A/N - Alright you guys! I am posting this without fully proof reading it cuz I have to run to an appt. - I will correct errors later! I promise I will be acknowledging each and every one of you soon as far as thanking you for the truly amazing reviews! This is a short one but I will try to update again later. I am letting this story take precedence for just a little bit since this seems to be my most popular story rt now. I hope you continue to enjoy where i take you with this storyline! Love you all :-D
ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~
Previously On The Long Flight Home:
The bonding moment was short lived when there was a sudden beeping noise coming from one of the many machines surrounding Tony's bed. Both Gibbs and McGee's heads turned to immediately check on him and were both nearly shocked off their feet when they realized – although fearful and wide as they frantically scanned the area around him - Tony's eyes were open!
~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~ncis~
The Long Flight Home
Chapter XXI
Baltimore Hospital – Tony's Room In ICU . . .
Two nurses immediately came quickly through the door and rushed over to check on their patient. It didn't take long to realize that the man was extremely agitated which had caused a spike in not only his heart rate but also bis blood pressure. Gibbs had rushed immediately over to Tony's side with Tim pulling himself out of the chair to stand behind his boss in case there was anything he could do to help his friend.
Gibbs carefully but firmly placed both of his hands on Tony's shoulders trying to no avail to get him to calm down. He knew from his own experience of waking from a coma with a ventilator tube in his throat, just how disorienting and shocking it was to wake up in that condition.
"Tony . . . Tony listen to me! You are safe, you are in a hospital and you need to calm down. Do-you- hear- me?"
Gibbs released a breath he didn't know he had been holding as Tony's glassy green eyes came to focus on his own finally stopping their wild exploration of his surroundings. There was still fear in his eyes as clear as day making Gibbs worry that perhaps Tony's memory had been affected by the coma. Perhaps he was still afraid because he didn't recognize him.
While one of the nurses ran out to have the doctor paged, the other one proceeded to inject the lightest possible dose of a sedative into Tony's IV port. It was dangerous for a man barely recovering from surgery to have his blood pressure rise to such dangerous levels and his heart rate was also not within a safe range. The increased pressure of his blood could cause complications at the surgical site among other things so they had to get it under control – and fast!
Gibbs finally moved his hands so he was gently holding each side of Tony's face after reaching carefully to maneuver around the vent tube. He held his face so that he was forced to stay focused on his bosses' face though he still was showing no signs of recognition. "Tony it's me Gibbs. Nod if you know who I am!" he pleaded hoping that his agent's mind would finally start to remember things.
There was no nod forthcoming which caused both Gibbs and McGee's hearts to sink as their worry increased ten fold. By now Dr. Archer had arrived and Tony was just now starting to show signs that the sedative was kicking in. His eyes became even more glassy and his lids slid down to half mast though he still managed to keep staring into the light blue eyes of the man who's face was just inches from his own.
Tony didn't remember who the man was exactly, but he knew he felt safe with him so he must be family. ~'Is he my Father?' ~ he pondered as his groggy mind had to fight just to maintain that single thought. He could feel his body urging him to slip back into blissful slumber but something about those eyes kept him from doing just that. McGee watched his buddy's face closely trying to determine if he was finally recognizing their boss or if he was still struggling. He had a sad feeling that it was the latter of the two.
Gibbs ignored the fact that his long time agent didn't recognize him and still took advantage of the fact that Tony at least seemed to know he could trust the man before him. "Tony look don't worry if you can't remember who I am – it's okay, you will eventually. But right now it's still important that you stay calm and don't move around much – okay? You are in a hospital and you are going to be fine. Now go back to sleep and I will be here with you when you wake up next. Okay? Ya got that?"
This time he got the nod he was hoping for - slight as it may have been due to the sluggishness caused by the sedative. He breathed out another heavy sigh of relief as he watched the green eyes disappear behind heavy lids. By now all of his vital signs had slowly returned to normal as Archer continued checking on her patient - starting with his incision site. Deciding that she was happy with how everything looked she determined that no further damage had been caused by his rather dramatic awakening.
"Well Agent Gibbs, regardless of whether he recognized you or not you seem to have quite a hold over this one. He still seemed to know that he could trust you. Anyway, thank you for your help in controlling him until we could get him stabilized."
"How is he Doc? He gonna be alright?"
"It's still too soon to give you my 100% guarantee Agent Gibbs but I will say that I am very happy with how he is progressing and coming out of that coma so soon is definitely a big positive. The longer he would have remained in a coma, the worse his odds become as far as coming out of it unscathed."
"What about his memory Doctor? He didn't seem to know what was going on or who anyone was." McGee asked as his voice nearly shook with concern.
"Let's not get too worked up about that just yet either. It's very common after not only traumatic experiences but also with people returning from a comatose state." she explained.
"Kinda like you boss when you were in that coma. Did you ever regain every memory you had lost?" Tim asked his boss, hoping for his answer to be positive.
"Well, I suppose some things remained a little spotty, but for the most part Tim – yes I regained almost all of my memory." Gibbs had answered him in a surprisingly gentle voice, and using his first name was a sure sign that his boss was shaken up by what had just transpired. McGee decided not to push it by asking more questions. Instead he chose to return to the waiting room and allow Tony's former partner to have his turn to visit.
Just as McGee started towards the door he stopped. He knew there was something he was forgetting to tell Gibbs about but what was it? All of the commotion with almost passing out and then seeing Tony awake and fighting against everyone, seemed to have taken precedence over all of his other thoughts.
"What is it McGee?" Gibbs asked, sensing the man's hesitation and seeing the frown of deep thought on his face.
"Oh . . . well. Oh yeah I remember now, uh . . . well boss . . . uh-" He suddenly started to stammer as he realized the gravity of what he was about to say. He knew Gibbs wasn't going to be happy at all about this latest turn of events.
"SPIT-IT-OUT McGee!"
"Um well boss someone arrived in the waiting room just before I came in here. You . . . you are not gonna like it. Boss - it was Ziva." he then paused, waiting for the other cement shoe to drop.
Gibbs eyes were as wild as Tony's were when he first woke up. ~ 'How DARE she?' ~ he thought to himself. "Why didn't you TELL me sooner McGee? Dammit, what the hell is SHE doing here!"
"Well boss I uh, well with almost passing out and all, then having Tony wake up – well I just forgot all about it I guess." he stuttered.
"Ah hell - it's okay McGee – I know. I am not mad at you, you did good. I am just angry as hell as to why she felt the need to show up here! Hasn't she done enough damage?" Look, I need you to stay here with Tony. I will send Daniel back as well. I want you two to keep an eye on him and I want you to CALL ME if he so much as blinks. Ya got that?" Gibbs barked.
"Oh, and I don't want Ziva getting anywhere NEAR him!" he added before Tim could reply. "Or anywhere near this damn WING for that matter! I don't plan to let her get past me but if somehow she's already making her way here, you have my permission to shoot her if she tries to force her way in here!"
McGee's eyes grew wide over that last command. ~ 'Surely Gibbs wouldn't really expect me to shoot her!' ~ he thought. He had no chance to respond to his bosses' instructions because Gibbs was already out the door and probably half way to the elevator by now.
To Be Continued . . .
I know, it's short AND another cliffie – well somewhat. I know you all want to see the big Gibbs/Ziva confrontation. But I have to leave for an appt, I will try hard to update again later today!