The hospital waiting room was empty except for Ducky and Tony. The décor was a depressing grey and the chairs were arranged in a circle of sorts around the room. There was a tea and coffee dispenser on a small table in one corner and a dying pot plant in the opposite corner.
"Ducky it's been 45 minutes. What the hell could be taking them so long?" Tony complains for the 10th time as he continues to pace the length of the waiting room. Ducky places two cups of hot coffee on the table as he looks at the younger agent and sees the fear etched in his face.
"Anthony, please calm down. The Doctors need to assess their condition and decide on the right treatment to help them. They also need to take their previous injuries into account. The fact that the Doctors are still busy means that Jethro and Leslie are alive." Ducky reassures Tony as he places his hand lightly on his shoulder.
"It's just that… Gibbs .. His like a…. And after Kate …." Tony chokes up as his emotions get the better of him.
"I know Anthony. I know." Ducky says as he leads Tony to a chair and places a cup of coffee in his hands.
Another 20 minutes go by and Tony becomes more and more despondent. By this time Abby has arrived and she is sitting next to Tony holding his hand. Her hair is down and the quietness in the room is driving her crazy. Some hard rock or heavy metal would sound great right about now. Gibbsman if you make it through this I'm going to kill you for putting me through this stress and messing up my aura. Abby thinks as she tries to remain calm.
"Duckman can't you do something?" Tony finally asks.
"Okay, Anthony, I will go and see if I can find someone who knows what is going on." Ducky says as he leaves the room. Dear God, please let them be okay. He prays as he walks down the white collidor towards the nurse's station.
Abby looks at Tony and thinks; this is not the Anthony DiNozzo I know. He would be chatting non stop about some or other movie, not sitting so quietly and looking so drained.
"Tony, are you okay?" Abby gently asks.
"No.. Abby. I'm not." Tony sighs as he looks at her with bloodshot eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Abby offers as she caresses Tony's arm.
"Abby he is the strongest person I know and to see him lying motionless on the ground, his face covered in blood…And to see him in that state twice in one week." Tony says as he squeezes his eyes shut and tears start running down his cheeks.
"Oh Tony, that must have been so horrible." Abby says as she hugs him close.
"Abby I thought that he was dead. He is the closest thing I have to a father or a big brother. I can not stand the thought of losing him not so soon after losing Kate. And then, to see Leslie in the same state… She was amazing. Despite all the pain she was in she saved us. And the relief in her voice when she saw Gibbs and the look on his face when he saw her…. Abby she means something to him." Tony says as he pulls back and looks into Abby's eyes.
"I've seen it too." Abby replies as tears run down her face. "Tony we have to snap out of this. Gibbs is like my big brother too and I have to believe that he is going to be okay. And Leslie too. We just have to be positive," Abby whispers as she starts to caress Tony's face and hair with the aim of comforting him.
"And we will give both of them all the help that they need won't we." Abby continues to whisper as she pulls Tony close and kisses him on the corner of his mouth. Tony suddenly feels an incredible need for comfort and a need to forget everything for a few seconds. He turns his head and brushes his lips deliberately against Abby's. She is stunned for a second and does not respond. As Tony deepens the kiss, she moans softly and gives in to him. They ravish each other's mouths trying to find solace for a while but soon their passion starts to rise. Tony pulls Abby across his lap as he continues to kiss her. Her hands frame his face as his hands caress her back and hold her close.
Tony suddenly realizes what he is doing and abruptly pulls back from Abby. He stands up and pulls her up with him. Both of them take a second to catch their breath.
"Abby..."
"Tony…"
"No Abby, I'm so sorry. I do not know what got into me." Tony says as he finally looks at Abby. Wow! That was incredible.
"No Tony I'm sorry. It is just everything that we are going through. Our emotions got the better of us." Abby says with a laugh as she tries to tamp down her body's raging passion. How could I feel this way with Tony when I have never before seen him in this light? His kiss was positively, sinful like a stalking vampire who takes his prey with wild abandon. Abby closes her eyes for a second as she tries to get that image out of her head. Tony stares at her like as if it is the first time that he is seeing her. Abby you are so sexy. Why have I not noticed that before?
"Oh come on Tony. It's no big deal." Abby says more to convince herself then him.
"It's not.. I mean yes you're right. It's just one of those things, isn't it?" He asks. Did she feel the same thing I just felt or am I loosing it, Tony wonders.
"Yes, of course DiNozzo…. Let's face it…You and me…" Abby says nervously.
"Yes Abby, what about you and me?" Tony whispers as he takes a step closer to her and looks deeply into her eyes. Oh my, what's happening here? Abby thinks as she stares back at Tony.
They abruptly jump apart as Ducky suddenly appears in the doorway, effectively stopping any further discussion on the topic.
