Thanks for the reviews for the first chapter, guys, I really appreciate it :) Here's chapter 2. :)
Miss-Margaret-4077



Chapter 2:

Later on that day…

Tony ran, fast. There wasn't much time and he had to get out quickly. He saw the time on the detonator, it read 45 seconds, so that didn't exactly leave him a large amount time to wander on out. He was also worried about Gibbs, McGee and Ziva, they'd been separated after they'd chassed their suspect through the maze of containers which filled the warehouse they'd been in. He just hoped each of them could find a way out. He really didn't want to have to tell Ducky he had three bodies for him. Gibbs would most likely come back and haunt him anyway…he shuddered at the thought of Gibbs haunting him for eternity.

Then it happened. The bomb detonated, creating a lot of noise and a lot of mess. The warehouse had been practically obliterated from it. Tony prayed Ziva, Gibbs and McGee weren't inside when it happened. Tony quickly ran back to try and find his colleagues, still thinking of the thought of Gibbs haunting him. He shuddered again and picked up his pace.

"Boss! Probie! Ziva!" he called, hoping to get some sort of response. No such luck. "Damn it! They have to be alive." He continued on his search. Soon enough he heard someone call his name, it was McGee. They were alive, or at least McGee was.

"Probie! You're okay, where are Gibbs and Ziva are they okay?"

McGee was puffing when he reached Tony, "Gibbs is, Ziva's hurt pretty bad, she's conscious though, we gotta get an ambulance here." McGee explained. Tony responded by dialling 911 and getting that ambulance here pronto.

------

Back at the hospital…

Tony saw one of the doctors who had taken Ziva away and asked, "How is she? Is she okay?"

"We took some scans and they indicate that Officer David has done some severe damage to her optic nerve. We are not sure at this stage if it is permanent, only time will tell." The doctor explained.

"But she's okay, right?"

"Her other injuries were fairly minor, she was lucky to escape alive."

"You didn't answer my question."

"She's stable for now."

Tony figured that was as good an answer as he was going to get, so he asked the doctor if he could go and see Ziva. The doctor said he could, but he'd have to make it quick, Ziva needed rest. Tony chose to ignore the being quick part and went over to Ziva's room. "Ziva? You awake?"

"Tony. Yes I am. Where are you, I cannot see you I can only hear you."

"I'm next to you, the doctor said you'd done some damage to your optic nerve, no wonder you can't see."

"Very funny Tony. You don't know what it's like though, not being able to see."

"I imagine it would be frightening."

"It is. And frustrating. I am constantly in the hands of others, something which I am not used to, as I have always had to look after myself. I always rely on my eyes, in everything I do, how am I supposed to live without them?"

"You don't know you'll have to Ziva, the docs said it may not be permanent." Tony said, trying to reassure her.

"They said they don't know if it's permanent, Tony. There's a difference."

"It's going to be okay, Ziva."

"How do you know, Tony. You're not the one lying here blind."

"I know I'm not, Ziva, but you can't just see the negative side to it all."

"There's a positive?" She asked.

"Ziva, there is always a positive, you just have to find it."

------

After trying his best to comfort Ziva, Tony updated Gibbs on the situation. Gibbs, of course, was as pleased as one could be in a situation like this, which meant, not very. More like not at all. He was worried for Ziva, not that he'd admit it to anyone.

Gibbs sat in his dark basement, on his boat, he wondered what it was like for Ziva to be blind, to not know what was around you and have no control over it. He imagined it would be very frightening. He knew himself how frustrated he got when he needed to use glasses to see something he otherwise couldn't, he could only imagine how it was for poor Ziva who had no glasses to put on, so to speak.

In the past hour he'd received about twenty calls from Abby wondering how Ziva was, about ten from Tony telling him how Ziva was and about the same from Ducky asking the same thing as Abby. Jenny hadn't called though, he thought that was odd, even though he didn't really want to speak to her at the moment. But if she were to come in right now, he'd speak to her.

As if she'd sensed Gibbs's state, Jenny appeared walking down the stairs, almost tripping over because of the lack of light. "Jethro? Are you here?"

"Yeah, Jen, over here." He replied.

"Why is it so dark?"

"It's always dark in here Jen."

"Darker than usual, Jethro."

"Just trying to understand what Ziva must be feeling now."

"Have you seen her?"

"Not yet. DiNozzo is with her though and I'm sure Abby is too, she's called me about 20 times in the last hour."

Jenny made her way to the workbench and located the light and switched it on. She then walked over to Gibbs. "Jethro, she'll be okay. I promise."

"How can you promise, Jen, you have no control over it, neither does Ziva." Gibbs replied.

"You can't think like that Jethro. She's a tough woman, she'll pull through, even without eyesight, Ziva is a remarkable person and a remarkable survivor."

"I hope you're right, Jen."

"I am, Jethro, trust me on this one." She replied.

"There's that word again."

"Jethro, I'm sorry I said those things earlier."

"Don't be sorry Jen, you were just doing your job. It probably saved DiNozzo's life."

"Maybe so Jethro, but he was still there at the explosion. He still could have been killed."

"But he wasn't, Jen. Even though he was too stubborn he came to the warehouse, that was his choice, not yours."

"I know, Jethro. How is Ziva anyway?"

"She's as well as one can be after being forced to spend an afternoon in a small room with DiNozzo." Gibbs said.

"I see, I'd better go and visit her, I'm sure she'd welcome someone else other than Tony to talk to."

"Good luck getting passed Abby."

"That's a chance I'll take, Jethro. I'll see you later, goodnight. Try and get some sleep, you do look exhausted."

"Nice try, Jen."

"Didn't hurt to try." Jenny started walking up the stairs leaving her friend.

Tbc... Please leave a review, thanks :-)