A/N: Hi Folks, here's another chapter, sorry for the delay, but what can I say, RL! Hope I've still got some people with me on this ride! To my followers/favourites, and especially my reviewers, thank you soo much!
Now, straight into it...
Gibbs was sitting right by his son, gently stroking his head in comfort to help him sleep, they still had at least 90mins before landing, and his boy was in a fitful sleep. He'd finally managed to catch a few breaths, if he could call it that. He'd asked his wife how she'd gone with her father & simply got 'we talked', he knew she was trying to focus on their son, but he didn't want her to feel abandoned in her dealings with him. However over the last 20 minutes one thing had caught his attention, and he didn't like it.
"Anthony!" Gibbs called sternly.
Tony's eyes flew wide open, he was sitting diagonally behind Gibbs, as he was next to his sister & the bed set up for Jacob. He'd been sitting there quietly with his eyes closed, trying to rest.. trying being the operative word! His throat had started hurting again, well, ok, it hadn't stopped, but he'd pushed it aside! He wasn't sure what Gibbs wanted, but he didn't sound happy…. and he'd called him Anthony! That couldn't be good! "Yes Boss?" he asked hesitantly.
"Come here" Gibbs asserted.
Tony swallowed as he shared a look with Ziva, what could this be about? Gibbs hadn't been on the phone with anyone, he'd just been sitting there, so what was wrong? He unbuckled & walked around to face his boss, when he did, he felt not just his gaze, but Shannon's too! "Something wrong?"
"You tell me" Gibbs stated looking at his charge in the eye.
"Umm.. not sure what you're getting at boss" Tony admitted.
Gibbs stared at him a moment longer before speaking "you've been coughing non-stop for the past 20 minutes, you taken your meds?"
"My meds?" Tony asked, ohh crap!
Gibbs saw his eyes flash wide "Do NOT tell us you haven't been taking them!"
"Well… actually, I forgot them on my desk" Tony admitted "I meant to grab them, but we were in a hurry when we left?" he was cringing, neither of them looked happy!
"Anthony!" Shannon sighed, "I thought we spoke about you remembering to take care of yourself!"
Tony couldn't say anything, he felt so bad, here Gibbs & Shannon were with a son injured so badly that a doctor had been by his bed almost constantly, and yet they were worrying about him! No, he had to say something.. "we did, sorry"
Shannon shook her head "perhaps ask one of the doctors on board to check you? And see if they've possibly got anything you can take" she suggested.
"Like now" Gibbs added, he felt like head slapping the boy, didn't they have enough to worry about? All they needed was for Tony to get sick, or worse, as he was already sick, damn the boy!
"If I may Jethro" Ducky said cautiously as he approached "Mr Palmer mentioned that Anthony had been suffering some tonsilitis, and I took the liberty of bringing some of the medicine for him just in case."
"At least you were on the ball Duck" Gibbs stated not taking his eyes off his charge.
"I'll take it right now" Tony remarked quickly.
"No" Shannon disagreed "you'll let Ducky check you thoroughly and then take the medicine, and you won't miss another dose."
Ducky knew that almost all of the people on the plane were watching the interaction, so he wanted to help Tony get the attention diverted "let's go over here Anthony, I'm sure it won't take long."
Mabel had been sitting by Nix's bed during this exchange, and was curious & concerned, she hadn't liked the coughing her newly found cousin had been doing "is everything ok? Do you need any assistance?"
"Anthony has tonsilitis & had been given medication to take to help it, and it had been improving, until now. I've got it well in hand though" Ducky answered.
Mabel nodded "well, if you need anything, just let me know"
Patricia was doing her best to keep a hold of her son, who was thankfully sleeping at this moment, but she'd been watching the interaction between her brother – still hard to fathom she had one! – and the woman who was her father's actual daughter. It was mighty intriguing, they seemed fairly close & she genuinely looked like she cared for him. She wondered what their relationship was exactly?
Hearing though that her brother had tonsilitis & still came to help her get Jake was heart-warming "are you ok?" she asked quietly as her brother sat back down next to her.
Tony smiled as he turned to her "yea, I'll be fine, don't you worry about that. It's Jacob that needs our attention, I'm more worried about him."
