CHAPTER FOURTEEN
McGee's parents transferred Sarah to the same hospital where Tim was so they could more easily spend time with both their children. Temporary housing was arranged for the elder McGees by the Navy, allowing them to remain nearby. There was no telling how long they might have to stay. If the worst came to pass and they never regained consciousness, then they would eventually transfer the children to a long care facility. But for now, they continued to pray.
Tim was not there when Sarah finally opened her eyes. It was three weeks from the day she had been shot. He was not there to help comfort her when she learned of the deaths of her friends. Nor was he there when she learned of his fate.
The doctors were optimistic Sarah would make a full recovery. Tests showed that beyond some short term memory issues, she seemed to have avoided any major damage. It was possible something would show up farther down the road, but for now the doctors felt confident she would be able to resume her normal life. Sarah wasn't sure she even knew what normal meant anymore.
Sarah sat beside her brother's bedside. Since her parents had told her of Tim's search for her assailant, Sarah stayed close to him as much as she could. Even after the doctors had discharged her, she came day after day. She read to him, talked to him, even sang to him on occasion. She pleaded with him to return to her and not to leave them all alone. She cried until she had no more tears left to shed.
This afternoon, she was reading to him. It was one of Tim's favorite books, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. She'd read it to him twice already and found some comfort in the now familiar words.
"Hello?"
Sarah looked up from her reading to see Tony DiNozzo standing uncertainly in the doorway.
"I didn't mean to disturb you," began Tony. "I just came by to see Tim." He smiled at her. "How are you Sarah?"
Sarah smiled back. She liked Tony. He was pretty cool for an old guy. Well, maybe he wasn't that old but still. "I'm good. C'mon in. I'm sure Tim would love to see you." She stood. "I'll give you some time alone."
Tony slowly entered the room as Sarah moved past him. He'd been here before, several times, but it never got any easier.
"Hey, Probie," he said softly resting his hand on Tim's arm. "How ya doin? You're lookin' good. Things haven't been the same since you've been gone. We had to bring in a new tech guy, Roger, but he can't hold a candle to you, buddy. He's only there till you're back on your feet. And I hope that's really soon because frankly, Roger is no fun. So, anytime you wanna wake up and quit goldbricking is fine by me."
He stared at McGee's pale, unresponsive face. They had taken him off the respirator at least, but it had been five weeks since he'd been admitted and still showed no signs of regaining consciousness. Tony felt the all too familiar lump in the back of his throat.
"What really happened, Tony?"
Tony turned to find Sarah watching him. She had lost weight since her own ordeal and looked so lost.
"All Mom and Dad will tell me is he went after the guy who shot me. That's how he got injured. I think there's more to it than that."
Tony sighed. Yes, there was more. How much should he tell her? Should he tell her anything for that matter?
"Tony," persisted Sarah, walking up to him. Her eyes bored through him. "I am not a child. My brother is lying here like a vegetable because of me. I think I have right to know exactly what happened to put him here! I'm having a hard enough time dealing with this without knowing exactly what happened. I need to know it all."
Tony grimaced slightly then nodded. "All right. I'll tell you. At least as much as I know. Tim wasn't talking much to us there towards the end."
He sat on one of the chairs as Sarah settled into the other. Tony stared at the floor for a few moments before beginning. "When Tim realized you were one of the victims of that shooting at the park, he nearly went nuts trying to find you. I've never seen him so scared in my life. He would have torn that campground apart looking for you. Gibbs managed to calm him down and took him to the hospital to check on you. He promised Tim he could keep working on the case." Tony shook his head and chuckled. "Like he could have stopped him. You know your brother. Give him a computer and an internet connection and he's like the king of the world."
Sarah smiled as she wiped her eyes. Oh yes, she was all too familiar with Tim's superlative computer skills.
"Anyway, things got a little weird after that. Apparently Grimes found out NCIS was working the case, and that your brother was an NCIS agent. He decided to have some 'fun'. He called Tim and taunted him. Seems Grimes had managed to get into the hospital at some point and took some photos of you. He passed one of those on to Tim which provoked him enough to go looking for Grimes on his own."
"But Tim never does anything against the rules," said Sarah with a frown.
Tony gave a rueful laugh. "You're right. Normally, he wouldn't. But he was so protective of you, that I don't think he was thinking straight. Maybe he got to Grimes' hideout and couldn't call for backup. I don't know. All I know is that when he got there, Grimes was waiting for him."
Tony paused and shook his head. Oh Probie, why did you have to do that? Why didn't you call us for help?
"Then?"
Tony frowned. This part wasn't entirely clear. "I don't know for sure because Tim wouldn't admit to what happened. We know Grimes hit him in the head with something, maybe a bat. That's what caused the bleeding in his brain." He hesitated again.
"Just tell me what happened, Tony." Sarah laid a hand on Tony's arm. "Please."
Tony looked away and sighed. "Grimes tortured him. Electric shocks. Ducky saw some signs and tried to get Tim to admit it happened. I guess Tim never would. But that night, in the plant, Grimes said something that pretty much confirmed what we suspected. I think Tim was so scared that if he admitted he'd been tortured, Gibbs would take him off the case. Same with the head injury."
Sarah was silent. "So, if he'd told somebody about what happened, they would have put him the hospital and could have stopped the bleeding in his brain. Then he wouldn't be like this!" She suddenly turned and slammed her fist into the mattress near McGee's head. "You moron!" she cried, tears now running freely down her face. "Why did you have to be so brave and noble and all that crap? Why didn't you call for help? Why!"
She was sobbing now. Tony looked uncertain for a moment then gently took her in his arms, holding her tightly as she poured her heart out. Sarah put up a tough front and sometimes people forgot how young she really was. Tony could only imagine what was going on in her head.
