"I open my eyes,
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light…"
Leroy Jethro Gibbs opened his eyes and tried to look at his surroundings. White sheets, white lights, white walls, white everything. Where was he? What had happened?
"…I can't remember how,
I can't remember why,
I'm lying here tonight…"
He tried to collect his thoughts, what was the last thing he could remember? He and…and Dinozzo! Yes that was it Dinozzo, he and Dinozzo were raiding a…warehouse… Gibbs blinked a few more times and tried to converge his thoughts. The warehouse…sniper…Dinozzo…blood…
Suddenly he noticed he was not alone in his room. Tony Dinozzo was asleep in a chair near the window. He was merely a shadow of his usual self. He looked dishevelled, worried, his clothes were crumpled and he looked like he hadn't slept well in days. Gibbs then realised where he was, he saw the machines, the sterilised needles; he was in the ICU – intensive care unit. He decided he'd try and sit up, but thought better of it when the searing pain from his wounds ran through his body.
"…And I can't stand the pain,
And I can't make it go away,
No I can't stand the pain…"
Suddenly Tony stirred in his sleep and groggily came to. He looked over at Gibbs and did a double take when he saw Gibbs had his eyes open.
"Boss," he ventured, "…are you…awake?"
"Yeah," he croaked in a sound softer than a whisper, "yeah, I am."
"Oh god," Tony got up and kneeled at the side of Gibbs's bed, "thank god…thank god you're alive. I'll alert a nurse so a doctor can come around." Tony quickly got up and pushed the button for a nurse and within 5 minutes she was there.
"I'm gonna go tell the team the good news Boss, I'll be back soon!"
"You're his boss…?" queried the nurse.
"Yes, why?"
"He hasn't left your side since the accident, I would have sworn he was your son."
"How, how long have I been asleep?"
"5 days, now how are you feeling, do you need anything while we wait for a doctor?"
Tony had been for 5 days! Gibbs suddenly realised why Tony was always looking up to him, Gibbs was like a father to Tony, the father that didn't cast him away from the family when he was only 16.
The doctor walked in, dressed in a white coat and holding a clipboard the nurse had just handed to him. He took a deep breath and told Leroy Jethro Gibbs about his situation.
"…How could this happen to me,
I made my mistakes,
I've got no where to run,
The night goes on,
As I'm fading away,
I'm sick of this life,
I just wanna scream,
How could this happen to me…"
Outside a very exited Tony rang NCIS headquarters.
"Special Agent Todd, NCIS HQ."
"Kate! Kate! He's awake…he's alright!"
"Tony, are you serious? Oh thank God, I'll be there in a couple a minutes with the rest of us."
"Ok, I'll be with Gibbs."
Tony hung-up and ran back inside the hospital.
