Chapter 2
Gibbs woke the following morning when a nurse came to check on Tony. Gibbs groaned as he stretched, his back protesting to a night spent in a chair.
"How is he?" he asked the nurse.
"He's holding his own." She replied with a smile. "His temperature is up slightly but that's to be expected. The doctor will be in soon to check on him."
"Thanks." Gibbs replied and followed her out of the room to get himself some coffee.
He returned after he had a coffee and sat with Tony for another while before he had to go to work. He gave the team a quick update and they all continued working.
That evening they all went to visit Tony and again Gibbs stayed the night. The following day was Saturday so thankfully Gibbs didn't have to work. The doctors had told him that Tony was doing well so they were going to wake him that morning.
They had started weaning him off the ventilator during the night and so far he was doing well. Gibbs went for a quick coffee while he still could.
He returned to find 2 doctors and some nurses in the room.
"What's wrong?" Gibbs asked worriedly.
"Ah Agent Gibbs." One of the doctors greeted. "There's nothing to worry about. We were just getting ready to remove the ventilator."
"Oh." Gibbs replied with a sigh of relief.
"We have reduced his medication so he should be waking up soon and we want to get him off the ventilator before he wakes. We also have the brace on him."
Gibbs gave a quick nod but didn't say anything else.
"Ok let's get this done." The doctor ordered and everyone sprang to action.
Gibbs stood out of the way but watching everything. They had just started removing the tube when Tony's eyes shot open.
"You're in the hospital." The doctor said. "Just, calm down."
Tony kept panicking so Gibbs quickly moved to his side.
"Tony, you're all right, just relax and let the doctors do their thing." Gibbs said taking Tony's hand in his own. "I've got you."
With that Tony relaxed and the doctors finished removing the tube. They quickly placed an oxygen mask over Tony's face and then checked his vitals.
"Ok Tony, just relax for a while." The doctor instructed as he walked away.
"You can go back to sleep for a while Tony." Gibbs said. "I've got your six."
Tony nodded slightly and closed his eyes. Within minutes he was fast asleep again. Over the next 2 hours the nurses' checked on him continuously, to make sure he was still breathing ok. Gibbs remained by his side in case he woke again. Tony eventually started waking and Gibbs called the Doctors.
"Hey Tony, can you hear me." Gibbs called.
"Mmm." Tony replied, his eyes still closed.
"Come on Tony open your eyes for me."
Tony's eyes slowly opened and he looked up at Gibbs. "What happened?"
"You got shot Tony." Gibbs replied. "You're going to be fine."
"When can I…go home?" Tony asked reaching to remove the oxygen mask.
"Leave that alone." Gibbs scolded, gently stopping Tony's hand. "You're going to be here for a while Tony."
"How bad?" Tony asked pulling the oxygen mask off.
"The bullet didn't do too much damage." The doctor explained. "We were able to repair the damage it caused. The exit wound was close to your spine and this has caused some issues."
"What issues." Tony asked starting to panic.
"Tony calm down." Gibbs said. "You fell from the balcony. Do you remember that?"
Yeah." Tony replied after a minute. "I remember falling."
"Well you broke a bone in your back. Because of the bullet they couldn't fuse it so you are going to have to wear a back brace for a while."
"Oh ok." Tony sighed in relief. "I'm not paralysed?"
"Can you wiggle your toes for us Tony." The Doctor asked as he pulled up the sheet and examined Tony's feet.
"They're not wiggling are they?" Tony asked quietly after a minute or two.
"No Tony, they're not." The Doctor sighed. "I'm going to move my pen up your leg and I want you to tell me when you can feel it."
"Ok." Tony replied and the Doctor started moving the pen. He was up to Tony's hip before Tony felt the pen.
"What does this mean?" Gibbs asked squeezing Tony's hand.
"It most likely means that there is still some swelling pushing against the nerves. We can see no major damage to the spinal cord, so this should be temporary. The damage we saw earlier was just swelling caused by the bullet."
"Are you sure." Gibbs asked.
