Three weeks later, everything was back to normal, or at least the new normal. Tony was released from the hospital and waking up to the sound of Charity's alarm. Charity rolled out of Tony's arms and turned her alarm off.
"Why is your alarm going off so early?" Tony asked, sounding groggy.
"I have an early therapy session." Charity answered.
"Reschedule it and stay in bed with me." Tony said, pulling Charity back into his arms.
Charity giggled. "I would love nothing more, but I would like to be done with my crutch. My underarm is starting to get a bruise." She replied. "So, I have to go to therapy."
Tony chuckled."Okay, when you put it that way."
Charity kissed Tony and rolled out of bed. She got in the shower and got dressed and ready for the day. As she was pulling on her t-shirt, Charity thought about her and Tony's relationship. Ever since he had been released from the hospital, Charity had soent just about every night with him.
Her drawer of things was becoming fuller. Of course, for the most part, she preferred to wear Tony's shirts and he preferred she wear nothing at all. Charity grinned as she thought about how nice it was waking up with him these past mornings.
Charity looked at the time and realized that if she didn't get going, she was going to be late. She headed back into the bedroom and gave Tony a kiss. "See you later." She said.
"Later, have fun." He replied. Then he gave her one more kiss. "I love you."
Charity grinned. She could never get tired if hearing that. "I love you, too." She then hobbled out the door and took a cab to the physical therapy center.
When Charity arrived, she was greeted by Serg. "Are you ready to ramp things up today, Corporal?"
"Yes, Sergeant." Charity answered.
Serg grinned. "Alright, then lets go Marine!"
Serg lead Charity through some more intense exercises. She pushed Charity to go further and work through the pain. After Charity was breathing heavy and sweating from the pain, Serg looked at her. "Do you think you can stand, Marine?"
"Yes." Charity answered determined.
Serg surprised Charity by reaching her hand out to help Charity stand. Once Charity was steady Serg released her hand and Charity slowly put weight on her injured leg. Pain instantly hit her and filled her knee, but Charity breathed through the pain and focused on the wall in front of her. Then three seconds later, her knee gave out and Charity was falling.
Serg quickly grabbed Charity by the waist and supported her. She then helped Charity to the chair. "Good work Marine." Serg said, handing Charity her crutch. "Just try not to fall next time."
"Yes Serg." Charity replied breathless.
"When you head home, work on standing more. Keep putting weight on that knee." Serg ordered.
"Yes Serg." Charity answered like a good soldier.
"Now, get out of here and I'll see you in three days."
Charity rose and leaned on her crutch. She saluted Serg and then left. Charity arrived home and got in the shower. She then changed into a pair of jeans, a blue tank top, and a white shirt over it. Charity sat down on her bed and then decided to start trying to stand up for longer than three seconds.
"I will stand and walk. I will also be able to drive myself around again and I will get rid of this stupid crutch." She spoke aloud to herself. She slowly rise from her bed, supporting herself using the bed frame. She slowly released the frame and put weight on her leg.
She felt the pain once again. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out. Within three seconds, she was falling back down on her bed. She tried several more times, but with the same results.
"I won't give up." She breathed.
"There's nothing wrong with just taking a break." Came a familiar voice.
Charity turned to see Ziva standing in her doorway. She suddenly felt very embarrassed that Ziva was standing there and seeing her room. I really need to redecorate. She thought. "Ziva, what are you doing here?"
"I just stopped by to see how you were doing." Ziva replied. "Interesting room."
Charity's face turned a little pink. "I haven't had the time to redecorate." Charity explained.
Ziva nodded. "You want to go out for a drink?"
"Sure." Charity answered, surprised. She then rise from her bed and made her way over to the door, using the wall for support. She and Ziva then made their way down the stairs where Charity grabbed her crutch and then the two women headed out the door. Charity was once more surprised when she found Abby waiting in the car.
"What's going on?" Charity asked.
"We thought you could use a girls' night." Abby answered. "So the three of us are going to have some fun, tonight. That sound alright?"
Charity grinned. "Sounds great." She answered. It had been a while since she'd had a girls' night and she agreed that she could use one.
The trio arrived at a local bar and sat down at a small round table in the corner. They ordered drinks and talked. "So, how is your therapy going?" Ziva asked.
"Great." Charity answered. "As you saw I can stand for short, very short, periods of time."
"You can?" Abby asked, sounding excited. "That's great! How long?"
"Three seconds at a time." Charity answered.
"You seem determined to get walking very soon." Ziva observed.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get friction burns from this crutch." Charity answered.
"I bet that's not all you're getting friction burns from." Abby teased.
Charity gave Abby a look.
"I used to think only Gibbs could get that look on his face." Ziva said.
Charity laughed. "You're forgetting that my last name is Gibbs."
"True." Ziva replied. "Speaking of names, I've been meaning to ask how did your parents come up with Charity?"
Charity took a sip of her drink and then put it down. "Well, they had this deal that Dad would name the first born and Mom would name the second child. So Mom picked out Charity because it is another word for love. My middle name is Faith. She picked those because she always wanted me to have love and faith."
"That's pretty...oh what's that word..." Ziva said struggling. "Cold?"
"You mean cool." Abby supplied.
"Yes that's it." Ziva said. "I like it."
Charity grinned. "Yeah, thank goodness that it was Mom that picked it out, though. Going by the same logic if Dad had named me, my first name would have been Chastity."
Abby and Ziva both started laughing. When the laughing died down, Ziva looked at Charity. "I have another question for you."
"Okay, shoot." Charity replied.
"What was it like growing up with Gibbs as your father?" Ziva asked.
A fond smile appeared across Charity's lips. "Pretty awesome." She answered. "He's the best. Even when he was busy with some major cases, he always made time for me. Still does. The only time things got awkward was when I was a teenager."
"Really? How is that?" Ziva asked.
"Well, other than the obvious of him being the single father of a teenaged daughter going through puberty," Charity began, "it got to where I didn't want my friends to come over."
"Why is that?" Ziva asked.
Abby grinned in anticipation. She already knew the story and always found it amusing.
"All my friends told me they wanted to be my new step mother." Charity answered.
"You mean your friends..." Ziva began.
"My friends thought my dad was hot." Charity answered. "I mean of course I want to believe he's good looking because he did give some of his looks to me, but I really didn't like hearing about it from my friends."
Ziva let out a small laugh. "That must have been interesting."
Charity laughed, "What's bad is a few of my friends still tell me they will be my next step mother."
"Wow." Ziva replied with a laugh.
The three women continued to talk and laugh. They ended up staying at the bar until midnight. Ziva dropped Charity off at home and then took Abby home as well, before heading to her own apartment.
Charity climbed in bed and thought about her life. She had a great father, a pretty awesome boyfriend, and some pretty great friends, too. She fell asleep happy and content that night. She did miss Tony, but they had a date the next night and she would probably be spending the night with him again.