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Previously on - "The Consequences Of The Truth":
Somehow they had to work it through on their own and hopefully, she allowed herself to dream, that hopefully once they each had battled their own inner demons and when they each felt strong again in their own right - then maybe then they could find their way back to each other as friends, or maybe even more.
She turned her head towards the wall of the plane, while Tony, unbeknown to her, had done the same. Now each of them were looking in the opposite direction, and feeling like crap, each wondering what had happened to crumble the seemingly strong friendship and partnership that they had once enjoyed.
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Consequences Of The Truth
Chapter IX
Outside The Somalian Hospital . . .
As the large evacuation chopper landed on the ground level helipad, it was practically swarmed with hospital personnel whom were dressed head to toe in bright yellow hazmat gear. It was like a scene out of one of Tony's oft mentioned movies where Alien invaders had taken over the Earth. One of the Nurses on board exited the chopper as soon as the exit door was opened, she went inside to make sure everything was set up and ready for the group but there were other Interns and Nurses waiting outside the helicopter to assist the two sicker passengers as needed. All of the Medical personnel had donned long sleeve scrubs, gloves, masks and hair covers to keep as little of their bodies exposed as possible. There could not of course function and work if they had to gear up in full hazmat suits.
Team Gibbs began to unbuckle themselves from their seats and awaited the eerie escort into the foreign Medical Center, each one of them waited for him to say it, or expected it rather. What movie title would it be this time? What scene or line would Tony quote today that would cause them all to give him the customary rolling of their eyes and echoed hhrrummffs?
Tony was still shaking off the grogginess from having only just woken up as the massive helicopter landed on the landing pad causing a slight jolt - but enough of a jolt to jerk Tony out of his fevered slumber. "Wha-?" he jerked upright with a start, wondering where he was and trying to gain some control over his still half asleep mind and body. He had only been out for about ten to fifteen minutes since the pain medication he had been given had quickly pulled him under. But now it left him still feeling dazed and extremely drowsy – a state that he hated being in!
Things started to move fast once the helicopter landed, the door had opened and there was commotion as a couple of new people boarded the chopper. Tony's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he then spotted someone in full hazmat gear walking towards him. Then thankfully his memory finally kicked into gear as he remembered their 'situation', feeling his heart drop at the thought of what lay ahead for him. Could he go through this – again? Did he have what it would take to make it through yet another life threatening illness?
"Tony."
The sound of his name pushed him to become fully alert as he recognized the sound of Gibbs' gruff voice calling to him, craning his neck to try to look beyond the ominous man in yellow to find his boss.
"Yeah boss." he responded, wondering if his voice sounded as weak to Gibbs and the others, as his own ears had detected.
Gibbs pushed past the man in the bright yellow suit whom had come in to assist with getting them all off the plane and into the Hospital's side entrance so as not to alarm other patients and visitors with the obvious and unnerving sight of the masked and yellow suited group of people. The man was one of head of the hospital's quarantine and infectious disease control experts and he was also going to supervise the thorough cleaning of the entire interior of the helicopter once everyone was cleared out. when the mature NCIS Agent had pushed him aside without uttering a word, he immediately felt a little put off by the strong and assertive Lead Agent. He found that he had to bite his own tongue in order to avoid an altercation.
Now was not the time or place he reminded himself. Instead he turned and followed the rest of the group off the plane including the beautiful Israeli woman he had spotted when he passed her on his way into the plane as she was being helped down to an awaiting in a wheelchair.
"How do you wanna do this DiNozzo? I'm sure you will attempt to convince me that you can walk in with us but, you can save your breath – that's not happening. You have two choices, gurney or wheelchair – what's it gonna be?" came Gibbs' ultimatum, spoken through the mask covering his mouth.
"Chair." came his one word answer. The fact that he didn't even attempt to argue with Gibbs was something that did not go unnoticed by the older Lead Agent. Tony noticed the look of concern and surprise that took over his bosses' face and immediately tried to back track.
"I'm fine boss, I think the cat nap I had on the plane actually did me some good." he explained as he released the buckles securing him to the reclined seat.
"Yeah?" Gibbs questioned. "Well, you still look like crap."
Tony squinted his eyes slightly and glared at his boss, acting put off by the remark although obviously in more of a joking manner. He knew his boss was right, he was always right and he also didn't mince words. "Okay, let's blow this Popsicle stand." Tony said, putting up his usual barricade of humor.
Ziva meanwhile, had initially attempted to walk into the hospital but by the time McGee had helped her to hobble from her seat to the main exit, sweat had completely drenched her face and she had paled significantly. McGee finally yelled down to some awaiting medical staff to get them to garner a wheelchair. He then thought twice and hollered for two since he knew that his other partner, still in the rear of the plane, would also be stubborn and refuse a gurney.
