Hopefully I don't mess up any of the medical information – my main source besides classes I've taken was the Mayo Clinic website. Let me know if I am way off base! Oh, and EMT stands for Emergency Medical Technician (paramedics) - just in case.
Jethro hardly felt time elapse. All he knew was that Jenny was lying in front of him, and it was all he could do to breathe. He just kept calling her name, softly most of the time, but every now and then it would come out strangled or louder than he intended. It was all he could do not to gather her in his arms and shelter her; however, the one thing that kept repeating in his head was his training not to move someone when you don't know what is wrong with them. They could have a spinal cord injury or head trauma and the medical personnel would be much better equipped than him.
Jethro couldn't believe that he was applying this knowledge to his Jenny. All he cared about was if she would be ok. He heard muffled voices in the outer office – at least they sounded muffled to him. Even as they got closer, they still seemed like they were in a tunnel.
"Jethro. Jethro…. Jethro! You need to move" Ducky put pressure on Jethro's shoulder and with careful force pulled Jethro away from Jen. "I need to examine the Director. Cynthia told me that you called for an ambulance, but you were right to also send for me – I may at least be able to give her a preliminary examination to help out the EMTs. Now, Jethro – what happened here? I need to know everything." Even as he was asking the question, Ducky turned back to the Director and began to check her breathing and pulse. He wanted to find out as much about her condition in as short a time as possible.
"I don't know Duck. I came in here earlier and she was feeling really bad. I really thought it was just a cold. If I'd known something would happen to her, I never would have left her side. I went down to the pit for a while and came back up a little later."
"How long Jethro? How long since you saw her last? I need to know as precisely as you can tell me, since that will give us a clear picture of at least the outside time-frame she might have been unconscious" As before, Ducky hardly paused in his examination while he spoke.
"It was at least 30 minutes, but no longer than 40. The EMTs should check with Cynthia to be sure that she didn't see Jenny after me – maybe she would have a better idea of time, but it sounded like she didn't see her after me." Jethro ran his hand down his face and then through his
hair. He hated feeling this helpless. It wasn't sitting well with him, but he knew there was nothing he could do. "Where is that damn ambulance?"
"Agent Gibbs, the front gate just called up – the crew is here and they are making their way up as fast as possible." Cynthia was relieved to get the call. She respected and liked the director, and was very concerned about the woman she felt she could call a friend.
"About time"
"Jethro, I think I found something. The Director has a large protrusion on the side of her head. Judging from the size and feel, it looks as though it is very recent, and most likely the cause of her unconsciousness." Looking around, Ducky searched for what might have caused such an injury. "Look, here, on her desk. Here is some blood on the corner. And that would about match up with where she fell. You know, this reminds me of a case I had a few years back. I came into a house and there was a man who… Oh, look Jethro. She's moving"
And with that, Jethro tuned the doctor out. His eyes were only for one Jenny Shepard, and none other. As her eyes were moving, slowly under her eyelids, she twitched her hand and let out a low groan. At the same moment, the EMTs came into the room and told everyone to back away so they can assess the scene. Ducky grabbed the arm of the first one and pulled him aside to fill him in on the details he had obtained in his evaluation. The other medical technician came to the side of Jethro and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir. I need to examine the patient."
"Fine, but I'm not going far. She's just starting to wake up" In the background he could hear Ducky fill both EMTs in on her condition and what had occurred, but nothing really sank in. All he heard were Jenny's half groans as she still struggled to regain consciousness. Come on Jenny, wake up, you can wake up for me.
Just as those thoughts were racing through his head, her eyes cracked open a hair, and then a little farther. As the light hit her eyes, they sank shut again and she let out another groan. As the EMT leaned over her, she shifted slightly and threw up.
"According to what you have ascertained Dr. Mallard, and Mrs. Shepard's symptoms, it seems she has a severe concussion. Nothing to be incredibly alarmed at in the long-run, but we are certainly going to need to take her to the hospital. Due to the unusually long time she was unconscious and severity of her head trauma, I'm sure the doctors will run a CT scan and do some other diagnostic tests. Would you like to accompany her to the hospital sir? Sir?"
