Chapter 14

Timothy McGee, a set in his ways cautious driver, broke the speed limit on the drive to the hospital, surprising Abby. One hand on the steering wheel, eyes focused on the street signs as the GPS instructed them where to turn.

He turned on NW 12th and her eyes moved towards the towering hospital, scanning for the red 'Emergency' sign that would signal where they needed to go. She spotted it at the same moment he said, "There it is."

They would be inside in a moment and everything would feel right again. She just knew it would, it had to. But what if it wasn't? No, can't do that. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.

His warm fingers gently squeezed her, as if he could read her thoughts and his thumb slowly moved back and forth across the back of her hand. Abby looked down at Tim's hand resting comfortingly over hers in the space between their seats. She could see angry red crescent shaped indentations in his skin, remembering her grip on his capable hand as they waited for news on the survivors back at the marina.

As McGee pulled into a spot in the large parking structure she brought his hand to her lips and like a mother with her boy's skinned knee she gently kisses the red marks she had inflicted. "Sorry." she whispered across his skin.

He waited for her to look back up before he gave her a reassuring smile, "It's fine, Abby." his voice was soft as a whisper, breath warm against her cheek as he awkwardly adjusted them in the car to pull her to his chest. "I know you're just trying to make it through all of this and I'm more then happy to sacrifice whatever you need if it makes things even a little easier for you."

She smiled sadly against his chest, hearing the steady rhythm of his heart against her cheek. His big heart, he was a good man, she didn't give him enough credit for it.

"We should go." she said, reluctantly pulling away from his comfort, brain racing with a million thoughts of what would face them when they finally went inside. Steeling herself with a mantra of Positive Thoughts, Positive Thoughts playing over and over in her head.

They reached the elevator, Tim examining a directory on the wall before hitting the down button and waiting for the lift. She grabbed his hand again as the elevator doors closed them inside and took them down to main floor.

She was conscious of the pressure she held his grasp with. Still worried she may cause him more damage without thinking about it, she felt a comforting squeeze from him and relaxed a little. The elevator ride seemed to take forever, but finally the doors opened and they followed the signs in the hallway to a desk in the emergency department.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee," he instinctively introduced himself with a flash of his credentials. "Can you direct me to Ziva David and Anthony DiNozzo?"

The woman went to work quickly. "I don't have a record of any Ziva David. Can you spell the last name for the other person?"

Abby gave her the info, "Big D, little i, big N, little ozzo." and they waited with breath held in anticipation for what seemed a lifetime of typing, "Looks like they got him settled in room 1207 down the hall." she said, gesturing back the way they had come in, "They are waiting on some further results before they move him upstairs."

Neither listened to much of the rest after 1207 and started down the hall to find his room before the receptionist had even finished talking.

Abby felt her heart racing, please please please. Ziva had to be in there with him. She couldn't be still missing. They had to all be together again after that door was opened.

She reached for the handle with her free hand and realized she was squeezing the life out of Tim's hand again, but he was just squeezing back as she opened the door slowly.

The interior of the room was darker then the hallway, shades drawn, lights dimmed, but their eyes adjusted to the limited light quickly.

Abby's feet seemed frozen to the ground as she saw Ziva leaning over Tony's sleeping form, fingers running slowly through his hair. Her hand was stopping just before a large white bandage on the back of his skull before moving back to his forehead and repeating the gesture. She was obviously being careful to avoid the injury.

Abby didn't understand the words Ziva was speaking in loan hushed tones, but recognized it as Hebrew. Abby found it odd that she was whispering soft Hebrew to Tony as he slept, but even more odd that she didn't look up from his face when they entered the room.

"Ziva." Abby finally spoke, all the relief in her bubbling out in the single word. Watching the other woman, she she saw her flinch slightly as she turned towards them.

Abby's feet suddenly started to work, but one step forward and Ziva had a hand up as if asking her to stop. Abby wouldn't have registered the motion if it weren't for Tim's hand still latched on hers and holding her firmly in place, not letting her advance.

She turned towards the man who was now restraining where before he was comforting and her confusion was too much to bear, "What, Tim? Let me go."

He walked with her a few more steps into the room, but not close enough for Abby to reach out, "After." was all he said.

It took her a long moment to realize what he was telling her. She took in Ziva's condition. The woman looked seriously calm, but as Abby inspected her more closely in the dim light of Tony's hospital room she finally saw what Tim must have noticed instantly. There was a distinct undercurrent of emotions threatening to boil to the surface, but she was holding it together long enough to give them the details.

Ziva gave McGee a weak smile as if to thank him for understanding "I should have called again. I tried a little while ago, but your phones all went straight to voice-mail."

"We were on a plane." he explained and she nodded understanding. "What happened?"

She felt her grip tighten on McGee as their friend recounted the last few hours of their lives, filling in all the missing pieces.

