Usual Disclaimers Apply

Long Enough Alone?

Chapter 1-- The Escape

The beeping of his cell phone intruded on Jethro Gibbs' solitary drive. Glancing at the display he sighed and knew he had better answer.

"Yeah, Duck. What's up"

"Where are you Jethro?"

Ignoring the question, Gibbs asked one of his own, "What's wrong Duck?'

"Nothing's wrong except your refusal to answer my question. Where are you?"

"In my truck, about 45 minutes from my cabin. Why?"

"Because you should be in the hospital that's why!"

"I'm fine Duck. I couldn't stay there any longer. I need some time. Don't worry about me."

"You most certainly are not fine, Jethro. You have a gunshot wound that is barely beginning to heal, the beginnings of pneumonia, and you are physically and emotionally exhausted. You should not be out of the hospital and surely not driving alone to a cabin in the mountains."

"I'm sorry Duck but I had to go. I have the medicine Frank prescribed and I'll take care of myself. I need to do this. Try to understand. I will be back in a week or two. If I'm not coming back in a week I'll call you. Tony is in charge and he can handle things for a while. I gotta go Duck."

"Jethro…" Dr. Mallard realized he was speaking into a dead phone. Shaking his head he said a silent prayer that his friend was indeed alright.

Gibbs turned off his phone and put it back in his pocket. He was far from fine but he wasn't about to admit that to Ducky. Earlier in the day, Gibbs had checked himself out of Bethesda Naval Hospital, gone home, packed a bag and left town without telling anyone where he was going. He had emailed the Director notifying him he would be taking an extended period of sick leave. Leon wouldn't be surprised. After all, Ducky was right, he had been shot and was supposed to be in the hospital for another few days. Instead, he was on his way to his cabin for his own brand of recuperation.

Five miles from the turn off that would take him to his cabin, Gibbs stopped at a small grocery store for supplies. When he parked the truck he had to acknowledge that he didn't feel very well. He knew he had a fever and he had been coughing pretty badly the last half hour or so. All the coughing had made the wound site in his abdomen hurt like nobody's business. Deciding he was close enough to his destination that it wouldn't hurt anything, he popped two pain pills before he gathered himself and got out of the truck. When he stepped into the familiar surroundings of the little store Gibbs felt just a little better. He was warmly greeted by the owner, a not quite elderly woman named Martha.

"Why, Jethro, what a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you for another month or so."

"Hi Martha. I missed you too much so here I am. I'll just be at the cabin for a week or so but I need a few things."

Gibbs gathered his supplies and put them on the counter. As he waited for Martha to tally up his charges he wished the pain pills would start working. He was beginning to sweat and his vision was a little blurry.

"You alright Jethro? You don't look too good."

"Just a cold or the flu I think. Nothing to worry about. I just need to get settled in and relax for a few days. Thanks Martha, I'll see you again while I'm here."

It was only his strong willpower that enabled Gibbs to make it back to his truck without falling down. His gut was really hurting and he was beginning to feel light headed as he drove the last few miles to his cabin. It was late afternoon when he finally parked in the driveway of his secluded log house. Sitting for a few minutes in the truck, Gibbs rested his head on the steering wheel and tried to get control of the pain in his chest and abdomen.

He knew Ducky had been right when he said he should be in the hospital but two days had been all he could stand. There had been too many people coming and going, asking him if he was alright, telling him he did a good job when he didn't feel that way at all. He had needed to get away from all that so here he was, alone and hurting and not sure what he was going to do next.

Gibbs finally managed to get his groceries into the house and put away in the kitchen. He went back to get his duffle and lock the truck. When he stepped back out of the cab with his bag he must have turned the wrong way or something because a wave of pain and nausea rolled over him and he fell to his knees gasping for breath. It felt like he'd been shot all over again. His gut was on fire and it was all he could do not to cry out in pain. He tried to stand but couldn't get his legs to cooperate. To make matters even worse he was suddenly very short of breath and coughing like mad. Gibbs knew he needed to get in the house but he wasn't sure how that was going to be accomplished. He realized he would have to crawl because he couldn't get up. As he made that decision and started to move away from the truck he passed out cold, face down in the driveway. The late afternoon sun was behind the trees and the warmth of the day was fading away along with the sunlight.

TBC

A/N I know it's a short chapter so the next one is coming up right away. I have several chapters of this written so updates will be fairly quick, I hope. Thanks for reading and reviewing if you are so inclined.