Sorry for the delay updating. This chapter is a little fluffy! Also included in this chapter is Ducky's golf caddy story from the last episode of season 7. Enjoy! I do not own NCIS...
Chapter 10: Comfy, McGee?
After the team left, Gibbs sat down on the edge of Delaney's bed and took her hand.
"You're gonna be getting out of here in few days," he told her.
She looked up at him groggily and said, "Ah, shit Gunny, I can't..."
Gibbs shook his head and interrupted her with, "Hey, I'm not going to send you back to Fairfax to try to take care of yourself. You can stay with me for as long as you need to." The look that he gave her meant that the subject was not up for discussion.
She nodded at him and said quietly, "Gibbs, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you. That's twice now that I'd be dead if you hadn't saved me."
Gibbs smiled at her and said, "You've just got someone upstairs looking after you, that's all."
She smiled back at him with a gleam in her eye and said, "You know, Gunny, sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways, using strange methods and odd instruments."
Gibbs smirked and raised an eyebrow, "You mean me?"
She nodded and he replied with a chuckle, "Yeah, that would be odd."
Gibbs stayed with her until she fell asleep, and then got ready to leave. He put his jacket on and as he stepped into the hallway, one of the nurses approached him and said, "Agent Gibbs?" He did not recognize her as one of the regular nurses on that floor and eyed her suspiciously.
"Yes?"
She began to speak to him quietly, "Agent Gibbs, you wanted us to keep you informed about Dennis McNamara's condition. He's been moved out of the ICU and into a private room. He remains under 24 hour guard, and should be released in a few days."
Gibbs nodded and replied, "Alright, when can I speak with him?"
She sighed and told him, "Well, the doctor said he doesn't want any kind of interrogations happening in the hospital. He'll most likely be discharged on Monday, and we are releasing him into the custody of NCIS. I just wanted to give you an update."
Gibbs nodded and said, "Ok, thanks."
When Delaney awoke in her hospital bed later that night, the room was dark and quiet, and she was sweating and breathing heavily. She didn't tell anyone about the nightmares that were plaguing her; she figured they would pass with time. With her good arm, she grabbed her phone and flipped it open to check the time. 0330. She had a text message from Ducky stating that he would be by to visit her in the morning. She leaned back on her pillows, and suddenly felt very lonely. She wanted to call someone to talk, but even though it was the weekend, she felt it was too late to call even her west coast friends. She propped up her pillows and turned on the TV, not wanting to deal with any more nightmares. After about 10 minutes, she felt her phone vibrate on her lap, and she looked at it, confused.
"Who could possibly be texting me at this hour?" she wondered. She opened the message and smiled.
It was from Tim, and it said: "hope u dont mind the txt & hope it doesnt wake u. just wanted 2 tell u that im thinking of u." Delaney smiled and dialed his number.
He answered after one ring and she said, "Hey, Tim. I got your text."
Tim sounded startled, "Laney, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to wake you, gosh that was stupid! I shouldn't have texted you so late..."
She interrupted his panicked ramblings with, "Tim! Calm down, sweetie, I was already awake." Tim sighed into the phone, relieved that he didn't wake her.
"Oh. Are you ok? How come you're not sleeping?" he asked.
"I had a nightmare," she told him, surprising herself that she admitted it so easily.
"So how come you're not sleeping?" she asked him and he replied quietly, "I was up thinking about you."
She smiled and said, "I'm really glad you texted me, Tim."
He sounded surprised and said, "You are? Well, I'm really glad that I did, too."
A nurse walked into the room to check her vitals, and she said, "Tim hold on just a sec, the nurse just came in." Tim waited patiently, and heard Delaney and the nurse talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.
After a minute she got back on the phone and said, "Sorry about that. Hey, did you feel like coming to visit?" He was a bit confused by her question. He had been to the hospital to visit her every day since she went in.
"Yeah, I would love to," he said, "but visiting hours don't start until 0900."
She replied, "I just talked with my nurse. She said it was fine if you wanted to come visit now." Tim jumped up from his bed, and while cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder, threw on a pair of sweat pants and a jacket.
"Ok great. Did you want me to bring you anything? You sure? Ok, see you in a few." Tim hung up the phone and quickly checked himself in the mirror before grabbing his keys and rushing out the door.
Once Tim got to Bethesda, he quietly opened the door to Delaney's room and stepped inside.
She smiled when she saw him and said, "Thanks for coming, Tim" He walked over and stood beside her bed, and kissed her forehead gently. He examined he face and noticed how tired she looked.
"Are you ok?" he asked, "You look awfully tired." She smiled wearily at him and used her right hand to pat the bed.
"Sit with me. Get comfortable," she told him. He slung his jacket over the back of a chair and kicked off his shoes.
Once he was comfortable in bed next to her, she said, "Tim, I'm sorry I got so upset when you guys were here earlier."
Tim shook his head and said firmly, "No. Don't apologize for that. With everything that you're going through, it's understandable. It just worries me that you look like you haven't slept that much." He nervously reached for her hand and was relieved when she laced her fingers through his.
"I really haven't been sleeping," she admitted. "I take little naps during the day, but the nightmares have prevented a decent nights sleep."
Tim let go of her hand and put his arm around her gently. He kissed her on the cheek and said quietly, "It's gonna be ok."
She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Thanks, Timmy."
"You're welcome, Gunny." he replied as she snuggled up against him and fell asleep.
Later that morning, Gibbs and Abby walked into the hospital lobby to visit Delaney.
They saw Ducky waiting for the elevator and Abby called out to him, "Hey, Duckman!"
They all got on the elevator together, and when they got to Delaney's floor, Gibbs quietly opened the door. They all stopped and stared at her bed. Delaney was laying on her right side, her left arm still tucked into a sling and resting on her side. Her head was resting on Tim's chest. His one arm was carefully tucked around her, holding her close and his hand resting on her hip. His other arm was laying across his torso.
