Tony put a bite of the fried fish into his mouth first. It actually tasted somewhat nice, considering it was hospital food. He at the rest of the fried fish, then put the fork down and picked up chips instead. They had salt on them, which helped Tony feel a little bit better than he had been. He managed to eat half the chips before he decided that it was enough for him.

"Boss? Did you want some food? I won't eat it all," said Tony after he drank some water.

"No thank you. I'll eat later. If you don't want anymore, just leave it there."

Tony nodded a little bit, being careful not to hurt his already sore head. He hadn't realised the pain he was in until Emma had come in to help him sit up for dinner, and he really couldn't wait to lay down again.

"Boss, could you help?" Tony asked after he tried to put the cover on the plate again. He had switched hands, but the bandage covering the IV needle was making it difficult to bend his hand enough to pick the cover up properly.

Gibbs looked over and saw that Tony was struggling. He stood, grabbed the cover from Tony and put it on the plate. The look on Tony's face was enough for him to understand how grateful the agent was.

"I think you need to lay down and rest again," said Gibbs. He moved the table away from the bed, grabbed the control for the bed and pressed one of the buttons until Tony was flat again. Then he moved the pillows so that only one remained under Tony's head before sitting back in his seat.

"I think I'm going to go back to sleep, boss."

"Good idea."

"Could you bring Ziva here tomorrow?"

Gibbs sighed. He looked at Tony and saw that the younger man had fallen asleep, so he sat back, thinking, how am I supposed to tell him she isn't here anymore?

The next morning was Friday. Bishop and McGee were sitting at their desks, trying to complete paperwork for the upcoming trials for Max and Zoe, as well as the paperwork to transfer Tracy to DC when her trial came up. It was long, boring work, and without Tony's smart comments and constant movie quotes, the time seemed to just drag on.

Sighing, Bishop looked up and stared off into space. She had tried not to let Tony's memory loss bother her, but truthfully, it hurt that he didn't know her. She had come to count on his support over Jake, and only Tony knew how to get her laughing over it. She kept thinking about something he had told her just after she had gotten divorced- that his own romantic relationship with Wendy had almost ended up in a happy marriage until she left him the night before their wedding.

"Hey, Bishop, you okay?" asked McGee.

"Yeah Tim, I was just thinking."

"About Tony?"

Bishop nodded. "I'm going to see him at lunch."

"I'll come with you. I know Abby and Palmer are planning to go tonight, and Ducky's still at the hospital, working with Brad to get answers about how Tony's doing."

Bishop smiled. "How am I supposed to pretend I don't know him?"

"Don't pretend. Maybe you might say something that triggers his memory."

"Okay." Bishop went back to her paperwork, still feeling bad for her friend.

Tony woke up on Friday morning without a headache, which was a relief after the previous day. He was still tired, but not as much as he had been when Brad had woken him for a checkup shortly after he had gone to sleep after dinner.

"Good morning, Anthony," said Ducky cheerfully as he entered the room.

"Hi Duck," said Tony quietly, having noticed that Gibbs was asleep in the chair.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Are you taking over for Brad?"

"No. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm going home for a while, but I will be back later on. Would you like me to bring anything back for you?"

"Maybe just some clothes? And movies?"

"I'll see what I can do," laughed Ducky. "Do you want me to wake Jethro or get Emma?"

"Maybe Emma. I want Gibbs to sleep. He was up most of the night I think."

"Alright." Ducky said goodbye and left.

Tony was just settling himself in a more comfortable position when Emma came in, a big smile on her face.

"You asked for me?" she said.

"Am I allowed to sit up? My back is getting sore, and I can't get comfortable."

"Sure." Emma came over and adjusted the bed. She picked up the pillows Gibbs had moved the night before and tucked them behind Tony's back, providing some extra cushioning and support. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Tired, but my head doesn't hurt anymore."

"That's great. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit."

"I'll get you some breakfast after I check you. What do you want to eat?" Emma asked as she used her stethoscope to listen to Tony's breathing.

"Uh, some toast? Or maybe a donut?"

"Sorry, no donuts yet. But toast I can do. What do you have on your toast?"

"Usually, just butter and strawberry jam."

"That's what I'll get for you then. How did you go with dinner last night?"

"It was quite nice for hospital food actually. I ate one piece of fish and some chips."

"Alright, that's quite good since you had only been awake for a couple of hours. I'll bet that by tonight, you'll be able to eat at least half of what we bring you."

"Maybe." Tony looked around for his cup. When he didn't find it, he turned back to Emma. "Can I get some water too please?"

"Sure. I'll bring that back as soon as I get your breakfast sorted. Let me just write in your chart and then I'll let you rest a bit more. Brad will be here in an hour and he'll probably want to come and see how you are." Emma made some notes about Tony's vital signs and then closed the chart. She took it with her as she left the room to order Tony's breakfast and get him some water.

Gibbs woke up just as Tony finished his breakfast. He was glad to see that Tony had eaten a whole slice of the toast before pushing it away. He knew Tony wasn't really a morning person, so to see the small smile on the man's face made Gibbs feel better.

"Morning Tony," he said.

"Hi Gibbs."

"I might go grab a coffee. Do you want me drink it outside before I come back in?"

"No. I don't mind."

"Alright. I'll be back in a little while then." Gibbs went to the door, but he looked back at Tony before he left, just to make sure that his agent was alright.

On the way out of Tony's room, Gibbs bumped into Brad. The doctor smiled.

"Hi Gibbs, how are you?" he asked.

"I'll be better when Tony's back at work with me. Are you going to see him?"

"I am. Emma told me she brought Tony some breakfast half an hour ago. Is he eating?"

"I think he just finished. He ate one piece of toast."

"That's alright. It's enough at the moment to not make me worry. Is he talking?"

"He's a lot more understandable than yesterday. I think he's pretty tired still, but otherwise he seems somewhat like himself."

"Good. Where are you heading?"

"I need some coffee."

"Okay. There's a coffee shop downstairs that make really nice drinks. It's better than the stuff in the waiting room."

"Thanks Brad."

Brad smiled. He watched Gibbs go, worried about the effect Tony's injuries were having on the older man. He knew that Gibbs and Tony were close, but sometimes that could be an issue. After a few moments, though, Brad opened the door to Tony's room and walked in, giving his patient a smile.

"Good morning Tony," he said brightly, hoping that it would get Tony to feel happier.

"Hello Brad," said Tony, looking down from the TV screen. "Emma said it was okay to watch TV."

"That's fine, I have no problem with it. How does your head feel?"

"Good actually."

"No headaches?"

"No."

"Are you feeling sick?"

"No." Tony turned the TV off and placed the control on the bed next to him. "When can you take this needle out of my hand? It's becoming quite a problem, especially since I know you won't take me off the monitors."

"If you can keep lunch and dinner down today, then I'll take it out before I leave for the night."

"Okay."

"What's wrong Tony? You sound a little annoyed."

"It's not you," said Tony quickly, afraid that he had upset his friend. "I was just thinking, if I've lost two years of my memory, does that mean there's damage to my brain that you can't see on scans or tests?"

"No. It means that you need to heal. Your memory is associated with a part of the brain that can easily be seen on CT scans. You have nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?"

"Very. Now, are you okay with me checking you?"

"Yes."

Brad came over and checked Tony's breathing, then grabbed a penlight out, checking Tony's eyes. He was glad to see that there had been no delayed effects of the coma or the brain and head injuries.