Chapter 9
I know you hate me, I even hate me. I'm sooooo sorry for taking three million years to update this story. With my Disney vacation to the start of school to my new job, I've barely had time to sit down and think of how to write this chapter. I'm so disappointed in myself…but what really made me happy was that this was my first story EVER to get 100+ reviews! I was so psyched when I saw 107 reviews. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guy's support so here's another chapter to express my gratitude and I apologize if it's a short chapter. ENJOY! :)
Everything felt fuzzy and extremely painful at the same time. What the hell is going on? He couldn't remember a thing; all he could sort of recall was…well, actually nothing. That's not good. What if he lost his memory? What if he was dead? What if-
"Tim?"
He inwardly gasped when he heard a small, almost broken voice call his name. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quick put the voice with a name. Come on Tim, think!
"Tim, can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me; I need you to wake up. I want my big brother back."
Brother? That could only mean one thing. Tim forced all his energy into prying his heavy-weighted eyelids open.
"Tim? Come on, Timmy that's it; open your eyes for me."
The moment his eyelids were slits, the blinding light came pouring in, nearly burning his retinas. He grunted hoarsely and snapped them shut.
"Oh, sorry Tim…there you should be fine now; the lights are off Tim, now please open your eyes."
He inwardly nodded and tried again, hoping that no light would jar his suddenly approaching headache. Squinting, Tim looked around, but only could make out fuzzy shapes and annoying noises.
"Ugnh," Tim grunted.
"It's okay Tim. You're safe now, don't worry."
That voice; why the hell did it sound so familiar? He squeezed his eyes shut a couple times in order to refocus the objects around him and when he did it all made sense: the annoying clicking and beeping, the sterilized smell in the air, an uncomfortable bed, and the harsh white lights. Hospital. But why?
"Tim can you hear me?"
He looked to his right and saw his, still a bit out of focus, sister staring down at him with big brown worried eyes.
"S-S'r'h? He managed to get out weakly before coughing. Flames tore through his neck and he figured that must've been the area of whatever injury he'd gotten.
"Here, suck on these this while I go get the doctor. He said he was going to be in here soon, but that was over ten minutes ago. I swear these doctors never do what they say, I mean…"
Tim gratefully took the cup of ice chips while listening to the every so familiar sound of his sister ranting fade with distance.
"How ya feeling Tim?" A gruff voice rang out from the left side of his bed.
Tim nearly jumped out of his skin, thinking that he was alone but apparently he wasn't. He looked over and saw a man who looked like he was in his fifties with grayish-white hair. The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Tim opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when a man in a white coat came in with his sister in trailing behind.
"I'm sorry Agent Gibbs, but you're gonna have to leave. Only immediate family members are allowed in this room at the moment."
Sighing in frustration, Gibbs reluctantly stood up and began to leave the room. He wanted to talk to Tim…something just wasn't right and it was pulling at his gut like crazy. Just as he reached the doorway, his bionic hearing caught Tim whisper something to Sarah…and his gut, like always, was right.
"Who is that guy?"
Shit.
~+NCIS+~
Sarah frowned in fear when Tim didn't know who Agent Gibbs was. If he couldn't remember that, what else was he forgetting? Before she could answer, Dr. Morris began asking Tim questions and checking his vitals while Sarah stood off in the corner, biting her lip nervously.
"Everything seems to be healing well, though the infection is a bit menacing. I'll start him on some stronger antibiotics and we'll see how it goes from there."
Sarah nodded and when she noticed Tim had fallen asleep, she moved closer to the doctor. "What about his memory loss? He doesn't even know who Agent Gibbs is anymore."
"That…is a bit more complicated; it's hard to explain how he got the memory loss, but it's most likely the combination of trauma and the infection. There isn't really any telling on how long his memory will be gone or whether there'd be some sort of trigger."
Sarah nodded hesitantly, still a bit shaken by the recent discovery. She really wished mom and dad were there with them; she tried multiple times to call them, but she knew that there was obviously no cell reception in the Rocky's- her parent's latest trip destination. Suddenly there was a loud beep from Dr. Morris' pocket.
"My apologies," he said as he pulled out his pager. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go attend to another patient; but if there are any questions or if anything happens, don't hesitate to call."
Sarah sniffed and watched the doctor leave. She, then, turned to look at her sleeping brother and sighed heavily. Dammit, Tim, why do you have to make everything so complicated?
~+NCIS+~
Gibbs walked towards the cafeteria wearily, thinking deeply about what just happened. McGee couldn't remember what happened and he didn't know who he was. Thankfully he knew Sarah so his memory wasn't all gone, but the kid had no recollection of his job at NCIS or his attack. This was not good.
