I'm back. Thanks to Surferdude for beta-reading this. Don't worry, numbers 15 and 16 are already done and beta-read so those will be up here sooner than the previous ones. Enjoy and please review. Thanks to all those who took the time to do so before, it's much appreciated.

Chapter 14

Ziva woke up with heavy eyes. She blinked a few times and was puzzled as to her surroundings. She felt something up her nose.

'Hara,' she mumbled. She ripped whatever it was out of her nose. She was looking at it rather strangely. Where had that come from? She had gone to bed and now she was…..she looked around…in a hospital.

Crap. She didn't want to be here. Bad memories. She had been in one shortly after her return from Somalia. She thought she had made it very clear that she did not want to go to hospital. She tried to get up, but was reminded that her ribs were still very sensitive. She hissed in pain and frustration and with that sound Tony woke up.

'What do you think you're doing?' he asked her.

'Getting up, that is what I am doing. I do not want to be here,' she said and slowly sat herself upright at the side of the bed. She was about to step onto the floor when Tony came standing in front of her, blocking her path to freedom.

'Out of my way, DiNozzo. I am going to leave. The doctor said there was no reason for me to be here if I follow his instructions,' she said, vainly trying to push him out of her way, but he stood his ground.

'Which, clearly, you didn't,' he said, not budging.

'Oh, and when was that? I take my medications. I drink plenty of fluids. I take plenty of batnaps. The only time I didn't follow his instructions, was when NCIS called for my assistance! Other than that, I have been a good little girl,' she told him.

Tony thought about that and he came to the conclusion she was right. She had done just that. He sighed but still didn't move an inch. 'Ok, you're right. You just scared the crap out of me last night, Ziva. Your fever was high and your breathing was shallow, according to the doctor who I had to come by,' he said.

Ziva looked up. 'I scared you?'

He nodded. 'I…you were hurting and I didn't know what to do.' Tony ran his hand through his hair. Ziva could see how exhausted he was.

Ziva raised her hand and gently stroked his cheek. 'You stayed up all night, did you not?'

'Yeah, I just dozed off for a minute before you woke up. I don't want to lose you; I went through that once before and I don't want to feel like that ever again. My world stopped turning when I heard that you had gone down with the Damocles,' he confessed.

Tears from exhaustion and from worrying about her were spilling over. The pain he had felt when he had heard she had died when the Damocles went down came back up. He had hidden it for more than a year, but right now he couldn't stop the inevitable due to sheer exhaustion.

'Shhhh, it is alright.' Ziva gathered him in her arms. 'I am not going anywhere, but I do want to leave this hospital.'

After a short debate on whether or not she could leave right away, they came to an agreement. Tony would go and find her doctor and, in the meantime, she would stay put.

Tony knew he had to hurry because Ziva wasn't one to stay put for very long. He had located her doctor and the two of them walked back to her room. She had lived up to her end of the agreement and had indeed stayed put. Tony grinned, small victories.

The doctor gave her a short examination and decided that she could, indeed, go home, but under strict supervision. He also took some blood, since her weekly check-up was due tomorrow anyway and he figured while she was here, he might as well do it now and save her the trouble of coming in tomorrow as well. He would contact her as soon as he had the results in.

Tony was grinning from ear to ear, this was it. Now he had a legitimate reason for staying at her place. They swung by his apartment to pick up some of his belongings and then they drove to her apartment. Ziva didn't waste any time and decided to take a nap once she was back in own apartment. Tony was busy taking care of clearing out some closet and drawer space so his clothes would fit in. When he was done, he joined Ziva. He crawled into bed and fell asleep. After about an hour or so Ziva woke up and was looking a sleeping Tony straight in the face.

Since when is it okay to crawl into bed with me without first asking? she thought. She smiled though. He was so cute while he slept. She could wake up to him sleeping like that anytime. She gave a kiss on his cheek, looked at her alarm clock, and decided that she was going to make dinner. She got up and felt nauseous, but not in such a way that she felt the need to throw up. She stood still for a few moments so she could gather her strength and let the nausea subside and then got herself dressed and went to the kitchen. She was almost done when she heard a certain someone paddling barefoot into the kitchen.

'You want something to eat?' she asked without turning around.

'How long have you been up?' Tony asked.

'About half an hour,' she responded.

'How are you feeling?'

'I didn't throw up, if that is what you want to know. So that is a good thing, yes?'

Tony sat down at the table and looked at her. 'You seem brighter somehow,' he observed.

'I feel better. I still felt a slight nausea when I got up, but that went away after a few minutes,' she told him.

'Good,' he murmured and began eating. He was starving. He also noticed that Ziva, although she wasn't eating a whole lot, she ate more than she had been during the past few days.

'You really are feeling better, aren't you?' She smiled and nodded. 'When's your next check-up?' he asked.

'Just had it. Remember, just before I left the hospital today,' she reminded him.

'Oh, yeah I forgot. Good, so what's next?'

'Depends on the outcome of the check-up,' she said.

'What do you mean?' Tony more or less demanded an answer.

'As you may have noticed, he took some of my blood and, depending on the outcome, he will decide what to do next,' Ziva explained. When Tony made it clear he didn't quite get it, she explained further. 'After he gets the results back, he will decide whether or not I should take more or less medication.'

'Oh… you think you can take more of the same?' Tony wanted to know.

'If I want to get better and work at NCIS again, I will have to, Tony,' she said.

'So, what do you want to do today? Gibbs gave me two days off, so I'm at your disposal.'

Tony cleared the table and followed Ziva into her living room. 'Let's just watch some movies, because it's late anyway, in case you have not noticed,' Ziva suggested.

Tony looked outside and to his surprise darkness had set in. 'We slept most of the day!' he blurted out.

Ziva laughed. 'Yes, my little hairy butt, however, in your defense, I must say that since I screwed up your sleeping hours last time, you deserved it.'

They spent the rest of the evening watching several movies until Ziva yawned and they decided to turn in. Without even asking, in Tony's case, and without any form of protest on Ziva's part, they slept in the same bed together.

TBC….

I am trying to put a end to this story but then this chapter (and nr.15 and 16) came out. Ah, well still have to deal with daddy dearest since I for no apparent reason decided to drag him into chapter 12.

Beta Note: So sorry this is late! All my fault!