Chapter 10

Ziva was at the hospital gate right on time. She wondered why she even agreed to meet Tony early. She didn't want talk to him about what had been bothering her, but his trademark smile was irresistible. And she knew that she couldn't lie to him. Mossad or not, he would always know when something was bothering her.

She waved when she saw Tony approaching. She had thrown on a skirt and a nice shirt, but Tony was in a suit that he usually reserved for dates. Now she felt a little uncomfortable with her clothing choice.

"You look amazing," he said.

He saw her blush and it surprised him. She could kill people with her bare hands but a compliment made her blush. Tony thought it was very cute.

"Walk with me please," he said, offering her an arm.

Across the street from the hospital was a little restaurant. A sign on the door said 'reservations only' but Tony led Ziva inside and greeted the hostess

"Hello sir, ma'am, what name is the reservation under? "

"DiNozzo," Tony said.

"I see, follow me please. Your food will be brought out in a few minutes. Can I get you anything to drink?" They both ordered a soda.

"This is a non-menu place" Tony explained. "They serve, you eat." Ziva was surprised to see that he did not even try to hit on the waitress.

They made a lot of small talk during the meal, trying to stay away from anything too personal. But when Tony asked for the desert menu Ziva fell silent. "Ziva," he started, not sure how to begin. "Something is bothering you, I can see it. Please talk to me. I want to help you."

Ziva looked into Tony's eyes. All she could see was worry and a hint of something else, but she couldn't place it. She also saw the determination. Knowing that Tony was not about to let this go, she told him about her little brother.

At the end of the story she felt drained, but she was not crying. She sighed and looked away. Tony reached over the table and took her hand.

"Look at me." Her eyes met his. "There is more, please go on." Not letting go of her hand he moved closer to her, leaning over the table. Involuntarily, Ziva also leaned over the table. There was no fooling Tony; somehow he always knew when she was lying.

They both fell silent for a moment and listened to the song playing in the background.

You are my angel,
Please don't be afraid
You are my saving grace,
My hearts first aid
So don't walk away.

Listening to the song Ziva realized that this was how she felt about Tony, he was her 'hearts first aid'. She started to tell him what was on her mind.

"I am sick of Mossad. Today, I found out that my former partner was killed. It is the third time one of my partners has died on a mission. I never bonded with people there, you knew that the moment you would start doing that it would be the end. But here at NCIS everything is so, so different. People care for each other and go great lengths. I want that."

Tony used his other hand to wipe away a tear that rolled down her cheek. Both of them forgot about their desert.

"America feels so safe. I can walk out on the street without the risk of getting killed at any moment."

Then she noticed the time. "We have to go; they are going to start waking McGee soon."

Tony paid the bill and they left, almost running to the hospital. They were still holding hands, and it was comforting for Ziva. Before they entered the hospital Tony came to a stop, looking seriously at Ziva.

"We need to talk more, tonight." The tone of his voice made it clear he was not accepting no for an answer. He dragged Ziva into the hospital, and they went looking for their other team members.

They quickly found the other waiting outside McGee's room

"You're late," Gibbs said, but not as gruff as usual.

Abby was about to squeal that Ziva and Tony where holding hands. Ziva, however, quickly released Tony's hand and signaled to Abby not to talk about. She moved next to Abby. "Not now," she whispered in the other woman's ear.

The team entered the room together. It was a few minutes after seven when the doctor came in. Abby opened her purse and gave everybody a party hat. "Smile," she said when the doctor was about to wake McGee up.

It was like waking up out of dream. Carefully he cracked an eyelid open. The light was very bright but after a few seconds, it became less intense and he could see a bit better. McGee couldn't help but laugh when he saw everybody, including Gibbs, wearing party hats, and Abby holding a 'Welcome Back' banner. The laughter didn't last long, as he quickly realized that his ribs were injured.

"Careful Mr. McGee," he heard the doctor say. "You've suffered some severe body trauma so we've had you in a drug-induced coma. You have a couple of broken ribs, a concussion and a one of the bones in your foot is badly broken. You need to do a lot of physical therapy. But you have a lot of friends to help you."

McGee smiled. "Thanks guys," he tried to say but his mouth was very dry so it sounded really like a rasping breath.

"Take a sip," Ducky ordered, holding a straw from the bedside water cup to his mouth.

"You can visit with your friends, but the visits need to be limited to five minutes. If there is anything you need, just press the button," the doctor said as he finished examining McGee and left.

"I would like to go first," Ducky said. He waited as the rest of the team left the room.

"Thanks for sitting with me, Ducky," Tim said.

