Chapter 27
Gibbs looked around. The CIA and FBI were still on high alert. They were getting ready to move into the house, but they were worried about whether or not there were any booby-traps. Two had been arrested, but four were dead. A couple had been intercepted on the road, but it was possible that some had still escaped. The NSA was in the process of tracking down other people involved on the the basis of the communications they were still intercepting. The owner of the estate, a wealthy businessman by the name of Arnold Lambreaux, either had not been on site or else had escaped. They were on the lookout for him, but so far, no sign.
He had sent Tim to a hospital with Tony and Ziva, mostly to see how much of his disconnect was due to his mental state and how much to his physical state. He hadn't seemed in a good state at all. He had been shaking and, even beyond his seeming inability to talk to them, he had not seemed in good health.
Gibbs looked over at the body of Ray Cruz, currently hidden under a tarp or something. There was too much going on for his body to be taken care of yet and the blood-soaked ground was still visible as well. A shotgun shell to the shoulder. It had torn apart everything in there. Tim had been lucky to not get any of the buckshot. Ziva had tried not to show anything but Ray's death had hit her harder than Gibbs had expected, considering how many years it had been since they'd been together.
Finally, he looked over at the other major injury...although to call it an injury was not quite accurate. Levi was now conscious again, and Bri was currently arguing with him about the necessity of going to a hospital. He wasn't having it, as weak as he was.
His sudden burst of speed had taken everyone by surprise, given his general weakness in all the time they'd interacted with him this go around. As soon as Ray had fallen, he had started running, Bri trying to stop him but she clearly hadn't been ready for it, either. It was as if he'd never had any problems at all. He had been out of the trees and helping move Ray in under ten seconds. Tony and Ziva had also run out to help while Gibbs and Bri had continued to cover them. As soon as they had got into the trees, Bri had stopped firing and run over to Levi, catching him as he staggered. She had helped him get out of the way but then, he had passed out.
Perhaps he was ready to have some other kind of conversation besides the one about his own health. Gibbs walked over.
"Dad, you didn't just have a bout of weakness. You were out cold, and your heart is still beating too fast," Bri said. "You're not just needing recovery time. You need to go to a hospital."
Levi's weakness was extremely obvious as he sat on the seat of the car they'd come in. He was sitting up, at least.
"No, Bri," he whispered. "What are they going to do that I can't do at home? I just need to rest. That's all."
"You might have done more damage, Dad. You could..."
"What?" Levi asked, sounding breathless. "Have something other than heart failure? You'll do me more good if you just drive me home than if you force me to the hospital."
Bri looked annoyed, but Gibbs was surprised to see that she also looked very worried, and it was easy to see why. Levi was pale and weak. It looked like he'd gone too far today. This was way worse than what had happened in the elevator. In the elevator he had recovered after a minute or two. It was an hour later and he was still wiped out. Gibbs had to say, even just to himself, that he agreed with Bri.
"Carew," he said.
Levi looked beyond Bri and took a deep breath. Gibbs was surprised again to see him trying to sit up more, trying to show himself as normal.
"What is it, Agent Gibbs?" he asked, still mostly in a whisper.
This time, Gibbs gave in to the desire to smile.
"At ease, Carew."
Levi looked at him in surprise for a moment and then actually laughed breathlessly...and sagged back against the seat.
"Habit," he said.
"What should we do about Ray?" Gibbs asked.
Levi nodded and looked solemn.
"His family still lives in... oh, where was it... south of D.C. He has a friend who works at the NRO. Lucia... Sanchez Ocampos. She can contact his family and make arrangements. They should know how he died. Whatever else... they should know..."
"We'll do that."
"Thank you, Agent Gibbs. I would... but..." He closed his eyes and his shallow breathing sped up a little.
"Dad, stop being stupid. You're not stable and you need the help. Just for tonight."
Levi shook his head again.
"I...want...to go home," he said.
Bri shook her head. "No, Dad. I'll call Mom and have her come to the hospital. You don't have to spend the night away from her. Please?"
There was a long pause, and Gibbs could see that Bri seemed to know exactly why he was resisting, but could he still have that same need to see his wife that he'd had when they'd rescued him?
"All right. Fine. But I'm not going... in an ambulance, and call your mother," Levi said, barely audibly. "Anything else... Agent Gibbs?"
"No. Thanks, Carew."
"What I had to do, Agent Gibbs. Nothing more."
