A/N: Sorry for the delay! The chapter ended up WAY longer then anticipated so I decided to make this a 4 chapter story! I hope no one minds!
OoOoOoOo
It was just a few minutes over three hours since Stella had hung up with the NCIS Agent. Her knees bopped up and down, in perfect synch with Danny's. Flack had taken to pacing the hallway. Only Hawkes seemed calmed; he sat, with a magazine, calmly waiting, only getting up to check with the nurse to find out where in the work-up process Mac was.
Stella looked at her watch for what had to be the twentieth time when a person fairly flew in.
"Mac Taylor," The man spoke, calm yet forceful. He let out a growl when the nurse told him to wait a moment and then turned her back to him. A voice from behind stopped him from snapping.
"Agent Gibbs…" The woman's voice was strained.
Gibbs turned, "Detective Bonasera?"
"Sorry to meet you this way," Stella shook his hand, leading him to where Mac's group sat in waiting.
Gibbs looked her over and could tell instantly she was not one to mess with. The way she held her head let him know that she wasn't one to be walked over.
Stella's voice broke through his thoughts, "This is Detective Don Flack, CSI Danny Messer, and Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, ME."
Gibbs looked the young men over with a critical eye. It was obvious that Flack had risen to Detective at a young age; the determination in his eyes reminded him of Tony. Though he was obviously worried, Danny's eyes held a glint of mischief that Gibbs also associated with his Senior Agent. Hawkes was young, yet he looked older than the other two and there was a fire in his eyes that Gibbs recognized as one saw in his own ME.
"Doctor huh," Gibbs looked the man up and down, "You Mac's doctor or you just an ME?"
"I've looked Mac over once or twice," Hawkes admitted, "He doesn't like doctors though."
"Consider yourself hired," Gibbs responded, turning to face the new person who came up behind him.
"Mr. Gibbs, if you'll follow me," The nurse smiled gently as she noticed the rest of the group looks at her speculatively, "I'm sorry but we can only have one at a time and the doctor would like to speak to Mr. Gibbs."
"Dr. Hawkes is coming with me," Gibbs announced, his eyes showing he wouldn't take no for an answer, "He's Mac's doctor. I trust him."
The nurse hesitated, "Of course sir."
Hawkes raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he followed the NCIS Agent behind the doors that the rest of the team couldn't enter.
OoOoOoOo
"What do you think?" Gibbs asked, staring down at the man who was still unconscious on the hospital bed. They were waiting for the doctor who was waiting on the results from the last test they'd given the patient.
"Exhaustion," Hawkes gave a simple answer, "His file shows he's about ten pounds under weight which considering he was on the lower weight scale for his height isn't a good thing, he's dehydrated, and his body is showing every sign of sleep deprivation. I would talk to Stella but I know since yesterday, I've only seen him sleep for an hour and even then…it was sleep for five minutes and wake for five minutes."
Gibbs nodded his head, looking down at the man with a glower, "Damn it Mac why didn't you call me?"
Hawkes pretended he didn't hear the comment, knowing it wasn't intended for his ears. He pulled a chair closer to the bed and beckoned for Gibbs to sit down.
"How long have you known Mac?" The ME went to stand on the other side of the bed, enabling him to see out the door and window of the room.
"We were in the Marines together," Gibbs surprised himself by answering the question as he sat down. "Why are you an ME?"
"I lost a patient," Hawkes admitted quietly, "The hospital said it was something I did and I was too busy questioning myself to disagree. The ME found that it wasn't my fault but something she was on. I decided I hospital work wasn't for me and here I am."
Gibbs nodded in understanding, glad that the man had seen fit to be honest and not hedge on the whys of things. He looked the man over again, wondering if he was going to complain about the way he was abruptly 'hired' to be Mac's personal physician. As if reading his mind, the man spoke.
"As I said before I've looked Mac over a couple times after cases," Hawkes met Gibbs eyes, "I've even looked over the other three. Mac trusts me enough to listen but I doubt he'd trust me enough to come to me for something as simple as a cold. I'm still a licensed physician so I can prescribe meds. If you want me to be his personal physician I require a few things."
"I'm listening," Gibbs stated.
"Mac must come to me," Hawkes folded his arms, "I don't care how you get him to do it but I will not shove myself on him." Gibbs nodded his agreement and Hawkes continued, "I will only talk to you with Mac's approval. I assume I'll get it for a little while but if at any point he takes the approval back, I won't say a word to you."
"And if he tells you not to tell me that he got shot?" Gibbs questioned.
"If he's unconscious, you're his emergency contact," Hawkes noted, "I suggest you change that to next of kin. Otherwise there are three more people in the waiting room who would love to help. My last condition is this: you get Mac to listen to me. I'm not talking about all the time; I'm talking about at major points such as this. As his doctor I want to put him on an eating and sleeping regimen that I will oversee; however, it's your responsibility that he listens to me."
