Tony paused at the door to Zivas' hospital room, slightly scared about what he would find there.
Plucking up his courage, Tony opened the door and crossed the room to Zivas bed. He gasped slightly at the sight he was greeted by.
Ziva was asleep. Resting against the cushions on the bed, she had a cut running down her cheek, with bandages covering most of her body and IV lines hanging out of her arms.
Tony sat by her side.
"Oh Ziva. Who could do this to you?"
Gibbs poked his head into the room.
"Dinozzo. You're on protection detail. Take care of her. We'll catch the bastard who did this to her. And you and Abby can help me kill them."
"Yes Boss."
"Let me know when she wakes up."
"Yes Boss"
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Tony sat by Zivas bedside and waited, for uncounted hours, for Ziva's awakening.
He heard a soft moan. Then…
"No… Stop it… You are hurting me… No!!"
"Ziva. Ziva! Wake up. You're safe. It's OK. They're gone."
"T-Tony. Where am I?"
"You're in Bethesda. I found you today, or yesterday, naked in the alleyway, next to a dead marine. He apparently was killed by a,"
"Knife thrust through the neck."
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Because I put it there, while he was trying to," Ziva seemed to choke on her words. She swallowed and tried again.
"While he was trying to rape me." She finished of in a rush, tears threatening to fall.
"Oh Tony. It hurts. It hurts so much!" wept Ziva, giving in to the tears that had been threatening to fall since she woke.
Seeing Ziva cry broke Tonys' heart and he pulled her into a hug, forgetting the nurses warning until,.,.
Ziva flinched, memories of the attack and rape making her incapable of accepting Tonys' friendly embrace.
Tony felt Ziva flinch and the kind nurses words flowed back to him.
She may respond differently to physical contact.
"Tony. I am sorry. I did not mean to.." Gasped Ziva.
"It's Okay Zi. I should let you rest now anyway."
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Tony stepped outside the hospital to call Gibbs.
"Gibbs"
"Hey Boss. It's Tony"
"What is it Dinozzo?" Growled Gibbs.
"You can stop looking for the Marines killer."
"Why?"
"It was Ziva boss. She stabbed him as he was trying to rape her."
"That bastard" exclaimed Gibbs.