Tony hated that he had to miss Jimmy's funeral. The doctors had told him that he would be able to go as long as he was stable and Gibbs and a nurse went with him. He remained stable for three days but the morning of Jimmy's funeral he had a small fever and the doctors could not allow him to leave the hospital.
"You sure you don't want me to stay with you?" Gibbs asked.
"No you need to go and support Breena." Tony replied.
"You are sick. I am sure she would understand." Gibbs replied.
"It's just a slight fever. I am fine. You need to go." Tony argued.
"OK well I will be back in two or three hours." Gibbs replied.
Tony had a lot of time to think while his dad was at Jimmy's funeral. He was trying to be strong so that Gibbs didn't have to be so stressed out and protective all the time but it was hard. He was still blaming himself for Jimmy's death and he still could not believe that Senior had been so cruel to him. Things were finally slowing down now but he didn't know if it would last. He was starting to think that nothing would ever be normal again. He just prayed that no others died because of him.
"You doing OK, Tony?" Dr. Pitt asked.
"Yeah just thinking." Tony replied.
"About what?" Dr. Pitt asked.
"Life" Tony replied.
"You sad about your friend?" Dr. Pitt asked.
"Yeah, I can't believe that he is gone." Tony replied.
"How's his wife?" Dr. Pitt asked.
"She really isn't doing well." Tony replied.
"I am sorry to hear that." Dr. Pitt apologized.
"Yeah she came to see me the other day and she looked so tired and depressed. I don't know what she is going to do when the baby is born." Tony replied.
"What do you mean?" Dr. Pitt asked.
"Like how is she going to cope? Jimmy was always part of the plan and now he is just gone and she is all alone." Tony explained.
"Well are you going to help?" Dr. Pitt asked.
"Of course I am going to help. We all are." Tony replied.
"She should be OK then. At least when it comes to being a new mom." Dr. Pitt assured.
"Yeah. Your right" Tony agreed.
Tony's fever had broken by the time Gibbs returned from Jimmy's funeral. Gibbs took a seat and watched his son sleep in the hospital bed. Once Tony had gone twenty-four hours without a fever or further complication. He would be released back to the rehab hospital. The nurse who had let Senior take him had been fired. Still Gibbs doubted that he would be leaving his son very much. Even after he was in the rehab hospital. He still had the plan to take Tony back to Stillwater until he was recovered once he was out of the hospital.
"Boss?" Tony asked.
"What's going on, son?" Gibbs asked.
"How was the funeral?" Tony asked.
"Sad, Breena couldn't get through it and Ducky couldn't even be there." Gibbs explained.
"Wish I could have been there." Tony sighed.
"May have been too much for you. You are pretty vulnerable right now." Gibbs replied.
"Still feel bad, I know Jimmy would be there for me." Tony replied.
"Not if he was sick in the hospital." Gibbs reminded.
McGee was still furious with Delilah. How could she say such cruel things about him? Tony acted like a child all the time an nobody called him out for it. He had apologized and been investigated for the radio incident. It's not like he had kept it hidden until he had already been made director of the agency or anything. In his mind he had paid his dues and he deserved the lead agent job. Of course if Tony was able to/decided to come back, he would gladly let Tony take that position but there were still no promises or even answers about Tony's return. So it's not like McGee was guaranteed the job or anything. He wished that he could talk to Gibbs about all this but he didn't think that career advice would be a very appropriate funeral topic. Besides the fact that Gibbs had rushed out as soon as the service was over to get back to Tony. He had to give Vance an answer before he came back to work and he was already most of the way through the first week of his suspension. He decided to try to call Gibbs and see if his boss would be willing to offer him any advice.
"Gibbs"
"Hey Boss, it's me."
"Not your Boss anymore McGee."
"Right"
"What do you need."
"I was just wondering if you could give me some advice."
"About what?"
"If Tony didn't come back would I make a good lead agent of the MCRT?" \
"DON'T EVEN ASK ME THAT!"
"Oh yeah that's mature! Hang-up on me!"
Diane could not believe that she was in prison. She hated Gibbs for convincing Tony that he was innocent. She was almost home-free and then Gibbs got involved. Why couldn't Gibbs just leave things alone? As much as she hated Gibbs though. It was not near as strong as her burning hatred for Tony DiNozzo. She saw the way he treated people. The way he acted like some spoiled frat boy. As far as she was concerned. He was just another rich kid who never saw the need to grow-up. All those things she could forgive though. The reason she hated Tony DiNozzo was because. He had stolen agent Gibbs from her. She loved him and he was just about to make his move. When Tony got sick with the plague and suddenly Tony was all that mattered.
A/N: Finally an explanation for Diane's hatred of Tony. New chapter will be up soon. Please review and thanks for reading.
