In the Darkness of the Night
The Beginning
Jethro Gibbs moved through the silent streets alone and did not seem to feel the bitter wind that blew his hair back from his forehead. He had told his team to go home. He was planning on it himself and had called to let Lainy know but wanted a cup of coffee to go. He couldn't help but let the current case run through his mind as he strode down the sidewalk. It was late, almost midnight, and the people who were out were mostly military from the Navy Yard like himself looking for a bite to eat. He reached the shop and opened the door. The delicious scent of the many different blends rushed at him as the door opened under his tug. He moved up to the counter as the couple in front of him took their order and went for a table. They were wearing hospital scrubs, the woman older than the man. There was a blonde woman in her 20's sitting by the window reading a news paper. Remnants of a snack in front of her. Jethro noted all these things automatically, registering the details in his astute mind without conscious thought.
"Hello Agent Gibbs. The usual?" The owner of the shop was behind the counter.
"My wife said I should try the Jamaican Mix. I'll take that." Gibbs said and reached for his money clip in his jacket.
"I have the Kona she ordered Sir." The older man was smiling at Gibbs widely.
"Oh, it came in?" Jethro looked back up at the owner with a quizzical expression on his face. He knew Lainy had not been to the shop in weeks. She didn't come here unless she was to meet him. She went to a coffee house near the Admiralty building where she worked during the day unless they had time to have it together.
"Oh yes! It came in earlier today! Do you want it now or tomorrow?" The man was still smiling in a big inappropriate grin. There was a thin sheet of sweat on his face. As Gibbs continued to take his change out of his pocket for the coffee he slipped the guard strap off of his weapon and got ready. The owner looked off to his left where the store room door was partially shut.
"I'll take it tomorrow morning." He said moving as if to turn away.
"Down! Everybody down!" He drew his weapon so swiftly the poor owner barely had time to register as he dove to the floor.
The robbers dashed out the door heading to the side entry, the first one of them firing wildly into the room. The second one tripped over the owners prone body. A shot broke the exit door outwards.
Gibbs shot the first man in the side and he went down screaming. Gibbs went around the end of the counter and caught the second robber as he struggled to regain his feet.
"Get up! Slowly!" Gibbs said. His gun was steady and his eyes were narrowed in concentration as he watched the robber climb awkwardly to his feet.
"Look out!" Someone screamed in the room. Gibbs whirled and saw the first gunman aiming up at him from the floor. Gibbs fired his Sig and the man went down with a bullet in between his eyes. He whirled back and dropping to one knee as the second gunman let loose with a 38 special. He fired twice more and the robber went down with a hard finality.
Gibbs felt suddenly dizzy and nauseous with his vision becoming fitful as he went down hard on the floor. He fell backwards hard into a table and chairs on his left. There was a pain on the left side of his head. He was aware of flashes of image and sounds. The after ringing of ears from the weapons, a truck with a figure outside the door of the shop, the light fixture in the ceiling, shadows. He looked to his left and saw the sightless blue eyes of the blonde looking at him as she lay in a pool of blood that was spreading toward him. One hand was stretched out as if to touch him. A violent shudder passed through him.
A woman's voice was in his ear saying " Be still Officer. I got you. The police are on the way. We called them while you were shooting those assholes.
Get more napkins Max! We gotta put pressure on this!"
"I'm sorry." He mumbled and then let go.
XXXXXXXX
Gibbs woke but didn't open his eyes as noises, smells, overwhelmed him. Everything seemed too intense to process.
His head hurt abominably, in pulse with his rapid heartbeat. He listened as a woman's voice spoke in a clear authoritative voice. It sounded like the woman from the coffee shop.
"I told you I want a C.T. on this cop STAT! That doesn't mean 35 minutes later!"
Another voice said something in a resentful tone. "We don't control the C.T. machine."
"Well then get me somebody who does on the phone right now!"
"Yes Dr. Miller."
Jethro felt a violent wave of nausea rising in his gut. The feeling of intense vertigo and not being in control of his body brought memories of being thrown through the air, the weightlessness, after being hit by the mortar in the Gulf. He didn't want to throw up. He fought it, but the pounding in his skull was unforgiving. He didn't seem to be in control of his body. He suddenly turned to his right side and vomited, retching on to the floor. He hung on to the safety bars and heaved helplessly. Absurdly grateful he hadn't eaten anything since early in the evening hr moaned. Very little came up, but the increased pressure in his head from the retching put him into a sparkling state of vision again. He opened his eyes and saw the blonde standing next to his bed. She had blood on her shoulders but reached out to touch his forehead. He fell back panting, his eyes on hers in bewilderment. Her touch was cool and soothing to the pounding. His vision cleared.
"I…I'm glad you're Ok." He stammered. The image of her on the floor from the store passed in front of his eyes fleetingly.
