Chapter 25

Hi again! Sorry for the long wait :) Thanks for all the reviews and story alerts. Hope you like this chapter! And sorry if I get any medical stuff wrong, I researched a lot of stuff, but I could still be wrong, haha :) Oh and also if there's any mistakes or things that don't make sense, sorry I just got sick...again and I'm wicked tired so bear with me :)

After they were sure Tim was absolutely passed out, Gibbs and Ducky removed their hands from their grip on Tim's body. Ducky sighed sadly as he leaned back on his heels, looking at the unconscious agent with sympathy.

"What do we do now, Duck?"

"Let's get him into a more comfortable area, but first, let me bandage his hands before they get infected," Ducky said quietly

Gibbs nodded as he went into McGee's bathroom in search of some bandages, gauge, and rubbing alcohol. When he returned, he tossed the supplies to Ducky and the doctor immediately began fixing Tim up. First he wiped the wounds with the rubbing alcohol and let it air dry; afterward, he gently lifted up Tim's limp hand and began wrapping his knuckles after he'd put a large bandage on them. Once he repeated the process to the other hand, Ducky clasped his hands together and nodded t Gibbs in confirmation. Gibbs returned the gesture and he weaved his hands underneath Tim's armpits, while Ducky grabbed Tim's ankles. When they lifted him, they both looked at each other with surprised expressions; McGee was way too light, like he hadn't been eating. They would talk to him about it later. They carried him out of the kitchen and into his room, gently placing him on the bed. When the two were done, Ducky left to go check on Tony while Gibbs stayed behind and brought the covers up to Tim's shoulders. Satisfied, he pat Tim's head and left the room.

"Ah! Careful, Ducky!" Complained Tony as Ducky touched the tender spot on Tony's head.

"Sorry, lad, but I must see how bad the damages are."

"How bad?" Asked Gibbs as he stood behind the doctor, assessing his older agent.

"Well," said Ducky as he straightened up, "there's no concussion, that's for sure, but he will have a nasty egg on his head for a while, not to mention some intensive pain, too. I suggest ice and rest for you, Anthony. In the meantime, I must go check on our young Timothy." With that he turned around and waddled back to McGee's room.

"Ziva," said Gibbs, pulling an ice pack from the freezer and passed it to Tony. "Take Abby and Palmer home, we'll take care of Tony and McGee."

But Gibbs!" Whined Abby. "I want to stay with Timmy; he's so sick and so...sad."

"I know, Abs, but like I said, we got it covered. Go home. Get some sleep; you can see Tim later."

Abby nodded reluctantly as Gibbs kissed her on the head, hugging her tightly. Once Abby, Ziva, and Palmer were gone, he went back to where Ducky had disappeared to.

"What's wrong with him Duck?" Sighed Gibbs, glancing at his sleeping agent.

"Well, just as I predicted, he has a slight fever; nothing to worry about, though. I'm more concerned about how long this has been going on. Tony had mentioned that Timothy told him he was sleeping fine, but every time he woke up, he's been feeling more and more fatigued. Sleepwalking can do that to a person, and Timothy would think that he's been sleeping since he wouldn't remember his nighttime "adventures." It could be a sleeping disorder, but I can't be certain."

"So what do we do?"

"Well, I suggest we increase his therapy sessions to four times a week instead of two and that we keep a sharp eye on both his physical and mental health, as well."

"Is McGee okay, Boss?" A voice suddenly came from the doorway.

Ducky and Gibbs turned around to see Tony leaning against the doorway, holding the ice to his head while craning his neck to see his friend.

"He will be, Anthony, but for now we need to let him rest, just like you need to do."

"I'm fine, Ducky. Tim's more important than me for once," cracked Tony as he walked further into the bedroom.

"You must rest, Anthony! Just because you think your injury is a minor bump, doesn't mean you don't need to take care of yourself. Timothy is in good hands, we'll watch over him this time."

Tony was about to argue, but as soon as he got an icy glare from Gibbs, he closed his mouth and grudgingly turned around, leaving the room.

"He means well, Jethro."

"I know. But he needs to take care of himself also; I think he's had his fair share of hospital stays and I don't need another agent sick."

Duck grinned at his younger friend and turned back to Tim.

"Lets let the young man rest, shall we?"

Gibbs nodded once in agreement as he and Ducky left the room silently. When they got to the kitchen, Ducky went to go make tea while Gibbs made his way to the living room. What he'd expected was to see Tony snoring loudly on the uncomfortable couch, but instead he was sitting up and staring into space, uncertainty and distress on his features.

"Tim's going to be okay, DiNozzo," said Gibbs softly.

