Kate had just finished in the bathroom and was heading downstairs when she heard something odd coming from the basement. She stopped and waited for a curse or something but it was silent. She continued towards the door.
"Gibbs?" she called out. She heard what she thought was a groan. She made it to the landing and looked down and saw Gibbs on the floor.
"Jesus" she gasped as she ran down the stairs and over to him.
"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked as she kneeled down next to him. Gibbs groaned again as he tried to speak. He was sweaty and seemed to be short of breath.
"My. Chest" he managed as a hand went to his chest over his heart. Kate's own heart sank as she realised what was going on.
"Hold on okay. I will call an ambulance" she got up and saw Gibbs' phone on the bench, grabbed it and punched in 911. Within seconds she was connected. She went back to Gibbs, who was stubbornly trying to sit up. She kneeled back down behind him and forced him to lie down in her lap. He closed his eyes and wished the pain to stop. He was not one to show pain, especially not to his Katie, but this was too much. Even getting shot didn't hurt this much.
Kate had finally gotten off the phone and looked at Gibbs.
"They are on their way okay. Just try to breath" she told him. He finally opened his eyes and looked up at her. He finally let out a breath and took in another big deep breath but groaned as more pin radiated through his chest. She leaned down and kissed his forehead.
"Don't you dare leave me Jethro" she said softly. He closed his eyes again, reached up and grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She heard a knock on the door upstairs and then a few people calling out.
"Down here" she yelled hoping that they could hear her. She heard their footsteps get closer and finally saw two EMTs with bags hurry down the stairs and over to them. They got to work straight away. Asking her questions she didn't know the answers to. She felt so helpless.
As the EMT's worked she stayed put talking to Gibbs, making sure he knew she was still there. In her mind it was giving him a reason to hold on. She watched on as they put in IV's, connected him to the ECG monitor, took his blood pressure, put him on oxygen and then exchanged a look between each other, of which she didn't like.
Soon enough there was another two EMT's that ran down the stairs.
"Stretcher ready when you guys are ready to move" one of them told the other two. They nodded and got ready to move Gibbs up the stairs to the stretcher. In what seemed like a rush, they had gotten Gibbs up the stairs, onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.
"Wait, I'm coming with you" she ran back inside, grabbed her ugg boots from the front door, Gibbs' jacket , her phone and house keys before running out to the ambulance and getting in. They let her sit next to him and hold his hand.
"Don't you dare go anywhere Jethro" she told him and kissed his hand.
Kate paced the almost empty waiting room. She had made one call to Ducky, which was hard enough, so he promised to call the others. She was chewing on her thumb nail, as she kept walking around the very plain and bright room. She didn't hear the doors open up or her friend say her name. She only stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see Ducky standing there. That was all it took. Her strong exterior finally crumbling as she let her emotions go. Ducky wrapped his arms around her.
"He will be okay Caitlin" he told her softly. He steered her over to the row of plastic chairs and held her sit down. He dug out a wad of tissues from his pocket and handed them to her.
"I'm sorry" she said softly as she took them and blew her nose.
"Don't be. Under the circumstances" he gave her a small smile.
"Have you heard anything?" he asked once she had gained her composer. She shook her head.
"All they said was it was a heart attack. They had to take him for tests" she explained as she looked at him. Ducky nodded and patted her hand.
"You know he is a fighter. He will get through this" Ducky told her. She gave a small smile and nodded.
"I can't lose him Ducky" she said as fresh tears filled her eyes. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, she rested her head on his shoulder.
The doors to the waiting room opened up and Tony ran in, spotting the two he let out a sigh and walked over to them.
"He hasn't, has he?" he asked them, a little breathless. Kate sat up and shook her head. She saw the relief on his face. She stood up to give him a hug and thanked him for coming.
"McGee is on his way to pick up Abby, then heading over" he told her and she nodded. She pulled back to say something but was interrupted when the doors to the ER opened and a doctor came out.
"Here for Mr Gibbs?" he asked. Kate rushed over to him.
"Is he okay? What's going on?" she asked quickly. The doctor looked at her and then the men standing behind her. He finally nodded and focused on Kate again.
"Mr Gibbs has a significant blockage in one of his arteries. They have taken him straight up to theatre where they will clear the blockage as much as they can. They may need to place a stent to keep the artery open, but they won't know more until they open him up" he explained. Kate nodded and felt two hands on her shoulders.
"Okay and how long will that take?" she asked. She saw the doctor look at all three of them and shake his head.
"They won't know until they get in there and assess" was all he said.
"I will be back when we know more" he gave a nod and goes back into the ER. Kate stared at the door s for a moment, fully taking in what he had just told her. She turned to face Ducky and Tony.
"It's good news right? They know what is wrong and can fix it" she said with a small smile. Ducky nodded.
"He has the very best care" he told her and they went back to sit down and wait.
The waiting room was quiet. Kate sat next to Tony, her sleeping form curled up into his side as best she could on the uncomfortable seat. Abby had down the same next to McGee a few seats over. Ducky had just come back after getting his third coffee.
"Anything?" he asked quietly. Tony shook his head.
"How long has it been?" McGee asked. Ducky looked at his watch.
