As it happened they didn't have to wait too long. Ducky was the first to notice the flickering eyelids as Gibbs fought to regain consciousness. For Gibbs, it felt as though he was underwater and struggling to reach the surface. He managed to open his eyes slightly and a beam of bright white light stung his retinas and dazzled him. Where was here he wondered? His eyes refused to focus and he kept blinking in an effort to clear his vision. He could hear voices. They were familiar to him and made him feel at ease. Someone was saying his name. He blinked again and tried to focus his vision in the direction of the sound. A blurry figure entered his line of sight. Slowly, his vision cleared and he recognised the figure.
"Dad?" he croaked, his voice not yet recovered for his earlier intubation in the E.R.
"Yes Leroy I'm here," Jackson replied grabbing his son's hand.
"And I'm here too, Jethro," Ducky announced in his own inimitable manner. "Welcome back!"
"Where am I?" Gibbs asked trying to figure out what had happened to him.
"You're in the hospital, son," Jackson told him. "The Doc says you're going to be okay."
"How? I mean …. was I shot? I don't remember," he said weakly.
"No, Jethro. You've taken a nasty blow to the head and you're going to need surgery on your knee. It's a long story. We'll tell you all when you're feeling up to it," Ducky explained briefly. Gibbs nodded and knew he couldn't fight the tiredness. Soon he was sleeping once more.
Ducky and Jackson sat in silence, allowing themselves to rest for the first time in a couple of days. Jackson dozed in a chair beside his son's bed. Ducky took the chair nearest the window. At one stage he thought he could hear Abby outside in the corridor. He peered out the window and saw that the rest of the team had arrived. Silently he rose and slipped out of the room, hoping not to disturb Jackson who was sleeping.
"Ducky! There you are! Where's Gibbs? How is he?" she gushed, as she rushed to greet him.
"Sssh. He's in there," he replied, pointing to the room from which he came. "He's going to be fine."
Tony exhaled a loud sigh of relief for all to hear.
"Thank God. Did he say anything?" he wondered.
"Not much. He has a skull fracture and associated swelling. He's confused and disorientated but that's only to be expected. He woke briefly but for the most part has been sleeping. His father's with him now," Ducky informed them.
"But he's going to be okay," Abby repeated, looking for further reassurance.
"Yes Abigail. He's scheduled for surgery on his knee in the morning but he should be back to himself in a few days," Ducky replied.
"Can we see him?" Ziva asked sheepishly.
"Well, he's sleeping and so is Jackson. Why don't you wait here and I'll come and get you once he wakes," Ducky suggested. There was no objection.
"Okay, sounds like we're celebrating! I don't know about you guys but I'm starving. How about I go and get us some pizza, my treat?" Tony offered generously.
"Really?" McGee asked, taken aback by his out of character generosity.
"Don't sound so surprised, McGeek. It's a once in a lifetime offer. It's not every day your boss comes back from the dead! Grab it while you can," Tony smiled.
"Count me in," McGee replied.
"Me too," Abby replied. "No olives!"
"Well, if you're buying," Ziva replied.
They all found a waiting room not far from Gibbs room. They settled in on couches and comfortable chairs and waited for Tony to return. After about thirty minutes, he returned loaded down with pizza boxes and sodas. The team descended on the feast hungrily and tucked in. Pretty soon they had emptied most of the boxes and drained the sodas. They sat back and allowed their meal to digest. As they relaxed, Jackson Gibbs strolled in to the waiting room.
"I sure hope there's a slice left," he said as he entered. Tony jumped respectfully to his feet.
"You're in luck Jack. Pepperoni or ham and mushroom?" Tony said, as he rooted through the pizza boxes.
"Pepperoni, thanks," he said, taking the box on his knee.
"How is the boss?" McGee asked, as Jackson took a bite. Jackson tried to swallow before answering.
"I raised one tough kid." Jack replied proudly. "He was in pretty bad shape when he got here, but there's no lasting damage. His knee is banged up and no doubt he'll be complaining about being laid up but I'll gladly take his bad mood, especially when I know how close I came to losing him," Jackson continued solemnly.
