Chapter 2
Tony took Tim straight to the ER to get checked out. Because Tim wasn't dying or bleeding, they had to wait for nearly an hour to be seen. Then, Tony helped him back to an exam room.
"So, what's the problem?"
"I fell off a moving truck and landed on my feet," Tim said, wincing as the doctor started moving his leg around. "For about two seconds."
The doctor chuckled.
"And now, you're wishing you hadn't."
"Yeah. I did something to my knee."
"Your knee, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
The doctor felt the knee and he shook his head.
"Okay. Well, I think you'll need an MRI to confirm."
"Confirm what?" Tim asked.
"It feels like you've torn something. We'll do an x ray, too, just to rule out any breaks. You might have to wait until tomorrow for the MRI."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Normally, insurance doesn't like to pay for MRIs until you've given the knee a chance to heal for a few weeks, but what I'm feeling, I don't think there's any need to do that. I'll make sure that the recommendation is in the billing so that they don't give you any grief about it."
"Thanks. What do I do for now?" Tim asked.
"For now, I'll give you a brace, some crutches and you should ice it. Try to reduce the inflammation because it's definitely swollen. How's the pain?"
"It hurts, but it's not terrible."
"Okay. Then, you should be able to make do with over-the-counter painkillers, Advil, Aleve, those kind. Anti-inflammatories will help. If it doesn't, then, you could get a prescription for the stronger stuff from your regular doctor."
"Okay," Tim said, hating the idea that he'd have to wait, but he could see that there wasn't really an option.
"Let me see what the schedule is like for the MRI. Hang tight."
The doctor left and Tim leaned back and groaned.
"Probably no broken bones," Tony said, bracingly.
"Yeah, something torn, though," Tim said, "and I can't do anything until after I get an MRI and can't do anything about the results right away, either. So I'm stuck with this for however long..."
"But even if it's a torn something, that can be fixed," Tony said. "It happens to athletes all the time and they recover just fine."
"It would have taken a second to think and realize that this wasn't a good idea. Why did I do something so stupid?" Tim said, feeling anew how dumb his decision had been. All this could have been avoided if he'd just thought about it before jumping.
"It wasn't that stupid, Tim. There's no reason to think that you're worse than anyone else about it. Dumb things happen."
Tim just sighed, wishing he could go back and take back his decision.
A nurse came in with a brace and crutches. She helped him down to x ray and they confirmed no breaks pretty quickly. He got an appointment to get an MRI in two days, and then, he was sent home.
"Man, this sucks," he said as Tony drove him home.
"Yeah. Hey, are you sure you want to stay at your place, tonight?"
"Yeah," Tim said. "I don't want the stairs, but I do want my bed."
Tony chuckled.
"Fine. Then, I'll help you get up. Do you have ice?"
"Yeah. I have some ice packs somewhere in my place that I can put in the freezer, but I have just regular old ice, too."
Tony helped Tim get up the stairs and into his apartment. Then, he hung around long enough to make sure that Tim had easy access to anything he might need.
"You all right?"
"No," Tim said, and then sighed, "but I'm set for the night. Thanks, Tony."
"No problem. And stop worrying about it, McGee. We got Benson. That's what we were out there for, and if something didn't go quite right, at least we got the biggest thing we needed."
"Yeah, I know."
"Do you need anything else?"
"No."
"You sure?"
"Positive," Tim said. He forced a smile. "I just need to sleep, Tony. Go away and let me sleep."
Tony chuckled. "Fine. Be that way. Good night, McGee."
"Good night."
Tim watched as Tony left, turning out the overhead light as he did so. Tim had the remote and a lamp on by the bed. There was water and his knee was propped up with some ice on it, wrapped in a towel.
He was as good as he could expect to be right now.
"And that sucks," Tim said aloud. He sighed and lay back, staring at the ceiling, feeling the slight throbbing in his knee. "Why didn't I just think?"
Eventually, he fell asleep.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tony went back to work the next day. Obviously, Tim didn't. He gave Gibbs the report and had to face Gibbs' disappointed grimace. Over and over, Tony had to remind himself that they had been successful. It just had been in spite of some lack of forethought. But they got Benson. He was in custody and that mattered.
When he had a few seconds, he decided to give Tim a call, just to make sure he was still okay.
He was surprised when the phone rang and went to voicemail.
"This is Tim McGee. Please leave a message."
"Hey, Tim. What gives? Are you miraculously cured and didn't bother to tell me? It's Tony. Give me a call back when you get this message. Otherwise, I might have to start feeling worried and you don't want that, now do you."
Then, he had to get back to work, but his mind kept going back to what could have kept Tim from answering his phone. What if he had fallen or something like that? He was almost ready to ask Gibbs for permission to go and check on Tim when his phone rang.
"DiNozzo," he said.
"Hey, Tony. Sorry. My phone was too far away and I just didn't feel like trying to get to it."
"Too far away? It was right by you. I know because I put it there myself," Tony said, far more relieved than he would ever admit to hear Tim's voice.
"I felt so dirty from yesterday that I decided to take a bath, but it was hard getting in and even harder getting out. When I heard my phone, I thought about trying to answer it, but I decided to stay where I was. I'm just back in bed now."
"No worries about making me worry?" Tony asked, smiling.
Tim laughed. "No, actually. That didn't even cross my mind. I'm much more worried about myself."
Tony chucked. "Well, at least, you're admitting it."
"I am the one with the messed up knee, not you."
"Yes, but now, I have to work with Gibbs without anyone else to take the heat."
"I'll trade you."
"You say that now, but..."
"But nothing. I'd trade in a minute."
