Chapter 9
Looking through the observation window, McGee's stomach turned. It wasn't so much the blood and seeing the inside of Tony's organs that got to him, yes that was disturbing, but it was what the nurse that he had met earlier was saying.
“Dr. Matthews!” She exclaimed “I think Dr. Jameson was trying to poison the patient!”
“What?” The surgeon asked, dumbfounded.
“There's too much isoflurane coming through the anesthesia machine and not enough oxygen... He's in overdose.” Sally shook her head. “Dr. Jameson must have done this on purpose, he may be a bastard, but he never would have done anything like this accidentally. I'm going to try to level the mixtures out, but it may be too late already.”
“Do what you need to do, Sally.” Matthews ordered her and she nodded, going to work on the machine. “How did we miss what he was doing?” He asked, mostly to himself.
“He must have changed things when I left to get his glasses and I never really got a good look at things again before he went psycho” Sally replied. “I knew something was going on with him, I should have known better.”
“It's not your fault, Sally. It's all Dr. Jameson's.” Dr. Matthews consoled her. “Now, how are those mixes coming?”
Sally adjusted a few more things on the machine. Tim wasn't sure what she was doing, but hoped it would remedy the peril the anesthesiologist had put Tony in.
“I think I have it just about right. It will be a few minutes before things are where they should be, but I'll feel a little more comfortable when Dr. Bauer gets here and takes over.”
“Don't worry, You're doing just fine.”
“Thanks, Doctor.”
Sally made eye contact with McGee and he gave her a weak smile. He didn't think he could stand to watch much longer as he was close to that point where his breakfast wanted to come back up and meet everyone, so he slipped out of the observation room. He was relieved at least a little, that Tony's immediate danger was caught and the doctors had the situation under control, but that still left him far from out of the woods and Tim was still worried.
Leaning against a wall, McGee dropped his head back and sighed. He decided it was best to go back to Abby and Ducky in the waiting area and Gibbs would need to know what was going on. He wasn't going to be happy that Jameson had tried to kill Tony, in fact, Tim was really glad he wasn't Dr. Jameson right now.
Reaching for his phone, he dialed Gibbs as he headed down the hall to wait with his friends.
OOOOO
Ziva followed Gibbs as he dragged Dr. Jameson out of the hospital and to the sedan, roughly pushing him into the backseat. The drive back to the base was delivered in typical Gibbs fashion and by the end of the six mile journey, filled with breakneck speeds, hairpin turns and stomach turning lane changes, Jameson was crying and cursing the older man. Ziva actually thought he was being quite restrained. She would have driven a lot faster to get him to the interrogation room.
Just as they were making their way from the garage to the elevator they found themselves being intercepted by three trench-coated men. Gibbs sighed in exasperation and Ziva groaned a little internally, but did little to hide her disdain.
The men approached.
“Hello, Gibbs.” The oldest one greeted.
“Hello, Fornell. News travels fast I see.”
“We've had our eyes on the good doctor here for weeks. I've been sent to make nice and retrieve him. I Guess he's a person of interest in a missing person's case of ours. It's not my case, but seeing as how I've become the only one in the whole FBI that'll still speak to you, I'm the lucky one that's been sent.”
“Sorry, Fornell, but this just became our case the moment his gun shot a sailor and my agent.” Fornell moved in closer, eying the prisoner before getting into Gibbs' face. The grey-haired FBI agent was possibly the only person on the planet that ever dared to do such a thing and Ziva often wondered what had brought these two together into such an unlikely and tenuous friendship of sorts.
“I don't think so. Look, Jethro. I'm sorry about DiNozzo, but this guy's only indirectly involved. ” Gibbs didn't back down, not intimidated in the least, which didn't surprise Ziva at all.
“Take Jameson upstairs, Ziva.” Gibbs ordered, his eyes fixed on Fornell.
“Stay right there, officer David.” Fornell returned immediately. Ziva watched as the two men faced off. If it hadn't been for Gibbs' phone ringing, who knows how long they would have been stuck in that stalemate. He whipped it out, bringing it to his ear and turning away from Fornell to answer it with a stern voice.
“Gibbs...Go ahead, McGee.....He did what!?” Gibbs turned to the Doctor, his blue eye alight with sudden anger and Jameson put his head down avoiding the deadly gaze. “How's Tony?....Okay....Stay there with Ducky and Abby....Call me if anything changes.” Gibbs slapped his phone shut and turned menacingly to the Anesthesiologist and Fornell, troubling Ziva. Was Tony alright? What happened?
