Chapter 1
“Come on, Dad. It’s just another six-pack of beer. Damn it, does everything have to be an argument with you?”
The elder man leaned in on his cane, a deepening crease of concern crossing his brow. “I’m just sayin’ you’ve got a lot on your mind, son, maybe you shouldn’t be drinking quite so much right now.”
Special Agent Gibbs shoved the grocery cart hard around the corner of the crowded supermarket, glancing back at his father with a frustrated huff and immediately heard a woman’s piercing scream directly in front of him. Before he could turn to see what had just happened he caught the horrified look in the pools of Jackson’s blue eyes and knew it wasn’t good.
A crowd of onlookers gathered around the woman lying on the floor, several pointing at her foot, tangled under the wheel of Jethro’s cart bleeding profusely. He slowly lifted it off her foot, unprotected by her flip-flops, trying not to hurt her further, but her muffled cries alerted him that wasn’t happening.
He assessed the situation quickly and moved in to kneel beside the woman. Glancing around at the crowd he commanded, “Move back. Federal agent. I’ve got this under control. Go on about your business.” His stern, reproachful look did the trick for the majority of them and they began to disperse. “Miss, does anything hurt besides your foot?” A twinge of guilt hit him as he realized she was youthful and attractive. Not that it should matter what kind of person you just plowed over with a grocery cart, you ass.
“Leroy, what have you done? I think she’s hit her head. Look at the poor girl.” His father’s voice nagged behind him above his shoulder.
Her hand was holding the back of her head and she looked sickly pale in the face. “I hit my head on the floor when I fell.” She mumbled, barely coherent. “I don’t feel so well. I think I’m gonna throw up.”
Just as a store manager came running over to the scene of the incident, she rolled over to her side and vomited onto the floor. Gibbs, feeling even more guilty, pulled her long hair back out of her face and held it out of her way, trying to help the best he could.
“I’m Nolan, the General Manager. What’s happened here? Should I call 911? Her foot looks to be in bad shape. I think we need to make up an incident report.” He was obviously flustered and unsure how to handle the situation.
The woman pulled herself up to a sitting position with a little aid from Gibbs and spoke. “I don’t want 911. I probably just need some stitches, maybe a CT of my head for good measure. I can probably drive myself to the hospital.” She swayed slightly as she sat.
“I don’t think you’ll be driving yourself anywhere.” Gibbs stated matter-of-factly. “I’ll take you to the hospital. I can drive you in your car, and my dad can take my car home.” He turned to Jackson. “Can you finish getting what we need and go straight home? I’ll have agents meet you at the house.”
It had only been three weeks since Paloma Reynosa had shown up at Jackson’s General Store in Stillwater, PA in an attempt to kill him in her vendetta against the younger Gibbs. She was out for blood and would stop at nothing until that desire was satisfied. Until she could be found and brought to justice, Jackson was in D.C. under the protection of Jethro and other NCIS agents round the clock.
Jackson nodded. He didn’t care for the idea of being kept under lock and key for an undetermined amount of time. Both Gibbs men turned to the woman who simply mouthed the word “fine” without truly speaking to either of them. Gibbs stood up, taking a few steps away for privacy and made a quick phone call.
Rejoining them, Gibbs explained, “Agents will actually meet you here at the store to follow you home in ten minutes. You should have plenty of time to get whatever we need.” He pulled out his wallet, reached in for several bills, and handed them to his dad. “That should more than cover it.”
Gibbs turned to the woman again and took in the sad sight of what he had done to her. Her right foot was still bleeding, not as badly as before, but it wasn’t pretty to look at. The flip-flop was damaged beyond repair. Nonsense footwear if you ask me anyway. Her hair was disheveled, her face pale. She had managed not to vomit on her denim shorts or purple top though.
“Do you think you can walk?” He asked, softening his voice to the honey on steel tone he usually reserved for sweet-talking Abby. The woman looked up at him with surprise in her eyes, and for the first time he realized what depths of shimmering green gemstones her eyes were. His breath caught somewhere in his throat as he lost all train of thought in those eyes for a moment that seemed like a lifetime.
“I might be able to, but I need some help up.” She responded feebly.
Gibbs snapped out of her gaze and began breathing again. “Yeah. Let me help you.” He reached down, carefully wrapping one strong arm around her waist and taking one of her small, soft hands into one of his large calloused ones. Gently, as if she were a fragile doll, he lifted her to her feet. She leaned into him heavily, keeping her weight off the injured right foot, her hair brushing against his face. Breathing in deeply, he could discern the lavender scent of her shampoo and closed his eyes for just a second trying to remember the last time he had a woman in his arms. It has been too long. This is all wrong though. I don’t want it to be like this. I want her to want me. I want her to want to be in my arms.