When the EMT laid his hand on Jethro's arm, he jerked back to reality "Say again – sorry, I didn't hear you"
"Would you like to accompany Mrs. Shepard to the hospital in the ambulance? We normally don't allow such things, but she is likely to be disoriented and it may help to see a familiar face. And you are obviously very worried." The EMT saw in the man's eyes the deep concern and love for the beautiful redhead, and suddenly really wanted to make anything happen to keep them together and ease his pain.
"Umm, yes, I'd really like to stay with her for the trip." Then, as an afterthought "It's Director Shepard… not Mrs."
"Right, sorry sir. Okay, Ronny, we need to move Director Shepard now. Can you have someone in the outer office hold the elevator for us?" The first EMT who Gibbs had been talking to called out to his partner and before long they had Jenny on the backboard and then on the gurney, wheeling her out of the office. Jethro walked closely behind them and looked at the back of Jenny's head. Her neck was encompassed in a large foam neck brace and she was completely immobile. She also looked as if she had passed back out, even before they started moving her.
"Jethro, since you're riding with her, I will follow the ambulance in my car."
"No, Duck – take the van, or at least an NCIS issued car. I want you riding with the lights on so that you arrive the same time we do. These guys seem to know what they're doing, but I want you there to tell whoever is taking care of her in the ER everything you know."
"I'll do that Jethro. And Jethro… she'll be alright. You know Jennifer – she's strong." With that, he went down to the garage to check out a car.
The ride to the hospital was entirely too long. Jethro didn't know it could take that long with the siren and the lights going. All he knew was that he needed to be at that hospital with a doctor looking after Jenny. And it needed to be right then.
When they pulled up to the hospital Jethro stayed in the ambulance just long enough for them to get Jenny out, and then he followed right behind. He followed them through the first hallway and the waiting area, and then was promptly stopped by a firm hand and a stern-faced nurse, who spoke with no uncertain tone "Only medical personnel past this point. Sorry sir, you will have to wait out here."
Jethro didn't even pause in his stride. He flashed his badge at her while mumbling something to the tune of "NCIS, protection detail" and hit the button buzzing himself through the doors. The only problem was that when he got back to where they had wheeled Jen there were too many doctors and nurses around to even see her. He imagined that a director of a federal agency created a lot of stress on their parts, seeing how everything had to be perfect.
After watching Jen come in and out of consciousness and even having to watch her throw up a few more times, finally a man in a lab coat stepped away and came over towards Gibbs.
"Hi, you are with Director Shepard, correct?" At Gibbs' nod, he continued, "we are sending the Director up to get a CT scan to check for potential intracranial hemorrhage or pressure - bleeding or swelling in the skull. We think she has a severe concussion, but seems to be suffering no discernable long-term effects at this time. As of her last evaluation, she seemed to be orienting and attending well, but we need to ensure she does not have any lasting brain damage. We will have her back down and admitted to a room in less than a half an hour. If you want to see her
briefly while we arrange transport, that will be fine, but we will have to ask you to wait outside of the room while she is in the CT scan."
"Thanks – I'd like to see her now"
"She may be disoriented at times, but she seems to be coming around fine"
"Thanks" As Gibbs walked up to Jen, he was just so happy to see that she had her eyes open. As he thought back to earlier today, he realized that in the larger scheme of things, things could have been a lot worse than Jen getting a concussion, but he still was having difficulty catching his breath.
"Hey Jen. How you feeling?" he leaned over her, and just soaked in the sight of her green eyes.
"Well, I've felt better." Her voice came out weak and strangled, but she tried a smile, that morphed more into a grimace as even the smile moved her head too far to bear. "I don't remember what happened, but I'm guessing I'm not here because of my cold"
Even when surrounded by the seriousness of the situation, Gibbs couldn't help cracking a small sideways smile "Ah, so now you admit you were sick!" At Jen's glare, he decided to let her off the hook "Well, we don't know for sure, but it looks like you fell and hit the side of your head on your desk."
"Hmm..." Jen seemed to be half-listening to him and half drifting in and out of sleep. "Hmm, sorry, I just can't seem to get my eyes to focus, or stay open."
