Tony collapsed in the doorway of the store. Abby managed to drag him out of the way just enough to close the door. She then retrieved their blankets and sat with him, cradling his head in her lap. She covered him with one blanket and wrapped the other around herself.
Abby touched Tony’s face. He moaned and opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but collapsed back into her lap.
“Back…hurts.” Tony said.
“I know, Tony.” Abby replied, sadly. “I know.” Abby stared out at the empty road. “What if nobody comes, Tony?”
“Somebody will.” Tony stated.
“But what if they don’t?” Abby asked.
“The robber came didn’t he?”
Abby sighed. “Only because this place is such an easy mark.” Abby said looking around. “There are no houses around here for miles and we are out in the middle of nowhere.”
“The local LEOs will come around and make a check. They just haven’t gotten to us yet.”
“Gibbs is going to kill me. He is going to kill me, revive me and kill me again.” Abby said with conviction.
“What?” Tony asked, looking up at him.
“For not taking care of you.” Abby said running her fingers through Tony’s hair. The action seemed to calm the both of them. “I am supposed to take care of you. Gibbs would expect that of me.”
“You have done a great job of taking care of me. You made me eat. You kept me warm. You bandaged me up. You’ve done a great job.” Tony tried to sit up again, but failed miserably.
“I am the one who’s a dead man.” Tony stated. “I should have just kept driving, something didn’t feel right.” Tony shook his head. “When Gibbs finds out, he will head-slap me so hard I’ll forget my own name.”
“We should have just gotten in the car and left.” Abby said voicing her thoughts from earlier. “I…We could have made it.”
Tony shook his head. “No, Abby. No we couldn’t. I don’t remember off hand. But I know Gibbs has a rule against out and out stupidity. We would be violating that rule big time. We are both severely injured and we are in no immediate danger, so there is no reason to leave.”
Abby fell silent thinking about what Tony had said.
Tony had started to feel feverish again. Abby had wrapped him up as well as she could with the blanket and had gotten ice from the freezer in case she needed to use it to cool him down. She had gotten a zip lock bag and filled it with ice. She now laid it against Tony’s cheek. She alternated moving it from his face to his back. She hoped to keep the infection down and to keep his fever at bay. She had filled another bag which she used on her own shoulder. It seemed to help, numbing the area a great deal.
“Love…you….” Tony said, looking up at Abby.
Abby shook her head vigorously as tears filled her eyes. “No, Tony! I…We are going to be fine. I love you, too. But we are going to be fine. I will NOT lose my best friend today.” Abby said, trying to pull him closer.
She looked out the front windows of the store watching the sun rise and wondering when their help would come.
Author's Chapter Notes:
The saga continues.
Chapter End Notes:
In case anyone is wondering, Tony's gun is in the car under the seat. There was no reason to bring it into the store with him and if he had had it and the robber had seen it he and Abby could have possibly been dead. Shot in much more lethal areas of the body.