With no way to get home and no friends to pick him up, Tony found himself curled up on the bench outside of the hospital. He knew he could have gone inside but he figured he should save the sleeping area for the parents whose children may need them during the night. He doubted Tali would be awake that night or ever. The bench was hard and the wood had splintered. When he woke his arm ached from being used as a pillow. His hips and ankle were killing him. He had to fight to sit up and hoist himself into the wheelchair. He was probably lucky they had not brought it inside given he had just left it abandoned outside.
"Ride didn't show?" A nurse asked.
"No ride. I'll just hang out here until visiting hours start back up again." Tony explained.
"You may want to get some shut eye. PICU hours don't start until eight and it's only about eight." Shelly explained.
"Eight? I figured it was later than that." Tony commented.
"You've only been outside about an hour." Shelly explained.
"Feels like so much longer." Tony replied.
"I bet that bench is miserable." Shelly laughed.
Leon Vance realized very quickly he had a serious issue to deal with. He had heard several NCIS employees say horrible and accusatory things about Tony. He knew that the deaths of Jimmy and Tori Palmer had broken a lot of hearts. He also knew that just about every word about Tony was false and completely heartless. The accident was the fault of the truck driver who ran the stop sign. Tori had been killed on impact. Jimmy had survived but his injuries were grave and Tony could not have saved his life. He knew that both were dead by the time Tony came to after the accident. Tony had saved Tali but she was alive. Tali alive and the car was about to burst into flames. Even if it weren't you saved the living before tending to the dead. He had arranged for grief counselors to be present for those who needed them, but he needed more. He reached for his phone and called the one person who could actually get through to Team Gibbs and Abby.
"Dr. Rachel Cranston."
"Rachel it's Leon Vance. We had an incident yesterday and I need you ASAP."
"I'll check my appointment book and get right back to you."
Breena curled up on the floor of her daughter's room. She wondered how she was supposed to carry on with her life. How do you live without your spouse and child? Why did this have to happen to her family? Jimmy was a good man and Tori was the sweetest girl in the world. This should not have happened to them. It should have been Tony who died. He was just a spoiled frat boy who only cared for himself. Tali was a nasty little brat who regularly bullied Tori. They were the ones who should have died. Breena was delirious and weak. Her body was shaking and her hair was drenched in sweat. Her mind flashed to images of Tali lying bludgeoned to death in her room and Tony finding her. She imagined watching Tony cry over her body. Letting him fall apart and feel as if his world shatter. Before finally putting the glorious bullet in his head. She imagined him dying and how perfect that would be. She would know peace when they were dead. She would know peace when Tony endured the pain she did.
"I'm going to get justice for you guys, Jimmy and Victoria. They will die and you will be resurrected and come back to me. That is justice. I am going to get justice." Breena called out mockingly.
Tony spent the morning by Tali's side. The morning was disappointing but not unexpected. Tali did not respond or show any signs or progress. The doctors assured she still had brain activity and that they would give at least seventy-two hours before they discussed "decisions". Tony prayed that it did not come down to that. He didn't even want to think about pulling the plug. Around noon Tony got hungry and decided to go and grab some lunch. He ordered a cheap meal from the cafeteria and took it out to the bench to eat. He desperately needed fresh air. The bench was miserable but at least he was breathing in more than the hospital's chemicals.
"Tony?" Rachel called.
"Rachel? What are you doing here?" Tony asked.
"Leon told me what happened. I talked to Abby, Ducky, and the rest of the people from Team Gibbs. They pissed me off and now I am talking to you." Rachel explained.
"They hate me for not pulling Tori and Jimmy from the car." Tony replied.
"They were dead. What were you supposed to do? Pull corpses from the car and then watch your daughter burn to death? Get her out and then severely burn yourself to save corpses?" Rachel demanded.
"I should have done something." Tony replied.
"There was nothing you could do." Rachel reminded.
Tony talked to Rachel for a while but then she had to get back to her practice. Tony discarded his lunch containers in the nearby trash can and then returned to his daughter's room. He had Rachel but she had her practice and her patients to worry about. She was treating the rest of Team Gibbs and Tony figured she would just go to their side eventually. He was alone but at least for now he had his daughter. He dreaded the end of seventy two hours. It was late afternoon now and Tony was dreading having to leave. Tali stirred but Tony did not have much hope. She had suffered a few spasms throughout the day. Her eyes flickered and that's when Tony first started to feel hope. Tali's small hand gripped his finger and the next thing he knew she was looking directly into his eyes.
"Abba?" Tali called.
"I'm right here Tali." Tony replied.
"Abba my head hurts." Tali replied.
"We got into an accident and you hurt your head but you are going to be OK." Tony assured.
"Love Abba" Tony replied, before closing her eyes and going back to sleep.
A/N: Tali finally turned the corner. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.