Tony knew better than to stand up too quickly so he paused at the edge of his seat for a few seconds and acted like he was just getting situated, making sure he grabbed the IV bag that the Doctor had placed in his lap once they landed, in preparation of their exit from the plane. He was caught off guard when Gibbs suddenly grabbed him under one of his arms and carefully hauled him into an upright position. Tony as always, was amazed by the strength his boss possessed as he reluctantly allowed Gibbs to half-carry him out of the plane and down the stairs to the awaiting wheelchair.
After depositing his weakened agent into the chair one of the Interns whom had held the chair steady, immediately started wheeling him inside, Gibbs was pulled aside by the Doctor whom had gotten off the plane just ahead of them.
"Agent Gibbs, I just want to give you my word that we will do everything within our powers to help your agent, and the rest of you if the need be. I will be staying here to assist with treating everyone and helping to get a more clear diagnosis for your senior agent. But I do have to work alongside the lead physician but he is currently doing surgery so he won't be in for a while. But I can promise you that Agent DiNozzo will be in good hands here, all of you will."
"Thank you Doctor, I appreciate that. I do have two of my own team flying out here though, I am not sure if I informed you of that yet. One of them, Doctor Mallard, acts as Tony's occasional physician but he is our Medical Examiner by title. The other is Miss Abby Scuito – she is the best Forensic Specialist I have ever had the pleasure to work and we need her expertise if we are going to determine what is ailing my agent. I would feel more comfortable knowing she is working alongside your research team so I can be sure that the chain of evidence isn't accidentally breached. Can you arrange some kind of temporary hospital ID for her?"
"Oh of course, I can get her a temporary instatement here. I also look forward to meeting Doctor Mallard as I am sure I can put him to good use as well."
With that, Gibbs and the Doctor silently made their way towards the entrance that the others had already disappeared through. Within minutes they were inside the Isolation wing of the hospital – there were no funky blue lights this time much to Tony's immense relief.
Gibbs was not all the way through the doorway yet when he recognized the voice of his Senior Field Agent - whom must have been given more morphine based on the giddy way he sounded. One of his famous half grins appeared on Gibbs' face as soon as he heard Tony's loud comment.
"Welll welll we-elll - wouldyalookat this! Welcome to Hotel Sterile!" Tony announced with only a slight slur to his words.
Silly but healthy.
That was how he sounded - although Gibbs knew it was to be short lived and that Tony merely seemed to be fine at that moment, but he also knew enough to admit that the heavy duty pain medication was only masking the worst of his symptoms temporarily. According to the Doctor, in a matter of hours not even Morphine would be able to touch the severe pain that lay ahead for him, and at that point Gibbs could only hope that either Abby and the rest of the Lab team would have developed an anti-toxin, or that the Doctor would sedate Tony to the point where he would be unconscious through the worst of it.
Once Gibbs was further inside the massive room, he turned away from Tony to quickly and efficiently scan the room, checking out seemingly every square inch. A habit from his long career of investigating crime scenes he supposed, he took in all of the fancy and high-tech gadgets and ultra sterile environment. The room contained 4 beds with plenty of room to bring in more as needed since the hospital often had cases involving larger exposures to other contagions or illnesses. It was fully equipped with anything the medical team would need to treat the patients, IV kits, medications, EKG machine, ventilators, X-Ray devices, etc.
Through the glass double doors leading out to the hallway, he could see another door across the way, it's doors also consisting of glass, with the words 'Research Lab - Virology & Infectious Disease' displayed in large black letters that were outlined in silver and it looked like just beneath that, the department name was repeated in smaller black print in what looked like Arabic and one other foreign language to accommodate the various nationalities working here. The lab was clearly used solely for the purpose of research, testing and forming antidotes and anti-toxins for whatever the newest contagious affliction was going to be.
From what little he could see of the lab through the windows, it was easy to see that the lab housed the best of the best in equipment which immediately gave him a sense of relief and hope as he knew just as the physician had told them, this was indeed the place to be if one were to have any chance of surviving a mystery and possibly man-made illness. Abby was going to be like a kid in a candy store when she arrived – since Gibbs had contacted Vance in DC and had him put Abby and Ducky on a plane to come and offer their expertise to assist them.
Gibbs wandering thoughts were interrupted when an intern or orderly came up to him with a sealed plastic bag that held what appeared to be fresh scrubs. He barely registered the young man's words as he pointed out a door leading to adjoining locker room, he was told there would be a long row of showers where he would need to shower and scrub thoroughly. He was told that he would find a bin near the entrance into the showers and that after he had stripped down completely, he would need to dispose of his now filthy beige camouflage clothing and toss everything into the bin.
"Yeah thanks I will do that -" Gibbs started to answer, "-but only after the rest of my team has been taken care of first."
The young Intern wasn't sure what to do, he found himself slightly afraid of the gruff and demanding Agent. "Uh – well . . . Sir – I uh, we." he stuttered.
~ damn! ~ he thought to himself, ~ pull it together!~
"Sir, it's - it's protocol - and hospital policy, I need you to comply." he finally replied, feeling proud of himself for standing up to the stubborn man in front of him.
