Chapter Forty-Four
Gibbs spent most of the weekend at the hospital with Tony, when he wasn’t needed at the Navy Yard to tie up loose ends. There were no more interrogations to conduct, all the people responsible had been caught and placed in Central Holding - where they would stay until a trial date had been set.
It was nice to spend time with Tony as he got better, he was able to walk around a little now and hadn’t had a seizure since he’d been in ICU, the drugs seemed to be doing their job. His psychiatrist had contacted Dr. Foster to tell him that his superiors agreed that Tony should be started on a low dose of Amitrypline just for the next couple of months to help him deal with what had happened to him and ultimately the overdose that followed. Tony had protested slightly, but there really wasn’t much he could do. If he wanted to go home on Monday, he had to follow the doctor’s instructions so he took the little pill when they dished it out to him, along with some for his liver and the anti-seizure meds.
Dr. Clark had arranged to see Tony on Monday afternoon after he’d been discharged and this would be the first appointment that Tony went to alone. He was a little worried about it, but he knew that Gibbs would take him, wait for him and bring him home so he wasn’t really going through it alone. Just the actual talking bit would be hard.
By the time Monday rolled around, Gibbs was ready to sleep in his own bed. He’d taken the day off work - using up one of his many accrued personal days so that he could stay with Tony throughout the day and make sure he was okay with living with Gibbs and if he had any problems, they could be dealt with then and not when Gibbs returned from work.
Dr. Foster appeared bright and early at ten am to discharge Tony. The monitors had already been detached, the IV’s removed and he looked like a normal person for the first time in a week. Dr. Foster gave him a once over, checking his pulse, oxygen saturations and everything to make sure that Tony really was ready to be discharged from the hospital.
“I think that’s everything. You’ve made a great recovery, Tony, just remember that you’ll have limitations on what you’re able to do now, some things that seemed easy before will make you out of breath from the damage to your heart. You need to avoid getting too stressed out as they can trigger seizures, which I’m sure you don’t want. Remember to take your drugs, pain killers as well if you need them and don’t be afraid to ask for help. The rest of your recovery begins now and it’s up to you whether it’s easy or not,” Dr. Foster told Tony, his voice solemn.
“He’ll do as he’s told,” Gibbs replied, throwing a glare at Tony.
“Yes, boss.” Dr. Foster and Gibbs shared a laugh as Tony hobbled over to the wheelchair provided and sat down.
“I say this to all my patients, but I really mean it with you, I hope I never see you again, Tony, especially in the state you were in this time last week,” Dr. Foster said, smiling.
Tony nodded and Gibbs threw the bag of things Tony had accumulated over his stay in hospital over his shoulder and pushed the wheelchair out of the room. The Marine on guard planned to escort them to the door and into Gibbs’ car so that no one could get to them during the time when they were most vulnerable.
Once they were in the car, Gibbs headed towards his house, driving at a slower speed than normal, because the last thing he wanted was to cause Tony any pain. He’d been given mild painkillers for his gunshot wound in his shoulder - they wouldn’t allow him to take home narcotics after what he’d done with the last batch - as well as some anti-nausea tablets should he need them.
They stopped at a pharmacy to collect the scripts. It was a drive through which meant that neither Tony nor Gibbs had to leave the safety of the vehicle. That took fifteen minutes, giving them four hours at home before they would have to set out again for Tony’s outpatient appointment with the shrink.
They got to Gibbs’ house and Gibbs made Tony stay in the car with the doors locked and his head low, while Gibbs checked the house and took in both the meds and Tony’s bag. He’d gone back to Tony’s apartment over the weekend to grab some supplies that would keep Tony happy while he was staying there and if they made it permanent there was always room for more. They just had to take it one small step at a time.
Gibbs entered the house and checked every room, his gun drawn, and told himself that from now on he would have to remember to lock the door every time he entered and left the house. Not with Kamisnski on Tony’s back, despite being in jail, they had no way to know how long a reach that man had. Once he was sure the house was clear, he went out to get Tony and help him into the house and into bed - he may have been discharged but that was on the condition that he rested.
