Chapter Ten
I'm not the only one watching over him now…
-----
Ducky pelted towards Gibbs' voice faster than a man his age should have been able, Palmer right behind. The urgency in the team leader's voice telling them that there wasn't any time to spare.
Gibbs led them back to Tony and then stood by as the two men began to work feverishly. Ducky quickly listened to Tony's chest, palpating gently, pausing when he hit the spot that Gibbs had thought a broken rib might be.
"We've got a pneumothorax, give me a chest tube, quickly Mr. Palmer." Ducky ordered and immediately Palmer went digging through one of the boxes they'd brought with them.
Gibbs continued to stand by, not really understanding what the two men were talking about and wishing like hell that he could do something, anything, to help.
As soon as he passed the needed items to the M.E., Palmer prepared for what he knew would come next. First he placed a flashlight in his mouth and pulled on gloves. Gibbs watched curiously as the young M.E.'s Assistant then pulled out an instrument, holding it one hand and a tube in the other.
When all was prepared, Palmer waited, his hands held in midair over Tony's face, ready to put the tube down the other man's throat the moment Ducky was finished. He didn't dare try the procedure while Ducky worked, as any movement he caused to Tony's body likely to jostle the M.E.
"Jethro, hold the light for me," Ducky ordered and Gibbs was at his side in a flash, happy to be doing something. He took the indicated light and held it where the older man pointed.
As Ducky quickly and carefully sliced into a space Tony's ribs, Gibbs found himself turning his face away. He'd seen a lot of things in his time but right then he just didn't want to watch. Not after all that Tony had been through. Gibbs couldn't witness one more thing hurting his agent, no matter how much he convinced himself that the scalpel was actually helping the other man.
Only peripherally aware of his friend's turmoil, Ducky ignored it to help the agent in front of him. Once he had the hole big enough, he inserted a gloved finger to push in the tube, inserting it deep into Tony's chest. Pulling out his stethoscope he listened carefully, checking to be sure of its location.
"Mr. Palmer," Ducky said as soon as he was sure the tube was where it needed to be.
Jimmy had been waiting for just that. Reaching down, he tipped Tony's head back and inserted the instrument to open his throat. Carefully aiming the light with his mouth, he worked to place the breathing tube as quickly as possible. He'd only done the procedure on a human cadaver once before but as luck would have it, that wasn't the only time he'd inserted a breathing tube.
Thanking his luck for a summer working in a pet hospital, Palmer sighed with relief as the tube slid into place. After once intubating a newborn kitten with a swollen throat, putting a tube into a full grown man was comparatively easy.
"It's in!" Palmer cried, spitting out the flashlight and reaching for a bag from the box next to him. Ducky moved the stethoscope, listening as Palmer attached the bag and began to pump air into Tony's lungs.
"Well done, Mr. Palmer," Ducky said, taking the stethoscope out of his ears. He'd heard the reassuring sound of air entering Tony's lungs and relaxed a little as the worst was over. Getting oxygen into his body was job one, now it was time for the next step.
Ducky looked up to find Gibbs staring at him.
"Duck?" With one word Gibbs communicated all his fears and questions to his old friend and the M.E. quickly held up a hand to reassure him.
"Jethro, Tony's suffered a pneumothorax," seeing the puzzled look on the other man's face he explained. "It's a collapsed lung. Anthony broke a rib in the accident and it pierced his lung, causing air to enter his chest cavity and the lung to collapse. It would've happened slowly, probably ever since the moment of impact."
Gibbs looked crestfallen.
"Now Jethro, don't do that. There is absolutely nothing you could have done for him. Even if I had been here with him, there would have been nothing I could have done without the proper instruments. Once the rib pierced the lung it was only a matter of time before he stopped breathing. Let's just count our blessings that we got to him in time, shall we?"
"One condition Duck," Gibbs said.
Ducky raised his eyebrows in a silent query.
"Keep him alive."
Ducky nodded, his breath catching a little at the tone of his friend's voice. The young man lying below them meant more to Jethro than he'd ever admit and Ducky had just witnessed a crack in the Lead Agent's armor. It made him want to help more than ever.
"Jethro, help us get him onto the backboard," Ducky said, determined to do as he promised.
Ducky was in charge now and Gibbs followed his orders without hesitation. The M.E. quickly put a neck brace on Tony as Gibbs and Palmer prepared the backboard. As soon as Ducky was done, all three men gently slid the injured agent onto it.
Gibbs and Palmer then lifted Tony and began the arduous trip through the deep snow to the van. Ducky walked next to them, pumping the bag giving oxygen to Tony every few seconds. Once they got to the van, they laid Tony in the back.
