Disclaimer - Not mine...don't own them, just like to borrow them for my own amusement from time to time...

Chapter 6

Both Tony and Gibbs stood as Ziva's doctor came down the hallway and approached the two men. An hour earlier, Tony had been told by one of the nurses that Dr. Hanson would be out to speak with them shortly. The two men paced as the waited in silence. They were growing more impatient with each passing minute, especially since Ducky hadn't joined them yet. He had been stuck in traffic, but had called a few minutes earlier and said that he should be at the hospital shortly.

"I'm sorry, Agent DiNozzo, there was an emergency elsewhere that I had to attend to." Tony nodded.

"How's Ziva? Can I see her?"

"She's resting comfortably at the moment."

"But is she okay?" Tony asked in frustration. The doctor motioned that they should sit down. Both Tony and Gibbs choose to stand.

"She's stable for the moment. We think her diaphragm may have been bruised in the fall, hence the trouble breathing."

"But your not sure that's the only thing that's wrong," Tony replied, immediately realizing what the doctor wasn't saying.

"It could be the only thing that's wrong, but no, we are not sure. I think it necessary to consider performing an exploratory surgery of her chest and abdomen, just to be sure that there isn't a tear in the diaphragm, or some kind of internal bleeding that we don't know about yet."

"In all likelihood, that type of surgery would cause her to miscarry, correct?" Gibbs asked, narrowing his eyes. He had a pretty good idea already of the answer and he didn't like the fact that the doctor choose to leave that bit of information out. He could tell by the doctor's expression that he wasn't expecting that to be addressed at the moment. The doctor cleared his throat before answering.

"Yes, there is a very good chance that if we do the surgery, the pregnancy will no longer be viable. But if there is internal bleeding that we are not aware of and its not stopped, the result would be fatal."

"So," Tony began. "Let me get this straight, you want to do a surgery, that you aren't even sure is necessary?" he continued, his voice growing louder. "But the one thing you are sure of, is that that the baby won't survive it?"

"Officer David is still young and her overall health is good. After she's had a sufficient amount of time to heal, she will be able to have more children." Tony shook his head and looked over at Gibbs. For once, Gibbs was speechless.

"What did Ziva say about all this?" Tony asked quietly. He could tell by the doctor's face that Ziva had no idea. "Excuse me," he said gruffly. He pushed past the doctor and headed towards Ziva's room. Just as he reached Ziva's door, he turned around and called down to Gibbs.

"Call Ducky again and fill him in. I have a feeling we are going to want a second opinion."

Tony entered Ziva's room as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb her. He shut the door carefully, knowing just the slightest of sounds could wake her.

"We will need a second opinion about what?" Tony almost jumped at the sound of Ziva's voice. He was trying so intently on shutting the door without a sound, that he didn't take the time to think that Ziva could already be awake.

"I'm sorry Ziva, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Its okay, I've been awake." She tried to sit up, but thought better of it as the middle of her body ached in protest. "What's the judgment?" she asked.

"I think you mean verdict, Sweetcheeks," he said with a smile on his face. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "That's what I came in here to talk to about. Dr. Hanson thinks that the reason that you were having a hard time breathing earlier is that you bruised your diaphragm in the fall. From what I can tell, that kind of injury is going to make it painful to breathe for awhile." Ziva nodded and studied Tony's face.

"What aren't you telling me, Tony?" Tony smiled as he sat down in the chair next to her bed and took one of her hands into his own.

"You've always been to tell when I was hiding something haven't you? Even when I was undercover for so long, you could always tell that there was something more going on, something I wasn't telling you."

"Tony," she said, growing frustrated. "Just tell me." Tony nodded and took a deep breath.

"Dr. Hanson feels that there is a possibility that you could have torn your diaphragm or that there is internal bleeding that the doctors haven't discovered yet. He thinks that it would be best if he were to do exploratory surgery of your chest and abdomen, just to be sure that there isn't anything more going on."

"And a surgery like that would affect the baby how?" Ziva asked, even though she already could sense his answer.

"In all likelihood, the baby wouldn't survive the surgery," he finished quietly. Ziva nodded and took a deep breath.

"Then I won't agree to it. Not until we have Ducky's professional opinion."

"Are you sure Ziva? I mean, the doctor said that if there's internal bleeding going on and its not stopped, it would be fatal!"

"That may be, but I've had internal bleeding once before, after I was injured while on a mission for Mossad. This doesn't feel the same as it did then."

"So what are you saying...we wait?" he asked solemnly. She nodded.

"We wait...and hope for the best."

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