Ziva hated everything that was happening in her life. She was still trying to come to terms with AJ's injuries and now he was sick again. She was still trying to get over Tony and everybody was trying to force them together. Didn't they see that she did not want to forgive him? The last time she forgave a man who wasn't truthful with her she ended up raising a child on her own. A child who was now permanently disabled, thanks to the man she had forgiven. She was not going to put sweet AJ through all of that again. Especially not now.
AJ was transported to a nearby children's hospital. Where he was tested for pneumonia among other ailments. Even though it had only been a couple of days. It was surreal for Ziva to be back in a traditional hospital setting. It was even more bizarre to be in a different, unfamiliar hospital. She had built such strong connections at Bethesda while AJ recovered over all those weeks. Some of the families were still there, but here she did not know anybody. Nobody here knew her and AJ's stories. They were just the new people on the floor. She desperately wished that she had somebody by her side to help her through this but, there was nobody. Again she didn't know any of the patients and none of her friends were close enough to justify a late visit.
"Tony would have come." Ziva said aloud.
"Excuse me?" A passing nurse asked.
"Nothing just thinking aloud." Ziva replied.
"Who's Tony?" The nurse asked.
"My ex it's not important." Ziva sighed.
"Clearly it is if you are telling yourself that he would be here." The nurse replied.
"I don't know it's all just so confusing right now. My son is paralyzed and has a severe brain injury. Now he may have pneumonia for the second time in a month. I just don't get it." Ziva explained.
"Look I have to get to a patient and I have no idea the circumstances of your break-up but it might be wise to give this Tony a second chance. You have a lot on your plate and, a little love and support can go a long way." The nurse explained.
The test results were in and the news was not good. AJ did in fact have pneumonia. It was only in one lung this time but it as the right lung. Where the initial pneumonia had been most severe and the lung that had endured damage in the explosion. He was on oxygen and they were working desperately to keep him off of the ventilator. Ziva found herself feeling desperately alone as she sat in AJ's room. The doctors were cautiously optimistic that AJ would survive. What they were unsure of was whether or not further damage would be done. It broke Ziva's heart that her once strong and healthy son was now frail and medically complex. As she watched AJ sleep she thought back to that first day she had known Tony, after AJ had been hit by Gibbs' car. He was so kind to her and he always accepted AJ no matter what. She wanted to believe that everybody was right but how could she ever trust Tony again? She had a hard enough time trusting herself. She wanted what was best for AJ but was she really giving him everything that he deserved? Single mom's raised children with no man every day but had she really missed out on something great?
"Send me a sign! I need some kind of sign!" Ziva sobbed into the darkness.
AJ made it through the night with no complications, but he was not yet out of the woods. The doctors couldn't even give Ziva a straight answer as to when he would be moved back to the rehab hospital. It would all depend on how he responded to medications. She was warned that he could take a major down turn before finally going on the upswing, but by now she knew the drill. This had been her life over the past month or so, it would be her life from now on. Either for the rest of hers or for the rest of AJ's a thought that she did not want to be having right now. Right now all she wanted to do was sit by AJ's bedside and wait for him to be awake and semi aware again. That was his state since recovering from the coma and it may be the way that he lived out the rest of his days.
"Come on, AJ I know that you are doing well. I just want you to recover and be able to go back to rehab. The sooner you are back there, the sooner we can get you back home. Not our old home unfortunately. We cannot maneuver your wheelchair in that small apartment. We will find a new place and we will be happy there. We will always be happy. I love you." Ziva told her son.
Around lunch time the doctors needed to run a few tests and Ziva was forced to leave AJ's room. She headed down to the cafeteria and had a quick lunch of a plain burger and bag of chips. Not the healthiest choice but it was the most appealing to her at the moment. AJ was still be examined when she was done eating. So she made her way to the waiting room. Some people were talking with family or friends, some were sleeping, while others read or watched TV. Ziva fell onto a chair and halfheartedly watched the terrible movie that played on the ancient television set. It only took five minutes for her to have had enough. She stormed out of the waiting room, off the floor, and then out of the hospital all together. As she was storming down the ramp she nearly crashed into an official looking woman carrying a small girl who looked to be two or three years old.
"Watch where you are going! Especially if you have a kid with you!" Ziva snapped.
"I am sorry, mam. It's been a long day and now I have to try and find Lily here's parents." The woman explained.
"I know the feeling my son has pneumonia for the second time in a month, I just went through a bad breakup, and everything is wrong." Ziva explained.
"I am sorry to here that." The woman apologized.
"I am sorry for dumping on you. Is there anything I can do for you?" Ziva apologized.
"I am not allowed to ask for favors but would you happen to know where a Ziva David is? I understand that her son is a patient here." The woman explained.
"I am Ziva David." Ziva replied.
"Maureen Higgins, Social Services" Maureen introduced.
"I did not hurt my son." Ziva argued.
"I am not here for an investigation. Miss. David this is Lily Evelyn Cooper, your daughter." Maureen introduced.
"Excuse me? I am clearly a woman. How can I have a child I did not know about?" Ziva demanded.
"Did you sell eggs three years ago?" Maureen asked.
"Yes I did. I did not think I would be carrying more children and I was in need of money for my son's medical bills. I do not see how that is relevant." Ziva explained.
"Three years ago Lily's mother was impregnated via an egg donated from a stranger and the sperm of her deceased husband's former co-worker." Maureen explained.
"Well where is the mother?" Ziva asked.
"Unfortunately Tessa a firefighter was killed on the job shortly after returning from maternity leave. Her sister and her husband were granted custody. Recently Lily was removed from the home after being discovered stealing food from a neighbors trashcan at four in the morning." Maureen explained.
"Aside from my eggs what does this have to do with me?" Ziva questioned.
"As the biological mother you and the biological father have the opportunity to take Lily in. If both of you desire custody we will have a custody case similar to those that occur after a divorce. If neither of you want her she will go into foster care." Maureen explained.
"I have a lot on my plate right now. Am I allowed to ask who the father is?" Ziva asked.
"The father is an Anthony DiNozzo Junior." Maureen replied.
A/N: If anything will make Tony and Ziva talk it's this. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.