Chapter Nineteen
They weren’t alone for long, just as the team left; the team responsible for Tony’s dialysis arrived and started setting him up for his session. Dr. Foster was with them and he motioned for Gibbs to join him out in the hall.
“I’ll just be a minute, Tony,” he said, releasing his hand from Tony’s grip and heading out of the room to join the doctor.
“I just wanted to discuss some tests with you,” the doctor said. “I trust you’ll be able to pass it onto Tony in a way that won’t stress him out.”
“Of course,” Gibbs said, suddenly concerned about the tests. “What’s going on then?”
“I’ve spoken to a neurologist and because of his suggestions I’ve ordered an MRI, and an EEG to help us determine what’s causing Tony’s seizures, we’ve taken some blood to check some things out, but the treatment plan will all depend on what we find - if anything. You won’t be able to accompany Tony to either tests, so I suggest that you use that time to have a shower and get a change of clothes, away from the hospital as I guess you’re planning on spending the rest of the day and night with him as you did previously,” Dr. Foster explained.
“Why the MRI? Didn’t the CAT scan show what you were looking for?”
“There is a possibility that when Tony arrested early this morning, his brain was starved of oxygen and damage could have been done that is causing the seizures, the MRI will tell us if that is the case. The CAT scan isn’t detailed enough to show us that kind of damage. The EEG is just a precaution and routinely done on patients who have seizures without any known cause.”
“Didn’t the Vicodin cause it?” Gibbs asked, sounding and looking worried. Tony couldn’t have brain damage, he wouldn’t allow it.
“It may have been responsible, but without the MRI, EEG and blood test results, I can’t say for certain,” Dr. Foster replied.
“When will you do the tests?”
“As soon as this session of dialysis is over. Once the tests are done, I’ll go over the results with you and Tony, as well as consulting with a neurologist and if need be, I’ll refer Tony to him for a consult.”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“How did it go with your team? The nurses said they were in there for a while.”
“About two hours, Tony managed to talk through what happened and gave us a description of the guy. It’s not much to work with, but my people are good and given that it was something they knew that was attacked, they’ll track the bastard down.”
“Good. I’ll let you get back to Tony now.” With that, Dr. Foster headed over to the nurses station, leaving Gibbs to turn back into Tony’s room.
Tony smiled when Gibbs took his place back at his side. “How’re you feeling?” Gibbs asked, when he saw Tony wince as he moved his head.
“I don’t know. My back hurts, and this dialysis thing is no fun. My neck is killing me,” Tony replied, wincing again as he tried to get comfortable. “Sometimes I feel like I’m not really here, like this is all a dream or something.”
“That’s probably a side effect of the overdose, Tony. The first dialysis session cleared the drug from your system, but it still had time to do some damage,” Gibbs said.
“Like what?”
“Well, you know about your kidneys and your liver. The doc thinks that maybe when you arrested early this morning your brain may have been starved of oxygen and it could have caused some damage that is causing the seizures. You’re going to have an MRI and an EEG at some point after the dialysis,” Gibbs explained, hoping that Tony would stay calm when he digested the news.
“More tests?”
“They want to be sure, they have to know what’s causing the seizures and once they find the cause they’ll know if it’ll happen for the rest of your life and be able to start you on some medication to combat them.”
“If I have a seizure disorder, will I still be able to be an active Field Agent?”
Gibbs sighed, he was hoping he wouldn’t have to have this conversation with Tony until he’d had a chance to check the regulations, talk to Ducky and possibly the Director so that he could give Tony an honest and complete answer.
“I don’t know, Tony. I won’t be allowed to come with you when you go for your tests so I’m going to head into work to talk to Ducky and possibly Jen about it to see what they say, as well as grab a shower and clean change of clothes from home so that I can happily stay with you tonight.”
“You don’t have to stay,” Tony said, lowering his eyes. He didn’t want to be left on his own at that moment in time, he knew that he’d have nightmares about his attack for weeks to come and he wanted somewhere there to comfort him should they happen, but he knew that Gibbs had more important things to do than watch over him.
“Hey, it’s where I want to be,” Gibbs replied, calming Tony’s fears in an instant. “Now, lie back and let that machine do its work. Get some sleep, I’ve had an MRI and it’s very tiring just laying still.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Tony said, sleepily. He hadn’t realised how much having the team there had tired him out, so he closed his eyes and soon he was off in the land of dreams. He knew he was safe because he could feel Gibbs holding onto his hand.
~*~
Tony slept most of the way through his dialysis session, only waking when they came to disconnect him, Gibbs watched as Tony winced at any movement to his neck, he didn’t like seeing the man in pain, but he knew that with his kidneys needing dialysis to work and the liver damage being so severe, there was no way the doctors could or even would give him something for the pain. So, Tony would just have to suffer, but at least he wouldn’t be alone.
Gibbs made a mental to-do list in his head, first he would go home, have a quick shower and pack a small bag because it looked like he’d be staying at the hospital for a while and wouldn’t always be able to leave to get a change of clothes. After he was done there, he would head to NCIS and track down Ducky for his advice on what Dr. Foster had said, both about the condition of Tony’s liver and kidneys and about the possibility of brain damage causing the seizures. He was sure the doctor would be up on NCIS guidelines and know whether it was inhibit Tony’s ability to do his job as an active Field Agent.
The one thing he was dreading was speaking to the Director, he had spoken to her briefly to inform her of what had happened to Tony and that he wouldn’t be in work until Tony was more stable, but he wasn’t sure how she would take the knowledge that Tony may not be able to return to work. Part of him was worried that she would use his seizure disorder - if there was one - against him and find a way to fire him, or move him off Gibbs’ team or worse, tell him he could only do desk duty, which he knew would result in Tony’s resignation because he’d rather resign than be stuck behind a desk day in and day out.
Although Gibbs knew it would be a while before Tony was able to return to active duty - taking the gunshot wound and the after effects of the overdose into consideration - he wanted to be able to tell the man that after however long of desk duty there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that he would soon be back on active duty, watching Gibbs’ six.
“Penny for them?” Tony asked, breaking Gibbs’ train of thought.
“What?”
“Whatever has you so worried that you’re wearing your ‘leave me alone or die’ stare,” Tony said, smirking.
“I was just thinking about what I need to do while you’re down having your tests. I don’t want to be more than a couple of hours and be back here before you so that you’re not alone any longer than necessary.”
“I’ll be fine, boss. If you’re not here when I get back, I’ll just sleep or something.”
“Not the point, Tony. I want to be here before you get back. I don’t like the thought of leaving as it is, but I can’t protect you if I’m not here.”
“Noone is going to hurt me, Gibbs. They’re more concerned with me surviving.”
“Yeah, but what about that asshole shrink, he wasn’t exactly the most helpful man towards your recovery, was he?”
“No, but…”
“No buts, I’ll be here when you get back, okay?”
“Okay.” Tony leaned back against the pillows with the intention of grabbing a few more hours shut eye before they came to get him for his tests, but he barely had his eyes closed for a few seconds before Gibbs was telling him that the porters were here for him.
Gibbs stood as they transferred Tony onto a gurney and attached the various wires to the portable monitors and once he was safely on the gurney, Gibbs leant down and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
“Behave, I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Yes, boss.” With that, the porters led Tony away.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch DiNozzo when he falls?