A/N: Readers, I hope you enjoy this thriller of a chapter in this journey, and there will be more to come. Thank you in advance for the reviews, tweets, messages and kudos.
Chapter 3 -The Horror of It All- June 2043
Elizabeth "Liza" Zivah McGee Narrates
As I am reading this Journal that my beloved grandmother, Ziva, had written, this brings back memories of stories I had grown up hearing about. I was born on my mother's birthday; this story begins a few days after I arrived home from the hospital. The 2043 and 2044 years we saw difficult times and very dramatic, even horrible, changes happened in the family.
Ziva sat on the couch looking at Morgan, sitting in the recliner cradling her baby in her arms as the baby cooed gently as she slept. Ziva smiled, then looked up at Morgan. "Megan Alicia's a beautiful name. Isn't she adorable?" Ziva leaned toward Morgan, getting a closer look at the baby.
Morgan looked at Ziva then glanced down at the baby, a quick smile flashing on her lips. "Yeah, I am glad we came up with the name. Alicia is my grandmother's name, and Megan is my aunt's name." She reached up and swept a few strands of her hair from her eyes.
"Oh, that's awesome. They must've had a huge influence on your life." Ziva said gently, smiling at Morgan.
Morgan shrugged. "I didn't really know them personally, but I've heard so many stories about 'em that I feel like I almost know 'em, sort of."
Delilah looked at Ziva and quickly nodded her head. "Ziva, do you remember I told you about my older sister, Megan?"
"Vaguely. It's been a while since you've talked about her. She passed away when she was very young. What happened to her again?" Ziva leaned forward; she remembered some of the details but wasn't so clear on the particulars.
"Well, it was a freak accident, it happened before I was born. She, I mean Megan, was riding her little bike around in the driveway. She just happened to ride right behind my mother's car just as she backed out of the garage." Delilah paused to take a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Happened so fast that my mother didn't even have time to stop before the car just went over her. She was never the same after that, and she was placed in a facility shortly after I was born, and I was raised by my grandmother since then."
"That would explain how you could relate to Zara and her struggles," Ziva said as she flashed a smile to Delilah, slowly nodding her head; she finally understood better why Zara seemed to be somehow drawn to Delilah all these years.
"That's probably why. That's why I've always tried to be there whenever you needed, just like Tim is there for Tony, regardless of whatever paths our families took." Delilah flashed a smile as she swiveled her chair to Morgan as she heard a new sound.
Ziva's nose wrinkled at the faintest whiffs of a pungent smell that tickled her scent buds. "Someone smells a little ripe," she said, vaguely wafting the air in front of her face.
Morgan looked down as baby Megan stirred fussily in Morgan's arms. "Oh, someone needs a change, and is also hungry." Morgan giggled as she got up from the couch and gently rocked the baby on her shoulder. "Excuse me, I'll go take care of her in the other room."
"Yeah, been there, done that many times." Ziva chuckled at Morgan's retreating figure as she walked away with the baby in her arms.
"Morgan, I left your diaper bag in that room over there, just in case." Delilah called out after Morgan.
Morgan turned mid-stride and looked at Delilah, flashing a smile to her. "Ah alright, thank you Mom." She then turned and walked off to the other room.
As Delilah said her welcome to Morgan, back door opened in the kitchen, and in walked Tali, carrying her newborn baby in one arm, her changing bag in her other arm. "Hello, we're back, and Liza's all happy and clean now!" she said breathlessly as she breezed into the living room, happy to see her family again.
"Ah, Tali!" Ziva's eyes widened and her mouth opened in a wide smile. "Good to hear she's all happy again, some food in her tummy, a clean diaper on her and clean pajamas." She held out her arms and smiled at Tali and the newborn baby. "Would Elizabeth Zivah like to come to Savta?"
"Oh yeah, that would be great." Tali gently handed the baby to Ziva, freeing herself up so she could put down the changing bag. She craned her head toward the garage, then chuckled slightly. "Sounds like Ian's having fun in there with the trains."
"Yeah, he is. John's in there also with Ian and Tim," Delilah said as she wheeled up next to Tali.
But before either Delilah or Tali could say anything, the door to the garage burst open and an excited shriek followed an exuberant toddler, his little feet pattering across the floor as he ran toward Tali. "Ima! Ima! Guess what I did!"
"Shhh, don't wake the baby!" Ziva whispered as she looked down at the baby; the baby had startled at the sound of Ian running into the room. Yet there was a smile on Ziva's face because she had seen how excited Ian had been when he came in. "Go ahead, tell us!"
Tali planted her hands in her hips and looked down at Ian, shaking her head. "C'mere, you little rascal." She knelt and looked at him at eye level as she held Ian by his shoulders. "You know you woke the baby up when you ran in here?" Her voice was gentle, yet motherly, gently reminding him of the rules in the household.
Ian nodded. "Sorry, Ima," he said, but then in his excitement blurted out, "Guess what I did!"
