Chapter nineteen
The halls of Bethesda Naval Hospital didn’t seem quite as gloom as they did last week when they were waiting for news about Gibbs’ condition. They were on their way to Dr North for their appointment, moving slowly but surely through the corridors. They were making good time, he just wanted to get there. Like now. Get the staples out and go home. Home. He paused, lost in thought. What would they do when Gibbs was healthy again? Would he move back out? It was way too soon to be…
“Hey, you coming? Move your ass, old guy on crutches here.” Gibbs looked annoyed as he leaned against the wall. Tony had earned his first head slap in a few days when he suggested they use a wheelchair.
“Right, yes,” he replied, ducking out of reach. He needed time to think this through. This past week, they’d settled into a routine, in an alternate dimension where work and all the trappings of the real world didn’t exist. Well, sort of, he thought wryly. Madam Banshee had made sure it did make its presence felt. But still, they’d managed create a cocoon where all that mattered was being with each other, getting to know more about the other person.
He cringed as a pair of crutches smacked his ass. Apparently, he’d slowed down again.
“Hey!” he exclaimed, getting annoyed himself.
“For the love of God, Tony, will ya stop zonking out?! I need to sit down.” Gibbs growled. He turned around and continued down the hall.
Tony opened his mouth to remind Gibbs of his wheelchair offer, thought the better of it and hurried after Gibbs.
“Sorry, Jethro. I just…”
“I know we have a lot on our minds right now, but save it until I’m off my feet, ok?” Gibbs interrupted, sounding slightly less grumpy. Just.
“How’s you ass?” Gibbs asked, a crooked smile playing around his lips.
Tony wiggled his eyebrows. “Not that sore. Was kinda hoping for another reason for a sore…”
“DON’T go there, Tony! I need to focus on Dr North. Can’t have the image of you on your hands and knees in my head.”
“Fine, I’ll behave,” Tony pouted, still looking decidedly wanton. “Hands and knees, huh. Is that a promise?”
Gibbs didn’t reply as they approached Dr North’s office. Tony hesitated outside the door, not sure whether he should accompany Gibbs inside or not.
Gibbs looked at him, and there was that smile again. “We do this together, remember?”
“Yeah, I do.” Tony replied, thinking back to that first morning out of the hospital. Gibbs knocked on the door, and they both entered.
Dr North greeted them with a friendly smile and opened the file in front of her.
“I see you’ve been following orders, Special Agent Gibbs.” She looked up at him, and then shifted focus to Tony.
“And you look fairly unscathed?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Tony replied.
“I thought it best to follow orders, this once,” Gibbs smirked. “And Tony’s been a great support. It wouldn’t have been possible without his help,” he added, much to Tony’s surprise. It must have shown, because Gibbs reached out and touched his arm, squeezing it lightly before withdrawing.
Dr North gave them both a quick smile before getting down to business again.
“Would you take off your pants, please, and lie down on the examination table over there, Agent Gibbs. She motioned to a table by the far wall, covered in a protective sheet of paper.
Gibbs walked over and lowered his pants before hoisting himself up on the table. He felt slightly foolish with his pants pooled around his ankles, but couldn’t be bothered to remove his shoes. Dr North pulled a pair of gloves out from a pack and moved to examine him. Tony got up as well, wanting to see what the leg looked like. It had seemed fine this morning, but he was concerned Gibbs’ grouchiness was a symptom of increasing pain.
Nope, he thought. Just Gibbs being Gibbs, he confirmed, as the leg looked as it had that morning as Dr North removed the dressing.
“The swelling is mostly gone,” Dr North stated as she examined Gibbs’ thigh closely.
“Any residual stiffness or soreness?”
“Not much,” he replied. “I was able to put a little weight on the leg yesterday, but I’m trying not to overdo it. I expect it to get harder as I get better. I’m not a very patient man,” he explained, much to Tony’s amusement. He managed to keep his mouth shut, but something must have slipped out, judging by the glare Gibbs sent him. Tony just rolled his eyes and refocused on the examination.
“There’s no sign of infection, but you must take the entire course of antibiotics,” she stressed.
Dr North removed her gloves and washed her hands before putting on sterile gloves. She cleaned the wound with an antiseptic solution, changing the swabs, moving in increasingly larger circles until she’d cleaned the area previously covered by the dressing.
She checked again for drainage and gaps in the suture line. Satisfied there was none, she picked up the staple extractor and began removing the staples, one by one. When she was done, she examined and swabbed the wound again, before reapplying the dressing.
Tony helped Gibbs pull up his pants and then sat back down.
“You will be able to put more weight on your leg as the week progresses. I do hope you’re not returning to work this week?” she asked, looking sternly at Gibbs.
