Chapter Five
Abby returned to Tony’s room with a Caf-Pow for herself and what could only be described as coffee - for Gibbs - though she wasn’t sure it was up to the standard of the usual stuff that Gibbs drank.
She’d been there for a good three hours, taking turns with Gibbs to hold Tony’s hand and talk to him. Gibbs had told her that the doctors didn’t hold out much hope that Tony could hear them, but she’d said that studies had been done on people in comas and that those with families around them recovered quicker than those that had no one. She had been surprised when Gibbs raised his eyebrow and took in the information before taking his turn with Tony and sending her out to get drinks.
His instructions had been very specific - something other than the crap Bethesda called coffee and something for herself and she’d stuck gold, having managed to find a place that did both decent coffee and Caf-Pow.
She handed the coffee to Gibbs who took a gulp and grimaced. “I’m not sure what’s worse, this or the stuff that the hospital say passes as coffee,” he said, swallowing, “but it’ll do.”
“How’s Tony doing?” she asked. She’d been gone for only thirty minutes getting the drinks, but still she had worried the whole way to the shop and back that something would happen to Tony while she was gone.
“Pretty much the same, he had a small seizure but his doctor, Dr. Foster, said that it’s normal with overdoses of Tony’s size, he also increased the anti-seizure medication since they is a change that Tony will suffer permanent brain damage if they continue.”
Abby sighed again. “He’s got a thick skull. After all she’s been taking head slaps from you since he arrived on a pretty much daily basis.” She was trying to lighten the mood and until Gibbs gave her and then Tony a small smile she hadn’t been sure she was successful.
“You got that right, Abs. How’s the DNA search going?” he asked, pointing to her laptop which she had left running when she’d gone to get the refreshments.
Abby grabbed the laptop from where it was placed, sat on the chair she had been using, took a big gulp of Caf-Pow and checked the DNA search. It had come up with no matches when they tried it within the local area so Gibbs had asked her to check all the states and that was what was running now. It’d been running for about two hours so it should pull up a result soon. ’It’d better because if it doesn’t I think it will actually break Gibbs to know we have nothing on the guy who attacked Tony,’ she thought to herself.
She knew how Gibbs worked, how he felt the need to protect his people and how when people went after them, he had to catch whoever had been responsible. She’d seen him do the same with Ari after he held Kate, Ducky and Gerald hostage and again when he’d killed Kate. At least then they’d known who he was, but even though she spent a lot of her work time in the lab she could still remember the computer program Gibbs had running in the background with Ari’s smiling face looking up to the camera as they struggled to identify the intruder that had been in the morgue.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine what Gibbs would do if it came up with no matches. She’d always known that she was Gibbs’ favourite and it didn’t bother her or the rest of the team really, but, despite having a strange way of showing it, he also had a soft spot for Tony too and just watching him, watch Tony, Abby could tell that it was really hurting him to see his friend, his co-work, and his senior field agent like this.
She had yet to explain to Gibbs that the only evidence they’d found on Tony had been some sperm - nothing under the fingernails to suggest he fought back, which meant one of two things, either he hadn’t fought back or he’d showered following the attack. She knew that Gibbs would react badly to that news because as an NCIS Special Agent, Tony would have known to preserve the evidence, another sign that he hadn’t been in his right mind that night.
“No matches yet,” she told Gibbs, turning the screen so that he could see that the program was still running through the possible suspects.
“It’s been two hours, Abs, when are we going to get a match?” he asked, giving her a tradmarked ‘Gibbs’ look.
“I can’t tell you, Gibbs. It’ll match when it matches. The only thing we can do is wait.”
“And there was nothing significant in his apartment?”
“Not that McGee or Ziva found.”
“Then he wasn’t attacked at home, he must have gone out for a run or something and been attacked then. This means, we officially have no crime scene.” He turned to look at Tony. “Come on, Dinozzo, we need you to wake up so we can check the crime scene before the evidence is compromised.”
There was nothing from Tony, no inclination he’d heard his boss’ demands or was even listening, but Gibbs held true to the fact that if it was him lying there he’d have wanted people to talk to him. He didn’t know where Tony’s mind was, whether he was dreaming or not, but if he was trapped in his mind, with only silence for company he didn’t think that he’d want to wake up, so the talking helped him help Tony because God knows there was little else he could do.
“We could get McGee or Ziva to follow the route Tony normally takes when he runs and see if they can find the original crime scene?” Abby offered.
“Now that, that sounds like a plan,” Gibbs replied. “Can you stay with him while I call in? Might as well give them all an update on Tony’s condition. If anything happens, you call for me, I’ll be at the nurse’s station just outside the door, okay?”
“Anything at all, will do Gibbs.” Abby took his place at Tony’s side as the boss headed out of the room and towards the nurse’s station so he could call in.
