AN: Sorry on the slight delay – I've been good about posting first thing in the morning, but I ended up with a crazy high fever last night, and thus slept through most of today. Anyway, enjoy chapter 9 – let me know what you think!
-------------
Gibbs slept fitfully, cell phone in hand, waking ever hour or so to check that he hadn't missed a call.
They all arrived at 0800 to find that Abby was still asleep. They were able to see her briefly before the nurse asked them to step out while she changed the bandages.
Abby felt the sting of the anti-bacterial ointment as it was applied to her stomach. She flinched against the pain, but a soothing voice settled her and called for her to open her eyes.
"Miss Sciuto… ah, there you are my dear. My name is Emily, and I'm just here to change the bandages."
Abby nodded at the woman and let her continue to talk. "You're friends are waiting just outside. You've got quiet the crowd waiting for you. They will be thrilled to hear you are awake."
"Wait."
The nurse continued to wrap the fresh gauze around Abby's hand, but gave her a questionable look.
"Can I see Ducky first?"
"Ducky?"
"Dr. Mallard… is he out there?"
"Ah, yes. Dr. Mallard. I will send him in first." The nurse finished with Abby's other hand and checked her temperature. "Dr. Mallard will be right in."
Emily stepped outside and waited as everyone waiting for Abby stepped towards her. "Her wounds are healing nicely, the antibiotic is working well. She's still fighting a slight fever, from the infection. It's down around 100.0F, but we'll be sure to keep an eye on it. She is awake now, and asked to see Dr. Mallard first."
Ducky pushed the door open and slipped inside. "Abigail."
Abby looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Oh Abigail, don't cry… everything is ok now."
"He's mad at me, isn't he? They all are… They told me not to call, but I had too."
"They aren't mad at you, dear. They've been worried sick, but they are relieved that you are safe. We all are."
"I didn't talk to him, yesterday… I just, I couldn't."
Ducky patted her arm soothingly. "You were in shock, dear. He knows that. Can I go get the others now? I'm afraid the floor won't take much more of Tony's pacing. You know how he gets."
Abby cracked a slight smile and nodded.
Ducky stepped out of the room. "You guys can go in now…" Ducky waited as McGee, Ziva and Tony rushed through the doors, but stepped in front of Gibbs. "Jethro, she thinks you're mad at her for what she did…"
"I am! I'm mad… I'm not mad at her… I just, I don't know. She could have been killed. She could've have killed herself."
"Yes, and she did it for you. Just be careful with what you say to her."
-----
Tony was the first to reach Abby's bed side. "Abby… I don't even know what to say. Thank God, you're ok." He wanted to pull her into his arms and hug her until tomorrow.
"I'll be fine Tony." Abby looked to each of her friends. "You guys, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have just left like that without telling you, but I know you never would've let me do that, so I had to do it."
Tony opened his mouth to say something, but Abby cut him off. "Don't say you would've gone with, as back up. You wouldn't have. You wouldn't have let me step foot outside the navy yard, and then he would've hurt Gibbs. It had to be this way."
"We're just glad you're ok." Tony reached out to wipe a tear from Abby's cheek, and struggled to keep his own from falling.
Gibbs entered the room a few moments later, but hung back. Abby was chatting with the others, and he saw a small smile play on her lips, though it failed to reach her eyes. She put on a show for her friends.
"Ooh, who's been manning my lab? Has it blown up yet? Oh God, what happened to Bert?"
Gibbs stepped forward. "I have Bert. He's safe."
She hadn't noticed him until he spoke; her eyes flickered up to his and her heart beats a little faster. "Gibbs."
"I think some coffee might be in order. Maybe we can sneak you in a Caf-Pow." Ziva moved towards the door, with McGee at her heels. "Tony?"
"Yeah, sure, I'll take a coffee…. Right, I'll go with you to get that coffee." It suddenly dawned on Tony, the point that Ziva was trying to make.
Gibbs watched his team file out.
"GibbsIcouldn'tgoonlivingifsomethinghappenedtoyou…" Abby stumbled over her words. "…that'swhyIhadtoswitchplaceswithyou."
Gibbs pulled a chair up next to Abby's bed and waited for her to finish. He knew she needed to get it all out. When she slowed down, he reached out and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe some people wouldn't survive if something happened to you?"
Abby rolled her eyes at him. "Gibbs, you run the team… hell, you practically run the agency. I'm sure who ever is in my lab right now is doing a…" she thought for a moment, "a satisfactory job."
"Abby!" Gibbs stood and the chair scooted back sharply making Abby jump slightly. "I'm not talking about work here, if we didn't get you back…" He ran his hand through his hair while he paced. "… I don't know what I would've done."
"I'm here Gibbs." Abby reached out momentarily, but then realized that her hands were wrapped, so she put her hand back at her side.
"I know." Gibbs sat back in the chair and scooted up to her bedside again. "Tell me what happened, Abby."
"It doesn't matter. Ducky said that Jason is dead?"
"Yeah, we found him in the cabin. But I'd like to know what exactly happened, what he did after he drove away with you."
Abby shifted her eyes to look at her bandaged hands. "He didn't do anything. He brought me to the cabin, and then left. I managed to break the window and use the broken glass to cut the tape off. That's what happened to my hands. I crawled through the window, that's how I cut my stomach. Then I just followed the stream until I got near the campground along highway 78. That's when… some guys found me and drove me to NCIS yesterday." Abby used the crisp white sheets to dab at her eyes.
"You followed the stream?"
Abby nodded. "I figured that he knew the woods well, and I didn't want to risk leaving a trail, broken branches or something. If I walked in the water, I couldn't leave a trail."
"You did a good job. We had the dogs out in the woods and they couldn't pick up your scent."
Abby sank back into the hospital bed and closed her eyes.
"I'm going to let you get some rest. I'll be just outside." Gibbs started to stand.
"Stay in here, please." Abby's voice wavered as she fought against the tears.
"I'll stay. Get some rest." Gibbs settled back in the chair, closing his eyes.
Abby noticed the distinct lack of physical contact, no kiss to the cheek, no touch to her arm... I was right, he's mad.
------
TBC….
Review, if you please ^_^