"Yeah? Well that's great. But I still won't be doing anything until then so I suggest if you want me to do what you asked, then you would probably be best served by getting the rest of my team taken care of. Ya got that - Scott?" he fired back – noting the man's name on the hospital badge he wore that was hanging loosely around his neck by a fabric cord.
The Intern scoffed and then turned on his heels, having decided to just inform his Supervisor and get further instructions. Gibbs grinned in satisfaction over his small victory and proceeded to walk over to check on his team. Walking up to where Tony and Ziva still sat in the wheelchairs they had been brought in with – Gibbs could see that they all held plastic bags exactly like the one he had been given.
Walking up to stand in between McGee and wheelchair bound DiNozzo, Gibbs listened as the Doctor gave them all the same instructions that the Intern had just given to him just moments before.
". . . bin near the showers where you will discard any and all clothing, You have each been given an extra plastic bag for which to place any cell phones, wallets, jewelry, watches, etc. We brought all of your weapons – guns, knives etc. over from the hangar, those will all be cleaned, stored somewhere safe and then returned to you when you leave here."
Then the Doctor turned to Ziva "Miss David, since you have been through so much recently and appear to be weak as well from malnourishment as well as obvious injuries, I must insist upon sending in a female Nurse in to stay nearby while you shower just in case you become too weak. It's hospital policy for liability purposes as I am sure you understand. Also, since Gibbs informed us that your lengthy captivity is also part of an investigation and current case - you know how this works and that we must do a thorough physical exam on you and ask you some detailed questions about what you have been through. This is not only for the case but also so we can treat you accordingly."
Ziva merely stared at the doctor, not showing any emotion whatsoever causing the doctor to just continue.
"I have arranged to have a female Physician to do the exam. She is a colleague of mine and she will also be the one to collect samples of take pictures and record an audio tape of your statement, so the more you can tell her, the better we will be able to treat you. She will then assign the female nurse I mentioned to accompany you to another showering facility through that door over there."
Even if they tried, no one would have been able to describe the expression on Ziva's face during and after the Doctor's words. Not McGee, not Tony, not even Gibbs could have interpreted the look in her eyes and her nearly motionless face. It was a mixture of fear, deep sadness, embarrassment, hatred and exhaustion all rolled into one horrific blend of emotion.
Almost all of them missed the slightest of nods that she gave in response, her only response.
Tony's face and neck grew red with anger as he realized what the Doctor was basically saying – he had been in law enforcement long enough to know he was referring to a rape kit as part of the exam. This made Tony seethe with hatred and anger. Hatred for Saleem and his men and furious with himself that he had not been able to protect her from – whatever did happen to her there. But Tony knew, he knew solely by the look in Ziva's nearly lifeless eyes, that something bad had happened to her, but what exactly? He wasn't sure if he wanted to find out, he wasn't sure he could handle knowing what she went through and that he had been powerless to prevent it.
Part of him wanted to resurrect Saleem one more time just to strangle the slimy bastard with all his might and watch the life slowly ebb out of his black and evil eyes until he dropped him to the floor in a boneless heap!
Gibbs was angry too since he had grown to care about Ziva as well, although he knew he needed to get to the bottom of why she killed Ari in his basement – was it orders from her Father? Was it to gain Gibbs' trust only to screw him over later? That would have to wait he thought as he pulled his thoughts back to the present situation. He gently placed a hand on Tony's shoulder having noticed the red face that signaled a rise in blood pressure. He could feel the tension in his agent's shoulder where he gave him a moderate squeeze just to keep him grounded and in an effort to calm him down.
Only four minutes had passed when the female Doctor arrived and wheeled the still stoic Ziva off in another direction. But to the rest of the team it had seemed like hours since none of them had known what to say to her after the Doctor had explained everything to Ziva, so they had said nothing.
Finally the Doctor turned towards Tony, "Now as for you Agent DiNozzo, we do have to send someone in to assist you as well and since I anticipated that you would probably fight me on this, I made sure to get an especially burly Intern for you." he said, raising his hand to point out the Intern slash wannabe Pro Wrestler leaning against a nearby wall. The Doctor sported a huge grin of satisfaction over his ingenious planning. It hadn't taken him long to see that the agent in front of him, was as stubborn as they came, especially when it came to his health – or hospital's!
Gibbs and McGee both stifled the laughs that threatened to spill out, Tony just rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner and then dropped his head to his chest in appalled resignation. ~ Man this is going to suck! ~ he thought, then lifting his head back up he spoke.
"I suppose it would be fruitless to request a female like Miss Dah-veed was given?" he half questioned, half stated. Then looking over towards the buff Intern he added;
"Alrighty then – let's just get this over with shall we Bubba?"
To Be Continued . . .
Okay get ready for a wild ride since I have big plans for some surprises in store for you with this story! I assure you the drama, danger and excitement is not far ahead. PLEASE keep the awesome reviews coming :-) and THANK YOU!
