The first thing he sensed was the strong smell of coffee.
Gibbs.
His boss had to be near by. Everything else was dark, but that could be because his eyes were closed, and he was having a hard time opening them. His body felt like one big bruise, and his mouth felt like he'd tried to eat a sandbox. There was something strange about his breathing too. He felt an itch on his thigh and wanted to scratch it so bad, but like his eyes his arms felt like they weight a thousand tons.
Tony tried to open his eyes again, but failed.
He didn't have any recollection of where he was or why he was here. This was the first time in what seemed like years that he was able to think even fairly straight. Everything else was kind of blurry.
Hospital.
He remembered someone telling him he was in the hospital. But why?
And dates.
He remembered different dates. August 23rd, 27th and 28th.
But that couldn't be right. Last time Tony remembered checking the newspaper was on the 18th.
He also remembered hearing voices talking to him. Some were strangers but some were also familiar. He remembered hearing Abby's voice. It had seemed so far away. Like a dream you can't really remember but it's there. And yet he had the feeling she was very close.
He remembered hearing the melody in Ducky's voice. It was the same melody he always used when he was telling one of his many stories. How could one person know so many stories? Tony remembered hearing Ducky's voice several times. But, like Abby, it had seemed so far away.
Tony remembered hearing Ziva talking Hebrew. He had no idea what she'd said, but it was her tone that came through the clearest. There was something special about Ziva's voice. It could be hard and serious when needed. Or it could be soft and sexy, playful. But in Tony's mind it had been different. It was low and serious, but there was nothing hard about it. It was almost sad. And far away.
McGee had been there to, but there had been something different about his voice too. It had a different tone, almost melody about it. Like he was reading something out loud.
He didn't really remember Gibbs' voice. But he remembered his presence. He remembered the feeling that Gibbs was there. And that he was safe.
Safe? Safe from what?
While trying to sort out all the memories, Tony suddenly heard voices again. There was more than one, and they were talking to each other. He wanted to open his eyes so badly, but they felt like they were being held down by two tons of lead. He finally managed to open them a crack, but quickly closed them again. The light was so bright. Suddenly the voices stopped, and someone turned off the light. He felt someone take his hand and call for him.
"Tony? DiNozzo? Tony, are you with me again?" Gibbs.
Tony tried to open his eyes again and this time he succeeded. He had to blink a few time to focus. Slowly he opened his eyes again and looked up at Gibbs. Ducky was standing on the other side of the bed. He tried to say something, but no sound came out.
"Anthony, my boy, you can't talk. You have a hole in your throat and a tube to help you breath" Ducky said. Tony's eyes widened and his arm instinctively tensed. He wanted to feel his throat. Gibbs grabbed his hand, "Easy! You have to take it slowly. Otherwise you'll just pull something".
His arm felt weak. Slowly Gibbs helped him find the tube so he could touch it. It felt weird.
"Do you remember what happened?" Gibbs asked him.
Tony was about to say something, but realized he couldn't. Then he shook his head.
Gibbs took a firm hold on Tony's arm.
"Do you remember investigating a suspicious death for your grandfather? Jerry Holmes?" Gibbs asked. He squinted his eyes slightly.
Tony blinked a few times. Then it all came back to him. Flashes and glimpses. The Sunday with his grandfather, the blood sample, the records, the house, the chandelier…
Then nothing.
Gibbs saw Tony's eyes looking all around the room, and he knew he was remembering. When Tony's eyes returned to Gibbs, he continued;
"You were shot at Jerry Holmes' house. It was close call for awhile, but you pulled through. You've been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past week. The doctors expect you to make a full recovery.
Tony closed his eyes for a second. Thank God. The pain would eventually go away, and he would be back to his old self.
"The tube in your throat will be taken out in a few days, when the doctors think you'll be able to manage without it. I don't think it will be long. You're making excellent progress. And then you'll be able to talk to us again" Ducky said and smiled.
Tony smiled to Ducky and shifted his weight little in the bed, but suddenly a sharp pain shot through his chest and he squeezed his eyes shut.
Both Ducky and Gibbs put a hand on his shoulders.
"Yes. You took three bullets to the chest, Anthony. I'm guessing the painmeds are starting to wear off. I'll find you some more" Ducky said and left.
The pain was starting to wear off, as long as he didn't move. Gibbs was still standing by the bed, his hand on Tony's shoulder. Tony nodded slowly. It was gone again. He felt his eyelids become heavy again. Gibbs noticed it too.
"Go back to sleep, DiNozzo. I've got you six"
Tony looked at his boss and closed his eyes again.
______________________________________________
The tube was removed after two days, and a few hours later the team were all gathered in Tony's room. Abby was sitting next to Tony in the bed, her head placed on his shoulder. Ziva was sitting on the edge of the bed. Ducky and McGee sat on two chairs, and Gibbs was standing leaned against the wall. Ziva was giving Tony the full version of everything that happened since he was shot.
