AN- I love reviews so much and all of you guys made my day! I'm sorry this is so late, school has taken over my life and I didn't have much time to write. This is actually shorter than all of the other chapters, but if I had made it longer you guys would have had to wait for a while longer. I don't own NCIS. Yet. I don't own NCIS yet.
Gibbs burst into the building with Shannon trailing behind.
"Calm down, Jethro, we don't even know what happened!" she attempted to reason with him. He didn't acknowledge that he had heard her though, only continued to quicken his pace and plow through people.
"Where's Tony DiNozzo?" he demanded the young nurse sitting at the front desk while simultaneously sending her his best glare.
She looked rather annoyed to be interrupted until she looked up from her computer and saw his face. She seemed to flinch involuntarily under the gaze and then blush at her lack of self control.
"Sir, I cannot disclose that information without some sort of proof you are family." She forced a very fake smile and straightened out her back to make herself appear taller. Gibbs' features contorted with annoyance making Shannon scared of the scene that was about to happen. The thought occurred to her that maybe she should even try to stop him, but then she remembered two things. One, she was just as worried about Tony as Gibbs was. Two, this was Gibbs they were talking about. Not exactly the sensible, listen to someone else kind of guy.
Shannon looked on with amusement and slight embarrassment as Gibbs reached down into his pocket and pulled out his badge. He slammed it onto the counter with considerable force, producing a loud bang. Multiple people around the room pulled their heads out from the magazine and glanced around curiously.
"I don't think you understand. I will see Tony DiNozzo," he snarled through clenched teeth.
"Only if you are here to arrest him will you be allowed to enter into his room," she replied stubbornly.
"Tony is a witness to a crime and I must speak to him immediately," Jethro lied without hesitation.
The nurse seemed to consider his words with hesitation. "Fine. His room is 218 on the second floor. You cannot put him under any pressure, do you understand?" the nurse asked sternly but it was too late, he was already nearly running to the elevator. Shannon shot the lady an apologetic glance even though she had been irritating before running to catch up with her husband. The elevator was painfully slow and the cliche elevator music was an insult to the serious mood. When they arrived on the waiting room on the second floor Gibbs was out before the doors had fully opened. The first thing he noticed was the football players that he assumed to be Tony's friends. When they saw him they jumped up and walked over briskly.
"A doctor went to get an update fifteen minutes ago and he still hasn't come back," one told him and he appreciated him cutting to the chase. He recognized the voice of the young man and he realized he was the one who had called to alert him of what happened.
"I'll be right back, I know his room number," Jethro told them before going the way the sign directed without waiting for a response. When he got into the overly bright hallway he singled out the one room where at least fifteen members of the hospital staff must've been stationed. His gut turned and he knew that was Tony's room. Shannon, who was pursuing her spouse as best she could without running, must have come to a similar conclusion with her own gut because a gasp escaped her lips. He rushed forward and attempted to push through everyone, but a security guard effectively stopped him.
"You cannot go in there. There has been a few complications, sir. You have to stay in the waiting room." her voice commanded. Seeing that his eyes were focused on the room and didn't seem to acknowledge her holding him back she asked, "Sir, are you alright?"
Gibbs either didn't feel the need to answer or he wasn't listening, but Shannon decided to step in.
"Jethro, come on. We have to wait a bit," she said calmer than she felt. She gently took his arm and lead him away from the commotion, after smiling at the security guard to keep her from calling someone to check on Gibbs. He still hadn't said anything and Shannon was nervous that he was shutting down the same way he had when Kelly had gotten a high fever and been hospitalized last year. "Jethro you have to talk to the other boys remember?"
He nodded and ran a hand down his face before entering into the waiting room where the football players eagerly jumped to there feet to receive the news.
"They won't let me in, and all they would say is that there was complications." Gibbs told them without emotion on his face or in his voice. They seemed to deflate with the uninformative report and they sat back down in the chairs.
"We called his dad, but we couldn't get past his assistant. Apparently he was in a meeting," the one who had talked before informed him. Gibbs clenched his jaw and curled his hands tightly into fists, but was not surprised. He had long established a hate for Senior and no longer expected to ever care about anything unless it would get him money or power.
"Okay, we'll just have to wait here for a bit. Don't worry Tony will be fine," Shannon stepped in seeing that her husband wasn't going to answer. She took one of the awful chairs beside Tony's friends while Gibbs paced restlessly.
After twenty minutes Gibbs was still waking back and forth in the small space between the wall and the table that held random magazines of hobbies no one had. There was still no word and worry clenched at Gibbs' heart. Something was definitely wrong, and eventually he would lose self control and he would find out himself no matter who tried to block the doorway.
After an hour Gibbs was on the verge of breaking something. The medical smell of the hospital seemed to increase with every breath until he had to breath through his mouth. The white walls seemed to be getting brighter and the lights more blinding. He took a deep breath and centered himself. Tony would be alright, he would make sure of it.
Time stretched by and the other people in the room slowly left as there reasons for being there were solved. But they stayed. And then nurses left and new ones arrived. But they stayed.
After three hours Gibbs couldn't take it anymore. He was going to find out what was happening in that room no matter who told him he couldn't. He left the room with quick strides with Shannon jumping up to keep up with him. But she couldn't come with him. He was prepared to shove his way through security guards if needed and he couldn't have his wife with him when he was.
"Shannon, I need you to stay with Tony's friends." She opened her mouth to protest, but Gibbs sent her an emotional look and she knew that he needed to be alone.
"Alright, but promise you tell me what's happening as soon as you find out what's happening."
The corners of his mouth turned up at his beautiful, concerned wife and nodded once. She shot one last look down the hallway even though she couldn't see Tony's room, before turning around.
Once she was gone Gibbs took a deep breath and continued down the hallway. Outside of room 218 there was no one and he felt relief flood through him, taking it as a sign Tony was doing better. He jogged down to the room and flung open the door and took in everything at once. There was a doctor and two other nurses moving around Tony whose heads shut up upon his unexpected arrival.
But what drew his attention was Tony. He was unconscious, but even in sleep lines of pain were evident on his face. His skin lacked its usual olive color, instead very pale and unhealthy looking. His leg was not in a cast but elevated and the doctor seemed to have been studying it. One of the most appalling thing, though, was that he was in restraints.
"Why is he in those?" he demanded.
"He was seems to have a fear of hospitals. If he moves around, like he was before, he could very easily cause extended damage to his leg." the doctor replied, obviously confident he had made the right choose. Gibbs immediately took a disliking to this man.
"Why is this taking so long? He's been here for hours and still does not have a cast." Gibbs asked.
"There has been a complication. We are nervous to do surgery even though it is necessary. We are concerned about the surrounding nerve endings and blood vessels. Surgery might make any damage worse which could cause partial paralysis to his leg."
Gibbs took in the information slowly. He couldn't imagine Tony without full movement of his leg. He was obsessed with sports and moving in general, he said that's how he did his best thinking. He would be miserable with paralysis, no matter how partial.
"What can you do?" he asked not so angry anymore now that other emotions had overpowered his rage.
"We will take him into surgery in the next half hour. We will be as careful as possible, but I wouldn't be too optimistic. We need you to leave now so we can prep him."
He nodded slowly before leaving the room to tell Shannon the news.
Would you guys rather me take longer to write a chapter or have me just post slightly shorter chapters? Please review and you can always tell me what you want to do with the next chapter!