"Oh my God, that's the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Abby whispered and started taking pictures with her cellphone.
The nurse came in, smiled and said to them, "Adorable, right?"
Gibbs turned to her and said quietly, "Is he supposed to be here?" The nurse gave him a confused look and he rolled his eyes.
"Should I be getting mad?" he asked, sounding annoyed.
She waved her hand and said quietly, "Oh, no. It's ok. The night duty nurse Barb told me that she let him come."
Gibbs continued to drill her, "Exactly what time did he get here?" he asked.
"I think about 4," the nurse replied. Gibbs tried to continue his interrogation, but the nurse cut him off.
"Agent Gibbs, it's ok. Really. Tim is very sweet, and to be quiet honest with you, this has been the longest that's she's slept all week. I'd prefer it if you didn't wake either of them."
Gibbs features relaxed a bit and he sighed, "Yeah... Yeah, ok." he said finally. They all sat, and Abby sent copies of the pictures to Tony and Ziva. She knew that Tim wouldn't be thrilled about it, but she thought it was too cute not to share.
Gibbs started thumbing through a car magazine, and after a few minutes of silence Ducky said quietly, "How tiny she looks in his arms. If not for the severe injuries, I would say that right now she doesn't look much different from the last time we were here with her." Gibbs looked up at her and Tim sleeping. Tim sighed and lifted his hand to scratch his head. Without opening his eyes, he gently snuggled closed to her and kissed the top of her head, smiling slightly. Abby and Ducky beamed at the sweetness of the scene in front of them, and even Gibbs couldn't stop the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
After a minute, Tim opened his eyes and began to focus. He saw the three of them sitting in the room and sleepily, without thinking he said, "Hey Ducky, Abbs, Boss... BOSS?!" His eyes opened wide, and now he was fully awake and fearing the wrath of Gibbs. Even in his slight panic, Tim was careful not to make any sudden moves that would hurt or disturb her.
Abby stood up and said, "Relax, Tim. We talked to the nurse. We know it's ok that you're here. Right, Gibbs?"
Gibbs just raised an eyebrow at Tim and said, "Comfy, McGee?"
Tim blushed and said, "Uh, I was... um... just getting up."
Gibbs continued his steely blue death stare at McGee and just said, "Uh huh." Tim looked down and tried to figure out how to move without disturbing her, but before he could get a plan together, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Good morning, Tim," she said, and carefully rolled off of him to settle back on to her pillows. "Morning, guys." she said sleepily.
Tim excused himself to the bathroom and Ducky asked, "How are you feeling today, my dear?"
She yawned and replied, "I feel... ok. I can see better today."
Ducky nodded and said, "Yes, I can see that the swelling and bruising has gone down significantly." He placed both of his hands gently on her cheeks and moved her head around to examine her face.
"And how about the rest of you?" he asked, and she replied, "I'm still sore sore, but I feel more relaxed. Not so anxious and upset as I have been."
Ducky smiled, "Few people realize the amazing benefits of a good night's sleep. I spoke with your doctor. They will be discharging you tomorrow. I understand that you'll be staying with Jethro?" he asked and Delaney nodded.
She looked at Gibbs and said, "Papa, if I'm going to stay with you, I have to get some stuff from my place."
Abby stepped forward and said, "Aw, Gibbs she called you Papa, that is soooo sweet..."
"Abby," Gibbs and Delaney said at the same time; Abby smiled at them both and quickly changed course.
"If you want, I'll have Gibbs take me over there today, and I'll grab your clothes and other essentials."
She gave Abby a grateful look and said, "That would be awesome, Abbs, thanks." She leaned back on her pillows and sighed, relieved and grateful for such amazing support. She tried to adjust her arm and winced in pain. Tim had come back into the room, and saw the pain she was in.
He took her hand and asked, "You ok? Do you want me to call the nurse in for you?"
She shook her head and said, "No. I'm tired of pain medicine." She moved to try to get comfortable, but sucked in a deep breath as pain shot through her.
"Don't care if you're tired of it, kid," Gibbs said to her, "You need it." Once the nurse administered her pain medicine, she became groggy and fell asleep again quickly. Tim gently took her hand out of his and kissed her cheek. Gibbs, Abby and Tim left, while Ducky stayed behind to speak with her doctor again.
Ducky sat next to the bed, reading the paper. After a few minutes he looked up to see her shift positions. She opened her eyes and looked at Ducky with a confused look on her face. "Are you alright, love?" Ducky asked, and she finally shook her head and smiled.
"My mind was a total blank there for a second," she said.
Ducky's face lit up and he said, "That reminds me of a caddy, on a golf course, just north of Glasgow. He kept giving me unasked for tips. Every time I hit the ball he would said, 'No no no.' He drove me crazy. Finally, on the eighteenth, I'm sitting two hundred and eighteen from the pin. He hands me a five iron, 'Lay up' he says, 'And you'll be on it in 2.' I stared at the man, and then, for a moment, my mind went completely blank. Then I held out my hand. 'Three wood' I said calmly, 'I'm going for it.' 'You?' he says, 'Ha ha, impossible.' So, I take my stance, a day's frustration behind me, and I uncork the shot of a lifetime! As the ball flew away I screamed out a dreadful obscenity at the man." Delaney listened, smiling as he told his story. "So, did you make the green?" she asked, amused. "No, I overshot it by 15 yards, took a triple bogey. But I learned a lesson that day, Miss Delaney, that being correct does not excuse a violation of form."
Delaney took his hand in hers and smiling, said, "I love you, Tonog, and I missed you. Your stories are the best!"
TBC...