Shorter chapter than my previous chappies, but... :)

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Lots of fluff, and revelations! Oh, and one more surprise visit!

Please review!

Disclaimer: NCIS not mine.

Star of David

By doodlegirll

***

Chapter Nine

Ziva was sure she would have stayed like that all day had she not heard the footsteps of the nurse coming to check Tony's bandages. Ziva scuttled herself off the bed as fast as she could, without hurting Tony or herself, to stand at his side, her hand still in her hers.

The nurse came in, and smiled sweetly at Ziva, who gave a small smile back.

"Miss, I am going to have to ask you to please step back. I need to make sure his bandages are tight."

"Yes, of course." Ziva let go of Tony's hand and stepped back, allowing the nurse to do her job.

"How long will it be before he wakes up?" She dared to ask.

"I'm not sure." The nurse answered her. "Probably not for the rest of today, I would assume. He's been through a lot, miss. Lucky to be alive."

"I know." Ziva said. "I am very much aware of that."

The nurse finished what she was doing and threw her latex gloves in the trash receptacle beside the bed.

"If you don't mind me asking," she said. "Do you know what happened to him? You seem fairly close to him…boyfriend?"

Ziva shook her head. "Partner." She said. "We work together." She stared at his face, the oxygen tubes in his nose, the IVs in his good arm. "He did it to save me. He and I were kidnapped, and they tortured him. They tried to kill me, but he took it instead." She swallowed the lump at the back of her throat, telling herself that she would not cry in the nurse's presence.

The nurse smiled sympathetically. "He must care about you very much." She said softly, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on Ziva's arm.

"Yes…" Ziva said slowly. "He does."

"Would you like me to get a chair for you?" The nurse said.

"Yes, please." Ziva said. "I would appreciate it very much."

The nurse nodded and walked out of the room, returning with a chair from the hallway moments later. She placed it close to Tony's bedside, and Ziva settled herself into it.

"Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome." The nurse said. "My name is Bekkah. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you, okay?"

Ziva nodded. "Thank you, Bekkah."

Bekkah left the room, leaving Ziva alone with the sleeping Tony once more.

Ziva looked back at Tony, reached out to lightly touch his cheek.

"Ani ochevet otcha." She whispered.

Suddenly very tired, Ziva leant forward onto the bed, laying her head on the cool sheets. She let out a long sigh, and soon drifted off into unconsciousness.

***

"Ziva."

Ziva was awakened to someone gently shaking her shoulder, a quiet voice whispering in her ear.

"Ziva, wake up."

Ziva blinked open her bleary eyes to find McGee.

"McGee?" She whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Gibbs sent me." McGee said. "He wants you to come downstairs and eat dinner."

Ziva frowned. "Dinner…?"

McGee nodded. "You've been asleep all afternoon. It's six o'clock now. We had to have the nurses bring in a cot and lay you down on that, since you were getting in the way."

Ziva sat up, looking around the room wildly.

"Where is Tony?"

"He's across the room." McGee said. "He's sleeping. They gave him more painkillers."

Ziva relaxed. "So he is comfortable?"

"For now." McGee said. "Now come on; Gibbs is waiting."

He helped Ziva to stand, her sore and battered body screaming in protest at being awakened from the fitful nap she had just had. He led her down the hall back towards the waiting room.

Almost as soon as the double doors were opened, Ziva was enveloped in a huge, but very gentle, hug. Startled, Ziva looked down to find Abby clinging to her the way a child would a teddy bear.

"Ziva!" She said, delighted. "You're awake!"

"Abby?" Ziva said. "What are you doing here?"

The young Goth released her and took a step back, her bubbly smile lightening the room.

"Vance booked a flight as soon as he got word." She explained. "I sort of tagged along."

"More like snuck along." A stoic Vance strode up behind Abby. "But I couldn't leave her there. She had her bags packed and everything."

Abby grinned. "Ducky came, too."

Ziva looked up around the room, and spotted the elderly MD smiling a few feet from her.

"Ducky!" She said, hugging him. "It is so good to see you!"

"And you, my dear." Ducky replied. "I hear you have had quite the adventure."

"What of your mother? And Palmer?" Ziva asked.

"Mr. Palmer is very capable of taking over in my absence, my dear." Ducky said. "He will need to be, someday. And as for my mother, she's taken a trip with a few of the ladies she plays bingo with every Saturday. Cancun, I believe."

Ziva smiled, and glanced around the room. The entire team had come all the way to Tel Aviv, and had settled into the Ichilov Hospital waiting room. Small belongings littered the area: Abby's CD player and umbrella off in a corner, McGee's laptop in the chair next to it; Ducky's old hat that he was fond of, along with his rain slicker and an old volume of Greek Mythology. Empty soda cans lay lost and abandoned on the small intables next to the chairs, and a large Caf-Pow cup sat on the floor next to Abby's umbrella.

"How long have you been here?" She asked.

