Chapter 10 – Waiting Game

Gibbs sat silently in the waiting room as nurses came and went, none of them giving him any information on Tony. McGee had left a little while ago, called to the scene of another murder. Lieutenant Morris's CO had been found murdered in the same way, most likely by Harold and Peter. They were cleaning up their loose ends. Gibbs observed a young woman sitting, holding an infant in her arms. She was nervously glancing around the room and wiping her tears away before they fell onto the little girl in her arms. A doctor approached her, whispering softly. The women burst into tears as it sunk in that her husband didn't survive. The baby started crying and Gibbs had to look away, feeling his own heart contract as he sympathized with her.

"Agent Gibbs?" Doctor Wilson mused, standing in front of him.

He hadn't even noticed her approach. Gibbs quickly sat up.

"How is he?"

"Tony's stable," she reported.

Gibbs took a deep breath and smiled, releasing the tension in his body and waiting for Doctor Wilson to explain what the hell happened.

"Tony went into cardiac arrest when we were finishing inserting the catheter. We managed to bring his heart back to normal rhythm, but his oxygen level was still dropping. To assist his weakened heart, we placed Tony on a ventilator to get his body the oxygen he needs. It decreases some of the pressure that his heart has trying to function while still fighting the pericarditis. We should be able to take him off the ventilator in a few hours once his heart adapts to the correct size without the fluid. Once that happens, we can take another look at Tony's heart and hopefully discover the cause of the pericarditis."

"Can I see him?" Gibbs interrupted.

"He's asleep right now, but you are welcome to sit with him."

"Thank you."

Gibbs made a quick call to McGee and Ziva, informing them that Tony was stable and he would give them more details later. His call to Abby was a little longer as she couldn't wait for details and forced Gibbs to tell her everything about Tony's heart. He slowly walked to Tony's room and stepped inside. It was disconcerting to see Tony in such a poor condition. His face was partially obstructed by the ventilator tube protruding from his mouth. His skin was so pale and still sweaty from the fever. Wires and a tube were coming out of his hospital gown where his heart was and he had another IV in the bend of his arm. One of his feet was sticking out from under the blanket. Gibbs saw that it was still swollen. He tucked it under the blanket and fell into the chair beside the bed, gently taking Tony's hand into his.

"Oh Tony," he murmured.

He listened to the hiss of the ventilator as it breathed for Tony. Gibbs found himself breathing in the same rhythm and falling into a light sleep. He woke up a little later when Ducky entered the room, bringing him a cup of coffee.

"Any changes yet?" Ducky inquired.

"No, he's still asleep. Is there any progress in finding out the cause of the swelling around his heart?"

"At this point, we believe that it was caused by a virus from when he had the flu two weeks ago. We still haven't been able to see the damage yet."

Gibbs nodded. "We'll just have to keep waiting."

Tony squeezed Gibb's hand as he coughed and they removed the ventilator tube from his throat. He closed his eyes, waiting until it was gone to open them again and look over at his boss. Gibbs gave him a gentle squeeze and smiled to reassure him. Tony coughed, finally feeling the burning in his lungs disappear with the tube gone. The nurse placed a nasal canula on his face and hooked it up. The young man tried to take a deep breath and found that he still couldn't. His heart wasn't better yet. Tony sighed. It was strange, not being able to feel the pain in his chest that had been plaguing him for so long. They must have had him on some good drugs. The nurse prepared to take him to have another echocardiogram. He coughed again, feeling how dry his mouth was. Gibbs noticed the movement and helped him take a little sip of water, easing the irritation.

"Thanks Dad…" he mumbled.

"You're welcome Tony. How are you feeling?"

"I feel… like… Iron Man with that thing in his chest…"

Gibbs gently smacked the back of his head. "You made me watch that. You are not Iron Man."

"Are you ready Tony?" the nurse asked.

"I could fly…" he muttered.

"Yeah, he's ready for you," Gibbs stated, running his fingers through Tony's hair before the nurse rolled him from the room. "I'll see you in a little bit Tony."

"Okay Boss… don't steal my cookies…"

Gibbs smiled as Tony made the gesture that he was keeping two eyes on his boss and the nurse removed him from the room. He saw Ziva and McGee coming down the hallway. They stopped in front of Gibbs, glancing in the direction that Tony had just left and didn't say anything at first.

"How's he doing?" McGee asked.

"They just took him for an echocardiogram. He was awake and breathing on his own," Gibbs answered.

"How long until we can see him?" Ziva inquired.

"Doc said it won't take more than half an hour. Let's get something to eat and you can catch me up on what's happening with the case."

They walked to the cafeteria as McGee informed Gibbs that they still had no location for Harold or Peter. All of the evidence from the case was being processed by Abby, who was extremely upset that she couldn't be at the hospital for Tony. There wasn't anything yet that could tell them where the two were going.

"We've tried finding other family contacts for Peter, but haven't had any luck yet," McGee said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"We will find him," Ziva hissed angrily. "He will not get away with what he did."

Gibbs set his sandwich down and thought about what Ziva said. It wasn't that she was angry the two committed murder, but she was blaming Harold for kidnapping himself and Tony. Ziva accused him of causing Tony's heart problems and keeping him from medical care. With his good hand, he ran his fingers along the bandaged thumb, frowning as he remembered being in the basement with Tony, unable to help him. Gibbs reached his hand across the table, putting his hand on Ziva's.

"Yes, they both did a terrible thing, committing double homicide. But don't blame them for what happened to Tony in the basement. His heart problems." He whispered the last words to her. "I won't let anything happen to Tony."

"Thank you Gibbs."

"Now eat, you're not eating enough. And after Tony gets back, you need to get some sleep."

"We cannot. There is too much to do."

Gibbs smiled softly, silently agreeing with her. They finished eating lunch and went back upstairs to wait for Tony to return from his testing. A few minutes after they got back to his room, two nurses wheeled Tony's bed back into the room. He was humming to himself. Ziva smiled, stepping close to the bed once the nurse was finished connecting him back up and left them alone.

"Hi Zee-vah… you look very nice tonight," Tony giggled.

Ziva frowned.

"They gave him a nice dose of painkillers," Gibbs whispered, causing the other two to nod.

Gibbs sat down on the chair beside Tony's bed. The younger man looked over at him and smiled. He motioned for Gibbs to lean in a little closer.

"I have something… very important to tell you."

"What?"

"They put this goop on my chest and… did an ultrasound… I heard the heartbeat… and Boss, I think I'm having a girl. You're the father," Tony whispered loudly.

Gibbs chuckled as Ziva and McGee laughed, taking in what Tony had said. He grinned at his teammates, closing his eyes as he focused on breathing in and out.

Sorry for the delay in posting! I was having a little writer's block, but it's hopefully gone now. :) Thanks for putting up with my evil cliff-hanger and all of the amazing reviews!

I had a reviewer ask a question and I thought that I would explain it here since more than one of you might be curious. The person wondered if an EKG was the same thing as an echocardiogram. Not exactly, EKG stands for electrocardiogram. An electrocardiogram (EKG) is when they put little electrodes on the chest, legs, arms, and attach a host of wires. It shows the electrical activity in the heart at that moment. An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart that gives the doctor a clearer picture of what the heart looks like and you can get more data from it. I hope that makes sense! I'm not a doctor, but you are welcome to ask questions. :)

Please review! (You owe me for not giving you a cliff-hanger. *wink, wink*)

Thanks!

Emma