“You can come to the interrogation if you want, but he's staying here, Fornell. I've got him for attempted murder of a federal agent.”
OOOOO
“Are we ready to try again?” Dr. Matthews asked. The patient's levels of anesthesia had finally leveled out and Dr. Bauer had managed to come in sooner than expected, relieving Sally and taking over the anesthesia. Watching his team, he felt a sense of pride in all of them, especially Sally, working to save the life of their patient despite all that had occurred that morning with Jameson.
“We're ready.” Dr. Bauer responded, turning to the heart-lung machine, preparing to switch it off at Dr. Matthews' go ahead.
“All right. Turn it off and switch on the vent. I'm removing the cannulas.” He removed the cannulas from the major vein and artery to the heart that had served to circulate the patient's blood during bypass and released the clamps over the aorta and vena cava that prevented blood from entering or exiting the heart while the patient had been on bypass, allowing Dr. Matthews to perform the surgery in a bloodless field.
Now that was done, they had to get this man's heart started again. Without the over-dosage of anesthesia, his heart should start rather easily, but who knew how much permanent damage could have been done to his organ by Dr. Jameson's malpractice.
“Alright, young man.” the cardiologist spoke to his patient as though he could hear him. “It's up to you now.” Matthews reached in with the defibrillator paddles and once again sent electricity coursing through the young man's heart.
OOOOO
He wasn't sure where it came from. He was on that cusp where giving up seemed so much nicer and easier than fighting. He could have just closed his eyes, and allowed death to swallow him up and take him away to a nice and quiet place, but Ziva's penetrating stare would not allow it.
Instead understood it all at once. Why he was here, why he was fighting and his reason for living. It was the woman across from him, imploring him to get up and he couldn't let her down, not as long as he still had breath.
“Nine!” Gibbs yelled slapping the mat next to Tony's head. With a burst of strength he didn't know he had left and a mighty push against the floor with his hands, he came up to his knees and Gibbs ended his count. Swaying from side to side, he sought out Ziva's face as he stood the rest of the way and put up his hands, bringing up his guard once again, ready to keep up the fight.
OOOOO
The heart contracted once and beat weakly a few times before stopping altogether again. Matthews sighed, but charged the paddles again. He wasn't going to give up yet and he hoped his patient wasn't either. Placing the paddles to both sides of the heart once again, he sent another shockwave through the stubborn organ.
OOOOO
Tony fought the dizziness that threatened to fell him like a lumberjack's tree and faced his opponent once again. The vagrant came at him and threw a right hook, but Tony ducked and avoided it, surprising himself with his own speed. With renewed optimism, he swung back and was surprised when he made contact with the dirty face, forcing the man to stumble backward into the ropes in a daze. Tony was on him like white on rice, pummeling him while he still had the upper hand.
The crowd cheered and went wild, invigorating Tony as he continued his assault, wailing into the torso of his opponent over and over again. He was sore and nearing exhaustion, but the thought that he might actually win kept him going.
With his last ounce of strength, he threw a punch that landed square in the man's nose, breaking it for sure as blood poured from his nostrils and the vagrant fell to his knees. For several moments, the man stayed there, sitting back on his heels until his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Tony held his breath and watched in slow-motion as he fell forward. landing on his face. Gibbs jumped in between them and started his count.
It didn't take long for Gibbs to reach ten and rush up to Tony, grabbing his gloved hand and raising it with his in victory, declaring him the winner. His proud boss slapped him on the back in congratulations and cheers filled the alleyway. Through swelling eyes Tony searched the faces around him, looking for her.
“Ziva!” He yelled as she pushed past people, clambering up the ring and through the ropes, running up to him. He hugged her tight, allowing her strength to keep him up.
He tore off his gloves hastily and threw them to the mat so he could use his bare hands to cup her face before landing his lips on hers and drawing her into a crushing and passionate kiss. In the background music was playing. Was that Eye of the Tiger he heard? Now he knew for sure he had seen Rocky one too many times, but he was beyond caring as they continued their kiss and the crowd faded away and they were all alone.
OOOOO
Matthews sighed and smiled as his patient's heart finally found a steady rhythm, filling with blood and pumping it out again, delivering the body's vital fluid to all of his organs. Even after all of these years, he was still amazed by this powerful organ and considering all this man's heart had been through this morning, it was remarkable that it was beating once again, doing the job it had been created to do. Maybe it was something that only a cardiologist would think, but it was a thing of beauty and a sight to behold.
“Good job, everyone.” He praised his team. “Let's close him up.”
To be Continued......
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