A/N:This story is a sequel to my Abby/Gibbs story Driftwood, but it mostly stands alone. All you need to know is this is AU past season 3. Abby had a baby, married Gibbs, and Tim was hurt saving her life from her ex Mikel Mawher. (Summarized in case the prologue doesn't make it clear enough)

Prologue

Ziva David closed the book and leaned back in her chair. "You and I are going to have a serious discussion when you wake up," she told the sleeping figure on the bed.

Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of LJ Tibbs by Thom E. Gemcity. She shook her head in amazement, unable to stop an exasperated smile from creeping across her face.

"You might be injured, but this book." She waved it in the air for emphasis. "You have some explaining to do. I do not care if you are hurt."

It had been exactly twenty-one days since Mikel Mawher almost killed Timothy McGee.

Exactly three weeks that he had been lying in a bed in the ICU at Bethesda General Hospital hooked up to monitors and machines, tubes and IV lines running out of him.

Ziva had been present for each one of those days, from the beginning when she had sat in the waiting room praying desperately that he would not die, to this day, a Tuesday, when she stopped by after work to sit by his bed.

Ziva leaned forward and carefully took Tim's right hand in hers. There was a small bandage on the top where the nurses had taken out the IV port from that hand a few days before when the vein had collapsed. He had three similar wounds on his right arm, dark red puncture marks with purple-ish bruises the size of a dime around them.

Those were the smallest of his injuries.

Tim had succeeded in keeping Mikel Mawher from hurting Abby that night, but it had been at great cost to himself. During the ensuing struggle outside Gibbs' house, Tim had sustained the injuries that led him here.

The bullet wound was nothing more than a graze to his shoulder. According to the eyewitnesses, he had been shot before the accident. One neighbor reported seeing Tim bleeding profusely when he got behind the wheel of the car.

As best as anyone could make out, Tim had gotten into his car to chase Mawher after he tried to abduct a very pregnant Abby. Both cars were less than 100 feet away when Mawher decided his best chance at getting away would be to ram Tim's car. What it actually ended up doing was causing a horrible accident that left Mawher dead and Tom severely wounded.

In the car accident, Tim had sustained massive trauma to both his left leg and his torso. He wasn't breathing when the paramedics arrived at the hospital due to several broken ribs, one of which had punctured his right lung. He had been wheeled into surgery almost immediately after being stabilized.

There was damage to his spleen, pancreas, lower intestine, and, of course, his lungs. His gallbladder had ruptured and been removed. It was only after his internal injuries had been dealt with that they turned to his leg.

Ziva did not remember all of the medical jargon the doctor had used when explaining to her, but she did remember that there were several screws and plates now holding Tim's left femur together.

All this was in addition to several small to medium sized cuts that had to be stitched shut and many bruises.

At first, the doctor had kept him sedated, wanting to keep him as still as possible for several days while his wounds began to heal. He would be in a great deal of pain, the doctor explained, so keeping him sedated was the kindest option as well.

Thirteen days after the accident, the doctor began weaning Tim slowly off of the medication that had been keeping him in a medical coma. Eight days after that, Tim had still not woken up.

Ziva came to visit him each day. Her vigil had begun out of guilt. Abby had asked her to look after Tim after she married Gibbs. Ziva had been the one who told Abby to call Tim when she found out her crazy ex-boyfriend was coming after her again.

Logically, she knew there was nothing she could have done differently. She and Gibbs had been at the Navy Yard that night and Tim was much closer. Mikel had been getting more and more unstable for months. If Tim hadn't shown up, who knows what he would have done to Abby.

But it wasn't just guilt that was keeping her there. Tim had been a good friend to her during the time they had known each other. He was a good man.

He shouldn't be alone.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Ziva looked up to find Tony leaning against the doorway to Tim's room. He was still wearing the same clothes he had been at the Navy Yard, so obviously he had come straight from work as well.

Ziva sat and waited for Tony to explain his presence. It had been a long day at work, a rough case that left an unpleasant taste in one's mouth. She did not have the energy for any more verbal sparring with Tony and he knew perfectly well she came to the hospital each night to see Tim.

Tony walked into the room and stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at the pale man lying there. "I keep hoping the next time I come here he'll be sitting up and talking," he admitted.

She wouldn't say it out loud, but that was her wish as well.

"The Doc think he's getting any closer to waking up?" Tony probed.

Ziva lifted her eyes to meet Tony's. "They still do not know."

Tony frowned. "There's nothing else they can do?"

"It takes time." Ziva felt one of Tim's fingers flex slightly and she felt her heart beat a fraction faster. "He is getting closer each day. The day nurse told me he opened his eyes today, and sometimes he squeezes my hand."

"I guess it really isn't like the movies, huh?" Tony tilted his head. "In the movies, they just open their eyes and start talking."

"Apparently not," Ziva murmured. She let go of Tim's hand and leaned back in her chair.

Ziva had received quite the crash course in comas during the past three weeks. At first, she had been so alert to every tiny movement or reflex Tim's body made. Her hopes had been dashed when she came to understand that there were so many things in between "coma" and "awake".

Two days ago he had said Abby's name out loud for the first time. The doctors thought it unlikely he would remember the actual accident, few patients ever did, but apparently his mind remembered enough to know that Abby had been in danger.

Not surprising considering how much time they had all spent with Abby during those last few months after she and Gibbs returned from Mexico.

But still when he said her name, Ziva had squeezed his hand and reassured Tim that Abby was all right, that Abby's baby was all right, that he had saved them.

That was all that really mattered, right?

A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy the sequel to Driftwood. Most of this story was written for Nanowrimo 2013 but it needs more work than Driftwood did. Also, I'm working on finishing up an original novel to be self-published, so I may not be able to work on this as much. But I will do my best to update as often as I can.

Let me know what you think!