Tony didn't move though, obviously ignoring the statement from his Boss. After a few moments, though, he spoke in a quiet voice.

"It's my fault...again."

"You're saying that you caused him to sleepwalk?"

"Yes...no...I don't know, maybe! I mean, I was responsible for him, I was supposed to be watching him and I fell asleep. I could have prevented him from laving the house; I could have prevented from having a panic attack, and I could have prevented this stupid head injury, but I didn't, because I was careless and lazy."

"Gibbs sighed frustratingly as he studied Tony's face.

"I'm not going to tell you what you did or didn't do was careless or wrong, but I'm pretty sure Tim would forgive you. It's been a rough week...for all of us; the last thing Tim needs-or wants- is to be holding a grudge on someone who's trying to help him."

Tony hesitated then he looked at Gibbs. He didn't nod, but he let out a breath and cleared his throat.

"Get some sleep, DiNozzo, don't worry about McGee," Gibbs said patting Tony's back.

"Okay, Boss," sighed Tony as he laid back on the pillows and covered himself with the blanket from the back of the couch.

"Goodnight, Tony."

"Night, Boss," Tony whispered. In a couple minutes, Tony's breathing evened out and Gibbs knew that he was finally asleep. He smirked as he shut off the lights and left the room, and moving into the kitchen.

"That took awhile; is Anthony alright?"

Gibbs sighed as he sat down and Ducky passed him a cup of tea.

"He blames himself," Gibbs said simply.

Ducky shook his head and exhaled heavily. "This has not been a very good month for the team; I could imagine that Anthony must feel the stress and responsibility weighing on him."

"On all of us," Gibbs added, taking a sip of tea. "But I promised Tim that everything will go back to normal and I intend to keep that promise...no matter what."

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1:45pm

Tim groaned slightly as he turned onto his right side. Figuring out that he was facing the window since the light was shining through his eyelids, McGee groaned again, returning to laying on his back. Sighing, he decided that he was probably not going to be able to fall back asleep, so getting up was probably the best idea. Yawning loudly, he opened his eyes and looked around the room sleepily. Everything, as he expected, seemed to be in place; what he didn't expect, though, was for Ducky to show up at his bedroom door.

"Timothy, my boy, you're awake!" Ducky exclaimed. "You're quite some sleeper, I must say."

"Ducky? W-what are you doing here?" Rasped Tim as he rubbed his eyes, only then noticing the bandages on his hands curiously.

Ducky just looked at him, watching Tim inspecting his injuries.

"It's a long story, Timothy."

Tim looked up at him with wide and fearful eyes, thinking the worse.

"What happened, Ducky?" Whispered Tim as he began to get out of bed.

"Timothy, you must calm down!" Ducky said moving forward and pushing Tim back onto the pillows. "We'll explain everything in a moment."

Tim frowned and mouthed the word 'we' quietly. What could Ducky possibly mean by that?

"Wait...is Tony here? He's the one who's supposed to tell me if I...if I did anything."

Ducky pursed his lips and looked out the door to where Tony was sleeping on the couch.

"Yes, DiNozzo is here, but he's resting right now."

Tim let out a breath and nodded. "So what about these?" Said Tim referring to his hands.

"That's part of the story," said Gibbs as he came into the room.

"Boss? You're here, too? Boy, I must have done something really bad for you to come here." Tim said as he threw off the covers and turned to have his feet hanging off the side of the bed.

Ducky and Gibbs exchanged looks, which Tim didn't miss but decided to ignore. There was a couple moment s of silence, before Ducky decided to break it with the question he'd been itching to ask Tim since he and Gibbs picked him up last night.

"Timothy, I've been meaning to ask: are you eating alright?"

"Huh?"

"Have you been eating, Timothy?"

McGee's face turned stone-like and his body tensing as he looked down at his feet, trying to avoid both Ducky's and Gibbs' scrutinizing eyes.

"Tim," said Gibbs coming closer to the bed.

"No...I haven't."

"Why, not Timothy?" Whispered Ducky.

Tim looked up with uncertainty showing greatly on his features. "Every- every time I try to, I just- I end up feeling nauseous and throwing it all up."

"Why didn't you say anything, Tim?" Gibbs asked.

Tim shrugged, "I didn't think it was important."

"Of course it's important, Timothy, you haven't been eating for days!" Yelled Ducky.

"I-I'm sorry, I just- I haven't been feeling myself for a while."

Ducky blinked and sighed sadly, "It's okay, lad, I know you've been under a lot of stress lately."

Tim inhaled and looked from Ducky to Gibbs with a sad expression.