“No, we’re not,” he replied. “How about other normal activities?”
Dr North seemed to be stifling a smile before answering. “You should be able to resume such activities in a couple of weeks.”
“Does that include all…uh…activities?”
‘Holy shit…’ Tony thought. ‘Is he gonna ask her if we can have oral sex?’ He felt a blush creep up his neck as he tried to not fidget too much in his chair.
“The ones that are physically strenuous and can put pressure on the wound. It may look healed, but you need to be careful for a bit longer.”
Tony sighed inaudibly; he really, really longed to be with Gibbs. On the other side, he got to be with Gibbs. After waiting for years, another couple of weeks was bearable.
Dr North gave Gibbs a few more instructions before saying goodbye.
“I’m really glad you decided to play it smart, Gunny,” she smiled, as they exited her office. “You take care, now, both of you. I’ll see you back here next week.”
“So,” Gibbs said as they walked towards the exit, cocking an eyebrow, “another two weeks.”
“It’s fine, Jethro, I don’t mind waiting, you know that.”
“Maybe I mind,” Gibbs sighed, “to have you so close, and not be able to…” he paused as a nurse passed them in the corridor, “be closer, is pure hell.”
“I know, but, hey, we get to be together, right. Let’s look at the bright side, another week off, just you and me. I’ll even cook,” Tony promised. “You haven’t had steak until you’ve had mine.”
Gibbs just laughed, “Is that so, DiNozzo? We’ll see.”
“I might even throw in another sponge bath.”
“Promises, promises.” Gibbs replied as he threw the crutches into the back seat. Leaning against the car, he looked at Tony who was smiling back at him. That open, happy grin that he’d fallen for a long time ago, the one that was impossible not to return.
After a brief stop at a Giant, they returned home. Tony carried the groceries inside before heading home to his own flat. He needed to get his mail and a few things he’d forgotten the last time. Tossing his keys in the bowl on the hall table, he took a look around. His cleaning lady had been by, but the place still felt stuffy. He opened a couple of windows, letting in some fresh air. Grabbing a coke from the fridge, he sat down on the balcony, letting his mind wander.
He thought about what Ziva had said, that he might be in real danger. It felt quite surreal, being threatened by his own boss. The psych test was not something he looked forward to, but he wasn’t worried about the outcome, although he wouldn’t put it past Shepard to try and manipulate the results. If he didn’t pass, he could always demand an independent evaluation. Pushing his worries aside, he drained his coke and went back inside.
Tony stopped to rifle through his mail, collecting the bills that needed to be paid and discarding the rest. Stuffing them in his pocket he proceeded to the kitchen. He checked his fridge for old food, opening the door with a certain amount of apprehension, expecting alien life forms to burst out. He was quite relieved to find his cleaning lady had taken of it.
It was time to get back to the house. Tony took one last detour to the living room, grabbing some DVDs and a couple of novels. Another week off work meant plenty of time for relaxing, and he intended to catch up on some reading. He closed the windows, locked up and was on his way.
“Honey, I’m home!”
The loud snort coming from the living room told him where he could find Gibbs. He dropped his bag in the hall to be dealt with later and toed out of his shoes. Tossing his red and white varsity jacket over the back of the couch, he sat down next to Jethro. He leaned in for a long kiss before settling down.
“You ok?” Gibbs looked at him with a quizzical look in his eyes.
“Yeah, why?”
“You were very quiet at the hospital.”
“It just kinda hit me,” Tony began, “that it was our first time outside, together, in the real world for a few days. I like being cooped up here, just you and me. I know it won’t last. I’ll be back at work next week, and that’s how it should be. I know that. I’ll just miss this, that’s all.”
He hesitated, fidgeting with a throw cushion he had in his lap.
“It had me thinking about how we’ll make this work. I have to move back home, sleep alone in that big, cold bed of mine,” he pouted.
“It’s too soon, Tony, to move in together, don’t you think?”
“After a week of dating? Nah, that’s just the right time,” he joked. “No, seriously, I’m not suggesting anything like that, I just want to spend time with you, that’s all. I’ve waited so long for this, Jethro, it’s like letting a kid loose in a candy store,” he chuckled.
“You’re comparing me to sucking candy?”
“More like a jaw breaker,” Tony grinned, leaning in for another kiss.
Gibbs drew him close, holding him in a warm embrace. “We’ll work it out as we go along. Right now we’ve got a lot on our plates. There will be hell to pay at work next week. I’m sure Shepard will put you through the wringer. But I’ve got you, Tony, and I’m not letting you go. We know what we want, right?”
“Yeah, we do,” Tony sighed, settling in.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony's doing some thinking.