Tony looked the girl up and down. Gibbs said she was Maddie and she did look like her but that wasn't the girl he pulled from the water that morning. Why was Gibbs trying to protect him? He should be furious with him and have washed his hands of him. He didn't deserve to have a boss that amazing and caring. Once he was out of the hospital, he would head back home to Senior. Maybe knowing that he was being knocked around by his abusive father would give Gibbs some relief.
"Tony? Are you OK, Tony?" Gibbs asked.
"Why are you protecting me?" Tony sniffed.
"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked.
"Why did you bring this girl here and say that she was Maddie? I know I killed her." Tony questioned.
"Tony it's me and I can prove it." Maddie replied.
"How?" Tony asked.
"I have this locket and I never take it off." Maddie replied, pulling her locket out from under her sweatshirt and opening it so that Tony could see the picture inside. On one side was Maddie and Kelly when they were about five and on the other was Maddie and Gibbs probably just before he killed her.
"You don't look anything like the girl in the picture. Stop lying." Tony pleaded.
"Well of course I look different Tony. Seven years has passed since I took that picture with Gibbs and nearly twenty-five since the one with Kelly." Maddie explained.
"Wh...what?" Tony asked.
"Tony it is two-thousand and fourteen." Gibbs replied.
"Prove it" Tony ordered.
"Here" Maddie replied showing Tony her digital watch which had a date setting.
"November 7th two-thousand and fourteen" Tony read.
"Yeah, is it all coming back now?" Gibbs asked.
"No the last thing I remember is still seven years ago." Tony replied.
"Do you at least believe that Maddie is alive now?" Gibbs asked.
"I...I don't know. This is all so much to take in. I need to close my eyes. Maybe when I wake up this will all make more sense." Tony rambled.
"OK" Gibbs whispered stroking Tony's cheek.
"Do you think he will be OK or do I need to stay?" Maddie whispered to Gibbs.
"You can go. If I need you back, I will call you. Tony and I have a lot that we need to work through when he wakes up though." Gibbs explained.
"I hope he can get everything together soon." Maddie replied.
McGee prayed that he would get back to Bethesda and learn that Tony was awake and no longer in distress. He doubted he would ever find out just what had made his partner fall into such a bad state when he awoke from his coma but when he really thought about it he didn't want to know. All he wanted was to sit on Tony's bed and apologize for what he had done the night before. When Jimmy and him arrived to the hospital. They found Ducky waiting for them in the small waiting area outside the ICU.
"Ah Timothy! Mr. Palmer!" Ducky greeted.
"Are there any updates Dr. Mallard?" Jimmy asked.
"Anthony is out of sedation." Ducky replied.
"Great! Can we see him?" McGee asked.
"I will have to see if I can drag, Jethro out of there but before I do. There is something you need to know." Ducky replied.
"What?" McGee asked nervously.
"When Anthony awoke from his coma this afternoon he had no recollection of the past seven years. His last memory was rescuing Madeline Tyler and Jethro after Jethro drove into the harbor protecting Madeline from her stalker and saved them both using CPR." Ducky explained.
"Whoa, Tony saved Gibbs's life?" McGee gasped.
"Yes he did." Ducky replied.'
"Why didn't I find out about this? Why didn't Tony receive an award? He is a hero." McGee asked.
"Anthony requested that a fuss not be made about the whole ordeal. If we are being perfectly honest I think it terrified him. While he fortunately avoided illness. He spent several days at Jethro's house dealing with the emotional distress and suffered nightmares that I prayed had ended." Ducky explained.
"I hope that Tony will be up for talking about it, thinking that it just happened. Because that is the most amazing thing I ever heard." McGee replied.
"That is highly doubtful." Ducky replied.
"Why?" McGee asked.
"Because Anthony believes that he failed to save Madeline and is convinced that Jethro hates him now. That is why the doctors had to sedate him before." Ducky explained.
Gibbs held Tony's hand in his own. He prayed that, his son would have regained his memories the next time he awoke. So much had happened in the past seven years. The wonderful stuff: Jimmy and Breena getting married and Breena being pregnant and McGee and Delilah's growing romance, the bad Jenny dying, Jackie Vance being killed, and Ziva leaving the team, and the bitter-sweet Bishop and Leon coming into the family, and Delilah's injury. Which Gibbs considered bitter-sweet because while she would never walk again. It had solidified McGee and her's relationship. Even when Tony had his memories back though. He knew from when it was him. That his son would be forced to relive everything and have to mourn for the ones he lost a second time. He hoped for Tony's sake that the emotional journey would be relatively easy because physical one would be hell. Tony would basically have to relearn how to walk and retrain his motor skills. Then again nobody said that parenting would be easy. Tony would be like a child, dependent on him to survive and heal. So in a way it was perfect that everything happened when it did. Because now his parenting skills would be put to the test and if he wanted this to work. He would have to prove to Tony that he was a better father than Senior.
"Don't worry Tony this may seem like an impossible journey right now but I am going be by your side every step of the way. Once you have healed enough to travel I am going to take you to my dad's house in Stillwater, to finish your recovery. I will see to it that you come back from this the same way you beat the plague. Yes there will be issues that will affect you the rest of your life but you will still be back in fighting shape in no time. I love you, son." Gibbs vowed.
A/N: Next step getting Tony's memories back. New chapter will be back soon. Please review and thanks for reading.