~~Turn The Page~~
Wow, the only place to start is with an apology. I lost the muse with this one for a LONG time and I'm going to try and get the story cranking again. Obviously, the shows plot and the one I designed for this story are totally different but that's the beauty of fiction, lol. Hope someone is still reading...and if you are, it would mean a lot if you'd leave even a short review. Thanks. Also, I apologize for a mistake made in Chapter One. Gibbs was evacuated to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany because it's the closest base to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center where most military men and women are taken care of when faced with serious medical injury while in regions like Iraq and Afghanistan. I thought Ramstein was the hospital...it's not.
~~TTP~~
It was quarter after 1pm and Reggie had just finished getting briefed on the status of her patients. Thankfully they'd lost no one overnight and a couple people were on a very healthy mend. The young woman tried her best not to have favorites, but she'd found in her job, as is so common in life, some people or circumstances worm there way more deeply into your heart. One such example was Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his friends.
Reggie had learned, coming onto this new shift, that Gibbs had improved overnight even if he was nowhere near out of the woods yet. His temperature had decreased into the lower hundreds and his most recent bloodwork showed that the infection's hold was showing signs of loosening , though he had yet to regain consciousness again.
She made her way down the hallway toward his room, putting on a smile as she opened the door, she prepared to give the occupants a warm greeting, but as she stepped through the door the sight she was greeted to softened her smile. The night nurse had mentioned that Tony and Abby had stayed awake all night, waiting for Gibbs to open his eyes and watching his vitals stabilize a little more with each reading. The news hadn't surprised Reggie in the least, nor did the fact that the lack of sleep and the stress of the situation had finally taken its toll on the two.
Tony and Abby lay on their respective recliners, a little jumbled, but soundly asleep. Quietly, she made her way to Gibbs' bed and checked that his chart matched the brief she'd received. Then she went about checking his vitals and his IV bags and lines. She had checked the last line and was reaching for his chart when the ruffle of movement caught her astute eye.
He was awake and looking right at her. Reggie smiled at her charge and turned more fully toward him. "Good afternoon, Agent Gibbs." She said softly. "It's wonderful to see those beautiful blue eyes open." He blinked at her but made no attempt yet to speak. "I'm going to call Dr. LaMont and wake your friends so we don't give them a fright. Agent Gibbs, you don't have to speak if it's uncomfortable and I can't give you any water just yet, but could you please nod if you can hear and understand me without any difficulty?"
Slowly, he nodded and she smiled even more. "Excellent. Thank you. Just lie back and relax for a few minutes while I get the docter, alright?" She gave his hand a squeeze and went out into the hall.
Gibbs now had a clear view of the room and where Reggie had been standing, he could see those 'friends' she'd been referring to. DiNozzo and Abby were sleeping on a couple recliners over by the window. He wondered how long he'd been here, wherever here was. His second thought was why DiNozzo was asleep in a chair intead of running the team. Where was Budd? What about Luke? He knew he'd been shot...and then he could feel it.
The pain was manageable. He didn't know if that was because it wasn't bad or because they had him on some really good drugs. But, if Tony was here instead of at NCIS, it must be pretty bad he figured. And then he moved his head and his vision seemed to move with slow motion...yeah, good drugs.
Gibbs eyes cruised slowly around the room. It was your average hospital room with all the bells and whistles. Movement from the doorway caught his eye and he saw the nurse...Reggie, was it...with a taller man, he assumed was the doc she'd gone to get. At almost the exact same time, he heard a sharp gasp across from his bed. His vision blurred as he moved his head too quickly to look. All he caught was an Abby shaped blur before it collided with white.
Reggie smiled as she walked through the door, turning to move toward Tony and Abby to wake them as she'd said, when she realized that Abby was awake.
Abby opened her eyes and immediately came alert. Gibbs was awake and looking around. She gasped in surprise and joy and leaped...tried to leap, at least, out of the recliner. Unfortunatly, she got tangled in the blanket covering her and when her stocking clad feet met the waxed hospital floor, it was a freshly sharpened blade on an ice rink. This is gonna hurt was the only thought she had as she felt herself start to go down...and then she was upright and staring at Reggie.
"Careful. Tony will lose his mind if he has to look after two of you." Reggie teased, steadying Abby a little more.
"Thanks." Abby breathed, her eyes shooting back to Gibbs who was staring right back at her. "Gibbs." she whispered. She reached over and swatted at Tony's legs but caught nothing but air since she was too far away. "Tony!"
