Chapter 2
One week ago...
"Guys, I'm fine. I'm ready to leave. Really. The doctor said so!" Tim said.
They all looked so worried, still. He didn't blame them, really. He felt the same way. It had been a scare and then when the doctor had given him the good news yesterday, it was almost like a reprieve, a commuting of a death sentence. A routine visit to his doctor because of unexplained abdominal pain had turned into a series of tests and scans, culminating in the diagnosis of a tumor in his abdomen. His doctor had been sure that it would be benign, but they wouldn't know for sure until they tested it. Then, the test of the tumoral mass had shown that it was benign. After all that waiting and worrying and fretting, anyone would be anxious about what else could go wrong. More than worried. Tim could admit (now that it was over) that he'd been terrified.
"What are you going to do?" Abby asked. She had a look on her face of forced calm. She wasn't going to break down now that she knew he was okay. "...until you come back to work?"
"Party," Tim said with a genuine smile.
"Really?" Tony asked, grinning mischievously.
"You're not invited, Tony," Tim said.
"Ah, come on! After we've spent all this time hovering over your death bed, this is the thanks we get?"
"You'll be working."
"What kind of a party is that?"
"A much quieter one if you are not there," Ziva said and kissed Tim on the cheek. "I am glad that it has all gone so well. These last few weeks have been...frightening."
Tim nodded in agreement.
"I'd be lying if I said that I wanted to go through it again, but don't worry. I'll be back to form in no time. I can even start running again soon...well...walking and stuff."
Tim's doctor came in right then, interrupting the conversation before they could start poking fun at him.
"You ready to leave, Mr. McGee?"
"Absolutely."
"Any lingering pain?"
"Not with the painkillers I've got. I'm a little sore, but I feel all right."
"Good. Now, here's the part where I give my spiel. You need to take it easy for the next few days. Give yourself at least a week before you go back to work. Even then, light duty only. Be careful and don't over exert yourself. You've been through a lot of stress in the last month, both physically and emotionally; so you need to take time to heal."
"I will," Tim said. "I've already arranged with my boss to come back on desk duty."
"Good. I'm glad that things turned out as well as they did, Mr. McGee. Once a growth has been found, the best news is that it's not cancerous. Now, remember that you have follow-up tests to make sure that nothing was missed."
Tim nodded. After the doctor gave him clearance to leave, Tim happpily got into the wheelchair and let Tony, Ziva and Abby bicker about who would have the honor of wheeling him out of the hospital. (Abby won.)
As they reached the outside, they all paused for a moment before Tim got up.
"So...what are you going to do while we're working, Tim? Seriously." Abby asked.
Tim smiled. It wasn't a secret, not really, but he wasn't sure how they'd take it. He wouldn't go so far as to claim that he had a bucket list, but there were things he'd been wanting to do, things he'd been putting off saying that he'd get to them some other time...and they were mostly around the DC area. No big deal to get to them.
"Come on, Probie! Give!" Tony wheedled. "We're your ride home, after all..."
Tim laughed, feeling more and more normal as time went on...and as Tony started treating him normally.
"It's nothing big. I'm going to drive down to Shenandoah this weekend and drive through the park. I've never seen it in winter, and I've heard that it's beautiful."
"No hiking, Tim," Abby said, seriously.
"I'm not going to hike, just drive...maybe even stop at some of the overlooks...take a few pictures."
"That's a really long drive," Tony said. "It'll take you forever."
"I'm not going to drive it all, just from one entrance to another. Just a little day trip to pass the time. I'm going to rest during the week and then drive down there on Saturday."
"And you're going to leave us behind, huh?" Tony asked.
"Well, Tony, I know that staring at scenery is your favorite form of entertainment...but mostly, it's because you guys are working this weekend."
"And you wish to see it alone, yes?" Ziva asked.
"Yeah, kinda."
Tim stood up carefully and started to walk to Tony's car, but Abby hugged him, surprisingly gently.
"Call me when you go and come back, Tim," she said.
"Abby, I'm not in danger of dying anymore. I'm fine. You don't need to check up on me."
"Yes, I do! You could have died, Tim! It could have been really bad!"
"But it wasn't. It's okay."
Abby didn't let him go. There was no reasoning with her when she got like this. He met Tony and Ziva's gazes. They were both trying to hold back laughter. He rolled his eyes.
"...but if you really want me to, I will," he said finally.
"Thank you, Tim," Abby said, releasing him. "I'll be waiting for it."
"Okay. Now, I'm ready to go home."
"Off we go," Tony said, gesturing grandly.
There was still a bit of worry in all their expressions.
"I'm not taking any risks, guys. I'm going to do it right. Just a little day trip and I'll be back by the evening."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Present...
Tim didn't make it very far on the road before he had to stop and rest. He was tired and sore...and cold. His sprained ankle made forward progress very difficult...and he was shaking from the cold. It was getting worse as time went on. The snow was falling much more thickly than it had been. The wind was getting stronger. That was very not good.
