A Doctor's Love

Doing secret undercover work and carrying out his normal NCIS agent duties were taking its toll on Tony. He always liked to come across as a super agent, but the lying and keeping up the DiNardo persona were sneaking up on him. He had woken up feeling rather sick to his stomach and had the occasional coughing fit. With a few hard cases still in the works, he didn't have time to sit back and relax. Finally, he thought he had the chance to rest on the weekend. That was shot to hell when suddenly he found out he would have plans that would keep him from that rest.

Tony put on his happy, cheery face for Jeanne when it came to another date. There was more than him self to think about when it came to how he acted. Tony sighed as he waited for the appetizers to arrive. The all too familiar tickle could be felt in his throat.

"Excuse me Jeanne," he set the cloth napkin down on the table and left quickly.

Jeanne nodded. She could clearly see that something was up with her man. Tony looked a little pale and would often turn quiet. That was not the usual way Tony DiNardo acted, his behavior wasn't right. After all she was a doctor and knew patients didn't always say when they didn't feel well. She hoped that because he was her boyfriend that he would trust her enough to say something about how he felt physically. The food arrived at the table just as Tony came back.

"Tony, are you feeling ok?" Jeanne asked as she dug into her Caesar salad. It seemed to take awhile for her quick thinking boyfriend to think of a response.

"I'm good," Tony smiled as he picked at his food. Frankly, he felt like shit. He didn't even feel well enough to eat. His stomach churned when he swallowed a couple of shrimps. Seafood was something that DiNardo liked to eat. That was one of his quirks. Try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to get through half of the shrimp cocktail.

"Loss of appetite?" Jeanne questioned. The doctor in her was coming out, symptoms already ran through her worried head.

"Trying to diagnose me doc?" Tony chuckled sardonically. Unfortunately it was interrupted by a short coughing fit. "Really, let's just have a nice meal," Tony said. He wasn't sure if he could eat a full meal. But his tab was being picked up by the Director's kitty, so he was going to make the most of it.

"Alright," Jeanne didn't look or seem convinced.

"I am fine, really." Tony managed to stop himself from snapping, but knew she could see how he reigned in his annoyance.

"I didn't say anything wrong. I'm a doctor, but I'm also your girlfriend." Jeanne defended and pointed with a surprised look on her face, "If I didn't care about you I wouldn't ask." She explained, still shocked at the way he answered her. She decided not to press the issue, but would still keep a close eye on him.

"I'm sorry, really, I just had a hard day at work," He apologized and then continued using a charming smile, "Now, can we start over and have a nice evening?"

Jeanne smiled back at him, his charm always grabbed at her heart. "I'd like that."

Tony kept smiling. Well I got out of that one with my finesse; he proudly thought and went on with the meal. Being Tony DiNardo had many perks, one being he could act how he had always wanted to, and, he didn't have to worry about the money he used to sweep the doctor off her feet.

It didn't escape Jeanne's eyes that Tony hadn't eaten a lot of the meal. He seemed to be getting progressively worse as time went on. She watched as he played with the food to make it look as if he had eaten more. While Tony cursed people that had eyes that never missed a thing, he paid the bill with the usual smile on his face. He thought he could fool everybody and keep them at bay to think he wasn't sick.

"Are you really ok, Tony?" Jeanne asked for the umpteenth time. "Perhaps I should take you to the hospital," she observed the signs of his fever, the sweaty forehead and slightly red face as well as his glassy eyes. He could pretend all he wanted, but she knew better, after all she was a doctor.

Tony's mind had been drifting off. The mention of the word hospital snapped him to full alert. He couldn't go there. It didn't matter how bad he felt, he couldn't go to the hospital as Tony DiNardo. There'd be questions, there'd be patient history. His eyes shot wide open. "No, no hospital," the mission, the excitement… It'd be all over.

"Tony," Jeanne said in a commanding tone.

"But, Boss," Tony responded. The words were out before he had a chance to stop them. It was the usual way he talked to Gibbs.

"Boss? I can get used to that," Jeanne responded, with a smile.

Tony gave a wry smile in return. Of course, he had to be careful about what he said. "I bet you could," he laughed, covering up his mistake, "I'm sure it's nothing that a good nights sleep won't cure." he said to reassure her before resting his head back.