"About three hours." Abby answered. "Gibbs said you were sleeping, and said it was a good idea to leave you alone for a little while."

Ziva's eyes flicked to Gibbs across the room. They shared brief eye contact, then Ziva looked back at Abby.

"Gibbs told us you're coming back to NCIS!" Abby said. "Are you really or is he playing a really sadistic joke?"

Ziva laughed at the forensic scientist's energy. "Yes, Abby, I am returning to NCIS." She said. "Whenever Tony is allowed to travel again."

The room was quiet at the mention of Tony. Abby's smile faded and she chewed her lip nervously.

"How is he?" She dared to ask.

"Sleeping." McGee spoke. "Peacefully."

Abby let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, guys," Gibbs's voice sounded above the crowd. "I'm hungry. 'S time we get some dinner."

No one's stomach dared argue with Gibbs. Everyone nodded in agreement, but Ziva hung back.

"What if he wakes up while we are gone?" She asked.

"A nurse will come get us." Gibbs said. "You're not staying here. You need to get something down."

"I do not want him to wake up alone, Gibbs." Ziva said.

"He'll be fine."

Ziva opened her mouth to continue the argument when Ducky stepped forward.

"You know, cafeteria food never was a favorite of mine." He said. "Always did horrible things to my insides. I'll stay here with Anthony while the rest of you go and get something to eat. I can pick something up when you come back."

Ziva looked at him, grateful, and then looked at Gibbs, who nodded his approval.

"Thanks, Duck." He said.

"My pleasure." Ducky said with a smile. He looked at Ziva. "Now you go and try to get your mind off things. I'll let you know if he wakes up."

Ziva pecked Ducky on the cheek.

"Thank you, Ducky." She said, and walked away with the others.

Ducky smiled, and asked a nurse to try and help him find Tony's room. The nurse introduced herself as Bekkah, and quietly took him to Tony's room.

"Thank you, Bekkah." Ducky said.

"You're welcome, Mr…"

"Ducky."

"You're welcome, Mr. Ducky." Bekkah said with a smile.

Ducky walked inside the room, spotting a chair beside the bed where the listless Tony lay. Ducky gradually crossed the room and sat down.

Ducky was used to staring death in the face. He was an MD, and a soldier, and he had seen more dead bodies and human remains than there were horror movies in existence. But never in his life had he seen such a deathly face on someone still alive.

"Dear Lord, Tony," he said quietly. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Tony's heart monitor beeping regularly was the only response he received.

"You know, Ziva is quite worried about you." Ducky said, talking to the comatose form in front of him. "She almost refuses to let you out of her sight, the poor thing. I believe she feels somewhat responsible for what happened, for you putting your life on the line for her." He smiled. "That was quite noble of you, Anthony, but very stupid as well. Look where it has landed you.

"I do fear that if you do not wake up soon, my dear boy, we may be forced to put a feeding tube down Ziva's throat. She is so concerned for you that she refuses to take care of herself, no matter what Jethro or anyone tries to tell her." He looked at closed eyelids. "She loves you. Very much."

For a moment, Ducky was unsure what to say, unsure where to go from there. Words seemed to fall short on his tongue, and he smiled to himself. It wasn't often that that happened.

"That waiting room is much too quiet without you there to entertain us." He finally said. "I think we could all use one of your movie references right about now. You know, I actually came up with one myself the other day, and I meant to tell you about it. It was from an older movie about the Last World War, called The Great Escape. I was going to ask you if you had seen it. If I remember correctly, it was Bartlett who said that the Gestapo did not plan to give him as much trouble as he planned to give them." Ducky chuckled. "Ah, well, it was quite funny the first time."

He swallowed, and about ten minutes later he heard the double doors at the end of the hall open and close, and footsteps grew closer.

"Ah, that's probably Ziva." He said. "Probably done with her dinner. I think I'll go see what I can find myself." He stood to his feet, and turned away from Tony to walk away, but paused, and turned back to him.

"You know, my dear boy," he said softly. "In all my years on this earth, I have found that generally, something worth dying for is also worth living for. I do hope, if nothing else, you remember that."

He could have sworn he saw Tony's fingers twitch.

***

Hours later, after everyone had left the hospital to retire for the night at their hotel, Ziva stared out the window of the room they had moved Tony to. Out above the city lights were billions upon billions of stars. They twinkled and lit up the moonless night, like little eyes winking back at her. Ziva found herself transfixed, staring out into the infinite space that danced above everyone's heads, wondering why she had never really stopped to look at the stars and admire their beauty.

Ziva David was a changed woman.

Across the room, his heart monitor beeping in a regular music-like rhythm, Tony still slept. Ziva had seen no movement come from him since she had returned from dinner at six thirty, and it was now eleven twenty one. She had stayed at his side, refusing to leave him alone for the night, despite Gibbs' demands. His respect for Ziva would not allow him to head-slap some sense into her, so he had given in and let her stay at the hospital with strict instructions to let him know if she needed anything, no matter the time of night.

