Chapter Two
Once they were sure Tony wasn’t actively bleeding from anywhere, Gibbs lifted him and carried him to the car. He was like a limp doll, his head lolling about as Gibbs walked, he wanted to give him some more support, but couldn’t risk losing the valuable time they had in which to get Tony to a hospital.
Ducky sat in the back, while Gibbs drove - the siren he never used atop the car, flashing and howling to warn other motorists that Gibbs was stopping for nobody. Ducky kept listening to Tony struggle to breath, kept checking his pulse to make sure it was there and overall, just kept checking that Tony was still with them as they drove.
They arrived at Bethesda within minutes and Ducky left Gibbs to watch over his senior agent whilst he briefed the doctors of Tony’s condition. Without any help, Gibbs lifted Tony onto a gurney and kept hold of his hand as they rushed him into the ER. He stayed at Tony’s side as the doctor began his examination, shouting orders, putting in IV’s, drawing blood to check the levels in Tony’s blood and snaking a catheter into Tony’s urethra to keep an eye on his kidney function.
Ten minutes after they had arrived, everyone seemed calmer and the doctor had stopped shouting orders to everyone within hearing distance. He looked at Gibbs and nodded for him to follow as he left the room to explain the details of Tony’s condition to the two friends that had brought him here.
“He’s critical. We can’t ascertain without the blood results how much he took and how long ago. We’ll transfer him to the ICU where he’ll be monitored closely, but you have to realise that there is no antidote for an overdose of this size, Tony is unconscious and in a coma, he runs the risk of permanent liver and kidney damage - which we’re giving him drugs to combat, but like I said, without knowing the exact dosage and when he took the drugs, we don’t know what kind of strain he’s put on his organs. The next twenty four to forty eight hours are critical, he may not survive,” the doctor explained, his expression grave.
“Can I stay with him?” Gibbs asked, not wanting to leave Tony alone while he was in this state. His mind flashed back to the events of two years previously when Tony had been infected with plague. Under the blue lights of the isolation unit, he’d looked pale, sweaty and worse than a concentration camp survivor. Gibbs had watched as Tony had struggled to catch each breath, certain - but also scared - that he would disobey the direct order given to him and die. Right now, Tony looked worse, his skin was clammy and cold to the touch, he was barely holding his own and all Gibbs could think was, ’Why didn’t you call? I could have helped, I could have stopped this.’
“Of course, I’ll arrange for a pull out cot to be placed in Tony’s room,” the doctor replied, giving Gibbs a nod as he spoke. He knew that he had to gather the evidence of Tony’s attack before too long so that they could catch the bastard that had done this, but his mind was elsewhere.
In the end, it was Ducky who brought it to the doctors attention. “Doctor, we think that Tony was raped, causing this situation, there’s evidence to be gathered. Is it possible you can arrange for a rape kit to be done?”
The doctors face turned grim as he listened to Ducky explain, he nodded and was about to say something when a nurse appeared from the trauma room where Tony was being treated.
“He’s bradycardic, doctor,” she said. The doctor gave one last look at Gibbs and Ducky before following the nurse back into the trauma room. Gibbs was not sitting in some god for saken waiting room while his senior field agent’s life held in the balance and he motioned for Ducky to follow him.
The scene that greeted them when they entered the trauma room almost stopped Gibbs’ own heart. The heart monitor was beeping and Tony seemed to be breathing even slower.
Once again, the doctor was shouting commands. “We need to intubate, he’s not going to be able to hold his own for much longer. Push the drugs and I’ll scope him.” Gibbs watched as they pushed drugs into one of Tony’s IVs and then the doctor laid him flat and tilted his head back before passing a tube into his throat so that they could breathe for him.
A nurse started to bag Tony as they watched, more drugs were ordered and given to Tony via the IV and Gibbs wondered if he could stop holding his breath. The heart monitor was still shrieking its alarm and the doctor seemed to get more agitated by it.
“It’s down to twenty-five, dammit. Get the external pacemaker, we need to get that heart rate back up,” he shouted to a nurse, who disappeared from the room returning minutes later and attaching another machine to Tony’s chest. It seemed to do the job because the heart monitor soon stopped alarming and Tony’s chest started to twitch.
“What have they done to him?” Gibbs asked Ducky, not wanting to bother the doctor while he tried to stablise Tony.
“It’s an external pacemaker, Tony’s heart rate had dropped to a dangerously low level because of the overdose so they’re using it to control his heart rate and keep it high enough to keep pumping blood and oxygen round his body. The signals it gives to keep the heart going make Tony’s chest convulse, it’s nothing to worry about - it’s not giving him any discomfort,” Ducky explained.
Gibbs sighed, watching Tony’s chest rise, fall and twitch, it shouldn’t have happened like this, Tony should have called him. Why hadn’t he called?
Once the doctor had managed to stablise Tony, he was quickly moved from the ER to the ICU, Gibbs following him all the way as they pushed the gurney, drips and various monitors that were keeping Tony alive. Once they had transferred him onto the bed and made him comfortable, Gibbs took his place by Tony’s bed, reaching out to hold the only hand not attached to any machinery or drip.
Ducky stood watching the pair. “I spoke to the doctor, he’s arranged for a nurse to come and do the rape kit,” he told Gibbs.
“Good, we need the evidence processed asap. I want to know the bastard that did this and take him down,” Gibbs replied.
“The others will have to be informed.”
“I trust you can do that. I want to stay with Tony, he’s going to need someone with him when he wakes up.”
“I can do that. You realise that it will take the whole of the US Marine force to keep Abby from here once she finds out, don’t you?”
“I know, but she’s needed in the lab. I want her to process whatever evidence we can find. Get McGee and Ziva to go back to Tony’s apartment and grab the sheets from his bed and anything else that might help us solve this.”
“Will do.”
“Thanks, Duck.”
“Do you need anything before I go? Coffee?”
“I’ll get one of the nurses to bring me some, right now I’m going on pure adrenalin alone.”
“Okay, I’ll head back to NCIS and tell the others, call me if there’s any news.”
“Will do, Duck.” Ducky gave one last glance at Tony’s still form before leaving him alone with Gibbs and praying that he pulled through this and came out the other side relatively unharmed.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch Tony when he falls?