It was exactly eight o'clock when Tony entered Lily's hospital room. Pediatric visiting hours ended at eight but the nurses were making an exception. Lily was only supposed to have visitors for fifteen minutes at a time until she had stabilized a bit. Due to the amount of blood she had lost and the trauma she was listed as critical but they were hoping to bump her down to serious within the next few hours. It nearly stopped Tony's breath when he stepped into the room and saw her lying in the in the toddler sized hospital bed. He hated how tiny and frail she looked. Her the top left quadrant of her hospital gown was folded down. A large bandage stretched across from her left shoulder to the center of her chest plate and down from her throat to her abdomen. It made him sick to think that somebody could shoot a three year old. Even worse it was his own father. He bit on his lips to keep him from breaking down again. He walked like a zombie over to Lily's bedside. He picked up her tiny hand and held it like it was made of glass. She stirred slightly on the bed and then her tiny blue eyes sprang open.
"Lily? Are you awake?" Tony asked.
"Yeah" Lily replied weakly.
"How are you feeling?" Tony asked.
"Hurts here." Lily replied pointing to her chest.
"You got hurt earlier today and are in the hospital now but you are going to be OK." Tony explained.
"Where Jake?" Lily asked.
"He is hurt too but they took him to a different hospital. You will be able to see him tomorrow or the next day." Tony explained.
"Jake hurt bad?" Lily asked.
"No but you are in a special hospital room and you have to be a grown-up to visit somebody in a room like yours." Tony explained.
"OK" Lily replied tiredly. Before falling back asleep.
Following Tony's request, Gibbs drove to St. Matthew's hospital. It actually was a good thing that Jake and Ziva had been brought there instead of Bethesda like Lily. St. Matthew's was more of a glorified Emergency Room then an actual hospital. It did have an ICU but the majority of patients were stabilized and transferred to a larger hospital. The only surgeries it handled were appendectomies, tonsillectomies and other minor procedures. In short he took it as a sign that Jake and Ziva were OK. He pulled into the parking lot and stepped into the hospital's waiting room. He approached the receptionist who was thumbing through one of those supermarket, checkout line tabloids.
"Excuse me!" Gibbs called.
"May I help you?" The receptionist asked.
"I need to check on two patients, Ziva David and Jake Dallas-DiNozzo. My name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs and I am allowed to receive medical information for both." Gibbs explained flashing his badge.
"Jake was released to the care of one of his emergency contacts. James Palmer, do you recognize that name? He is listed as an EC." The receptionist explained.
"Yeah Jimmy is one of Tony's best friends. Tony will be here soon but he is with his daughter Lily at Bethesda right now." Gibbs explained.
"OK" The receptionist replied.
"How is Miss. David?" Gibbs asked.
"She is being observed for elevated heart rate and blood pressure." The receptionist explained.
"May I see her?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes but keep it short. She is in room 224." The receptionist replied.
"Will do" Gibbs assured.
Ziva could feel her body shaking as she sat up in her hospital bed. Normally she was strong and unfazed by traumatic experiences but what happened today had shaken her to her very core. Fear washed over her the second she saw Senior standing on the front door. She had tried to make him leave. She knocked him to the ground and started beating the hell out of him but he managed to over power her. He ran into the house and that's when everything went to hell. He pulled a gun from his belt holster. She was sure that he was going to shoot her but instead he shot Lily who was hiding behind the couch. She was still haunted by the sight of Lily's blood on the carpet and the sound of Jake screams. Senior barricaded himself in Tony's room and Ziva called 911. She was so distracted by her terror that she didn't know that somebody had come into her room. Until she felt Gibbs squeezing her shoulder.
"Oh!" Ziva gasped.
"It's OK, Ziver. It's just me." Gibbs assured.
"Senior shot Lily. He just shot her. I tried to stop him but he over powered me. I don't know how. He is not a strong man. Then he just shot Lily. He said that he was going to kill Tony." Ziva explained shakily.
"He intentionally shot Lily?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, he shot her. She was hiding behind the couch and he shot her." Ziva explained.
"That bastard" Gibbs cursed.
"How is Lily? Please tell me that she is not dead." Ziva asked.
"She is going to be fine. The bullet missed all vital organs and the doctors were able to remove the entire bullet. She is going to have to take it easy for a while but she is going to be OK." Gibbs assured.
"Oh thank God!" Ziva cried.
"I know. It's a miracle." Gibbs agreed.
"It is it really is." Ziva agreed.
"Anymore questions or can I leave you to rest?" Gibbs asked.
"How are Tony and Jake?" Ziva asked.
"Tony is really upset but I think he is doing better and I haven't checked on Jake yet. He is with the Palmer's right now." Gibbs explained.
"I can't believe Tony's dad did this." Ziva sighed.
"I can." Gibbs replied.
"I can too. How is Senior so evil but Tony is such a sweet and gentle man? He had no other male influences at least not when he was young." Ziva wondered aloud.
"Because sometimes good does power over evil. Sometimes the kids that have almost no hope of turning out well, will beat the odds and become amazing human beings, and Tony is one of those people." Gibbs explained.
"Well I am glad for that." Ziva replied.
"Me too" Gibbs agreed.
Jake buried himself under the sheets in the Palmer's guest bed. This couldn't be happening again. He couldn't lose another family member. Certainly not his baby sister. It was bad enough he had lost his parents and they still weren't one hundred percent sure if Katie was going to make it or not. She was doing well but still very fragile. Now he could be losing Lily too. It wasn't fair and who was that old man anyway? Ziva seemed to know him but how and how did he get Tony's address? Were they really safe in their home? Was he ever really safe?
"Jake? Are you up?" Breena asked.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." Jake admitted.
"I don't blame you. I wasn't even there and I am having trouble sleeping. I can't imagine how you must be feeling." Breena replied.
"I don't even want to close me eyes." Jake admitted.
"I don't blame you but I actually do, have some good news for you." Breena replied.
"What?" Jake asked skeptically.
"Tony called and Lily is going to be just fine." Breena replied.
"She is?" Jake asked.
"Yes, the bullet missed everything and surgery went well. She is in the ICU right now but you can go see her as soon as she is put in a regular room." Breena explained.
"When will that be?" Jake asked.
"It probably won't be for a couple of days but Jimmy said that he could see about letting you guys talk on Skype or Facetime. Whichever you have on your laptop. Jimmy has both." Breena explained.
"I think I have Skype but I am not sure." Jake replied.
"We can figure it out in the morning." Breena replied kissing Jake on the head.
"Hey, Breena?" Jake asked.
"Yeah?" Breena asked.
"Can you stay here?" Jake asked.
"Of course I need to get used to this." Breena replied climbing onto the twin bed across from Jake's double.
A/N: Will Senior be back to take Tony out or try to? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.