Kate stood outside Tim's room while the doctors examined him. She'd gotten kicked out the moment she'd alerted them that he woke up.
Penny and Sarah suddenly rushed towards Kate. Kate had called them just after Tim woke up. "Agent Todd! Is he okay? What happened?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, he's okay. He woke up," Kate said with a smile.
"Really? Did he say anything?" Sarah asked.
"No, sweetheart, he's still got the ventilator in," Penny reminded her granddaughter.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Sarah said.
"Don't apologize. You're overwhelmed," Kate told her.
"I assume the doctors are with him. How long have they been in there?" Penny wondered.
"Since right before I called you," Kate answered.
"That's about fifteen minutes. Do you think something's wrong?" Sarah asked worriedly. Something good was finally happening. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"No, I'm sure they're just taking their time to look him over and make sure everything's okay," Kate assured her.
"Yes, and they might be taking this time to change his bandages as well," Penny added.
Just then, Doctor Russell came out of Tim's room and walked over to them.
"How is he doing?" Sarah asked.
"He's doing alright. He's stable. However, I want you all to understand that just because Agent McGee has woken up doesn't mean he's out of the woods. He still has a long road ahead of him," Doctor Russell cautioned.
"But this is good, right?" Sarah asked.
"Absolutely. The fact that your brother has regained consciousness is a reason to be hopeful. I just want you to be aware that it isn't over yet," the doctor said.
"We understand. Is there anything else we need to know?" Penny asked.
"Yes. Your grandson's breathing still isn't where we'd like, so we're going to leave the ventilator in for another day or two, so he won't be able to talk to you. Now, normally in these cases we give our patients a pen and paper to communicate, but given his extensive injuries, he wouldn't be able to make use of them and we'd prefer he not try. We'd also like to keep him as calm as possible. If his heart rate goes up, it could provoke an incident," he told them.
"There could be a problem there. A friend of his was murdered about the same way he was injured and I'm pretty sure he knows at least enough to worry about him," Kate said.
"Should we tell him?" Penny asked. Either way, she could see it possibly being a problem. Finding out his friend was dead could definitely stress him out, but so could worry over not knowing what happened.
"Well, he's not fully alert right now, so you may have time before that becomes an issue. When it does, all I can tell you is to use your best judgment," Doctor Russell said.
"Can we see him?" Sarah asked.
"Of course, but I ask that you try not excite him right now," the doctor said before walking away.
"Are you coming, Kate?" Penny asked. While the woman wasn't family, Penny felt she deserved to be there. This young woman had stood by her grandson's side the entire time he'd been here.
"No, you should have some time just the three of you. Plus, I need to make a phone call," Kate said. She hadn't called yet to let Gibbs and Tony know what was going on.
Penny nodded and she and Sarah walked away.
Kate took out her phone and dialed Tony.
The phone was answered on the first ring. "Hey, Kate. Is there news?"
"Yeah. McGee regained consciousness about fifteen twenty minutes ago," Kate told him.
"Seriously?! He's awake? Yes! How is he?" Tony asked in a cheerful tone.
"Well, the doctor said he's not out of the woods, but he also said this was a reason to be hopeful. He's still on the ventilator though, so he can't really communicate. Still, this is good news," Kate said.
"This is great! I'll make sure to tell the others. In the meantime, we have news too. We think we know who's responsible for all this. Dylan Brandon's brother, Sean," Tony said.
Kate listened as Tony explained everything they'd learned about Sean Brandon. To say she was disgusted would be an understatement. This guy had been targeting McGee since he was a kid, and all because McGee had become friends with his younger brother. How unhinged was this psycho? "Have you found any leads to tell us where this guy is?
"No, not yet. He's clearly crazy has nothing to lose. You gotta keep a close eye on McGee. Brandon is still a huge danger to him," Tony warned.
Kate moved to right outside the hospital room and looked inside the window, seeing McGee's grandmother and sister sitting on either side of him. "Yeah, I got it, Tony. I won't let him out of my sight."
"Good. Gibbs still wants him moved to Bethesda as soon as possible. He doesn't trust those people after the asshole Admiral got in," Tony said.
"Yeah, well, I think it's still going to be a while before that happens. Hopefully Sean Brandon will have been stopped before then," Kate said.
"Yeah, there's always that hope. I better go. I'll let Gibbs know McGee's awake. He'll probably wanna see him, so hopefully I'll see you soon," Tony said.
"Okay. Bye," Kate said before hanging up.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Tony was grinning from ear to ear as he hung up the phone. He knew McGee wasn't out of the woods, but he was awake. It was a step in the right direction. And given the prognosis just a few days ago, Tony was sure the probie agent would keep up the remarkable progress.
"That grin better be because you found Sean Brandon," Gibbs said as he walked by to his desk.
"Better, Boss. I just got off the phone with Kate. McGee regained consciousness not too long ago," Tony said happily.
"How is he?" Gibbs asked.
"Well, he just woke up, so he's probably still kind of out of it. Kate says he's still on the ventilator too, so he can't talk," Tony told him.
"Alright, we'll head over for a bit in the morning. You'll swap with Kate then so she can get some rest. Which means, you go home in the next hour or so to sleep," Gibbs said.
"Then you're down two agents," Tony pointed out.
"Morrow's gonna give us a an agent or two for a couple of days. Can't keep going on like this, especially where protecting McGee comes in. Whoever's watching him needs to be well rested," Gibbs said.
Tony nodded reluctantly. He didn't like being sent home for the night while a fellow agent's attacker was still on the loose, but he knew Gibbs was right.