It had been about 9 hours since Tony had first been brought into the hospital and Gibbs had started pacing once again. Gibbs took a quick glance around the room, which he had been doing a lot, and noticed that he was the only one still awake. Kate lay across 3 chairs sound asleep, while Abby was using a sleeping McGee's lap as a pillow. After scouring the room further Gibbs noticed that Fornell had left and Gibbs assumed that he was telling Fergon's family what had happened. Gibbs turned around and looked down the hallway once again remembering that he had sent Ziva to keep the director company, suddenly Gibbs heard a voice behind him and was slightly startled.
"You should join them Jethro" Ducky said placing a hand on Gibb's shoulder.
"I need to be awake in case anything happens" Gibbs replied not wanting to sleep while he didn't know if Tony would live or not.
"I'm quite capable of staying awake and letting you know the moment I hear anything" Ducky whispered pretending to be insulted. Gibbs was going to argue but he silently relented after seeing the look in Ducky's eyes.
Gibbs nodded and was about to join the rest of is team when he saw a young female doctor heading towards them with a chart in her hands.
"Hi Agent Gibbs" the doctor said cheerfully.
"Yes" Gibbs replied feeling a little relieved since this doctor seemed happy.
"Hi I'm Doctor Isabel Daniels," the doctor said once again cheerfully "I'm Agent DiNozzo's doctor"
At the mention of Tony's name Gibbs's heart skipped a beat, he forgot how tired he felt and instantly started flooding Dr Daniels with questions.
"How is he" Gibbs asked getting anxious.
"Lucky" Dr Daniels replied still clutching her clipboard.
"What does that mean?" Gibbs exclaimed getting annoyed that he wasn't getting a straight answer.
"Well," Dr Daniels explained "Mr. DiNozzo's injuries were very severe and normally with injuries like his the victims don't even make it to the hospital let alone live through surgery"
"So will he be alright?" Gibbs asked hoping that the answer would be yes.
"It's hard to say," Dr Daniels replied "his brain was deprived of oxygen and while I expect him to wake up I won't know whether he has suffered an permanent damage until he does"
"Are you saying he could be brain damaged?" Gibbs answered now feeling guiltier than ever.
"It's a possibility" Dr Daniels sighed looking to the floor.
Gibbs could feel the tears welling up inside him, he couldn't believe he had done this to Tony; he had ruined the rest of his life.
"Can we see him?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes," Dr Daniels replied lifting Gibbs's spirits a little bit "He's in recovery at the moment so I'm afraid it's immediate family only"
Gibbs's heart sank he knew he couldn't pass himself off as Tony's family and the hospital had probably already checked anyway. It was then that Gibbs had an idea.
"His girlfriend is here" Gibbs exclaimed motioning at the sleeping Kate.
Dr Daniels looked over at Kate for a moment before saying "Do you want to wake her?"
Gibbs nodded and walked over to Kate; he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. Kate opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Gibbs.
"What's up?" Kate said drowsily sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"We can go see Tony" Gibbs replied. At this Kate bolted up out of her chair and practically ran to where Tony's doctor was standing.
"So you're Agent DiNozzo's girlfriend?" Dr Daniels asked.
Kate gave Gibbs a confused look but at his nod replied "Yeah can I see him?"
"Follow me" Dr Daniels replied and Gibbs watched as Kate and Tony's doctor walked down the hall and into the doors of ICU.
Kate took deep breaths as her and Dr Daniels edged closer to Tony's room before they finally came to a stop in front of a closed door with the number 22 on it. Kate was about to open the door when Dr Daniels placed her hand gently over the doorknob and said "Now I have to warn you, seeing him could be quite confronting"
"What do you mean?" Kate asked getting worried.
"Well he's hooked up to a few machines and tubes and seeing that could be very alarming for you" Dr Daniels replied.
Kate nodded and gulped as Dr Daniels opened the door. Kate couldn't help but gasp as she saw the man she loved with several tubes protruding out of his body. A small tear fell down Kate's cheek as she edged closer to Tony's bed and sat down on the small chair that was already beside him.
"Do you want me to explain what the tubes are for?" Dr Daniels asked.
Kate nodded and took Tony's hand gently rubbing it affectionately with her thumb.
"Ok this one here," Dr Daniels explained motioning to the correct tube "is called a drain, it's routine after any surgery and makes sure the wound doesn't get infected"
Once Dr Daniels was sure that Kate had absorbed that bit of information she continued.
"As you can see he has two tubes in his chest one is the drain and the other is a chest tube which we are using to get rid of the air around Tony's collapsed lung, Tony is also attached to a ventilator to help his breathing and that is why he has a tube down his throat"
Kate looked around a noticed all the tubes that Dr Daniels was saying, Kate gripped Tony's hand harder and continued to listen.
"Finally," Dr Daniels said "There is an IV attached to Tony's hand which is stopping him from getting dehydrated and the wires attached to his chest are to measure his heart rate" after taking a quick look around Dr Daniels added "Oh and there is also a pulse measuring device on the end of his finger"
"Thank you for all this" Kate said thankfully "it means a lot"
"Just doing my job" Dr. Daniels said and walked out.