Tali's lips quickly formed a wide smile. "Tell me what you got to do. Sounded like you had fun in there, something worth running in here telling us, right?"
Ian's head bobbed up and down in a big nod. "Yeth! I got to ride the big train! Choo-choo!" His arms wheeled at his side, as if he was mimicking a steam locomotive.
Tali let out a chuckle. "No wonder I was hearing what sounded like a locomotive whistle going off in the garage when I was walking into the house." She shook her head. "Sounds like Dad got the big locomotive up and running, finally."
As if on cue, John and McGee walked into the living room just then, both chuckling at Ian's exuberance. John spoke up first. "Yeah, not the smaller model railroad. The bigger one we finally got up and running." He reached down and patted Ian's shoulder.
Ziva stood up and looked up at John, smiling at him. "Sounds like you boys are having a lot of fun in the garage playing with your model trains?" Ziva smiles as she titled her head to John. "Where's Tony?"
John held out a hand in the general direction of the garage. "Tony got a phone call, sounded important. Decided we better come in here and wait," he said, making sure to speak clearly and sign the occasional word. "You should see Ian. Really loves the trains a lot. We went out back and finished up the 7.5 gauge train. You know, the one where we spent all these weeks and months laying the track for in the backyard? We finally got that locomotive up and running again, the whole innards were rotted out. Had to replace everything, but it runs like a champ now. He had a ball riding the train, in one of the rail cars." He pulled out his phone. "Got some pictures, too, and a couple of videos."
Tali stepped up next to John's side and looked down at the display. "You did? Let me see 'em." She leaned over and watched the videos on John's phone. "Ahaha! You'll love these, Ima, they're just wonderful." She held the phone out and replayed the videos for Ziva, who was still holding Elizabeth.
McGee stepped up next to Delilah, chuckling at Tali and Ziva's reactions. "Yeah. You can see how my knees stuck way out to the sides. But it was still fun, nonetheless." He pantomimed pulling on the train horn. "Toot, toot! Look at me, I'm an engineer!"
John chuckled. "Yeah, like when the Grinch was on that tiny little car careening through the neighborhood." He scrunched himself up a little and mimicked steering a tiny steering wheel.
This caused Ian to burst out in giggles and chuckles. He pointed at John and McGee. "Abba an' Papi funny!"
Ziva laughed and pointed to John. "And you were the conductor, I take it?"
John shook his head. "More like an overseer of the rail lines, large and small. Everything ran smoothly for a first test. I was impressed with how much pull that locomotive had. Speaking of trains, I better go back and check on the trains." He flashed a grin and turned to walk back into the garage.
"More train time?" McGee ribbed with John.
"Me too, Daddy!" Ian stepped up next to John.
John chuckled. "Sure, you can come with me," he said as he put an arm around Ian's shoulders and walked with him to the garage.
Just then, Morgan walked back into the room, having fed and changed her baby. "Just put Megan down for a little nap." As she passed Ziva and Elizabeth, she looked down at the baby and shook her head. "I just can't get over how blonde her hair is. Where'd that come from, anyway?"
"I know, it's weird. The rest of us in the family have either black or brown hair." Tali let out a short chuckle as she walked up to Ziva and sat next to Ziva and gently rubbed Elizabeth's head. "I've been asking myself where that came from."
"Well, now that I think of it, I remember Morgan being very blonde when she was young. John was, too, but his grew darker early while hers stayed for a long time," Delilah said, flinging a hand through the air.
"Oh, so it must've come from your side of the family?" Tali said, a smile on her face as she pointed a finger to Delilah. "A little variety to the family look, right?"
McGee laughed, shaking his head slightly. "You could say that. It always seems to be a hit and miss thing with the blonde hair in our family tree."
Delilah put a hand on her chest and shook her head, her eyes wide and her mouth a small O. "I swear to God, no one on my side of the family is blond. At all. Either dark brown or black. When the kids were born, boom, blonde, twice in a row. You could imagine the look on my face." She turned to look at Morgan and John. "Thank goodness their hair color changed over time and they're more of a darker color. More like a dirty blond color."
"Didn't take until high school for me, though," Morgan pointed to her hair. It still bore the occasional streak of blonde. "If I'm out in the sun too long, my hair bleaches out like this. I've always found it cool, in some ways."
Ziva chuckled. "I'm sure that saves you money on your hairstyling bills, having your hair change naturally like that."
Just then, Ian came running in from the garage. "Papi, Daddy needs help because train go boom," he said as he tugged at McGee's pant leg with one hand as he pointed toward the garage with the other.
"What?" McGee glanced down at Ian, then cocked his ears toward the garage. He heard yet another small crashing sound as the model trains collided with each other and turned and ran into the garage. "Oh, dear, John, what now?" He turned on his feet and quickly walked to the garage, followed by Ian, but almost collided with Tony. "Tony, your trains!"
Tony held a finger up in the air, listening carefully to the caller on the other end, as yet another rail car careened off the model behind him and plunged to the floor with a crash. "Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can," he said as he hung the phone up.
