Sasha is out of breath by the time she reaches the cabin. As she throws the door open, she sees Kate, sitting next to a writhing Tony. He looks flushed and is perspiring. His face is contorted in pain as he rolls on the bunk, moaning.
"Sasha, help him!" Kate says in a slurred voice, still a bit dazed from the sedative Sasha had given her earlier.
"Kate, get back onto your bunk. I'll take care of Tony." Sasha says as she helps Kate into her sleeping bag. When Gibbs and McGee rush into the cabin, Gibbs becomes enraged by Tony's condition. As Sasha approached Tony, Gibbs grabs her by her collar, pulling her away from him and pinning her against the cabin wall. McGee is shocked by Gibbs reaction and says, "Boss, what are..?"
Gibbs ignores McGee and growls, "What have you done to him?" McGee stares at Sasha in disbelief trying to comprehend what Gibbs is saying.
"Gibbs, let me go! I need to help him!" Sasha shouts back, anxious to examine Tony, fearing that he has somehow been poisoned. Just then Tony moans out in pain as he rolls onto his side, heaving. His stomach has emptied a while ago and his skin is pale and drawn now.
Gibbs turns his attention back to Tony. He slams Sasha none too gently against the wall one more time before letting her go. As she moves towards Tony, Gibbs grabs her arm and glares at her as he says, "If anything happens to him, you will answer to me!" And then he lets her go.
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Back at NCIS head quarters, Abby enters the lab at around 9pm. That conference was such a waste of time. It was meant for 1st year techs. I'm glad I could get away a day earlier. I wonder why the Director insisted that I attend it. Abby complains as she switches her computers on.
I wonder how the trip's going. Only one way to find out! Abby thinks as she logs into the satellite program that is monitoring the team. The first thing she notices is that the 4 skull trackers are not on the screen.
"What!!! Did you lose them so quickly?" Abby voices out loud.
But then I should at least still pick up a trace on them. This looks more like the trackers have been damaged or destroyed! Abby realizes wondering whether she should start panicking.
Then she quickly logs onto the other tracking system.
"Ah ha, there you are!" Abby grins as she sees 4 spots in almost the same place on her screen. Good, you're all together and that means that you all must be safe. Now I can go home and catch some shut eye. Abby reasons as she switches everything off and leaves the lab.
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In the cabin, Tony's moans fill the air. Sasha crouches next to him and says, "Tony, tell me what's wrong." Tony stares at her for an instant, before his eyes cloud over with pain. Gibbs approaches Tony and places the wet cloth more firmly against his forehead. He keeps his hand against Tony's forehead, trying to offer some kind of comfort.
"Boss,… I'm … sorry! Don't … know what …. happened…" Tony says as he looks at Gibbs for a second.
"DiNozzo, just answer the questions so that we can fix whatever's wrong." Gibbs replies in a stern voice.
"Headache… Stomach cramps… whole body's , aaahhh." Tony moans as he rolls onto his side cradling his stomach. Gibbs holds onto him until the cramp subsides.
"When did you start feeling ill?" Sasha asks as she takes his pulse noting that it is fast.
"I think it was about the time we arrived at the cabin." McGee tells her.
Gibbs glares at him and says, "Why didn't you say something when you realized Tony wasn't okay!" McGee shrinks away from the reprimand as Tony whispers, "Not his … fault, Boss!"
Sasha grabs her bag and removes her first aid kit. She throws it open and removes a thermometer. "Tony, do you have any cuts or bruises or open wounds on your body?" Sasha asks just before she places the thermometer in his mouth. Kate watches from her bunk feeling helpless.
"He has a blister on his leg, just below his calve. I noticed it when I removed his clothes. He wouldn't let me touch it, shouting out in pain when I almost did." McGee replies as he starts to unzip the sleeping bag. Sasha looks at Tony's legs, just above his ankles and sees an almond shaped, red blister on his right leg. The blister is surrounded by inflamed red skin, a clear indication of an infection. Sasha places surgical gloves on and then touches his leg a few inches above the blister. Tony reacts by jerking his leg violently and shouting, "No!" causing the thermometer to fall out of his mouth. Gibbs retrieves it and hands it to Sasha. Sasha looks at it and then looks at Gibbs, "103.2, It's too high. We have to get it down. Tony, are you allergic to anything?" Sasha asks as she removes a hypodermic and various ampoules of medication from her bag.
"No… no allergies…" Tony answers.
"What are you giving him?" Gibbs asks suspiciously as he sees Sasha filling the hypodermic with medication.
"It's a combination of ibuprofen and morphine sulphate. The ibuprofen will reduce the fever and the morphine will help with the pain and calm him down so that we can have a look at that blister." Sasha replies. And why would you be carrying such strong drugs in your first aid kit. Were you expecting trouble? Gibbs wonders.
"We also need to get him onto fluids to prevent dehydration." Sasha continues. McGee immediately gets a glass of water and holds it to Tony's lips as Gibbs holds him up. Tony takes a small sip and makes to lie down. Gibbs takes the glass from McGee and instructs, "DiNozzo, Drink!" Tony lifts his head again and manages to drink half the glass, before lying back down. As he sees the hypodermic, he moans, "Doc that's … a really … big needle."
"Tony just relax." Sasha says as Gibbs rolls Tony onto his side. While she injects him in the hip, he moans and curses. As the medication starts to take effect, Sasha once again takes hold of Tony's leg. The blister looks blood and pus filled and it seems to be spreading. A few minutes later Sasha says, "McGee, keep giving him water and keep that wet cloth on his forehead. Gibbs, I need to speak to you." Sasha stands up and stretches her aching neck. Gibbs looks at Tony, communicating that everything will be okay. Tony stares back and nods his head imperceptibly indicating that he has understood Gibbs.
"What is it?" Gibbs asks as he approaches Sasha in the kitchen area of the cabin. Kate joins them and puts on a pot of water to boil, sensing that it is going to be a long night and that coffee will help all of them cope with it, especially Gibbs.
"We have to drain that blister otherwise the infection's going to spread up his leg."
"What?!" Kate gasps as she worriedly looks back at Tony.
"I think that he was bitten by a poisonous insect or a spider. If we don't do something right away, we risk the possibility of nerve damage in addition to the current tissue and muscle distress. Also the fever has made him weak and he is dehydrated which will only make his headache and body aches worse."
"We're getting out of here!" Gibbs states as he makes to move away.
"Even if you are able to get help, it will be hours later. Tony doesn't have that time. We need to drain it now." Sasha insists as she grabs Gibbs' arm. He glares at her and shakes her hand off. He looks at his senior field agent and realizes that Sasha's right.
"How do you plan to do it?" Gibbs asks, knowing that it is going to be painful. Kate pours the coffees, as Sasha proceeds to tell them what she is going to do and how they will have to help her.
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