Chapter 14

Tim ended up sleeping again until Ducky and Jimmy showed up in the evening. He had hoped to get released, but it turned out that his doctor had got tied up in another emergency and hadn't been able to come and give him the final check as was required, so Tim had to spend the night in the hospital.

"You are looking pale, Timothy," Ducky said.

Tim smiled slightly. "I feel better now than I did this morning, but I'm not feeling the best. Not my best moment."

Ducky patted him on the shoulder.

"Based on what I have been told, I'm not surprised. You're fortunate that you were able to get here."

"Yeah. It was close."

"But everything is okay, now, right?" Jimmy asked.

"I think so," Tim said. "I think the one was...the only one who had a problem with it."

"And what about him?"

"He...won't be a problem anymore," Tim said.

"Really?" Tony asked.

"Really."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's how I feel," Tim said. "So...do I have to worry about Abby tonight?"

"No," Jimmy said, grinning. "Gibbs said he was going to make sure she had to stay back for one day to make Director Vance feel better about people disappearing from work."

"And she agreed?" Tim asked, trying to avoid the sinking feeling in his stomach at the mention of Vance.

"I guess so. She's not here."

"True."

There was a brief silence. Then, Tim had to ask.

"Is anyone talking about me?"

"What do you mean, Timothy?"

"Like before."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause and everyone tried not to look at Jimmy, not that he'd been one to talk about Tim but that he had been part of that time. For that brief moment, it didn't matter that he and Tim had talked it out, that he had been instrumental in stopping the talk at NCIS. It was just for that brief moment.

"No," Jimmy said, finally. "Nothing like that. I think that it'll start getting around that you were injured, but what caused it..."

"Well, hopefully no one will get that much information," Tony said. "Even the doctor got only an abbreviated version."

Then, they all glanced toward the door. It was tightly closed and no medical personnel were nearby.

"Careful, Anthony," Ducky said. "This isn't necessarily a private space."

"Yeah, I know. Getting too casual with it, I guess."

Tim smiled a little. The idea of Tony being casual about Tim's identity was actually almost funny. Then, he grimaced again at the twinge of pain. It wasn't that it was unbearable by any means, but it was still there. Seal teeth weren't particularly huge, but they were still sharp and that had been a mean grip.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Timothy. Would you like to rest?"

"Yeah...but no." Tim sighed. "Until I fall asleep again, all I have is you guys to distract me from my back."

"Well, then, if distraction is needed, I think we can all assist," Ducky said.

He settled back and began to tell a story about something. Tim began to get drowsy again as the latest dose of painkillers hit his system. The words started to lose all meaning and all he had were the voices. Eventually, his eyes drifted closed and he fell asleep with the comforting sound of Ducky's maundering.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ducky kept talking, even after Tim's eyes closed, but once he had visibly relaxed, Ducky allowed his voice to grow softer and softer until he was almost whispering and the became nearly impossible to hear. Then, he smiled and stopped talking.

"He looks pretty rough," Jimmy said, softly. "Is he really okay?"

"The doctor said he'd be fine. This is better than he was when we first found him," Tony said. "Well, the bruises look worse than when we first saw him, but overall, he looks better."

"Too bad," Jimmy said.

Ducky had to agree. Tim was a little pale and he was clearly in pain, and very bruised. However, if he was already improving, he could hope for a quick recovery.

"Hey...did you look at... you know?" Jimmy asked.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"I was just wondering if there were holes on it, too."

Tony's brow furrowed.

"I don't know. I didn't really look. Have to ask Gibbs. What would be the science of that?"

"Who really knows, Anthony," Ducky said. "This is new ground for all of us, perhaps even including Timothy himself."

Tony nodded.

Tim didn't wake up again during the evening and eventually, it was time to head back to D.C. Tony decided he'd better go back, hoping to keep the upheaval at NCIS as minor as possible, wanting to help make Tim's return easy in spite of Vance's current ambivalence. However, they didn't want to leave Tim alone, either. So Jimmy volunteered to stay at the hospital and hopefully take Tim back in the morning.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jimmy watched Tim sleep. This was the second time that he'd seen Tim in the hospital because of something related to his being a selkie. What kind of a life must he lead where he could be at risk from both sides of his ancestry? How did he deal with it?

Then, Tim stirred and winced and his eyes opened. He blinked a few times and then looked over and saw Jimmy.

"Hey," he said softly. "What are you doing here, Jimmy?"

Jimmy smiled. "Waiting for you."

"Why?"

"Well, we figured that you'd get released this morning and you'd probably need a ride back. I'm not sure you'll be ready to drive."

"Oh. Probably not." Tim leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds.

He really didn't seem very happy with his situation. Of course, he'd been bitten by a selkie and that would obviously not be pleasant, but even so, it seemed to be about more than that.

"Is something else wrong, Tim?" Jimmy asked.

"What do you mean? Isn't a seal bite on my back and bruises everywhere else enough wrong?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, it is, but I feel like there's something else bugging you. Is it me?"

Tim sat up quickly, winced and fell back.

"No, of course it's not you. Why would you think that?"

"Well, the last time you were in a hospital..."

"Right. Well...unless you've changed your mind and you are still mad at me..."

Jimmy shook his head.

"Then, I'm not worried about you at all," Tim said.

He tried to shift position and winced again, then, clearly gave up on being comfortable.

