A/N: *Glares at chapter* I had a really hard time writing this chapter. Mostly just the ending of it. I had major writer's block and then I rewrote it a few times. So I hope this isn't complete crap. Thanks again for all the comments and story alerts!
Chapter 7: Ziva's Arrival
There was no getting out of it now. She was sitting there, in Gibbs' car, on the way to the hospital. Hearing those words escape Gibbs' lips, "Tony's awake"; it was like a weight was lifting off of her. She followed Gibbs blindly to his car. Something inside of her was telling her no, trying to stop her from visiting Tony, but her heart was telling her otherwise. And at that moment, her heart was winning.
The car ride was a blur as the Speed Racer-like driving of Leroy Jethro Gibbs came to a stop in the hospital parking lot. The older agent got out of the car and wasted no time making his way towards the door. Although she didn't notice, Gibbs spared her a few glances, making sure she was following—even though there was a large distance in between.
Although Ziva had only been to Tony's room once—not even in his room, outside his room—she seemed to remember where she had to go. Her feet stepped into the beat as they brought her to Tony's room at the same time as Gibbs. She peered into the room and noticed a doctor standing over the bed, blocking her view of the occupant of the room.
Gibbs moved into the room and stood next to Abby. "Well it's about time DiNozzo." Even from where Ziva was standing, she could see the smile that was laid upon her boss's face. The rest of the team was there as well: Abby, McGee, and Ducky. Even Kate was there, and Ziva was not. A pang of guilt hit her stomach as she realized that maybe her actions were not the wisest.
"Hello to you too Boss." The voice was low and raspy. It was hard to hear, but Ziva could hear his voice as though it was clear as day. It drew her in, but still her feet did not move. She stood outside the door and peered in, almost like a starving person looking upon a family eating a turkey dinner.
"Well Special Agent DiNozzo, that'll be all for now." The doctor turned to the rest of the gang. "Don't excite him too much, he still needs to rest." And with that the doctor left the room, moving swiftly past Ziva.
DiNozzo's eyes had been following the doctor as he left the room, allowing his eyes to fall upon Ziva. He smiled at her, although his eyes were still not fully opened. He invited her into the room with a nod of his head. She moved into the room, but only slightly, causing Tony's eyebrows to crease.
"Zee-vah, what's wrong?" This time it was barely a whisper, more the movement of his lips than anything, but Ziva had to smile as he overly pronounced her name in the playful way he usually did.
As the others stared at her, she felt her face flush with embarrassment. What was wrong with her?
"Jethro, why don't we get some coffee?" Although Ducky never drank coffee, he still offered it to Gibbs who every much took him up on the offer. He needed some more coffee in his system, and he happily obliged to Ducky's excuse to leave Ziva and Tony alone.
"McGee, wanna get something to eat?" Abby asked before grabbing his arm and moving towards the door, not even waiting for an answer.
"Kate, you wanna come?" McGee asked harmlessly.
Kate's eyes turned to Tony, who was still staring at Ziva—with an almost unnatural sense of awareness. Her eyes saddened as the moment she had been waited for was no where near her expectations. Slowly she moved her attention back to McGee and Abby and nodded, moving towards them both. She took a glance over her shoulder at Tony before exiting the door, wondering if she would have the one man she truly loved.
Everyone filed out of the room, and Tony suddenly felt tired again. He felt too weak to even move his arm, only being able to wiggle his fingers. His head throbbed and his chest and stomach were on fire, but he wasn't about to tell them that. Between his ignorant belief of hiding his pain—believing it a weakness—and his apprehension towards any kind of pain medication, Tony just shook his head slightly at the mention of medication.
Accompanied with these aches and pains, DiNozzo was completely confused as to how this all happened. Abby had been rambling—extremely fast for his aching head—about how happy she was that he was awake after all that time. But he had no idea how long it had been or why he was even in the hospital. McGee gave him a smile and patted his shoulder as though that said it all—which it didn't. He could see the worry leave his friend's eyes, but kept that information to himself, at least for the time being. Ducky had arrived only a few moments before Gibbs and left just as abruptly.
