Ducky held Abby around the waist as they walked back to Ziva's room. Abby gave blood as often as was permitted by her doctor. She'd fudged it a bit this time; she'd given blood only a month earlier, but she figured this was a bit more important. "Ducky, I don't feel too good." she mumbled, munching on her cookie, which of course, was stale
"That is why you don't give blood any more frequently than about fifty days, dear," he stopped at the vending machine, buying her something to drink. He didn't think apple juice and a cookie were going to be enough for her. They didn't have her beverage of choice though, "Will you drink chocolate milk, or are you too addicted to your caffeine?"
"Chocolate is an absolute good, Ducky," she decided, knowing it was probably better for her anyways, "There's no problem on Earth that cannot be solved by chocolate!"
She drained the bottle quickly, before running over to the garbage to throw it back up, "Well, except that Abigail. I don't think chocolate is the best solution for that!" he patted her back, leading her to the drinking fountain to rinse her mouth, "I'm sure that Ziva will appreciate what you have done for her, but I don't think that she would want to see you do this to yourself. Perhaps you should tell someone about this?"
"No!" she snapped, "Its my dog's fault she got hurt! And she needs that blood, Ducky. She needs it more than I do."
Ducky sighed, holding the door open for her, "You didn't know, dear. There was nothing you could have done differently."
"How do you know?" she asked him, her eyes begging for an answer
"Because if you could have, you would have."
Ducky and Abby found the others sitting alone in Ziva's room. The bed where she'd been resting was now vacant. Abby worriedly ran up to Gibbs, "Gibbs? Where is she? What happened?"
"They took her into surgery to fix her wrist," Gibbs explained trying to calm her down, "The doctor said her vitals are good, and she was strong enough to have the surgery today. They even moved it up." he ran his hand soothingly along her arm, "She just went down a few minutes ago, so it might be a while."
Ducky sat with them, "That's reassuring. They would not have risked taking her back to surgery if she weren't doing well."
McGee came over ,wrapping Abby up in his arms, "She's fine. When she was awake, she seemed fine. She even made fun of me and Tony."
"Well," Tony thought about what to say for a second, "Making fun of you doesn't take that much energy. Me on the other hand, requires precision, cunning, wit..."
"All things you lack, DiNozzo," Gibbs teased
Tony glared at his boss, "Ha ha, very funny." he turned back to Abby, "She's doped up on morphine too, so she's not hurting or anything." he assured her
Abby nodded, not quite convinced, "Okay." she shakily rose from McGee's arms, in one of her squatting hugs, or 'squgs'. She stood too quickly, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. Reaching out to steady herself, she grabbed McGee's collar, gagging him
"Abby!" he rasped
"Sorry!" she let go, squeezing him tightly, before stopping abruptly "Which is easier to breathe? Being choked or squeezed?"
"Um...choked I guess?" he had no idea how to respond to that, but he knew that her hug, if nothing else, would make her feel better, "Are you okay Abbs? You seem a bit shaky." he worriedly gazed down at her
"Abigail gave blood only a month ago." Ducky sighed, "The poor girl insisted on donating though, fabricating medical documents and putting herself at risk."
"Abby..." Gibbs admonished gently, "Health before helping, okay? Ziva'll be fine; she's got doctors and nurses watching her every second. Worry about yourself, that's all you need to do." he knew the hardest thing for Abby to do was nothing. And even if it meant sacrificing her health, she'd gladly help a friend.
"Gibbs is right," Tony told her, "He usually is. That's probably why he hits us so much."
An hour later, Ziva was moved back into her room. The group stood up and happily greeted their unconscious friend. Her injured hand, now wrapped securely in soft padding, lay limp at her side. The doctor got her settled in before addressing the group, "Thankfully, nothing was broken. She did have some damaged tendons, and the tissue will take a few weeks to heal. It might take a few weeks or months, but she will probably regain full use of her hand."
Relieved, they stood over her bed, watching her sleep. Abby was ecstatic, "So, she's gonna be okay?" she asked hopefully
"Well, her hand should be. As for her throat, we just don't know yet," he explained, "There are too many variables right now. But she's doing pretty well considering all she's been through. She won't wake up for another hour or two at the earliest. Why don't you folks go home, get some rest."
"Nah, who need sleep?" Tony asked, giving Ziva a peck on the cheek, "She does, obviously. But we're good."
"I concur, but I really should get going," Ducky sighed, placing a get well card under Ziva's pillow, "I need to see if Jimmy has successfully finished his final essay. I promised I would help him with the subject; 'the effects of narcotics on one's metabolic rate'. I think he will do well, he needs to give himself a bit more credit. I hope you get better dear, and I will visit you first thing tomorrow."
McGee put an arm around Abby's shoulders, "See? She's okay." he held Ziva's uninjured hand, rubbing small, slow circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, "She's not in any pain, at least not now. The doctors are watching her round the clock, so if you want to get some sleep, I'll drive you home?" he offered, "You can't do much for her now anyways, plus you could use some down time."
"Yeah, maybe..." she considered the idea of going home to a nice warm casket, but at the same time she was reluctant to leave Ziva's side
"Abbs, go home," Gibbs ordered gently, "You're not doing her any good just standing there worrying. Go home, get some rest, and give yourself some time to recover." off of Abby's sad, pouty expression he added, "I'll call you once Ziva's awake."
"Okay, pinky swear?" she held out her hand to Gibbs, her pinky raised. Gibbs looked at her strangely for a moment, "Come on, Gibbs! Promise me!"
Gibbs chuckled, "We're not in kindergarten, Abby." he took her pinky anyway, giving it a firm, strong shake, "I swear."
Later that night, only Tony and Gibbs remained standing vigil at Ziva's bedside. She hadn't woken up yet, even now, three hours after coming out of surgery. They were beginning to worry, but kept telling themselves and each other that this was for the best, and that she needed every second of sleep she could get.
Gibbs stood up, stretching his legs out, "I'm going for coffee, you want some?" he offered. Tony looked at him incredulously. "Yeah, I just offered, do you want some or not?"
Tony nodded, "Sure, I could use a boost. I'll keep an eye on her until you get back."
"Don't bother," Gibbs hit the call button on the wall, "She's up."
Ziva was awake, if you could call it that. Her mind was still a bit hazy, and she felt weak and drained. She looked around the room, smiling when she realized she wasn't alone. She almost spoke, before remembering the dreaded tube down her throat. Instead, she simply waved at them.
Gibbs and Tony waved back, grateful to see her, "Morning, Ziva." Tony checked his watch, "11:59, almost morning." he corrected
Gibbs sat back down, deciding coffee could wait. He noticed her eyes watering a bit, "You sore?" she nodded eagerly in response, "We called for the doc, he'll be here soon." he promised her, wiping her tears away
"On a scale of one to ten, how bad's the pain?" Tony asked worriedly. She held out her thumb, "One. That's good, or at least not as bad as it could be."
Gibbs smacked him, "That's a ten, DiNozzo! She only has use of one hand, remember?" he walked briskly to the doorway, "Where's the damn doctor?"
Tony sat on the edge on her bed, "Hang in there," he wiped a few more tears from her eyes, "I know its bad, but just be strong for a minute, okay?" he felt a bit silly telling her this; since when was she anything but strong? He wiped away more tears, both hers and his, "It'll be okay, Ziva. Just hold on."
AN: Relax, I won't kill anyone...or will I? Mwahaha! I know, evil. Guilty as charged. Next chap will be up within the week (faster if you review)!