She told them about being on the boat. What she had found in the floor. Thinking they were about to die when the phone sang out. Not dying. The flashing message. The 10 seconds. Being thrown from the boat as they jumped. Ditching her over shirt and her boots as soon as she surfaced to keep her from being weighed down.

Abby looked down and saw that Ziva was in fact standing on what had to be cold tile flooring with bare feet.

Ziva recounted her frantic search for Tony only to find him succumbing to unconsciousness. Tony's stubbornness in accepting her help, them making it to shore, dragging him out of the water and finally making it to a patch of grass before falling down completely exhausted. Then she stopped suddenly taking in a ragged breath, a pained look on her face.

Ziva did not know if she would make it through this. She felt that tightness in her chest building even more strongly then it had while she had been standing at Tony's bedside. It was almost painful to breath, but she pushed forward.

"He started making incoherent statements like 'Blanket is a bad name for a child.' and his pupils suddenly dilated. I moved over him to block the sun, but his eyes did not adjust to the change in light."

She paused a moment, her quick shallow breaths making it difficult to speak. Finally, getting control over her body again, she continued, "He seemed to shift his focus a lot as if he were having trouble concentrating. He continued to babble randomness, how elves were like tiny Vulcans because of their pointy ears." she stopped again suddenly, wondering what to tell them.

Finally deciding she would not be telling them about strawberries she began again, feeling the need to rush through the rest of it. Abby couldn't take much more of this if the stricken look on her face was anything to go by. "He began to convulse and vomit, succumbing to a seizure and unconsciousness. The EMTs arrived, stabilized him and brought us here."

She saw the shock on both of their faces, but McGee was the first to speak. "Have they said if he'll be alright?"

Ziva did not know what to tell them. Doctors and nurses had come and gone in a blur over the last, who knows how long. She pulled her mind back in check, steadied her breathing and tried to focus on the things she had been told by the doctors, "There is some pressure inside his brain, they are treating it with medication and are fairly confident he will not need surgery."

"That's good then, right?" Abby asked, hopefulness warring with the concern in her tone and sadness playing across her eyes.

"We will not know how extensive the brain damage is until he wakes up. The longer he is unconscious, statistically, the more severe the damage to his brain tissue." There, she had said it, out loud. Her chest hurt again, not the same as before, more intense now and she felt slightly lightheaded from all of it.

Wanting, more then anything, to just be able to stop the talking she reached her arms out to Abby, wondering why one of her arms had not risen as quickly as the other. McGee released his grip on Abby's hand and the other woman rushed Ziva to engulf her in a hug.

McGee's panicked face over Abby's shoulder was the last thing Ziva saw. Blinding pain shot through her at the fierce hug she was receiving from Abby and everything went dark.

McGee had watched Abby engulf Ziva in a hug. The type of hug he knew was reserved for holding on tight and never letting go after a serious scare or a long separation. He was smiling gently at Ziva, trying to provide reassurances when Abby's arms engulfed the other woman.

Watching Ziva's face turn completely white, ashen even, he saw her eyes fly wide open before they suddenly fluttered closed with an expression that revealed extreme anguish.

He watched as if outside himself as the woman who had stood so strongly in front of them, recounting her near death just moments ago slumped in Abby's grasp.

He saw Abby's lips moving as she lay Ziva on the ground, but for a moment couldn't make out the words she was saying. Finally his brain interpreted the words as if they had just filtered in and he ran out into the hall, grabbing the first nurse he saw and practically dragging her with him into the room.

From there, he didn't process much. Abby was gently moved away from her as the nurse quickly checked Ziva over. He felt her standing next to him and the sharp bite of her fingernails again as they watched the chaos that followed.

The nurse hit the emergency button next to Tony's bed. More nurses rushed in, crowding the already small room, one left, came back with a gurney, a Doctor came in, checked her chest. They all spoke so quickly he couldn't keep up with the medical jargon. "Pneumothorax." He knew that one. What was that? What the hell was going on?

The hospital staff had rushed Ziva out of the room before either of them could speak or react and then suddenly Tim's brain started working again. Punctured lung. He knew Abby could give a power hug like nobody's business, but what the hell had just happened here?

He couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that Ziva had seriously stood in front of them, briefing them and giving a statement with, what? At least broken ribs and who knew how much internal damage. Some of the intense fear was pushed aside in his mind to make room for the sense of admiration that built with the knowledge.

Abby had released her death grip on him a few moments after the room cleared out and was sitting beside Tony's bed, staring blankly at the man lying there.

A nurse returned shortly thereafter to get specifics on Ziva so they could continue treatment and Tim answered her questions to the best of his ability. Numbness had settled over him.

When she left he grabbed his phone. He needed to call Gibbs, not entirely sure what he would tell the man.

xoxo

A/N: Sorry for such a lengthy chapter in a single place. I have diverted from the case and I promise I will get back there. It's just that these characters seem to have no respect for where I need to go in the story and are doing whatever they want to do, interrupting the flow of the case.

I hope if flows OK, even with all the character brain hopping. :) Thanks for reading.