Patricia smile, she stroked her son's head "he's ok for now, the medication is helping"
Tony sensed there was something underling she wasn't saying, but knew now wasn't the time "then I'm happy. Just remember what I said, you & Jacob are welcome to stay here for as long as you need so he can get better, and even after that."
"Thank you" Patricia conceded.
Tim was sitting next to Kelly, she was just staring at her brother, it was breaking his heart watching her watch him "he'll be ok Kell, he'll get better, I just know it."
Kelly gave him a sad smile as she leaned into his side "yea, but how long will it take?"
"Doesn't matter, he'll get there & we'll be with him every step of the way" Tim assured her "and I'm not leaving you for a moment of it either"
Kelly leaned into him "thanks"
Tim took her into his hold as he again looked at Nix, he really was in a bad way, he had no idea what it will take to get him well. He was glad that Loch had received a few injuries to himself for what he did, but was even happier that he was in custody & would pay for it as he should.
Myles took a seat next to his brother "any news on Mike?"
"Still critical, but stable, they want to wait at least another 48 hrs before doing whatever surgery is next required to make sure he stabilises properly" Marcus responded.
"Did they find enough blood supply?" Myles had been worried that they wouldn't have enough.
"Yes, thankfully" Marcus answered "a number of people within NSA Naples are that blood type, have already donated and will go back as soon as they can donate again" he was so thankful for that small mercy!
"We need to speak to Max you know" Myles commented, how would they tell their youngest brother about it all?
"I know" Marcus sighed "I want to do that over FaceTime, and I want to get a flight sorted first too, as he'll want to jet asap."
"Has his classes finished for Christmas yet?" Myles asked.
"He's got 1 exam left, which is tomorrow, no it's today, so let's speak to him after that" Marcus answered.
"Good idea" Myles knew they had to wait until after the exam otherwise he wouldn't be able sit it & knew that was not what Mike would want.
The brothers sat in silence, just staring out into vast open skies, both contemplating how on earth they could tell their youngest brother everything they'd learnt? They were pulled their thoughts when a call came.
"Excuse me sir" Sgt Lewis commented.
"Yes Lewis?" Marcus answered.
"There's a flight that leaves San Francisco at 11pm tonight, it's one of the fastest route being 14hrs through Paris" Sgt Lewis commented, as soon as she'd heard the brothers speaking she'd checked "there's one issue, only business class seats are still available. It gets into Naples late tomorrow night"
"Thanks Lewis" Marcus responded, he should have been surprised but wasn't, she was always so thoughtful. He turned to his brother "book it, screw the cost, we can message Max to call us as soon as the exam is over, he can throw a bag together & get to the airport."
"We'll split the cost" Myles agreed with his brother as he moved to Lewis's station to complete the booking for his brother "glad we can get him here fast, he's going to be a wreak!"
Marcus could only agree, not only would Max be devastated at his brother's injuries, but he was super close with Nix, so he would be doubly devastated "let's just tell him the basics over the phone & get him here."
Harry sighed as he leaned back in his seat "I don't want to go back to DC straight away Dad." Right now he wasn't sure he could leave his friend to cope with things, and for Nix, the kid was like a younger brother, he had to be here for him!
"We won't be son" Ted assured him, he couldn't do it either. "We were due to come over in 2 weeks anyway, I'll get our leaves extended, maybe mum & Stacey can come over earlier too." He knew his wife would want to come over as soon as possible, the only issue she had was the bakery.
Harry nodded, what he wouldn't say to his dad was that he wondered how Stacey would take the news about Nix, he'd had suspicions about the pair, and now wondered how this would change them, if they did.
"We'll need somewhere to crash" Harry commented, originally they were only going to be in Naples for a few days before they all headed to a ski resort, so they were all going to crash at the Gibbs place, but they couldn't do that now..
"Don't you worry about" Ted assured his son "we'll work it all out."
Tim had just gotten up to stretch his legs when he heard the Taylor's conversation "excuse me sir"
"Yes Tim" Ted answered.
"Please feel free to stay at my apartment, it's a 2 bedroom, with a sofa bed as well, so they'll be plenty of room for your whole family. I'm going to take Ziva's sofa bed" Tim commented.
"Are you sure?" Ted asked, that was very generous!
"Yes sir, you're important to Gibbs family, so I know you & them will like you being close. A few of us have already spoken and we're all going to double/triple up to get people situated. Patricia will be at Tony's, Tony, myself & Dorney will stay with Ziva. Ducky will stay with Jimmy, and I know more accommodation is being worked out." Tim answered.
