Sleeping Sickness 3

Chapter 1

Screaming. Fire. Blood. Burning flesh. Dead Body, his dad's dead, burning body. It was all his fault. He let his dad drive the car that he was fixing, and he was sure that everything was working, but at the last minute, he noticed he forgot the brake wires. Now his dad was out on the street with no way to stop. The next thing he heard, was a giant crash, followed by an explosion. His mom and sister came rushing out behind Tim, wondering what the noise was. There was a large gas truck on his side with a familiar red car lodged in it. The whole thing was on fire.

"T-Tim, who was driving that car?" his mom said shakily. Tim turned around and looked at his mom tearfully and she knew instantly.

"No, no, no. No!" she screamed as she ran towards the accident. McGee ran after her, as Sarah just stood in the driveway crying. McGee watched as his mom fell to her knees, crying and screaming for her husband. This was his fault; his dad was dead because of him. Suddenly, his dad's bloody melted body, was in front of him, hoarsely whispering to him.

"This is your fault, Tim. You should of checked everything, but you are too careless and lazy to check for faults. I can't believe I ever trusted you to do this, now I'm dead because of you. Stupid, lazy, arrogant, bast-"

McGee woke up in cold sweat, breathing heavily as he sat up in bed, thinking about his dream. Only it wasn't a dream, it really happened...ten years ago. It was June 8, the anniversary of his dad's car crash. McGee rubbed his face tiredly and looked at the clock. It was five in the morning; getting up out of bed, McGee went into his bathroom to take a shower, washing the nightmares away from his thoughts. After he finished, he got out and got dressed, ready for another long day at work. But he couldn't help get the feeling that Gibbs always gets in his gut. Something felt off, but he couldn't think of anything other than how bad this day was going to be if he saw another car related accident.

When he got to work, Tony and Ziva were bickering bout something as always and Gibbs wasn't here yet, or he was, just getting coffee.

"Hey, McAlmostTardy," Tony said, "Usually your here before me and Ziva, did something or someone keep you from getting here?

McGee rolled his eyes and set up his computer, ready for any case thrown his way. Finally, Gibbs came strolling in and sat down quietly at his desk. The team looked eagerly at him for his to say something, to say that they had a dead marine in Norfolk, or that an army house was blown up with the whole family inside. Something to keep them busy instead of working on cold cases. Gibbs looked at his team and smirked.

"Cold cases today," he said, then taking a sip from coffee, he looked down at a file. The team groaned and went to go choose a cold case. For the rest of the day, the team worked on the Lewinsky case and finally finished, wrapping up the case. The murderer was Darnell Carter; when they found him, he was hiding out in an old cabin in Danville. Tony was talking to Ziva, asking if she wanted to go see a movie, while Gibbs was somewhere in the building. McGee was tired and he couldn't wait to go home and go to bed. Well, at least try, but the nightmares might keep him up again. McGee sighed as he finished his case report and shut down his computer. As he began to stand up, his cellphone rang. Wondering who would be calling him at 9 o' clock at night, he picked it up and looked at the caller I.D.

Sarah. Sarah? Why would Sarah be calling at this time? He shrugged and answered the phone.

"Hey, Sarah, what-" but he was cut of by a man's voice.

"Timothy McGee?" said the voice.

"Y-yes. Who is this?" he said in a shaky voice, and sat back down slowly.

Tony stopped talking to Ziva and turned to McGee, noticing the nervousness in his voice. Ziva did the same, watching McGee talk to someone on the phone.

"This is Marcus, I'm a paramedic. It seems that your sister and mother were in a car crash on 23rd street. Your sister is critically injured and is being taken to the hospital as we speak.

McGee took a shuddering breath, he knew the worse was coming, but he just had to ask.

"W-what about m-my mom?" stuttered McGee.

"I'm sorry, Mr. McGee, but your mom died before we even got here. Her injuries were too severe."

McGee was silent; he could feel the color drain from his face. He couldn't hear anything except for the last thing Marcus said.

"Your sister is being brought to St. Mary's hospital, Mr. McGee, and I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," McGee said in a whisper as he hung up. He could barely breath. It happened again; just when he couldn't think this particular day could be worse. He was supposed to be with mom and Sarah today but, he said he couldn't because of work. He should have been in the car with them. Now mom was dead, dad was dead, and Sarah was clinging onto life. Coming out of his trance, he jump from his chair, and frantically grabbed his stuff.

"McGee, what's wrong?" Ziva asked as she stood up.

"Nothing," muttered Tim as he rushed by her. Tony stood up as he looked at Ziva, both with confused faces. When McGee, was talking on the phone, he saw how pale he got. Something was up.

McGee rushed to the elevator, knowing that Tony and Ziva's eyes were following him. As he got ready to push the elevator button, the doors opened. Without thinking, McGee ran inside, only to crash into Gibbs, who was coming out.

"McGee! Where are you going in such a hurry?" Gibbs yelled.

"S-sorry, Boss," whispered McGee as he tried to go around Gibbs. He had to get to the hospital and Gibbs wasn't making it any easier.

Gibbs, then noticed the panic in his voice; he looked at McGee and saw how pale and frantic he looked. His temper softened and he put two hands on McGee's shoulders.

"Tim, are you okay?" he asked calmly.

"I'm fine, Boss," McGee said, struggling to get out of his Boss' grip. He decided that Gibbs wasn't going to let him take the elevator until he told him something. He looked over to where the stairs began, and he knew what to do. McGee wrenched out of Gibbs' hold and made a run for the stairs. Bolting down the flight, he could hear Gibbs calling after him, not far behind. He couldn't let Gibbs stall him from getting to the hospital. He needed to see Sarah.

Running to the car garage, McGee frantically tried to find the right key for his car, so he wouldn't waste time, and Gibbs couldn't stop him.

"McGee! Where are you going? Wait, McGee!" Gibbs yelled after him.

McGee's breathing quickened as he finally made it to his car and shoved the key in the keyhole. He opened the door and quickly got in as he turned the ignition. All of a sudden, the engine wouldn't start. His car had been acting up again, and the mechanic wasn't able to see it until Friday.

"No, no no! Dammit, don't do this to me!" yelled McGee. Looking out his window, he could see Gibbs getting closer.

"Come on!" grunted McGee as he turned the key one last time. Finally, the engine started and McGee smiled. Putting the lever in drive, McGee raced off towards the hospital just before Gibbs got to him.

"I'm coming, Sarah. Don't give up, keep fighting."