McGee looked into Tony's face. "Tony? Your trains? They're crashing -"
Tony cut him off. "Go help John in there, please?"
McGee nodded. "Going there now. I'll set it straight in a hurry." He strode into the garage to try to put a stop to the madness happening on the model train table.
"Babbo?" Ian looked up at Tony. "Train crash fall to floor?" He pointed to the rail cars now laying on the floor in a heap as the sound of another rail car careening off the tracks reached their ears as the model-train disaster unfolded.
Tony looked down at Ian and nodded at him. "You can go with Papi and help him and your Daddy to turn the trains off, okay?"
"Okay!" Ian smiled and quickly turned and ran back into the garage. "I help you and Papi, Daddy!" His voice floated out of the garage, reaching the others' ears.
Just then, the faint cry of a baby reached their ears. Morgan looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. "Someone's up. And I just put her down, too."
Tali chuckled as she walked up to Ziva while looking at Morgan. "Maybe Megan's missing Liza." She shifted her attention to Ziva and said quietly with a smile on her lips, "Here, let me take her, Ima."
"Sure thing, here you go," Ziva said as she gently handed baby Elizabeth over to Tali.
"I'll go with you, I need to check on Megan anyway," Morgan said as she got up and walked up next to Tali.
Delilah shook her head and chuckled. "Ah, the joys of parenthood. Now they get to learn what we went through," she said, as she signed what few words she knew to Ziva.
As Tali and Morgan went through the hallway, Matt came stomping up the stairs in a big rush, causing baby Elizabeth to startle awake and start crying. As the basement door burst open and Matt stepped out, Elizabeth let out a peal of cry, and Tali let out a scoff. "Matt, look what you've done!"
Morgan threw her hands up in the air as she rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "You've done it now, Matt. Now we'll never get her to sleep again."
Matt chuckled. "Hey you. Good luck getting her to sleep, it's not my problem."
Tony turned and looked at Matt, shaking a finger at him playfully. "Hey, hey, now. Just wait til you have your own kids. You'll be regretting those very words." His mouth slowly turned from a scowl to a smile. "Where's the fire drill, anyway?"
"Yeah, what's so important that you had to wake the baby up, anyway?" Tali scoffed, then turned and walked away, followed by Morgan. "I've got to put her back down for a nap, thanks to you."
"Whatever," Matt called out after Tali.
But Ziva stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. "What's going on, anyway, Matt?" she asked.
Matt quickly turned to Ziva. "The news! There's something going on, Zack just got ahold of me." He pointed to the TV set.
"O-okay," Ziva sat back down and reached for the remote next to her and turned the TV on.
" - a high speed chase that has crossed state lines, and authorities are stating that a shootout has occurred on the state border lines, and there is now a federal investigation taking place into this," the TV reporter swirled onto the screen. "Investigators on the scene state that the driver was connected to an ongoing federal investigation into a residential treatment facility. The driver had previously injured a resident there, rendering her unconscious, then ended up kidnapping another resident. When he was finally pulled over, officers unfortunately found the resident slain, in the passenger seat of the car." The picture cut to a helicopter shot of a figure walking along the freshly laid tire tracks on the New York roadway with a white sheet, handing it to another officer. The narrator droned on. "The suspect has been slain in the shootout, and now both states are coordinating in gathering the investigative data, where it will all be handed over to the federal agencies, where they have jurisdiction."
Ziva gasped and pointed to the TV screen. "That's... Zack? That looks like his car, pulled over on the road."
Matt looked at the TV. "Yeah, that's him. He sent me a text saying he's okay, he didn't get hurt in the shootout. Pennsylvania State got 'im at the border, and Zack just watched it because the guy crashed into a tree just as he crossed the border and tried to get away."
The TV cut to a picture of the residential treatment facility as the reporter droned on. "As part of an ongoing investigation of this facility, investigators believe that this suspect, Scotty Webster, now deceased in the shootout, had sexually assaulted several residents, even injuring a resident, and when caught, injuring a nurse as well, before kidnapping another resident and leading police on a high-speed chase crossing state lines."
Tony felt as if he had been hit by a train just then. He let out a deep breath, then swallowed a hard lump in his throat with an audible gulp. "That explains the phone call I just got. It's Zara," his voice thick with emotion. "They said they need us there at the ER, they're having a hard time getting her to calm down so they could run tests on her. Would not let anyone touch her at all, freaks the hell out any time anyone gets close to her." Tony's hands slowly expanded as if exploding.
Ziva tilted her head, her forehead furrowed in concern. "Well, what happened to her?"
Tony shrugged. "Dunno yet, but I got a bad feeling about this. They asked for permission to sedate her so they could run some tests, so I gave it to 'em. We need to go in and find out what's going on, they wouldn't tell us more over the phone."
Ziva glanced at Matt, then back at Tony. "What are we waiting for? Let's go see her. I have a bad feeling about this as well," Ziva said as she stepped up next to Tony. She had a sudden unease in the pit of her stomach just then.