She suddenly sagged in his arms, too weak to stand on her own. NCIS trained him in Basic First Aid and CPR. He was well aware of the signs of head trauma. She had obviously hit her head harder than either of them had realized. There was no way she was walking out of this store under her own power. He deftly reached an arm under her legs and scooped her into his arms, holding her protectively against his chest.
Looking down at floor, Gibbs spotted her basket and purse. “Nolan, grab her purse, see if you can find her keys in there and hand it to me.” Nolan did as he was asked, handed Gibbs a set of keys and the black purse.
Out in the parking lot, Gibbs randomly pointed the key fob at vehicles clicking the unlock button, waiting for the flash of lights, or some sign of response to indicate which one belonged to the strange woman. She was all but completely unconscious and no help in this matter. Finally, beeping and flashing led him to a late model black Ford Explorer, maybe only a couple of years old.
He carefully deposited her into the passenger seat and buckled her in as she incoherently mumbled something to him. She weakly reached up and held his upper arm, pulling him closer. Looking at her face, he could see tears streaming down her cheeks. “It hurts. Please, don’t leave me.”
His tough Marine bravado wavered at her plea. Oh, God. Not now. Don’t let her need me now. Jethro leaned his head in, bringing his lips inches from her ear. “I’m not going anywhere. Everything will be all right. I promise.” He fought the urge to gently kiss her cheek before tearing himself away and shutting the door.
The hospital wasn’t far, and Jethro knew the route well. His focus was more on the woman next to him than on the road ahead of him. It occurred to him that he still didn’t even know her name. If she isn’t more conscious when we reach the ER I’m going to have to search her purse for identification. He didn’t want to invade her privacy, but there was little choice in the matter given the situation.
Jethro’s eyes wandered over to her again, taking in the features of her face, turned towards him, eyes closed. She looked young, probably late twenties, maybe thirty. Her clothes gave away no age; simple flip-flops, very short denim shorts showing off long slender legs, a form fitting deep purple camisole style tank top stretched tightly across her ample breasts. Stop thinking down that road. You’re gonna get yourself into trouble. She’s too young to want any part of the likes of you. No wedding ring though.
Arriving at the hospital entrance to the emergency department, Gibbs grabbed her purse as he lifted the young woman gently from the seat, kicking the car door closed behind them. They were met by an orderly with a wheelchair who had been outside on a smoke break when he spotted the silver haired man retrieving the woman from the SUV.
Gibbs set her down into the chair, flashed his NCIS credentials, and instructed the orderly to take her straight back to be treated. As soon as the young man turned away, Gibbs opened up the woman’s purse and immediately found more than he expected, quite possibly more than he bargained for.
She was in possession of a handgun, not just any handgun, but a government issued handgun, much like Gibbs’ own. He delved deeper into her purse and found more. FBI credentials, Pentagon security clearance card, D.O.D. identification card, they were all there. Supervisory Special Agent Emerald Jade West. Just your luck, Jethro, you’ve assaulted a fellow federal agent. Vance is going to love this can of worms you just opened for him to clean up.
He’d already learned enough to know he was up a creek this time, might as well go all out and find out what he was really curious about. He dug in and found her wallet, snapped it open and took at a look at her driver’s license, looking at the date of birth. Whoa. That can’t be right. I would have bet a week’s wages she was under thirty. The date was clear as day, 01-30-73. She was thirty-seven. Gibbs cracked an impish grin. If she doesn’t completely hate you after this, well, there’s hope for something else after all.
The registration desk was clear of any line, leaving Gibbs to saunter up to the pleasantly plump woman sitting behind the desk. Her name badge read “Becky” and she was most definitely blonde from a box and had penciled in eyebrows. He smiled widely, his baby blue eyes flashing brightly in the light, perfectly accenting his silver hair with the hints of his former darker color. Becky blushed. “How can I help you this evening, sir?”
With his velvety voice, Gibbs responded. “Becky, I’m sure there are a multitude of ways you can help me, sweetheart. I’m Special Agent Jethro Gibbs with NCIS. You can call me Jethro.” He flashed his credentials along with his best lady-killing smile. “I brought a woman in here just a few moments ago, an Emerald West, for treatment of an injury to her foot and a head trauma. I need to get her registered if she’s not been here before and have the bill sent to me.”
Becky continued blushing as Jethro’s eyes never left her face, but she turned to the computer screen and began typing nervously. “I can tell you, Jethro, she’s been here many times before. I’ve worked here for over twenty years, and I know Em. She’s a sweet young woman. Been through hell and back though that one has. I tell you, it’s just not fair what life has put her through.”
Gibbs considered this information for a moment before formulating a line of subtle questioning. “Does she have an emergency contact we should call, Becky? She was in and out of consciousness since the incident, and I haven’t been able to ask her anything significant.”