"Boss?"
Gibbs broke out of his thoughts to see DiNozzo coming up to him with a frown on his face.
Tony watched Gibbs' facial expressions as the agent stepped into the cafeteria. He instantly knew that something was wrong and to make it worse, he knew Gibbs' had just come from McGee's room. Putting two and two together was not good.
"Boss, what's wrong? Did something happen?" He really wanted to go see if his friend was alright, but he knew that no one- but Sarah- was allowed.
Gibbs just looked at him and Tony returned the look before bolting down the hallway towards Tim's room. He hated when Gibbs' did that; something bad would happen to someone and he'd expect anyone who saw the telltale look on his face to know that something bad had happened. Just as he was about to burst inside, Sarah came out and blocked him before shutting the door behind her.
"You can't go in there," she whispered, not looking at the older man.
"Why not? What's wrong?"
Sarah remained silent looked Tony in the eye with that look on her face…just like Gibbs.
"Sarah."
"Nothing…he's just sleeping; nothing to worry about."
"Sarah," he warned.
"Fine…there's really no point of going in there, because…he's…he's not going to remember you."
Tony's blood went cold.
"What?"
"He lost his memory, Tony."
Son of a bitch, Tim. That dog's death warrant was getting closer and closer…and possibly Abby's. He wouldn't be the one to kill the Goth, but he couldn't guarantee Sarah or Ziva would hold back.
~+NCIS+~
Abby sat curled on her couch, hugging a pillow and tears running down her mascara streaked face. This was her fault. No, she didn't tell the dog to attack Timmy, but it was her fault everyone was pissed with her. It was her fault her face was stinging from where she was slapped twice in five minutes. Why was she so self-absorbed? Why did she ever defend that monster? It nearly ripped her Timmy apart and all she cared about at the time was the dog and its wound. Now that she thought back to that moment, she scoffed and shook her head. Sarah was right; she was a bitch.
Sniffing, she wiped her face and laid her head down on the armrest to think about the many times she abused her colleague, her best friend. What was wrong with her? Best friend? Yeah, some friend she had been. All the times she left him behind in a concert, because she forgot to tell him she went home with friends. Or when she got a new boyfriend and bragged in his face about it; she could see the hurt in his eyes, but she was too much of a jerk to stop blabbing. The worst was when she'd scold him for no reason or take out her anger, for something completely stupid, on him. I'm so sorry, Timmy. She had to fix things…it'd take a lot of work and a lot of re-earning trust, but she was going to fix it…no matter what.
"All clear, Boss."
"Back door is open."
"Timmy this is your fault. I missed my concert, because you overslept."
"Abby it wasn't my fault! I was feeling si-"
"I don't care if you were puking up frogs, McGee. Black Sabbath was only going to be in town for three days and this was the last time they were playing. Now these tickets are useless…just like you, McGee! McGee! Tim, are you even listening to me? Tim, Tim!"
"Tim! Can you hear me?"
McGee squeezed his eyes shut before blinking them open slowly. What the hell was happening to him? He looked to his right and saw his sister looking at him in concern. Why was she here? Wasn't she supposed to be in school? Being a senior in high school is a very important year. And why wasn't he in his class? Shit, he was going to be late!
"S-Sarah?"
"Tim, are you alright? We were just talking and you zoned out for a moment."
"Yeah…yeah I'm fine," Tim lied, brushing off the mysterious nightmare and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Shouldn't you be in school? What happened anyways?"
Sarah frowned and then closed her eyes. "Tim, you're in the hospital. You were attacked by a dog."
"You're joking right?"
Sarah shook her head and Tim swallowed before looking at his hands.
"Tim, don't you dare ever scare me like that again or else."
McGee grimaced and looked at his sister. "That bad, huh?"
"We…I almost lost you."
Tim sighed and brought his baby sister into a tight embrace. "I'll never leave you; I promise." But then a light popped in his head. We? Whose we? Mom and Dad didn't seem to be there unless they were in the cafeteria. But he didn't see their coats or things around, so something else was up.
McGee pulled away from Sarah and frowned at her suspiciously. "What do you mean we? Who else is there?"
Sarah bit her lip. Crap. She was hoping Tim wouldn't find out about his NCIS friends just yet…possibly not at all. She didn't want him going back with them; no matter how much they said they'd change or how much they apologized, it wouldn't change anything. She knew they'd be the same old people within two weeks if Tim went back.
"Sarah? Who else is here? Tell me what's going on."
TBC
Hope that's a good place to stop :/ I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. I'll be writing it over the weekend and hopefully can get it up by weds. CURSE YOU SCHOOL! Hope you like this chapter, if not I apologize :( stay tuned! REVIEWS!