That's when Gibbs took over.
"Keys, phone," he said to Palmer who obediently handed them over, barely looking up from his post at Tony's head. As Ducky made sure the straps holding the agent to the backboard were fastened securely, Palmer pumped air into the injured man's lungs.
On the way back to the van, Palmer had given Gibbs the directions to the rendezvous point Vance had set up in case a chopper was needed. Closing the door on the three men in the back, Gibbs ran around to the driver's seat.
Pulling out Palmer's phone as he started the engine, Gibbs called McGee. Giving a brief report of Tony's condition, he ordered the other man to have the chopper meet them at the rendezvous. Then he pulled out and drove as fast and as carefully as he ever had in his life. The only time he'd driven faster being when Shannon had been in labor on the way to the hospital. The only time he'd driven more carefully being on the way home, with Kelly safely strapped in her car seat.
-----
Tony returned to the world to find it completely different than he remembered. Gone was the silence and biting cold. Now there was warmth and noise, lots of noise. Voices called to each other though he couldn't make out the words. Behind it all there was another noise, a constant one.
Whump, whump, whump
He couldn't figure it out and opening his eyes to investigate further just wasn't an option. Staying awake might be an option. Opening his eyes with lids that felt like they weighed a ton? Not so much.
Whump, whump, whump.
Where was he? He remembered being with Gibbs in the woods. Yeah, that's right. The woods. How had he gotten there? Oh, the investigation. He and Gibbs had gone to the captain's house.
Whump, whump, whump.
The crash. That's what happened next. Then after the crash there was an explosion. After that it was mostly pain he remembered. Pain in his leg. Pain in his chest. Lots of it everywhere.
Whump, whump, whump.
Then he hadn't been able to breathe. He'd been scared. Really scared. Gibbs had been holding him. Gibbs told him he'd be fine. Then he had slept.
Whump, whump, whump.
He vaguely remembered warmth on the mountain while he slept. A body next to his. It had meant heat but also comfort. The fear had gone a little when he'd felt it.
Whump, whump, whump.
After that there were new noises. Gibbs shouting his name. Begging him not to die. Tony had tried to answer. Tried to tell Gibbs that he was there. That he could hear his boss. Gibbs hadn't heard him. Then Tony heard Ducky.
Whump, whump, whump.
Then there had been a new pain. Sharp, slicing into him with a red hot heat. Something in his throat. He had wanted to choke but couldn't. Somehow he'd been breathing, even with the strange thing going down his neck.
Whump, whump, whump.
Then there had been a long, terrifying drive in a van, Tony wondering the whole time if he'd survive the trip. Fighting to wake up, to tell Ducky he was still alive. The M.E. had looked so worried.
After that there was….
Whump, whump, whump
Tony tried to concentrate again. What had happened next? Why was it so loud all of a sudden? Where was he?
Then it hit him.
A helicopter. That's where he was. The van had driven to where the chopper had landed. A rescue team had arrived and walked him out on a stretcher to a clearing. Now he was on his way to Bethesda.
Whump, whump, whump
Now that Tony knew what the sound was, he let himself relax. He was safe. He would be fine. He had to be, Gibbs had said so.
As he thought it, he became aware of a new sensation. Not unpleasant like most of the rest that were nagging at him. Not an uncomfortable tube in his throat or needles in his arms. It was softer, warmer, kinder.
Whump, whump, whump
It was a hand. It was holding onto his. Not too tight to hurt but just tight enough to tell him that it was there. There was no way he was going to be able to open his eyes but even without that sense Tony knew to whom the hand belonged.
Gibbs.
Before the darkness took him again, Tony had one last comforting thought.
The Boss was right, I didn't die.
----
Abby, McGee and Ziva stood watching the helicopter fly off into the distance. Ducky and Palmer were loading their gear back into the truck while Vance was walking around to the various agency reps, thanking each one personally for their help in finding his agents.
Once Ducky and Palmer were ready, McGee gestured at the two women to follow him.
"C'mon, let's start heading to the hospital," he said quietly. Ziva nodded, putting an arm around the forensic scientist and physically pulling her away from where she stood. Abby followed but kept her eyes on the spot in the night sky where the chopper had flown off for as long as she could.
The same caravan that had sped away from the base so many hours before now worked it's way down the mountain at a more reasonable pace. Ducky had assured them that while Tony was critical, he was in the best of hands. It was nearing dawn and with no one having slept all night, the M.E. didn't want anyone rushing on the still icy roads.