Before Gibbs could answer the ER doctor walked in, "Can't say it's good to see you again Gunny."
Gibbs eyes narrowed, "Dr. Ellison; didn't think you'd still be here."
"Officially I'm a surgeon, I belong on the fourth floor," The Doctor smiled, "I was asked to come down because my name was on a patient's file from five years back and well…here I am."
"You know each other?" The ME couldn't stop the question from coming out.
The doctor jumped slightly, "I was the doctor on Taylor's case five years ago when this happened last time. I was called to see if I had any suspicions as to what could be going on."
"Same as last time," The NCIS agent didn't mince words as he brought the conversation back on track.
"Times ten," Ellison agreed, "He's on his third IV. We've found no head trauma. He's out right now because well, A, he's exhausted, and B, he became highly agitated during our last test and since we'd already confirmed there was no head trauma I had them administer a light sedative. He's mostly sleeping under his own power at the moment."
"What's the treatment plan?" Hawkes asked, allowing the doctor in him to take charge.
"I'm sorry, you are…?" Ellison looked him up and down.
It was Gibbs who answered, "Mac's personal doctor. I asked him to join us."
"Right," The surgeon relaxed, "The plan is the same as last time. We'll keep him here for a couple days; make sure there's no lasting damage. We'll keep him on an IV so we can keep fluids in him. Gunny, with you here, I'm sure you can talk him into taking something light to help him sleep if he needs it." Seeing Gibbs nod the doctor continued. "His blood pressure is up but that could be due to the strain on his body so we'll…you'll, have to keep an eye on that. He has a slight fever, just a few points above normal, so we gave him something for that. We also gave him an antibiotic as a precautionary measure."
As the doctor finished up he noticed the Gunny was looking, not at him, but at the other doctor in the room so he did the same. Hawkes was nodding and looking thoughtful.
"I'd like to see his other file," The man admitted before turning to the visiting agent, "Dr. Ellison is doing everything he can. I want to see the file to simply look it over so I have an idea of what I'm looking at. I agree with the treatment plan though."
Gibbs nodded his head, "Thank you Dr. Ellison."
"He's gonna be fine Gunny," Ellison assured the man, "I'll check on you all later."
"Thank you," Hawkes watched the man leave the room before settling back in his spot.
OoOoOoOo
Hawked waited twenty minutes before mentioning that someone should go out and tell the group what was going on. Gibbs let him go, not budging from his spot.
As Hawkes walked back in, Gibbs was holding the still sleeping man's hand, "You were in the Marine's together?"
Gibbs nodded, not letting go, "He was a Second Lieutenant, fresh out of Officer Training. I was a seasoned Gunnery Sergeant."
"Hard to think of Mac like that," Hawkes responded to the silence. "What was he like?"
Gibbs hesitated. This wasn't something he'd ever shared. In fact, he knew that Mac had shared with only one person; his wife. Gibbs was tempted to just keep quiet but seeing that the other man seemed to care less about getting an answer and looking truly interested and not just being nosey he didn't see the harm.
"He was new." Gibbs chuckled. "He thought he knew everything like all new officers. He was made to be a Marine; I thought for sure he'd be a lifer. I was his Gunnery Sergeant for about three months." The only sound from the other man was the rustling sound of his getting comfortable against a wall. Gibbs waited before continuing, "He messed up and I had nothing to lose. I knew the Captain in charge of Mac. Hell, I'd been the man's Gunny for two years so I knew how he dealt with screw ups. I also knew Mac wouldn't handle it well. Every Marine handles things differently and Mac already felt bad since a man had gotten hurt; nothing major but hurt none the less. I knew the Captain's anger wouldn't help him so I took the blame."
"You what," Hawkes couldn't help himself. He glanced between the two friends in shock.
"I was his Gunnery Sergeant. I should've been paying attention," Gibbs shook his head in memory, "Everyone knew it wasn't really my fault. I can only do so much but I took the heat. Mac felt worse which my intention wasn't but…I transferred out a month later and retired from the Corp a year and half later."
"And you two kept in touch?" Came the question for clarification.
"I had a family at one point," Gibbs voice hardened, "He came when he heard that they'd died. Then he came when he heard I was leaving the Marines. Then he came when he heard I had made Senior Agent at NCIS. It was my turn to go when I heard about the bombing at the barracks and when he got married. We stayed in touch. Claire called me when this happened last time. We lost touch shortly after 9/11. We were both too busy."
Hawkes slipped out without a word, understanding the man needed some time. He wondered briefly why the man had told him everything. He was about to head to the waiting room when a voice called him back in.
"As his doctor you need to know what I told you," The man read his mind. "You'll understand why after awhile."
Hawkes nodded, "The rest want to see him."
"Give me a few minutes," Gibbs answered.
Hawkes nodded again as he went to the waiting room. He told them to wait ten minutes and then they could go back one at a time. It was all he said as he waited to see what the day would bring.
TBC…