"You two, go. We'll be okay," Matt walked up to his parents and gave them a quick hug.
Delilah wheeled up to Tony and Ziva. "I'll let the others know. You two, go ahead." She tried to keep her voice sounding optimistic. "Keep in touch, let us know how things are."
Ziva smiled and nodded. "Will do." She turned and flicked a finger to Matt, a smile on her face. "Now you, behave. Don't be giving Morgan and Tali a hard time. They're going through a lot as mothers. You'll understand what it means to be a parent one day."
Matt chuckled. "Of course, you know me, I'll be-had," he said, intentionally mis-pronouncing the word.
Tony laughed. "Ooh, an idiom if I ever heard one!" He flicked a finger in the air. "Nice one."
Ziva chuckled, then turned serious. "Alright, we need to go, Tony, right? The phone call?"
"Oh, yes. Let's go!" Tony said and put an arm around Ziva's shoulder, then as he opened the door and Ziva stepped out, he shot a look at Matt and made a "I'm watching you" gesture, then winked and cracked a smile on his lips before he stepped out the door.
Matt let out a chuckle and said quietly, "Yeah, gotcha, Abba,"
Eventually, after arriving at the emergency department and ushered back toward a smaller waiting room next to the trauma bays, Tony and Ziva sat in their chairs, waiting for further news. A familiar figure walked into the room and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, found you two before the others did."
Ziva gasped. "Carol? What're you doing here?" She recognized the nurse from the facility that Zara was staying at.
Carol quickly but softly closed the door, then walked up to Tony and Ziva and pulled out an object and flipped it open. "We've been investigating the facility for some time now. I'm actually an FBI agent inside the facility," she whispered. "The reason I've been so convincing as a nurse was, well, I had nursing school training before."
"Huh?" Tony stood dumbfounded. "You had us fooled the whole time -"
Carol held up a hand and smiled. "It was hard, believe me. We knew you were former agents on both sides of the pond, and as such our little act had to be spot-on."
Ziva laughed. "No doubt you profiled us both going deep. I had a feeling about you but couldn't figure out what." She waved a finger in the air as she smiled at Carol. "Good job. I think you'd pass the test at either agency, should you decide on a change in your career."
Carol laughed. "We had your back the whole time once we found out who you were, through Zara's relationship to you. The reason I'm here is because of Zara, I was the only person who she would somewhat respond to. Finally had to call you in for a little help."
As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked the doctor. "Ah, here we are," he said, and looked at the clipboard. "DiNozzos, correct?" He looked up at Tony and Ziva and smiled at them.
Tony nodded and held out a hand for a handshake. "Tony DiNozzo, and this is my wife, Ziva." He tilted his head toward Ziva, who smiled and waved at the doctor.
"What's the word?" Ziva looked at the doctor, dropping her hand to the side, looking at him expectantly. "How's Zara?"
"Let's have a seat, everyone," the doctor said, motioning to the chairs. "Glad you're here, Agent Summers," he said, smiling to Carol. After everyone had sat down, the doctor laid out some
paperwork on the table in front of him and let out a sigh. "My name's Dr. Speckerman, and we just wanted to fill you in an update on your daughter. I'll fill in with my part, the medical side, and Agent Summers'll tell you the rest."
Tony nodded and let out a sigh. "Alright." He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "Let's hear it," he said.
Dr. Speckerman let out a sigh and said, "Well, your daughter is stable at the moment, and we're closely monitoring her. There is more going on, but for right now, we have her stabilized."
"Alright, good to know." Ziva let out a sigh, then asked. "What happened? Let's start from the beginning," Ziva held up a hand. "I believe that would be you, Carol – I mean, Agent Summers." She fixed Agent Summers with a look that bore right through her.
Carol gulped a bit. "Yes, let's start at the beginning. One moment." She stood up and took a couple of steps to the door and opened it and stuck her head out. "Jones? Smith? You two can come in, please." She returned to her seat and sat down.
Two more agents stepped in, just as the doctor got an emergency page. Dr. Speckerman looked down at his pager, then stood up. "I'll let you do the introductory details, and I'll take care of this page. Shouldn't be too long." He gave a quick smile and nod as he stepped out of the room.
The older of the two agents that just entered shook his head at the departing doctor. "Busy fella, but about par for the trauma department." He turned his attention to Tony and Ziva. "We meet at last. Agent Mark Jones, this is Agent Jim Smith." He held out a hand for a handshake.
Tony took his hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you. Been on the force a while now?" He grinned at Agent Jones.
Jones let out a short chuckle. "Been around the block a few times, yeah. Agent Smith's just learnin' the ropes now. Been picking up a good amount of know-how."
Agent Smith smiled a bit nervously. "Lot to learn. But I'm still excited to do this kind of work. But it feels a bit overwhelming at times."
Ziva chuckled. "I know the feeling. But you'll do well on the job. Just take it one day at a time, and maybe one day you'll make a name of yourself."