He jerked awake, clenching the arms of the chair. "Wha...Boss!"
Like sychronized swimmers, they moved toward the injured man.
"Whoa, whoa...everyone hold on please." Dr. LaMont halted the semi-dash. He gave them a gentle smile. "I know how much the two of you have been waiting for this but give me a little time to check our patient out and have a chat and then I promise, you can visit for a while. Okay?"
Abby bit her bottom lip, wanting so badly to touch him. She really needed to have that contact with his eyes open; to know that he knew that she was here, but she knew that he needed to be looked over first. She kept her eyes on him as the docter removed the stethascope that was draped over his neck and fixed it in place. She felt Tony's fingers curl protectively over hers.
His vitals taken and satisfactory, Dr. LaMont pulled up a chair and sat close to his patient's bed. "Special Agent Gibbs, my name is Dr. Gordon LaMont. I'm sure you have many questions and I'll do my best to answer them all. While, I can't have you drinking any water at the present time, I understand your throat must be quite dry and probably uncomfortable to talk."
For the first time, Gibbs attempted to speak. A very garbled and scratchy "yeah" eeked out. His head felt so fuzzy. It was hard to concentrate and his world felt like it was running in slow motion.
"Yes, well that's to be expected. Reggie will get you a few ice chips and that should help coat your throat abit and make it more comfortable for you to talk."
Reggie was at Gibbs' side before the docter was even completly through saying it. "Here you are, Agent Gibbs." She offered, extending her hand and offering the ice chips.
Gibbs eagerly opened his mouth, accepting the offering. He closed his eyes and sighed as the chips melted and the cool liquid ran down his parched throat. It disappeared quickly and Gibbs opened his eyes, searching expectantly for more. Reggie turned to the docter, who nodded his consent, directing only that this be the last until they were certain it wouldn't cause any nausea. Seconds later the cool liquid was gone again and Gibbs' looked once more around the room. Abby looked like she was about ready to jump out of her skin and Tony, though doing a much better job of hiding it, looked about two steps behind her. He made eye contact with Tony and nodded slowly at him. He watched his SFA as his eyes registered the unspoken communication and a little of that tension melted from Tony's shoulders. Gibbs then picked his hand up off the bed and crooked his fingers at Abby. The movement was miniscule and most people would have missed it, but Abby was at his side in a flash with those same fingers grasped tenderly in her smaller hand.
"S'okay, Abbs." he croaked. A tear leaked from her eyes but she gave him a huge smile and nodded her head. Gibbs turned back toward Dr. LaMont and roughly tried to clear his throat, finally getting out, "So... what's... the bill,... doc?" The sentence, short as it was, exhausted him.
"First things first, Agent Gibbs, if you'd indulge me?"
"Gibbs...just Gibbs." The older agent rasped.
Dr. LaMont smiled. "Of course. Do you know where you are, Gibbs? You have regained consciousness a couple times since arriving and we have given these small bits of information so I'd like to try and establish if you have any memory of your time here up til now. It's alright if you don't remember." He assured.
Gibbs shook his head. "S'all...foggy."
"Okay. That's okay. It's to be expected. You're at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, just outside-"
"Ramstein." Gibbs finished. Gibbs knew most serious medical evacs out of Iraq and Afghanistan were sent to Ram AFB for admittance to LRMC. He'd been a guest here when he'd been nearly blown to bits during The Gulf. He closed his eyes at the painful memories that time in his life held and a fleeting memory of Kelly danced through the edges of his mind, but it didn't seem right. It wasn't a memory of their life...it was...more recent, but how did that make sense?
"Gibbs?"
Reality clunked back and his eyes met the docter's. "Are you alright?"
Gibbs felt Abby's fingers tighten around his. When he answered, "yeah", he may have been speaking to the docter but it was into Abby's worried eyes that he was looking. "Just zoned out for a second." He said to her, trying to give her a reassuring smirk. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Tony had also edged closer. Gibbs turned his attention back to the doc. "How long have I been here?" he asked.
"Just less than 72 hours now. You remained at the field hospital less than 6 so-"
"S'okay, doc, I think I can do the math." Gibbs replied. His head was starting to clear a little and he was getting slightly uncomfortable. In the last, say, 15 seconds it had occurred to him that his butt was feel a bit numb and it was not a pleasant feeling. Without a lot of thought, he tried to scoot himself up and relieve some of the pressure to his rear. The pain that seared through his middle sent a white flash behind his eyes and he cried out as his eyes slammed closed.
