They enter the warehouse, with guns drawn. Both of them wear their bullet proof vests. She leads, he follows. He follows behind her a good, fifty feet. She starts down the hallway. Before he can reach the hallway he finds her running towards him. She had never known her to run. He tries to decide whether to run, or wait for you. Before he can decide he feels the ground shake beneath him. She comes flying towards him, in the air. He steps back, to catch her, so she doesn't land face first, on the concrete slab.
He successfully breaks her fall. She finds herself on top of him. His head bounces off the concrete. She pulls out her phone, and dials 911. After a fifteen second conversation she hangs up. She straddles him. She checks his pulse. He lies motionless. Finally his eyes open, and he looks at her. She breaks the silence.
"Are you ok?" she questions.
"I don't think so," he admits.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Stop talking. It hurts," he closes his eyes.
"Stay awake."
"Can't," he answers.
"Stay awake, please!" she demands.
He doesn't respond to her. She taps his cheek. "Wake up!"
He rolls over, pushing her off him, in the process. He empties his stomach onto the floor.
"Damnit, Tony! I need you stay with me. Don't you dare leave me!" she warns.
He slips deep into unconsciousness.
The ambulance rides, and she feels herself slip into auto-pilot. They were in Norfolk, following down a lead. Gibbs had just sent the two of them. They whisk Tony off to MRI, and hand her a pile full of forms to fill out. She feels her heartbeat quicken, with each line. Finally she reaches the emergency contact line. She sits, and thinks about who to put. DiNozzo, Senior? No, she didn't even know where he was. Gibbs? Too far away. It would take him hours to get here. If there was an emergency, she had to be the one to decide. Great. His life was in her hands, this wasn't how she had anticipated her day going.
A nurse comes into the waiting room, and collects the forms. The nurse looks at her in empathy. Ziva braces herself, for whatever the nurse is about to tell her.
"Miss David, we need your consent."
"For what?"
"To do surgery. We're going to have to go in, and remove the blood, to reduce the pressure in his head."
"Ok," she nods.
The nurse hands her another form, which she quickly signs.
"Do you have any questions?"
"Can I see him? Before they take him to surgery?"
"I can let you see him, on his way down to surgery. Come with me," she ushers Ziva out of the waiting room.
She finds herself following along side a gurney. She holds her partner's hand, as they wheel him into the surgical wing. She squeezes his hand, but he doesn't squeeze back. She looks up at the nurse, who opens the door to the hallway, leading to the OR.
"Do you have any questions, Miss David?"
"Can I go with him?"
"Into the OR? Can I stay with him?"
"I don't think that is a good idea."
"I don't think that you understand," Ziva argues.
"It is a gruesome procedure."
"That doesn't bother me. I spend most of my time dealing with dead bodies."
"But he isn't dead."
The nurse stops outside the door of the OR. She looks at the rest of the staff around her. They nod, and take DiNozzo into the OR. She stands outside the OR.
"I'm making an exception for you, here. We usually don't let non-family members even see our patients."
"I am his partner."
"But you're not his family."
She answers quickly, "I'm his wife."
"His wife? You two don't share the last name."
"We don't want our boss to know. He has rules against it," she answers.
"Am I really supposed to believe that?"
"Would you like me to have our marriage certificate faxed to you?"
"No, that won't be necessary. But, I can't let you in there. I will keep you updated. That is the best that I can do. You need to go wait in the waiting area."
"Ok," she agrees.
Two and a half hours later the nurse comes to the waiting area. Ziva's head snaps up. She looks at the nurse. The nurse shows no emotion.
"We just sent him up to recovery."
"Can I see him?"
"Yes," she nods.
Ziva is sitting in his room, in a chair next to him, holding his hand, when Gibbs arrives. She doesn't look up, as he enters the room. She just stares at her partner. Her partner, who has a bandage wrapped around his head. The one who, has a tube rammed down his throat, helping him breathe. Gibbs pulls a chair over, next to her. He takes a seat.
"You ok?"
"Fine," she answers quickly.
"Ziva," he warns."I am fine."
"Why don't you go get a bite to eat? I can stay with him."
"No. I have to stay."
"He wouldn't mind."
She looks up at him. She speaks sharply, "No, but I would."
"Ziva..."
She points, "That should be me. He was trying to break my fall. He didn't want me to land face first onto a concrete slab. I am not going to leave him, until I know that he is ok."
"Then I will get you something to eat."
"I'm fine."
"You keep saying that, but I still don't believe it."
"What took you so long, to get here?"
"There was traffic."
"I called you five hours ago."
"Ziva, it was rush hour. Are you really mad at me, for not making it here, sooner?"
"I don't know who I'm mad at," she replies.
