Marie saw Alyssa sitting in one of the waiting room chairs and Steve had his arm around her in a comforting way. Alyssa saw Marie and immediately stood up and gave the woman a hug saying, "I'm so worried, he has been in surgery for over an hour."
Marie hugged Alyssa and told her, "Tony is strong, he's a fighter, he's going to be fine." Marie didn't know if she said this to convince Alyssa or herself, she thought probably both.
Coach Tressel and the team Doctor shook hands with Marie and Gibb's and explained to them what happened on the field. Coach Tressel said, "Had Tony told me he was not feeling well I would not have permitted him to practice today."
The team Doctor spoke next, "In a way he was very lucky it happened out here on the football field, if he had been told to stay home from practice and his appendix had burst while he was alone at home and he was not able to get himself medical help then he very likely would not have made it." The Doctor continued, "Because we were able to get him the help he needed quickly, he has an excellent chance to make a full recovery."
Marie took in a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Thank you so much for being there for him, I couldn't bare losing him." Gibb's placed a protective arm around his wife and kissed the top of her head. Marie asked the football coach, "Who are all of these people?"
The coach looked around the room, "They are all friends, most are players from the team and from what I've been able to hear the guys over there are in Tony's Fraternity."
Gibb's went in search of coffee and Marie took a seat next to Alyssa. One by one the young men in the room came over and introduced themselves to Marie and each gave her a hug telling her that Tony would be fine. Marie was comforted in knowing that Tony had so many friends.
It was more then an hour later when the door's to surgery opened and a Doctor came out holding a chart in his hands. "Family for Anthony DiNozzo?" he asked looking around the waiting room. He was surprised when the entire room stood up but he saw that only two people approached him.
Marie said, "I am his mother and this is my husband, how is my son Doctor?"
The Doctor saw the worried look in the mother's eyes so he didn't want to make her wait. "Your son is going to be fine, I removed the appendix and cleaned up the damage the eruption caused. Were going to monitor him in recovery for the next few hours then he will be moved to a private room.
The waiting room erupted in cheers and the guys all high fived each other just like they would after the Buckeyes scored a touchdown. The nurse at the front desk looked over at the young men giving them a stern look and reminded them, "This is a hospital gentlemen." She sat back down at her desk hearing dozens of apologies.
Marie thanked the Doctor over and over and then asked, "When can we see him?"
The Doctor smiled and said, "How does right now sound?"
Marie holding tight to Jethro's arm followed the Doctor into the recovery ward. The Doctor made a few quick checks on his patient, satisfied everything was fine he said, "Visit as long as you like."
Marie and Gibb's nodded in agreement to the Doctor and made their way to Tony's bedside. Marie bent down and placed a kiss on Tony's cheek, causing the young man to open his eyes. "Hi mom, the Doctor said, I'm going to be fine."
Marie gently stroked Tony's hair, "I know sweetie, we just spoke with him."
Tony looked over at Gibb's and nodded hello to the man. Gibb's patted Tony's leg and said, "You had us really worried kid."
Tony looked at his mother and Gibb's and said, "I really thought it was just the flu, I can't believe I was so stupid. I didn't want to miss a stupid football game so I didn't tell my coaches how I was feeling. Now it looks like I'm going to miss several games." Tony shook his head angry at the thought of his great season going down the drain.
Marie said to her son, "I only care that your going to be fine, you will have plenty of football games to play later. Just concentrate on getting better." Marie wanted Tony to rest but she also knew that Alyssa would want to see Tony so she went out to the waiting room and told everyone that Tony was fine and that they could see him tomorrow if they liked. She asked for Alyssa and Coach Tressel to stay and she escorted them back to see Tony.
Alyssa took Tony's hand and kissed him, they spoke for several minutes and were thankful the others waited outside to allow them some privacy. "I'll see you tomorrow Tony," Alyssa said as she made her way out of the room.
Coach Tressel then came in and Tony nervously began to pull on the edge of his blanket. "Sorry I didn't let you or anyone know I was not feeling well."
The coach smiled and gently patted Tony's leg, "It's alright Tony, I'm just glad your going to be alright, but if you ever pull a stunt like this again, I don't care how good a player you are, you will be benched."
