Bethesda Hospital Emergency Room

Ziva and McGee sat in the hospital waiting room. What they were waiting for they didn't know. No one had told them anything, whether he was alive or dead, they were just told to wait. Frustration built up in the two as the minutes dragged on. McGee had called Gibbs and told them the news and he said he would be there as soon as he finished up.

So they sat waiting. A sudden thought popped into Ziva's mind and turned quickly to McGee. "Have you called Abby and Ducky yet?" She asked him. Fear popped into his eyes at the thought. He had been so out of sorts after the explosion that he hadn't called either to inform them of Tony's death or the fact that now he was still alive, maybe. He quickly shook his head no in answer to Ziva's question. She scowled at him to let him know that he should be doing that right now. He opened his mouth to speak and the words rushed out, "What-do-I-tell-them?" She leaned back in her chair putting her head against the wall and said, "The truth McGee."

McGee nodded and began walking towards the elevator. He pressed the down button waiting for the elevator that would place him on the tail end of questions and tears that were sure to come. As the doors to the elevator opened Gibbs stepped out and almost ran right into Tim. Gibbs muttered an apology to McGee and walked over to Ziva. McGee shook his head dumbfounded. Gibbs must really be taking this bad if he just apologized.

"How is he?" Gibbs asked Ziva in quietly. She shook her head at him and replied, "We do not know Gibbs. They have not told us anything yet." Gibbs nodded and sat down in the chair next to her, resigning himself to wait, he hated waiting.

After a few hours Gibbs, Ziva, McGee, Abby, and Ducky all sat in the waiting room. Abby had her knees pulled up to her chest with her forehead resting on them sobbing quietly. McGee sat next to her with his hand on shoulder, comforting her with his presence. Ducky sat on the other side of her, his hand on her other shoulder. Gibbs and Ziva sat across from them. Gibbs had remained stoic, sorting through all the thoughts in his head. Ziva was leant forward with her elbows on her knees and her head bowed. She was nervously playing with her Star of David necklace.

Every time the double doors opened revealing a doctor all five heads snapped up in anticipation of any news regarding Tony. After several such occasions they began to lax.

"Anthony DiNozzo?" Came the question of a salt and pepper haired doctor as he walked through the doors. All five of them rushed towards the doctor. He was a bit taken aback by the presence of so many people rushing up to greet him.

"Your all here for DiNozzo?" The doctor asked. Gibbs just glared at the doctor. "How is Tony?" Abby jumped in. "Ah, I'm sorry miss but I can only speak to family about his current condition." The doctor replied. Gibbs grabbed his badge and showed it to the doctor, "NCIS. DiNozzo's boss. How is he." Gibbs said, confident that that would release some information. "I'm sorry sir. Like I just told the young lady, only family." The doctor said. Gibbs looked ready to kill the doctor but a refraining arm from Ducky kept him at bay. The doctor continued, "Is there a Ziva David with you?"

Ziva looked confused but stepped forward and said, "I am Ziva David." The doctor looked at her and gave her a smile. "Would you follow me please?" With that he turned to the side and held his arm out in the direction they would be travelling in. Ziva was confused and asked the doctor, "Why me?" The doctor double-checked his chart and said, "You're the only name he has down for next of kin." Ziva's eyes began to water again. He had listed her as family. Ziva turned to Gibbs and the group and said, "I will let you know as soon as I come back." They all muttered their acceptance of this situation and she turned and nodded at the doctor who led them back through the double doors.

He led her through several different corridors finally under a sign that said Intensive Care. She walked by rooms with glass windows and saw the occupants in different states of sickness and injury. Finally they stopped at the end of the long hallway and he stopped her before she could look into his room.

He took a deep breath and let it out. "Miss David, I want to prepare you for what you are going to see in there." He said. She quick steadying breath balled her hands into fists and nodded for him to continue. He said, "Right now he is hooked up to several different machines. He has a ventilator breathing for him and also we had to place a chest tube to relieve pressure from around his lungs. Plus all the other machines he is hooked to, to measure his vitals and stats."

She nodded absorbing the information and preparing herself for what she would see in a moment. When she thought she had herself under control, in a quiet voice she asked, "What are the extent of his injuries doctor?"

The doctor said, "Most of the damage was to his right side. From x-rays we see thirteen different breaks from his shoulder down to his wrist. Broken collarbone and several ribs as well as the tibia and fibia. That's it for the breaks but I am afraid there's more. He had internal bleeding and several bruised organs that are beginning to swell. He has a collapsed lung and the other was pierced by one of the ribs that were broken. We also know he has a concussion and we need to monitor that so we can't let him fall asleep just yet."

The doctor took pause to let this information sink in before continuing, "Normally we would put him in a barbituate-induced coma so his body can concentrate on healing, but a quarter of patients put into a coma develop an impaired immune response and get infections. With his history of Y-Pestis and his already compromised immune system, we can't risk it; the threat of infection is too high." With a quiet voice he added, "With the amount of trauma his body has suffered I don't think his body could fight anything off."

Tears had begun to fall down her face as he told her the long list of problems that Tony faced. "Is he awake?" She meekly asked. The doctor frowned and nodded, "We can't let him sleep yet until we know the extent of his head injury. It looks like just a concussion but with the amount of trauma the rest of his body received we want to make sure it is not more serious. This also presents us with another problem."

She looked incredulously at the doctor. Did Tony not have enough problems already? "We can only give him a mild pain killer. Anything stronger than what he is currently on will make him drowsy and we can't run the risk of letting his sleep yet." Ziva just stared at the doctor in shock. In a shocked and angered tone she asked, "With all his injuries and pain, all your giving him is an aspirin?!"

The doctor quickly explained that his pain reliever was more effective than that but no where near the strength he would normally be on. Ziva relaxed herself and smile apologetically at the man. "I am sorry doctor." She wiped her eyes clear one more time and said, "He is special." The doctor nodded his understanding.

The doctor looked into Tony's room and said, "Your right, he is. Miss David I am gonna be straight with you. With the amount of trauma he suffered he should have died instantly. All I know is whatever is keeping him alive right now has got nothing to do with those machines." New tears fell from her eyes. "Is he a fighter, is he strong?" The doctor asked.

Ziva's mind flew to the words Tony had said to her, "If I have to fight for you I will be the strongest man alive."

Ziva let a small tear filled smile fill her face. She turned to the doctor and said, "He is the strongest man I have ever met."