Dr. LaMont leaped forward, putting firm pressure on his chest to keep the older man from moving anymore in his pain while instructing his nurse to administer a proper dosage of morphine into the drip. "Just try to relax your body and breath, Gibbs. The morphine will act quickly." LaMont watched as Gibbs took an obviously hard frought deep breath, the muscles in his neck corded and twitching with his effort to remain still as instructed. "Just breath, my friend, just breath. Relief is coming, I promise you.
At the foot of the bed, Tony's fists clenched open and closed as he watched Reggie push the strong pain relief through the drip. His focus bounced between Reggie, Gibbs and Abby as his friend stroked Gibbs hair. Her mouth moved and he knew she was either praying or soothing...knowing Abby, it was a little of both. He hated feeling so helpless!
Gibbs concentrated on making his body relax; easier said than done. His muscles seemed to have a mind of their own right now. Slowly...so slowly, the pain began to subside to a more tolerable level and Abby's touch and soft voice broke through.
"Breath, Gibbs. It's almost over. Shhhh, just breath...breath."
Reggie reached out, resting her hand on his forearm when she saw his body begin to lose some of its tension. "Good job, Gibbs."
After another minute, Gibbs' eyes opened and he blew a tight breath out through his nose.
"Please try not to move. As you just experienced, you're still very tender."
"Yeah." Gibbs huffed, sweat dripping down his cheek. "No kiddin', doc."
"I'd like to check your wound and make sure you didn't pull any stitches, internally or externally. We'll get you down to have a scan."
"I remember being shot." He was uncomfortable and getting irritated. "Someone wanna tell me what's goin' on?"
"Gibbs, I will answer any question you have, but I cannot stress how imperative it is for us to make sure you've not ruptured your internal sutures." LaMont pleaded with his patient.
"Please, Gibbs." Abby begged. "Please just listen to him. You ave to trust him."
Although the pain had significantly subsided, there was still a burning sensation in his gut and it fueled his irritation. "I don't know him, Abby!" he barked.
"But you know me." She replied gently. "You trust me?"
His eyes softened and the growing irritation fizzled at her tone. The worry in her eyes took the wind from his sails. He nodded.
"Then let them do the tests."
"Okay." He agreed. He looked back at LaMont, his blue eyes hardening slightly. "But I want answers sooner rather than later. Understood?"
"Loud and clear." LaMont turned to Reggie. "Call down and let them know we're on our way. Anything not an emergency can wait."
"Yes, docter. Do you want me to send Donna in to assit in checking his external stitching?"
"No. I'll look down there." LaMont answerd.
Reggie nodded and swiftly left the room.
LaMont began preparing Gibbs and the bed to be mobile. "I can fill you in a bit while we get this done if that's what you want, however, I can't gurantee your privacy as we move through the hospital."
He thought it over. As much as he wanted answers, he didn't want distractions. "You gonna have time after you're done doing this test?"
"Unless I have an emergency, you will have my undivided attention."
"Fine. I can wait." Gibbs conceded, closing his eyes as he felt the morphine pulling him toward sleep.
"Very good then. Thank you for your patience, Gibbs."
Gibbs heard Tony snort and he opened his eyes to glare at his SFA. "Budd better either be dead or in custody for you to be standin' here watchin' me, DiNozzo."
"Dead, boss. The kids are in custody. McGee's got this." Tony told him firmly.
"Don't need you holdin' my hand when there's a job to do." Gibbs added.
Tony stiffened. "It's handled, Gibbs."
"Family first." Abby whispered, trying to diffuse the tension.
Reggie further aided the effort when she reappeared. "They're ready for us, docter."
"Thank you, Reggie."
Two orderlies appeared and took their places, manuvering the bed to be moved out into the hall. Abby stepped up to his bedside. She bent and kissed Gibbs' temple, whispering in his ear, "Be good and don't eat any innocents."
He did smile at that.
"We'll probably be about an hour." LaMont told them as the orderlies pushed Gibbs out of the room. He laid a reassuring hand on Abby's shoulder. "It's just a precaution and I'll send word if we find a problem, so no news will be good news."
She nodded and thanked him as he left the room to catch up to his patient. Abby turned to Tony. "He didn't mean anything. You know how he hates hospitals and not having answers."
Tony nodded, opening his arms to her. "I know, Abbs." He told her as she walked into his embrace. "He's gonna be a bear for awhile. I'm tough enough." He felt her nod against his chest.
TBC...