Abby had surprised her with a duffle bag of clothes, explaining that she had found them in her apartment from a time when she and Ziva had had a girl's night watching movies and Ziva had accidentally left them there. Ziva had taken the bag gratefully, and while she was still dressed in the NCIS sweats, she was glad to have something of her own to change into come the morning. Maybe she would feel more like Ziva.

"I wish you could see the stars, Tony." She said. "They really are beautiful. I have never noticed before now." She smiled to herself. "Now I am starting to act like Ducky. I know that you cannot hear me and yet I am talking to you as thought you can." She tore her eyes away from the brilliant lights to look back at him, her eyes threatening to mist over again. "I wish that you would wake up." She whispered.

Still, Tony did not move.

Ziva sighed and took one last look at the sky before turning and walking back to his bedside, once again taking his large hand into her small one.

"I am waiting, Tony." She whispered. "When you are ready, I will be here."

***

"Please, Tony, do not die…I cannot lose you, not now…You have to hold on…"

"Muscle damage. That bullet was lucky not to hit his heart…"

"Watch his shoulder…"

"Find it in your heart to forgive me…"

"Ani ochevet otcha…"

"Something worth dying for is also worth living for…"

"When you are ready, I will be here…"

Tony groaned as he opened his eyes to a blinding white light. His body ached, and his head spun around like a carousel.

But the biggest question of the day was not why he hurt like he did, but where exactly he was.

Tony sat up, rubbing his head. He looked around, but all he saw was white. Pure, blinding, white. The deafening silence caused him to become quite uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but wonder why it was so quite when he was sure he had just heard voices…Ziva's voice…

"Hello?" He dared to call. "Is anyone there?"

His voice did not echo, but he definitely made the sound, and this only confused him more. How had he gotten here? Why did everything around him remind him of being trapped in gigantic marshmallow?

He struggled to his feet, squinting off into the distance.

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Hello, Tony."

The voice caused him to nearly jump out of his skin, and he turned on his heel to face the person it belonged to. As he did, he froze.

There, in front of him, dressed in almost all white, was the figure of a woman. She had dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders, hazel-brown eyes, and a soft smile. A light brighter than the whiteness itself radiated behind her, and she smiled at Tony.

Tony took a step towards her.

"Kate?" He asked softly. "Is that you?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, Tony. It's me."

Tony walked closer. "But…you died…I saw it…I had your blood on my face…I was there…"

Kate looked at him warmly. "I've missed you, Tony." She said.

"Yeah, me too." Tony said. He swallowed, almost afraid to ask the question on his tongue. "Am I dead?"

Kate laughed lightly and shook her head.

"No, Tony, you're not dead." She said.

"Then how…?"

"I've been sent to tell you that it's time for you to wake up now, Tony. It's not your time to die yet." Kate interrupted him. "I've been watching over you for a long time, Tony, and I know what you've been through, and I know you would like to give up, but you can't." She walked up to him, and Tony wanted badly to hug her, but he knew that he should listen to what it was she had to say. Obviously it was important.

"You have someone that still needs you, Tony." Kate said. "Someone that loves you very much."

Tony swallowed. "Ziva." He whispered.

Kate nodded. "Ziva needs you, Tony." She said. "She needs you there more than I need you here with me."

"I really have missed you, Kate." Tony said. "You have no idea."

"Oh, I think I do." Kate said. "And that's why Ziva was brought into your life. Everything happens for a reason, Tony. Even death." Her eyes glittered. "But Ziva wasn't just brought to you to help you fill the void that my death left. She was sent to teach you to love, and to let go in a way that you've never experienced before."

Tony chewed the inside of his cheek.

"She loves you, Tony." Kate said. "And I know, because I know you, that you love her, too."

He bent his head. "I didn't want them to hurt her…not after all she had already been through…"

"I know." Kate placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he found it warm to the touch, like she was made of sunshine.

"I love her, Kate." Tony said. "When I first met her, I didn't know what to think of her…she was so different…and she wasn't you. For a long time I didn't want anyone but you there…you were like a sister to me, my best friend in the world…"

"I've been watching over you, Tony." Kate reminded him. "I know. I heard you talk to me at my funeral, and I hear you talk to me when you visit my grave sometimes."

Tony smiled. "Good to know."

Kate returned the smile. "It's time for you to wake up now, Tony." She said.

Tony grabbed her into a huge hug, which she returned.

"You'll see me again, Tony." She said as she stepped back. "Someday, you'll see me again."

"How can you be so sure, Kate?"

"Because you have a good heart." Kate answered. "Goodbye, Tony. Until we meet again."

She stepped back and was gone.

Green eyes opened.

Random bit of trivia for those of you that don't know: David McCallum actually played in the movie The Great Escape. He played Lt. Cmdr. Eric Ashley-Pitt, Dispersal. :) Thought that might be fun to throw in!

Oh, and ani ochevet otcha means 'I love you' in Hebrew.