Chapter Twenty-One: Just A Little Longer

Her name was Melanie Burke and he had no idea she would able help him overcome his fears, especially since she was in fact a chaplain. They had met before but he didn't know he'd be seeing her again. He was out in the hall that day whilst Ziva slept when he saw the strawberry blonde woman out of her Navy garb. He was surprised and confused. The woman turned around and saw Tony. She smiled as her eyebrows knitted together. She had no idea she'd get to see the federal agent again. She walked over to him, her denim jacket draped over her shoulder.

Hey DiNozzo," She said in a pleasant tone. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same question." He said, shaking her hand. "It's kind of weird seeing you out of the uniform."

"Yeah, well, I don't need to wear it to see my best friend cough her lungs out."

"Oh, I'm sorry 'bout your friend."

"She'll be fine. She has mild pneumonia."

"Well, commander, I hope she gets better." He said, looking towards the see-through doors of Ziva's room.

"Me too," She responded. "So, who are you here for?"

"Ziva," He replied.

"Oh, my God! Is agent David okay?" She asked.

"Well, uh, yeah. I mean, she's not sick or dying." He told her.

The commander looked into the room to see Ziva lying in bed asleep. She shook her head when she realized how ill she seemed.

"I can tell." Burke said sarcastically.

"No, Melanie, she's…" He stopped and let out a sigh.

He saw no harm in telling her. It wasn't as if she was a part of the team, or obligated to report it.

"If I tell you this you can't tell a soul."

"I won't." She assured him, motioning her hand as if to zip her mouth shut. "Tell me."

"She's pregnant." He informed her.

"Aw!" She cooed.

"I'm the father." He added.

The five foot four inch woman looked up at him, bewilderment apparent in her sky blue eyes. She was shocked to say the least.

"Close your mouth, Lieutenant Commander." He ordered, motioning towards her agape pink lips.

"Sorry," She said, following his order. "I am just surprised. I had no idea you two were even together."

"Well, we weren't. Maybe we were? No. Oh, I don't know." He said, his face twisting with confused thought.

"This isn't a complicated thing, Tony. You were together or you weren't. Plain and simple," She declared with a small shrug.

"It isn't so cut and dry." He explained.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." He said, crossing his arms.

"How so?" She asked, sitting down on the bench near them.

"Huh?' He asked, looking back at her.

"How is it not simple?" She asked, slowing down her words.

"Oh, uh, well…" He said, seeming as if he were uncomfortable. "We weren't in a completely monogamous relationship."

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling more awkward as time went on. She seemed confused so he elaborated.

"We were just having sex." He went on to explain.

"I see." She said with a nod. "Are you going to be there for her?"

"Yes. I love her." He admitted.

This took her by surprise. She didn't think that he would fall in love with someone he was only having sex with.

"That's good." She told him, watching as Ziva shifted in her bed.

"Look, Commander, I better go check on her." He said, pointing towards the Israeli on the other side of the automatic doors.

"Okay."

When Tony walked in the room he heard Ziva's heart rate monitor beating at a steady one-hundred twenty beats per minute. He grew worried and went to Ziva as fast as his legs would permit. He touched her arm as she moved around in the bed and suddenly, miraculously, her heart rate slowed gradually back down to ninety. Tony breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. He then began to shake her shoulder in order to wake her. Meanwhile EJ was sitting at her desk when Dr. Mallard walked by.

"Hey Doctor!" EJ called out.

"Agent Barrett," He chimed in his cheerful Scottish accent. "How are you?"

"I'm good." She said, seeming rather frantic. "Look, I need a favor."

Back at the hospital Ziva was sitting up in bed, still feeling groggy after her much needed nap. The still sleepy Israeli looked over at Tony and smiled.

"Do I really get to leave soon?" She asked, itching with anticipation.

"Yep," He told her triumphantly. "I bet you're just ready to get out of here, huh?"

"You think?" She asked rhetorically.

Just then Dr. Bryant and another doctor by the name of Zhilan Wu walked in, smiling when they saw Ziva and Tony. Zhilan was they specialist in their Obstetrics department. She looked to be the same age as Ziva and she seemed eager to get to know more about Ziva's pregnancy.

"Okay, Ziva. So, what I want to do is just give your vitals a once over so we know if you can let you leave." Dr. Bryant informed.

Dr. Wu then put a blood pressure device around her upper arm and quickly took her blood pressure. It was rather low which worried Wu and Bryant, but only a little. They knew that with pregnancy induced iron deficiency anemia low blood pressure was absolutely normal. They were aware that with all of the vomiting which kept presenting itself Ziva was no longer able to keep any medication down long enough for it to metabolize thus it didn't have any effect on her. They weren't able to work.

"Here's the plan, Ziva." The doctor started, placing her interlaced hands in her own lap. "We are going to keep you in here a couple more days. We're going to put the medication in IV drips so that way it will stay in your system better. Also, for the hyperemesis gravidarum we will be giving you IV anti-nausea meds until you can handle taking pills again. Since you aren't really eating well right now we'll put you on what's called a banana bag."

Ziva and Tony both knew that a banana bag was a term often used to describe an IV in which contains various vitamins a patient would miss while not being able to eat. Ziva nodded, reaching over for Tony's hand. She needed the comfort of which only it offered. He felt her squeeze his hand and reciprocated with a gentle squeeze. She then allowed Dr. Bryant to remove the BPM whilst Dr. Wu prepared the three IVs which would soon become a temporary yet constant appendage on Ziva's arms. Wu allowed Ziva to lie down before she first put in the iron IV. She felt a slight poke as the needle went into her vein. Dr. Wu taped it down and pushed the green level up to allow the fluids to flow. This process was repeated two more times and Ziva hated it. She had three IVs sticking out of her arms and all she wanted was to go home.

"Alright, Ziva, just get some rest. We'll have a nurse come and change your IV's every few hours, okay?"

Ziva only nodded, not bothering with a vocal response.

"Take care," She said.

"Will do." Tony responded.

Back at headquarters EJ was sifting through the few files Ducky was able to get her. She then came across the "smoking gun" of sorts when it came to what she was looking for.

"Gotchya!" She exclaimed.

Suddenly the short and petite blonde agent stood from her desk, grabbed her jacket, and went off to confront them once and for all.