“No, I’m afraid not.” The forlorn look on Becky’s face told him there was a story behind her answer, and it was going to be the painful kind. “Emerald used to have the sweetest husband, Ben. Aw, he was a great guy, loved her so much. It was such a terrible thing what they went through when they lost their baby.” Becky trailed off for a moment. “I guess that’s been about twelve years ago. It was such a pity. They were here all the time for the prenatal care and all. Baby was a girl, Delilah they named her. She was premature, born with a heart defect. Doctors did everything they could, surgery and all, but she only lived about five days. Ben and Emerald were devastated. I always thought Em would have been worse off it hadn’t been for how strong he had been for her. Then of course, you know 9/11 happened and her whole world just fell apart when he was killed in the Pentagon. She’s never been the same since.” The registration clerk tapped a few keys on the keyboard before she spoke again. “She’s been in here several times for work related injuries. I suppose being a federal agent isn’t the safest occupation.” She smiled sweetly at Jethro whose head was still spinning from all the information she had already shared. “I’ve overheard her coworkers say she just needs a good man in her life since losing Ben. Apparently, she hasn’t even dated since his death. You wouldn’t happen to know any good men who could take care of a sweet woman like that, would you now, Jethro?”
Gibbs didn’t feel like keeping up the charade with Becky anymore. He felt the need to be in the back with Emerald, be at her side. He had promised her he wouldn’t leave her alone. “Becky, you’re right, I should probably be back there caring for her right now.” He pulled a business card out of his pocket along with a pen, quickly writing down his home address and phone number on the back. “Here’s all my information. Please send me the bill for her care tonight. The whole incident was my fault, and I should take care of it for her. Can you let me back there now?”
Becky smiled politely. “Of course. Walk around to the door there, I’ll buzz you in.”
Gibbs’ feet couldn’t get him to the door fast enough. The door couldn’t open fast enough. His eyes searched the emergency department for her face among the crowd, but he couldn’t see her. He reached the nurses’ station and found a particularly bored looking petite, young Asian nurse in pink scrubs. “Excuse me. I’m looking for Emerald West. Where is she?” The nurse looked over the board and pointed him in the direction of room 19.
He stepped into the room quietly, not wanting to disturb her, but found a doctor and two nurses in the room huddled over Emerald’s foot applying stitches to her wound. “Hi, I’m Special Agent Gibbs. I brought Emerald in tonight. How’s she doing?” He set her purse down in a chair in the corner as he waited for an answer and slipped out of his sport coat, draping it over the back of the chair as well, and made his way to the head of the bed where she appeared to be sleeping.
The taller of the two nurses spoke. “She’s on morphine for the pain. Dr. Adams has ordered a CT of her head to rule out any skull fracture, but she’s certainly got a concussion. She was in and out of consciousness as you could tell when you brought her in, she was vomiting, her eyes were unevenly dilated, all classic symptoms of head trauma. She’ll need to be observed for 24 hours, either in the hospital or at home. Is there someone who can be with her if she’s released?”
Gibbs thought this over. “I can be. I’ll take responsibility for her if she’s released. I won’t let her out of my sight for the next 24 hours. I swear.” It’s the least you could do for her. She deserves more. “What about her foot? How bad is it?”
“Once we got it cleaned up, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked.” The doctor was tying off the final stitch and the shorter nurse was cleaning up. “Still, it took fifteen stitches to close it up. They’ll need to stay in for two weeks before she’s seen at her family doctor to have them removed. I’ll get her foot wrapped up, and she’ll be wearing a surgical shoe for the next few weeks while that heals. We’ll get her a note for work. She needs to stay off that foot, either off work completely or desk duty. We’re all familiar with Emerald around here. No stunts like she’s used to pulling.” The nurse smiled wryly. “She’s quite the bad ass, but I suppose at the end of the day, she keeps us all safer so it pays off.”
The doctor finished up and turned to Gibbs. “She’s going to be just fine. If you’ll be watching her, I’ll have no problem releasing her tonight. I just need you to sign paperwork that she’s going to be under your supervision, and you understand what to watch for in case she should worsen and needs to return to the hospital.” Dr. Adams removed his gloves, washed his hands at the sink by the door, and regarded Gibbs one last time before opening the door. “Someone from radiology will be down to take her for that CT scan just as a precaution before we can let her go. It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Story Notes:
First in a series I'm working on. The second story is nearly halfway finished.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs meets a strange woman and feelings he's kept buried deep inside for so long awaken within. What does his team think when they see him with her? Deeply emotional story with a twist of humor tells the tale of the personal life none of Gibbs' team knew he had.
Chapter End Notes:
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