"Anthony, Abigail lets move up to the ICU unit. Gibbs is… Are you two okay?" Ducky asks as he notices the flushed look on Tony and Abby's faces.
"Yes.." Tony says.
"Of course Duckman." Abby says at the same time.
How could I have forgotten about Gibbs and how could I have enjoyed that moment with Abby so much, Tony wonders guiltily.
Gibbs and Leslie are fighting for their lives and here I am indulging in vampire fantasies.…. Oh Abs get a grip already.
"Are you sure that you are okay?" Ducky asks as he comes forward and places a hand on each of their foreheads.
"You do seem to be a bit hot. I hope that you are not coming down with something." Ducky says thoughtfully.
"We're fine, how are Gibbs and Leslie?" Tony asks as he moves away from Ducky.
"They are okay, aren't they?" Abby asks warily.
Ducky sits down and runs a hand over his face as he says, "Jethro is in the ICU. He has aggravated his concussion and the CT scan has confirmed that he has a swelling on his left frontal lobe. A bullet also scraped his left arm leaving a deep gash in it which required stitches. He has numerous other cuts and bruises from rolling across the ground. He is still unconscious and the doctors will monitor the swelling in order to decide whether surgery will be required to reduce the pressure on the cranium. For now he is in critical condition until he wakes up and the swelling goes down."
"Bloody hell!" Tony exclaims as he slams his fist into the wall not trying to hide his fury.
"Anthony! We have enough to deal with so please calm yourself." Ducky pleads as he sees Tony's bloody knuckles.
"Ducky, what about Leslie?" Abby asks as she wraps a paper towel around Tony's hand.
"She is in surgery right now to repair the two bullet wounds."
"Two bullet wounds?" Abby asks.
"Yes, the one in her back opened up during her struggles with Samuel and the one she took to her side was still lodged in her side. She has lost a lot of blood. She also has a concussion, a few bruised ribs and her ankle is chafed raw. It seems like she had a shackle on her foot."
"That bastard if he wasn't dead already, I would kill him slowly in the most painful way possible." Tony says as his anger once again gets the better of him.
"Oh Ducky this is such a nightmare. Leslie will pull through this. She has too. She is so strong." Abby says as she tries to make everyone feel better.
"You're right, She is just like Jethro, strong, stubborn and a fighter. Let's get up to the ICU and check on Jethro and then we can find out how Leslie is doing." Ducky says as they all leave the waiting room.
The ICU is colder than the general wards, mainly to reduce the risk of infection. As Abby opens the door and sees Gibbs lying in the middle of the starkly white room she feels helpless and almost gives in to the urge to cry. She approaches his bed and leans down next to his ear and whispers, "Gibbs you have to stop getting yourself into these situations. You know how much I hate visiting people in hospitals." As she takes his hand into her she smiles. "I think that we need to arrange for some office cleansing or feng shui or something to stop all this negative stuff from circulating. What do you think Bossman?" she asks as she pecks her unconscious boss on his cheek.
Tony follows Abby into the ward and stands at the foot of the bed. He notices all the IV lines and monitors hooked up to Gibbs. He observes Gibbs' chest rise and fall steadily. His breathing on is own. That's good, Tony realizes. Gibbs you have to fight this and you have to wake up. We… I need you Boss. Tony tries to communication this to Gibbs as he rounds the bed and places his hand lightly on Gibbs shoulder.
We are a family, standing together and supporting each other. Jethro, you have to come out of this because we are all rooting for you, Ducky thinks as he hugs Abby and she places her head on his shoulder while she continues to hold Gibbs hand.
In operating theatre 4, the Doctors and nurses pat each other on the back. Doctor Hanson takes a step back from the operating table and says, "Boy that was a tough one but I think that she has a good chance of pulling through if there is no infection and if she does not go into delayed shock." Dr Johnson seconds Dr Hanson's opinion and instructs Sister Anne to close and dress the wound and then to have the patient moved to the ICU ward where Agent Gibbs currently is.
"I'll go out and give her team the news." Dr Johnson says as he and Dr Hanson walk towards the exit door.
That's when one of the nurses shouts out, "Doctors her pressure's dropping, her breathing becoming erratic. Damn it she's going into hypovolaemic shock."
"That's what we feared." Dr Johnson says as her returns to the table.
"We have to replace her fluids faster. The blood loss during the procedure is taking its toll on her." Another nurse observes as she starts to prepare another IV line.
"Anne, let's close this wound quickly. Jenny, hook up another 1000ml of blood and 500ml of crystalloids to replace the blood and salts that she has lost. We also need to get her warmed up." Dr Hanson instructs as he moves back to the table and starts to stitch the wound in her side closed.
"Hook it up to her jugular vein so that it can get to her heart quickly. We don't want this to progress to cardiac arrest. Hurry people. She's made it thus far. We can't let her give up now." Dr Johnson stresses and everyone start doing as instructed.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.