"I have your room all ready for you." Gibbs said as he opened the door and let Tony into the house. Tony still didn't show any signs of recognizing him and Gibbs was very concerned. He hoped bringing Tony here would jog his memory.
"My room?" Tony asked, looking around. It was obvious to Gibbs that Tony had no idea where 'his room' might be. "I don't have my own place?" Though when Tony thought about it, he had no idea where 'his place' might be.
"You have a penchant for trouble and you stay with me sometimes because of it." Gibbs explained. "And yes, you do have an apartment. I wanted to get you settled in here first. Then we will go by and get you some clothes."
"I think, Gibbs. It would be better if I went home, wherever that is." Tony said, looking around the sparsely furnished, basic living room. "I wouldn't want to disturb your boat-building or your bourbon-drinking."
The statement stopped Gibbs in his tracks. "What?!" He hadn't, intentionally, mentioned anything about his life. The little personal things that he felt Tony might remember first. He had advised the team to follow his lead. That way, whenever Tony 'remembered' something, it would be HIS memory.
"Did I say something wrong?" Tony looked at Gibbs innocently.
"No, not at all." Gibbs reassured. "Just repeat what you said."
"I said I wouldn't want to disturb your boat-building or your bourbon-drinking." Tony repeated.
"You remembered." Gibbs said doing something very unGibbs like, he hugged Tony. He then put both hands to Tony face and smiled broadly. He then dropped his hands quickly.
Tony dropped to the sofa. He was a little confused by what Gibbs had just done. Gibbs didn't seem like an emotional-touchy-feely guy.
Tony stifled a yawn with his hand. "I don't understand. What do boats and bourbon have to do with anything?"
"You always tell me that those are my hobbies." Gibbs explained.
Tony still didn't really understand, but he nodded anyway. "I'm tired, Agent Gibbs." Tony said, standing and stretching. "Do you mind if I...."
"No, and call me Gibbs..." Gibbs said, shaking his head. "..come on. I'll show you the room." Gibbs took him to the room and showed him where the bathroom was also. He showed him where the linen closet was and told him to help himself to whatever he could find to eat in the kitchen.
Tony nodded and yawned again. He went into the room and opened the bag Gibbs had put on the bed. He pulled out a pair of pajamas and a t-shirt. The t-shirt said Ohio State. He felt like that should mean something to him, but he didn't know why. He put on the pants and shirt, taking off his street clothes and draping them over a chair in the room. He scrubbed his hand over his face.
Tony was glad he had, at least, remembered his own name in the hospital. He didn't remember his childhood, if his parents were alive or who they were or if he had any siblings. The doctors told him that it would come. But Tony was realizing that he must not have been a very patient man because the waiting was driving him crazy.
Tony pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. He was asleep in minutes. Tony woke up a couple of hours later, in pain. He groaned loudly and held his chest. The bruises were gone, but his ribs were still sore. Luckily he had not broken any, but cracked ribs seemed just as painful.
"Tony, what is it? What's wrong?" Gibbs said coming into the room. He knelt down on the floor beside the bed, despite his injured knee.
"Chest..." Tony groaned. "...my ribs."
Gibbs was a little disturbed by this new Tony. He had seen, since the amnesia, that the mask had disappeared. Tony was much more open. More upfront with things. It was really strange though, this Tony didn't talk constantly. He didn't make movie references. He wasn't a smart-ass.
Tony moaned, bringing Gibbs out of his ravine. "9-1-1, hospital."
"You missed your medicine, Tony. Let's try the pain medicine. I'll get Ducky over here to look you over." Gibbs said, reaching for the phone.
"Call 9-1-1." Tony moaned, he was sweating now. He closed his eyes against the pain.
"You don't like hospitals." Gibbs said, explaining his actions.
Tony opened his eyes and looked at him.
"Something about your childhood. I don't know what. You don't talk about it." Gibbs said as Ducky answered. He got up off his knees and sat on the side of the bed.
Ducky arrived 20 minutes later. By the time he got there though the pain had eased considerably, enough for Tony to sleep.
"Sorry, Duck." Gibbs said, talking about the sleeping form on the bed. "You were on your way and...."
"That is quite alright, Jethro. I would have wanted to check him out anyway. I need to see if his ribs are still stable. I will examine him while he sleeps. It will be easier for him, much less painful." Ducky said sitting down on the bed. He pushed Tony's shirt up and did a thorough and deep probing of Tony's ribs.
Gibbs sat quietly during the exam, waiting for Ducky to finish.
"He's ribs are stable. I would guess the pain just got too intense for him because he missed getting his pain medicine on schedule. He must get his pain medicine on schedule..." Ducky stressed. "...even if you have to wake him up to do it. Pain is a funny thing that way. It reaches a certain point, it is very hard to ease." He pulled Tony's shirt down and covered him up with the blanket.
Tony woke up a couple of hours later. His pain was controlled and he actually felt pretty good. His head wasn't even hurting.
"Boss."
"Yeah, Tony." Gibbs said, trilled Tony had called him Boss. That was one of the little details Tony seemed to remember on his own.
Tony looked at Gibbs, he was smiling broadly. "You've been smiling a lot for a man who doesn't smile much."
"You called me, Boss, Tony." Gibbs explained. "You're remembering."
"That's good." Tony replied. "What can I get to eat around here?"
"I don't keep much in the fridge. I'll order something." Gibbs said, picking up the phone. "What do you want?" Gibbs looked at him expectantly.
"I think you are expecting me to remember something here. Obviously, I have a favorite, something, Boss, Gibbs. But I don't know what it is." Tony said shaking his head.
"I want you to remember, Tony. Obviously I do. But I don't want to push you. I am not trying to push you." Gibbs sat down on the bed, beside Tony. "Every time you do remember something...well it makes me hopeful."
Tony nodded his understanding and Gibbs ordered Tony's favorite pizza, hoping to jog a memory.
TBC
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