Gibbs paced up and down the hospital corridors. The pale green tiled floors echoed under his feet. The white walls were supposed to make the corridors wider but to Gibbs it just felt like they were enclosing on him. He could smell the strong scent of antiseptic which brought tears to his eyes. It shouldn't have been her, not his Kate. Gibbs looked at his watch, it had been 20 minutes, the doctor should have been done by now, he wanted to go in and sit with her again. He couldn't bear the thought of his Kate waking up with no one she knew beside her. It was all his fault, she wasn't even supposed to be working it was her day off he shouldn't have told her to come in. To the people surrounding him he probably looked like a guilty boss trying to ease his own pain and find the answers he desperately needed. The truth was he did feel guilty but for entirely different reasons than one might expect. He almost felt guilty for hiring her in the first place, if she didn't work for him, with him, this would never have happened. He quickly disregarded this thought though, ever since she had been working at NCIS he had begun to smile more. She was good at her job, had an inquisitive mind, and was good at putting even the most puzzling cases together. However Special Agent Caitlin Todd was more than that, she was the heart of the team the one person who glued them together at their lowest possible moments. The fact was that widow and 3 time divorcee Jethro Gibbs was in love with her, and the only thing he had to be guilty of was never telling her the truth, of pushing her away before she got to close because he didn't want her to be the next Shannon. The stupid thing, the really stupid thing was that it had happened anyway, all the time he spent pushing her away didn't change a thing. He had sent McGee back to headquarters an hour ago, surely he should have found something out by know.
Gibbs resumed his pacing. Up and down, up and down, up and down. The noise was almost therapeutic, almost. He decided to sit down before he began to annoy the people surrounding him as much as he was annoying himself. It was times like these he began to question everything in his life. Although this made him feel selfish, Kate needed all his attention at a time like this. Perhaps if he talked about things other than work he would know who to phone in times like these. Doctor Clay walked out of Kate's room, and made his way over to Gibbs. He walked with the sort of quick precision that all doctors had, Gibbs often found himself wondering if they taught doctors how to walk, and how to have illegible handwriting at college.
"Caitlin is still unconscious at present; you can go sit in with her now. Trying reciting stories that you may have shared, sometimes a familiar voice can do wonders. Although Mr. Gibbs I do have to prepare you for the worst possible scenario, there is a chance that she will not wake up. The surgery was successful as far as we can tell but we will know more in the next few hours. Her chances could considerably increase if she makes it through the night, but she does have a big fight on her hands." The doctor said placing a comforting hand on Gibbs' shoulder.
"Thank you doctor" he replied with a small smile. Tony had gathered the evidence and taken it to Abby's lab a couple of hours ago, maybe she had found something out already. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled the lab.
"Hey Abs, have you found anything yet?" he inquired.
"Well I have analysed the shell casings that Tony brought me, looks to me like they came from a .338 Lapua Magnum, our perpetrator could be an ex military sniper I think he intended the bullets to skim Kate and not hit her directly, you only have a gun like this if you know what your doing. I have requested a list of whom these guns were issued to in the U.S army. Now because I know the type of gun I have been able to limit the search area to within a maximum of 1,600 metres. That's all I have at the moment Gibbs. Sorry."
"No Abby, you've done great, let McGee know your findings, tell him to limit the search area, look for anywhere surrounding our position that couldn't be seen. Anywhere our perp could have hidden. Let me know if you find anything else okay?" he said, he knew Abby wanted to ask about Kate, he also knew she would be worried, but they had to do their jobs if they could find out who tried to shoot Kate then she would be safer.
"Of course Gibbs. How's our girl doing?" Abby almost whispered, she knew what she wanted to hear, but what she needed was the truth and she knew Gibbs would be the on person who wouldn't sugar coat anything.
"She's still unconscious Abs, The doctor doesn't think she'll make it through the night, but Kate will prove them wrong. She's one of us, a fighter Abby she'll prove them all wrong. Just you wait and see" he whispered, tears springing into his eyes.
"Yeah your right. I was wondering if I could leave early to come down and see her. I'll bring the files with me, I can keep working, I'd just prefer to see her myself if that's okay." She asked, Gibbs could hear her try and control her emotions.
"Of course Abby, I'll see you here later" he said as he disconnected the phone.
He made his way over to Kate's room. The door shut behind him with a soft click. He pulled up one of the small plastic chairs, the kind that looked like they were made for kindergarten children, or perhaps it was because the hospital really didn't like people visiting sick relatives and the chairs caused so many back problems that they would leave, or perhaps it's the back problems that paid the nurses wages. He shuffled closer to her bedside and that was the first time he got a good look at her. Her eyes were closed and her milky skin was paler than usual. If it wasn't for the wires everywhere she would look like she was sleeping peacefully, like an angel in one of those Disney films he often watched with Kelly. At present he decided he should probably think of some comforting words in case she could actually hear him. He was never one to be lost for words but when it counted he never really knew what to say.