"Ziva..." he whispered.
"Anthony! Do you wish to ride in the van with us? I am sure that Jethro would not mind following in the other car." Ducky helped Tony into the van, but he hopped into the back to sit with Ziva.
"You take the front, Jimmy." Tony mumbled, as Jimmy tried to get Tony to sit in the more comfortable seat; he was evidently in shock. Palmer hastily complied. As soon as the man was seated, Ducky slammed his foot on the gas pedal. Gibbs and McGee shot off behind Ducky.
"Duck, are you sure you are in control?" yelled Gibbs as he saw Ducky make a wild hairpin turn, knocking over someone's bush as he did so.
"Jethro! Miss David has taught me a few things!" growled Ducky in a very uncharacteristic way as his strong fingers gripped the steering wheel, wrenching the heavy van into the driveway of Bethesda Naval Hospital. Gibbs floored the brakes beside him, and all the NCIS personnel got out of their respective vehicles, and assisted Ducky and Jimmy and lifted the unconscious Mossad woman into the Trauma bay.
"Excuse me, who are you people?" A very fat, curly-haired, middle-aged receptionist demanded.
"NCIS." Gibbs replied shortly, as Ducky, Jimmy and Tony brought the stretcher.
"Doctor Donald Mallard, ME of NCIS. I trust you still have Nurse Ingham here?" Ducky requested the nurse, full knowing that she was becoming a doctor soon, and knowing that she was the best of the marine medics, especially with unplanned events.
"Yeah, why is it to you?" she replied lazily.
"Because, we have a Special Agent in grave peril! Now call her here now." Ducky retorted hotly. Rolling her eyes, she finally dialled.
"Emma? You got some NCIS folk here in the lobby. Whatever. Room 456." she slammed the phone down, and gave the personnel a look that clearly said 'happy now?!'. Gibbs nodded, excusing himself for a moment. He flipped open his phone and dialled, as Ducky and Jimmy hoisted the stretcher between them and went to find the room.
"Hey Abbs?"
"Hi, Gibbs! Whats up, I don't have any evidence to process, although I did manage to put Colman on the NCIS Most Wanted list."
"You and Alex need to be at Bethesda as soon as possible." Gibbs cringed; Abby was sure to explode.
"Oh my God! What happened? Is Tony all right? Are you OK? Timmy allright? Ducky?! Don't tell me that something happened to Duckman!"
"No. Ziva. She hit her head very very hard in a undercover bar operation. Ducky says he doesn't know the outcome."
"Oh my God, is she gonna be ok?"
"Yes, just get yourself and Alex into Bethesda now." Gibbs ended the call.
Abby's Lab
"Alex. We gotta move now." Abby was uncharacteristically serious as she snatched her bag, hippo and Caf-Pow!
"What's wrong, Abby?" he questioned, his brown eyes wide with alarm as Abby switched off her music and began to walk briskly to the elevator.
"Its Ziva. She's in hospital." Tears trickled down Abby's face as the elevator dinged, leaving long black smears down her pale face. Alex gave her a gentle hug.
"Come on. We need to go." Alex guided Abby out of the elevator, as she fished her car keys and the two scurried into her Ford. Abby immediately floored the gas and zoomed away to Bethesda. Alex bit back the questions on the tip of his tongue. One casualty was already enough; he did not need to be making another two by distracting Abby.
"Gibbs! Gibbs! GIBBS! GIBBS! Is Ziva alright?!" she sobbed, launching herself and Bert at Gibbs.
"She's gonna be OK, Abbs." he whispered, hugging her tightly.
"Promise me, Gibbs." she cried into his shoulder. Lucky I was wearing black jacket, he thought to himself as he patted his girl on the back till she let go. Abby looked up from Gibbs as the waiting room doors opened.
"Ducky! Is Ziva OK?!" shouted Abby, scaring the elderly ME.
"Yes, she is all right, my dear. She will be awake by tomorrow. She is in a light sleep now; she is unaware of her surroundings as she can get a bit wound up sometimes. Nurse Emma decided to do that, since the last time Ziva was admitted to Bethesda, she decided to escape." Ducky replied, embracing the young woman tightly.
"Well I'm staying here." Tony piped up resolutely as he sat in one of the waiting sofas. Abby dropped next to him, followed by McGee. Ducky and Jimmy occupied the next couch.
"Gibbs, we are all going to stay for Ziva." Alex sat down on a hard plastic chair. Gibbs smiled inwardly; he had wanted to stay too but did not want the team to feel obliged to stay because of his presence, so he pulled up a chair and closed his eyes. One by one, as the clock ticked closer towards midnight, the MCRT's eyes slowly drooped shut. But not one of them.
At midnight exactly, a tall figure untangled itself from the mass of people occupying the sofas, and slipped silently out of the waiting room. The figure stole past the various rooms, and into the elevator. It did not emerge till it reached the fourth floor. The person padded down the hallway till they reached room 456. Finding the door locked, the figure removed a small object from its pocket. A hair pin. Slowly and methodically, it began to pick the lock to the room. It was when it entered, and the soft light of the room dawned upon its face that the figure was revealed.
Anthony DiNozzo stood in the middle of the bedroom.
"Ziva... I'm so sorry it was you. I'll chew McGee out for ya, I promise. Can you hear me, Ziva?" he whispered, sitting down on the edge of her bed and stroking her hair, taking care not to sit on the IV that trailed from her wrist. Tony looked lovingly at the woman he dared not confess his feelings to, as he savoured the time they were alone.
"I love you Ziva. No matter what, I will always be there for you." Tony gave her a small kiss on the cheek before standing up and sneaking back to the waiting room.
As Tony scurried into the room, he suddenly fell over, tumbling down onto the floor.
"DiNozzo! Where have you been?" Gibbs' voice sounded above his head.
"Uh... looking for a bathroom?" he tried weakly as he stood up. Gibbs lifted his hand up as to headslap Tony... and promptly let it fall again.
"I know, DiNozzo, I know." Gibbs pulled out a pair of plastic chairs and motioned for Tony to sit down.
"So..." Tony let his sentence hang.
"Look, DiNozzo, the worst you are gonna have face is that stupid receptionist yodelling off in your face. Believe me, I was gonna go and see Ziver too." Gibbs ruffled Tony's hair in an un-Gibbs like way. Secretly, Gibbs thought of Tony more as a son than a coworker, and to Tony, Gibbs was the father he never had. But neither of them betrayed these feelings; work relationships were strictly professional.
"Yeah. I guess I'm gonna relieve McGee for Abby Pillow Duty." Tony smiled as he saw Abby slip off McGee's shoulder and awaken with a yelp. Smiling, he sat down next to the gothic woman and let his surrogate sister cuddle up to him.
"Thanks Tony." Abby was asleep before she finished the sentence. Tony would never realise he fell asleep until he woke up in the morning; his thoughts were lost about the Israeli woman he loved so much.
Hello, guys! I am so sorry I did not update; I had 3 chapters ready for New Years Eve, but some idiotic moron decided to DELETE them, I just spent the entire January brooding over stuff... Meh. Well, here is the last chapter of Murder and Deception, the sequel will come next. (Homicidal Reasoning)
CHALLENGE:
Does Ziva wake up?
Does Tony tell Gibbs he thinks of him as a father?
WILL THEY FIND COLMAN?!
Tell me in the reviews!