Gibbs sat in the ICU waiting room, where he had been told Tony would be after surgery. That had been almost four hours ago, and there was still no word of what was happening. Gibbs had requested that Tony be put under Brad's care, and thankfully, that had been arranged with ease.

"Gibbs?"

Looking up, Gibbs saw a very tired looking Brad and a very scared looking Abby in front of him. It was Abby that had spoken.

"Tell me you have good news," Gibbs said to Brad.

"Not yet. Tony's still in surgery. Both his legs are broken, he has multiple deep lacerations covering his body, and he has internal injuries. He's not going to be out for at least another few hours."

"Why? Why Tony?" The question was rhetorical.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. I wish I could give you answers, I really do."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know. Until he wakes up, there's not much I can do."

"You said he has internal injuries. Are his lungs affected?"

"Luckily, no. We had to remove his appendix because it was damaged, and we had to remove a section of his right kidney. We stitched up his left kidney and put in a couple of plates to support a few of his ribs. That's just the beginning. We've got a neurosurgeon operating on part of Tony's skull to repair the broken bone and he's definitely got some swelling beneath that."

"Will that heal?"

"In time, yes. But there's no telling how much permanent damage there might be."

"When he wakes up, is he going to remember anything that happened?"

"He might. Until then, I can't give you an answer."

Gibbs sighed. He nodded, thanked Brad, then watched as the doctor left.

"Gibbs," said Abby. She sounded like she was trying to not cry.

Gibbs held an arm out and Abby sat next to him. He wrapped the arm around her, feeling very much like crying himself.

Bishop and McGee were sitting in Autopsy with Ducky and Palmer when Gibbs called. He had already told them he was on the way to the hospital with Tony, but he hadn't told them anything else. Metro PD had sent Tony's car to the garage, and Abby had instructed her helpers in there to leave Tony's car untouched until she returned. They had no other evidence to work with, so they had joined Ducky for a cup of tea.

"Jethro, how's Anthony?" Ducky asked.

"Still in surgery, Duck. Abby's with me. Where are the others?"

"With me. What do you need us to do?"

"Nothing. Just work on cold cases for now Tim. Ellie, help with the cases, but I need you to first speak with Vance about calling Tony's father."

"Of course," said Bishop. "We'll get right on it. Let us know what happens with Tony, and we'll come down there in a little while."

"Thank you both. You too Palmer."

"Me? Why?" asked Palmer.

"Because I don't thank you enough. I really should thank all of you more."

"Jethro, we all understand that you are grateful, even if you don't say it. Look after Anthony, and let us know how he is." Ducky ended the call before Gibbs could say anything else.

Gibbs had been sitting with Abby for five hours now. It was six pm, and Tony still wasn't out of surgery yet, which was getting far too worrying for Gibbs, since he had thought that the doctors would be done by now. Just how much damage had Tony sustained in that crash? And how had he managed to stay awake for so long? It was all just too confusing and strange.

"Gibbs? Is Tony out yet?" Abby asked, finally waking from a restless sleep.

"No. I'm hoping Brad will be here soon with news." Gibbs pulled Abby closer and kissed her head.

"I'm scared."

"Me too, Abbs, me too."

Brad finally pushed Tony's bed into his room in the intensive care unit. It had been a long eight hours in the operating room, and Tony had just spent an hour in recovery. He still wasn't awake. Brad was afraid that Tony's injuries were too severe for him to recover from, though he truly hoped he was wrong about that. He didn't want to have to give any worse news to Gibbs. He wanted to tell Gibbs that Tony was conscious and healing well.

With a soft sigh, Brad left Tony to rest and headed over to the waiting room.

Brad entered the waiting room and saw Gibbs cuddling Abby. He went over and sat in a chair across from them.

"Is Tony out of surgery yet?" Gibbs asked as Abby sat up.

"Yes. He's in his room now, but he's unconscious still. I'm not sure if he's going to wake up at all."

"He has to wake up," whimpered Abby as she struggled to stop herself from crying. "Tony has to wake up. He's my best friend."

Brad nodded. "I know he's your best friend, Abby, but Tony is severely injured. There is every possibility that he won't recover. And if he does wake up, there's the chance that he could have permanent damage that we cannot fix."

"I want to see him."

"I'll let you both in for ten minutes, but that's all. You can come back tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," Gibbs said as he took Abby's hand and followed Brad to Tony's room.