Present Time- Streets of D.C.
Racing through the streets of D.C.; Gibbs recalled the conversation he'd just had with Jenny as he'd impatiently waited for her to finish talking to the front desk guards;
"You mean to tell me they just let him leave? Didn't they think to notice what shape he was in? he'd exclaimed in full blown fury.
"Oh, they noticed, Jethro. They called your desk and got your phone. Apparently they left you a message but before they could do anything else the ambulance got here and so did chaos. It seems your agent had passed out and everyone was wrapped up in wanting to see that he was okay before the medics left with him." Jenny had flat out told him; willing him to calm down and see even a glimpse of reason in this mess. She knew his guilt was guiding his rage and needed someone to help him channel it.
"Damn it to hell!" Gibbs had fumed; not at all interested in holding his anger in as he stormed out of her office. He had somewhere to be; yesterday!
Gibbs was; for once in his career; grateful that he knew his way around this hospital. As he raced through the halls; he couldn't get to the E.R. fast enough. Damn near skidding clear into the nurse's station; he didn't waste any time.
"Special Agent Tim McGee?" he asked in his most authoritative voice; not wanting to waste a single second having to argue with anyone about getting an update.
"Sir, are you family"? a kind speaking nurse asked him.
"I'm his boss. His sister; his only local family; is enroute as we speak. But, whatever you tell her; she'll just gonna have to take the time repeating to me. I'm his boss and he was hurt on the job!" Gibbs heard the edge hardening in his tone; and fought to control it. "Please, tell me how he is; so I can tell her something when she gets here; she's just a young college girl and her brother is her only relative here."
"Agent Gibbs' I'm afraid I don't have any information for you. Your agent is still being treated." The sympathetic nurse told him; as she took his arm and walked with him toward the waiting room; "Why don't you go have a seat and I'll get you some coffee. You drink coffee?" she smiled at him; actually managing to warm the chill that had begun permeating its' way into his bones' giving him the gut feeling that this was not gonna end well.
"Thank you." he managed to respond. He couldn't believe his luck; a sympathetic nurse and coffee without having to leave the E.R. before he heard about Tim's condition. Sitting himself down for all of thirty seconds; Gibbs was pacing the floor; his mind tripping over the guilt and responsibility and knowing this would tear his team; his family apart. The bountiful supply of self-recriminations and mental head slaps in his head were overwhelming him; but at least they were keeping the guilt and fear from swallowing him whole. Smiling his thanks; he accepted the coffee from his angel in a nurse's uniform. Taking a healthy drink; downing almost all of it in one drink; he resumed his pacing.
God, why didn't I make sure someone stayed with him? Did Tim lie to me? I asked him if he was okay and he told me he was! "NO! Tim's never lied to me; except when his sister was in trouble. The poor kid's never lost the self-doubt when it came to my trust since then either. Gibbs saw it in his eyes more often then he cared to admit; and he'd have to be the first one to say; he'd never addressed it; never talked to Tim about it; had never thought about letting him off the hook for good. Damn it!
Thankfully, Tony and Ziva; arrived toting an obviously upset and distraught Sara McGee; tears streaming down her face; with them. No sooner did she lay eyes on Gibbs; than she was launching herself at him; wrapping her arms around him and completely lettin go of her fears; tears and sobs.
"Oh, God! Agent Gibbs! I can't lose my brother!" she cried in absolute terror; her shoulders shaking with the strength of her sobs.
"Ssh, Sara; it's okay. He's tough. He'll pull through this." Gibbs tried to soothe her as he wrapped one arm around her and used the other to rub circles on her back; attempting to soothe her in two ways at once as his instinct to comfort and soothe a wounded child surfaced with a vengence.
He hadn't laid eyes on McGee's little sister since that day over a year ago when he'd watched her slap the cheerleader who had tried to frame her for murder. Her strength of character had done her big brother proud during that whole investigation; hell, even Gibbs had been proud of her; and proud of her big brother; knowing he'd had a part in the young woman she had turned out to be.
Looking at her now; Gibbs found even more of Tim's big brother influence to be proud of. He knew it wasn't easy for his agent to be the only family member available for his sister to depend on locally. With their parents living out of state; a lot of responsibility had fallen on the young man. Tim had handled it remarkably well. The kid never let that responsibility interfere with his job; although Gibbs would have given him whatever slack he'd needed if it had. Gibbs knew that McGee didn't think that way. Yeah; Gibbs had plenty of reasons to be proud of Tim. He just wished he'd been less stringent on showing it to the young man.
"What happened, Boss?" Tony asked; his own voice not masking his worry for his Probie.