Kate turned back to Tony and continued to stroke his hand and looked up at the clock. It was just after three in the morning. 'No wonder I'm so tired' Kate thought to herself 'maybe I could just rest my eyes some more' and she placed her head down on Tony's bed beside his body and closed her eyes, still clutching Tony's hand as she fell asleep listening to the noises of Tony breathing.
Gibbs walked towards Tony's room for the millionth time. It had been four days since Tony was admitted into hospital and neither he nor Kate had left Tony's bedside since then. Gibbs walked the familiar corridor which led to Tony's room and bumped into his doctor, Dr. Isabel Daniels.
"How is he?" Gibbs asked.
"He's doing ok" Dr. Daniels said "we won't know anything until he wakes up but with friends like you guys, he'll be fine no matter what happens"
Gibbs smiled as she walked off and entered Tony's room. Kate was sitting in the chair next to Tony's bed just like she'd been for the past four days. Gibbs walked up to Kate and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"How is he?" he asked calmly.
Kate remained looking at Tony "he still hasn't woken up Gibbs" she said not taking her eyes off him "Dr. Daniels said that he should have woken up two days ago but nothing's changed" Kate turned to Gibbs and wrapped her arms around his waist "I'm really worried about him" she sobbed "he just has to be ok"
"He'll be ok" Gibbs told Kate.
Kate looked up at Gibbs "how do you know?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes.
"Because" Gibbs said "you don't know how much Tony wanted to see you again. I highly doubt that a tiny little bashing and been shot will stop him"
Kate smiled and turned back to Tony. Gibbs took the hint and went towards the door. "Do you want anything?" he asked from the doorway "a coffee, a sandwich or something?"
Kate shook her head "no thank you" she said.
Gibbs nodded and walked away. Kate listened to Gibbs's disappearing footsteps while she continued to gently rub Tony's hand with her thumb.
"Oh Tony" she said quietly "you have to pull through this. Please pull through this" and she laid her head down very softly on his chest so she didn't hurt him and added with a whisper "because I love you" and she closed her eyes, listening to Tony's heartbeat.
As Kate listened to Tony's heart beat, something in her hand started to move. She quickly pulled herself up and looked down at her hand. All she had in it was Tony's hand but that wasn't moving.
"Must have been imaging things" she said to herself but continued looking at Tony's hand because something in her gut was telling her to. And, as if by a miracle, the pinky finger on Tony's hand started to move.
"Tony," Kate said quietly getting really excited "Tony are you awake?"
Tony's other fingers suddenly started to move and he began to groan and then he began to choke.
Kate sprung up from her chair as she watched Tony struggle for breath. "DR. DANIELS!" she cried "DR. DANIELS! TONY CAN'T BREATHE! COME QUICK!" All of a sudden, Dr. Daniels and three nurses rushed into Tony's room and began checking him over.
"What's happening?" Kate asked in between tears "why is he choking?"
Dr. Daniels pulled Kate aside while the nurses worked on Tony. "This is a good thing Kate" she said trying to comfort her.
"How is Tony choking a good thing?" Kate asked, concern filling her voice.
"Because this means that Tony is breathing on his own and doesn't need the ventilator to help him breathe anymore" Dr. Daniels explained.
Kate looked over at Tony and watched as one of the nurses began to pull out the ventilator tube from Tony's throat. As soon as that was out, another nurse placed an oxygen mask on his face. Once that was on, Tony started to calm down and began to breathe normally, although a little wheezy.
Kate and Dr. Daniels walked slowly over to Tony' bed and as Kate sat back down on her chair, Dr. Daniels started asking Tony some questions.
"Agent DiNozzo," she said "how do you feel?"
Tony weakly looked over at Dr. Daniels and mumbled something that could have been a "ok I guess"
Kate looked worriedly at Dr. Daniels. "Why is he talking like that?" she asked.
Dr. Daniels smiled "he's had a ventilator down his throat for four days Miss Todd and his throat will be pretty sore" she said and turned back to Tony.
"Do you remember what happened?" she asked.
Tony thought for a moment and shook his head. Kate again looked worriedly at Dr. Daniels but the doctor saw her and knew what her next question would be, so beating Kate to the question she explained that most people don't remember major accidents and that Tony not remembering is normal.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Dr Daniels asked Tony trying to find out the extent of Tony's memory loss. Tony brought his hand up to the oxygen mask over his face and lifted it slightly so as to make what he was saying clearer.
"Being….tied...to a…chair" Tony wheezed referring to when he and Gibbs had been caught in Ari's warehouse.
"Ok that's good," Dr Daniels replied "Any pain, numbness or anything like that?"
Tony took a few deep breaths from the oxygen mask before looking at Kate with concern in his eyes, Dr Daniels caught on to this and knew what was wrong.
"Miss Todd why don't you go and tell Agent Gibbs that Tony is awake" Dr Daniels said cheerfully.
"I want to stay here" Kate replied not wanting to leave Tony.
"He'll be fine," Dr Daniels exclaimed "besides I can't allow visitors in the room while I check him over"
Kate gave Dr Daniels a pleading look before giving in and taking one last look over her shoulder at Tony before leaving the room. Once Dr Daniels was sure Kate was gone she turned back to Tony and asked "What's wrong?"
Tony lifted the oxygen mask up once again and replied "I….can't feel…my legs"