A/N: Your support and encouraging words mean the world to me. THANK YOU! :)
Forgive me for my mistakes.
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As expected, the next day, Gibbs woke up with a killer headache and was feeling so bad that he didn't even notice that he had a blanket on him and a bucket next to the couch.
All he could remember from the previous night was settling himself on the couch; the rest was blurred. He thought that Tony had come back at some point, but that couldn't be possible, so he just told himself that he'd imagined it.
Andy, his nurse, arrived a few minutes past nine and just by looking at Gibbs and the bucket, he realized that the older man was suffering from another hangover; so, he silently helped the man into his chair and gave him his black coffee with a painkiller.
The day passed just as quiet as any other day in the past month, which was good because Gibbs had found enough time to think and come to his senses and was planning to show Tony how sorry he was for what he had said without truly apologizing!
He had a reputation to protect, after all.
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At night, when Tony didn't show up at the usual time, Gibbs started to feel concerned.
The bad feeling in his gut that he had ignored the whole day worsened and he feared that his last night's hurtful words had been the last straw and he might never see Tony again.
That sounded too dramatic, of course.
He knew that even if he had hurt Tony too greatly, he still could find the chance to show him how sorry he was and that he was actually appreciating what the younger man was doing for him. But he knew that even though Tony'd probably forgive him for it, it didn't mean that his words hadn't cut deeply.
He was afraid that Tony would never look at him the same way again or that after everything was over and he got back to his job, the younger man would keep his distance and never trust him with his personal life again.
When finally at 2230, he heard the sound of a car pulling over outside his house, followed by the sound of the front door opening, he let out a sigh of relief and turned his gaze back to the piece of wood he was working on, not wanting to show how bad he'd been waiting.
Earlier that month, Tony had moved some of his stuff from the basement to the living room, knowing that it was the only thing that could keep the older man sane; and ruefully, Gibbs realized that he'd never thanked his friend for that either.
"What took you so long?" He grumbled without looking up from his work.
"Umm... Hi, Gibbs."
That voice made Gibbs stop working and slowly, he looked up, as a cold shiver ran down his spine. There in front of him were Abby and Ducky.
Not Tony.
Tony had taken his words to heart. Tony had stayed gone, just like Gibbs had asked; or well, ordered!
"Tony didn't come?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically shaky.
He didn't care if he sounded weak; all of a sudden he felt too tired to care what Abby or Ducky might think of him. "I knew I had gone too far. I... I told him not to come back, but I didn't mean it." He looked between Abby and Ducky and saw the sad look they exchanged.
"He told you, didn't he? I went too far this time."
"Gibbs-" Abby started.
"I understand if he doesn't want to see me ever again."
"Jethro-" Ducky tried.
He'd planed to not use the actual word to apologize, but now it didn't matter anymore. "Just... Just tell him I'm sorry, will you? I-"
"Gibbs, it's not like that." Abby tried to stop Gibbs, but he was surrounded by his thoughts.
"I would call him myself, but he doesn't answer. Why would he, the things I said-"
"Jethro." Suddenly Ducky was kneeling beside him, shaking his shoulder. "It's not what you think. I don't really know what you are talking about, but I know for sure that young Anthony is not upset or mad at you and that's not the reason he is not here now."
"Then what's the reason? And how do you know he's not upset?"
"Because he made us come here to be with you while we should be somewhere else." Abby jumped in. "He made sure someone, preferably me and Ducky, would be with you. He didn't want you to be alone."
"That's because I told him I preferred anyone but him."
Abby frowned. "Why would you-"
Ducky stopped her though, knowing that it wasn't their place to ask about Gibbs and Anthony's discussion if they hadn't heard about it yet. "That doesn't matter, Abigail. Jethro, listen to me, Anthony..." he took a deep breath. "Anthony has been shot today, that's why he's not here now."
Gibbs' eyes widened. "What? When? Why hasn't anyone called me? Why am I hearing this now? How did that happen? Where is he? What-"
"Jethro, Jethro-" Ducky interrupted him. "One question at a time." 'The medications he's taking have an interesting effect on his characteristics.' He couldn't help thinking with slight amusement.
Gibbs just glared and waited for some answers.