"So, you're a legend among all the people I talk with, I hear." Agent Smith said. "I never thought I'd get the chance to meet -"
"No time for pleasure," Ziva gently cut him off. "Let's get this going. The beginning, what happened." Ziva was all business the moment anyone brought up any reference to her being a legend.
Tony rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and muttered to himself, "Every single time someone brings that up, that brings out the ninja in her." He shook his head and did his best Al Pacino impression, "No matter how hard I try to get out, it pulls me back in!" He mimicked someone slowly pulling something in toward himself.
Ziva looked at Tony with a slight shake of her head. "You and your movies, Tony!" her eyes told Tony as she looked at him.
Agent let out a short chuckle, instantly understanding the reference, but was cut short by a hard backhanded slap on his chest. "Oof!" he grunted quietly.
"What'd I tell you?" Agent Jones hissed at Agent Smith. "Never bring that up in front of them! Focus on the job." He simmered down, then turned to look at Tony and Ziva and smiled at them. "We've been running an investigation on the residential facility that your daughter's been living at, for the past few months. Roughly five months or so, to be exact." He turned to Carol/Agent Summers. "Wouldn't that be correct?"
Agent Summers leaned forward in her seat a bit and nodded. "Right around five months, yes. We've suspected some wrongdoing a bit earlier than that, but the actual investigation started right around that time frame. And I'm afraid that it now directly involves your daughter. More about what happened to her and the other residents."
Ziva nodded once. It took her a few moments to absorb the information she had just heard. "When the investigation started, what was the original basis?"
Carol flipped open a folder. "Well, it seems that the director of the facility was double- and triple-billing Medicare for their services and skimming some off the top of the rich peoples' payments. Come to find out, there was a lot more than just Medicare fraud going on in there." She flipped a couple of pages over in the folder. "You've got people getting the wrong medication, sometimes overdoses. Not in line with standard treatment protocols. You've got the occasional beatings in there. Torture, some rapes happening in there. Some residents were even impregnated."
Ziva let out a gasp and grabbed at the arm of the chair, which happened to have Tony's hand on it. She nearly crushed Tony's hand, squeezing it so hard, the memories flooding through her mind. Suddenly, she was back in Somalia, in that dingy, smelly, dark cell. A tear started to fall from Ziva's eye.
"Mmf!" Tony grunted in pain as he felt like the bones in his hand were about to break from Ziva squeezing it so hard. "Ziva, hey." He looked over at Ziva and noticed the tear in her eye. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here." He reached out with his other hand and patted her on her arm and hand. "Hey, I'm here, honey. It's okay."
Ziva blinked her eyes a few times, brushing away the images, returning to the present, then slowly released her deathly grip on Tony's hand. Her face was pale, sweaty, from sudden anxiety. "So... are you saying... our daughter..." she started to ask Agent Summers, but couldn't continue.
"Have you noticed how Zara wore a hoodie every time you visited?" Agent Summers asked. "I've been keeping track while I was in there."
Tony's face twisted in puzzlement as he recalled seeing Zara always in a hoodie or sweater. "Yeah, I noticed. It's not because she's cold?"
Ziva put her hands on her mouth as she realized the significance of Zara always wearing sweaters when she normally didn't before. "So, they were using the sweater to cover something up?"
Agent Summers nodded. "Other residents went through the same thing. The abuse, the being forced to wear sweaters to cover up evidence." She flipped to another page in the folder. "We are confident that it was mainly one person doing the abuse." She turned the page around, and the picture showed the orderly that they had seen on the TV earlier. "Scotty Webster. He was doing his dirty deeds on the residents and Daddy Webster's been trying to cover up evidence."
Ziva stared at the picture, dumbfounded. "The same guy we saw on the news earlier," she breathed out. She looked at Tony. "You know, the one across the state line?"
Tony blinked. "Wait, you're saying the same guy that got Swiss cheesed on the side of the road's the one that's been – oh, my God." Tony's mind was blown away. He had missed all the signs, and the abuse had been happening right under his nose! He slumped in his chair.
Agent Summers nodded. "One and the same, I'm afraid. We dug a little deeper in his background, and he's got a rap sheet a mile long."
"Zack – our other son – mentioned something to me about him not too long ago. Said that he saw Scotty standing at Zara's room door, hovering there every minute he visited with Zara. He felt something really off about the guy. Knowing Zack, I believe him, and if his gut is telling him something is off, he is usually right." Ziva let out a sigh. "Come to think of it, he did the same thing with us as well."
Tony nodded. "I don't think anyone really liked that Scotty guy. Every time he comes and stands at the door, it's like Zara could sense his presence and she clams up tight. Doesn't seem like she recognizes us some days." He shook his head slightly, letting out a sigh as he leaned forward in his chair. "We could never figure out why, it's so hard when she's so uncommunicative except through her drawings."
Agent Jones nodded, taking notes. "Yeah, that's another thing, those drawings. Have you been to Zara's room lately?" He let out a short chuckle.