The strange thing was Kate was standing next to him and Ziva was no where to be found. He hadn't seen Kate in over two years—at least he thought so—and her goodbye was anything but a goodbye. She just up and left, and now she was standing there, watching him. There was a sense of pleasure in that knowledge. He had loved Kate, but did he still? Her departure had created a sore hole in his heart, but had that healed with the arrival of Ziva?
Which led to his next problem. What was wrong with Ziva?
He cocked an eyebrow at her—the one that did not have the healing bullet wound only a few inches above it—knowing that his voice wouldn't carry with the loud steps she was taking as she paced the small room. Tony could tell her eyes had moved towards him at every turn, but she seemed to ignore him. "Ziva." His voice was almost nonexistent.
Her eyes traveled over to his face, taking in all the tired lines around his eyes, the pale features, and the lack of body movement. Her heart ached as she took in everything that she had done to him. This was all her fault and what could she do about it? She should just leave and let him be. It would make everything fine.
Ziva turned towards the door and started for it until a hoarse, quiet voice reached her ears. "Don't!" She turned to look at the owner of the weak voice and noticed that DiNozzo was now sitting up. Almost as quickly as surprise hit her at his sudden movement, he fell back against the pillow. His eyes lay shut, but his lips continued to move. "Don't," seemed to be the only thing that would exit them.
She looked upon him in panic and quickly shook his shoulders slightly, trying not to jar any of his injuries. Eyes fluttering, Tony slowly came back to her again. A smile graced her face as he stared at her.
A fear had run through DiNozzo again, causing him to grab hold of Ziva's arm. The fear of abandonment. Everyone he loved had left him—his family, Kate—and this time, he wasn't about to let Ziva leave. It was just too many people for him to lose.
His green eyes looked up at her, pleading with her silently. Almost as if she could read his mind, she nodded. Tony squinted his eyes shut as a wave of pain hit his head. The sudden movement of a few moments ago had some repercussions. Ziva was about to move towards the door, to call a nurse about some pain meds, but was stopped by DiNozzo's firm grip. Although Ziva could move her arm and unlatch herself from the weak man, his determination to hold on to her was enough to make his grip iron tight.
Instead, she reached above his head and pushed the call button and waited for the nurse to arrive. Taking a seat next to Tony on the bed, Ziva watched as the nurse came, left, and came back again with some pain relievers.
After they were administered and the nurse left Tony and Ziva's eyes meet once again. "Ziva," his lips were the only thing that allowed her to understand him, "What happened?"
A shiver ran down her spine as she wished he hadn't asked that question. She had been thinking about what she would say if this ever happened, although she was hoping it wouldn't. Ziva wondered if she should just confess to her faults and allow him to feel the anger she deserved.
DiNozzo continued to watch his partner as she seemed to consider the question deeply. What was there to really think about? He wanted to know why he was laying in a hospital bed.
His eyes moved towards the cup of water next to him. His throat still hurt pretty badly, although he doubted that any amount of water would help that. The pain in his chest was lessening—becoming a little more bearable—, but the pull of sleep was still the same, almost greater. He tried to ignore it, but it was only a matter of time before he fell back to sleep.
Tony looked up to see Ziva looking at him; as he smiled quickly he turned back to the cup of water. Reaching his arm towards it he realized that he could barely get it to hover over the bed. His eyes widened at the slight set back—fearing immobility.
After quickly going over the inventory of his limps—and finding that he could at least move them slightly—DiNozzo turned back towards Ziva who had moved next to him, the cup in her hand. She placed the straw on his lips and Tony's cheeks flushed red. It was embarrassing to have Ziva—or any of his co-workers—do this for him; he wasn't a child.
His eyes started to drift shut, although he tried to keep them awake. Ziva placed the cup back upon the table and sat next to Tony. Her fingers raked through his hair, making small invisible circles on his head. The last thing DiNozzo saw before he drifted off into oblivion was Ziva's smile.
