A/N: Hope y'all are enjoying the story, evil cliffhangers notwithstanding! :) Disclaimer for this chapter: I'm not a doctor, nurse, or any other sort of medical professional. Please keep that in mind and go easy on me. Also, still don't own NCIS. Sad but true. -abby
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Time had lost all meaning for Gibbs. After Tony's heart stopped in the ambulance everything was just a blur. The paramedics were mercifully able to keep Tony alive until they reached the hospital and Gibbs could recall rushing down the halls of the emergency room with his agent as far as he was permitted. Too stunned to put up a fight, Gibbs allowed himself to be roughly pushed back into the hallway while a flurry of doctors and nurses surrounded DiNozzo.
Since then, Gibbs had taken to pacing the waiting room. He didn't know what else to do. After calling Ziva, Ducky and a very hysterical Abby there was nothing left to do but wait. And worry about his agents. There had not yet been word on McGee's condition either, and Sergeant Whitten was sitting in the waiting room watching as Gibbs paced.
The sergeant did not know Tim McGee or Tony DiNozzo, but he knew how he would feel if it were his team in this mess. He couldn't do much, but he could stay with Gibbs until the rest of the man's colleagues arrived from Washington. He had decided that the lead NCIS agent should not be left to cope alone. There's a close bond with DiNozzo for sure, Whitten mused. It was certainly more than the normal boss/employee relationship, and for reasons he could not fully explain the sergeant felt compelled to stay and see this through.
Tony will be okay. He's strong, he'll be fine. Gibbs kept repeating those words to himself, over and over again like some sort of mantra. As if he kept thinking them he could will them to be true.
"Special Agent Gibbs?" a young woman stood in the doorway and quietly addressed the NCIS agent. She nodded an acknowledgment to Whitten, whom she had met before. "I'm Dr. Lucan, I've been working on Special Agent McGee."
Gibbs paused in his pacing. "Well? How is he?" he demanded gruffly.
"He's stable. He has a severe concussion, but I'm cautiously optimistic that he will make a full recovery. The next several hours will tell us more. He has yet to regain consciousness, but I'm hopeful that he will soon. Unfortunately, only time will tell with this sort of head injury." Dr. Lucan seemed confident, and Gibbs relaxed marginally.
"Can I see him?" The lead agent wanted to know.
"Absolutely. I'll have a nurse show you the way." Dr. Lucan turned to leave, but then stopped. "I can check on your other agent if you would like," she offered kindly.
Gibbs was surprised at the offer but immediately accepted. The doctor nodded and stepped out of the waiting area, and shortly after she left a nurse entered and led Gibbs down the hall to McGee's room. Sergeant Whitten followed at a respectful distance, and waited patiently in the hallway as Gibbs went inside.
The junior agent looked pale and fragile in the hospital bed. Tim's head was wrapped in white bandages and he had cuts and dark bruising around his right eye. He was hooked up to IV fluids and a heart monitor beeped steadily, if somewhat slowly. Gibbs sighed, and eased his exhausted body into the bedside chair.
"You did good, Tim," Gibbs said softly. "I saw the bandages on Tony's arm. Thanks for taking care of him for me."
The lead agent was not expecting a response from the unconscious man, and of course did not receive one. Gibbs sat in contemplative silence, just watching McGee sleep, until Dr. Lucan poked her head inside the door.
"I checked on Special Agent DiNozzo." The ER doctor shifted uncomfortably. "His attending physician is Dr. West, who is one of our best. Your man is in very good hands," Dr. Lucan assured him.
Gibbs could tell the young doctor was avoiding the real issue. "Just tell me how bad," he demanded impatiently.
Dr. Lucan sighed. "He's alive, but lost a great deal of blood which no doubt contributed to his heart failure. They're giving him transfusions. It took almost 60 stitches to close up the wounds on his arm, and Dr. West is concerned about the possibility of nerve damage although he feels that the infection is under control." She watched the NCIS agent rub his temples wearily before she continued. "One of his lungs had collapsed, due in part to a badly broken rib, and it seems that now he has developed a chest infection as well."
"He's had pneumonic plague," Gibbs said absently. "They said he'll always be susceptible."
The doctor looked surprised, but to her credit did not ask for further explanation. She simply replied, "He is stable but critical. They're moving him up to ICU so he can be closely monitored." Dr. Lucan anticipated Gibbs' question and continued, "I've arranged for you to be allowed in his room at all times. It's not standard policy, but I heard the paramedics say what a calming effect you seem to have on Agent DiNozzo. Follow me, please." Dr. Lucan turned and led the way. Gibbs caught Whitten's eye and nodded his thanks as the sergeant stepped into McGee's room. The NCIS agent did not know why Whitten had stayed, but was glad that McGee would have someone to sit with him until Abby, Ziva and Ducky arrived.
Gibbs' first look at his senior agent came as a shock. Intellectually he understood that Tony was in bad shape, but even so he was emotionally unprepared for the sight before him. Aw hell, DiNozzo, was all he could think.
DiNozzo was hooked up to half a dozen monitors and IVs, one of which was replacing some of the blood he had lost. The others were presumably giving him fluids and antibiotics to fight off his various infections. Tony's normally tan complexion looked gray and there was an endotrachial tube running down his throat. Gibbs gestured toward the tube.
"Is that necessary? I thought you fixed his collapsed lung." The question was directed at Dr. West, who had been quietly assessing his patient when Gibbs and Lucan arrived. Gibbs knew that DiNozzo would fight the tube as soon as he came to, and wanted to protect his agent from any additional suffering. Tony had been through enough already.
Dr. West exchanged a quick glance with his colleague before answering. "He is breathing on his own, but with some difficulty. The tube is just there to make it easier on him for now. We can take it out as soon as he regains consciousness, if he's up to it."
Gibbs accepted that and continued his visual examination. His agent's semi-exposed chest was wrapped in thick bandages to protect his broken rib, and his left arm was bandaged from his hand almost all the way up to his shoulder. The lead agent grimaced as he remembered how many stitches were hidden under those dressings.
Dr. West answered his next question before Gibbs even had the chance to ask. "I believe Dr. Lucan already mentioned to you that there may be some nerve damage, but I'm confident it is not too severe. I do not believe there will be mobility issues. At worst maybe some loss of sensation in that arm, but nothing he can't learn to live with. Certainly nothing to impair his ability to work."
Thank God for that much, Gibbs thought as he closed his eyes with relief. He knew that any loss of mobility would end DiNozzo's career, and for the young man that would be a fate almost worse than death. Maybe you're not out of "almosts" just yet, Tony.
Dr. Lucan and Dr. West conferred quietly for a few moments before West spoke to Gibbs again.
"Overall, I would say Agent DiNozzo is very lucky. He's not out of danger yet - not by a long shot - but if he makes it through the night I will feel a lot better about his chances for survival." Dr. West was blunt, but Gibbs appreciated the candor. "I'll be back to check on him in a few hours. The nurses will be monitoring from their station, please call them if you need anything at all."
The two doctors said their goodbyes, and Gibbs was left to see his agent through what promised to be a very long night.