Disclaimer: see chapter 1
A/N: After a hectic week at work getting there when the sun was still down and leaving long after the sun had set I was tired and needed to take a break and it resulted in a chapter being totally about my occupation and work.
Chapter III
A rapid ten minute drive later when he reached Bethesda Naval Hospital Gibbs was still fuming. He picked up the injured, unconscious woman from the backseat of his car and rushed to the casualty entrance of the hospital. He did not notice her wounds had started bleeding again and the blood was oozing out and staining his shirt in the process.
Pushing the doors open with his back and entering the hospital he shouted in his most authorative voice and thus got the attention of the nurses who were on duty. Seeing the battered woman in the man's arms the nurses were instantly on their feet taking the load off of his arms and placing the woman on an emergency trolley and wrapped her up in a thermal blanket for the moment as they saw the pallid colour of her lips and skin and they knew the chances of her surviving did not look good.
While a few nurses had started assessing her injuries and started treating the not so bad ones the senior nurse walked up to Gibbs hoping to get some information from him about the woman's life they were desperately trying to save. Getting the little bit of information from him she ran back to the emergency trolley where the others were working frantically to save the woman's life.
His gut told him there was something wrong, but then again whole situation was wrong. He was not supposed to be here, he was supposed to be at home working on his boat and the woman now fighting for her life was supposed to be out on a date with a good looking guy, promising her the world and all the happiness he could buy.
Gibbs did not even notice when the doctor had entered the department and started shouting orders and what he assumed to be names of drugs he needed to sedate the patient who was now groaning with pain. Whatever was being said by the doctor sounded like it was being said in a language that Gibbs for the life of him could not understand.
When his brain had finally calmed down enough to process and interpret what the man in charge was saying he heard words like X-ray and CT scans of the patient's skull, facial bones, chest, abdomen and brain. At the mention of the last one Gibbs feared that there might have been brain damage in the victim as she had received blows to her head, and that was why there was so much of blood pooled around her head when he had first seen her. Blood tests were also ordered to check if she was drugged.
After two hours of being carefully wrapped up in the thermal blanket she had begun to get her usual colour back with the blue and white tinges being replaced with a bright red colour. She had also been wiped and cleaned so all the blood that had settled on her face and body was no longer there and he was able to get a better look at her.
She looked much better now that her wounds were cleaned, stitched and bandaged. An hour later after all the x-rays and CT scans were done she was wheeled into a private ward where no one would be able to have access to her.
When the results of the CT scans arrived he was both relieved and worried. He did not know on which side of the fence she would fall on, whether the reports would show that she was well enough to go home as soon as she woke up or whether she had internal damage done that could not be repaired or would take time to heal. Waiting for somebody to come in and explain the writing on the papers was proving to be the most trying task for him that evening.
He settled down a bit when he saw the doctor who was in the casualty room treating her; arrive at the door to her ward. At least now he would have more information, but he was not sure if he wanted to hear the results of all the tests. It was inevitable, however and then he would know how bad it really was. Maybe he was just worried for nothing.
The doctor had a look at the reports and smiled at Gibbs. "Well it seems she was one extremely lucky woman, with all that bruising and hitting all she managed to come out with is a broken scaphoid and fractures of the 10th and 11th left posterior ribs. We'll set the wrist in a cast later that will help it heal better and as for the ribs that will take time; she just needs to take it easy for a while – no strenuous work for her."
All Gibbs could do was nod and smile, happy with the news that she was going to survive and no extreme untreatable damage had been inflicted on her. "Thanks" was all he could mumble before the doctor retreated from the room and Gibbs pulled up a chair and sat nest to the bed next to her as close as he could without touching any of the wires or tubes coming out from or attached to her. Finally he dozed off to sleep - unintentionally.
The sun was starting to rise and he knew he had to go back to work even though all he wanted to do was stay here with her until she woke up. He was not entirely sure if she was in the best care available or even if she was safe he reluctantly decided he would go to work for a few hours.
He took a last glance at her and sighed heavily, hating that she was hooked up to so many machines and she needed a ventilator to help her breath, knowing there was nothing he could do to help her at this specific moment. There was one thing he could help her with though, help catch the bastard who put her in this hospital room in the first place. With that thought in mind he stormed out of her room and made his way down the corridor.
He did not notice the looks he received from the people who were standing in the passageways waiting to visit other patients. The blood stains had by now settled into his white undershirt and had turned to a dark brown colour, and showed no sign of fading anytime soon.
He didn't bother going home first, wanting to get to the bottom of this as soon as he possibly could, and drove to NCIS HQ instead of his house which was in the opposite direction.
As usual you guys know what to do...
leave me a little something to read as well.
thanx
hellraiser