He tried to swallow down the acid in his stomach that would be followed by food. Tony shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He could feel the nausea as the contents of his stomach churned. He fought to make everything stay down. Once again, he shifted. "Um," the noise he made sounded like a groan.

"Tony?" Jeanne asked. She didn't wait for a response. Instead she maneuvered the car to the side of the road safely. Tony couldn't get out of the car fast enough. He virtually threw him self out of the car and disappeared into the darkness. She debated whether or not to go and chase after him, but decided against it. Maybe it would be better to give him few minutes of privacy. She could hear Tony coughing and gagging. That was when Jeanne decided it would be better to help him out.

It took a moment for Jeanne to find Tony on his hands and knees. He had vomited up his dinner. Now he coughed so hard he couldn't catch his breath, his face red with sweat that trickled down it.

"Oh my God, Tony," she helped him to his feet. She could see the wet patches on Tony's knees. "That doesn't sound too good," Jeanne said, observantly and caught the wetness of his cough. She with all her training he needed help. The fever at dinner, the wet cough and vomit, he had to go to the hospital, but she knew how stubborn her boyfriend could be.

Tony caught his breath and maintained his balance. He adjusted his jacket, but still he felt cold and sick. Great! I have to play this off. I can't believe my body would betray me like this! Tony thought to himself. "I think that's better… I got it out of my system. I don't think the food agreed with me," he smiled brightly at Jeanne and hoped that she bought his story only he knew she hadn't.

"If I believed that, I'd lose my medical license," Jeanne helped him to the car. She again did a quick assessment and didn't like her thoughts. She noticed now that he had turned pale, his skin was cold and clammy, there was a wheeze in his breathing and she didn't like his respirations. And that was a quick assessment, she thought with concern.

"Get in," she ordered him into the passenger side and took over the driver's side.

Tony nodded as he did up his seatbelt. He didn't say a lot during the car trip until he realized he wasn't going home. "This isn't my neighborhood," Tony observed and pushed the alarm out of his voice. He looked out the window and tried to think of what to do.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," Jeanne told him firmly taken aback by the quick deterioration in his health. She had seen people get worse very quickly, but this was different.

Tony's eyes widened once more. He had tried to think of something so that she wouldn't take him to the hospital, all would be lost if she did and he'd worked to hard on this undercover op.

"No!" Tony gasped. "You can't do that to me," he shouted. "Look, I'll just go home, I'll rest. Just no hospitals," he pleaded with her.

Again his mind raced. The hospital meant failure of his mission, everything would come out. His whole stupid history would come out. The medical personnel. The tests, the needles and the never ending questions. "Come on, it will pass. I think it's just a twenty four hour thing," he tried to plead his case.

"Calm down," she noticed that Tony's respirations became quicker and shallow which could cause many different problems with the way his breathing sounds were. "I guess I can take you to my place," Jeanne offered an alternative solution, at least there she could watch him.

Tony smiled in relief. All he had to do was improve overnight and that'd be it. Problem solved. Plus there was an added bonus of having your own doctor. He turned and smiled at her again. "Thank you," he mouthed.

Jeanne Benoit Residence

Before Tony even had the chance to complain or say anything, he was stripped down and helped into his boxers. Normally, he'd come up with a witty comment, but nothing popped into his head at the moment. Thankfully he had some spare clothes at Jeanne's place that he could wear tomorrow.

Jeanne held back the covers to the bed and waited for her patient to climb in. She came back in the room with a glass of water. "I have to get my equipment," Jeanne told him. "Now, can I trust you to stay in bed until I get back?" She asked seriously.

"There's a Forever Knight marathon on and I was…" Tony looked to see that Jeanne was impatiently tapping her foot. "Alright Doc," Tony said cheerfully as he gave a mock salute. "I'll stay right here," he assured her. Jeanne put another pillow under his head.

"Good," she kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

Tony sighed. He really knew how to dig him self into holes. Too bad he never learned how to get him self out of it. Things could go to hell in a hand basket if he didn't get the situation under control. Get better, get better, get better was the mantra running through his mind. His mind raced further as he knew what would come next when she came in with her bag. She would listen to his lungs and hear what he didn't want her to. She'd then take his pulse and BP and the number of breaths per minute, which would all come up not good for him. He knew the drill, but he needed to stay here. Again, he started his mantra and thought how am I going to get out of this one? He fought for an answer.