"Don't mention it; we were so afraid you might not make it." McGee smiled, he was sure that there was a story coming. To his surprise, however, Ducky had no story. "

"We've lost people before, and that living on the edge, it hurts. But it makes us want to go further for the people we love. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it." Ducky paused for a minute before leaving Tim with his thoughts.

"Now you get better lad," he said as he left. "

The door soon opened again and Ziva came in. "Ziva, sit down please," he told her, when she made no move to sit down or say anything.

"It was awful what happened to your brother."

Seeing Ziva's eyes grow wide, he knew that she didn't expect him to remember that.

"But it's okay." He grabbed her hand. "I will be fine eventually, because if I'm not, you will get all Mossad on my ass. And that's not something I want."

He tried to sit up, but it hurt too much so he asked her to lean in. He kissed her carefully on the cheek. Seeing tears in her eyes he felt a little awkward.

"Thanks Tim," was the only thing that Ziva said before she left him alone.

Tony came in soon after Ziva left.

"You made her cry!" he accused Tim. "But it's okay, probie, you are in a hospital, so I won't kick you ass anytime soon." Then his face suddenly turned serious. "I owe you."

Tim waved it away with his hand. "It is not like you planned it, and it was either me getting beaten or you dead. I had your back on this one."

Tony still wasn't satisfied. "If there is anything that I can do for you..."

"You will be the first to know." Tim answered. "As a matter of fact, if want you to, you can do me a favor now. Take Ziva home with you and look after her. She looks off, but I don't have the energy to talk to her about it. I know you can do it."

"Sure thing, McGee." And with that Tony also left McGee alone. Tim had the feeling that Tony already was working on it.

Tim was a little bit tired so he decided to close his eyes just for a second. When he opened his eyes again he found that at least an hour had passed. Abby was sitting beside him, holding his hand.

"Hey tiny Tim," she said with a soft voice.

"Hey Abs," he answered. He saw that she was about to launch into one of her famous monologues but Tim wanted to say something first.

"Listen to me Abs, I've heard you talking. And I am not ready yet. I am not ready to date yet. We are best friends and I like that. If we started dating again, and you broke up with me again it would break my heart so bad. I don't think it would ever heal again. Because the first time was hard enough."

He left Abby speechless. He took her hands and played with one of her rings. Waiting, looking at her, till she was ready to talk.

"I cannot guarantee it is going to work this time. I cannot. But I am willing to try. I have grown up, I am ready to commit this time for real." She swallowed, this was definitely not the answer she had expected from Tim. "I am going to show you that we can work this out."

She carefully gave him a kiss on his lips. "I am going home now. I will visit you again tomorrow, is there anything I can bring you?"

Tim thought for a moment. "I would like to have my laptop."

"Love you, Timmy," she said, leaving him with his thoughts.

He looked around his bed. Suddenly he saw a little note on his bedside table. It was a note from Palmer.

Hi Tim,

You are sleeping right now, and you need it, so I am going to let you sleep.

I just wanted to let you know that I dropped by. I will visit you tomorrow during lunch time. Don't dare to sleep again than. =)

Take Care

Jimmy.

McGee smiled at the little smiley face Jimmy made. It did him good to know that even Jimmy, who he saw the least, also wanted to visit him. "I should do something with him sometime," McGee thought.

He looked around in his room and saw it was decorated. There where plushies, flowers, balloons and a lot of other Abby stuff.

McGee was thinking about his relationship with Abby, and how to proceed, when Gibbs came in. Apparently Gibbs thought McGee was asleep, because he didn't speak. "Boss," McGee managed to say. He felt really sleepy. "Has to be the medication," he decided since normally he didn't dare to sleep anywhere near his boss

"Hey McGee," Gibbs said. His facial expression gave nothing away.

"I want you to know, Boss, you couldn't have prevented this from happening." He smiled sleepily at the surprised expression at Gibbs' face.

"I should have had your back." McGee tried to rise but it really hurt his ribs. His face crunched in pain and Gibbs carefully pushed him down.

"I should have watched your back."

McGee sighed. "Boss, there was no way that you could have seen this coming. I mean. Really? I know you are good, you know you are good, but you sure as hell are not psychic. You should be glad that he only beat me up. What if he got DiNozzo? He would have killed him without a doubt."

"I still feel guilty about it." Gibbs confessed.

"You can do something to make it up," McGee smiled.

"Anything," Gibbs answered without a doubt.

"Get me Agent Commers or his phone number, and Director Vance's number, please. And if you don't mind, I would love to get some sleep right now. "

It didn't surprise Gibbs that his junior agent dozed off the minute he closed his eyes. It has been a long day for all of them and Gibbs himself could use some shut eye.