OH HI!

Picks up right at the end of the episode 'SWAK'.

"This reminds me of the end of 'Alien'"

The words came out somewhat forced but they performed the task that Tony had intended.

Kate let out a chuckle of air and a contented breath of what seemed to be relief before sinking back into the uncomfortable hospital mattress. The words were like a thin yet warming blanket of reassurance that Tony had set her, it was the best he could do. She had prepared herself for silence upon entering the room but the words had loosened the knot that had been balled in her stomach ever since she'd heard Tony's diagnosis. She was thankful.

Tony guessed he'd been asleep because he was awoken by the whooshing of the automatic doors. He'd been slightly irritated at first; internally cursing whoever had decided to exit or enter the room at that precise moment in time. When all he wanted to do was to stay safe in the dark, peaceful oblivion he had just exited. He was tired, really tired, exhausted. He couldn't remember a time in his life where he had felt this crappy; it was probability because he hadn't. Come to think of it, this was one of the first times he had awoken by something other than a spasmodic bout of coughing that wrenched him from sleep, pulling his body up stiffly off the bed and sending a black fire from his lungs up his neck, singeing his throat. Dramatic, yeah.

He wished himself back to sleep, cherishing the coughing free moment while he had it. He couldn't concentrate properly on the hushed conversation that reached his ears from the other side of the room; he listened as light footsteps approached his bed and stopped before him. He had a visitor and he didn't have to whip out his major detective-ing skills to know it was Kate. She'd been there since the beginning. He was no idiot, he knew she had lied about also contracting the plague; he just didn't have the energy to ponder why just yet. He was grateful, no doubt and he would find the time to thank her, dead-set seriously in the future, but not now. He also knew he would find some way to tease her about it, to lighten up the mood. Something about her not being able to stay away most like. He didn't quite have the energy or concentration to think it up now. Come to think of it; he would probably never have the energy or concentration to rebut the banter that would follow a sincere, thankful presentation if he were to carry it out.

The bed next to him creaked as she lay down, he almost smiled to himself. No matter how much he might deny it in the future, having Kate there saved his life in one way. She had gripped his arm as he coughed and stayed with him for hours, mainly keeping up the facade of normality; she had kept the conversation rolling, the jokes, the teasing until he could not respond anymore. He couldn't really remember her leaving, wait, when had she left? He raked through his fumbled thoughts and came up with an unreliable mental picture, Kate had left crying? His gut was clenched with an odd sort of guilt; he had caused her that worry. He had scared her. He knew he shouldn't feel guilty about something as stupid and scaring a highly trained federal agent when he was on his own death bed, but this was Kate, Kate- the one with the feelings.

He swallowed and winced at the response the simple action had earned from his throat, ravaged raw from the relentless coughing.

"This reminds me of the end of 'Alien'"

Kate lay on her side facing her co-worker as he slept. He had fallen asleep almost instantaneously after speaking to her. His breathing had deepened, but not by much. She winced as she listened to him breathing noisily next to her, but he seemed oblivious. He would take a breath that it seemed he intended to be deep, but it would cut short in his constricted lungs, resulting in a wheezy gasp before he would exhale a forceful raspy choke. Every so often she would freeze on the mattress listening intently as his breathing broke it's unstable pattern, a pause of silence that lasted a few seconds but felt more like hours as Kate lay still, bunching the pillow as she fought the urge to leap from the bed and make sure he was still alive. It always resumed with a choky cough or another noise as he unconsciously cleared his throat.

Nurse Emma would enter the room regularly; Kate would lie silently, feigning sleep as she listened to the Nurse checking on her patient, whispering her actions to the sleeping man as she went about her business. The nasal cannula made a re-appearance later in the night when Kate was woken by hacking coughs. Tony had his chin to his chest and his eyes screwed up in a vain attempt to lever himself into an upright position, a sheen on sweat covered his brow. Kate rose swiftly from her bed and assisted the Nurse, they hauled Tony's almost dead weight into a sitting position and supported him while he coughed, placing an emesis basin in his lap, which when he was done he lent forward and spat a mouthful of bloody sputum into.

"Tony, that's got to be the most disgusting thing I've seen you do since that practical joke you play on McGee last April Fools."

Tony's response was a mere grunt as he crushed his eyes shut and let his head hang low as he sat with the two women still supporting most of his weight. He didn't want to risk another coughing fit by replying. The two helped him gently back into his previous horizontal position before Emma moved to reorganize the oxygen tank. Kate patted Tony's arm.

"You alright?"

"Hold on..." He rasped, eyes only half open from exhaustion, "Give me a couple of minutes to... come up with an... insanely witty come-back."

Emma reappeared and began setting up the equipment, position the cannula on Tony's face in silence. His breathing had become ragged and uneven half an hour before hand and the Nurse had been about to get the equipment when he began coughing. She turned to leave and looked back at Kate who was sitting on the edge of her bed and offered a small smile. Kate glanced at her partner then followed the nurse to the edge of the isolation chamber, fully awake and worried.

"Is he okay?" She spoke in barely a whisper.

Emma's forehead creased. "He's temperature has risen a little at 102, we're monitoring it closely. I've got a PAP machine and mask ready if his breathing doesn't improve soon, he doesn't like it but if it helps him to relax and maybe get some rest. I think it's worth a shot- that is if we can keep it on him. He isn't through with this yet I'm afraid." Kate frowned and stole another worried glance at the man asleep in the bed.

"Kate, the best thing for him right now is that he listens to what we tell him and that he has his friends around him. Now, that isn't going to work properly if you're dead on your feet. Get some rest and relax a little, try not to worry. We've got all the medical stuff covered and everyone's doing their best to help Tony."

"Okay, thank you... I'm sorry, it's all just so - "

"It's fine, get some rest."

The nurse left while Kate made her way back to the bed, taking up her familiar perch at the edge of her mattress, surprised when she looked to see Tony staring blearily back at her. There was a few seconds silence before Kate spoke.

"Thought of a one yet?"

"Hmmmm... Yeah, 'least it wasn't as disgusting as ... your face?"

"Weak."

"Mmmm"

Kate sat watching her co-worker for a few minutes, obsessively monitoring his breathing. She wasn't sure why she felt quite so worried, finding the need to watch him with her own eyes when he was hooked up to an array of world-class monitoring equipment that could do the job a million times better. She loved Tony, but as a big brother, a good friend and she was content with keeping it that way. She knew Tony was too- as much as he may taunt and tease her, it was his game; just a game and they both knew that. It was just seeing him like this, compared to his usual larger-than-life self, it was scary. Scarier yet was his stoic and indifferent manor. He'd continued to keep up the game, the façade, even when he was drowning in his own bloody lungs. She wanted to hit him- slap some sense into him. Maybe eight slaps; one for each of the words 'Shut' 'Up' 'DiNozzo', 'You're' 'Supposed' 'To' 'Be' 'Dying'.

She didn't hit him though; she just lay back as stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night.

That's right, I couldn't stay away. I'm back for experimental time consuming yet slightly addictive Fanfiction story number two. You can count on me for at least one more chapter, this one was kind of really short. Sorry about that.

Love.

Hey lovelies, well thanks and you?