I don't own NCIS, wish I did. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 3
"I'm on my way. Are you at Bethesda? Are you hurt?"Gibbs asked as he started his pickup and was pulling out of his drive way.
"No, I'm at George Washington University Hospital. I'm in the NICU waiting room. I'll explain everything when you get here."
He sat there alone and waited for someone to come out with more information about his daughter. No one else was in that tiny, well used room. Was she going to be OK? Was that the only time he was going to see her alive. Would his only memory of her be of her limbs shaking and alarms going off just seconds after he touched her. He couldn't help but wonder if he was somehow responsible for what had happened in there. "Please God, let her be alright" he prayed silently. He had to calm down. There was so much to do it was overwhelming. He was going to have to man up and coming clean with Gibbs was just the beginning. That thought alone was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. He looked up and could see his boss coming down the hall. All of a sudden he felt like a teenager about to tell his dad that he had got his girlfriend pregnant on prom night.
"Tony.."
"Boss I.." he interrupted. Only to be interrupted himself by the door to the NICU opening and Dr. Hill and Ms. Thurman coming out.
"Mr. DiNozzo, would you like to talk here or go someplace more private to discuss your daughter?" a solemn asked Tony. At that statement Gibbs eyebrows rose and he eyed his senior field agent carefully. Tony had some explaining to do and soon.
"Here is fine, this is my boss and he will end up knowing about everything anyway. Saves me from having to repeat myself. I hadn't had a chance to tell him about the baby so I'm sure he wants to know what is going on. …Boss I promise I will explain everything about this mixed up mess in detail in a few moments" He then introduced everyone and sat down. To his surprise Gibbs and Ms. Thurman already knew each other. He would have to ask him about that later.
"First let me say she is still breathing on her own and is stable for now. Premature infants sometimes have trouble with hypoglycemia. I won't go into details of how it all works. But that is what we believe caused the seizure. There can be some other potentially life threatening causes of seizures, but right now we don't believe those are the cause. We will monitor her blood sugar closely but it should get better as she puts on a little weight and grows a little. Why don't we go back in and I can explain what we are doing with her. It would probably be easier if you can see the equipment as I explain it. "
"Doc, can you give us a few minutes so I can discuss things with Ms. Thurman and Gibbs. Now that I know she is stable I really need to explain what is going on to Gibbs and ask Ms. Thurman some things."
"Of course, there is a buzzer on the door. Ms. Thurman knows how it works and I will tell the nurses to buzz you in when you are ready. "
"Boss you are never going to believe my evening…" he started nervously as he got out of his chair and started to pace.
"Tony come back and sit down. Now take a deep breath and calm down. Tell me what is going on, although I can probably guess some of it. Now start at the beginning and give me a sit rep."
Tony sat down and did as he was told. Once he started everything just came tumbling out. "… and boss she looks just like I did as a baby. I can tell just by looking at her she is mine. What am I gonna do? I don't know how to take care of a child, much less a newborn."
"It will be OK.. . I will be here to help and so will be a whole lot of other people. Everyone of the team is going to be here to help. She is going to have so many Aunts and Uncles she will be the most spoiled little girl at NCIS. Also I know Ms. Thurman, she will make sure you are well prepared to take care of your daughter before she comes home. I know she comes across as pretty gruff, but she really cares about the kids and is good at her job. Do you know who her mother is?"
"Well boss I have been thinking about that. I have idea. I want to ask the doctor a question though, and have a look at the security tape. Maybe I'll recognize her. Boss how could a mother abandon her baby like that?"
"She loved her enough to give her life, see to it she was in a safe place, and let you know you had a daughter even though she didn't feel she could care for her herself. That took courage to give the baby for adoption or you to raise. It may not be not have been the best way to do things, but your daughter didn't end up discarded in a trashcan or a case we ended up working. Remember that."
Tony sat for a moment absorbing what Gibbs had said and decided it was now a time for action, not just thought. There would be time for that later. "Ms Thurman, I was hoping to make a couple of requests. First, could you approve him to be on the list to see her?"
"I take it that Mr. Gibbs is a father figure for you and that you will be using him for guidance and support. Am I correct?" Tony nodded yes and looked at first her then Gibbs with hopeful eyes. "Then I will approve his being here with you in the NICU. What else did you want to ask?"
"I would like a Dr. Mallard to be kept apprised of the medical end of things. He is the ME at NCIS and a good friend. Our team has sort of become a family. None of us has much in the way of blood relatives and those we do have could have put the dysfunction in dysfunctional family. So we all sort of bonded. We tend to do things together. Heck we even spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together. He is sort of the Grandfather of the group and who we all go to to ask medical advice. Gibbs has become the one we turn to when we need a dad to turn to for advice. Back to Dr Mallard though, he can explain the medical parts of her care in ways that we will understand."