Bri helped him get settled on the seat with his seatbelt on, and then, she hurried around to the driver's side and paused only for a moment.
"He'll insist on going all the way back to D.C.," she said. "I'd fight him on it, but it's not worth it. Give him a day at least, Agent Gibbs. Just a day. That might be all he'll accept for himself, but he needs it."
Gibbs just nodded.
"Thanks."
Then, she got into the car and drove away.
Gibbs stared after the car, wondering when it had happened that he could look at Levi Carew and think about what would be best for him, rather than just how to make him go away.
"Agent Gibbs!"
Gibbs turned around and saw Andrews gesturing to him.
There was still more to do. He walked over to join Andrews, but really, he just wanted to see if Tim was any better.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Zahara wasn't running through the hospital halls, but she was walking as quickly as she dared. For once, she wasn't even thinking about the people around her. All she wanted was to get to her husband, to see for herself that he was okay. Naomi and Sam had agreed to stay home with Salma, but she couldn't wait for the morning to see Tim.
She got to his room and Ziva was sitting outside of it, apparently waiting.
"Ziva!" she said.
Ziva stood up and smiled but she clearly wasn't happy.
"What is wrong?" Zahara asked.
"Zahara, Tim is all right... physically," Ziva said, "but..."
"His mind?"
"We don't know. He has barely spoken to anyone since we got here. It's not like it was before, but..."
"I will accept it," Zahara said. "He is my husband, and no matter how different he might be, I must be with him now."
Ziva nodded and stood aside to let her into the room.
"Tim!" Zahara said.
Tim was lying on a bed, staring at the ceiling. Tony was sitting beside him, looking worried, but he stood up when Zahara came into the room and moved out of the way.
Zahara ran to the bed and pulled Tim up and hugged him tightly.
"Tim, you are all right? Please, speak to me."
For a long moment, Zahara was afraid that Tim couldn't even hear her, that his limp, almost lifeless body truly no longer held his spirit. Then, he moved and hugged her. He said nothing, but he hugged her. It was a hug of desperation. Zahara could feel that Tim was not all right. He was shaking.
"Tim, I need to hear your voice."
Another long pause.
"I'm so tired, Zahara," he whispered.
"You should sleep."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I can't see it again. I can't."
"See what?"
"The light. I can't."
"I will stay with you."
"It won't help. It's there every time I close my eyes. I can't. I can't. I can't."
"You must," Zahara said. "If you don't sleep, it will only be worse for you. You know that you have to sleep, Tim."
"No. No more sleep."
"Yes. Perhaps the doctors here could help you." Zahara looked at Tony and Ziva by the door. "Is this possible? Could he sleep without dreams?"
"I don't know. Maybe," Tony said. "I'll go check."
He left the room and Zahara returned her focus to Tim. His eyes were closed and he was still holding her.
"I'm here, Tim. I won't leave you."
She held him until Tony came back in with a doctor.
"Could Tim sleep without dreams?"
"We can give him a sedative," the doctor said. "Dreams are always possible with any induced sleep, but the majority experience dreamless sleep. It's not a permanent fix, but it would let him sleep now."
"Tim, will you take the sedative?"
"I can't see it again," Tim whispered.
"You won't. I will stay with you and keep the dreams away," Zahara said. "Will you take this sedative?"
Tim nodded.
The doctor administered a sedative into the IV that Zahara hadn't noticed before. She held onto Tim, rocking him and humming softly, until he relaxed and slept. Only when she was sure that he was truly asleep did she let him back down onto the bed. She kept hold of his hand and looked at the others.
"What is wrong with him?"
"We're not sure," the doctor said. "I have a request in for a thorough evaluation, but physically, he's run down. He hasn't been eating or sleeping. He barely let us give him the IV, and when he was so resistant to taking anything, I didn't want to force it on him."
"What if he's still like this after he's slept?" Tony asked.
"I don't know. We'll work on it and try to help him reconnect. But healing his body will help heal his mind."
"Thank you," Zahara said. "May I stay?"
"Yes, of course."
Then, the doctor left and Zahara looked at Tony and Ziva.
"What happened?"
"When we got him out, ...someone was killed protecting him," Ziva said.
Zahara didn't miss the hesitation.
"Who?"
"No one you know, Zahara. I promise," Tony said.
"But someone Tim knows."
"Yeah."
"Oh. That... People dying for him or because of him... that is always the worst thing," she said softly. "But he's here. He's safe. That will be enough for now. I did not know either thing before. Now, he's here."