"It happened this afternoon. The case was a complicated one; everyone on the team has been working hard the last couple of days. Today they got an Intel and when they went to check it... Well, I think it's safe to say all hell broke loose. There was a shootout and Anthony got shot when he tried to push Timothy out of the way. He was shot three times before they brought two of the shooters down. Unfortunately one of them got away. But Anthony got one shooter while Ziva shot another one."
"Three times?" Gibbs could feel the tremor in his body and clenched his fists in order to hide the shake in his hands.
"Yes." Ducky nodded sadly, as Abby sat beside Gibbs on a chair and grabbed his hand. He wasn't sure if she was trying to comfort him, or was looking for some sort of comfort for herself.
"One to the right leg, one to right lower abdomen and one to the chest, just above the right lung." He stopped for Gibbs to digest the information and continued when there was no reaction from the other man. "And about why you're hearing it now, well... Anthony lost a great deal of blood and by the time they brought him to the hospital he was unconscious. From what I've heard, he'd made sure that Ziva and Timothy were alright and wanted them to stay at the scene to work on the case. Abigail and I went to the hospital to be with him but we didn't really know much; Ziva wasn't accurate when she called me and she seemed a little bit distraught and judging by what she has seen, that's totally understandable. Watching a comrade coming down like that can affect you greatly, even if you are a trained Mossad officer. There have been cases when those who hadn't been physically hurt-"
"Ducky, please." Gibbs growled. "How bad-... Is he-" he couldn't finish it, but why would both Ducky and Abby go there to tell him that Tony couldn't come. Did that mean that Tony was dead?
That couldn't happen, not now. Well, not ever; but especially not now, not when he had said those terrible things to Tony. What if Tony died, thinking Gibbs-
"Dead?" Ducky's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Oh my, no. Not-" he stopped himself, but not in time.
"Not yet?" Gibbs glared at him. "You gonna tell me what's going on with him or I have to play twenty questions?" He growled.
"Gibbs." Abby decided to take part in the conversation. "He was out of it, but he regained consciousness while they were trying to stabilize him and he wanted to-" Abby swallowed. "He called your name and when the nurse asked for you, we went in to the trauma room to see him. Tony kept telling us to come to you and that you shouldn't be alone especially after last night, which I don't understand or should I say didn't understand?" She shrugged. "But with what you told us about your last night and the way Tony acted in hospital, it seems like he didn't want you to think he's mad and he sure doesn't want you to blame yourself and he really was adamant and didn't let anyone do anything until we promised that we would come here to make sure you were alright. Of course this is Tony we're talking about. He's always adamant and stubborn which makes him even sexier."
'And I'm sure this is his way of making me pay for what I said to him last night. Couldn't he send just one of them? He had to make them both come? Just you, DiNozzo.' Gibbs thought. "He asked you both to come? I'm sure just one of you could've delivered the news."
"I didn't want to be alone there." Abby shrugged.
"And we weren't sure how to tell you." Ducky said.
"It's not like he's dead." Gibbs rolled his eyes. He was acting cool, pretending he was fine, but deep down, he was struggling with himself.
He still didn't know how bad Tony's condition was or how he could tell him that he hadn't meant any of those hurtful things he had uttered the other night. But he considered this as a second chance and wasn't about to lose it.
Then he saw the dejected look on Abby and Ducky's eyes.
"What's with the long faces?"
Then he remembered the 'not yet' part. What if it was too late? Three shots! It wasn't something to joke about.
"Jethro, Anthony is strong and rather young and he sure is stubborn if nothing else. But the doctors at the hospital told us to be prepared for the worst. I haven't seen his test results, but Anthony didn't look good when I saw him. We waited there and when they took him to the operating room, we came here to get you. I just want you to know what might-"
"He's not gonna die." Gibbs sounded so sure. "Now let's go or get the hell outta of my way so I can call a cab."
"No need to be rude, Jethro. We all are worried and we didn't come here to just deliver the bad news. For some reasons, Anthony was really worried about you and we wanted to make sure you were alright. But we can go now." He chastised Gibbs as Abby went to grab his jacket before leaving.
And Gibbs was once again lost in thought; thinking about Tony, his words to him and more importantly the fact that the younger man was worried about him while fighting for his life. But that wasn't really surprising. Tony didn't usually show his true feelings, but when situation called for it, he'd always put everyone else before himself; and this time was no exception.
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... TBC ...
A/N: So? What do you think?
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