"I'm fine now." She said with a small smile. "You need to forget about it for awhile so you can heal. Just rest. She's on her way now. I'm Ivy. I'll stay until she's here." She took his hand and held it in hers. Her hand was cool and he felt tingling in his hand.
He woke slowly this time. The room was in relative darkness, and he heard the beeps of monitors. He was in a different place he knew. The light was off his face, aimed toward the corner of the room. The pain in his head was still present but blunted. He felt like he was drifting and recognized the effects of an opiate.
"Jethro?" The soft voice came to him out of the darkness on his right. He knew it was his beloved, his Lainy. "Darling, are you awake?"
"Y…Yes." His voice sounded hoarse and strained. He tried to turn his head that way but the room immediately dipped and turned. He retched again forcing it down.
"It's alright love." A soft hand covered his own. "I'm right here. I won't leave you." He felt lips against his cheek and moaned her name softly to her. He linked their fingers and felt her settle into the bed against his side. She lay her head down on his shoulder and arm. Feeling complete now he gave up and went back into the darkness for awhile.
When he woke again it was day light. The clock on the wall showed 0800. He had to close one eye to see it clearly. His head throbbed like a drum. It infuriated him. He could feel a bulky dressing over his left eye and side of his head. He groaned. Immediately Lainy was beside him.
"Jethro, are you awake again? Good. I have some cold water for you. They want you to drink." He looked up at her and the 2 Lainy's slid together briefly then went out of focus. He tried to lift his head for the drink. The vertigo came back and with it the need to vomit. He helplessly reached up and made a negative hand gesture.
"I'm gonna be sick." He whispered. His eyes closed he sought to breathe deeply and fight the feeling…
"I'll go tell the nurse you need more nausea medicine." Lainy's eyes were full of unshed tears and concern. She squeezed his hand and made her way out to the desk.
Jethro was caught between wanting her there with him and knowing he needed the medicine. This had to be the worst concussion he'd ever had. And that included his post coma headaches. At least he'd slept through the worst of those post concussive pains and simply endured an almost constant headache he could chew aspirin for. Oh God here it went again. He retched and again tried to turn to his left. With a surge of shooting pain from his back and ribs all the way to his hip the room spun wildly out of control. He retched loudly, again and again involuntarily, and then moaned falling back onto his pillows. His vision fractured and the blackness began to come again for him. He gasped and heard from far, far away a voice telling him to breathe. A mask was over his face as he panted. He felt Lainy's hand in his gripping his fingers tightly.
He felt warmth as medications were pushed into his IV. He became aware of voices. One strong voice directing people. Pressure in his nose, more gagging then finally the blessed darkness.
Jethro woke yet again. The sound of monitors, people moving about in the cubicle next to his. There was a tube down his nose now but the horrible nausea was much less. Only the headache remained. Blunted for now. He felt so weak and exhausted. He felt Lainy move toward him in the darkness. She leaned over him gently kissing his lips.
"I am so glad you're awake. Let me moisten your lips Babe." She used some kind of q-tip to put water on his lips. In the dark the double vision wasn't as much of a problem. He closed his eyes anyway.
"I feel like hell. What happened?" Gibbs whispered to her. He reached up and touched her face letting his fingertips trace her soft brows, strong cheekbones and her jaw. "I'm sorry Honey…" His voice trailed off. He dropped his hand. A light flashed off the diamonds in his wedding ring. The blue white flashing reminded him of something… but it was gone again.
"I am just grateful your alive Love." She kissed him gently again. "I'll be right here. You just sleep."
"What happened Babe? I need to know." Jethro closed his fingers over her slender wrist. He had sudden flashes of memory. Pictures of her face smiling up at him during their life together. All different instances both public and private. She was his rock, his reality. She had changed his world, given him back hope.
"Jethro is this important right now? You've been through an awful lot." Lainy could just see his features in the light from the hallway. He nodded slightly. Too much movement brought the vertigo back full force. Lainy sighed.
"Alright. Well you saved the lives of your coffee barista and 2 customers."
She stroked his fingers while she held them.
"Fred? I saved Fred?" Gibbs struggled to remember.
The last thing he could remember clearly was sitting at his desk and deciding to go home to Lainy. Hearing her sweet voice on the phone telling him how much she loved him and to drive safely and "Not too fast!" And her wonderful giggle followed.
"I wanted to see you, be with you… it's been such a long case. I needed you. Time with you." His voice was a low and hoarse whisper. From the vomiting and the tube his throat was raw. His fingers tightened over hers. He tried to make his mind move forward from that point. It wouldn't. He lifted his head slightly then leaned back, brows drawn as he frowned. There was nothing until he opened his eyes in the emergency room so briefly. "There's nothing. I can't remember…"
"It's not important Love. You'll remember when it's time. It's not important now." Lainy bent over him and kissed his lips gently.
A shadow moved over them, Jethro started violently and threw his arm up instinctively to move Lainy aside protectively. The violent movement started an explosion of pain in his skull and more retching.
