Chapter 10

So sorry for the lonnnng wait. Stupid homework made my behind on typing up my chapter. Luckily I've been using school time again to write the rough chapter. Thanks for the ah-mazing reviews! Here's the next chapter :)

"Family of Timothy McGee?" said the doctor, looking up from his clipboard and at the approaching group.

"Yeah, that's us," spoke Gibbs.

The doctor looked at them suspiciously, but decided not to say anything when he caught the menacing 'don't-lecture-us-with-the-family-crap-just get-to-the-point' glare from the gray haired gentleman.

"Okay, well, my name is Dr. Philip Hale and I was attending Mr. McGee's-"

"Tim," said Tony bluntly

"Or Agent McGee," added Gibbs.

The doctor blinked at them then restarted differently.

"Okay then. Tim is currently in the ICU after receiving a gunshot wound to his chest, which perforated his lung. We managed to repair it, but we have him on a ventilator until he can breathe better on his own. He also lost a lot of blood, so we had to transfuse him three pints of it back. Then there are the less severe injuries such as a minor concussion and slightly damaged pharynx." He stopped, letting the team take in the news.

"I-Is he...is he going to be okay?" Sniffed Abby.

Dr. Hale looked at her and the team sadly. "It's a touch and go at this point. We had to shock him twice on the table, but we got him back. It is going to be a long recovery process."

"You did not answer her question," snapped Ziva.

The doctor sighed. He was used to this happening, his patient's family being upset, and worried, and mostly impatient, so he quickly got to the point.

"Barring any complications-"

"Complications?" Gibbs asked, concerned.

"Infections, breathing, nothing major, though. If it would be anything, it would most likely be infection, but nothing has come across at this point. But, other than that, he should be fine."

The team let out a small sigh of relief. Tim was going to live. His condition wasn't all that great, but he was going to make it. Now all they had to worry about was Harris. He probably didn't know Tim was alive, but it would be long before he found out.

"Can we see him?" asked Tony quietly.

"He's heavily sedated for right now, but you can go in for five minutes, then he needs to recover for 24 hours in ICU. After that we'll be able to move him to a private room, then you'll be able to see him longer."

Everyone nodded as the doctor gestured them to follow him to Tim's room. Once again, they were all lost in their own thoughts. What if he slips into a coma? What if he stops breathing again? How is he gonna come back from all this? How will they all come back from this?

"Now I must warn you. The machines can be a little intimidating, but they are helping Tim. It looks worse than it is, so don't be worried," said the doctor as he stopped at the glass windows. The team looked inside and gasped. They knew the doctor warned them, but this? It was too much. Too much wires, too much tubes, too much machines. Those things engulfed the person in the bed, making him appear more shrunken.

"Like I said, it'll be a long recovery, but I'm positive that he'll make it. Once we move him to the private room, we'll remove the ventilator and he'll just need an oxygen mask from time to time."

Gibbs nodded for the shell shocker team then thanked the doctor. He opened the door and everyone filed in slowly, scared that if they made one wrong move, they'd break the fragile body. Abby, being the more curious one, quietly walked over to the bed and grabbed a nearby chair. She dragged it closer to Tim's head and carefully took his ice cold hand in hers.

"P-please get better, Timmy. I'll be so mad at you if you don't,"Abby sniffed.

Tony decided to go over next, sitting opposite of Abby. He needed to be assured that his Probie was really okay, that he was really alive. Resting his hand on McGee's arm he sighed.

"You better listen to her, Probie. You know how she doesn't liked to be ignored. Just get better and you let us deal with Harris. We'll catch the bastard.

Gibbs smiled at his agent's protection over his "little brother." They were a family; a dysfunctional one, yes, but they were one, and no one hurts their family. Gibbs and Ducky went over next, sadly looking at their fallen friend.

"Like Tony said, Tim, we'll catch Harris. Don't you worry, just focus on getting better, because you don't have permission not to."

Tony smiled sadly, then noticed Ziva wasn't with the group. He searched the room and found her standing in the door, just watching them. He got up from the chair and made his way over to her.

"Why aren't you going over to him, Z?"

"I-I don't want to hurt him any more than he is. It's my fault that he got shot. I should have been watching him better; he probably blames me."

