Part Seven. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying it. Welcome new followers. You are all wonderful.

Be lovely, please review, and I hope you survive the hiatus.

Follow me on twitter: vatrask

Enjoy

Ziva bolted awake as a gentle hand and the tempting smell of coffee roused her from her sleep. She found herself lying across Tony's bed, her head resting in the empty space, her hand clasped in his. She must have fallen asleep. Groggily, she looked around until her nose was underneath a steaming cup of hospital coffee—she'd tasted worse—and she took it from Jaqueline gratefully.

"Jaqueline." She took a sip and let the steaming liquid burn her throat gratefully. "I thought you weren't working the day shift today."

"I'm not." The nurse smiled gently, busying herself by checking and rechecking Tony's vitals. Ziva instantly saw the guilty look on her face. "I mean I didn't. I just started my shift. Visiting hours ended about two hours ago." Ziva stood up so quickly that she nearly spilt her coffee but Jaqueline put her hand out to steady her. "Don't worry." She placed her hands on the woman's shoulders. "No one is going to make you leave him." Ziva saw that same flash of guilt in her eyes before the nurse lowered her arms. "You can spend as much time with him as you like."

Now she knew something was wrong. "Jaqueline?"

The nurse refused to meet her eyes.

"Look at me." Her tone might have been a bit too harsh but she'd suddenly woken up to find herself in a world that was significantly dimmer with the loss of the nurse's bright smile. In the months that she'd been visiting Tony, Jaqueline always had a smile on her face regardless of the time or situation. More than anything, it was The lack of her smile that worried her.

"It's not my place to tell you."

Like that was going to deter Ziva from finding the truth. "Please tell me?"

There was only a moment of breath before Jaqueline sighed and looked her in the eye. "I overheard the doctors discussing Tony's condition when I came in. He hasn't improved in the two months that he's been here and…" she winced, sensing the outburst that she was about to witness from the ever calm and collected Special Agent. "They're considering moving him to a long-term care facility upstate."

The words came out in such a rush that Ziva barely had time to process them. Move Tony? Take him away from her? She wouldn't allow it. Her face was turning red, she could feel it, her fists clenching with each passing moment.

Jaqueline held her hands out in a frail attempt to calm her. "But they can't do anything until they speak to the next of kin."

Oddly enough that calmed her. For once, Tony's lack of parental supervision was working in her favour. "His father is out of the country and out of contact." She spoke coolly, holding her breath until she could dispel the last of her anger. "He has no one else."

"He has you."

Oh, wrong choice of words, Nurse Jackie. Ziva's fingers curled and uncurled over and over again.

"I cannot speak on his behalf."

"I think you should be allowed to speak for Tony."

Her head was swirling with implications and the complications and the sheer terror that suddenly filled her. Tony would be moved where she couldn't see him all the time. She had to find his father. She'd been trying for two months to get a hold of him and she honestly didn't know where in the world he was, but he was the only one who could stop the doctors from moving Tony away from her. If he woke up, she was going to force him to make her…

Her eyes widened. Oh god, she'd thought if. As in might not. As though she were accepting his fate when in fact she was not. Not in the slightest. There was no way in hell she was going to let Tony leave her, in any way. If he was going to be stubborn and refuse to wake up, then she would refuse to give up on him.

But what if he gives up on you? There was that damn voice, whispering in her ear, a reminder of what she'd been trying to avoid all these months: Tony might not wake up.

"Like I said, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"I have to go." Ziva faced Jaqueline and pushed the coffee cup back into the nurse's hands, barely thinking about anything, let alone feeling the hot drink slosh onto her skin. She stormed towards the exit—she had to get out—but paused in the doorway, her last bit of sense making her turn around and curtly nod to the nurse. "Thank you, Jaqueline. For everything."

She needed to go; she needed to think.

Ziva was so caught up in her thoughts, consumed by the plague of Tony's possible departure that she didn't hear an emergency bell go off in Tony's room nor did she notice the parade of doctors and nurses rushing in to care for him. The elevator doors closed and she was in silence.