Try as he might, he couldn't remember where he was or why he was here or what had happened to put him in this position. As he rested, Tim tried to remember his recent past. He remembered his tumor and the terror he had felt at finding out it was there, not knowing if it was going to kill him or could just be removed. It was something that one didn't tend to forget in a hurry.
"Am I dying?" he wondered aloud...and suddenly, another thought struck him. What if he had been trying to kill himself? What if he had been trying to commit suicide only he'd bungled the job? Maybe the tumor wasn't benign like his doctor had thought. Maybe they'd discovered that it had spread. Maybe it was inoperable and Tim had come out here to die.
"Would I really do that, though?" he asked himself. He didn't think he would, but...maybe...in the right (or wrong) circumstances. If he was going to die anyway, and hadn't he considered just letting himself go back to sleep when he had regained consciousness before?
...and that led to another question. If it was the case that he'd come out here to kill himself, should he bother trying to stay alive? He probably had a good reason for it if that had been his intention. ...but had it been? That was the question. Tim knew that they had been worrying and that surgery was coming up. Had the surgery happened? That was something he could check, at least.
In spite of the cold and the wind, he unbuttoned his coat and lifted up his shirt, exposing his abdomen to the winter air. He looked at it, and even in the dark, he could see the bandaged area. So he'd had surgery...but he didn't remember that. How much time had he lost? That was a question he couldn't answer. Another one. He rebuttoned his coat and hunched his shoulders to hide his face, trying to protect himself against the chill.
"I've had surgery and I'm not in agony..from that at least. So some time has passed. How much?"
A violent shudder passed through his body. It was really getting cold. Would anyone realize he was gone? He wouldn't be back at work yet, would he? ...but Abby had been hanging on him a lot since they'd found the tumor. Maybe she'd call and worry about him not answering. He could only hope...and he realized that he'd already assumed he'd try to live. That was something, at least. So he forced himself to his feet, tried to ignore the shaking that just would not stop, and started limping down the road.
It seemed that he was in the middle of nowhere. No cars on the road and more and more snow making it very difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. He could be twenty feet from salvation and he wouldn't know it. He actually went off the road for a while so that he could lurch from tree to tree, using them both for support and for protection. At each tree, he paused and breathed heavily. The slightest exertion tired him out. Was that from his injury or from his surgery? He didn't know. The area where the bandage was had started aching all on its own. That must mean he was taking pain relievers...which were now wearing off. At least, he hoped that was what it was and not that he'd done something else to himself.
As he made his slow, painful way along, one thought clawed at his brain. ...well, two questions, really. Where was he and why?
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
One day ago...
Wayne Dallas crept slowly toward the driveway. A car was sitting there, running. The owner had started it and then gone back inside. Perfect. Letting it warm up. ...for him. Wayne had already cursed his stupidity in planning and staging his escape in the middle of winter. He couldn't hide out as effectively in these colder temperatures. But a beat-up, old car was perfect. He looked around and saw no one about.
He started walking down the sidewalk with an air of nonchalance. No reason to notice him. The coat he'd swiped helped him blend in and kept him warm. He drew level with the car and then dashed over, opened the driver's-side door, jumped in and drove away. He'd work his way north on the less-traveled roads. He still had some friends in New York. They'd get him securely hidden.
He also had enemies. He'd take care of them as well. Wayne suddenly chuckled to himself. They did say that revenge was a dish best served cold.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Present...
"Wow. It's really coming down out there," Tony said...with a degree of hope in his voice.
Gibbs didn't react. At all. Tony sighed. It was getting late and they hadn't be released. A few measly typos. He could never figure out why Gibbs was such a stickler about how many words they spelled wrong in their reports. With all the times he'd stepped over the line, how could he care about whether or not Tony had spelled the victim's name correctly?
"Do not say that in Abby's hearing," Ziva said, not looking up from her computer. "She has not stopped worrying about McGee since he told her that much of Shenandoah has no cell phone service."
Tony grinned. Tim might as well be dropping down in the Middle East in the midst of a firefight with how worried she was. At least today she'd been kept busy.
"...and there is still no sign of Wayne Dallas, the man who was convicted of murdering undercover narcotics detective Carlos Vasquez three years ago. The exact method of his escape is not known. If you see him, please consider him extremely dangerous. Do not approach or confront him. Just call police."
Tony glanced at the TV.
"Dallas sure picked a bad time to escape," he said. "The biggest storm of the year."
"You know, Tony, if you would stop being so distracting, we could both be done," Ziva said.
Gibbs looked up and glared at them both silently. Tony grinned back...but then, returned to his work. They all wanted to get home.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Twelve hours ago...
Tim got off the phone with Abby after solemnly promising her that he would call the instant he got back home. He was actually excited. Driving through Shenandoah wasn't a big thing...but wasn't it really the little things that enriched one's life?
So he was off to do some enriching.
It was going to be a great day.