“You have to wake up Tony, it’ll kill him, I swear it. He needs you to be okay and I promise you, we’ll find the guy that did this to you and make him pay using whatever means necessary,” Abby half-whispered as Gibbs left her alone, she wanted Tony to hear, but not Gibbs. She didn’t think he’d appreciate her knowing just how much he felt for his senior agent, but she knew, whether Tony did was a mystery. Maybe if he had known, he would have picked up the phone rather than the Vicodin bottle.
The nurses smiled at Gibbs as he approached the desk, it had been the first time since Dinozzo had arrived that the man had left his side - he must be a pretty good boss to be worried about his people the way Gibbs was.
“Dr. Foster said it would be okay for me to use the phone to call my team and keep them in the loop as to Tony’s condition,” he said.
“Go ahead,” the nurse, who’d done Tony’s rape exam, said.
Gibbs dialed the number for his phone in the office, and hoped that either Ziva or McGee had the good sense to answer in with the situation being what it was. He decided that after talking to them about retracing Tony’s footsteps on the night of his attack he would call the Director and inform her about what had happened to Tony and that he wouldn’t be back in work until Tony had at least started to show signs of making a recovery.
After four rings, it clicked onto his voice mail, so he hung up and dialed McGee’s direct line. That got him the response he wanted.
“Agent McGee speaking.”
“McGee, it’s me. Listen, Abby said there was barely any evidence at Tony’s apartment or in his rape kit so I need you and Ziva to retrace Tony’s steps. He might have gone for a run and been attacked then. I do not have to stress how important it is that we find the initial crime scene before any evidence that may help us is lost, do I?” he said, making his voice sound stern, even though he knew the rest of the team would also be reeling in shock about what had been done to their colleague and friend.
“Will do, boss. Um…”
“Yes, McGee?”
“How is he?” McGee asked, feeling nervous.
“He’s critical still, had a couple of seizures and the docs are trying to stop him getting brain damage or anything else like that. Call Abby if you find anything, I’ll send her back to the lab shortly. I can’t use my cell in here with all the equipment.”
“Yes, boss.” Gibbs hung up and dialed the number for the Director’s office, confident that if anything went on with Tony while he was gone Abby would call him.
“Director Shepherd’s office,” Cynthia said, when she answered the phone.
“I need to speak to her.”
“Who’s speaking, please?”
“It’s Gibbs and it’s an emergency.”
“Agent Gibbs, I’m afraid she’s in a meeting right now. Can I take a message and have her call you back.”
“Look, this is a life or death emergency, I need to speak to her now so interrupt whatever ass kissing is going on and get her on the phone.”
“I can’t do that, Agent Gibbs…”
“Dammit, Cynthia, just get her on the phone.”
Cynthia sighed, put Gibbs on hold and knocked on the Director’s door. “I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am, but Agent Gibbs is on the phone insistent that he speaks with you, something to do with a life or death emergency,” she explained to the Director.
Director Shepherd turned to the men facing her and gave a small smile. “If you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I’ll only be a minute.” She got up from behind her desk and followed Cynthia out the door.
She picked up the phone and waited for Cynthia to release the hold button. “Jethro, what’s so important that it can’t wait until I’ve spoken to our friends in the FBI?”
“It’s Tony, he was attacked and raped last night, I found him unconscious this morning, after him taking an overdose of the Vicodin his doc prescribed for his shoulder injury. He’s in a coma at Bethesda, next few days are critical and I thought that you would want to know why he won’t be in work for a while. Nor will I be for that matter.”
“Why won’t you be in?”
“I’m staying with him until he wakes up,” Gibbs said, matter of factly. His tone suggested that he dare the Director to fight him on it.
“I can arrange for you to take some personal time, that’s not a problem. Lord knows you have enough of it stacked up. Did you do a rape exam?”
“A nurse did, it’s been processed by Abby as well as some bloody sheets we found at Tony’s apartment. I’ve just sent Ziva and McGee to retrace Dinozzo’s footsteps the night of the attack to see if we can find the original crime scene.”
“Keep me informed of his condition,” she said, simply, before hanging up the phone, taking a deep breath and heading back into her meeting.
Gibbs hung up and headed back to Tony’s room where Abby was telling him about some case she had worked on before Tony’s time. Gibbs looked at Tony, listening to the words that Abby was saying, but not really taking them in. Tony was his main concern right now; he looked pale and was still limp ��" in fact Gibbs was sure the only thing keeping him horizontal was the bed placed beneath him, his skin still too cool and too clammy to touch, but the doctor said that would start to ease once the Vicodin started to make its way out of Tony’s system.
’Why’d you do this to yourself, Tony? Do you not see the self-created family around you? People who would do anything for you. We’re all here, Tony and we’re not going, no matter what.’
Author's Chapter Notes:
Who will catch DiNozzo when he falls?