hi, I’m Tom, and I’m your dietitian. I’m here to ask what you would like to eat for tomorrow."

"Can I get surf and turf?"

Tom smiled. "No, but we have some lovely cod for dinner tonight."

Tony turned up his nose. "No thanks, I don’t think I’m hungry."

"DiNozzo."

"Boss, really, I’m not hungry. Just the thought of food makes me want to puke."

"Honey, you hold that thought. I have orders for a steroid and an anti-nausea medication," Beth said before walking out of the room and heading for the nurses’ station.

"Sir, we can get you-"

"No, really, I’m not hungry. Sorry, but I don’t want anything."

"Tony, stop being a baby. You need to eat."

‘Then-" Tony stopped, not wanting to embarrass Gibbs in front of this man. He sighed. "Please, I just want to sleep."

Gibbs let go of his soon-to-be lover’s hand, then had to blink in stunned realization. Damn, he’d just thought the word lover in connection with Tony and not in the abstract sense. Never in his imagination had he thought it would actually happen. It had always been just a fantasy.

Tony saw the strange look on Gibbs’ face. "Boss?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I’m okay, Tony."

Gibbs motioned for Tom to follow him, talking too softly for Tony to hear as they left the room. Tony was scowling as Beth came back into the room holding a weird looking mouthpiece attached to tubing and a small holding area. He groaned. He knew what that was. It was a nebulizer. He’d had to use one after the Y-Pestis. This just got better and better.

"Okay, sweetie, time for your nebulizer treatment," she said, putting the end of the now-smoking treatment in Tony’s mouth before he could protest.

Tony glared at her. The door was still partially open and he noticed Gibbs and Tom were still in the hall talking. Glancing toward the window, he realized that the sun had long since set, leaving the sky dark. His gaze swung back to the doorway as Gibbs shook Tom’s hand and walked back into the room.

Tony tried to talk but got the look of death from Beth.

"Okay, I will be right back. Gibbs, make sure this man does not talk and behaves like a good boy while doing his treatment."

"Yes, ma’am."

Gibbs sat down in the chair next to Tony’s bed again. His watch went off again before Beth game back. He reset the alarm. Tony couldn’t answer with the nebulizer in his mouth. Beth came back soon after that and unhooked Tony from the treatment.

"There we go. Now, that wasn’t hard, was it?"

"That stuff tastes like shit."

"Tony," Gibbs growled, his tone warning him to show more respect.

Beth just smiled. "I know, honey, but it helps you breathe. Now keep that O2 in your nose," she admonished, nodding to both men before leaving the room.

"So what did you and that guy talk about?"

"Oh, nothing, just about what you will have to eat tomorrow."

"Dinner." In walked a little old lady, eighty if she was a day, dressed in a peach-colored smock and white pants. "Here you go, Son," she said, placing a tray on the rolling table and moving it over the bed in front of Tony.
Tony looked at the tray. There was a covered plate, a small covered bowl, milk, juice and a small square of something that he was sure was supposed to be cake.

"I’ll be back for the tray after while."

"You can take it now," Tony said. "I’m not hungry."

"You’ll eat, Tony, if I have to force it down your throat." Gibbs stood up and nodded to the nice older lady as she walked out. "Now, let’s see. It can’t be all that bad."

"Boss, hospital food is the same thing as bio-waste."

"Let’s have a look-see."

Gibbs moved around to the side with the tray and took the lid off the covered plate. It was fish with mashed potatoes and over-cooked veggies.

"Okay," he said, opening the plastic sleeve and taking out the fork and knife. He put them on the small plate, then took down the side bar on the bed and pushed the table closer to Tony.

"I am not eating that crap."

"Come on, Tony, you need to eat."

"I feel like shit, Boss. You eat it."

"Okay, I will." Gibbs picked up the fork, broke off a piece of fish and lifted it towards his mouth.

"Boss, you’re -"

Gibbs faked Tony out at that moment, putting the food in Tony’s open mouth. Tony now had a flavorless piece of fish in his mouth and was throwing an evil look towards the older man.

"You better not spit that out," Gibbs warned.

Tony had seriously thought about it, but the look in Gibbs eyes was more than just warning. There was also worry and concern in the blue depths. Tony chewed and swallowed, then opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.

"Happy?" Tony asked.

Tony suddenly paled, his face going white. Gibbs noticed and quickly grabbed the basin and put it in front of Tony just in time for the fish to make a return appearance. Gibbs held the basin with one hand and rubbed Tony’s back with the other.