Tony sighed and brought her out of the room. "You don't know that, and you know Probie's never one to hold a grudge. Anyways, you can't blame yourself and you can't second guess yourself, either. You know it's not your fault, it's just one of those things that happens; so you can spend the rest of your life thinking of what what you should of done or you can go in there and promise Tim that we're gonna catch the son of a bitch."

Ziva looked at him with misty eyes. He was right. She hated when he was right. Ziva nodded and turned back to go inside. Tony grinned at his accomplishment as he followed her. Ziva quietly went over and took Tony's vacant chair, placing a hand on Tim's face.

"Please get better, McGee. I couldn't live with myself if you didn't. You know we'll get Harris if it's the last thing we do." She whispered something in Hebrew then leaned in to kiss his cheek. Suddenly the heard a soft knock on the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but time's up," said Dr. Hale. "We'll have someone inform you when we're ready to move him to a different room."

Everyone bid there farewells and then left the room. It was agreed that they all needed to rest, shower and eat. That would do Tim better than waiting all night and then passing out from exhaustion and lack of nutrition before they got to him. After he called NCIS and requested two agents to guard Tim, he turned towards his team.

"Meet back here in the morning once you've given your statements."

Everyone nodded and left the hospital to go home. Suddenly, Ziva stopped Gibbs, like he did with her earlier.

"Gibbs, can I- can I stay at your house tonight? I don't want to go back to my place, Tim's- his blood is-"

"I know. Of course you can," he replied.

N C I S

The 24 hours went by in a blur. After eating, sleeping, showering and giving statements, the team met back in the depressing waiting room once again. They sat quietly, none of them wanting to break the silence, but obviously a nurse didn't get the memo, because the next thing they knew, a voice sliced through the awkward muteness.

"Anyone here for Timothy McGee?"

The team eagerly stood up and went over to the nurse.

"Can we see him now?" Abby asked instantly.

"Of course, follow me. So he's resting right now, because we sedated him some more, but when he does wake up, try not to stress him out. His throat is going to be scratchy and sore for a while from the tube, and he's going to be a bit groggy." They reached the small room and the nurse let them go inside. The team stood in silence, watching their youngest teammate's chest rise and fall steadily. He was still small and very pale, which unfortunately made the dark circle underneath his eyes become more vivid. The only unsettling thing was that his breathing was uneven and his forehead was creased in confusion, fear, and pain.

"At least he has the godforsaken tube out," whispered Tony.

"If he wakes up or something happens, press the call button," said the nurse. He stepped out of the room and shut the door, leaving the team standing at the foot of Tim's bed. This time it was Ziva who walked over to Tim's side. She still felt a pang of guilt towards what happened to her friend, even though Tony had told her otherwise. Abby walked over and sat on the side of the bed, tracing Tim's fringe gently and slowly Tim's face relaxed and his breathing evened out. He was finally at ease. Tony went on the other side of McGee and placed a comforting hand on his. Ducky and Gibbs stood rooted to the spot at the end of Tim's bed, but they gently squeezed his leg, letting him know that they were there for him.

Now that they knew Tim was okay, they had another topic to focus on, but each individual had a different way of putting it:

Gibbs- Finding Wesley Harris

Ziva- Killing Harris

Tony- Destroying the son of a bitch

Abby- Poisoning the bastard who hurt Timmy

Ducky- Dismembering Timothy's attacker.

After thinking of ways to make Harris suffer, they also had to figure out who, exactly, put the hit out on Tim in the first place. Finally Gibbs spoke up.

"Tony, I want you and Ziva here, and I'll add two more agents as well; Abby and Ducky, I need you back with me. We're gonna hunt down the bastard, until the end of time if we have to!"

"I couldn't agree with you more, Jethro," said Ducky.

"Well what are you guys waiting for? Lets go!" said Abby impatiently.

They were gonna find the bastard and more importantly the bastard who ordered the hit, no matter what it took.

Thanks for the reviews and I hope you liked this chapter :) Also thanks to Gottahavemyncis for the idea of having a person order the hit. I never thought about putting that in until that idea was given. Thanks! Next Chapter will be from Harris' POV and you'll get to find out who ordered the hit! Chapter will come soon since it will be somewhat short :)