"Just over four hours" he sighed. He took a sip of his fresh coffee. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. It wasn't long after when the doors to the ER opened and a different doctor wearing scrubs came out. Tony heard him first and nudged Kate awake. She sat up with a start and jumped up and went over to the doctor.
"Is he okay? Is he out?" she asked quickly. The doctor smiled at her and nodded.
"The operation was a success. He is in recovery now and doing well. It was only a partial blockage which we put in a stent to keep it open so it doesn't occur again" he explained. At the news Kate let out a big sigh of relief as new tears filled her eyes.
"Can, can I see him?" she asked. The doctor looked at her and then at the rest of them.
"You're the girlfriend right?" he asked and Kate nodded.
"Yes, but only one visitor at a time at the moment" he explained. She turned to look at the others.
"Kate go. Tell him we love him" Abby said with a smile. Kate nodded and followed the doctor to the ICU where Gibbs was being monitored very closely. As they approached his room, a nurse was exiting. She saw the doctor and gave him a small smile.
"All his obs are stable" she told him before heading to the next room. Kate stepped into the room and stopped at the end of the bed to look at him. There was a heart monitor beeping with every beat of his nearly fixed heart, there was nasal prongs suppling him oxygen and she could see an IV line suppling him fluids and what she could only guess as antibiotics. She finally moved over to his bed, pulled over the one chair close to his bed and sat down. She took his IV free hand in her own and kissed his fingers. She watched the rise and fall of his chest, which seemed to calm her.
Kate had no idea how long she had been there or how long she had been asleep. She woke up, her head had been resting on the bed next to his leg. As she sat up, she felt the kink in her neck. She still had her f hand in his. it was like no time had elapsed at all. She could see the first rays of the sun through his window, the only indicator that a new day was finally here. She glanced at the monitor which was still beeping.
"You don't need to watch that to know I'm alive" came his voice. Although it was very weak, it was still his voice. Kate looked over at him and saw his blue eyes staring at her.
"Hey" she said softly, not really knowing what else to say. He smiled softly.
"Hey" he replied. Without another word her lips were on his. She tried to be as mindful as she could of his chest.
"Don't ever do that to me again" she told him when she pulled back and looked at him. He gave her a nod.
"Will do my best" he replied. He reached up and cupped her face. He could tell she hadn't slept properly, or at all since the whole incident.
"I love you" she told him as tears once again filled her eyes. He smiled and looked at the jacket she was wearing.
"Katie, look in the left breast pocket" he told her. She gave him a quizzical look, but she did it anyway. She stood up and put her hand in the left breast pocket and felt the small velvet box instantly. She looked at him, eyes wide as she pulled it out. He held her eyes, as he shifted slightly in the bed, showing her no pain. She finally looked at the box and without a word opened it. There was a beautiful, single diamond ring sitting inside. She gasped as more tears ran down her face and she looked back up at Gibbs.
"What do you say?" he asked as she still hadn't said anything.
"Yes. Yes of course" she finally said. She leaned down and kissed him again. She pulled back to look at him and he had a smile on his face.
"I was going to ask you. Soon. But this happened" he smiled as she sat back down. He took the box from her, took the ring out and slipped it on her finger.
"Perfect fit" she said in a small voice. He ran his fingers over her hand.
"You make a woman wait five years for a ring and it takes you to have a heart attack to ask" she says with a small laugh. He gave a small shrug.
"At least we'll remember it" this made them both laugh until Gibbs gave into the pain with a soft groan.
"That's enough I think. I will go let the others know you're okay. You get some more rest" she said standing up and kissing him one more time.
Kate was in the kitchen making lunch when Gibbs came back in, closing the door behind him and heading straight for the kitchen. She smiled at his sweaty form as he came up to her and kissed her cheek before wrapping his arms around her waist.
"What smells good?" he asked as he then continued to kiss her neck.
"Salmon" she said with a grin. He groaned and rested his head on her shoulder.
"Just once cant it be steak?" he asked like a little boy. She turned around in his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned.
"Doctors orders. Nothing fatty or high in sugar, lots of vegetables and fruit" she told him, but all she got was an eye roll.
"May I remind you that six weeks ago you were in hospital close to-" he cut her off by kissing her. He pulled back and looked at her. She smiled up at him as her hands played with the hair that was on the back of her neck. They looked into each other's eyes without saying a word. He pressed his body up against hers more, pushing her against the kitchen bench. He leaned down and kissed her deeply, with no mistake of what his intentions were. She could feel his hardness against her thigh and she pulled back. He rests his forehead against hers, disappoint clearly on his face. She looks up at him.
"Jethro, it's too soon" she said softly. He shook his head as his hands moved to her hips.
"I just went for a 2 mile run. I'm fine" he told her as he leaned in and kissed her neck, just where she likes it. She closed her eyes as she felt her body weaken under his touch. She had been craving him for weeks, but was too scared in case it caused another heart attack. His hands slipped inside her pants and squeezed her arse, causing a soft moan to escape her lips. She finally gave in, turning to kiss him deeply, giving him permission to continue. He lifted her up onto the kitchen bench and pulls her pants down.
"Don't you dare break on me Jethro" she breaths as she pulls back. He grins.
"Never" he captures her lips again as he pushes himself inside of her finally, earning a moan from both of them. It had been the longest six weeks of their lives.