"I'll keep that in mind. You okay for lunch?"
"Yeah. Not very hungry, really, but I can get to my kitchen long enough to make a sandwich or something. Don't worry about it."
"Okay, but I'll bring something over for dinner."
"You don't have to, Tony. I'm fine, but I could use a ride to the MRI tomorrow, if you don't mind."
"I can do that."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Bye."
"Bye."
Tony hung up and then noticed Gibbs had returned and was raising a questioning eyebrow at him.
"He's fine," Tony said. "He needs a ride to get his MRI tomorrow, though."
"That's fine," Gibbs said.
"Thanks."
Then, it was back to work again, but Tony was still determined to make Tim's convalescence as easy as possible. For one thing, it was kind of his fault. The truck hadn't been really stable before, but it had really started to careen on that rough track once he'd shot out two tires. There was no way that Tim could have held on once he'd done that. If he'd realized that Tim was there...
"DiNozzo."
"Yeah, Boss?"
"Benson's gun matches the bullets we pulled from the scene."
"Good. Great. All over to JAG, then?"
Gibbs just nodded and Tony looked quickly at his monitor to cover his thoughts. Like he'd told Tim, they'd got Benson and that was what they had needed to do. It just stank that Tim had been injured in the course of doing that, and not even from a firefight or anything else. Just a bad decision on both their parts.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Tim stayed in bed pretty much all day long. He called his doctor and let him know about the MRI and about what happened. His doctor said that he'd give him some recommendations for a surgeon if it came to that. Tim hated having to think about it, but he thanked his doctor and made arrangements to see him later.
As the day wore on, he watched more TV than he usually did in a week, and he slept a lot. As he had told Tony, he wasn't very hungry, but he did keep himself hydrated. The only problem with that was the subsequent need to get up and go to the bathroom. After his second trip, he found himself wishing for the return of the use of bedpans. It wasn't that moving around was incredibly painful or impossible. It was that he felt so unstable and this was bringing back the unpleasant memories of his car accident.
By the evening, he was testing how much he could bend his knee without pain (not much). At least, he'd know what to expect sooner rather than later. He'd hate having to deal with this long term.
He heard a knock on the door, and he was relieved at something to break up the monotony of his day. Tim was definitely ready for a visitor. He got up and hobbled to open the door and then peeked through the peephole. He saw Tony peering back at him, as he often did.
"You still alive in there, McGee?" he called.
Tim smiled and shook his head as he awkwardly maneuvered his crutches around so that he could open the door.
"I'm moving pretty slowly, Tony," he said. "Gotta give me more time to get around."
Tony grinned. "How's your day been?"
"Long and boring, interspersed with occasional trips to the bathroom," Tim said, grumpily.
"Hungry?"
"Not really, but I could eat."
"Good. Let me inside and have a seat."
Tim backed up and hobbled over to a stool and sat down. Tony put a bag on the counter.
"How do you feel about Chinese?"
"Since that's obviously what you brought, that's fine."
"Are you saying you don't want it?" Tony asked.
"Did I say that?"
"I'm waiting for you to be more enthusiastic, Probie."
Tim rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. Tony just laughed.
"Great answer, Probie."
"Thanks," Tim said.
Tony opened the bag and set out a number of boxes. They divided up the contents and ate in relative silence.
"Gibbs has given me official permission to give you a ride to your MRI, tomorrow."
"Thanks," Tim said, more sincerely. "I really could have just taken a taxi if it was a problem."
"Sure, you could have. But why do that when I can get out of work and you can get a free ride? It's not like you have extremely deep pockets."
"They're deep enough for a taxi ride, Tony," Tim said.
"Are you saying you don't want a ride?"
"No, I'm not. I'm just saying that I can handle it if I need to."
"I don't think you can't."
Tim took a deep breath and nodded.
"Are you still mad at yourself?" Tony asked.
"Why would you say that?" Tim asked, staring at the empty boxes on the counter.
"Because you're acting like you're still irritated. Since I'm pretty sure you're not mad at me for offering you a ride or bringing you dinner, then, it's got to be something else."
"And that's the only option?"
Tony chuckled. "No, but I'm right, aren't I."
Tim just shrugged.
"My knee is starting to throb again. I'm going to go back to bed. Thanks for dinner, Tony."
Tony's expression became concerned, and Tim resigned himself to having Tony start probing. Tony didn't like it when things weren't exactly how he thought they should be. He wanted everything to be right as he defined right.
"Hey, Tim. What's wrong?"
Uh-oh. Tony had moved to first name usage. That meant he was worried. Tim wanted to ask Tony just to drop it because it was silly, but he didn't.
"Besides my knee?" Tim asked.
He grabbed his crutches and started back to his bed where he could prop his knee up and get the circulation going.
Tony followed him.
"Yeah, besides that."
"Nothing, Tony. I just hate not being able to get around, my knee feeling all wrong, and hurting. Isn't that enough?"
"Not if it's not everything."
Tim got into his bedroom and sat down on the bed, letting the crutches fall to the floor.
"Tony, I'm just tired and bored and irritated and I'm in a bad mood."
"Well, do you want some company to break up the boredom?"
Tim gave it some real thought. Then, he shook his head.
"No. I think I'll just go to bed early. I don't want to sit up and do anything right now."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."
"All right. Ten, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. See you then."
"Yeah. Thanks, Tony."
"You're welcome."
Tony left and Tim lay down with his leg propped up and an icepack wrapped around it. He was glad for the visit and for the food, but he still hated the whole situation.
It was just a stupid moment that had long-lasting consequences.
He turned on the TV and eventually fell asleep while watching a marathon of Bonanza on some Western channel.
