Abby screamed. Although, some might say it was more like a strangled sob.
Then she turned her dark, cold, accusing eyes on to the rest of the team, ready to tell them again that she was right. They should have invited Tony. But she didn't get to.
Gibbs took one look at the Director and realised that Tony's condition wasn't good. For a split second, his face revealed his hidden anxiety that the man he considered like a son might not make it; before his mask was slipped back on and he stormed to the elevator.
The rest of the team were following close behind him, although it could have been debated that Abby was in front of Gibbs by the time they got to the elevator.
Director Shepard looked on as they rushed to go see their injured friend â yes, friend. Even though she knew deep down before, it was clearer now that if Tony wasn't to come back to NCIS, Gibbs' team would be devastated and would never recover. As Director of NCIS she didn't want that to happen as they were the best team in the Agency, but as Jenny Shepard she didn't want to see the small group of people she considered friends break before her eyes.
The elevator doors 'dinged' and another Agent came out of it, spurring her to stop thinking of the worst and go back to work.
Gibbs and the team arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later â 15 minutes cut off the expected arrival time. Gibbs lead the way to the receptionist with a very determined look on his face, while the others struggled to keep up with his increasingly fast pace. Abby, however, was matching his pace the whole way.
The nurse at the desk looked up at the close-knit group and raised her eyebrow inquiringly.
"We're friends, or more like family, of Tony, he was in a car accident, and he just has to make it 'cause I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't. He just has to make it." Abby rambled on to the nurse who developed a sympathetic look on her face while listening to Abby.
"What Abigail is trying to say is, Nurse, is that our friend, Anthony DiNozzo, was brought in a little while ago from a car accident. We'd like to get an update on his condition, please." Ducky smiled charmingly at the nurse and explained what Abby couldn't.
"Of course, let me just check."
The nurse typed in something on the computer, most likely Tony's name, and then walked off down the corridor before arriving at a plain white door with a small window close to the top and walking in it. Palmer noticed off-handedly that it was a swinging door.
The team stood in the reception area of the emergency room and waited impatiently for the nurse to arrive with, hopefully, good news on Tony's condition. Unfortunately, when she arrived back less than five minutes later, her face told them all they needed to know, but her words only confirmed their suspicions.
"I just spoke to Dr. Greenfield very briefly. He said that he will come out and speak to Mr. DiNozzo's next of kin as soon as he can, but informed me that he's currently in a very serious condition. The impact of the crash has caused severe internal bleeding which they're going to operate on as soon as possible. Along with the internal bleeding, he has also received a very serious head injury and many minor lacerations. What is most troubling though, is the possibility of spinal damage. Unfortunately, that's all I can tell you at this time. The Doctor will have more information when he comes to speak to you."
After a moment of silence as the team digested what they had been told, Ducky spoke up, "Thank you, Nurse. Come on, folks, might as well go and sit down on the chairs. It looks like it's going to be a long night."
"He's going to be all right, isn't he, Ducky? I mean, it's Tony we're talking about. He always gets injured and he's always all right. He'll be okay, right? And spinal damage! That will kill Tony! Okay, so kill probably wasn't the best word to use, but still. What if he's paralysed? Then what?" Abby rambled on as she sat down on the uncomfortable hospital chair, clearly worried for her friend.
"I'm afraid I can't speculate on Anthony's condition, my dear. But as you said, it's Anthony, he comes back from all of his injuries fighting fit. I'm sure this time won't be any different. In the meantime, why don't we wait for the doctor to speak to us before fretting too much?" Ducky tried to comfort Abby, but didn't particularly succeed at it.
They were beyond comforting.
Half an hour later, a man carrying a folder, not unlike the folders they used at NCIS, walked through the swinging doors that the nurse went through not too long before. As he got nearer to the group spread out amongst the chairs, he tried to work out who might be the next of kin for the poor kid who had rolled through his emergency room. After not finding anyone who had any similarities with the man, he stopped in front of the group and cleared his throat before speaking.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Greenfield, Mr. DiNozzo's -" The doctor was interrupted half-way through his speech, by a young woman who was dressed quite like his young niece; in black.
"Tony."
"Pardon?" The doctor queried.
Abby replied, sadly, "He likes to be called Tony."
"Of course. Well, I'm Tony's doctor and I can see that you're all worried about him, but unfortunately, I can only give information regarding his condition to his next of kin. It says here in his file that a Mr. Gibbs is his next of kin. Would any of you be him or know him?"
