Painful Past, Part 3
Kelly walked into her dad’s room. He was moving on his bed and she sat down, taking his hand again. He opened his eyes after a moment and looked up at her.
“Hey.” Kelly whispered.
“Hey”, he rasped, for a moment wondering who she was before remembering what happened before, “Kelly?”
Kelly nodded and smiled sadly, she could see he was still confused about her. They both looked up when they heard a knock. Jenny walked in: “I have to get back to the office. Kelly, it was nice to talk to you and Jethro, please get better soon.”
The two Gibbs’ nodded at her and Kelly said good nights. When the door was closed again she turned to look at Gibbs again. He was studying her and she let him. He needed to accept the fact that she wasn’t a child anymore but she couldn’t force him.
“I can remember you, I just… You’re… You were…”
She could see he was getting upset again and rushed to soothe him: “It’s okay, dad. It will come to you if you give it time. Just try to rest.”
“I’m sorry.” He said and she grinned at him: “Never apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.”
“Rule number six”, he smiled and then frowned, “Shannon’s rules.”
Kelly smiled. If he could remember he had adopted the habit to make rules from her mother he would soon be able to remember more small details. He could see her smile and knew this was important thing. He wanted her to tell him what was missing from his memories but he knew she would say he needed to remember them on his own. One thing he already knew that, even if she was an adult, this young woman definitely was his Kelly.
When Gibbs next woke up he saw Kelly sleeping next to his bed. She was sitting on her chair and didn’t look comfortable. He could still see the frown of worry on her beautiful features. He still didn’t remember her. He knew she was his daughter. He knew she was Kelly but he just didn’t understand when his little girl had turned into such a beautiful young woman. She reminded him of Shannon. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again he saw a familiar figure in the doorway and smiled. He could recognize him. He moved upwards and said: “Hey, boss.”
Mike Franks walked into the room, looking at Gibbs: “Damn you got old, Marine.”
Gibbs grinned: “Have you looked into the mirror lately?”
Gibbs knew that under normal circumstances he would have earned a head slap with this. This time Franks just took mock-threatening step towards him: “If you hadn’t been in a coma…”
Gibbs got serious. He looked at Kelly’s sleeping form and then turned to look at his former boss and long time friend: “She’s dead, Mike. Shannon’s dead.”
Franks looked down: “I know, Jethro.”
“And Kelly. Kelly is… It can’t have been 20 years. Can it? God, it feels like I just got the news in Kuwait couple of months ago. Kelly was eight. Now she is… now she is an adult…” Gibbs said, stopping for a moment when the confusion grew too big. Franks didn’t say anything and soon Gibbs continued: “You investigated Shannon’s murder. That’s how I met you. Camp Pendleton. You were Special Agent in charge. I became an agent because of you. You left the sniper folder on your desk so I could…”
Franks cleared his throat forcefully when Kelly stirred on her chair. Gibbs looked at Franks and finished: “so I could join NIS.”
“Dad?” Kelly asked, still half asleep. She blinked up and saw Franks: “God you look old. Mexico definitely isn’t good for you.”
“You get cheekier every time I meet you”, Franks said gruffly, making Kelly grin, “if your father wasn’t right there I would slap the back of your head.”
Gibbs couldn’t help but smile. Kelly saw the smile and hoped it meant he started to remember. She leaned closer and asked softly: “How are you feeling?”
“Confused”, Gibbs said, his voice resigning but when he saw her worried look he added: “I’m getting better. Things are getting clearer. Don’t worry about me.”
“A bit difficult not to since it seems to be very easy for you to blow yourself up”, Kelly said, “you must be getting slow at your old age.”
Gibbs slapped the back of her head. The slap stung but caused her to grin. He was getting more and more like himself all the time. Gibbs had closed his eyes. He could remember himself slapping a young man who was wearing a suit. He wasn’t entirely sure who the man was but he could remember himself slapping him more than once. Maybe that’s why Kelly was grinning. She had done this on purpose. Kelly stood up and stretcher her tired muscles. She reached down to kiss his cheek and this time he kissed her back.
“I’ll go get breakfast and make few phone calls”, she said and narrowed her eyes at Franks, “Don’t make him do anything stupid, I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”
Gibbs and Franks both gave her a stare but she ignored them. With a slow thud the door closed, leaving the two men into the room. Franks looked at Gibbs and knew Kelly would yell at him for letting Gibbs get up from the bed and get out of the room, but the probie needed to remember.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs is finally calm and talks to Kelly. Mike Franks comes to visit him.