"I-I'm gonna go take a shower," Tim said quietly as he stood up and pushed past Gibbs and the doctor.

"Timothy-" but before he could say anything else, the bathroom door was shut. Ducky shook his head and turned back to face Gibbs. Before either of them could say anything, a voice came from behind them.

"Hey," yawned Tony, "I swear I just heard McGeek's voices; where is he?"

Gibbs jerked his head towards the bathroom and said simply, "shower."

"Oh...has he..um...asked about...you know last night?"

"Well, I told Jethro that Tim may not remember what happened, but-"

"Did he?"

"No, unfortunately not, Anthony."

Tony exhaled dejectedly and nodded.

"But it seems to me that you were supposed to inform him about what he's been doing to make himself feel worn-out all the time."

"Yeah, well, I don't know if he'd want to hear it from me; I wasn't much help to the situation."

"He trusts you, Anthony, I think he'd listen to the man who's like a brother to him than anyone else."

"You sure about that?" Grinned Tony. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't give up the opportunity to have Abby come over and tell him."

Ducky chuckled and nodded his head slightly. "That is true," he said, then he looked towards the bathroom door and sighed.

"Why don't we give Timothy some privacy."

Tony unwillingly agreed while he left the room, followed by Gibbs and Ducky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N~~~~~~~~~~~~~C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~S~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the bathroom, Tim had the shower running, but he hadn't gotten in yet. He was standing by the door, eavesdropping on the conversation happening outside the bathroom. Something did happen last night and it wasn't good by the way Tony had said 'did he ask about last night' had Tim thinking that whatever he'd done had affected the team...badly.

McGee leaned on the door and slid to the ground slowly. Why did it have to be this way? He was getting better-great even- then everything had to go down the drain...again.

"Let's give Timothy some privacy." He heard Ducky say after a couple seconds of silence. When he heard the three left, finally, Tim let the dam break, tears falling out onto the floor. Why, in the fricken world, did this HAVE to happen to me? I'm the computer geek, not someone like Tony that had twenty-five two sided pages of enemies. I always seem to luck out and never get hurt, but this is worse than everything that happened to Tony put together.

Tim sniffed as he wiped his eyes, and deciding that he was wasting water, he got up, stumbling to the shower, forgetting that he was still fully clothed. He tripped over the tub wall and fell into the running shower, slamming into the back wall. Luckily, his hands stopped his partially injured head from smacking against the hard surface, but sacrificed his left wrist and he heard, and felt, it snap. Whimpering in pain, Tim slowly dropped into the filling tub, not even caring if he was soaked to the skin. He just sat in the shower, staring into space as he let the water drown out everything around him.

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2:55pm

He's been in there awhile, Jethro," said Ducky, glancing into Tim's room for the tenth time.

Gibbs looked up from the newspaper he'd been reading and looked at Ducky then stealing a look into Tim's room. Ducky was right, it's been forty-five minutes and the shower was still on and showing no signs of stopping. Tony had left some time ago to get some lunch and it was just him, Duck and McGee.

"I'll go check on him," Gibbs said, setting the paper down and getting up and walking into Tim's room.

"McGee!" Gibbs yelled, pounding on the door. Nothing. Only the sound of the constantly running water filled the room.

"Tim, open up!"

Silence.

Gibbs' patience ran out and he kicked the wooden door open, causing it to swing on it's hinges.

"McGee," he said. He looked at the tub and his heart broke with what he saw. Tim was huddled in the tub, shivering violently as the freezing water sprayed onto him, but Tim seemed not to notice...or care. His face was paler that usual and his expression was unreadable, even for Gibbs.

"Tim?" Gibbs whispered as he moved closer to the unresponsive man. When he did, Gibbs noticed that his agent's left wrist was purple and swollen, trembling uncontrollably. It had to be broken or at least sprained.

"McGee."

Finally, Tim shifted his gaze towards Gibbs slowly, without moving his head, and stared lazily at the senior agent. Without a word, Tim's eyes returned to face forward once again. Gibbs frowned and moved to the tub, shutting off the water and squatting down to get a better look at his junior agent.

"Tim, look at me," Gibbs said softly, but was ignored. This made Gibbs wonder that whatever had happened in the past half hour, Tim might have hit his head, too. Gibbs reached out and gently grabbed Tim's chin, turning his face towards him.

"Tim, what happened?" He asked.

At first, McGee didn't say anything but then he replied simply, "I tripped."

Gibbs sighed and pursed his lips, "Did you hit your head?"

Tim shook his head slowly and Gibbs exhaled in relief as he let McGee go.

"Can you get up?"

Tim shrugged absentmindedly as he closed his eyes and shivered again. He was freezing, but he didn't feel up to moving on his own.