As Dr. Greenfield spoke, Gibbs rose.
"That would be me."
"Ah, well, Mr. Gibbs, if you'd like to come with me, I can fill you in on Tony's condition."
"No, whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of everyone. We're family. And it's Agent Gibbs."
"Right, of course, Agent Gibbs. About ten minutes ago, Tony was taken up to surgery to try and get the internal bleeding under control. About three of his ribs were broken, and two more were severely bruised. He has lacerations on his torso and upper arms from the shrapnel of the crash and glass cutting him. None of the lacerations are very serious and were seen to before he went up to surgery. He's also suffering from head trauma, including a concussion. We'll be monitoring it for the next few days to ensure that everything is fine. The head trauma is not as serious as we first thought, which is something to be thankful for." Dr. Greenfield paused to take a breath and take in the looks of each of the people in front of him. They were obviously listening intently to his prognosis of their friend.
The doctor sighed and prepared to give them the bad news, "Unfortunately, his spinal cord from T6 â T10 has quite extensive swelling. We won't be able to determine what sort of injuries, if any, have been sustained to the vertebrae until the swelling goes down. Now, it could just be that there's some swelling and once it goes down, Tony could regain full function. However, the swelling could also be an indication of a more serious, underlying injury. If there is an injury to his vertebrae, he will almost certainly be paralysed. If this is the case, he would still have full function of his upper body, but nothing below his abdomen, I'm afraid."
As he expected, the faces of the people in front of him noticeably crumpled when he mentioned the possibility of paraplegia. He never liked this part of his job.
"When will we know for certain whether there is an injury to his spinal cord?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, it all depends on how fast the swelling goes down. It could be days or weeks, months even. I'm sorry."
Ducky spoke up next, wondering when they could see Tony, "Do you have any idea of when Tony will be allowed visitors?"
"No, I don't, sorry. I can have a nurse come and inform you when he can have visitors. It's likely he will only be allowed one visitor at a time, though."
"Yes, that's fine. Agent Gibbs will see him when he's allowed visitors." At this, the doctor looked curiously at the group, wondering why the other members would be so willingly to let Agent Gibbs see their friend before them.
Abby noticed the look on his face and supplied him with the answer, "Gibbs is the Papa Bear, he'll want to see for himself how Tony is. And he's the one most likely to be able to calm Tony down when he wakes up."
The doctor nodded his understanding, "Another doctor will come out and update you of his condition once he's finished in surgery. And for what it's worth, from the small amount of time I spent tending to Tony, he seems like a strong and stubborn man. I'm sure those traits will help him in his recovery." With those parting words, the doctor took his leave and headed back down the corridor and through the swinging door.
Abby was the first to speak up after the doctor left, "What did we do? He probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for us. You heard the doctor, he could be paralysed! He'll never be able to play football again, or basketball. Oh my God, he won't be able to be an NCIS Agent anymore. They won't let him return if he's in a wheelchair. What have we done, Gibbs?"
"First off, Abs, we can't blame ourselves for what happened. We couldn't have known that the driver was going to run a red light."
"Yes, but he wouldn't have been out there if it wasn't for us!" Abby sobbed.
"Perhaps, but we can't know that the crash wouldn't have happened if he was just going home. We just don't know, Abs. And right now, Tony needs us to be there for him; he doesn't need us blaming ourselves for what's happened."
The others nodded in understanding and there was silence for a moment as everyone took in what the doctor and Gibbs had said. It was going to be a potentially long road for them and Tony, but they had to be there for him, no matter what.
McGee broke the silence first, ''Wh-what if he doesn'tâĤ want to see us?"
"He's not going to have a choice in the matter. One of us is always going to be at his bedside, if at all possible, for the duration of his hospital stay. I'm sure the other agents will also come by and see him as well." Gibbs was adamant that Tony knew that the team cared for him.
Ducky looked at everyone in the group, ensuring that they were all listening to what he was about to say, "Yes, Jethro is quite right. Anthony is going to need us, whether he wants us or not. Having said that, though, we're also going to have to resolve the issue that saw to Anthony leaving the building earlier in quite a state. Remaining unresolved, it will most likely build-up to the point of us losing him."
Abby sniffled and nodded, before slumping back in her chair and curling up in to Gibbs, who had sat back down some minutes earlier.
The rest of the team were identical to Abby, apart from the curling up into Gibbs bit. They were all slumped back in their seats, worried for their friend and thinking about the tough road ahead.