"Where was he when you two left the squad room?" Gibbs quietly asked in answer to Tony's question; needing to know exactly what had happened in his absence.
"At his desk, Boss; running the search for the case." Tony answered in bewilderment; still not understanding what the hell had happened.
"How did he look?" Gibbs pushed for details. "How was he?"
"He seemed fine, Gibbs." Ziva answered; not wanting this to fall completely on Tony's shoulders. "He told us he was fine."
"How long after I went to the Director's office was it before you left out?"
"Ten minutes." Tony admitted.
"So, we just all completely forgot Ducky's instructions that he be 'monitored' for the rest of the day." Gibbs' dismayed; guilt filled statement of the fact seemed to be like a punch to Sara's stomach. She pulled away from him to stare at him with an ocean of anger and disbelief in her eyes.
His words hit Tony and Ziva like a ton of bricks. Yeah; they'd completely forgotten Ducky's words because Tim had assured them all that he was fine. They'd missed Ducky's warning point that his 'fine' could change in a matter of minutes; with everything his body had been through that morning.
Suddenly, Gibbs had three distraught faces staring back at him; two in almost as much guilt as he felt and one mixed with rage.
"Sara; I am sorry. Tony, Ziva; you too. I didn't back Ducky's instructions up with my own. I failed to make sure Tim wasn't left alone until we were sure he was out of the woods." Gibbs tone and the look in his eyes bore testament to the responsibility he was willingly shouldering for this.
No, this time the boss wouldn't be blaming anyone but himself. There was no doubt about that. Tony felt his own ton of culpability what with the "When Dogs Attack" cd prank and all. Why the hell had he felt led to torment Probie like that? Hadn't he figured Tim had had enough of a rough morning? Damn it, DiNozzo; you could be so mean spirited sometimes. It's a wonder Probie never left us before now!
Sara's tears returned; as did her sobs; wrapping her arms around herself; she turned away from them wordlessly and went to lean against the window; looking out at the cruel world. The wait seemed endless. With her parents half the world away; in Africa; she felt so alone; it was almost suffocating.
Tony knew she was feeling too raw and vulnerable to accept a hug from someone she blamed for her brother's situation. He decided to leave her be; hating having to do it. He settled for watching over her; instead. Ziva seemed lost in her own thoughts. Tony knew she felt really bad right about now. She and Tim had a good relationship built on trust and honesty. Tim had taken to Ziva fairly quickly; even though he'd been still dealing with the loss of Kate. McGee had never let that color his relationship with Ziva.
When Ducky, Jimmy and Abby finally arrived; Gibbs had already silently stepped out for more coffee; leaving Tony in charge of looking after Ziva and Sarah; and responsible for finding him the minute they got any word. Tony was actually glad to see Ducky. He was still ticked at Abby; although he felt for the pain she must be feeling right about now. Straightening up his backbone; he told the new arrivals what they'd missed; steadfastly avoiding looking directly at Abby as he spoke; repeating what Gibbs had admitted; including the understood; but unspoken emotion behind it; leaving them all feeling for Sara and Gibbs' pain; and not their own; quite so much.
Ducky had never been so angry and so scared at the same time before. Why had Jethro and his agents been so lax in their regard for their injured teammate? He prayed desperately that the young man would make it through whatever had happened. Losing Caitlyn had been hard enough; he knew he would not be able to deal with losing Timothy.
Sara was startled from her painful thoughts by the quiet hand on her shoulder. Turning from the window; she found herself looking into the kind, sympathetic eyes of the team's M.E. Tim talked about him all the time. Her brother thought the world of this man. Suddenly, Ducky surprised her; holding his arms out in a silent invitation for a hug. Gratefully, she accepted his invite; taking the opportunity to anchor herself to someone she knew always had Tim's best interests at heart. Tim had always said this man was the one person on the team who had never; ever let him down; ridiculed him; or left him wondering where he stood with him
Abby's own guilt-ridden tears and sobs were draining on Sara's already stretched nerves; frayed by the endless waiting. Suddenly, unable to listen to them for even another second; she pulled back from Ducky with an apologetic small McGee smile; and almost ran from the waiting room; running almost full speed as she rounded the corner; smack into Gibbs who had been returning with his fresh coffee. The Team Leader automatically put out a steadying hand for her. Brought up short by the brick wall she'd just run into; Sara McGee felt her emotions spiraling out of control; despite being in a public place; and quickly took herself out around the wall that was Special Agent Gibbs; and away from the waiting room full of people who her brother loved as family but who had let this happen to him. What was she supposed to tell her parents? Hell, she didn't even know how to reach them? They were on a three week safari for God's sake!