Ziva shook her head. "No, not for the last week and half or so. Maybe the last two weeks. A lot's been happening in our family lately. Two new grand babies in such a short amount of time." She flashed a quick smile.
Agent Jones raised an eyebrow and smiled at Tony and Ziva. "Well, congratulations on your new grandbabies." He flipped to another page in his notepad. "Just wait until we take you over to her room. You wouldn't believe the amount of drawing she's been doing in there."
Ziva raised an eyebrow. "Oh? She must've drawn out a lot of evidence, then. Only way she would communicate to almost anyone."
Agent Summers' head rose quickly from the folder. "You mean to tell me that Zara's been trying to tell me something through her drawings? Because I let her draw all the time?"
Agent Jones' head snapped to Agent Summers. "Wow, talking through drawings? You lost me there. Heck, nobody could figure out what those drawings mean. The only pattern we came up was that Scotty guy showing up in a lot of the drawings."
"Man, those drawings, how could anyone draw such detail?" Agent Smith blurted out.
Agent Jones shot Smith a look. "She happens to be autistic, and there are people out there capable of drawing that level of detail. Almost like she was a camera, capturing all the detail, and it was enough for us to identify Scotty in a lot of those pictures."
Ziva nodded and smiled wanly. "That's Zara for you. What started all this today?"
Agent Summers nodded. "Yes, it all started this morning. Another nurse caught Scotty with Zara, masturbating in front of her. Zara apparently freaked out and started screaming bloody murder, he tried to strangle her to stop her screams, but the nurse stopped him. He attacked the nurse, injuring her and knocking her out. Took off running, grabbed another resident and stole the nurse's car and took off. I ran in from the main desk and found Zara on the floor, unresponsive, so had to call for help."
Tony let out a long sigh. "Wow, this is a lot to process," he muttered to himself.
Ziva looked at the other two agents, then back to Agent Summers. "How's Zara doing, now? Do you know?" Her face was full of concern, her voice taut. "I'd like to know more!" She fumed at not being able to see Zara just this moment, yet. But she knew that the agents were only doing their jobs and were passing on what information they knew to Ziva. She knew that they had apparently received the okay to talk with Tony and Ziva, due to their previous work experience.
"Actually, I can't yet tell you at the moment, Mrs. DiNozzo, as to the current state she is in. But I can tell you what happened when we arrived, and she came to. When she realized that people were touching her, you know how the medics and the nurses do their vitals on everybody?" Agent Summers started laying out the background as to what happened after they arrived. "Well, you know how she hates anyone touching her to begin with. Put what she's been going through at Scotty's hands on top of that, and you can imagine a full-blown freak-out melt down. That's why they asked me to call you to get your approval to sedate her." She fixed her gaze on Tony.
Tony sat back in his chair and looked at Agent Summers for a long time. "And they're in there doing a full head to toe examination on Zara to make sure she's okay from what happened earlier today?"
Agent Summers nodded. "That's what we're waiting on, a full writeup from Dr. Speckerman. From what I understand, there's quite a bit to unpack in his report."
As if on cue, Dr. Speckerman strode into the room. "You're all still here, good," he said as he sat down and laid his charts on the table, looking up at Tony and Ziva, "Sorry it took a while for me to get back to you both. Busy afternoon here in the ER." He flashed a quick smile as he opened a folder. "First things first. We were unable to test her while she was out of control, not letting anyone touch her at all. But after we were finally able to get some sedatives in her, we were able to finally do a workup on her." He let out a sigh and glanced up at the two agents behind Agent Summers.
Agent Jones shrugged his shoulders. "Don't mind me. Just taking notes of everything. Go ahead with your report." His face was impassive as he nodded toward the doctor.
The doctor nodded as he glanced through the report. "Well, what it boils down to is, she's been through a lot. Too much for anyone to endure. Signs of abuse on her arms, legs, back. There's also evidence of repeated sexual assault to the genitals."
"No..." Ziva's breath left her, as she gripped the arms of the chair she was sitting in, and her face went pale as she heard the report from the doctor, and she fought hard to keep her tears from flowing but failed miserably. She reached out and grasped Tony's hand tightly. She couldn't bring herself to speak; the news was too painful to hear.
Tony gripped Ziva's hand back. "You're saying our daughter's been... violated repeatedly?" he breathed out to the doctor. He suddenly winced in pain as Ziva squeezed his hand almost to the point of crushing his bones the moment he said the last two words.
Dr. Speckerman nodded, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, had to lay out the facts. And the reason why I had to leave so suddenly is because your daughter is five months pregnant."
Tony felt as if he had gotten smacked in the face by yet another train. "Pregnant? You mean that guy got her knocked up?" He started to feel the heat rise in him.
Ziva reached out and squeezed his arm. "Not here, not now, Tony." She knew that Tony felt like he had failed in protecting his family, and especially his daughter Zara.
