Chapter Twenty-One
When Gibbs arrived back in the ICU and Tony’s room, he was right in his assumption that he would make it back before Tony did. The room was empty, and Gibbs took his usual set by what was Tony’s bed and sipped from his full coffee cup. He’d had his two cups and brought two along with him, with the reasoning that he drank them so fast that the second one would still be warm when he was through with the first. At least he hoped that would be the case because he couldn’t stand cold coffee.
He was alone for no more than fifteen minutes when Tony was brought back to the ICU from his tests, they had shaved a little of his hair off for the EEG and it made him look very different than the guy Gibbs had left less than two hours previously. He dumped his first cup of coffee into a bin as they lifted Tony from the gurney into his bed and set about re-attaching the wires and such. Gibbs stood out of the way, drinking his second cup of coffee which was, thankfully, still quite warm.
Tony looked dazed as he was laid back in his bed, like he’d been sedated but not given quite enough to make him sleep.
“Tony, you with me? Gibbs asked, once all the porters and nurses had left. He was waiting for Dr. Foster to arrived with the results from Tony’s MRI and EEG.
“I’m here, boss,” Tony answered, sounding really groggy. “I just need to sleep for a while, is that okay?”
“Of course it is,” Gibbs told him, taking his hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. He sat back, his hand still holding Tony’s and drank his coffee whilst waiting for the doctor to appear.
He didn’t have to wait long, Dr. Foster appeared in the ICU less than ten minutes after Tony had. Gibbs watched him through the glass windows, as he approached the nurses’ station and spoke to the nurse in charge of Tony’s care for a few moments and then headed to Tony’s room, where Gibbs was waiting for him.
“I have the results of the tests we’ve just performed and the neurologist was present so he’s already looked at them,” Dr. Foster said.
“Tony’s asleep, did you give him another sedative?” Gibbs asked.
“We had to, with the pacemaker causing his chest to twitch and his own nervousness, he kept moving during the MRI and the only way to get a clear picture is if the patient is completely still. It wasn’t a large dose, just enough to calm him down.”
“Yeah, I guessed as much, but he’s just dropped off and I’d rather he slept, so can we talk outside?”
“Of course.” Gibbs maneuvered his hand out of Tony’s grasp, who muttered in his sleep at the loss, and then joined Dr. Foster just outside of Tony’s room with the door left open in case the young man needed them or woke up.
“We think we have managed to discover the cause of all of Tony’s seizures,” Dr. Foster said.
“Okay.” Gibbs leaned back against the wall, from the way things sounded, this was not going to be good news.
“If you’ll remember, his first seizure happened when the Vicodin was still in his system and whilst his kidneys were going into failure, we believe that one was caused by the build up of toxins in his system and had he not had another more, it would have been put down to a one time thing,” Dr. Foster explained.
“But he had two more,” Gibbs said, starting to worry.
“He did, both after his arrest when for a short while there was no oxygen going to his brain. I’m afraid the MRI showed a small amount of brain damage, which caused the second and third seizure. His EEG was not normal, indicating that he has a seizure disorder that will continue throughout his adult life.”
“Oh, God,” Gibbs said, dropping his head as he ran through all the things that Tony could now not do. Possibly his job at the forefront of his mind.
“I’m starting him on Phenytoin - a drug that works well in controlling seizure disorders other than epilepsy. The neurologist will come and see Tony when he’s moved off of ICU and into a private room to check on how he’s coping with the drug.”
“When do you think he’ll be moved?”
“Well, we’re coming up to the forty-eight hour mark since the overdose. Tomorrow, we’ll try taking him off the pacemaker to assess the damage to his heart, but please remember that there is a possibility that he’ll need a permanent one to keep his heart beating at a regular rhythm. We’ll know more once we test his heart off the external pacemaker.”
“So, he could need one for life?”
“Yes, but as I said, we’ll know more after we do some tests.”
“If he doesn’t need a pacemaker, will he be moved tomorrow?”
“He could be, we’d like to keep an eye on him off the pacemaker for twelve hours or so, but if that comes off with no problems tomorrow morning then I see no reason why he couldn’t be moved to a private room tomorrow evening. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just that with the investigation started, people are going to need to be able to talk to him and I don’t want to over crowd the ICU. Plus, of course, once he’s off ICU, it’s a sure sign that he’s on the mend.”
“He has a long road ahead of him, both mentally and physically. He’ll need to speak with one of our psychiatrists before he can leave and I’m sure they would like for him to have regular therapy even after he leaves the hospital.”
“I can understand that. The agency will require him to speak with one of our psychiatrists before he an return to be declared mentally fit to work,” Gibbs said.
“I can imagine they would, especially in your line of work. I need to get off now, but I’ll come and check on Tony before I leave for the night. I see you took my advice and got some time away from the hospital,” Dr. Foster said, noting the change in clothes.
“Thanks for your time, I’ll speak to Tony about it all so that he’s up to date on his condition. Do you think it would be possible for me to borrow the phone to call a friend?” Gibbs asked.
“Of course, just dial ‘9’ for an outside line.” With that, the doctor left and with a quick glance back into Tony’s room, Gibbs made his way to the nurses’ station to make his phone call.
He dialed the number for the morgue, hoping that Ducky was still doing his autopsy and would be able to spare a few minutes with him on the phone.
“Morgue,” Palmer said, answering the phone.
“Palmer, it’s Gibbs, can I speak to Ducky for a moment?” Gibbs asked, trying to keep his cool. He didn’t know what it was about the man, but for some reason Gibbs found himself getting angry whenever he spoke to Palmer for longer than a few minutes.
Palmer didn’t reply, just put the phone down and called over to Ducky, who took a few minutes to cross the room and pick up the phone. “Dr. Mallard speaking.”
“Ducky, it’s me,” Gibbs said, wishing that Palmer had passed onto Ducky that it was him on the phone, he was wasting time, he didn’t want to be away from Tony too long in case he woke up and wondered why he was not there.
“What can I do for you, Jethro?”
“They’re taking Tony off the external pacemaker tomorrow morning, can you be here so that if something goes wrong I have someone with me to explain it rather than bother the doctor while he stablises Tony?”
“Of course, what did the MRI and EEG show?”
“There’s a small amount of brain damage from lack of oxygen during his arrest, he’ll have seizures for life but they’ve started him on a drug called Pheynowhatit and that should help.”
“It’s also called Dilantin, well that’s what will be written on the bottle anyhow. I’ve heard of it, it’s a very good anti-seizure medication. I’ll check the current medical guidelines, but as I said earlier, I see no reason why Anthony couldn’t return to active field work if his seizures were controlled with drugs.”
“Thanks, Duck, I’d appreciate it, if you could do that before you come tomorrow then at least if he needs a permanent pacemaker we’ll be able to give him some good news to take his mind off it.”
“Of course, Jethro. I’ll look it up once I’m done autopsying Petty Officer Adams. Interesting case, actually, reminds me of the time I was in Goa…”
“Duck, I’m sure it’s fascinating, but I have to get back to Tony.”
“I understand, another time maybe?”
“Of course.” With that, he hung up the phone and headed back to Tony’s room, ready to share the results of his tests with him and let him know what he’d discovered on his trip to the Navy Yard.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch DiNozzo when he falls?