"Is there something else?" Jimmy asked again.

Then, the door opened and the doctor came in.

"I'm so sorry for the delay, Agent McGee. It's one of those things and past a certain hour, if we don't get you out by then, you can't deal with all the parts of checking out of the hospital and it just gets easier to stay for the night. I am sorry."

"It's all right."

"Good. Now, a nurse will be in to change your bandage once more, but after that, we still need you to keep an eye on your wound and you'll need someone to help you as you care for it."

"For how long?" Tim asked.

"At least a week. I understand you're from D.C.?"

Tim nodded.

"Then, I'll recommend that you see your regular doctor after a week and have him check the wounds thoroughly for any sign of infection, just in case something went wrong."

Jimmy watched as Tim listened to the doctor's instructions about the bandaging, the painkillers, how much time he needed to take it easy. Tim just nodded most of the time without saying anything else. Then, the doctor left, and he was replaced by a nurse who did the final check and finally, it was time to go.

Tim looked uncomfortable as he got into the wheelchair. He still looked uncomfortable when he settled into the front seat and sighed. He closed his eyes while Jimmy got in. Then, they were off to D.C. At first, Jimmy wasn't sure about saying anything. Tim seemed pretty miserable, but at the same time, Jimmy was sure that it wasn't all about his physical discomfort.

"Tim?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Tim said, softly.

"Do you want sleep or..."

"No. I'm not sleeping. I'm too uncomfortable to sleep, and I can't take any painkillers yet."

"So...am I right?"

Tim opened his eyes, but he just stared at the roof of the car rather than look over at Jimmy.

"About what?"

"That there's something else bugging you besides your back."

"Oh."

Tim took a long, deep breath and then let it out slowly.

"Yeah," he said, finally.

"What is it?"

"Right now? Pretty much everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that..." Tim paused. "...that my life is so complicated right now and I just don't feel like I can face it. My parents, my mother, the selkies, NCIS, Vance, all of it. The fact that a selkie wanted me dead, was willing to kill my father to get what he thought was right. All of it. Even the good things are just another complication right now. I don't know how long it will take to deal with it."

"I'm sorry, Tim. Is there anything I can do?"

Tim laughed a little and then winced.

"I don't think there's anything anyone can do...unless you can speed up time so I can get through this and have all the decisions made and everything without having to go through it."

"Nope. Sorry."

"I know. I appreciate you asking, Jimmy."

"Tim, I really have forgiven you for all that. I really don't think about it anymore."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah. I am. I needed the push to get myself to think about it, but I did and I dealt with it."

Silence fell for a few minutes. Jimmy wasn't sure what Tim was thinking. He was still staring at the roof of the car. Then, suddenly, he started talking again.

"When I first realized that my skin was growing back...I was so... That first night. It was... pure ecstasy. It was like I'd been given my life back again when I hadn't really even remembered that I'd lost it. I thought I'd managed to deal with the loss and that I didn't really miss it intensely, but I did. Oh, I did." Tim's eyes closed. "It was like I could breathe and feel and see and touch life in a way I hadn't been able to to do for...most of my life. Imagine that kind of feeling and then... then, having to fight to have it, to keep it, having to hide it so that no one knew, having people feel you deserve to die because you're finally happy." Tim actually sounded a little choked up. "Imagine that, Jimmy. Imagine being given your life back and then being told that it was wrong to have it."

Jimmy reached over and gently squeezed Tim's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Tim, but you're not wrong to want your life back. You're not wrong to be happy about being whole again. None of that is wrong. Anyone who says it is, human or selkie, they're the ones who are wrong."

"Thanks," Tim whispered.

Another long silence.

"Anyway...that's what wrong," Tim said finally.

Jimmy smiled sympathetically and made a mental note to tell Ducky about what Tim had said. Probably he should tell other people, but he was much less nervous about telling Ducky than he was about the others.

"What was it like?" Jimmy asked. "What does it feel like to change? Can you tell what's happening?"

"It's impossible to describe because I do feel it, but at the same time, it's so natural that I can't really explain it. What does it feel like to fall asleep or to breathe? How do you explain why those things happen and what exactly the feeling is? But for me, it was like going home. It was like being given back a missing limb. That first time, all I wanted was to run to the ocean and swim, but I had just enough reasoning ability that I knew I'd have to wait. So I did, but I actually was out in the ocean as a seal for three days and I didn't even notice the time passing. I just lived."

And then, for just a moment, Jimmy felt he might understand it a little bit. Tim smiled. He hurt. He ached. He was uncomfortable and had a lot on his plate, but right in the moment, he smiled and it expressed all the emotions he'd tried to describe in words. And Jimmy felt that he might also understand why Tony and Ziva had become so protective of Tim. When he smiled like that, it was obvious how unhappy he'd been before and it was wrong that anyone should try to take that happiness away from him.

The rest of the drive to D.C. was uneventful, and Jimmy drove Tim to Gibbs' place, helped him get inside and then lie down on the couch. Tim ate a little and took his painkillers and then fell asleep.

Jimmy sat there for a little while, wondering if he was supposed to stay and miss a full day of work. Of course, he rarely took days off. He had the time, but with everyone worrying about what might happen with Tim's job, he wasn't sure which was the best option.

Finally, he decided that he'd just sit there and wait for someone else to show up. Tim should be perfectly safe, but still...