"Sorry, Tony. Maybe we should try the soup and not the fish. My fault again," Gibbs said in calm and even tones.

Tony frowned. "See, I told you it isn’t edible."

"Stop that. It’s because you have the flu."

Gibbs took the plastic lid off the small bowl of soup. It was matzo ball soup.

"Now, will you at least try some of the broth for me, Tony?"

Once again Gibbs’ eyes said it all, showing a mixture of concern and hurt. Tony nodded, picked up the spoon and dipped it in the soup. He was trying to get it to his mouth, but his hand was shaking so badly that the spoon was nearly empty by the time it made it to his mouth.

"I guess we do this another way," Gibbs said, taking the spoon from Tony.

"Boss, I’m sorry about all this. You really don’t have to stay here and take care of me like this."

Gibbs put the spoon down. "Tony, I’m sure this is new for you, someone looking after you and caring what you eat and what happens to you, but I meant what I said about wanting to be a part of your life. I’m not going anyplace. If I knew the world was going to end five minutes from now, this is the only place I’d want to be. This is where I NEED to be. Do I make myself clear?"

Seeing the genuine caring in Gibbs’ piercing blue eyes was almost enough to make Tony cry. Never before had he ever known someone who loved him like this.

"Now, let’s get some broth in your body."

Gibbs picked up the spoon and gave Tony a few spoonfuls of broth, then waited a few minutes to see if it stayed down before feeding him some more.

"Okay, Boss, that’s enough. I need to lay down now."

"Okay, we can do that."

Gibbs recovered the soup and moved the table with the tray away from the bed. He fluffed Tony’s pillow, then reclined his bed a bit so he could lay down more than sit up. Gibbs then went back to the other side of the bed where the chair was and sat down, turning the TV on low to an all-news channel. Tony put his hand through the bars on the side of the bed and took Gibbs’ hand. A surprised smile flashed across Gibbs’ face.

"I love you, Boss."

"I love you, too, Tony."

Gibbs kissed the back of Tony’s hand. Tony’s breathing evened out as he drifted to sleep. Not soon afterwards the alarm went of. Gibbs wanted, once again, to ignore it but he thought better of it.

"Okay, time to answer questions again. Come on, wake-up. The faster you do, the faster we get this done."

"Um."

"What’s your name?"

"Anthony Michael DiNozzo," Tony mumbled.

"Who is the president of the United States?"

"Bush."

"Which one?"

"George W."

"Where do you work?"

"NCIS."

"Okay, go back to sleep," Gibbs said, resetting the watch.

This went on for another hour, each half hour Gibbs waking Tony to answer questions. Tony became more irritated each time. Around 8:00 PM Beth walked in with a male nurse.

"Gibbs, this is my relief. His name is Mike, and he will be looking after Tony for the night."

"Special Agent Gibbs," Mike said, holding out a hand.

"Just Gibbs. It’s nice to meet you. I just asked him this round of questions."

"Good. The doctor called to check on him and said since he seems to be doing fine he can go to every hour."

"Thanks, Beth."

"You’re welcome. Gibbs you should go home and get some rest."

Gibbs shook his head. "Not till he’s better."

"We can have a convertible chair brought in for you." Beth turned to Mike. "Think you can get that up here?"

"Yeah, not a problem. I’ll call down and have it up before the hour is up."

Mike read Tony’s chart and together he and Beth checked his vitals, then both nurses left the room. Gibbs changed his alarm for every hour and sat back down to watch the news.

During one of the times Tony was out a young lady came by and brought the phone for the room. She told Gibbs what was necessary to call out. As she was leaving his alarm went off again. Waking Tony, he asked the latest rounds of questions.

"Boss, you need to rest, too."

"I can rest once you’re better."

"You stubborn ass," Tony said just before falling back to sleep, Gibbs’ hand still held in his.

Just like Tony, Gibbs would nap between alarms. For the rest of the night Gibbs woke Tony every hour. Mike came in several times to take his vitals. Gibbs would wake up every time he entered the room. Each time he asked the nurse about the results, frowning when Tony’s fever continued to inch upwards.

Noting the haggard appearance of the older man’s face, Mike said, "Gibbs, you really should sleep. We can come in and ask Tony the questions."

"No. Thanks for the offer, but this is something I need to do."

"Understood. If my other half was here I would be doing the same thing." Mike smiled and walked out of the room.

