"How ya feeling?" Abby asked, nervously smoothing Tony's blankets and avoiding making eye contact with him.
"I've been better," Tony answered. He shifted to allow himself to see her better and winced at the pain that such a slight movement caused.
"I can't even imagine," Abby said softly, finally bringing her eyes to meet Tony's.
"Abs, I wish I could help, but I genuinely do not remember anything at all," Tony apologized.
"Tony!" Abby whispered loudly, hoping no one had overheard. "I didn't even ask you that. Please don't worry about it, Tony. We'll find Gibbs and everything will work out. The doctor says you can't stress or you may never remember."
"Do me a favor?" Tony asked conspiratorially.
Abby, catching his tone, looked around as if she were making sure the coast is clear. "Anything," she whispered.
"Spring me from this prison so I can help find Gibbs."
"Tony, you have to rest. Your body was pushed to the limit…beyond the limit. You have to listen to the doctors," Abby said quickly, her hands automatically moving to his arms as if to help restrain him if she had to.
"Then do you think you can arrange for something to wear that isn't open in the back," Tony scowled.
Abby giggled. "I thought you were proud of your backside, Tony. Besides, if you stay in bed and rest, no one will be able to see you anyway. Right?"
"Not funny, Abs," he grumbled. He tugged on the corner of the backless hospital gown and retucked it beneath his thigh.
Abby watched him, smiling. Then as she noticed the pain expressed on his face at such a simple movement, her smile changed to a look of concern.
"Tony, I just can't believe what they did to you," she said, her eyes now wet with unshed tears.
"I'm a DiNozzo. I'm a survivor. I'll bounce back, Abs," Tony assured her, choosing to hide his discomfort around a smile just for her.
"I know you will, because I don't know what I would do without you," Abby continued.
"I can't believe I don't remember a bit of it: not who had me or if Gibbs was there or anything. I need to find him, Abs. He's always been there for me, and if the situation were reversed he would [i]force[/i] himself to remember just to save me. And I am sitting here doing nothing to help him."
"Tony, don't say that. Gibbs knows you'd do anything for him. We all would. And you can't beat yourself up about it," Abby admonished.
"Looks like someone else already did a good job of that," Tim said, as he and Ziva entered the room.
"McGee!" Abby jumped up and ran to them. "Got anything for me?"
"We gathered quite a bit of evidence from the place where Tony was dumped," Tim told her.
"Unfortunately, with the exception of what appears to be Tony's blood, I doubt anything we found will lead to much," Ziva informed them, giving Tony an apologetic look.
"Don't say that, Ziva," Abby admonished. She crossed to the other woman and looked her in the eye. "Never underestimate the power of forensics or the determination of a Scuito. Especially when Gibbs' life could be on the line."
"I believe that," Tony added. "You better get back to the lab, Abby."
"I'll be back later, Tony! Get lots of rest and don't try to remember anything!" Abby breezed out of the room, ready to take on the world both to save Gibbs and to avenge Tony.
Once she had cleared out, Tony turned puppy dog eyes to Tim. "Hey man."
"Tony…" Tim replied, knowing the senior field agent wanted something, but leery of finding out exactly what it was.
"Relax, McSkeptical, I'm not asking you to break any laws or compromise your personal integrity."
"Then what is it that you want?" Ziva asked.
"I need to get out of here and back to NCIS," Tony explained.
"No!" Tim and Ziva chorused.
"Tony, you need time to recover," Tim began, "so you can be at a hundred percent when we find Gibbs and it's time to rescue him."
"Get real, Probie; it's going to take a lot longer than that for me to properly heal. There is no reason why I can't sit on my butt at NCIS the same as here. I'm not exactly planning to run a marathon. I just think it would be good to be there at headquarters where you're working the case…just in case something sparks my memory."
"That is actually a good idea," Ziva agreed. "I will see if I can find your doctor and will tell him you are leaving."
"Thank you, Ziva," Tony said, giving her an appreciative smile.
She left the room, ready to plead his case to anyone who might stand in their way. When she returned, the doctor in tow, she gave Tony and Tim a triumphant smile.
"Agent DiNozzo," the doctor gave him a grave look, "while I understand your wish to leave, I really must advise against it."
"I appreciate it, doc, but there's nothing you can do for me here that we can't handle back at NCIS," Tony said. "I'll sign whatever I need to saying I'm leaving against your advice."
"Yes, you will," the doctor agreed, "but I still think you're pushing yourself too far too fast."
"Doctor Murphy," Tim interrupted, "we are definitely taking Tony with us when we leave. Any instructions or medications that you can give to make the situation better will be greatly appreciated, but advice to the contrary will not change our course of action."
The doctor smiled at the three of them, conceding the point. He gave Tony several prescriptions for medications, as well as a two page list of instructions for proper recuperation, including almost complete bed rest.
"Thanks, doc," Tony said. He then swiveled on the bed and prepared to rise, doing his best to hide the anguish that naturally colored his face at the amount of pain the act elicited. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as Tim helped him stand. "Thanks, McWalkingStick."
"No problem, Tony," Tim replied, a smile in his voice.
"Tony, I think I may upgrade you to a five," Ziva said, smirking at the sight of his bare backside in the hospital gown.
"Funny, Zee-vah," Tony said. "If you wanted a glimpse of me naked, all you had to do was ask."
"I will keep that in mind, Tony," Ziva replied, rolling her eyes. He was still DiNozzo – some things never change.