"…and then Gibbs made a deal with the FBI"
"Wait… deal with the FBI?!? You sick or something boss?" Tony whispered. His voice was still hoarse. Gibbs just smiled.
"Well yes" Ziva continued, "Gibbs knew the FBI had been investigating the Valentino Family for years. They knew everything about them. He read their file on Guido Valentino and knew that his pride could be used against him. He was willing to anything to get that money. So Gibbs and Fornell made a deal. The FBI would get full credit for the arrest and finding the money. All we wanted was the shooter so we could prosecute for the shooting. Now that won't be necessary".
No one spoke for a while.
Tony looked at Gibbs, "Still can't believe you gave the arrest to Fornell. This was our chance to make the 11 o'clock news".
"Too much paperwork, DiNozzo" Gibbs answered.
Tony smiled. Somehow he already knew the real answer.
Abby was running her fingers up and down Tony's arm. She looked up and said; "There's one thing that I still don't understand"
"What, Abby?" McGee asked.
"If Harold James managed to hide from the mob for all those years, why did he never spend the money? I mean, I counted all those babies. There's still a million bucks".
"Fear?" Ziva surgested. "From what Giovanni told us, Jerry Holmes was always paranoid. Always thought someone was after him- Maybe he always thought the mob would find him if he used the money".
"Sound fair enough" Tony said, "I know that Ziva thinks they are amateurs. But stupidity and ammunition is still a bad combination".
"Amen to that", McGee said.
"How's the arm, Probie?" Tony asked.
McGee smiled, "Just a scratch. Nothing to it"
"Oh yeah? Did you show the wound to Abby for sympathy?" Tony said. That earned him a light slap on the arm from Abby.
"Be nice. Poor McGee couldn't move his arm for days. I had to help him out. A lot".
Both Ziva and Tony started laughing, but Tony had to stop, when his chest started hurting. Gibbs noticed it and stood up.
"Okay, everybody out. DiNozzo needs his rest"
Everybody said their goodbyes to Tony, and Abby got out of the bed. Gibbs was the last to leave. He walked up to the bed. The smack of the head came unexpectedly.
"Hey, easy Boss! What was that for?
"That's for running around, doing your own little investigating without telling me. Look where it got you" Gibbs said, but there was more worry in his voice than anger.
Tony looked down. "Gotcha, Boss. Won't happen again"
"Better not" Gibbs said, "Now get some sleep".
Tony looked around the room, then down on his hands. He was about to say something, but before he could say anything, Gibbs had turned off the light, pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. And then Tony didn't need to say anything anyway. Gibbs knew. Instead Tony shifted a little trying to get comfortable. Before he fell asleep, he looked at Gibbs.
"Boss…?"
"Yeah?" Gibbs said.
"Thank you".
Then Tony fell asleep.
_____________________________________________________
The wind blew through the garden. It lifted the fallen leaves and scattered them all over the garden. Two men were sitting on a bench in winter coats, enjoying the sound of the wind and the smell of fall. The older man looked at the younger:
"So, did you bring it?"
Tony looked at his grandfather and reached in his pocket.
"This is total déjà vu" he smiled and handed the cigarettes to Giovanni. Tony raised an eyebrow,
"You don't have another dead friend you want me to investigate, do you? Because Gibbs is gonna kill me".
Giovanni just smiled and took the cigarettes. He'd gotten used to the way his grandson used humour to deal with the serious things in life. It had been two months since the shooting.
They sat in silence for a while. Then Giovanni turned to face his grandson.
"Tony, I want to apologize to you" he said.
Tony protested, "Big G, I already told you. None of this was your fault. Look at me, I'm fine!"
Giovanni shook his head, "No, it's not about the shooting" He paused for a second, before he continued.
"I want to apologize for never being there for you when you were younger" He looked at Tony. "I knew what was going on in my son's house. What he did to you. And I never did anything to stop it". Giovanni looked down, but looked up again when Tony put his hand on his arm.
"You did more than you know" Tony tried to catch Giovanni's gaze, "your door was always open and still is. Your house was a refuge for me. It was the one place where I felt safe. Where he couldn't reach me. I was safe" Tony smiled. "Besides, apologizing is a sigh of weakness. Especially when there's nothing to apologize for".
Giovanni looked up at Tony and smiled. Then he turned and looked out over the garden. They sat like that for a while. The Giovanni asked;
"So, when are you gonna get your shit together and ask that lovely little Israeli out?"
Tony just laughed.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony recovers...
Chapter End Notes:
Finally finish the story. Thank you so much for the feedback;-) It's been great!
A very happy New Year to everybody:-)
A very happy New Year to everybody:-)