"I knew it!" Agent Summers spoke up. "All this time I've been suspecting, and even been asking if she was pregnant. They were just chalking it up to simple weight gain from the medication she was taking."
Agent Jones spoke up. "How long have you suspected?" He looked over at Agent Summers. "Got your notes with you?"
Agent Summers pulled out her work tablet from her purse. "All on here, with a backup every night after work. I had suspected that she was pregnant because of the change in her moods and appetites, and the weight gain. I've noticed the same thing in other residents, so I started taking notes on them. Most of them would have miscarriages, but the occasional birth would take place."
Agent Jones scribbled a couple of words in his notepad. "Got it. We'll go over the details when we get back. Good thinking and good eye for details." He flashed one of his rare quick smiles to Agent Summers. "Continue, please." He waved toward the doctor.
"Yes, thank you," Dr. Speckerman said. "As I was saying, the reason why I had to leave so quickly earlier was that the baby was in distress, so we were able to get OB/GYN in and stabilize the baby. Zara's sleeping now, and we're monitoring her closely."
"She's not going back there," Ziva said. "If she gets better, she is not to go back."
Tony turned to Ziva and looked at her. "What about Tali? The grand kids?"
Ziva held up both hands in the air in front of her and shook her head once, firmly. "Not here, not now, Tony. Focus on letting Zara get better, then we can decide from there."
"Good advice. I'd say the same thing," Dr. Speckerman said. "But as far as long-term recovery, I know of several excellent rehabilitation facilities in the area and closer to your home. But let's worry about crossing this bridge right now, making sure she recovers enough to be able to carry the baby to term."
"And then?" Tony nodded.
Ziva glanced at Tony. "If the baby survives, we're taking him, or her, home with us. I think it's for the better."
Agent Summers smiled. "I'd totally agree with you. We'll make it happen. Of course, like Dr. Speckerman said before, it's gonna be touch and go for a while."
Dr. Speckerman nodded. "Hence the reason why we're keeping her, for close monitoring. We'd very much like to keep your daughter and the baby as stress-free as possible, so their bodies could recover enough strength. That's why we have her on sedatives, but we're closely monitoring to make sure the baby isn't being too stressed."
"Well, if she wakes up, she'd rather be in her own room. If she sees drawing materials next to her, I think it'll help her feel less stressed." Ziva looked at the doctor. "If it's possible, you can have Agent Summers continue being her nurse," she said, putting air quotes around the word. "I think it'll help calm her somewhat, rather than some strange person poking and prodding her at all times."
Dr. Speckerman tilted his head, then nodded his head. "Never thought of that. That's an unusual request, but I think given the circumstances, we can make it work."
Agent Jones chuckled. "She's yours for the time being, doc." He pointed to Agent Summers. "Make sure you find out every little detail about her, make sure she's okay."
Agent Summers smiled back at Agent Jones. "Glad to. I really enjoy this undercover work, you know. It's one of the more interesting assignments I've had."
Agent Jones chuckled. "You do your job well enough to convince some of the best agents of all time. Keep it up. I'll make sure you stick with Zara every moment you can."
Dr. Speckerman smiled. "That'll make our jobs a whole lot easier. She, uh, communicate through drawings?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah, always has. Rarely spoke, if ever. Why?"
Dr. Speckerman sighed, then waved his hand at the agents. "Show 'em what we found when we finally got Zara sedated."
Agent Smith stood looking on as Agent Jones reached into a folder he was carrying and pulled out an evidence bag with a small shred of paper with a single word written on it. A name. Agent Jones held it up for Tony and Ziva to see.
Ziva reached out and took hold of the bag, angling it up toward her eyes so she could read what was on the paper, then looked up at Tony, "Did you see what it said?" she asked Tony in disbelief.
Tony craned his head over to look at the paper. "That's Toby's name. She's never written before..." He looked back up at Ziva with a stunned look on his face, then back to the agents. "Why wait until after she was sedated to find the paper, though?"
"Because she was holding onto the paper so tightly during the whole thing," Agent Summers said. How she was able to hold her hands closed and resist all attempts to open them until we got her sedated, I have no idea."
Agent Jones cleared his throat slightly. "Yes, do you know who this Toby person is?" he asked.
Tony swiveled his head toward Agent Jones and looked at him for a moment. "Toby's her twin brother. Was, I mean. He died years ago."
Agent Jones jotted a few words down in his notebook. "Okay, that fills in a blank for us." He looked up at Ziva and smiled.
"Can I keep this for a few minutes?" Ziva pointed to the evidence bag with the shred of paper.
Agent Jones shrugged his shoulders, then nodded. "If you can get Zara to talk, maybe we can find out more from her, and what this means." He handed Ziva the evidence bag.
"Alright, thank you." Ziva took the bag into her hand and opened it, then took the paper out of it and folded it halfway before putting it into her pocket. "Talk? She only communicates largely through drawings and simple gestures. Maybe she'll say a word or two to me, but nothing more. About the drawings you were talking about. What did you see?" she asked.