"Got it coach," Tony said.
Coach Tressel let out a breath, "You really had me worried Tony, I need to know when one of my players is not at their best. Your safety on the field is my responsibility and I can't do my job if your not being honest with me."
Tony looked at his coach, "I know it was stupid but I didn't want to miss the Wisconsin game. How many games do you think I'll miss now?"
The coach thought a minute, "I spoke with your Doctor briefly and from what he says it looks like you will need a month to recover."
Tony sighed, "That's at least four games."
Coach Tressel said, "Just concentrate on getting better, I'm gonna need you for the last three games of the season."
Tony knew the games in which the coach was referring too. Penn State, Iowa and Michigan were the final three games of the season and all three teams were close in the standing right now. The team that came out victoriuos in these games would more then likely win the Big 10 conference.
Marie and Jethro spoke with Tony's Doctor allowing Tony some time alone with his coach. Gibb's asked, "How long of a recovery time are we looking at?"
The Doctor said, "He will need to be watched closely for the first two weeks, no strenuous activity of any kind, after that he can start light workouts with the team but it will be close to a month before he can resume his normal workouts and even then I'm going to insist upon a full evaluation to make sure he can play football."
Marie nodded, "Thank you for that Doctor, I don't want Tony being the one to determine when he can safely play again, he has a history of not always being truthful."
The Doctor smiled at that, "Sounds like just about every other athlete I have dealt with at this University." He continued, "I saw from the emergency contact information that you live out of State. I think it would help in Tony's recovery if he were to spend at least the first two weeks under supervision to make sure he follows Doctors orders. Is there any chance a family member could stay with him or possibly take Tony back to Baltimore with you?"
Marie told the Doctor, "Tony shares an apartment with two others but they have classes and football practice, his girlfriend is a student and couldn't be with him all the time and I know she would try and skip classes to take care of him if he needed it."
Gibb's said, "I think taking him home with us makes the most sense."
Marie said, "I agree Jethro, but I have a feeling Tony may have to be convinced he needs someone to look after him, you know how independent he is."
The Doctor said, let me see what I can do. He walked into Tony's room just as Coach Tressel was about to leave, "Can you hang on a second coach, I need to talk to you." The two of them moved down the hall to speak privately.
A few minutes later Tony looked up to see his Doctor and Coach Tressel entering his room. Coach Tressel began, "Tony I was just speaking with your Doctor and he tells me it will help in your recovery if you have someone around to help you out for the first few weeks. I think it might be a good idea if you go home with your family for two weeks. I can make arrangements with your professors to allow you to work from home and keep up on your work."
Tony looked at his coach, "I don't need to go home, I can take care of myself."
The Doctor spoke next, "Yes Tony I know you can but by doing things for yourself could slow down your recovery process, I would think you would want to recover as quick as possible and get back in time to help the team?" The Doctor knew this was a low blow but he wanted what was best for his patient and he knew that having someone with him the first few weeks of recovery was in the young man's best interest.
Coach Tressel also knew how to play Tony, "I really need you back for the Penn State game Tony, come on and do this for me and your teammates."
Tony let out a big breath, "Okay I'll do it for the team but I still say I can take care of myself." He then looked at the two and said, "Did my mother put you up to this?" The Doctor and coach just laughed.
Marie was thrilled that she was taking Tony back to Baltimore with her and Jethro. It was three days later that the three of them made their way to the airport, Jethro upgrading his and Marie's return tickets to first class and buying an extra seat for Tony. He thought that Tony would be more comfortable in the more spacious first class accommodations then the cramped seating in coach. Even though it was just a short flight from Ohio to Baltimore Tony had plenty of time to flirt with the flight attendants, receiving special attention when he made sure they heard about his recent surgery.
Gibb's looked at Tony as one of the flight attendants refilled his Dr. Pepper and adjusted the pillow under his neck. "What would your girlfriend say if she saw you right now?"
Tony just smiled at Gibb's saying, "What are you jealous?"
Gibb's smiled and went back to reading his copy of Boaters Monthly and wondered what the next few weeks would bring.