Bethesda Hospital
Isolation ICU
Brad looked over at his patient, he knew that Tony wouldn't do well in this quiet of a setting, it just wasn't Tony. Regular ICU was too noisy though and Tony would have too many distractions to his recovery.
He knew he had to do something, he felt that Tony might find a way to leave, the case had brought out the man's stubborn side, the side of this particular patient he hadn't wanted to see so soon.
He looked over at the nurse who had just gotten their patient settled again, he seemed to be more restless than usual, " Since Tony's fever is starting to come down, let's move him to the regular ICU. Keep the sedative going at low dose, and let's see how he does, the antibiotics should be kicking in full force now, evidenced by the reduction in his fever. This place is too quiet for him."
"You know how Tony is Dr Pitt, he will find a way to be a distraction." she smiled as she started making arrangements,
Brad just shook his head, worried that his patient wouldn't comply once he really started feeling better, especially since his friends were so busy with this case. He would have to do his medical best to assist Tony in staying relaxed and focused on his health.
NCIS
48 Hours later
McGee was looking at phone records on Jessica Lowe's cell and Ziva was researching all recent activities in regard to Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Case. The FBI and CIA were now involved, attempting to find Raheem. he was deadly and they would probably have to use deadly force to take him out, he was now the utmost priority.
"Boss, I think I have something." McGee called out from his desk.
Gibbs looked up from his desk seeing that McGee was just looking at him with a distant look,"You want me to beg McGee? Spill it!" he spat out, his voice tired and gruff, it had been a long four days, and they still were no closer to the terrorist than they had been on day one.
"I may have found something on his cellphone, well, actually Jessica's phone. It's a number to an address that is listed as a vacant house, according to public records, it's actually an abandoned house, the property has been deserted for over two years." McGee was talking as he placed the information on the large screen.
"Can you pull the house up on satellite view?" Ziva asked as she attempted it with her own computer but knew Tim's MIT degree would get it quicker.
"Here we go." he hit a view buttons and an older house surrounded by trees and shrubs popped up, it was an old satellite picture, no cars in the driveway, no activity on the screen but they all knew these pictures could be a year or so old.
"Location?" Gibbs asked as he stood.
"Fairfax." McGee replied as he hit a few more buttons on his computer.
Gibbs threw the keys to McGee, "Gear up!" as he started heading up the stairs. "We might need some back up on this one." he spoke as he started taking two steps at a time up to Jenny's office.
Ziva and Tim grabbed their gear, they would meet their boss at the car.
Bethesda Hospital
ICU
Tony looked around at the cubicles that surrounded him, alone in his bed, watched like he was a prisoner, or at least that is how he felt. He stretched out, his body sore, muscles tight, but at least his fever was down to a manageable level, mostly rearing its ugly head at night. The breathing treatments were basically just part of his daily routine now.
The word boredom had taken on a new meaning, he was beyond bored. The nurses had stopped giving him straws, after several spit wads had hit them in the face, accidentally of course, and he no longer could have paper to write on, his basketball skills had driven them all mad.
They would tire of him soon enough, then he would get his own room, a room where the nurses didn't watch him as closely. Where the leash wasn't as tight, but if his memory served him correctly, Brad had promised him seven days at the least in ICU. So what? He had three more days before he would be released? Maybe he could get out on good behavior or better, bad behavior.
He hadn't heard from the team. so that meant they were still looking for Raheem, a man with Sarin, a man that could, would, be very deadly if allowed to carry out his plan. He felt useless, thinking maybe he could make a difference in the case.
Tony watched as Dr Pitt walked up to the nurse's station, the snitches were no doubt telling the tall man about his recent escapades, well, it wasn't his fault that they had accidentally left a magazine in his room, and it wasn't his fault that he had bombarded the respiratory therapist with paper wads, he was tired of being stuck after all, blood gases hurt, like hell.
He watched as Dr Pitt, well Brad, shook his head, he was sure he was giving them his apologies for such a disruptive patient, and that he would surely move him to a private room after this attempt of creating problems.
Brad walked to his door and smiled,"Won't work Tony. I just ordered physical therapy to start working with you, that should be a whole lot of fun and it will wear you out a little, so you don't have all that extra energy to torment my staff."
"That's not fair Brad, You owe me one! You know the broken leg thingy that ended my professional career in basketball and football." he shouted as high as his raspy voice would allow, thinking he could use the broken leg thing to his advantage.
"I think it's even now Tony!" he heard the man grumble as he walked away.
"Damn!"Brad was getting cold. He would have to come up with something different.
I guess that maybe I shouldn't have attacked the therapist with my makeshift balls, he thought to himself, "Oh well, lesson learned." he leaned back in the bed, noting the call light button on the side rails, it was bright red and so inviting to touch. Time to aggravate the nurses again, get them mad enough and they would beg for Brad to take him away. He smiled to himself and hit the call light, this was going to be a piece of cake.
