"Dinozzo, will you sit down already?" asked Gibbs after he had watched Tony pace the length of the emergency waiting room for over an hour. "They'll come and get us when they're done."
"How can I sit down and wait?" he asked, looking at Gibbs and feeling helpless. When they had brought in a battered and bruised Ziva to the nearest hospital near the docks at Norfolk, she had been teetering on the precipice of life and death. "My partner is in a hospital, and I can't be with her." All of a sudden, he felt a big WHACK on the back of his head.
"Steady Tony. The doctors know what they are doing, and Ziva is not going to get any better right now with you being a nervous wreck." With that said, they both sat down. McGee came back in with, balancing coffee cups between his hands.
"Any word yet?" he asked.
"Nothing. We should have heard something by now," said Tony as he slowly sipped his coffee.
"How is she?" asked a gruff voice.
"Nothing yet Leon," said Gibbs as he took the director aside and filled him in on what had happened.
"Agents Gibbs and Dinozzo?" asked the doctor from the doorway. All four men stepped forward, but only Gibbs and Tony were taken aside. "I'm Dr. Morris, I'm going to be Ziva's primary physician while she's a patient here."
"How is she?" asked Tony.
"She's okay for now. We've stopped the bleeding and we're still bringing her out of shock, so it's still touch and go at this point."
"What do you mean?" asked a now worried Tony.
"It's her back that we're mainly concerned with. A lot of the lacerations were deep, and from the information Bethesda sent over to us, she's had this type of injury before. The skin on her back is very sensitive, and any other injuries to it will result in scarring. We were also concerned about infection, so we've given Ziva a tetanus shot, and we have her on antibiotics to bring her back up to speed, and to prevent infection."
"What if an infection sets in? What will you have to do?" asked Gibbs.
"We're going to be keeping an eye on the lacerations as a whole. Even though they've been stitched and glued back together, they might become inflamed. If that does happen, we will have to cut away the inflamed and infected skin. I do have to warn you though, she will be in a lot of pain for a while, both now and if we have to do this procedure. But I'm confident that we don't have to."
"You said you're still bringing her out of shock?" asked Tony.
"We are, and it is a lengthy process. We're replenishing her fluids as we go, replacing what blood she lost. What was important was that you wrapped her in a blanket when you found her, or else she would have suffered hypothermia. But at least it was cold enough to slow her blood loss, or she would need a transfusion right now."
"Ziva and I were in a car wreck a few days ago, and the vehicle hit on her side. Her right shoulder was banged up quite a bit. When we found her, she had her arms pulled tightly over her head," said Tony as he showed the doctor the position with his own arms. "Did that cause more damage to her shoulder?"
"We took x-rays of both arms, but until Ziva is more coherent, we won't know the exact extent of those injuries. But we have immobilized her right arm for now, just in case. Also, we discovered several bruised and a couple of cracked ribs that I assume resulted from the fight. We're going to watch that very closely for the next twelve hours or so."
"Is that it?" asked Gibbs.
"Other than the rope burns on her wrists and facial bruises, that's about it. Oh, we did find one other injury. "
"What was it?" asked Tony
"We discovered some type of markings on her neck. We took photos for your case report," said the doctor as he showed them, including McGee and Vance the photos.
"Looks like she was trying to be strangled at one point," noted McGee. "Same chain by the looks of it."
"The marks have bruised a bit, and will fade away on their own. That's why we have her on oxygen."
"When can we see her?" asked Tony.
"In a little bit. She tried to put up a bit of a fight while we were examining her, so we had to sedate her. It'll keep her out for a few hours at best."
"That's Ziva alright. Always the fighter that one," remarked Gibbs.
"We are going to keep her in ICU overnight to make sure she stabilizes. We'll know more by morning."
"I'm staying with her," announced Tony.
"Agent Dinozzo, I'm afraid," started the doctor, but was cut off by Tony.
"I don't care what your policy says. I'm her partner. I went to the worst place on this planet to bring her back. She's the last member of her family. We're all that she has left. I've been through thick and thin with her, and I know that once she wakes up, she's going to go all ninja on you and the hospital staff, just like she tried to do earlier. She's also a Federal Agent, and unless you want my director, who is here by the way, to get in your face like I'm doing right now, you'd better let me be in that room with her."
"I'll allow only you, Agent Dinozzo, to be in the room with her," agreed a defeated Dr. Morris. "Unfortunately, I do have to insist that the rest of you head home and come back tomorrow."
"Thank-you doctor, but we're staying. Just like Agent Dinozzo said, we're all that Ziva has left," argued Gibbs.
"Fair enough," said the doctor. Shaking hands with all four gentlemen, he led Tony out of the waiting room.
"I'll let you know if anything else happens," said Tony as he left. With Gibbs' nod, he left.
"I'm going to head up the hill, but I'll be back tomorrow. Keep me posted Gibbs," said Vance as he left as well.
"Keep the others informed," acknowledged Gibbs as he and McGee sat down again. This time, the wait would be even longer.
"I do have to warn you, Agent Dinozzo, this will be a bit of a shock," announced the doctor as they stepped into Ziva's hospital room. And Tony was not just shocked, he was terrified. As he sat down next to her, his back to the window and the lights dimmed, he could make out not only her natural features, but the extent of her injuries as well: her right arm in a sling with an IV attached and both wrists wrapped in gauze, her face covered in cuts and bruises, her long straight hair splayed across the pillows, and a nasal cannula to help her breathe.
"How long will she have to be here?" asked Tony.
"We're hoping she'll be out of ICU sometime tomorrow, and on her way home a couple of days after that. It all depends on how much pain she's in."
"She does have a high pain tolerance, so she'll probably be fighting by tomorrow for sure," he said as he picked up her hand to hold in his.
"If there's anything you need, or if she starts to come to, call the nurse."
"Doc, sorry about giving you a hard time earlier. She's… she's my everything. Just don't tell Gibbs that last part."
"I accept your apology Agent Dinozzo, and trust me when I say that I get it all the time. Your secret's safe with me." And with that, the doctor left the room. After a moment of pure silence, except for the occasional beeping of the monitors, Tony finally spoke, but only in a whisper so that only he and hopefully Ziva could hear.
"Try Ziva. Please, try. For me. Please, don't leave me," he told her as he held her hand. "I… I love you." And with that, he broke down as he continued to hold her hand. And he continued to hold her hand right through the night.
A/N: The chapter you've all been desperate to read. I won't be updating every single day, so just hang tight in between each update.