"We can't be sure." The doctor sighed. "I was hoping that there would be at least some feeling in Tony's legs, even if there was no movement. We'll keep him in the back brace to restrict movement and try again in a few days."
"Oh God." Tony moaned closing his eyes.
"You are going to be fine Tony." Gibbs said. "You just have to be patient."
"What am I supposed to do if I can't walk?" Tony asked sadly. "I can't be a field agent, I can't go undercover, and I'll be useless."
"Tony, you are going to walk again." Gibbs assured. "This is temporary. You will be back in the field in a few months."
"But what if I'm not." Tony asked quietly.
"Then we'll deal with it." Gibbs assured as he replaced the oxygen mask over Tony's face. "Now go back to sleep."
"K boss." Tony replied as his eyes slid closed.
When Gibbs was sure Tony was asleep he quietly got up and followed the doctor outside. "Do you think he'll walk again?"
"I think he should." The doctor replied. "We need to keep him positive, but I do think that he will start to get feeling back as soon as the swelling starts to go down. Because of the fall and the bullet wound, there is quite a bit of swelling."
"Ok Doc." Gibbs sighed and headed started to head back to the room.
"Agent Gibbs." A voice called causing him to turn around.
"Miss Benoit." He said taking in the sight of a very pregnant Jeanne.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as he stared at her bump.
"I could ask you the same thing. I thought you had left Washington." Gibbs replied.
"No I came back when I found out I was pregnant. I'm working here again" Jeanne replied.
"How far along are you?" Gibbs asked as he again looked at her bump.
"You could just ask if the baby is Tony's"
"Is it?"
"Yes it is. I found out I was pregnant after my fathers funeral." Jeanne sighed. "Tony had told me he had no real feelings for me, so I decided not to tell him."
"He did have real feelings for you." Gibbs sighed "He told you that so you could move on. He loved you."
"It doesn't matter now." Jeanne sighed. "So what are you doing here?"
"Tony was hurt." Gibbs sighed "he's in here."
"Oh God, is he ok." She gasped.
"He was shot." Gibbs sighed "He also fell 4 stories and has broken his back."
"Oh God, is…is he paralysed."
"He can't move his legs and has no feeling in them, but they think it's temporary because of swelling."
"Oh that's good." She sighed in relief.
"He's asleep if you want to see him." Gibbs said pushing the door open.
Jeanne gave Gibbs a nervous smile and entered the room.
"Oh Tony" she cried when she saw him
"He's going to be fine." Gibbs assured leading the pregnant woman nearer to Tony. "He's survived worse."
"Like what." She asked. "I've seen all his scars and some looked pretty serious."
"Well he's been shot and stabbed a few times, but he's also had the plague."
"The plague." Jeanne said
"Yup, it was genetically engineered to be resistant to antibiotics." Gibbs said. "We nearly lost him, but he's tough and he recovered. He'll recover from this too."
"I hope your right." Jeanne sighed. "Do you want to get some coffee?"
"Yeah sure." He agreed and followed her out of the room. They walked to the cafeteria in silence and both got some coffee.
"When are you due?" Gibbs asked when they had sat down.
"In 4 weeks." Jeanne replied with a smile. "I asked him to come with me you know."
"When?" Gibbs asked.
"Just after his car was blown up. I left him a note at my apartment. He never contacted me so I assumed he didn't want to be with me. I told him it was me or NCIS."
"Jeanne, how much do you know of Tony's childhood." Gibbs asked.
"I don't know if what he told me was true or not." She sighed. "At the time he didn't tell me much but from what I gathered it wasn't the happiest. When I saw all the scars on his body I thought he may have been abused as a child."
"Tony's father is a very wealthy man, even more so than your father. Tony's mother died when he was 10. Both parents drank a lot and Tony was mostly raised by the help. He was disowned at 12 and sent to military school. While I have no proof he was abused, I have a feeling that he was. Tony's only family is NCIS. It's the longest he has ever stayed in one place, so for you to ask him to choose would have been hard. I do know he wasn't himself for quite a while after you left."
