Sitting at the small table in the vending machine room, Gibbs rubbed his eyes. It had been a tiring night thus far, and was doomed to get worse. He absentmindedly rubbed his arm, flinching when he made contact with his wound. The EMTs had quickly wrapped it in gauze after stabilizing Tony, but it was seeping through.

"I think now is a good time to get that stitched up, Jethro," a voice said from behind Gibbs.

"I've got to get back to Tony, Duck, but maybe later."

"It'll take no more than 5 or 10 minutes if you cooperate. Come on, Jethro. Anthony isn't going anywhere."

"He said the same thing, but how do you know? You heard the doctors, they aren't even sure if he'll survive the night. How can I just leave him? He hates hospitals. You know that. I'm not gonna just let him sit there in that room. He's in pain and scared, and I won't let him down…not again."

Ducky peered curiously at his friend. "Again? If you are in any way saying-"

"It's my damn fault he's in here, Ducky! If it wasn't for some stupid grudge against me, he would be in his apartment right now, watching repeats of Magnum P.I. That's where he should be, not in some damn hospital with an 8-inch hole in him, fighting for his life!" Gibbs grabbed the chair and shoved it against the wall.

Ducky placed a sympathetic hand on Gibbs's shoulder. "I understand why you feel this way, Jethro, but blaming yourself isn't going to help Anthony. We both know that. What happened was the cruel hand of fate, and no one is to blame. Thankfully, Anthony is a strong young man, and if things go well, there will be no lasting damage. But right now, we need to support him, and to do that, we all need to be one-hundred percent. So let's get you stitched up."

Gibbs reluctantly nodded and followed Ducky to an examination room, where Ducky cleaned his wound, put in stitches, and rewrapped it in clean gauze.

"Good as new. Would you like me to accompany you to Anthony's room?"

"Nah…I don't think he wants anyone to see him like this."

Giving an understanding nod, Ducky walked out to rejoin the rest of the team in the waiting room.

After taking a deep breath, Gibbs began walking toward Tony's room. He wasn't prepared for the sight he walked in on.

Tony was curled up, almost in a ball. His fists were clenched on the sidebars of the bed, knuckles white. His body was shaking violently, wracked with pain, and he was taking strained, rapid gasps through clenched teeth. His skin was pale, covered in sweat. Tony's whole face was taut and pinched, eyes screwed shut. Blood dripped from his bottom lip, where he was biting down to keep from crying out.

"Tony!" Gibbs cried, rushing to the side of the bed. There was no response from his senior agent. It was as if his pain had escalated him to a whole other world. "Hey, DiNozzo! Open your eyes!"

Scared, shining eyes shot open, full of pain.

"Just hang on, DiNozzo. I'm gonna get a doctor." Gibbs thought he saw Tony nod, but with all the shaking, he wasn't sure. He swiftly ran out of the room, grabbing the closest doctor and pulling him into the room.

"What the hell is going on with my agent?" he shouted at the doctor. Ignoring the question, the man took a quick look at Tony's vitals before gently saying, "Mr. DiNozzo? I need you to lie flat. Can you do that?" The doctor helped straighten out his trembling body, feeling various parts of his body, checking for swelling. "It appears his fever is peaking. We need to get his temperature down, before his wound swells any more. We don't want the stitches to rip out."

He leaned toward Tony. "Mr. DiNozzo, we're going to give you an ice bath. It should numb the pain a bit and it'll bring your fever down." He then turned to Gibbs and said, "I'm going to get a few doctors to help get him in the bath. Just stay with him until we get back." Gibbs nodded.

As the doctor exited the room, Gibbs went over to Tony. The agent's breathing was labored. "You're gonna feel better soon, DiNozzo. Just hold on, ok? Ok, DiNozzo?"

Tony whispered, "I'll try, Boss."

That wasn't good enough for Gibbs. "You won't try, DiNozzo, you will. Do you understand me? You've come too far to give up on us now, and I'll be damned if you let a fever kill you! You may not think so, but you matter a whole lot to a whole lot of people. That means a lot of people would be upset if you died on us now, including me. So you will not try to hold on. You will hold on. That's an order. You got that, DiNozzo?"

Pleading hazel eyes met icy blue ones. "I gotcha, Boss."

Gibbs gave a satisfied nod, and four doctors came in with a gurney. "Ready to go, Mr. DiNozzo? 3-2-1, lift!" They lifted Tony onto the gurney and wheeled him out. Gibbs collapsed into a chair and buried his face in his hands.

Not a minute later, the team came flying through the door. "What's going on? We saw them wheel Tony out. He looked terrible! Where are they taking him?"

"Tony's fever spiked and it was causing swelling in his wound. They took him to give him an ice bath."

"When did this happen?" Ducky asked.

"When I walked back into the room after I left you, he was in the fetal position. He was shaking bad and was barely coherent. I got a doctor and they took him out."

The team sat dejectedly on the bed and remaining chair. Great, they thought. More waiting.

. . .

About an hour later, the doctors wheeled Tony back into the room. His eyes were closed and he was still trembling slightly, but it was less severe and he seemed to have gotten a bit of color back in his face.

"We gave him a mild sedative to help him sleep for awhile. He should be better for the remainder of the night. We got his fever down to 100.3, which is a vast improvement. Though he'll still be in some pain, we're hopeful that the worst is over. We can never be sure, but we're confident Mr. DiNozzo will make a full recovery."

"But I don't understand," Abby said. "He was just in the worst condition he's been in since getting here. And now you're saying he's going to be fine?"

"You know the saying 'things must get worse before they get better'? It's along the lines of that. Mr. DiNozzo's fever and pain level peaked, and now he's begun his journey to recovery. Though it won't be an easy journey by any means, the worst part of the storm has passed. He'll need a few weeks of recovery and physical therapy, then he can be released. We'll keep an eye on his fever and heart rate for the rest of the night, but it'd be very surprising if it spiked again."

"Thank you, doctor," Ducky said. The doctor nodded and walked out of the room.

The team watched Tony softy stir in his bed. Gibbs gazed down at the man.

In his heart, as deep as one had to go to access it, Gibbs knew his agent would be okay. Though the scars of the trauma he had been through, both physical and emotional, would never leave him completely, Tony was surrounded by people who cared about him. People who would help him through any obstacles to come. And though Gibbs sensed there would be more challenges to face, especially in the near future, he was sure that Tony would get through it. Tony DiNozzo was the bravest and most resilient man Gibbs had ever known…and maybe, just maybe, he would start saying it more often. Maybe, Gibbs thought with a smile. We'll see.

He settled into the chair, still smiling, eager for his agent's awakening, yet completely content to watch him peacefully sleep.


AN: You thought that was the end, didn't you? Fooled you! Ha-ha, just kidding. One chapter left!