"Duck!" He shouted out the door.

"Yes, Jethro, is Tim- oh dear," he said once he saw the condition of the young agent.

"Good god, Timothy, are you trying to get yourself sick?"

They both expected Tim not to answer the somewhat rhetorical question, but the response was shocking.

"Yes," Tim croaked.

"What?" Gibbs and Ducky replied in unison.

"I have to get sick, it's the only way," Tim said, making it clear to Gibbs that he heard correct.

"Why?"

Tim inhaled and spoke quietly in a slightly monotone voice, "The last time I was sick, I couldn't think clearly and if I couldn't think clearly, I wouldn't be able to hear the voices in my head and the nightmares would go away. I just want them to go away, Boss," Tim finished in a broken whisper. The two older gentlemen looked at Tim sadly, and right now they had to get him out of the water and removed the wet clothes.

"What about his wrist, Duck? Does he need a hospital?" Gibbs glanced at Tim's expression and he became even more concerned when the word 'hospital' didn't faze him.

"What about- oh my, it seems to me like it's broken, but it's something I can't do here. The hospital will have to look at it."

"I'll bring him," Gibbs stated.

"Okay, but before he catches pneumonia, he needs dry clothes."

Gibbs agreed and in five minutes, they had Tim out of the bathroom and into new sweats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You okay...Tim?" Gibbs asked on the silent car ride to Bethesda. Tim was staring out his window listlessly, his face still pale and his hair still damp, and of course, his swollen wrist still shaking in pain. Occasionally, violent tremors would start up in Tim's body and his teeth chattering would be loud enough to hear.

"A-A l-l-little...I-I guess I j-just w-w-went out of i-it for a s-sec," shuddered Tim as he coughed.

Gibbs watched his agent, hating that this was happening to him, that all of this was happening to the most caring and innocent kid. As he pulled up to a red light, Gibbs reached to the backseat and grabbed a spare blanket and gave it to McGee.

"Thanks," Tim whispered, carefully taking it in his good hand and pulled it up over his shoulders and sneezed. In seconds, McGee's eyes closed and he fell asleep.

Gibbs smirked as he pressed on the gas when the light turned green. Once he pulled up at the hospital entrance, he shut off the engine and looked at Tim. He'd suddenly gotten paler and his breathing was uneven and labored.

Gibbs frowned as he put his hand on Tim shoulder, shaking it gently. "Tim, wake up." But as soon as he touched McGee, he could feel the shivers vibrate through his hand.

"Dammit," Gibbs cursed. Tim really needed to get inside, but he didn't want to wake the poor kid. So instead, he decided to do what he did best: lie. He quickly got out of the car and ran inside.

"I need some help, my son is really sick and he's not waking up!"

Immediately, the room went into action, and a flurry of nurses ran out to the car with a gurney to where Tim was. They dragged him out an gently placed him on the stretcher. In two minutes, McGee had disappeared behind the double doors, leaving Gibbs standing alone in the waiting room. Gibbs sighed and took out his phone, calling Ducky to inform him what was going on. Afterward, Gibbs sat down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, having to do the one thing he hated most: waiting. It definitely was not one of his strong suits.

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4:10pm

"Hey, Ducky, I got the- what's wrong?" Tony's smile fell when he noticed the grim look on the doctor's face. "Where's Tim...and Gibbs?"

"I'm afraid that Timothy had a small accident," replied Ducky.

"What do you mean?"

"It seems to be that he tripped and broke his wrist. He may also have caught a cold since we found him sitting in the running shower for nearly an hour."

Tony cursed as he ran his hand through his hair and placed the food down on the table.

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"I can't be sure at the moment, Jethro just called me a moment ago informing me that Timothy was just being brought into the emergency room. But I wouldn't worry, Anthony, the worse thing that could happen is for Timothy to get pneumonia."

"Oh...okay. Just- just let me know when Gibbs calls back; I'm going to go take a nap," Tony said quietly as he headed for the living room.

"Tony," Ducky said.

DiNozzo turned around and looked at the older man.

"He'll be okay."

"Yeah...I know," Tony said giving Ducky a small smile.

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5:30pm

"Anyone here for Timothy McGee?"

Gibbs looked up from his gaze at the floor to see a doctor standing by the nurses station.

"Here," he said standing up.

The doctor walked over to him and smiled.

"And your relation to Mr. McGee is-"

"He's my son."

The doctor hesitated but nodded. "Well, then, Tim had a nasty but clean break in both his left radius and ulna so he's going to be needing a cast for a while. He also caught a slight cold, but it's nothing dangerous. I think he'll be able to go home within a couple hours."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"If you'd like to see him, he's in room 312. I'll have a nurse come in with the discharge papers later."