The convertible chair had been delivered hours before, but Gibbs just used it as a chair, holding Tony’s hand and leaning his head on the metal side rails of the bed. Tony woke up once, moved a little, and Gibbs’ eyes opened right away.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, standing up and looking at the man he loved in the dim light of the television.

"Just moving, trying to get more comfortable. Jethro, you need to lay down."

"No."

Tony sighed. "Well, at least use a pillow. Those bars are hard."

Gibbs was about to say ‘No’ again but thought better of it, looking at the half-asleep Tony.

"You could curl up here and sleep in the bed with me," Tony offered.

"No, Tony, no matter how much I want to, I can’t. Mike might get jealous." Gibbs winked. "I think he has a thing for me" He was stroking Tony’s forehead with his free hand. "Tony, we’ll have plenty of time for that when you get better."

"Jethro, I just meant sleep."

"I know, so did I. Now, go back to sleep."

Gibbs kissed the younger man. Tony kissed him back, wanting more than just a peck. Gibbs took the invitation, his tongue entering Tony’s mouth and searching out every little nook and cranny, Tony returning the favor. Tony smiled as he pulled away and immediately fell asleep again.

Gibbs woke Tony up every hour for the rest of the night. At 7:00 AM the phone rang. Gibbs noticed how early it was, frowning as he quickly answered, hoping it wouldn’t wake Tony.

"Gibbs," he all but barked. "Abby, it’s 7:00 AM, he is sleeping…Okay, I’ll let him know …Well tell her that I’ll call later today maybe…Thanks, Abs."

Gibbs hung up the phone and looked at the sleeping form. The alarm went off as well and Gibbs did the questions. He had changed them up a little now, sometimes asking his for his name or Tim’s.

At 8:00 AM Beth came back on duty.

"Morning, Gibbs. I see you didn’t get much sleep last night." She could tell from the bags under his eyes.

"I got enough. I was used to much less in the Marines."

She smiled and shook her head before turning her attention to Tony. "Okay, cutie, time to get up and have another treatment from the nebulizer."

Tony was groggy but waking up as she went for the breathing treatment. After he finished with the tasty-tasting treatment his food was brought in, but he couldn’t eat any of it. Beth scolded him for not eating as she hung up a new bag of fluids and gave him the other meds in the IV port. All Tony wanted was to go back to sleep.

She looked at Gibbs. "Have you eaten anything since you got here?"

Tony snickered and Gibbs glared at him.

"No, ma’am."

Beth shook her head as she left the room. In no time at all she returned with a tray, placing it in front of Gibbs. "Now, eat."

"Yeah, Boss, eat."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at Tony but did as the nurse instructed.

"Gibbs, Dr. Craft will be in later to see Tony. Until then he’s said Tony can be woken at random internals since he’s been doing so well."

"Thanks."

"Gibbs, we’ll do it."

But Gibbs was shaking his head, looking at the now-sleeping Tony.

"All right, but we’ll let you know when to wake him."

"Yes, ma’am, thank you."

"You’re more then welcome, and thank you for the help." She looked at the now-empty tray, noticing how the coffee had perked the man up. "There’s a coffee pot in the waiting room," she said, bringing a light to those bright blue eyes.

She walked out of the room, Gibbs right behind her.

"Beth, I need to make a call, but I don’t want to wake Tony by making it from the room. Do you mind if I use the phone at the nurse’s station?"

"No, honey, just dial 9 for an outside line."

Gibbs thanked her and dialed.

"Jen…No, you would…You know what then, screw the reports…No, I am not telling you where either of us are…Jen you know what?" Gibbs just hung up the phone, wishing he could have slammed it instead.

"Everything okay, honey?"

Gibbs blew out a breath. "Yeah, thanks, Beth, just the head boss."

"I understand, honey, believe me."

Gibbs could hear Tony mumbling through the open doorway and went back to the room.

"Boss, no, watch out." Tony was thrashing around.

Gibbs quickly walked over to take hold of Tony’s hand. ‘Tony, I’m right here," he said, putting his other hand on Tony’s shoulder and shaking him a bit.

"No, Gibbs, watch out!"

Gibbs was by now holding onto Tony’s shoulders with both hands, trying to keep him still so that he didn’t hurt himself. Tony woke up, not knowing where he was or who was touching him and reacted instinctively. Gibbs didn’t even see the fist coming towards him till it was too late and it had connected with his face.

Gibbs jumped back and put his hand to his face. Tony was awake now and aware of what he’d just done. The door was still open and Beth witnessed the whole thing from the nurse’s station just outside Tony’s room. She hurried towards them.

"Oh, God, Boss."