They walked to the elevator, Gibbs supporting Tony just in case.
“Maybe we should go down and see Ducky, just to be safe,” Gibbs suggested.
“No, I’m fine, just jet-lag,” Tony said as they go into the elevator. They walked out to the car and drove back to Gibbs’ house. When they got inside Tony started down the hallway for the kitchen when he quickly double over, letting out a pained groan. Gibbs was quick to run to his side.
“Tony, what’s wrong?” he asked, panic flooding his voice.
“My stomach,” Tony groaned as he tried to stand upright.
“Come on,” Gibbs said as he helped Tony into the bedroom. He laid him on the bed only for Tony to bring his knees to his chest.
“It hurts, like somebody’s stabbing me with a knife,” Tony moaned.
“I’m taking you to the doctors,” Gibbs said as he looked at Tony curled up on the bed in pain.
“No, let’s wait a day,” he said.
“We’ll see,” Gibbs said as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’ll get you a glass of water,” Gibbs said as he got up and left for the kitchen. Tony lay still for a moment before launching himself off the bed and running to the bathroom.
Gibbs heard Tony and quickly dropped the glass into the sink, running into the bathroom he saw Tony leaning over the toilet.
“You don’t just have a case of jet-lag, hospital it is,” Gibbs said as he rubbed Tony’s back.
“No,” Tony protested but couldn’t do anything when he was in the car and heading for the hospital. Gibbs placed his hand on Tony’s forehead and moaned as he felt Tony building up a temperature. When they pulled into the parking lot at the hospital Gibbs was quick to help Tony into the building. He sat Tony on the hard cushioned chair and went to the reception desk.
“Hi, how can I help you today?” the girl behind the desk smiled.
“Hi, I need a doctor, my fiancé is ill,” Gibbs said urgently.
“Sure, I just need you to give me a quick description of the symptoms,” the girl said before dialling a number.
“Sharp stomach pains, throwing up, temperature,” he said quickly as he looked over his shoulder to Tony.
“Ok, the doctor is on his way,” the girl said. Seconds later a doctor appeared from around the corner. The girl pointed to Gibbs.
“Doctor Sanz,” the doctor introduced himself.
“Jethro, my fiancé isn’t well,” he said.
“Ok, where is you fiancé,” Dr Sanz said as he looked around. It was fairly quiet at the hospital and Tony was the only in in the waiting room.
“There,” Gibbs said as he pointed to Tony and started walking towards him.
“Oh, ok,” the doctor said.
“His name?” the doctor asked Gibbs.
“Tony,” Gibbs replied quickly. When they reached Tony he was panicking.
“Jethro, help me, I can’t feel my right hand,” he said as he reached out for Gibbs. Gibbs took Tony’s left hand and held it tightly.
“Tony, I’m Doctor Sanz, when did you start to lose feeling in your hand?” he asked.
“On the way to the hospital, but it wasn’t bothering me, I didn’t notice it,” Tony said, fear attacking his voice as he spoke.
“Ok, we are going to take you into a room and do some tests,” the doctor said as he yelled out to the girl behind the desk to get a room and bed. A few minutes later Tony was been taken into a room for tests. Gibbs sat in the waiting room worrying to the core. He could hear the clock ticking and the silence only made it louder.
“Jethro,” the doctor said as he sat next to him.
“Is he going to be ok?” Gibbs asked urgently.
“It depends, has he consumed any seafood over the past week?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, why?” Gibbs asked.
“We think that Tony may have Tetrodotoxin poisoning, caused by reef fish such as puffer fish,” the doctor said. Gibbs knew what that meant and was horrified.
“Oh,” was all he could manage to get out, the shock hitting him hard.
“I must warn you, these cases are often fatal,” the doctor concluded.
“Can I see him?” Gibbs asked, keeping his voice steady.
“Yes, we have him on pain relief,” the doctor said before he left.
“Room 8,” the girl behind the desk said as Gibbs walked passed. He nodded once before heading to room 8. When he walked in it broke his heart to see Tony lying there on that hard hospital bed, his face pale and when Tony looked up to Gibbs with tear glazed eyes he couldn’t help but cripple beneath the hurt.
“So, here we are once again, me in a life threatening situation,” Tony said with a slight smile.
“Yeah, guess we are,” Gibbs said as he took Tony’s hand.
“Maybe I won’t be so lucky this time,” Tony thought out loud.
“Don’t you dare say that Tony, not now or ever again, you got me?” Gibbs said sternly.
“Sorry, not saying it again,” Tony apologised. Gibbs slapped Tony on the head lightly.
“Don’t think it either,” Gibbs said. Tony nodded as he looked around pointlessly.
“You should ring the others and tell them,” Tony said after a few minutes.
“Guess I should, I won’t be a minute,” Gibbs said as he kissed Tony’s cheek and walked into the corridor. Pulling out his phone he dialled Abby’s lab number.
“Hey Bossman, what’s up?” Abby said cheerily through the line.
“Abby, Tony’s sick,” he said as he put his back against the wall.
“Oh god, what happened? Is he going to be ok?” she said worriedly through the line. He heard her music stop and footsteps. He told her where they were, Abby didn’t hang up, and she was still trying to get information out of Gibbs.
“Abby, I’ll tell you when you get here,” Gibbs said. He heard a beeping noise and looked around to see Doctor Sanz and two nurses running towards him. His heart skipped a beat as they ran into Tony’s room. He hung up without another word and stood in the door way.
“Mr Gibbs you’re going to have to leave,” one of the nurses said as she closed the door. Gibbs walked into the waiting room and sat down, burying his face into his hands.
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