Isabelle had been a distraction for Tony from his predicament. She talked to him the entire time she changed his bandages, light conversation, only asking for yes or no responses from him. It hurt to move his head too much, but slight head-shakes and nods, Tony could manage. A few times, he naturally tried to interject something into the conversation, and again, it got him nowhere. Isabelle read his lips when she could and when she couldn't, she moved on like it hadn't happened. Tony liked her. It didn't hurt that she was easy on his eyes.
A large sign posted in Tony's room proclaimed that visiting hours in the ICU were open, except for an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening for nurse report. The morning ban ended at 7:00 am, and Tony wondered how long it would take his friends to show up after that. During her admittedly one-sided conversation with Tony, Isabelle had told him everything she heard from the night nurse – that Ziva was okay and the entire team had been there. Honestly, Tony knew he shouldn't have been surprised, that he could always depend on them, but childhood wounds ran deep and he was still touched when someone actually cared enough to look out for him.
Isabelle had left the room to tend to her other patients around 6:30 am, according to the clock on the wall, and once her chipper attitude was gone, Tony was quick to sink into his worries. He knew there hadn't been any better alternative, from what Isabelle had told him, but that didn't make him any happier. He supposed he was still in shock with a side of denial, and the pain medication was certainly aiding and abetting those feelings. He wanted to be depressed, angry, something. Instead, he was numb. And, frankly, a little scared.
At only a few seconds past seven, Ziva knocked on the door. Tony waved, and she came inside. "Hello. You look better than you did last night."
Tony was glad to see her for himself and assessed her with a glance. There was a bandage on one of her arms, but otherwise she looked good. He was relieved that Isabelle hadn't simply told him Ziva was okay to keep him from getting worried. She looked a little uneasy, and Tony wished he could offer her some reassurance.
After a few awkward, silent moments, Ziva spoke. "Tony, I'm sorry. I was the one who insisted we sweep the building from the top, after Petrov's trail led upstairs. If we had found the bomb sooner, I might have been able to defuse it, or-" She broke off as Tony held a hand up to stop her. "What?"
Tony motioned with his hand for Ziva to come closer. She did, steps at a time until she was within arm's reach. Once she was, Tony swiped at the back of her head, trying to get her Gibbs-style. She ducked and stepped back out of range. Even though he hadn't made contact with more than a handful of curls, Tony hoped she would take his point and not continue to heap judgment upon herself.
"Tony!" Isabelle frowned in mock disdain as she came back into the room. "It's not nice to hit your friends."
Ziva smoothed her hair back into place. "He learned that one from someone else. I doubt that Gibbs would appreciate you borrowing his move, Tony."
Tony gave her a look, thinking to himself that Gibbs probably would have cuffed her himself if he heard Ziva berating herself like that. It had to be a violation of at least a couple of the rules, though Tony's mind was too drug-fogged to recall the exact numbers.
"How is he?" Ziva asked Isabelle.
"He's doing pretty well, actually," Isabelle answered. "His vitals have been excellent, and the stitches looked great when I changed the bandages this morning." She popped a thermometer into Tony's mouth, and leaned in close to him conspiratorially. "I'm guessing this is your partner, right?" Tony nodded. "I'd hang onto that one. From what Mike told me, your boss had to kick her out of here around three am so she'd get some sleep."
Ziva's mouth opened and closed briefly. "Lies. It had to be much earlier than that." Tony guessed she was doing it for his benefit, to try to keep things as normal as possible between them, and he appreciated that. All the same, he was glad to know she had been there. He also would have paid to see Gibbs force Ziva to get out of there.
"No, that's about the time I remember it being." Gibbs strolled into the room and smiled at Tony. "Hey, DiNozzo." He then looked at Ziva. "What hotel did you bribe the cabbie to take you to instead of going home?"
Ziva's startled expression gave her away. "Who says I went to a hotel?"
"I put you into the cab myself," Gibbs said. "When I came by your apartment this morning to see if you wanted a ride, you weren't there and your car was." He was apparently going to let it go, however, because he turned away from Ziva, and came closer to Tony. "Now, you listen to me, Tony, because I only plan on saying this once. You did good out there. You leave the rest to me. Petrov's got a slab with his name on it."
Tony smiled, more at the praise than the promise that Petrov would pay. Tony knew it would happen with Gibbs on the case; he only wished he could still be helping. Doing something useful. He nodded at Gibbs and tried to lighten the mood by offering a thumbs-up. It was a piss-poor indicator of how he really felt, but if he could charm them, he would. It was the DiNozzo way.
Isabelle finished messing with the suction machine – fortunately, she hadn't insisted upon using it on Tony again this time – and looked at Gibbs and Ziva. "Since you're both here, let me ask you. Is he always a flirt?"
Tony grinned – guilty as charged. Predictably, Gibbs shook his head and Ziva rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, Tony." Ziva waved an arm at him. "Less than twenty-four hours and you are already earning a reputation with the nursing staff!"
Gibbs chuckled. "That's par for the course." He patted Tony's arm. "I've got some leads to track down. Ziva, you stay here and keep him out of everyone's hair. DiNozzo, you stay here and do what they tell you to. I'll be back when I can." He waved a farewell and exited the room.
Isabelle's eyebrows rose. "Whoa. I don't know much about the work you guys do, but it sounds like Papa Bear is on the case."
Ziva smirked as she moved to slide into the chair next to Tony's bed. "Oh, you have no idea."
