Tony had been downstairs, getting her tea. Her frightened yells chilled him to the bone, almost causing him to drop the tea cup.
"Ziva! Sweetie, what is it? Is everything ok?" He practically skidded to a stop as he ran into the bathroom. The first thing he saw was the anguish on Ziva's face. Then he saw the blood on her hands.
Chapter Twenty-nine: "Complications"
Walter Reed
Gibbs sat in the waiting room, watching Tony pace. Tony had called him right away, as he and Ziva were driving to the hospital. He didn't want to alarm the others until they had more information.
Tony finally sat down, burying his head in his hands. He was devastated. "Everything had been going so well. What could have happened?"
Gibbs moved over to the chair next to Tony and put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'm sure Ziver will be fine, Tony. You can't think of anything but that, ok?"
Tony's shoulders were hunched. "And the baby?" He looked at Gibbs, his eyes filled with tears. "What about the baby, Boss? How can I…" He stopped, suddenly remembering that Gibbs had lost his wife and daughter. Although it had not been in childbirth, it was still a loss of the greatest loves of his life, a loss that would never fade, a loss whose hurt would never diminish.
"Mr. DiNozzo?" A nurse came out through the automatic doors. "Would you come with me please?" Tony and Gibbs both stood. Tony suddenly hugged Gibbs, wanting reassurance, hope, anything.
"I'll be right here, Tony." Gibbs whispered, and gently pushed him toward the door.
Tony followed the nurse, his legs leaden. He thought at any moment he might pass out, but he knew he needed to be strong for Ziva, to be strong in case…
Dr. Iredale stepped out of a room. "Hi Tony." She looked tired. Well, it was close to midnight.
"Let's go talk." She began, leading him toward yet another section of seating.
"Is Ziva ok?" He blurted out.
"Yes, Ziva is resting right now. Come, sit down and I will explain everything."
Tony reluctantly followed the doctor.
"Ok, we do have a situation here, but I'm confident we can handle it. Ziva had what is called a partial abruption. What that means is that a part of the placenta has pulled away from the lining of her uterus, which is what caused the bleeding. Fortunately, it was partial and not a complete abruption. That would have been...well, let's just be glad it was a partial."
"And the baby?" Tony could barely hear his voice.
"We are monitoring both the baby and Ziva. The bleeding has stopped and Ziva did not need a transfusion, so that is good news. We will keep Ziva here for a few days to monitor. If all is well then, she can be discharged to home, but she will need to be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. We may also have to consider taking the baby early."
She held up her hand as she saw the fear in Tony's eyes. "Nothing we need to consider right now if things remain as they are. She is at thirty-two weeks. Babies can do very well at that stage; however I would like Ziva to continue this pregnancy as long as she can." She looked at him kindly. "Come on, Tony. Let's go see Ziva. I know you, and you won't feel any better until you see her."
Tony nodded silently, barely processing anything she had said to him. She took him down the hall, and opened the door. Tony entered quietly, not wanting to wake Ziva in case she was sleeping.
"We sedated her, so she may be asleep." Dr. Iredale warned him. "Don't worry if she seems groggy. It's the medication." Tony looked at the doctor.
"Thanks, Doc. Thanks for…everything." Tony couldn't quite make his mouth work.
She nodded sympathetically and pushed him into the room.
The room was dark, although not pitch black. He could see the bed and Ziva in it. Slowly, he walked over to where she lay, sleeping.
Gently, he moved a strand of hair that had fallen across her cheek. He looked around, located a chair and pulled it up by her bedside.
Taking her hand in his, he laid it gently on her abdomen, wanting to feel their baby. Tony felt tears slowly sliding down, dripping onto the bed covers. "Oh, Ziva. Please be better…I need you to be with me."
He suddenly shivered and felt fear. This was reminding him too much of their recent close call in the elevator. He felt like the walls were closing in on him, ready to crush him at a moment's notice.
He realized that he was "this close" to a full blown panic attack. Not wanting to freak out and wake up Ziva and really scare her; he decided he better go back and give a report to Gibbs. He stood up and kissed her on the lips. "I love you, Ziva DiNozzo."
He walked back down the hall and went back out into the waiting room. Gibbs stood as soon as he came back, startled and worried to see that he had been crying.
"Right now, she's ok; they're both ok. Something called a partial abruption or something like that. Anyway, Ziva is staying here for a few days. If things return to normal, she can go home, but she has to stay in bed until the baby is born."
Tony surprised himself, realizing he had absorbed more of what the doctor told him than he originally had thought.
Gibbs had a grip on Tony's arm, listening closely as Tony explained what had happened, and what was going to happen. He started to ask "And if things don't return to normal?" but decided Tony had had enough for the night.