“My bed or the spare room?” Gibbs asked, supporting Tony as he made his way into the house.
“Your bed, I want to wake up next to you,” Tony replied, giving a weak smile as he carried on hobbling. It surprised him how little he had to do before he was tired. He’d only walked from the car to the door and to the bedroom and already he could feel his tired eyes fighting to stay open.
“You look wiped out,” Gibbs observed as he helped Tony lay down on the bed. He removed his shoes and socks and laid a thin comforter over him so he didn’t get cold. “We’ve got about four hours until we have to leave for your appointment, why don’t you get a couple of hours sleep then we’ll see about getting some food into you.”
Tony only had the strength to nod, he felt so weak, so pathetic considering what he’d done, but the doc had tried to warn him, next time, he’d listen to them. He closed his eyes, as he felt Gibbs stroke his thumb along the back of his hand and fell into a deep sleep.
~*~
They arrived at the outpatient facility with ten minutes to spare and that was with Gibbs’ sedate driving because he was still wary of hurting Tony by driving too fast. He’d managed to get him to eat some soup with bread and then watched as he took some pain and anti-nausea medication, which made him feel sleepy all over again. He didn’t have time to go back to bed so Gibbs had let him sleep the way to the outpatient facility.
They walked in together, Tony leaning some of his weight onto Gibbs because he still felt exhausted by the smallest movements. Gibbs led Tony to the closest chair and went to book him in. He was told to wait until Tony’s name was called and that the doctor would be with him shortly.
In all, it took only five minutes until Dr. Clark called Tony’s name.
“Tony DiNozzo?” she called.
“Yeah,” Tony said, standing up and hobbling over to the room where Dr. Clark was stood. He noticed Gibbs and smiled at the man, glad that he hadn’t tried to follow Tony into this appointment. He closed the door and took a seat opposite Tony behind a big, pine desk.
“How have you been since our last session, Tony?” Dr. Clark asked.
“Tired, I only came out of hospital this morning and everything I do seems to wear me out. I had to sleep for two hours once we got to Gibbs’ place, then we ate and came here. I know it’s because of the damage done to my heart, but it will get better won’t it?” Tony replied, sounding worried.
“Does it worry you that it won’t?”
“Yeah, I mean, I know Gibbs and Ducky have made it perfectly clear that my new conditions won’t stop me being a full time Field Agent, but what if I’m just too tired and can’t do my job?”
“What would you do instead?”
“I don’t know, I think I’d go crazy if I couldn’t work where I am. I love that job, I’m good at it and it’s a big part of my life.”
“How’s the Amitrypline working for you?”
“I don’t think it’s actually doing anything, it seems like a pointless tablet to take.”
“Well, it can take about two weeks for it to have an effect, so I’d like you to continue on it just until we can see if it does make a difference.”
“What about work though?”
“What about it?”
“What am I going to do if I can’t go back? I couldn’t cope with that.”
“Would it make you consider suicide again?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Okay, now here’s what I want you to do. I want you to list what you excel at, including anything that you do at work now, or have done in the past and then we’ll discuss that further next session okay?” Dr. Clark said.
They talked about other things for the rest of his one hour session and before he knew it, he was outside in Gibbs’ arms making his way back to the car.
“Did it go okay?” Gibbs asked, once Tony was in the car and they were driving home.
“I…I think so, I’m not sure. He wants me to make a list of something.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, maybe in case I can’t go back to NCIS.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I’m so tired right now by the smallest things, I’m useless as an agent.” Gibbs said nothing, just pulled over in a safe spot and turned to face Tony.
“You are not useless. Your recovery will take time and when you’re ready - and not before - your job will be there and you’ll do it better than you did before, I promise you that,” Gibbs said, reaching over and pulling Tony into a hug before heading back onto the highway and going home.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch DiNozzo when he falls?