Here comes the sun Here comes the sun, and I say It's all right..." *'Here Comes the Sun' -- by the Beatles.

Every day since their passing, he awakens to the same song. It motivates him. It encourages him to get up every morning, greet the brand-new day with hope & happiness, and to the knowledge that when the sun come up, life as he knew it, was going to be alright. He left the alarm on, allowing the song to play out and reset itself. Some mornings, as he got out of bed and got ready for the day, he found himself humming along with the song, other times he would sing out loud. Even as he showered that morning, he lightly hummed the song. It had an odd calming effect on him. As he exited the shower, he looked over his body and sighed. He had let himself go a wee bit, seeing the beginnings of an old-man gut forming. 'Tonight, after work, a nice brisk run...' he thought lightly. 'Got to get back into shape...' He knew why he had stopped running, but now was high time to start again. After shaving swiftly, he dried off the rest of his body that he hadn't gotten to yet, combed his hair, and put on a fresh pair of military green boxer shorts. Sighing again, he made his way to his closet to find clothes for the day. He looked over at a photo of his two favorite people sitting on the top of the dresser and asked them the same thing every morning, "So, ladies, what should I wear today?" Thinking to himself, he remembered what Abby told him one day about his wardrobe: *Abby: 'Gibbs, have you ever thought of getting a personal stylist to come in, raid your closet, and tell you what 'not' to wear?' *G: 'Abs, why would I want someone to do that? I think my wardrobe is fine...' *A: 'Yeah, it's fine... for someone's dad...' *G: 'I am someone's dad...' *A: 'Well, you know what I mean, Gibbs... it makes you look 'older' than you are...' *G: 'Abs, I'm 53... I am supposed to look this old. *A: 'Gibbs, 53 is the new 33... you should be dressing younger, sexier, tighter... more suave... like Tony or Tim.' *G: 'Are you comparing my wardrobe choices to those of DiNozzo or McGee?' *A: 'Just think about it, Gibbs... for me... just try it once... try to dress hotter for once...' Xxx0xxXxx0xxX

McGee looked at his watch, as he sat at his desk, and smiled. He knew Gibbs would walk into the Bullpen any second to find only Ziva & himself working, and that Tony had yet to arrive. He knew that Agent DiNozzo would have an excuse of either 'Traffic, boss'; 'Accident, boss'; or, 'Car trouble, boss', so he anticipated Gibbs lecturing him about time management for the fifty-billionth time. "What are you smiling about over there?" Ziva inquired lightly. "Look what time is, Ziva," McGee began to say. "Any minute now, Gibbs is going to come in and ask us where Tony is for the bazillionth time. Then, he's going to compare oen or both of us to Tony, making us look better than him... like always." "You really get on, when Gibbs yells at Tony, don't you?" "The euphemism is 'you really get off', Ziva..." "On, off, whatever! You are not a light switch, McGee!" "What about light switches?" A familiar voice questioned out of nowhere.

Both McGee & Ziva turned to see Tony standing before them, and he was on time. He was actually in the office before Gibbs was.

"Wow, Tony, that's like a record or something..." Ziva stated aloud. "That's because Gibbs is not going to be in the morning..." Tony answered with a smile. "And, how do you know that?" "He texted me this morning, that's why. And, I quote, 'Have doctor's appt. Will be in after 11am. Be ready. -- G.' End-quote..." "Well, I hope it's not something serious..." Ziva commented softly. "Nope, probably just his yearly physical, that's all..." "Since when is Gibbs texting you about his personal matters, Tony?" The team geek questioned aloud. "I have no clue, Probie... he just did today, okay?" "Has it been a year already?" the lone girl in the room wondered to them. "Wow, time flies, when you are having a good time..." "That's 'time flies, when you are having fun', Zee..." McGee chimed in as always. "Whatever, McGee! Who are you now: the Idiom Police? Get back to work..." Tony chuckled at the nickname that his teammate had given to the other. Tim shot him one of his versions of a 'Gibbs glare', causing the senior field agent to chuckle even more. "What? You gotta admit it, Probie..." Tony confessed. "That was a good one..." McGee rolled his eyes at him, as he walked away from his desk, grumbling, "I'm going to find Abby..." The senior filed agent continued to laugh and smile, as Ziva shook her head in disapproval, stating, "You don't always have to be so mean to him, you know..." "Who... McGee? He should be used to my ways by now. He just gets testy, when people other than me call him names. Maybe you should apologize..." Tony answered with a little bit of sarcasm. "Yeah, I'll apologize, when pigs have airplanes..." "That's 'when pigs fly', Zee..." "Oh, whatever! Same difference!" The two smiled at one another before getting to work on their paperwork, awaiting the arrival of their fearless leader. 'God, I hope he's gonna be alright', Tony thought to himself. 'I don't know what I would do, if anything happened to him...' Xxx0xxXxx0xxX

The exam room was quiet and smelled way too hermetically-sealed for Gibbs' liking. With a soft knock on the door, his doctor entered the room. Dr. Francesca MacKenzie had been his physician ever since he received his diagnosis, after Shannon & Kelly passed away. She was the only doctor who specialized in his condition. The funny thing was that Tony was one of her patients as well.

"Morning, Jethro..." the physician stated lightly. "How are you feeling today?" "Fine, Doc..." He answered back. "What's the good word?" "Same old stuff, different day... you know how that is, right?" "Exactly..." "So, on the menu for you today, is your yearly physical...which will consist of some bloodwork and an abdominal/pelvic exam. Sound good to you?" "Oh yeah, Doc... sounds delightful..."

The sarcasm was not lost on the doctor, who quickly went to work checking out her patient. After finishing her initial checks, she jotted down some notes, and before Gibbs knew it, she sent in one of her many nurses to take blood samples (which he always hated), but being a strong Marine, he had to grin & bear it. As soon as she finished taking all that she needed, she instructed Gibbs to follow her into another room. This room had an exam table and an ultrasound machine, among other devices.

"Agent Gibbs, the doctor wants you to strip down from your mid-waist down and cover up with the sheet on the exam table." the nurse instructed him with a smile. "She'll be back in a moment..." "Thanks..." He replied back, knowing that this was the part of the exam he hated the most. However, he did what he was told. He removed his shoes, putting them under the chair beside of the exam table; then, he removed his pants and boxers, folding them nicely and placing them on the seat of the chair. He covered his lower section, just as a knock came to the door and the doctor entered, along with the same nurse from before. "Alright, Jethro... are you ready for this part?" Dr. MacKenzie asked of her patient. "No, but we'd better get it over with..." He replied back to her. "Exactly what I was thinking, too. Now, just lay back, and let's get started..."

He wasn't ready for this. He wasn't ready to be told if his condition was better or worse. He wasn't ready to know his future. Not like this, not alone...

TBC??