"Tony!" He could hear his name being shouting by McGee, but he ignored him. Shooting wildly towards the perps, Tony ran towards the large wooden box only a few feet away. If he could draw their fire away from the team, maybe—just maybe—he would distract them long enough for the others to take them out.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs was yelling at him, but there was no way he could turn back now. Tony's feet hit the ground hard as he was just about to reach cover again. His finger continued to pull the trigger although there was nothing left, only the resounding clicks.
Something hit him hard. He fell to his knees and then onto his back as he felt the pain explode in his chest and head. The warm liquid that oozed from his head wound started to run down the side of his face as his vision started to blur. "DiNozzo!"
Suddenly everything seemed to leave him. His eyes fell shut and he allowed himself to fall into the abyss of unconsciousness.
It hadn't been long after Tony had fallen asleep that Ziva wasn't alone anymore. As she looked upon his sleeping form, Ziva didn't even notice when Kate came back in. Ziva just couldn't believe that she had ever left Tony. She wanted to kick herself for never coming to see him, for not being there for him. Damnit, she was selfish!
Kate stood behind Ziva, staring at Tony. She could smell the hamburger in the bag that she was holding. Abby had shoved it at her and told her to bring it to Ziva, although Kate wasn't sure why Abby couldn't do it herself. She wondered if Ziva even liked it since it sounded more like something Tony would eat.
Finally realizing the silent guest behind her, Ziva turned around, taking in the somewhat shy presence of Kate. Before Ziva had gotten a sense of a determination and stubbornness from the woman, but now she was unsure. Maybe it was because Ziva had taken up the spot next to Tony.
Reaching out her hand, Ziva went to shake Kate's hand, about to introduce herself. Instead, Kate just placed the bag of fast food in Ziva's stretched out hand and leaned her back against the wall, staring at Tony, but not wanting to get into Ziva's personal space. She wasn't exactly sure how the woman would react to her interruption, but now that Tony had woken up, why in the hell would she leave him?
Ziva placed the bag on the nightstand next to Tony's bed. She stood up, composing herself quickly, and tried to introduce herself again. Stretching out her hand, she spoke with a forced smile, "Ziva David."
"Kate Todd." Kate took Ziva's hand and smiled too, although Ziva noticed that Kate's eyes kept moving back towards DiNozzo's sleeping form. Releasing Kate's almost limp hand, Ziva sat back down. She looked at Tony, and the silence hung heavy in the air. Ziva felt like she needed to talk to Kate, especially if she wanted to see if Kate had the same feelings for Tony as she was sure Tony had and quite possibly still has for Kate.
But what was there even to say? How do you really start a conversation with a person you don't even know, only what was in their file (which was pretty extensive in some areas)? Especially a person that may be in love with the same man as you.
"Kate…" she paused, unsure of what she should say. "How long have you known Tony?"
Kate blinked at Ziva, her facing going blank. It was definitely not the reaction Ziva had expected. She was assuming she'd give a quick number before completely ignoring her again. Grant you, Kate wasn't expecting that question. And even if she had, what would she even say? She had known Tony for 2 years before she left. But does she count the years she's been gone? She still knows Tony, right? "I worked with him for 2 years."
Ziva nodded, looking back at Tony. It was strange talking about him when he was lying right there. "Was he always this reckless?"
Kate turned her attention to Ziva for a moment, who was still looking at Tony. She hadn't even thought about how Tony's current state had affected the woman. She hadn't come by the hospital room the entire time Tony was in the coma, but could she really blame her? There really wasn't a time that Kate didn't want to grab hold of Tony and shake him, yelling at him to wake up.
"Yeah." She felt herself slump against the wall a little heavier. "He had a habit of putting himself in harm's way for others. It pissed Gibbs off." She let a soft chuckle escape her lips. Pissed me off too. "After he got the plague…" she paused slightly. "Abby suggested placing him in a protective bubble."
Ziva laughed at her friend's idea, although it wouldn't even be able to keep DiNozzo from harm. He just seemed to find it. Even through the laughter, Ziva had noticed the look upon Kate's face after the plague was mentioned. Ziva hadn't seen how bad Tony was, but from the look that Kate wore, she knew it had to be bad. "Tony's always getting into trouble."