The nurse moved to turn the light down toward him which brought a cry of pain from Gibbs as it sliced through his head and he thrashed in the bed.
"Morphine 15mg IV push now!" Dr Ann Miller said. The nurse rushed out to get the medicine. The MD reached up and turned the light off and went to the corner and turned on another for indirect light.
"Mrs. Gibbs. I'm Dr Miller. Your husband has a skull fracture but no serious internal hemorrhage of the brain. The irritation of swelling in the brain tissue is causing his symptoms. Other than that he's a very lucky man. A tiny fraction of an inch and we wouldn't all be here together."
All the while she spoke the RN was giving Gibbs the morphine. Only as Jethro's face relaxed did Lainy look up at doctor's face.
"I want him to have the next dose of Zosyn now." She told the RN who nodded and left. "We're going to treat Agent Gibbs as a head injury. Low stimulation, meaning lights, TV. Even sound as much as possible." She nodded and left. Lainy was numb as she watched over her husband.
Lainy held Jethro's hand which was clenched around hers. It gradually relaxed as the Morphine took effect. He moaned softly. The fist around his head began to relax.
"Lainy…"
"I'm here, I'm here always Love." Lainy had tears rolling down her face.
Jethro slid into the pain free oblivion of the friendly darkness.
36 hours later
Jethro was awake and looking out the door to his ICU cubicle expectantly. Tony DiNozzo walked through the doorway and turned to look behind him when he saw Gibbs intent stare past him.
"Hi Boss!" Tony smiled and walked over to the bed. Gibbs lifted his head to look into Tony's face.
"Did you see Lainy on your way up?" He hoarsely whispered. His azure eyes were intense.
"No Boss. Should I have?" Tony's eyes moved back to the door. "Do you want me to look for her?"
" Yes, no. Damn it I don't know!" Gibbs closed his eyes and turned his head away slowly. "I can't phone her."
He didn't want Tony to know he couldn't remember the number.
"I'll dial her Boss." Tony took his cell out. He quickly punched in Lainy's preset number.
There was no answer. Tony then dialed the number directly. Still no answer.
Gibbs lay with eyes closed but he was listening Tony knew.
"I'm gonna try your house Boss." Tony did just that. No answer. Gibbs turned back and looked at Tony.
Just then Lainy walked in the room. Well Thank God Tony thought.
"I didn't know where you were." Gibbs said as Lainy put down the duffel she was carrying and moved to his arms. They kissed, she gently stroked his cheek.
"I slipped out while you were still sleeping to get us some breakfast and some clothes. I thought you'd appreciate something besides powdered eggs and a hospital gown. I went to the nearest diner to Georgetown. Should still be warm." Lainy smiled at Tony.
"Your phone didn't ring. Tony tried it." Jethro looked up at her brows drawn. He was anxious without knowing why.
"You tried it Love?" Lainy said frowning. She reached into her purse and saw she didn't have the phone on. "I forgot to turn it on when I left. I'm sorry Babe. It won't happen again."
"I couldn't remember your number Lainy. The memory stuff it's bad with numbers. All of them." He sounded worried. He forgot Tony was standing there as he concentrated to try to clear his thoughts before speaking.
"Well then we'll write them all down for you Honey. I picked up the steno pad Dr. Miller recommended." Lainy pulled the tray table over to Jethro's bed and slowly raised the head until he gestured her to stop. He couldn't go higher without dizziness. She lowered it just a little. "Better?" She kissed his forehead.
"Yeah. Whad'ya get?" He gave her a little smile and opened his eyes.
"Your usual diner breakfast Babe. Over easy with turkey bacon and home fries. Wheat toast and melon." Lainy smiled.
"That is far from my 'usual' Lainy." He smiled at her. "But I'm willing to try it. I feel so empty inside."
"That's 'cause you are Lover." Lainy sat beside him on the edge of the bed.
"Turkey bacon?" Tony went into shock. "Turkey bacon… Who eats turkey bacon?"
"We do." Lainy said with a smile. She cut Gibbs bacon and eggs when she saw he was looking at the food with one eye shut. "And fruit, salad, chicken, vegetables. All edible and well seasoned. I am a very good cook!" Jethro nodded.
"Well that really is scary. Gibbs on health food." Tony shook his head with a sad expression on his face. "My world just went off center."
"Shall I go head slap him for you Dear?" Lainy said over a mouthful of toast.
"Nah, waste of effort… He was good enough to try to call you for me." Gibbs dipped his toast in the yolk and sampled it. Then he reached for the coffee.
"Tony why are you here?" Gibbs murmured after swallowing. He settled back into the pillows. Waiting to see where the toast would go.
"I thought I'd come instead of Fornell. The two guys you shot have records with the Feebs." Tony's face was now expressionless. "I'm supposed to help you remember."