McGee was staring at the door the doctor had gone through minutes before. He had told Tim he was going to go inform those waiting for an update that he was in a private room. Tim had told him not to bother, that he doubted anyone was out there, but the doctor had been adamant. A part of him wanted the team to come through the door but a bigger part told him if they did it was only because of professional obligation.
As he waited to see if anyone showed he thought back to what the doctor had told him, which was little. He had told Tim his physical injuries had been dealt with, and aside from some physiotherapy, he would make a full recovery. He had also told Tim he was on a seventy-two hour hold, but didn't really say why. He had simply told Tim he was worried about something and that he wanted him to talk to a therapist at the hospital. Tim told himself it probably just had to do with getting hurt on the job, even though it was usually the agency that gave shrink time for things like that.
Tim was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a soft knock at his door. To his surprise it was Ducky and Jimmy. If there was anyone at NCIS that he felt had his back it was them, so he motioned them in with a small smile. Ducky wasted no time in coming up to his bed side and taking his hand while asking, "How are you, Timothy? You gave us all quite a scare back there young man."
He couldn't help the smile on his face growing slightly at the doctors concern. He tried to reassure him, "I'm fine Ducky. Just a little pain and blood loss, nothing I haven't dealt with before."
That was when Jimmy, who Tim thought of as one of his only true friends, spoke out, saying, "Tim! How could you down play fainting from pain, or major blood loss for that fact?" Tim laughed slightly at how excitable Jimmy was, but felt slight comfort from what he hoped was genuine concern. Tim just squeezed the other hand Jimmy had grabbed, trying to comfort his friend.
Tim spoke softly, lying to them, "I'm fine you guys. You don't have to worry. The doctor stitched me up, gave me a transfusion, I'll be as good as new in no time." He tried his best to give them a reassuring smile but it came off more sad and broken to the two other men.
Soon, Jimmy and Ducky were leaving with promises to come back the next day and they were replaced with the crying face of Abby and the blank face of Tony. Abby ran up to his bedside and draped herself over him in a big hug. Tim still cared a great deal about Abby, he would always love her, even if he was no longer in love with her, so he felt bad seeing tears in her eyes. He rubbed her back as she sobbed into his chest and he wondered why she was so sad. Had something happened since the last time he had talked to her?
Even though he didn't stop hugging Abby he looked over at Tony when he awkwardly cleared his throat. He sent the senior agent a questioning look, pushing Tony to actually say something. "Look, Tim, I just wanted to apologize for today. I should have realized you were hurt, and most of all I should have let you point out you were." Tony shuffled his feet as he added, "I'm sorry for taking my bad mood out on you."
He wanted to believe what Tony was saying but he found a large part of his mind telling him Tony was just trying to clear his own conscience, or cover his ass for shirking one of his responsibilities as a senior field agent. He couldn't make himself believe it was because Tony actually cared, but he still didn't want to hurt Tony so he quietly assured the other man, "It wasn't your fault, Tony. There is no reason to apologize." Sometimes he cursed his good nature. He wished he was the kind of person that could make someone rightfully feel bad but it was just in his nature to do anything to comfort those around him, be it someone he knows or even a stranger. He took pride in it but sometimes he still envied those without empathy.
Although Tony could tell Tim was lying he smiled at him and nodded. Even though he wanted to believe Tim held no ill will against him, he doubted it was possible. He had used him as a punching bag for top long for a simple apology to fix things, but he swore to himself that he would properly fix things one day, hopefully as soon as possible. He didn't want to think he was hurting his little brother anymore.
After Abby had let Tim go, with the help of Tony, they left the room, both also promising to visit the next day. The people that came in after them surprised Tim a little, although he figured his boss would have to make some sort of appearance he never thought, in a million years, Vance would be walking through the door. He eventually came to the logic that since he and Director Vance had a good working relationship the man had come to make sure he was okay. Vance had told him he had big plans for Tim in the agency, which was one of the reasons Tim had stuck it out this long, so it was probably in the agency's best interest for Vance to check up on one of the things he saw as an asset. The two older men gave Tim a nod in hello and he returned it somewhat awkwardly.
Vance was the first to speak. "McGee, I hope you are feeling better. I was happy to hear you should make a full recovery from your injuries."
McGee smiled at the Director as he said, "Thank you, Director. I'm feeling much better." McGee felt like he should say something else but could think of nothing to say, so he just looked between his two bosses waiting for something else to happen, or for someone else to talk. Not long after Vance excused himself as he told McGee he expected to get a call if he needed anything. McGee simply smiled and nodded.
As the door closed behind the director Gibbs took the seat next to his agent's bed. McGee looked anywhere other than his boss, so Gibbs was forced to get his attention. "Hey, McGee, look at me." From his instinct to automatically listen to Gibbs, McGee found himself looking over at his boss. After staring at his agent a moment Gibbs continued, "You do know that the team cares about you, right?" There was no response so Gibbs added, "Everyone on the team cares about you, Tim. If we hadn't been so lost in our own damn moods things would have never gotten this bad. I wouldn't have let them." Gibbs willed McGee to understand he was talking about more than just earlier that day but knew he wouldn't, that he couldn't. He had let things slip for too long, and now it was going to be a long way back to fixing it. When Tim still made no response Gibbs let out a sad sigh as he said, "I'm not leaving tonight. Whether you like it or not I'm going to show you that the team is here for you, that I am here for you, Tim."