Fairfax, Virginia
Abandoned House
Gibbs pulled up in front of the house, the SWAT team had already arrived by the time they had arrived, the house was empty,
Fornell walked up to Gibbs, he looked exhausted, "He was here but he's gone. Evidently, he figured that we might find this property and he fled."
"How long would you estimate?" Gibbs asked, as he walked towards the run down house, the paint was peeling, windows broken and boarded up with old wooden planks, the yard was overgrown with weeds and tall grass.
"I honestly don't think he was here very long, given the condition of the place, it's really run down. If I had to take a guess, I would assume this is where the wife stored the Sarin, to keep it safe until they needed it." Fornell explained as he looked off into the distance thinking how deadly this man was and wondering now if they would be able to stop the mad man.
Gibbs gave Fornell a worried look, he knew it was just a matter of choosing his location now, the man, the terrorist was still in control.
"Now it's just a matter of time." Fornell finally spoke, breaking the silence, as he started to walk away, "I just hope we can find him before it's too late."
"Me too. " his voice barely audible as he opened the door to the house, hoping that the man left a clue.
As he walked in the door he was assaulted by the smells of moth balls and mildew, the floors underneath his feet creaked, the boards rotted with time and neglect, he slowly made his way through the house, careful as to not trip a wire, thinking that the man had possibly rigged the house with explosives, years of experience told him to watch, to be careful.
Nothing was working, the electrical power had been shut off for a while, evidenced by the rotted food in the fridge and the heat in the vacant rooms, sweat poured off his skin. All he could think was that he was missing something.
Ziva, McGee, and the FBI team, under Fornell's direction, were checking out the outer perimeter of the building, he hoped they found something, they needed a clue.
He started opening closets, looking inside for a clue, any clue. He needed to think like DiNozzo, think like a cop, he started pulling things out, ripping up the carpet in the floors.
"Okay Tony, I'm missing something here, if I wanted to use this dump as a hiding place, then where the hell would I hide what needed to be hid? No electricity, no water and no basement." he stopped and stood in the hallway, suddenly remembering a case, the missing bride, Tony had found the opening to the room in the house. He went to what he believed to be the master bedroom and opened the closet door. and hit the floor, it felt hollow, but he was informed no basement, possible a secret room? "Good work Tony." he started ripping up the carpet, the dust made him close his eyes, it was thick.
He spotted what appeared to be a handle in the back of the closet, taking out his flashlight he showed the light on the metal piece and pulled it up, and there it was, a small room, hidden underneath the bedroom floor.
He raised his arm and spoke into the radio," I've got something." he heard the team respond and he flashed his light into the opening, and walked down the small flight of stairs, a soft sound, a beeping noise was all that he heard, his mind shifting into gear, he might have just set off something by entering the room.
His light hit several boxes, stacked at the foot of the stairs, he walked around them, hoping that he would find something useful, then he spotted several computers and the one thing he didn't want to find, a timer hooked to the boxes, this was not good, he had probably set it when he entered, the timer read 15 seconds.
He immediately notified the team, grabbed the computers and a few other items sitting on the desk, hoping something would give them a clue, and ran like hell out of the house, the explosion following seconds later, their bodies thrown to the ground as the house went up in a raging inferno.
Bethesda Hospital
The physical therapist had reluctantly agreed to allowing Tony to go for a short walk, but the staff had insisted that he could do it and told him to call if he needed a wheelchair to get him back, seemed as if they were happy to get rid of their restless, creative patient.
Tony held onto the wall as he took tentative steps. Who would have known that a short stay in ICU could weaken a human so much, a few more days here and he would be totally helpless, not good.
"It's time to head back to your room, the nurses need to hook you back up to your IV's, think you can make it?" the taller, more muscular man asked as he assisted Tony in turning around.
"I was thinking we could jog back." he laughed, as he almost slipped to the floor, his body showing him how weak it was, how much he actually needed to be here.
"Don't think so Tony." he smiled as he tightened his grip around the weaker man's waist and turned him around to head back to ICU.
A television was playing in the nurse's lounge as he walked by, Tony stopped, a man threatening to jump off a building, his building, Bethesda Hospital. "Wait!" he told the therapist, who seemed now to be in a hurry to get to his next patient.
ZNN was covering the scene, people watching down below, a crowd of patients and visitors gathering around to see the man on top of the building.
"We get one of those at least once a month, they will talk him down, they always do." the therapist laughed, seeming rather flippant about the whole man on a roof wanting to jump off scenario.
Suddenly a close up was on the man, the face familiar to Tony, the case file, it was Raheem, the terrorist had chosen his target.
TBC...At least I got him out of ICU. Talk to me if you like...Should Tony get involved???