Mica was stabilized by that evening, a fact that Gibbs was beyond grateful for. She had scared the shit out of him that morning. By the time he got her to the hospital, she was barely breathing. Bethesda was not the closest hospital to his house but that was where Brad worked. Dr. Pitt had saved Tony's ass enough times, for him to know that Mica was in the best hands possible. Mica had been admitted upon arrival. They didn't even make her wait to be examined. They just brought out a stretcher and rushed her to the on of the ER cubicles. Dr. Pitt was not on until eight but the doctor who checked her out sent her straight to the PICU. Her pneumonia had taken a bad turn and there was something else not right with her. They had drawn blood and taken chest X-Rays. Hours had passed and waiting was driving Gibbs crazy.
"Agent Gibbs?" Dr. Pitt called.
"Time to go?" Gibbs asked.
"Not even close, you still have about two hours." Dr. Pitt replied.
"Sorry, it's easy to lose track of time in here." Gibbs replied.
"Understandable, anyway I am here because I have Mica's test results." Dr. Pitt replied.
"What's up? How bad is it?" Gibbs asked.
"She has asthma, it is not a severe case but is bad enough. She will have to take medication twice a day and carry an inhaler at all times but as long as she takes her medicine. She will be just fine. I will speak to her once she is ready to be discharged." Dr. Pitt explained.
"When will that be?" Gibbs asked.
"Maybe day after tomorrow but we should be able to move her down to the regular pediatric ward by tomorrow." Dr. Pitt replied.
"Good" Gibbs replied.
Kristen slipped her notebook into her backpack and rolled herself over to her bed. She was all caught up on her homework for the week. Not like she had anything better to do anyway. At least she would be able to go back to school on Monday.
"Getting ready for bed already?" Abby B. asked.
"There's nothing else to do." Kristen sighed.
"Well the doctor wants you to take it easy for a couple more days but maybe we can go to the park tomorrow." Abby B. suggested.
"Can we go to the diner?" Kristen asked.
"Not just yet, you still have to eat light until at least seven days post-op." Abby B. explained.
"Oh alright" Kristen sighed.
"I almost forgot, we will have to go tomorrow afternoon." Abby B. reminded.
"Why?" Kristen asked.
"Mica is in the hospital and I am going to see her early." Abby B. explained.
"What's wrong?" Kristen asked.
"Pneumonia and asthma, don't worry she is going to be OK." Abby B. assured.
"Figures she would get sick now." Kristen sighed.
"What does that mean?" Abby B. asked.
"Nothing" Kristen sighed.
The meeting with Mrs. Tucker went a lot better than Shane had expected. His mom had told her outright that they did not know who Shane's grandfather was and that he had probably just made up the stories to protect his grade. He had lost five points and another ten for turning the project in a day late but that was still an eighty-five. Which would keep his grade at a C. just enough to keep him off restriction and on the soccer team.
"Shane, I need to talk to you." Debbie said.
"What's going on?" Shane asked.
"Now what I am about to tell you. It has to stay between us. I promised your grandma Rose that I would never tell a soul about this. At least not while she was alive. So as long as she is on this planet this stays in this room." Debbie explained.
"What are you talking about?" Shane asked.
"You've know those romantic movies that your sister loves, where the nurse falls in love with the injured soldier?" Debbie asked.
"Yes" Shane replied.
"Well in nineteen sixty-four, your grandma Rose was working for the Red Cross and Mike was shot and brought into her hospital. She didn't save his life but she did nurse him back to health. Pretty much exclusively because he either alienated of sexually harassed all of the other nurses. One night they were alone. He was about to be discharged and she was about to go home. To marry a man named Joe Barrett. In the heat of the moment during a power surge. They made love and nine months later I was born. She knew that I had to be Mike's child because Joe and her had chosen to wait until after they were married." Debbie explained.
"OK then why have I never met this Joe?" Shane asked.
"When she came up pregnant, Joe who had been overseas for a year and half and remained loyal was furious and he left her. My mom was shunned and forced out of her small town in Alabama. Now this happened a lot but your grandma was one of the lucky ones who was able to find Mike but he wanted nothing to do with her. He was not ready to be a father. He did get her set up in an apartment and pay child support but he did not want it to be known that he was a father. Your grandma told me that my dad died in the war and I believed it. Half my friends had lost a dad, brother, or uncle to the war. So it wasn't a stretch. I met Mike when I met your father and he told me the truth. I told my mom and she was horrified. After leaving your grandma, Joe became a drunk and a drug addict. He finally got cleaned up in the eighties and got married but his liver failed and he died when his children were just ten and fifteen. Your grandma felt tremendous guilt and made me promise to keep her secret." Debbie explained.
"OK but what about Bear?" Shane asked.
"He was my imaginary friend when I was a kid and who I pretended was my father." Debbie explained.
"OK but why are there no pictures of you before you were ten?" Shane asked.
"When I was a teenager, I was sneaking a smoke in the attic and started a fire. All my baby pictures were up there. The other ones were downstairs and my aunt saved them." Debbie explained.
A/N: At least Shane knows the truth now. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.