Abby bit her lip, trying to staunch her tears from starting again. She too knew what a close one it had been. She just nodded and smiled at Jackson as he battled with a string of mozzarella and continued eating. They resumed chatting and joked and laughed about how impossible their boss would be to live with for the next few months while he was on crutches.
Shortly after, Ducky returned to them to tell them that Jethro was awake once again. The doctors were with him, carrying out a few tests. He told them that they could see him once the doctors had finished. With that Abby jumped to her feet and raced from the room towards Gibbs' room leaving the others in her wake. She just wanted to see him with her own eyes. She wouldn't let herself believe that he was okay until she saw him. She watched through the glass as the nurse raised the back of his bed placing him in a sitting position. He looked drowsy, she noticed. His face was bruised and swollen. A large white bandage covered a recently shaved portion of his head where his scalp had been stitched. She had never seen him look so battered before. My poor, poor Gibbs, she thought.
The nurse noticed her looking in and beckoned her into the room. Meekly she entered, not really knowing what to do or say. She approached Gibbs slowly.
"Hey Abby," he said when he finally saw her.
"Oh Gibbs!" she said, before throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"Easy Abs," he winced as he paid the price for her enthusiasm.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I should have known. I hurt you didn't I? I can't believe I hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm really sorry. Are you okay Gibbs? Please say you're okay. Maybe I should go," she said apologising incessantly.
"Abby, I'm okay. Come here," he replied, reaching out to her with his bandaged hands. He patted the edge of the bed for her to sit. She did so very carefully. He put his hand on hers. She sat like a child and allowed herself to relax into him. And that's how the rest of the team found them when they too entered the ICU room.
"Hey Boss," Tony said greeting his mentor. "Boy you look like…." he started "..like you could do with a vacation," he finished awkwardly.
"Thanks DiNozzo. Tactful as ever," Gibbs smiled.
"Can you remember what happened, Boss?" McGee asked.
"It's like I know what happened but I just can't quite get it in order in my head," Gibbs admitted.
"Don't worry about that Jethro," Ducky piped up. "It will come back. You've been given a lot of pain medication for your knee and that would cause confusion to most men," Ducky informed him.
"Ducky tells me you all thought I was dead," Gibbs smirked.
"It wasn't funny Gibbs," Abby chastised when she saw the smirk. "It was the worst day of my life."
"I'm sorry Abs. Guess I missed all the action," he replied.
"I think you were on the receiving end of most of the action," DiNozzo reminded him clumsily. Gibbs smiled and decided not to pounce on him today. After all the kid had done good. According to Ducky if it wasn't for Tony he would probably still be in that mine, he realised. He had always maintained that DiNozzo had the makings of a fine agent and he was proving it more and more each day.
"The Doc tells me that I'll be out of commission for a few months with this knee, so it looks like it's your team for a while," he said to Tony. Tony beamed with pride. To have the blessing of Gibbs was all he craved. There was an awkward silence.
"Well, what are you still doing here? Who's minding the shop? Haven't you had a long enough break?" Gibbs asked seriously, glaring at DiNozzo.
"On it Boss!" Tony replied, as he turned flustered and pushed McGee towards the door. "Come on Probie. You heard the man," he said as he high tailed it out of the room. Gibbs, Ziva, Abby, Ducky and Jackson started to laugh at Tony's dramatics and McGee's protests.
"Go on, the lot of ye!" Gibbs ordered. "Can't a man get any sleep around here?"
Abby stood up and kissed him on the forehead.
"I'll be outside. You have a rest and I'll be back if you need anything," she promised.
Gibbs smiled graciously. He watched as they left the room. He realised how lucky to have them. They were his family. He knew the road to recovery was going to be hard on him because he hated being dependant others, but one thing he knew for sure, was that he could depend on each and every one of them. He lay his head back on the pillows and closed his eyes safe in the knowledge that his family would be there when he woke.
THE END
Probably seems like a sudden ending. Could've gone on about Gibbs' recovery, etc., but thought it'd be dragging it out too much. Sorry if anyone's disappointed. Thanks for taking the time to read it anyway!