Gibbs rubbed his face, feeling the bristles that would need to be shaved off in the morning. "Ok. Tony, you need to be available to Ziva, so right now you are both on leave. I'll start the paperwork for Ziva's maternity leave."
Tony looked confused. "I can't stay out that long, Boss."
Gibbs smiled tiredly. "I know, Tony. Your leave is for while Ziva is in the hospital and then getting her settled at home. I don't know, you may have to set up someone to come in and help her during the day. You can't do that if you are at work."
That caught Tony by surprise. He hadn't thought of anything past this very moment. He nodded at Gibbs. "Ok, look; I better get back. Ziva's sleeping right now, but I want to be there when she wakes up."
"Tony," Gibbs began. "What do you want me to tell the team? I mean, how much information do you want out there?"
Tony thought about it. "Well, as far as I'm concerned you can tell them everything. Well, maybe Abby might freak out if she knew the whole thing." Tony shrugged. "Whatever you think is best."
Gibbs squeezed his arm. "Ok, Tony. Give me a call tomorrow when you get a chance."
"Sure thing, Boss." Tony answered. He left Gibbs and returned to Ziva's room. As he entered, she started stirring.
"Hey, Ziva. Hey, sshh, sshh. Everything is going to be ok." Ziva had woken with a start, not remembering where she was. She looked around, panicked, until she saw Tony.
He sat back in the chair, and stroked her hair, whispering words of love and support until Ziva's eyes got heavy, and she drifted back off to sleep.
SILVER SPRING, MD
By prior arrangement, Tim and Abby ended up at his place that night. They were not officially living together, but were together more often than not. Not wanting to place any added stress on each other, they each "gave" each other a drawer and a space in the closet that was theirs to use.
"That was really nice." Abby yawned. "Can you believe that about Jimmy and Breena? They are so lucky." Once again, Tim felt Abby was leaving things unsaid. He took her hand and led her over to the sofa.
"Yeah, that was a nice bit of news. I thought they might wait a bit, before, you know, doing the baby thing." Tim kept his voice casual, nonchalant.
Abby's eyes lit up. "Hmmm! Well, sometimes babies have their own timetables. Personally, I expected them to get pregnant on their honeymoon
Tim considered that. "Really?" He did the math. "Well actually, since they delayed their trip, they probably did get pregnant on their honeymoon!"
Abby giggled, and snuggled down next to Tim. "Uh, Abby, you know, we haven't really talked about…you know…us." Abby sat up, giving Tim her full attention. "No, I guess we haven't, since the accident." Abby had taken to referring to the attack on NCIS as "the accident."
"That's just it, Abby. We had just started going out again, testing the waters. Then all…this happened." Abby knew Tim was referring to his own injuries more than the others.
"Yet, we are still together, still seeing each other, still doing things together…" Abby, ever the optimist failed to see what the problem was.
"But what are we, Abby? Is this all we are ever going to be able to be? Is this enough for you? Is it even fair…?" Abby placed her hand over Tim's mouth. "I know where you are going with this, Tim." She replied solemnly. "I can only answer for myself. Is this enough for me? Yes. Is it fair to you? No. Do I want this to end? No." She bit her lip. "Do you want this to end?" She lowered her lashes, looking everywhere but at Tim's face.
If Tim ever had any doubts about how much he loved this woman, they all evaporated at that moment. He placed his hands on her face, forcing her to look at him.
"Abby, you are the most amazing woman I have ever known. I love you more than I can bear at times, and it's because I love you so much that I want you to be happy, to have the most incredible life you can and so richly deserve. I hope that life will be with me, but if it's not, I have to be the brave one. I can't be selfish in this Abby. I won't do it."
"Are you happy right now, Tim?" Abby asked. Tim looked startled.
"Well, yes I am. Happier than I would have ever thought possible a few months ago."
"Then let's just enjoy it, enjoy each other. What comes, comes. What doesn't, doesn't."
"Even if it means no babies?" There, it was out. Abby frowned. "Tim, we've never talked about kids before. Is this all because of Jimmy and Breena?"
Tim sat silent, thinking. "And Tony and Ziva. It just seems like everyone's life is taking on its own natural progression. Except ours."
"Do you want kids, Timmy?" Abby had a life grip on his hands. Tim looked down at them, realizing he never wanted to her to let go. He looked up at her.
"You know, Abby. I think I might. I don't know if it can happen or not. And of'course, if you don't, then this conversation is moot, but…" Abby crushed her lips to Tim's, holding him as if he might be torn away from her.
"Timothy McGee, if we can't have our own, we can adopt. If we can't adopt then we will be the greatest Aunt and Uncle that ever lived! But don't ever think you are going to do this without me!" Tim laughed. "There's my Abby, you were scaring me there for a minute." He hugged her tightly.
