Chapter Ten
Gibbs wasn’t sure what to make of the nurse’s comment and sank back into the chair by Tony’s bed as he waited for the doctor to arrive and do whatever he needed to do to make Tony more comfortable. He watched as Tony continued to fight the ventilator.
He knew that he should call Ducky and let him know what was going on, but it was 3:45am and the old M.E. was probably asleep by now and would be until his regular waking time of 5am - it could wait until then, from what the nurse said this was good news. Tony was in no danger and could soon rejoin the land of the living.
He stood up and started to pace, tearing his eyes off Tony’s naked chest, if he woke up before the forty-eight hours were up, did that mean he was no longer critical? Would they then be able to assess the damage done to Tony because of the overdose? Would Tony be able to describe to them the man who had put him in this state? He had so many questions going round his head, but for once he had little to work with in the way of answers.
Dr. Foster appeared in the doorway and broke Gibbs’ train of thought. “He’s bucking against the ventilator,” Gibbs told him, even though he knew the doctor had probably already been informed. Only one time before this had Gibbs felt this nervous and anxious and that had been the night Kelly was born. The birth had gone pretty smoothly until Kelly’s head was out, but her left shoulder was stuck, he remembered pacing up and down the delivery room then, waiting for a doctor who would tell him if his wife and child were going to be okay and now he was waiting for all the answers pertaining to Tony.
“Please try not to panic, this is a good thing. It means that Tony is coming out of the coma and that his body is ready to breathe for itself,” Dr. Foster told Gibbs, who had started pacing again.
He stopped when he realised that he’d be in the way and moved to the corner where the cot was situated and sat down on it, watching the scene unfold around him.
Dr. Foster had the nurse check Tony’s vitals, drew some blood from his arterial line in his wrist and disappeared. He was gone for only a few moments before he returned and started to change the settings on the ventilator. It took everything Gibbs had in him to not ask what he was doing. He knew the doctor would explain when he was done and right then, he wanted the focus to be on Tony.
After five more minutes, the doctor turned to Gibbs. “Okay, his blood gases show a remarkable improvement and with his conscious effort to fight the ventilator, it means his body and brain are recovering. I’ve left him on the ventilator for the time being because I’d hate to remove it too soon and him crash.”
Gibbs nodded, trying to focus on what the doctor was saying and not on Tony.
“I’ve changed the settings so that it will allow Tony to take some breaths on his own, if he doesn’t the machine will kick in and take a breath for him, I’d like to monitor him closely over the next few hours to see if anything changes and I’ll have the nurses do hourly blood gases in case he gets worse. I know it’s a lot to take in and I know it’s been a rough twenty-four hours, but things are looking up, Gibbs.”
Gibbs nodded again and thanked the doctor, who checked Tony over once more and then left. The nurse looked over at Gibbs. “Would you like another cup of coffee, or have you had enough excitement for one night?”
Gibbs smiled. “Another cup would be just fine, but only if you have the time. I know there are other patients here that need seeing to.”
“Right now, I’m one-on-one with Tony, just until the doctor lengthens the time between checks, so I’ll be keeping you company for the next few hours,” she explained. She left to get Gibbs some more coffee and he ran his hands through his hair and, almost collapsing, sank into the chair next to DiNozzo’s bed.
He concentrated listening to the sounds of Tony breathing, instead of the mechanical whir of the machine that he had gotten used to over the past twenty or so hours. The nurse came back, carrying a steaming hot cup of coffee for him - too hot for him to gulp like he usually did, so he left it cooling on the table next to him.
The nurse set about taking a set of vitals and writing them in Tony’s chart before disappearing again out of the room. Gibbs took the hand he’d been holding pretty much since they’d got there and gave it a little squeeze, his heart jumped when Tony squeezed back.
Gibbs stood up and looked at Tony’s face, tears coming to his eyes when he saw the green ones staring back at him. Tony looked panicked, so he spoke quickly, but gently. “It’s okay, Tony, I got you. You took an overdose, you’re in Bethesda in the ICU. I’m just going to get the nurse so she can call your doctor.”
Gibbs went to leave, but Tony held tight to his hand, the other pulling at the tube in his throat.
“DINOZZO! Leave that alone, I’ll stay right here and press the buzzer and the nurse will come. You just keep hold of my hand and I’ll stay right here,” Gibbs said, soothingly. He pressed the buzzer twice and the nurse reappeared. “He’s awake, anxious about the tube and squeezing my hand as if his life depended on it.”