"Sarah, just remember, this isn't your fault. It's Grimes'. He started it all. He is solely responsible for everything that happened. Tim loves you and would do anything to protect you. That was his only weakness."
Sarah, her face blotched with tears, pulled a kleenex from the box by the bedside and blew her nose. "I know, Tony," she whispered. "At least that's what I keep telling myself. But if it had been Kylie or Travis or Erik that had survived, you know Tim wouldn't have gone off after Grimes like that. He would have gone by the book. And why am I here at all? Why did I survive? I should have died with the others. " Fresh tears had appeared. "How can I not blame myself?"
Tony smiled softly. "You can't. No more than I can help blaming myself for not being there with him. Or Gibbs blaming himself for not keeping closer tabs on him, or Ducky blaming himself for not making McGee stay in the hospital. Sarah, you didn't ask to be shot in the head by some lunatic. You were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Tony reached out and took Sarah's hand. "I know you're wondering why you survived and the others didn't. That's natural. I've been there. There…There was a time when our team was supposed to take weekend duty. We swapped with another team and… well, they all ended up dead. I often wonder why we were spared. Why did they have to die? I have felt guilt over that episode ever since. It goes with being a survivor." He paused. "I like to think that we survived because we still have something important to do in our lives."
Sarah thought about this for a moment. "I can't imagine what that would be. I'm a pretty useless human being." Then with a sigh, she turned to look again at her brother. "What happened after that? Why didn't Tim stay in the hospital?"
"Somehow, he managed to convince Ducky and the ER doctor that he was okay and they let him go. I guess his x-rays didn't show any obvious problems, and it wasn't until later someone realized there could be some bleeding going on. Anyway, apparently Grimes wasn't done with him yet and sent him some more texts or emails that got McGee going again. I'm not sure how clearly he was thinking at that point, but Tim arrived at the hospital late one night claiming Grimes had gotten to you again. Yet, there was no proof. No texts or photos and the security detail claimed they'd never left their posts. So there was nothing. Gibbs sent McGee home and told him to take the next day off. But, you know your brother. There was no way he was going to sit back and do nothing. He managed to track Grimes down, even before we did. He caught up with him at an old chemical plant."
"That's where you found them."
Tony nodded. "Yeah. That's where we found them. Ziva and I met up with Gibbs. Ziva went around the back and Gibbs and me went through the front." Tony's voice became softer as he found himself reliving those moments.
"I could hear some voices. It was hard to tell exactly where they were coming from. The plant had these huge windows and the big lights outside managed to give us enough light so we could see pretty well without the flashlights. Those would have given us away and ruined our night vision. Anyway, we kept moving in closer. There were all these big vats and pipes and things so it was hard to see where they were. That's when we heard Grimes say something about having tortured Tim." Tony remembered clearly the chill that had run through him when Grimes had talked about torturing Tim. A picture of McGee screaming in agony had appeared in his mind. He'd felt physically ill, then furious. He knew at that moment Grimes would never leave that plant alive if he could do anything about it. Tony became aware of Sarah's grip on his hand. It had tightened dramatically as she watched him with bruised eyes. She looked down at her brother again.
"Oh, Tim…"
Tony swallowed and licked his lips before continuing. "It's then we saw them. Tim was standing near some cylinders and Grimes was about ten feet away, his gun pointing directly at Tim."
Not as dead as you, special Agent McGee.
He'd wanted to scream a warning, but was afraid that would cause Grimes to pull the trigger in response. It was then he became aware of Gibbs beside him, gun raised.
"Gibbs shot him. He was a sniper in the Marines, y'know. A crack shot. There were so many pipes and things all over, it was amazing that he didn't hit any of them. He got Grimes with one shot. Right through the head." Unfortunately, he didn't kill the son of a bitch.
Grimes had fired his gun as he fell and when Tony had seen Tim collapse, he had been certain Tim was dead. He wasn't far off. Tim had been shot. Twice as it turned out. Again, Tony remembered the dark circle of blood pooled around McGee. He was bleeding so much. How could anyone lose that much blood and still be alive?
Tony had gone directly to Grimes, kicking the gun away from killer's hand. He wasn't moving and Tony had been sure Grimes was dead. He was wrong. Tony cursed vehemently as he detected a faint pulse. He noted the bullet hole in the side of Grimes' head but was surprised to see Grimes' shirt was soaked with blood just above his belt. He smiled grimly as he realized the significance. Attaboy Probie.
Is he alive, Boss?
Barely. Call for the ambulance. C'mon, Tim, listen to me. Wake up! I need you to open your eyes. C'mon Tim, you can do it.
Tony made the call, then watched helplessly as Gibbs tried to connect with McGee, keep him with them. Ziva had appeared at that point, assessed the situation and gone to the car for a blanket and first aid kit. The blood just wouldn't stop coming.
"Tony?"
Tony blinked. "Oh, uh, yeah. He hesitated again. "As you know, Grimes wasn't dead. But I saw a second wound in his abdomen. Seems Tim had also hit him at some point. Tim didn't go down without a fight. The ambulance came and took Tim away. Gibbs went too. Ziva and I stayed to work the crime scene and wait for them to get Grimes." There were times Tony wished he could have turned over that scene to someone else, someone less emotionally vested, but he knew he could never do that. Nor would Gibbs or Ziva. They owed it to McGee to be there for him.
"That's pretty much it." Tony shrugged. "You know the rest. He survived the gunshot wounds after they put him back together and pumped him full of blood. He survived them going in and cutting open his skull. He's still here and I think he's gonna wake up. We just need to wait for him."
Sarah finally smiled. "Thank you, Tony. I plan to wait as long as it takes."
Tony smiled in return. "So will I."