"That's ok. You just get some rest – they're going to do some tests and then we'll get you some rest. I'll call the office and see if they need me to do anything while you're out."
At that remark, Jen's eyes flew open, although she immediately closed them slightly so not as much light got through "Don't you dare. I'll be back there soon enough – Cynthia can manage for the afternoon and then we'll…" she lost her trail of thought and began to sink back into sleep. As he saw that, he lightly placed a kiss on her forehead and stepped back to let the doctors get her moving.
Through the darkness Jen thought she felt a light pressure on her forehead, but before she could react, the darkness pulled her back down.
Jethro was waiting in the hall as they settled Jenny into her hospital bed. The doctor from before came up to him. "We should have the results from the CT scan soon – we had the lab put a rush on them, but it will still take a little time. I am off duty in 15 minutes, but we have an excellent doctor who will be overseeing her case. Dr. Gelfand specializes in head traumas and will be keeping his eye on Director Shepard through the night. I'll send him to see you after I have filled him in on all the particulars."
Jethro was still pre-occupied with Jenny, but something about the doctor's name stuck in his mind. Where have I heard that man's name before? We must have met somewhere.
"Jethro? Jethro Gibbs? Do you remember me?"
When Gibbs turned around, it sank in – the doctor from his coma. Tom, Toby, Tad? Something like that.
"It's me. Dr. Gelfand – Todd Gelfand. I treated-"
"Treated me after my coma. Yes, I remember you. Well, I'm glad to see we have someone who knows what they are doing. Nice to see you again. Are you going in to examine the Director?" Say no, you can't take this case. You need to leave your hands off her.
"Headed there right now. I'll fill you in later on her condition and let you know when you can go in. I won't be long"
Gibbs waited outside her room, but he didn't exactly wait patiently. He did find a hero in the nurse that seemed to have a sixth sense about him and appeared with coffee. As he was waiting, his phone rang. He considered ignoring it, but figured he may as well do something while he waited.
"Gibbs"
"Oh, Gibbs! How's the director! I just heard – you have to tell her we are all thinking about her. I've called the whole building, well maybe not the whole building, but a lot of it to come down and sign a card for her. I'm gonna bring it over later, with flowers, and Burt, cuz Bert always makes her smile. She really probably needs a smile right now, don't you think-"
"Abs. Take a breath. I'm sure she will think that's so nice, but why don't you hold off on the flowers and such till she gets home – that way she'll have a better place to put them. Oh, hey, her doctor's back. I'll call you later – hold down the fort there" Gibbs cut Abby off as Dr. Gelfand stepped back out into the hall.
"Well, she is resting nicely. The CT results came in and it looks as if she does not have any swelling or hemorrhaging, but we may do a repeat scan tomorrow if the external swelling does not go down. She is sleeping now, but I imagine you will want to stay, so I'll leave orders with the nurses not to kick you out after visiting hours. Just try to let her rest, but you can stay near her."
"Thanks. And, hey, I never did have a chance to really thank you for all you did for me."
"Just doing my job. And I'll keep a close eye on Jenny tonight. We'll make sure she's fine"
Gibbs noticed Todd's use of "Jenny", and he didn't want to admit it bothered him – a lot.
As he walked back in the room, he looked over at Jenny's sleeping form and was glad to see she was looking so peaceful. He placed another light kiss on her forehead and pulled the chair up close to her bed. Jethro didn't spare a moment to think about his sudden inability to leave Jen alone - and the kisses he kept giving her when she was safely asleep and unable to protest, or even know about. He just knew he couldn't see himself going home or anywhere else for a while. Even though it wasn't that late, the day began to wear on him. Just as he started to drift off to sleep, he almost unconsciously sought Jenny's hand with his own, and only when it was safely in his, did he let himself relax and let sleep pull him under.
That's all for now... this is turning out more "angsty" than "fluffy", but have no fear... more fluff to follow. I found it was rather hard to write fluff when one of the major partners in that fluff was passed out with a concussion! Although, I also must say there is some more angst to come before the fluff, so just have some patience!