"If we can find some mattresses I know Stacey & I can manage on those in the room with my folks, and then the other room & sofa bed could be made available for some of the others, maybe the Bonds?" Harry suggested.
Ted smiled as his son's generosity "I'd agree with that, those boys will need billeting, and close by"
"That's considerate, but we too can crash on mattresses, just need some floor space & a bathroom" Myles commented "let one of the more… age appropriate guys take the room & bed"
Tim smiled, they were all truly coming together for each other "ok, will get it all sorted"
"Harm" Col Marks called as he & Lt Col Morris approached him, he noticed he'd just come from Cap Bonds room "how is he?"
Brine sighed "not good, but he is stable, so that's a positive. The poor kid will need a number of surgeries and he's got a long road ahead." He wouldn't say the words 'if he makes it', for they all knew that was not being said on purpose.
"Anything that boy needs I will ensure he has" Morris growled, he now had 2 of his charges dealing with more than they should have to, and he wasn't happy about it.
"If you mean, that I will need a delivery organised from my hospital back in DC" Doc Doyle commented as he too exited Mike's room.
"You just say when it's ready & we'll get it over here in the next flight, whether it's through the service or commercial." Marks assured him "Can I start looking at options?"
"Let me assess Phoenix first, as he will need some supplies as well, then we can get everything brought over together." Doyle answered "If all goes well, I should have an idea of what's needed in the next 12 hours."
"I'll look into transport options for us for that timeframe" Marks responded "we'll get a detail to pick it up from wherever required."
"It will also require refrigeration & potentially heating as I am going to need various mould mixtures" Doyle warned "but the hospital can pack it up accordingly."
"Our transport can handle that, won't be an issue" Marks assured him.
"How long until they land?" Morris asked.
"They land in 45 minutes" Brine answered "I've got the ambulances ready to go, myself & Symonds will also be there to oversee the boys trip back here."
"And we've organised the rest of the transport required for the personnel on that flight, there's a second flight about 90 minutes behind them with some more of our people, and some family members, including Shannon's father who'll need an ambulance transfer" Marks added.
Brine nodded "we'll have time to turn one of the ambulances around for his arrival."
"Where are we putting everyone?" Morris queried as the quartet entered the office area.
"We've got a number of rooms free at the Navy Lodge, and there's 3 furnished 2 bedroom apartments in our street that are free where we can put people up in as well" Marks answered.
"Excuse me" Jimmy interrupted the group.
"Palmer" Brine greeted "is everything ok?"
"As far as I know" Jimmy responded "I wanted to see what help I could give, I'm fresh & ready to help" he took a breath before turning his attention "Dr Doyle, Dr Mallard mentioned you had arrived, I have a spare room that you are welcome to stay in, it's in the same street as the Gibbs family, and Dr Mallard is also staying with us."
"That's very kind of you Jimmy" Doyle smiled, he remembered the kid from the game they all watched together "but do you have enough room?"
"Plenty" Jimmy assured him "Breena & I have a 3 bedroom place & we've already pulled Adam into our room, so there's more than enough space"
"Then that would be greatly appreciated, though I doubt I'll be there much" Doyle thanked him.
"Well, you'll need your rest if you're to help Phoenix & Mike properly, so you need your own space to rest & recharge" Jimmy countered.
"I would agree with that" Brine remarked before turning to Jimmy "would you be able to help handle the walk ins with Mendelsohn for the time being?"
"Of course" Jimmy agreed "And Dr Mallard also wanted me to let you know that he'll be available to help as well once they arrive." He knew that the surgeons & specialists would all be very busy for a while, so he was confident that he could help, not to mention Dr Mallard.
Morris watched as Brine nodded to the kid as he walked off "good sort that one"
Brine turned to him "they're one big family that crew, thought I realised it earlier but only now am I seeing how much of a family that group really are. I think we're going to have campers in the hospital for a long time" Gibbs & his crew were truly one big family, and he knew they'd all be there for each other through this, and it was heart-warming to know that!
A/N: So the family are almost home! And their friends are certainly rallying around them! Now, here's hoping the boys can start to heal & the family start to talk, maybe?
I hope to have more up soon, but please review to let me know you're still with me!