Two hours later the group made their way into the hospital. Ziva walked with a protective arm still around Abby, while Ducky, McGee and Palmer brought up the rear. Vance had returned to the base to report to his superiors and let them know what had occurred.
Ducky spoke quickly and quietly with a nurse and they were given directions to a waiting room on another floor. It was a small room, reserved for families waiting to hear news on a patient in critical care and McGee opened the door slowly, unsure of what he'd find on the other side.
All stopped in their tracks at the sight of their boss.
Gibbs had flown on the chopper with Tony but once they'd landed he had been shuffled off to various rooms. First a waiting room near the ER, then another near surgery and now finally this one, waiting for word as Tony had been taken to intensive care. No amount of blustering, threats and even a bit of yelling had gotten him any closer to his man or to finding out what was going on with him.
For two hours he'd heard different phrases and words – touch and go, he's a fighter, we won't know anything until after surgery, critical condition – none of them mattered much to him. After the accident, no sleep for about 48 hours straight and the trauma of nearly losing one of his men, words hardly meant anything to him. They all could have been speaking Mandarin and he probably would have been none the wiser.
Gibbs didn't think he'd believe any of them at that point anyway. He just wanted to see DiNozzo. He wanted to lay his own eyes on him and reassure himself that the man was alive. Gibbs had promised Tony that he would live and until he saw for himself, he wouldn't believe that he'd been right.
Waiting for word, Gibbs had laid his head in his hands and that was how the team found him. So deep were his thoughts that he didn't hear them enter right away. A hand on his shoulder might have made another man jump but not an ex-sniper.
"Jethro," Ducky said kindly.
Gibbs slowly looked up into Ducky's face. Ignoring the others for the moment he felt only relief that the other man was there. Ducky would know how to find out what had happened to DiNozzo. Not only that, it was also good to have his friend there to help share the burden and the worry.
"They won't tell me anything, Duck," Gibbs said and Ducky nodded, immediately walking out of the door to see what he could do.
Still feeling the need for comfort herself and also spotting that the Bossman needed some too, Abby extricated herself from Ziva's arm. She sat down next to Gibbs without a word and they put their arms around each other.
Ziva, Palmer and McGee sat down in empty seats on the other side of the room and all settled down to wait.
No one was sure how much time went by after that. It could have been hours but probably more like minutes when Ducky returned. The smile on his face when he opened the door did more than he could ever know and the room noticeably relaxed to see it.
"Anthony is doing well, Jethro," Ducky said, speaking directly to Gibbs but including everyone in his news. "They've repaired the break to his leg, oh and the doctor gives his compliments for a fine set you did in the field."
Everyone turned to look at Gibbs, until that moment no one realized exactly what had happened to the two of them out on that mountain. The fact that Gibbs had to set Tony's leg (sans painkillers) surprised them all. What else had gone on up there, they wondered?
"They only needed to put in a small pin to hold the bones in place, overall not a bad break at all and Tony will recover nicely from it. As for his head wound they found only a slight concussion."
Ducky paused briefly and Gibbs pounced on it, afraid that the M.E. was giving them the good news first and holding onto the bad.
"What is it, Duck?"
Ducky frowned. "Well they weren't happy with Tony's tests. The collapsed lung caused fluid to build up, something that wouldn't have happened in a normal person but with Tony's history I'm afraid he is more susceptible to pneumonia."
"What does that mean?" Abby finally spoke up, asking the question in a voice so small that it caused Gibbs to hold her tighter.
"It means that he's not quite out of the woods I'm afraid. He's still on a ventilator and will need help to breath a bit longer. But," he held up his hands at the fallen looks that received that piece of news. "there is no need to panic. Young Anthony is very strong, even with his bad lungs. He has a fight ahead of him but I think he could be just fine."
After that Ducky was able to convince Gibbs to not only get checked out himself but also to rest a bit. At first Gibbs had balked at the suggestion that he rest, claiming he could never sleep without knowing for sure that DiNozzo would be okay. A quick conference between Ducky and Tony's doctors brought a solution that they all could agree upon.
So it was after Gibbs had been examined, bandaged and given a clean bill of health, that he found himself being led into Tony's room. He was shown to the bed next to his agent and instructed to get some sleep.
Gibbs had refused to put on a gown, laying down with his clothes on, taking off his shoes and pulling the blanket over him. As he put his head on the pillow he looked over at Tony, studying the machines and tubes thoughtfully and wondering what they each did.
Letting the reassuringly steady beeps from DiNozzo's machines lull him, Gibbs allowed himself to doze. They were no longer alone on a mountaintop. There was an entire staff of people keeping watch and if anything went wrong, he knew they'd wake him.
I'm not the only one watching over him now…