Gibbs nodded and he walked to McGee's room. When he got there, he quirked a smile at the peacefully sleeping agent. He was still a bit pale and his breathing was still scratchy, but at least he looked a lot better than before. A sling bound his left cast covered arm to his body, and it had Gibbs have pity on the kid; it was going to be tough for Tim to do anything since he was left-handed.

Gibbs decided that since Tim would probably be sleeping for a while, he'd go to the cafeteria and grab some crappy coffee and fill Ducky in on Tim's condition. Satisfied that Tim would be alright for a couple of minutes, Gibbs turned on his heels and made his way to his awaiting coffee. When Gibbs returned, with his steaming coffee in hand, Tim was still resting, as he expected. He took the liberty of grabbing a chair and bringing it up to Tim's bed. Now all he had to do was wait, but this time he had his coffee to keep him occupied.

About an hour later, Tim, finally, showed signs of waking up. Gibbs threw away his empty coffee cup and sat back in the chair, ready for the agent's awakening. Tim's forehead creased in confusion as his head rolled from right to left on the pillow, now facing Gibbs. He groaned slightly, causing himself to break out into a coughing fit. At last, when he was done coughing, Tim sniffed, opening his eyes, and looked around blearily. When the green eyes landed on Gibbs, he coughed again and sniffed, trying to clear his stuffy nose.

"Boss?" He questioned in a congested voice.

"Yeah, it's me, Tim."

"I'm in the-"

"Yep."

"Great."

Gibbs laughed at Tim's reaction. "Look on the bright side."

"What bright side?" Groaned Tim, rolling his eyes.

"You're not staying overnight."

"Really?" Tim smiled.

Gibbs smirked and nodded as Tim sat up, but winced in pain when he shifted his arm.

"Easy, Tim. You broke your wrist."

"That explains the cast...and pain," stated Tim, slowly sitting up.

"So. You ready to go?"

Tim looked up, his face brightening. "Now?"

Gibbs chuckled and Tim grinned. He threw the covers off and brought his leg over the bed. He, then, noticed that he was still in his sweats and was grateful he didn't have to be wearing another gown.

"I'll get your discharge papers," said Gibbs, knowing that Tim was eager to get out of the building and back home. He didn't blame him, he knew the feeling.

Tim nodded as he put his shoes on and waited anxiously for Gibbs to return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NCIS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8:35pm

By the time they got back to Tim's apartment, he was instantly drained of all the excited energy and deteriorated. He sneezed a number of times and his nose was drippy and stuffed up. Now he regretted getting himself sick; he couldn't even focus on the stairs that he and Gibbs were walking up to get to his apartment and he ended up stumbling almost landing on his injured arm before Gibbs caught him.

"Careful, Tim."

"S-sorry, Boss...really t-tired all of a sudden."

When they finally got into the apartment, Gibbs led Tim to his room and set him down on the bed.

"Don't fall asleep, let me get your meds first," sternly Gibbs.

"Mhmm," mumbled Tim sleepily.

"I mean it, McGee."

Tim nodded sluggishly as Gibbs left the room, heading into the kitchen.

"Ah, Jethro, you're back. How is our young Timothy?"

"Good, besides the sneezing and coughing."

"I take it that's why you're getting him some NyQuil for him right now?"

"Yep...Where's DiNozzo?"

"Resting. He's concerned about Timothy...even if he won't say it."

"We all are, Duck, but my gut is saying he'll get better soon."

"Good, Jethro, because it's not the same at NCIS without out him."

"I know, Duck, I know."

Gibbs grabbed the cup of water and the medicine and walked back to Tim's room. When he did, he smirked at the position Tim was in. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes were closed, head bowed and soft snores were coming out of his partially closed. Gibbs shook his head as he went up to McGee and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, McGee gasped, jerking awake.

"Whoa, Tim it's just me."

"Oh, hey Boss."

"I told you not to fall asleep," Gibbs said in a joking manner.

"Sorry," Tim smiled sheepishly.

Gibbs rolled his eyes as he passed Tim the medicine. After, Tim gulped the water down and got under the covers, yawning.

"Thanks, Boss...for everything. I don't know if I'd be able to get through this whole situation without you...or the team."

"You're welcome, Tim. Now get some sleep, okay?"

"On it, Boss," McGee said sleepily and closed his eyes, quickly drifting off into a deep slumber.

Gibbs watched Tim close his eyes and he smirked as he turned off the light.

"Night, Tim."

A little fatherly love in this chapter. Next chapter coming soon :)