The second Tony, Ziva, Ducky and Jimmy heard the news about Tim, they came rushing back to the hospital.

Abby had never left. She wanted to stay, even after she was discharged.

Gibbs and Abby were waiting in the hallway when everyone else arrived.

"What's going on?" Tony asked Gibbs as they all walked towards him.

"McGee woke up about half an hour ago, coughing real bad. The doctor took his temperature and it's at a hundred and three degrees. They're in there trying to lower it. They took an X-ray and it showed that he's got a lot of fluid in his lungs."

Ducky looked passed Gibbs and saw Abby sitting down, tears running down her face. He immediately went over to her and sat down beside her.

"Oh, Abigail, it's going to be alright," He said, putting an arm around her.

"You don't… know that," She replied as she cried.

"No, I don't know for sure, but I have faith, Abigail. We must have faith."

"He can't… die, Ducky. He just… can't."

Ducky pulled her in close and she cried onto his shoulder, "There, there, Abigail. Let it out."

Gibbs, Tony, Ziva and Jimmy all looked at Abby as she cried. Although they'd never let their true emotions show so easily, they were all feeling the same way.

"What are we supposed to do?" Ziva asked.

"Wait for the doctor to come out," Gibbs replied, "He'll let us know more."

So, they all waited. Abby and Ducky remained in their seats, Jimmy leaned against the wall, and Ziva, Tony and Gibbs paced up and down the hallway.

Finally the doctor came out. Everyone quickly gathered around him, waiting for the news.

"He's stable, right now," The doctor began, "It took a while to get him that way. His fever is still high-"

"What is his fever?" Ducky interrupted.

"Up to one hundred and four degrees."

"Oh dear."

"We're going to move him to another room. No one will be allowed in or out besides myself and two other nurses."

"We won't be able to see him?" Abby asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

"There's a window that you can watch him through. You can talk to him through a intercom, but I doubt he'll be talking much. He needs as much sleep as he can get."

"What are you thinkin', Doc?" Gibbs asked, knowing there was more.

"The coughing and the fluid in the lungs are my main concern. With his ribs being as bad as they are, and just getting out of surgery… We have to be very careful to make sure that internal bleeding doesn't happen again. If it does, I can't do surgery on him while he's in this condition."

Tony could feel himself getting angrier and angrier. Not at the doctor, just at the situation. "So, if he starts bleeding internally, he's dead? And if you try to do surgery, he's dead?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes, that would be the case. The last thing he needs to do is upset his ribs by coughing so much, but that's also the only thing he can do. If he doesn't cough and get up some of that phlegm, then that can be just as dangerous."

"So, basically it's fifty fifty," Jimmy said.

The doctor looked around at all of them, "Honestly, more like eighty twenty."

Ziva crossed her arms, "What is the eighty?"

The doctor knew they all already knew the answer to that. He put an arm on Ziva's shoulder, "We will do all we can to make sure he lives. I promise you all that."

Gibbs nodded, "We know. Thank you."

"Do you have anymore questions before I go?"

They all either shook their heads or replied with quiet no's, then the doctor left.

For the next two days they all took shifts, sitting in the room next to Tim, watching him through the glass.

Gibbs had gone to see Carol and Sarah, and he told them the news. They wanted to be there for Tim, but Gibbs couldn't allow it. That would be putting them into too much danger, plus there wasn't anything they could do for Tim anyways.

Over those two days, Tim almost stopped breathing multiple times. The only thing that truly kept him going was the sound of the team's voices. They would talk to him and help to calm him down when his coughing fits became too much to handle.

He was getting skinnier and skinnier, as if he weren't already skinny enough. The bruises on his face were healing some, but the rest of him looked even worse than before.

"So, I told this girl, "Hey, if you didn't want me, then why didn't you just say so?" and you wanna know what she replied?"

"No," Tim coughed out. He'd been listening to Tony tell the same story for the past two hours. It didn't seem like it was never going to end.

"Well, too bad, I'm telling you anyway. She said-" Tony stopped as Tim began coughing uncontrollably. The coughing soon turned into wheezing, then to choking. This was going from bad, to worse, to terrible… quick!

Two nurses rushed into the room and began working on him.

Tim was now gasping for breath. His face was quickly turning paler and paler.

Tony rushed out of the room and met up with the doctor, "You gotta let me in there!"

"I'm sorry, I can't. I have to go."

Tony grabbed the doctor's arm, "I can't make him any worse than he already is. Let me in there! I just need to talk to him."

The doctor sighed, "Fine. Scrub your hands first," He said as he went into the room.

Tony quickly washed his hands, then made his way to Tim.

Tim's eyes were wide. It seemed he could breathe out, but not in.

Tony grabbed onto a nurses arm and pulled her back, "Move."

He got up close by Tim and took a hold of his shoulders, "Look at me, McGee!" Tony exclaimed, trying to get Tim's attention.

Tim's eyes moved to Tony.

"I know I'm not Gibbs, but you're gonna have to deal with me, okay? You are not going to die. Do you understand me?"

Tim, still not able to get in any air, didn't make any attempt to reply.

"You gotta breathe, McGee!"

"Let me do my job, Agent DiNozzo," The doctor said, trying to get to Tim.

"Shut up!" Tony yelled, then turned his focus back to Tim. "Listen to me! You've got your mom, Sarah, Gibbs, Ziva, Ducky, Palmer, me and Abby all waiting for you to get better…" Nothing was working, so Tony used his last resort, "If you die, we may never catch John!"

Tim's eyes widened even more. Somehow he managed to take in a breath. It was weak, but still it was a breath. Then came another, and another.

Tony moved back so the nurses and doctor could what they needed. Now, Tony knew, Tim had something to hold onto. It may be something that made him angry, knowing John was still free, but it was something to keep Tim alive.

Tony couldn't believe how, in almost an instant, he almost lost his little brother. How quickly it went from Tim just being weak, to Tim almost being dead.

At touch on his arm drew him out of his thoughts. It was a nurse.

"He's very tired, but he keeps saying he wants to talk to you."

Tony nodded, "Okay."

The nurse left out of the room, and Tony realized that he didn't even notice when the doctor and other nurse left.

Tony walked over to Tim's bedside, "Hey, Probie. It's not nice to scare me like that."

"S-sorry," Tim replied weakly, "I just… wanted to… say… thank you."

"For what?"

"Hurting… so bad… didn't care… if I… died. Have… to live… now. Have… to find… John."

Tony patted Tim's shoulder, "Go to sleep, kid. You'll get better faster that way."

Tim's eyes were already closed by the time Tony finished the sentence.

Tony walked out of the room and rubbed his eyes. He knew now that Tim would be okay… but he still couldn't help but worry about what lied ahead.

I've got to get these people out of the hospital! lol I hope the chapter didn't seem rushed, cause that's not what I wanted at all. I just didn't want to linger on Tim coughing his guts up for like five chapters.

Let me know what you think :) Thanks for reviewing!

Oh, I also have a twitter now. If you guys have one, you can follow me (if you want). It's under TwisterRPower (Cause TwistedRocketPower was too long :( ) It'll mainly be about my fanfiction, but I'm a really random person so who knows what I might post on occasion.