“Okay, I’ll get the doctor,” the nurse said and once more she was gone.
“It’s okay, DiNozzo, just concentrate on squeezing my hand, the doctor will be here soon and he’ll probably take that tube outta your throat, but for now, leave it be and concentrate on me, okay?”
Tony nodded. He tried to concentrate on focusing on Gibbs’ face, but he felt the darkness pulling at him again and he closed his eyes for a moment to rest until the doctor arrived.
“DiNozzo, open your eyes, come on let me see those green eyes I love so much,” Gibbs said when he saw Tony had closed his eyes.
Tony fought to open them; every action was wiping his reserves of energy. He couldn’t remember why he was in the hospital, what had happened? Had a case gone wrong? He vaguely remembered that Gibbs had told him where he was and why he was there, but his memory failed him as he tried to pull up the conversation from the depths of his brain.
He knew it was something serious from the way Gibbs looked at him and the fact that it was obvious his boss had not left his side since he’d been admitted. He turned his head and saw the cot in the corner, which told him that Gibbs had been sleeping there with him. Why would Gibbs stay so close to him? What the hell had happened?
“Try not to think so much, DiNozzo, I can hear the cogs working in your brain. It’s going to be fine, the doc will remove that tube and then we can have a long talk about what happened,” Gibbs told him, watching the panic set into Tony’s eyes. “I’m not angry at you, I’m just glad you’re okay. I wish you’d called me, but that’s in the past now and I’m sure you had your reasons, so you just concentrate on keeping those eyes open and the doctor will be here soon and then we can talk, okay?”
Tony nodded, though it did little to calm him. Why would Gibbs be mad at him? Had he screwed up again? Questions he had plenty, answers? Not so much.
Dr. Foster arrived and watched the two men communicate, with Gibbs holding Tony’s hand and keeping his face within view of Tony’s eyes. He hated to break the bond between them, but he knew that he had to check Tony over now that he was awake and responding.
“Glad to see you’re back with us, Tony,” Dr. Foster said, causing Tony to jump and Gibbs to break his eye contact to look at the doctor.
“I think he’s having some trouble staying conscious,” Gibbs told the doctor, whilst rubbing his hand over Tony’s to calm him.
“That’s understandable, he may have just woken from a coma but his body is going to need a lot of time to heal and the best time to do that is when you’re asleep,” he told Gibbs, turning to Tony he said, “Tony, I need you to just stay awake for a few moments while I check your latest blood gas and see about removing that tube from your throat.”
The nurse passed over Tony’s chart to Dr. Foster, who read it with interest and then smiled at Tony and Gibbs. “The tube can come out, Carolyn, would you grab the equipment?” he asked the nurse. She nodded, leaving for a few minutes and returning with a syringe and oxygen mask. “I’d like to leave you on oxygen for a while, just to help your body heal. You’ve given us quite a few scares, Tony and I’d rather not repeat any of them.”
He stood over Tony with the syringe and unhooked the tube from the ventilator whilst Carolyn turned it off, he attached the syringe to a tube on the side of the ventilator tube and pulled back, drawing out some water. “Now, on three I need you to take a deep breath and blow out as hard as you can,” he told Tony. “One…two…three…blow!”
Dr. Foster pulled on the tube as Tony tried his hardest to blow out and it was finally removed from his trachea. He coughed several times and was offered water with a straw in it for him to sip, before Carolyn placed the oxygen mask over his face. “There, now I’ll have Carolyn keep an eye on your oxygen saturations and if they stay within the normal range we can put you on a nasal canula for the oxygen rather than a mask. Just relax, Tony and keep focusing on breathing. The rest will come in time,” Dr. Foster told Tony, before leaving them alone with Carolyn, who made herself busy with checking and noting down Tony’s vitals.
“Feeling better now, Tony?” Gibbs asked him, still holding tight to his hand.
Tony nodded, lifted his other hand and removed the mask. “I…”
“That needs to stay on, Tony,” Gibbs told him, putting it back in place before Tony could finish what he was saying. “Anything you need to say, you can say with the mask on.”
“I don’t remember what happened, why am I here?” Tony asked, through the mask, speaking as loud as he could so that Gibbs could hear him.
Gibbs sighed, if Tony couldn’t remember the overdose, then he couldn’t remember the attack, which meant any chance of them catching Tony’s attacker went out the window.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch DiNozzo when he falls?