By the next morning Tony seemed to be on the upswing but was still not quite out of the woods. The doctors had told Gibbs that if Tony remained stable throughout that day and through the following night. He would be moved down to a regular room the next morning. The next step was going home but home was still far off in the distance. For now Gibbs just wanted to get out of the ICU. He was sick of the constant presence of death and kids whose lives would never be the same. He knew that happened down on the regular ward too but not near as frequently. Gibbs was in his usual post by Tony's bedside. One hand on Tony's little hand and the other on his chest. Today Tony's eyes were half opened and he seemed more alert than he had in the past few days. He actually appeared to be responding to the things Gibbs would say to him. John, Donna, and Luke were coming over to spend some time with Tony. So Gibbs could run home for fresh clothes, pick up a few essentials at the store, and just get out of the hospital. He had not been off the property since Tony had been admitted.
"Just thought I would check on my favorite patient before my shift starts." Nicole said entering the room.
"He's doing great. They are hoping that he will be out of here by tomorrow morning." Gibbs replied.
"I'm assuming that you mean the ICU." Nicole commented.
"Yeah I would love to go home but he isn't quite well enough." Gibbs replied.
"At least he is improving" Nicole offered.
"Finally" Gibbs agreed.
Luke slid into his usual spot beside Jordan and studied the Health Question of the day that was posted on the board. Jordan was busy jotting down the question and her guess to the answer. Most of the class was goofing off texting or pretending to be writing. Then they would guess after the answer was given to increase their points. While others were actually taking the prep seriously. Heather's seat was empty as it had been for the past few weeks. She had stopped coming to school pretty regularly after the incident. There were rumors that she was pregnant with the baby of a forty year old Marine. Luke wasn't sure if that was true or not but if they were he felt terrible for that Marine. He shook his head and went back to work. Heather was best left in the past.
"Hey Luke, how's Tony doing?" Jordan asked.
"He's doing great. Jethro called this morning and said that he may get moved down to a regular room tomorrow." Luke replied.
"He ready for non family visitors yet?" Jordan asked.
"Not until he gets out of the ICU and after that Jethro can still decline visitors." Luke explained.
"Hopefully he will let me see him." Jordan replied.
"It shouldn't be a problem. I just don't want to make you feel bad." Luke replied.
"Hey Luke?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah" Luke inquired.
"Do you think you are ready to date again?" Jordan questioned.
"Any other girl I would tell no but Jordan we have been best friends since we were six and I have loved you forever. I don't know why I was so stupid but I regret it. If you want to go out I would be more than happy to date you." Luke replied.
"Great we can plan after school." Jordan replied.
By that afternoon Tony was still doing well and even improving. Gibbs was continually amazed by his son's strength. Gibbs had been told three times in the short amount of time Tony had been in his life, that Tony would die. That there was no more hope and his body simply could not fight any longer ad each time Tony had proved them wrong. Tony could have grown up to be one hell of a Marine if Senior had not treated him so terribly. Still he was growing up and fighting every day to beat the odds. Tony was recovering but he still was not awake and he still depended on the breathing tube. Right now more than anything Gibbs just wanted to hear his son's voice. He wanted to hear Tony fight to say the names Gibbs perfectly. The child still had extreme trust issues and fears, but he was slowly coming around. To accept his new family. His new family who actually loved and wanted him. Tony moved slightly on the bed and weakly opened his eyes the rest of the way.
"Tony are you with me?" Gibbs asked.
He got no actual response but noted that Tony did try to speak.
"OK how about this. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Gibbs instructed.
Tony weakly squeezed Gibbs' hand.
"OK good now can you tell me if you are in pain? Just squeeze my hand again." Gibbs instructed.
Again Tony squeezed Gibbs' hand but this time he seemed to put more force into it.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" Gibbs asked.
Again Tony squeezed his new father's hand.
"Alright I will get a doctor and see what we can do for you." Gibbs told his son.
Gibbs stood and began to search around for Tony's bed remote. As he was searching he caught a close glimpse of Tony's face. The right side, the side that Gibbs could see clearly from his spot was fine but the left side was a different story. His left eye now hung several millimeters below where the right one was placed and the left side of his mouth hung down while the right side remained upwards. Heart racing, Gibbs shifted his gaze downwards. Tony's left hand lay limply beside him and it did not move when Gibbs pressed down on it. Gibbs bit his lip and swallowed hard. He wanted to punch a hole in the wall and scream at the world. Hadn't Tony suffered enough? Why did everything have to be so God Dammed difficult for Tony? Taking several deep breaths Gibbs relaxed and finally found the bed remote underneath Tony's pillow. He picked it up and pressed the call button.
"At least you are alive. At least you are alive." Gibbs whispered as he gently stroked Tony's hair. Things were about to change again but at least Tony was alive and he was strong. He could come back from this. Gibbs just knew that he could.
A/N: Will Tony be able to recover from his stroke? At least enough to have a semi normal life? New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.