Ducky and Jackson were the first allowed in to see Gibbs in recovery. The doctors where happy to announce that he'd regained consciousness, and it had lifted everyone's spirits to a degree that they were able to relax the tightened muscles in their stomachs for the first time since the accident.

Tony was relieved enough to eat the sandwich and small bag of chips that McGee had brought up for him. He even felt like he could breathe freely now, for the first time since the dreadful short-cut phone call that morning.

In the recovery room, Ducky allowed Jackson to his son's bedside first, as he himself went to the foot of the bed to look over his chart.

Jackson put a hand over one of his son's, and Gibbs opened his eyes to look at him. "Dad," he said a bit weakly.

"Leroy." Jackson smiled. "It's good to see you awake, son," he said and patted his hand.

"Sorry...'bout the car, Dad," he said and tried to clear his throat.

"I don't care about the car," he shook his head. "Can't replace my son." He lightly tapped Gibbs' cheek.

"Indeed," Ducky said as he approached the other side of the bed. Gibbs' eyes trailed to meet Ducky's. "So, I take it you remember the accident?"

"Nurse told me-" his sentence ended in a cough.

"Would you like a bit of water, Jethro?" he asked. Gibbs nodded and Jackson was the one to bring the cup with a straw to his mouth. "Not too much just yet." After a few sips, Jackson took the cup away. "Better?" Ducky asked.

Gibbs nodded. "Nurse told me the car was crushed. That I'm lucky to be alive."

"Indeed, you are," Ducky replied. "You gave us all quite a scare."

"Duck...need to ask a favor," he said in a quiet voice.

"Anything, my friend."

"Need you to get to my car. In the trunk...there's a few bags."

"I hardly think that's necessary right now, Jethro..."

"Please, Ducky...it's important." His eyes pleaded with the older man. "There's something in there I don't want to disappear. I just...if you could just take 'em to my house. That's all I'm askin'."

Ducky took a long breath. "All right, Jethro. I'll take care of it. But you must promise to get some rest." He held up a hand before Gibbs could argue. "No argument, Jethro. You just had surgical procedure done to your brain and you have a fractured skull. You need your rest, and you need to do as your doctors tell you. Preferably without giving them a hard time." He raised a brow.

"That's a tall order." Gibbs gave a groggy smirk.

"One I expect you to follow," Ducky told him. Gibbs shifted his shoulders and groaned at the sharp discomfort he felt in the muscles of his chest.

"You in pain, Leroy?" Jackson asked.

Gibbs swallowed. "Just ache...everywhere."

"That's to be expected," Ducky told them. "You were jarred around when the truck hit you. Though you have no other injuries, you'll no doubt be quite sore for a while. But the nurse went to get you something for the pain, now that the medication they gave you during surgery is wearing off."

Gibbs nodded and took a breath as he looked up at the ceiling. Then it occurred to him that he'd been on the phone before the accident. "Tony..." He remembered, and he looked over at Ducky again. "I was talkin' to him on the phone..."

"Yes. He was quite worried about you, Jethro," he informed him. "He and Abigail went to find you at the site of the accident. They saw the car and imagined the worst."

"Is he here?"

"He's been here from the start," Jackson answered for him. "Hasn't left the floor, since."
"He knows I'm okay, though," he asked his father.

"He does now," he replied.

"One of your nurses was kind enough to pull his chart and administer him something for his nerves," Ducky supplied. "He's with Timothy and Abby in the waiting room right now having a bit to eat."

Gibbs sighed and ran a hand down his face. "So much for makin' this a nice Christmas for him."

"Now, Leroy," Jackson said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "That boy cares more about you than any silly old holiday. You comin' through this is all he cares about right now."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Ducky agreed.

"But I'd set everything up so he could have somethin' close to a family Christmas, then ruined it by lettin' this happen..."

"No, boss," Tony's voice at the door caused them all to glance over. "They're right. You pulling through this is all that matters to me." He entered the room and approached the side of the bed as Ducky made room for him. "Sorry...I know I was supposed to wait 'til they moved you to ICU, but I just couldn't." He grabbed onto Gibbs' hand that was closest to him. "I had to see for myself that you were okay."

"Tony, I'm sorry-"

"No, Gibbs...please." He shook his head. "I get what you were gonna do, and I can't tell you how much that means to me." He swallowed a lump in his throat as he met Gibbs' eyes. "But nothing could make this Christmas better than you getting through this."

The lead agent could tell his senior field agent had been worried. He could see it clearly in his eyes. But he could also see that he was speaking nothing but the truth, and that being in this room now had given him an immense amount of relief. "Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"You smell like Christmas cookies," he told him with a straight face. Tony's eyes flashed with a bit of confusion for a moment. Then he looked down at himself, then to Ducky, who had cocked his head and shrugged.

When he met Gibbs' eyes again, he was smiling and silently laughing. It made Tony smile too. "Guess I should go back to the house and change..."

Tbc...