"He told me he loved me, He asked me to move in with him." Jeanne sighed. "I believed him."
"Jeanne, if he said that, then it is true. Tony was never good at relationships, he never stayed with a woman long enough to develop feelings. He would not use those words lightly. His feelings for you were real."
"Do you think I should tell him about the baby?" Jeanne asked.
"That's up to you. If it were mine I'd like to know. And I know you think Tony is too immature to handle a baby, but he might surprise you."
"I never thought he was immature." Jeanne protested. "Maybe a little crazy at time and ok sometimes when he talked about films he sounded like a kid, but I liked that about him."
"Yeah its one of his many quirks." Gibbs smiled.
"How does he know so much about films?" Jeanne asked. "It made sense at the time because he said he was a film professor."
"He loves movies." Gibbs replied. "He spent hours watching them as a child. And even now he'll watch them every chance he gets. He talks about them non - stop and everything that comes up, he has a film reference to go with it."
"Yeah that sounds like the Tony I know." Jeanne laughed.
"He's saved our asses a few times with the film references." Gibbs laughed. "Hell he even got me doing it at times."
"Really." Jeanne laughed.
"Yeah a few years back we were on Air Force One. Tony had made me watch the movie about Air Force One a few weeks previous and because of the film we figured out what was going on and saved the president."
"Wow." Jeanne smiled. "Saving the president, getting the plague, what other insane things have you and Tony done."
"There's a lot." Gibbs smiled.
"I don't know him at all." Jeanne sighed. "I know Tony DiNardo the Film Professor not Tony DiNozzo the NCIS special agent. How different are those two people."
"They are not very different at all." Gibbs smiled and stood up. "I'd better get back to him in case he wakes."
"Do you think he would want to see me after everything?" Jeanne asked following him.
"Yeah I think he would." Gibbs replied and they both went back to Tony's room.
"Dr. Benoit what are you doing here." Dr. Philips, Tony's surgeon asked as she entered.
"Tony's a friend." She replied and walked beside the bed. "How's he doing?"
"As well as can be expected." Dr. Philips replied. "His temperature is up slightly but nothing to worry about just yet."
"What about paralysis." She asked.
"Hopefully just temporary. There is a lot of swelling."
"That's good." She sighed tiredly.
"Would you like to sit down?" Gibbs asked moving the chair beside her.
"Yes thank you." She replied and took a seat. "Why is he on oxygen?"
"He has a lot of scaring on his lungs so he needs the extra help." Dr. Philips explained
"From the plague." Jeanne said quietly.
"Yes." Dr. Philips agreed. "We are going to keep him on oxygen for a while. We'll be changing the mask for the nasal canuala shortly."
"Good." She replied "I'm going to stay here with him for a while."
"Is that ok with you Agent Gibbs." Dr. Philips asked.
"Yeah sure." Gibbs replied and pulled over another chair.
"I'll be back in a while." Philips said as he left the room.
"He looks so young when he's sleeping." Jeanne said as she watched Tony sleep.
"Yeah he sure does." Gibbs agreed. "He always reminds me of a kid when he's sleeping, he looks so peaceful."
"He has a lot of nightmare." Jeanne said with a quick glance at Gibbs.
"I've noticed that too. He never talks about them."
"No he doesn't." Jeanne sighed and looked at Gibbs. "I think I still love him, I don't think I ever stopped. I was so angry when my father died that I blamed Tony. But I know he was just protecting me."
"You should tell him that." Gibbs said. "But don't try to take him away from us. We won't stand for that and while I know Tony hurt you, you hurt him too."
"I know." She sighed and they both lapsed into silence.
About 10 minutes later they heard a moan coming from Tony. They both stood and rushed to his side.
"Hey Tony it's ok just relax." Gibbs said softly.
Tony stilled and slowly pealed open his eyes. "Hey boss." He croaked.
"Would you like some ice chips?" Gibbs asked and Tony nodded. "Ok I'll go get you some. You two can talk."
Tony slowly moved his eyes to the other person standing near him. "Jeanne." He gasped.
