Chapter 9

"Okay DiNozzo. I'll tell them," Gibbs said as he hung up his cell phone. "That was DiNozzo. The Doctor's increased Ziva's Glascow score from a four to a seven."

"Yay!" Abby shouted.

"What changed?" McGee asked.

"The nurse came in and shined a penlight into her eyes. She reacted. When they evaluated her again they found that she was starting to react to it. When the reevaluated her on the Glascow Coma Scale she went from a four to a seven. She was starting to show abnormal reflexes to painful stimuli."

"So does that mean she's waking up?" Abby asked.

"No. She still has a long way to go. She's just improving."Abby raised her hand. "Abs, I don't know anything else."

"Can I go see her?" Abby asked.

"Finish processing the brake line, and then you are free to go." Gibbs stated.

"Yay!"

"McGee, run down Ziva's car and review the traffic cam footage. If someone tampered with Ziva's brake they had to have been following her."

"Boss, do you really think this is fowl play?"

"Rule eight, McGee!"

"Never leave home without your knife?" McGee asked.

"No! Never take anything for granted. It looks like drunk driving but it can very well be foul play."

When Abby finally she finished the break line she immediately drove her hearse to St. Margaret's. She ran to the elevator in her platform heels and pushed the button for Ziva's floor. When she arrived at Ziva's room she anxiously looked through the window to see Ziva laying in her hospital bed, her eyes closed. Tony was sitting beside her, holding her hand and fiddling with an earbud headphone that he was trying to put in her ear.

"Showing her a movie Tony?" Abby asked.

"At least trying to get her to hear the movie," Tony said.

"Gibbs told us the good news," Abby stated.

"I wouldn't call it good. Maybe bittersweet."

"How so?"

"She's waking but she won't fully wake for some time. It's a glimmer of hope but not enough for us to sleep at night."

"Were you here all night?"

"Yea."

"Why didn't you go home and get some sleep?" Abby asked.

"Well, Gibbs would have my ass if I left and anything happened. I am pretty certain he will let Ziva kill me already when she wakes up. I broke Rule Two. That is almost unforgivable in his book."

"Gibbs will forgive you. He just won't apologize. You know what he thinks about apologies."

"A sign of weakness," Tony stated.

"How is she doing?"

"A little better. Instead of laying there like a broken doll, she's responding to certain stimuli and made a few incomprehensible sounds before."

"Were you showing her a movie?"

"Yeah, one she probably wouldn't have enjoyed if she was conscious."

"What are you having her listen to now?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

"Assassins for the assassin. Nice pick!"

"Find anything in Ziva's car?"

"Yes, faulty break line," Abby stated.

"Faulty as in, bad mechanic, or faulty as in someone tried to kill her?"

"The second one," Abby stated. "We're running down everyone who came into contact with Ziva's car in the past few days. The important thing is that Ziva wasn't at fault, at least not entirely."

Tony looked over at Ziva, resisting the urge to lunch on top of her and give her a huge hug. She wasn't at fault. She was stupid enough to drive drunk, but not stupid enough not to have her breaks checked. He wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault, that she could wake up and they would clarify it.

He took a deep breath, and bent down next to her, "Hear that Ziva, you weren't entirely at fault. You can wake up Ziva. No one is going to treat you any differently."

Immediately after he said that, he wanted to take it back. He knew the odds of her coming out of a coma and being completely fine were about a million to one considering her brain injury and her spinal cord injury. She was going to be in rehab for quite some time, at best. If she ever left the rehab facility. It was all going to depend on Ziva.

Suddenly the rhythm coming from the ventilator changed. The sound suddenly went from a smooth hiss to a violent raspy cough.

"What's going on?" Abby asked.

"I don't know. Get the Doctor!" Tony asked as he leaned over Ziva and gently stroked her face. "It's okay Ziva, just don't fight it. We'll get the doctor to take it out!" He looked up from Ziva's face, painted with anguish and watched as the doctors and nurses ran in. "Hurry!" He shouted as Ziva's body continued to choke on the tube in her throat.

The next chapter has me really excited, so give me some reviews and you might be seeing it sooner than you think.