"Alright, well we have some things to think about. Let's get some sleep and talk some more tomorrow." He kissed her deeply.
"Or maybe you just want to get started on that baby, hmmm?" Abby teased him.
NCIS
Gibbs sat as his desk, exhausted. He tried to get back to sleep once he returned to his home, but it eluded him. After two hours of tossing and turning, he gave up the fight and got up. By the time he got in to the office, he had already consumed a pot of coffee.
"Good morning, Boss! Morning, Gibbs!" Tim and Abby arrived together. Tim wheeled over to his desk and put his stuff down. He looked up at Abby, and frowned. He looked over at Gibbs.
A chill went through him. "Something had happened, something…not good." Tim suddenly realized Tony was not in, nor was Ziva. Warily, he wheeled himself out from behind his desk.
"Boss?" He asked tentatively. "Everything had been falling into place…"
Gibbs looked at them, his eyes red and bleary from lack of sleep.
"Oh, my God. It's Ziva." Abby whispered.
Gibbs held up his hand, not wanting Abby to go ballistic. "Tony called me last night. Ziva is in the hospital…" He paused at Abby's sudden intake of air. "She's ok, but they had a scare. I'm not even going to try to tell you what is was that happened."
Gibbs sighed. "Some long medical term. The bottom line is, Ziva is now out on maternity leave. She has to remain on bed rest until the baby is born."
"So the baby is ok?" Abby looked scared.
"From what Tony said, yes. I really can't tell you more. Tony will be out until Ziva is sent home, and he gets her settled in."
Tim and Abby looked at each other. "Don't cry, Abby. I'm sure they'll be just fine. You know they have a great doctor. You see her yourself."
Gibbs head whipped up at that. "Abby is going to a baby doctor?" He glanced from Abby to Tim.
Tim blushed and started to stammer. Abby just looked at him, exasperated. "Gibbs! These doctors don't just do baby things. They see the rest of us too." She shook her head. Then she smiled slyly.
"Although, I may just change my status if I get the chance." She winked at Tim. He smiled back, not sure if she was just trying to get to Gibbs, or if she was continuing their conversation from last night.
Gibbs just glared at her. "Yeah, well don't surprise me. If you're planning on adding to the brood, give me notice; a lot of notice.
Abby rolled her eyes and turned back to Tim. "Ok, I have to head downstairs. If you hear anything, you call me." It wasn't a request.
Tim squeezed her hand and nodded. He returned to his desk and looked at the two empty ones to his left.
Walter Reed
Tony somehow fell asleep, holding onto Ziva's hand for dear life. Around 5 am, she woke up. She looked around the room, getting her bearings. "Looking for an escape route, David?" She chuckled to herself. Old habits die hard. Including referring to herself as David.
She looked at Tony, stretched out in the chair, his feet on her bed. She hated to wake him up, she was sure he got less sleep than she did.
She rubbed her belly. "That was quite a scare you gave us, little one. Are things better now? Please do not scare your mommy and daddy like that, ok?" The baby responded with a resounding kick.
Ziva took Tony's hand and place it where the baby had kicked. Her patience was rewarded. Tony's eyes popped open, and he sat up.
"Hi." Ziva said softly. Tony got up and leaned over and kissed her. "Hi yourself. How are you feeling?"
Ziva looked sad. "I feel like I failed, somehow. Like, I did something wrong. Maybe I should not have continued to exercise, maybe…"
Tony placed his finger on her lips. "I don't know anything about this stuff, but the doc said it had nothing to do with anything you did or did not do. It just happens sometimes. Don't try to figure it out, and certainly don't blame yourself."
Ziva nodded as Tony kissed her forehead. "Try to go back to sleep. You need to rest." He sat back down in the chair, still holding her hand.
Ziva closed her eyes, but then opened them again. "Tony?"
"Hmmm?" Tony answered, his eyes still closed.
"I love you." Tony opened his eyes and leaned forward.
"I love you too, Ziva. More than I ever thought was possible." He took in her worried face. "Listen to me, I don't want you to worry, ok? We're going to do whatever the doc says, and everything's going to be just fine." He caressed her cheek.
"Can you lie up here with me? I don't like being in this bed, it reminds me…" Tony understood completely what she was going to say. "Let me get on the other side, so I don't mess up any of the wires."
Tony walked around the bed, then gently eased himself onto it, being careful to not disturb any of the monitoring equipment. Ziva leaned forward so Tony could put his arm around her. Snuggled together, Ziva finally fell asleep.
That took me a while; brain is still a little fuzzy from anesthesia. Thanks to the new followers and the great reviews.