She kissed Tim's hand and then kissed his forehead and then settled on the chair beside the bed so that she could keep hold of his hand.
Was this perfect? Absolutely not, but her husband was alive, and that meant that things could get better.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Levi lay on a hospital bed, trying to force his body to recover, all the while knowing that he couldn't do that. He'd always hated the nasal cannula. It was annoying when he was conscious enough to notice it. He knew he needed it right now, but he still hated it. He hated the IV, too, but he knew he needed that as well. He could say with some certainty that he'd never felt like quite like this since his time actually being tortured. There was one other time when he'd overdone it since then and it had led to a collapse, but he hadn't actually passed out. And even then, it had taken him a full week to recover his now-normal energy levels. How long would it take this time? He didn't know.
"Levi, what were you thinking?"
Levi smiled, feeling that same sense of relief he always felt when he first saw Tamara after she'd been gone or he'd been gone. He didn't outright think she was dead anymore, but the possibility of losing her was always there in his mind and so seeing her and knowing he hadn't was enough. He didn't even care how frustrated she was with him. All he wanted was to see her.
He looked over to the door.
"Hi," he said, annoyed that all he could do was whisper, still.
Tamara walked over to him and sat down, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly.
"Bri said that you were stupid," she said.
Levi laughed breathlessly, still feeling tired out by even that much exertion.
"That depends on your perspective. I did... exactly what I needed to do."
"Which was?"
He looked away and felt some of his contentment ebb away.
"Ray is dead. He was killed while trying to get Tim out."
"Oh..."
Levi looked over and saw the regret and sadness Tamara obviously felt for someone she didn't know well but had welcomed as a guest. He squeezed her hand.
"He saved Tim's life...but he died doing it. Tim wouldn't leave him behind, and no one else was moving. So... I did."
"And it was too much."
"Yeah. Anything would have been by then. It was too long a day."
"Levi..."
"I had to," he whispered. "Nothing you can say, no... lecture can make me change my mind."
"I know. It's frustrating, but I know." Tamara shook her head. "Levi, others would have done it."
"Yes, but not fast enough. Tim needed someone there... right away. No delay. And I was."
Then, Dr. Owens, Levi's usual doctor, came in.
"I don't like seeing you back here, Mr. Carew," he said. "You should know better."
"I do," Levi said. "I just... ignore it."
"Well, I'm glad your daughter forced you to come here. She's already given me your stats from before you got here, and, Levi, you can't keep doing this. Your heart can't take it. All you're doing is pushing yourself into an early grave. You need to accept that you can't do some things anymore."
"I accept that. I just... do it anyway."
"You'll recover this time, if you give yourself enough time to do it, but one of these days, you'll push too hard and you won't. If you're frustrated by what you can't do now, it will be even worse."
Levi nodded in resignation.
"I know. I hate it...but I know."
"Good. Now, put that knowledge into practice and I'll be happy."
"I'll remember... that." Levi took another deep breath. "How long are you... going to keep me here?"
"Twenty-four hours. Maybe more. It depends on how your heart performs. If you do what I say, you'll be much more likely to get out after that. I don't guarantee it, but it's more likely than if you keep straining your heart."
"He'll do what you say," Tamara said, firmly.
"I'll trust that you have more influence over your husband than I do."
"She does," Levi said. "Not much more, but she does."
Tamara laughed a little. Levi knew she didn't want to, but she did.
"All right, Levi. Let me get a look at your stats, although I can already see that your oxygen exchange is getting better."
"Doesn't... feel like it."
"That's because you keep talking."
"Your fault."
"Right now, I'll grant you that."
"Good."
Dr. Owens finished his examination and then nodded.
"Your heart is responding to the medication and it's getting slower and more regular. And before you ask, no, that doesn't mean you can go home right now. I'm still keeping you for a day."
"All right."
"Now, the best thing would be for you to sleep. Can you do that or do you need something to help?"
"I'll do that."
"Good."
Then, Dr. Owens left, and Levi let his eyes close. The lids were getting annoyingly heavy.
He felt Tamara run her hand over his head.
"No more of this, Levi. Don't make me lose you again."
"No promises," he whispered.
"I know. Go to sleep. I'll be here."
"That's all I need."
Then, he stopped trying to be healed and let himself give in to his exhaustion, secure in knowing that Tamara was right there with him.