"Yeah, well, the 'DiNozzo charm' doesn't come without a price."
Ziva cocked an eyebrow, smiling as she remembered the multiple times Tony had used his 'charm'. She turned to look at Kate and she wore a mirrored smile, staring at Tony. Ziva's suspicions were correct about Kate's feelings, and she knew that she couldn't be upset if things did not go her way. Kate seemed like a nice enough woman.
"Do you think he'll ever stop being juvenile?" Ziva asked, trying to make conversation through the only thing they had in common. If Ziva was talking to anyone else that had normally come into the room, she would have been able to talk about almost anything, but Kate was a total stranger. She had no idea what she was really like.
"Tony?" Kate let out a laugh. "He's always going to be a kid. It's annoying, but cute at the same time."
"Almost like a puppy." Ziva added before she realized what she said. Did she just compare Tony to a puppy?
"Yeah, like an energetic puppy that likes to be the center of attention." Kate stared at Ziva and even with her profiling skills, Kate wasn't 100% positive, but she could feel that there was something between the two partners. She wondered about Gibbs' rules. Especially number 12. Would he really allow them to be together?
There was a strange feeling. It was jealousy, but also understanding. She couldn't really be mad at the woman for falling in love with the same man she was in love with, but there was still a little sense of competition boiling inside her.
"Ziva…" Kate didn't want to be so blunt, but she had to ask. "Do you love him?"
Tony drifted towards consciousness, but he was just so tired. He didn't want to wake up, but he didn't want to dream either. Although he guessed it wasn't really dreaming, more like remembering. Either way, both of his options displeased him. Although there was some encouragement towards the waking.
The smell of a cheeseburger met his nose, and he could feel himself smiling. There were soft voices, but they weren't loud enough for him to hear. Nor did he really care. God, he was hungry. And hospital food sure as hell wasn't going to help him out of his starved state.
Peeking his left eye open slightly he saw the greasy bag next to his head. He tried to lift his left arm, but he felt so tired. He was weak to begin with, but added with the tiredness, he was just lost.
Tony concentrated hard on his arm, although it still felt slightly numb—like he'd been sleeping on it for some time. He felt it slide across the sheets, nearing the edge. His smile disappeared as he concentrated. He got his hand into the air, opening both of his eyes.
The voices stopped in the background, but he didn't give a crap, he was set on getting that cheeseburger. His hand hit the table the bag was on and he almost yelled in excitement and triumph. It smelt so good!
As quickly as his excitement hit him, it was taken away. He opened both of his eyes only halfway since they refused to rise any higher. Tony could see the bag hanging in Ziva's hand, as both Ziva and Kate smiled down at him. "I hate you," Tony mouthed at them. He tried to glare at them, but his eyelids were too heavy.
He fell back to sleep, without even noticing the conversation that had been passed between the two woman in the room.
Ziva was almost too glad for Tony's interruption, saving her from answering Kate's question. But as soon as he fell back to sleep, he could see Kate's eyes upon her again. There wasn't any avoiding it now.
Or was there?
As Ziva stared at Kate, mouth slightly agape as she began her answer, Gibbs strolled into the room, cup of coffee in his hand. He looked at the two women sitting in the room. His blue eyes passed between the two of them before saying, "Go home. It's late and I need you," he turned his stare towards Ziva, "ready for work tomorrow morning." He then turned to Kate. "And you need to get some real sleep, in your own home."
As if both of the women were being sent to their room by their father, they left the room. Kate was disappointed that she couldn't see Tony anymore and that she didn't find out what Ziva's answer was. Ziva, on the other hand, was happy to get out there, before she was forced to answer Kate. Would she lie? Or would she just tell her the truth?
Ziva was just happy that she didn't have to worry about that. All she had to do was get home and sleep easy, knowing that Tony was there waiting.
A/N: I just finished the first part of a big project for my English class and we've got break coming up, so hopefully I can get chapters up quicker!