"So you are telling me that these people are part of you support network and you are hoping I will allow them to be here to help you. I'm glad to see you reaching out and asking for help. It is a good place to begin. I will allow him to be kept informed. But remember I will be the one making the final medical decisions until you are granted custody. Are you ready to go in now?" All three of them stood and walked to the door to be buzzed back in. Dr. Hill waited for them at the nurse's desk while a nurse helped them wash their hands and gown up.
As they walked together to the isolette Tony asked, "Dr. Hill I have been thinking about who the mother could be. I was wondering if she could have been conceived about March 25th?"
"That is very possible. If that is the case, that would make her 36 weeks. Her level of development is consistent with a 36 week infant. I take it you are beginning to have suspicions as to when she was made and with whom. Now lets talk about her health. As, I told you before she is breathing well for the most part. She did have a period of apnea when she had the low blood sugar event. Seizure and apnea both are both things that can occur with hypoglycemia. You will notice that she has leads to monitor her heart rate on her chest. Her heart rate is right where it needs to be. You notice the sensor with the red light on her foot, it is to make sure her oxygen saturation is good. Right now hers is 94%. We want it to stay above 90%. We have another sensor taped to her to monitor her temperature. Babies start fattening up about a month before they are born, about a half pound a week. She hadn't started that yet. That fat is important many reasons. It is used by her liver and pancreas as she starts to regulate blood sugar levels. Another way she uses the fat is regulating her body temperature. She is having a little trouble keeping her temperature up. Also something that is not uncommon for preemies. Give her time and all of this will improve. Your daughter has some advantages going for her now. Her heart is healthy, we ran some tests when she was brought in to check for heart problems as it is not uncommon for there to be heart defects in preemies. Also when she had the seizure earlier we checked for any bleeding in the brain, and that was negative. She is not showing signs of infection. There are many complications she could have but right now things look good. She will be here a while, most babies go home about the time they were actually due. Trust us to take good care of her and take care of yourself to. You look exhausted. Go home, eat a meal and get some sleep. If anything changes, the nurses have been instructed by Ms. Thurman to call both her and you. You aren't helping her if run yourself down and make yourself sick. This will take time. I'm glad to see you reaching out for help from family and friends, you will need it. Come back around 9:30 AM and if she still looks good we will see if she is up to you holding her."
"Can I just stay just a moment longer? I won't stay long." Tony reached inside the isolette and stroked his daughters hand as she slept. Even in her sleep she wrapped her tiny fingers around just one of his. It occurred to him that he didn't have a single picture of her yet. He took his phone out of his pocket and snapped some pictures of her including one of her tiny hand holding on to his much larger one. His hands looked huge compared to hers. The nurse took his phone and snapped a picture as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. Lost in thought, he studied the cubicle with all the monitors for her and his gaze stopped on the name card above her bed. It read Baby Doe and that hurt down deep. His daughter was a Jane Doe. It reminded him of the many cases he had worked and now because he had been careless HIS daughter was a nameless Baby Doe. That would never do. He thought of the sweet little girl in the daycare this afternoon. She had hugged him and helped him overcome his fear of children. She had even insisted that he share her snack of grapes and cheese crackers. It was ironic that less than 12 hours later he was a daddy. It would be a good thing to name his daughter after her. He hoped he could raise her to be as thoughtful and loving. He was still wearing the pants with her handprints from this afternoon he mused. And then there was his mother. She looked just like her. His mom had loved him with all of her being. If she were still alive she would have spoiled her grandchild rotten. It would be appropriate to name her after his mom. "Ms Thurman may we give her a name instead of her being a Baby Doe, that is really bugging me."
"What do you have in mind?"
"I was thinking Esther Elizabeth. Esther was another a little girl I met today and Elizabeth was my mother's name."
"I think that is a wonderful idea."
The nurses took the old card down and made out a new name card. Tony was given the privilege of hanging the new one above her bed and with one last touch to her hand he stepped back from his beautiful daughter. He was preparing to leave when he realized Gibbs had not followed him. He saw Gibbs still standing next to her and looking at her closely. Gibbs stroked her cheek and touched her soft hair then leaned over and whispered quietly to her "Don't worry little one, I"ll take good care of your Daddy until your well enough to go home with him" Tiny blue eyes opened and looked intently into Gibbs before gently drifting closed. Gibbs stepped out of the door of the NICU with Tony. "DiNozzo, grab your go bag out of your car, your coming home with me. "
A/N: I have been asked how often I intend to post by several people. Well the answer is I hope to post a couple of times per week, maybe more if things go really well. I have 3 children at home so everything depends on real life, with them taking priority. Have to treasure them while you have them, they grow up so fast. Thank you for all the interest in my story. I would love to hear from any of you, so send me a note if you have any suggestions.
