Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, or the characters, and probably never will.
AN: I have no medical knowledge, just way too much time to search the internet.
I've had the start of this one tucked away for a while, so I figured I might as well post it, and see if you like it.
Enjoy!
Gibbs steps out of the elevator, and walks towards Abby's lab. As usual her music is at a deafening level. Unable to see Abby, Gibbs strides into the office, and turns the music way down, he waits, expecting to hear Abby call out in protest, but there's no sign of her. Walking back into the lab Gibbs calls out. "Abby?" He shakes the caf-pow bribe in his hand, hoping to draw her attention, wherever she is. After waiting a moment, and not getting a response he begins to worry slightly, he hurriedly rushes around the lab, looking for her, finally rounding the corner so that the computer station comes into view, his glance drifts down to the ground. The caf-pow falls to the floor, and he immediately sinks onto his knees. Abby is lying on the floor, seizing violently, vomit running from her mouth. "Abby!"
Tony, McGee, and Ziva are walking towards the lab when they hear Gibbs' panicked scream, drawing their weapons they run into the room, after a moment they see Gibbs leaning over Abby's prone form.
Upon seeing her McGee runs from the room, his hand over his mouth. Tony goes to her side, kneels down, and attempts to help. Ziva stands frozen to the spot that first allowed her a view of Abby's flailing body.
"Boss, what's wrong with her?!" Tony questions, panicked to see his friend convulsing on the floor.
"David, call an ambulance! DiNozzo, go get Ducky." Gibbs barks, becoming frantic as he watches Abby seizing violently on the floor of her lab.
Ziva pulls out her cell, while Tony sprints towards the elevator.
Gibbs wraps his arms around Abby, desperately trying to stop her from further hurting herself as she convulses. "It is gonna be okay Abby... The ambulance is going to be here any minute... Just hang on...please." He says to her, not able to keep his emotions in check.
Ziva closes her cell. "They'll be here in five." She reports to Gibbs, still unable to bring herself to go to her friend's side.
A couple of minutes later Tony rushes back in, Ducky following close behind. By this point the seizure has ended, but Abby is still lying on the floor, unconscious. "Oh dear lord, Abigail." Ducky cannot hide his shock when he sees her. By the time Tony got downstairs he was barely calm enough to tell him to get his medical supplies and come with him, let alone say why. "What happened here Jethro?" He questions his old friend.
"I came in, found her here, she was having a seizure or something, it stopped a minute ago."
Ducky kneels down at Abby's side to examine her. He places his weathered hand on her neck, feeling for her pulse, he's relieved when he feels a strong steady beat against his fingers. He rubs his knuckles up and down her sternum, gently at first, expecting her to recoil from the painful touch, when she doesn't respond he pushes down harder, she rolls away from his touch slightly. "Abigail, come on wake up." Ducky says to her, continuing to use the painful stimulus to wake her. "You know this reminds me of-"
"Don't start one of your damn stories now Duck. What is wrong with her?!"
Ducky looks up at Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva, who have moved out of the way. "Do any of you know her medical history? Does she have epilepsy, diabetes, any of those sorts of things?" They all respond no, as far as they have ever seen she is in prefect health, except for today. The elderly doctor continues to tend to Abby until the paramedics arrive; he stands up, and gives them space to work.
One of the paramedics looks up at the team, while her partner starts an IV in Abby's arm, and places an oxygen mask over her face. The paramedic begins to barrage them with questions. "What's her name? How long did the seizure last? Does she have any medical conditions or allergies we need to know about?"
Ziva steps forward as her coworkers seem to be incapable of answering. "Her name is Abby, Abigail Scuito. She was lying there when we walked in, from that moment the seizure lasted two minutes and eighteen seconds. Until today I thought she was perfectly healthy." Ziva answers quickly, using her training to avoid being overcome by emotions.
The paramedics gently move Abby onto a gurney, place a blanket over her, and fasten the straps across her stomach and legs, preventing her from falling. "Is one of you going to ride with her?"
"Duck, you go. We'll meet you there." Gibbs instructs, he then turns to Ziva and Tony. "DiNozzo, go find McGee. David, get the sedan."
When they arrive at the hospital they are all ordered into the waiting room while the doctors try to find the cause of Abby's current state. McGee, Ducky, and Tony are sitting in some awkward plastic chairs, Ziva is pacing the room, looking about ready to strangle the next person who walks into the room without any news for them, and Gibbs has gone in search of a decent coffee.
It has been over three hours by the time a doctor walks into the room, quickly seeking out the group of weary federal agents. "Are you here for Ms Scuito?" Everyone is on their feet quickly, anxious to hear how she's doing.
"What happened to her? Is she alright? We want to see her." Gibbs says to the doctor, uncharacteristically betraying his emotions.
"Ms Scuito is stable at the moment, but we don't know what caused the seizure. The tox report came back clean, and she has no medical history to explain a seizure. I've ordered an EEG, an MRI, and a lumbar puncture, hopefully those will shed some light on the problem."
"You thought she had taken drugs?!" Gibbs asks incredulously.
"Standard procedure, besides in case none of you have noticed she's a Goth, it doesn't seem unlikely..."
"You might want to stop there before..." Tony points at Gibbs "...he shoots you..., and..." He points to Ziva "...she's a trained assassin; I don't even want to think what she'll do. Abby doesn't even drink...unless you a massive amount of caffeine."
"My apologies." The doctor backpedals rapidly, clearly worried about getting on the bad sides of these tired, angry, armed federal agents.
"Can we see her now?" Tony asks tiredly.
"I will show up to her room, but first I'll tell you what to expect." The doctor pauses for a moment. "She is in what we call a post-ictal state, it means that she is very drowsy and may suffer some memory loss and confusion..." He sees the worried looks cross their faces "...try not to worry about that, it will only last a few hours, and we also have her on a number of monitors, an oxygen mask, and IV fluids. I'll have one of the nurses show you to her room."
By the time Abby fully regains consciousness almost two hours later, Gibbs is the only other person in the room. He sent everyone else to find something to eat a while ago.
When he sees that her eyes are open Gibbs quickly stands up, and moves closer to her. "Hey Abs, how are you feeling?"
After a moment Abby manages to look up at Gibbs. "Bo...Boss." Her voice comes out harsh and broken. "What... Where?"
"You're in Bethesda Hospital... You had a seizure, the doctors are running tests."
Abby realizes that she is connected to several monitors, and IVs; and that her head and back are aching mercilessly. "Back hurts... Head too..."
"They did some test to check for...meningitis. Said it might make you a bit sore for a day or so."
"Shoulda told you." Abby says wearily, running her fingers through her hair.
Gibbs looks at her, confusion clearly showing in his expression. "What?"
"I've got a brain tumour Boss."
So, what do you think? Worth continuing, or not?
Thanks for reading!
BTW: The title is the name of the band that Abby tried to get everyone to go see in 'Chimera', it seemed fitting.