Gibbs didn't sleep that night. He hadn't moved from Tony's side since he arrived at Bethesda, and had been there when Tony had woken in a coughing fit twice throughout the night. He had managed to finally get Kate calmed down enough that she slept and was now getting changed to go home, but his attention was still on his agent. Tony was currently sleeping, a relief that everyone shared. He had enough to worry about without being sleep deprived.

"Gibbs?"

Pulled from his thoughts by the weakened voice that whispered his name, Gibbs looked up from the magazine he had been staring at and smiled.

"Hey, Tony. Want some water?" Gibbs grabbed the cup, not waiting for an answer. He had been told already by Brad that Tony needed to keep drinking water if he wanted to ever get better. While the bug that had done all of the damage was dead, the aftermath was even worse.

Tony gratefully accepted his boss' help in sitting up and greedily drank down the water Gibbs had poured for him. His body was dehydrated, and until he started to heal properly, he would stay that way. The IV in his hand helped, but it was still hard.

"Take it easy, Tony," Gibbs gently reminded him. "There's plenty of water here. Just drink it slowly."

Tony shook as he reached for the cup after Gibbs had refilled it. He knew that he was in absolutely no condition to do anything for himself right then.

"Thank... you..."

Gibbs smiled. "Don't thank me. You need to save your energy at the moment." Gibbs laid Tony back onto the bed, making sure the pillows were soft behind his head. "Rest, Tony."

"No more... sleep?"

"If you don't want to sleep, that's fine. I'll turn the TV on for you."

Tony smiled when Gibbs flicked over to a movie channel that was playing The Godfather. He watched the movie for roughly thirty minutes before falling asleep again. Gibbs smiled sadly as he watched Tony snoring softly. He was worried.

At lunch, Tony woke up to find that he was no longer in the isolation ward. Confused, Tony looked around for Gibbs. He didn't find his boss, but Kate was reading a book in the corner of the room.

"Kate?" Tony called as best as he could.

Kate looked up with a smile. She closed her book, put it on the seat, and headed over.

"How are you feeling?" Kate asked softly as she grabbed the water cup off the bedside table.

"Tired. Are you still okay?" Tony took the water cup and drank it slowly, finishing the cup and asking for more in roughly a minute.

"I'm okay. My cold is disappearing too." Kate handed the second cup of water over, glad that Tony was at least drinking properly. "Do you need anything?" she asked when he handed the cup back.

"Where am I?"

"Brad moved you up to the second floor about an hour ago. He said he'll check on you in a little while, but if you need him, we can call him now."

"I'm alright. Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry."

"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything."

"Got sick... almost made you sick too." Tony yawned.

"Don't worry. Just rest, Tony. I'll be here if you need anything." Kate adjusted Tony's blankets and returned to her seat as soon as Tony had fallen asleep.

Gibbs entered Tony's room just after dinner to find Kate and Tony watching a program on the TV. It must have been funny, because they were both laughing. Tony sounded like he was having a good time, and the coughing was only minimal, so Gibbs waited until the commercial came on to go over.

"Hey, you two. What's so funny?" he asked.

"Tony forced me into watching something called Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's pretty funny, actually," said Kate as she finally managed to stop giggling.

"You must be feeling better then, Tony?"

"A little. It's nice to have company." Tony turned to Kate. "Do you want to watch the rest?"

"No. I should get going before I start laughing again. Maybe you can get Gibbs to crack a smile though?"

"Watch it, Todd." But Gibbs was smiling as he swapped places with Kate.

Tony had fallen asleep during a re-run of Magnum PI, so Gibbs had switched off the TV and picked up a magazine. It was the same one he had read earlier that day, but it didn't matter. He just wanted something to focus on while Tony rested.

"Gibbs?"

Gibbs looked up when he heard his name, but was surprised to find that Tony was still asleep. He didn't seem to be peaceful anymore, either. Gibbs could see his lips moving, heard him mumbling something.

"Gibbs..."

Gibbs watched Tony wake up, but it was quickly clear that he was not okay. He had gone pale, which was frightening, since he had not yet regained his normal skin colour. He seemed to be shaking, and the only warning Gibbs got about him feeling sick was when Tony actually threw up all over himself and the bed. Gibbs was up in a flash, pressing the call button and putting a small tub under Tony's face while he continued to be sick.

"What happened?" asked a nurse as the door swung open.

"He woke up feeling sick, I guess. There was no warning," said Gibbs as he carefully rubbed his agent's back.

The nurse nodded. She left the room, coming back with a second nurse and a syringe. Tony still hadn't stopped vomiting, and, since there was nothing but water in his stomach, it was causing him pain.

"I'm going to give him some medication called Maxolon. It will help to stop the vomiting and the feeling of nausea," said the nurse as she unwrapped the syringe and injected the medication through Tony's IV. She instructed the second nurse to monitor Tony carefully for the next five minutes. "I'll be right back with a clean gown and linen. We'll get Tony cleaned up and resting, then I'll call Doctor Pitt to come and check on him."

"Thank you," said Gibbs as he continued to rub soothing circles into Tony's back. He watched Tony carefully himself, glad when he felt Tony relax and saw him start taking deeper breaths.