"Yeah Tony, it's me." She replied moving nearer
"What are you doing here." He asked as he reached to remove the oxygen mask.
"Leave that on Tony, you need it." Jeanne scolded and moved his hand back down. "I'm back working here. I came back after I last saw you."
"Oh." Tony replied. "I'm sorry about everything that happened."
"It's ok Tony. We'll talk about it later, when you're feeling better."
"You'll still be here?" Tony asked.
"I'm not going anywhere." She replied gently stroking his face.
"That's good." Tony smiled as Gibbs returned.
Jeanne removed the oxygen mask and Gibbs fed Tony a spoonful of ice.
"That was good." Tony replied as Jeanne replaced the mask.
"Get some rest Tony." Gibbs said.
"I have to get back to work." Jeanne said and after giving Tony's hand a squeeze, she headed for the door.
"Jeanne." Tony gasped as he saw her bump. "You're pregnant."
"Yeah Tony, I am." She replied with a smile and walked out of the room.
"I thought I was over her." Tony said sadly as the door closed. "But seeing her again brought back all those feelings. And now she's pregnant."
"It's going to be ok Tony." Gibbs assured "get some rest and we can talk about it later."
"Yeah ok." Tony agreed and closed his eyes. "I just hate that she met someone else already." He added just as he fell asleep.
A few hours later Abby, Ziva and McGee arrived for a visit so Gibbs took the opportunity to go home and have a shower.
"Hey Tony." Abby called, waking him up.
"Hey Abby." He mumbled slowly opening his eyes. "Hey guys."
"Hello Tony, how are you felling?" Ziva asked.
"Sore." Tony replied
"Should I get the doctor?" McGee asked.
"Na, I'm ok Probie." Tony replied with a smile.
"Look Tony, I ah...I'm sorry I didn't shoot sooner." McGee stuttered.
"It's ok Probie." Tony replied with a smile, "I'll be fine, nothing to worry about. How's everything at work?"
"It is quite." Ziva replied. "We are reviewing cold cases at the moment."
"Sorry." Tony apologised.
"It is not your fault." Ziva replied. "The director decided we needed a break."
"Yeah I'm sure." Tony agreed sarcastically.
The team had just settled down in some chairs when the nurse arrived in.
"I'm sorry guys, would you mind stepping out for a few minutes. I need to check Tony's wounds."
"Yes of course." Ziva replied and the group left the room and waited in the hallway.
"I thought he'd hate me." McGee said as he sunk down in one of the chairs. "He could be paralysed and it's my fault."
"He is going to be fine." Abby said "And of course he wouldn't blame you. He knows you did everything you could."
"That's the thing Abby. I hesitated, I should have shot the guy sooner. Tony told me to."
"Why didn't you?" Ziva asked,
"He was moving a lot and I didn't want to hit Tony."
"I'm sure Tony knows that." Ziva said.
"I hope so." Tim sighed.
10 minutes later the nurse came out. "You can go back into him now, but he may be a bit groggy. You can give him some ice chips if he wants, but nothing else."
"Ok thank you." Abby replied and rushed back into the room.
Tony was still lying flat on his back but the oxygen mask had been replaced by a nasal cannula.
"We're back Tony." Abby said quietly.
"Hey guys." Tony replied opening his eyes. "They took off the mask."
"Yeah we can see." Abby replied. "The nurse said we could give you some ice chips if you wanted."
"Yeah that'd be good." Tony replied.
"Ok Tony, open up." Abby instructed as she held the spoon to Tony's lips.
Tony opened his mouth and let the ice slid in. "Mmm s'good." Tony said as it soothed his throat.
"Would you like some more." Abby asked and Tony gave a slight nod.
Abby again filled the spoon and Tony swallowed the ice.
"That's all for now Tony." She said. "Get some rest."
"Thanks guys." Tony mumbled sleepily and closed his eyes.
The group waited until Gibbs returned before leaving. Tony remained asleep for the rest of the night, not even waking when a nurse came to take blood.
A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews They are great. Please keep them coming.