"Dude, I've never seen so many drawings all over the place. We'll take you over to show you. Maybe you could help us figure out what they mean," Agent Smith said.
Agent John shot a brief look at Agent Smith, then returned his attention to Tony and Ziva. "I think it'll prove vital to the investigation if you'd be able to help us interpret the drawings and what they mean. There's quite a lot to go through.
"Yeah, Zara's drawings might be the key." Tony said. "Hopefully we can bring an end to this investigation and bring some justice for Zara."
Ziva grasped Tony's arm. "Let's go see Zara first." She turned to the doctor. "If that's possible?"
"Well, she's currently up in ICU at this moment, but yes, you can go see her. One person at a time, though, to minimize the stress she's under." Dr. Speckerman nodded as he closed the folders and gathered up his charts. "I'll guide you two up there, and you can take turns visiting her."
"Lead the way," Ziva said, holding out a hand in front of her.
Shortly after, they arrived at the ICU ward, and the doctor stopped them before they entered Zara's room. "I must warn you; she might not recognize you, but you can bet she can hear you. Talk to her. See if she recognizes your voice," the doctor said in a hushed voice.
"I'll go first," Ziva whispered. "I'd like to talk to her first." She turned on her heel and quietly entered the room.
Tony stood next to the doorway, watching through the floor-to-ceiling window, as a complex stir of emotions swirled within him, grieving the fact that Zara's innocence had been robbed from her, of his failure to be able to protect his family from the evils that existed in the world out there. "I failed," he whispered to himself.
Ziva stopped next to Tony and whispered to him as she held his hands, "No, you didn't fail. No one could have predicted this to happen." She reached up and gently stroked Tony's cheek and smiled at him.
"Alright," Tony said, sighing, feeling slightly better. "You go ahead first; I'll wait out here." He put a hand on top of hers, and rubbed it, then brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. "It'll be okay," he whispered to her.
Ziva nodded, then turned and slowly walked up next to Zara, who lay sleeping in her bed. She gently put a hand on the railing of Zara's bed and looked down at Zara, then started to sing a soft Hebrew lullaby. As she did so, the machines monitoring Zara settled into a slower, calmer, rhythm on the screen.
The doctor noticed this, too, and he whispered to Ziva. "I think she recognizes your voice. It's working, it's calming her down." A cautious smile emerged on his lips as he nodded slightly.
Ziva glanced at the doctor, then back to Zara. She continued singing, and Zara's lips formed the slightest of a smile. Ziva caught this, and she smiled slightly. "Zara? It's me, Ima," she whispered.
Zara opened her eyes and looked at Ziva. There was the briefest glimpse of recognition in her eyes, before she stared at the ceiling vacantly.
"Zara?" Ziva whispered, then stopped herself. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the scrap of paper with Toby's name, and held it up for Zara to see, then gently held Zara's hand. "Did you write this?"
No response from Zara as she stared up at the ceiling.
Ziva tried a different tack. "Did you talk to your brother?" What happened next chilled her to the bone.
Zara slowly turned her head toward Ziva and her eyes flicked between the paper and Ziva, then as a tear started leaking from an eye, nodded slowly, almost unnoticeable. Yet Ziva saw the slight movement, and she stood up slowly.
Just then, the monitors started to go off. The doctor quickly walked in and whispered to Ziva. "I'm sorry, but that's all the time you've got. We've got to let her rest. No stress, remember?"
Ziva nodded as she looked up at the doctor. "I've seen and heard enough for now. We've got to go see her room." She quickly walked out of the room past Tony.
"Let us know if anything changes," Tony quickly said to the doctor, before hurrying to catch up with Ziva.
Dr. Speckerman stepped out of the room and called out after them as quietly as he could, "I'll keep you posted."
Eventually at the group home, Ziva stood at the threshold of Zara's room, smiling at the FBI agents. "Hope you got everything you needed to continue your investigation," she said. "You're gonna have a field day with all those drawings, aren't you?"
Agent Jones chuckled. "Several boxes worth, that's quite a lot of drawings. I'm impressed with how much meaning was conveyed in those drawings. Thanks for your help sorting through the drawings and finding the most important ones. It's gonna really save our time."
Ziva nodded. "Without my help you would've been lost and taken you much longer. You don't have anyone who's gifted in reading drawings on your staff?"
Agent Summers laughed. "A few linguists, but no one who could read drawings like these." She took a couple of steps toward Ziva. "You know, it's amazing how well your daughter hid some really important clues in her drawings."
Ziva nodded. "It'll be interesting to see what the evidence bears out. Hopefully we find justice for the wrong that's been done to Zara, and the unborn baby." She turned and noticed Tony sitting on Zara's bed, looking absolutely dejected. "Tony? Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Tony quickly looked up from looking at a picture in his hands. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay."
Ziva had seen the look of sorrow and sadness in Tony's eyes, and she walked up to him. "Tell me," her eyes told him as she gently grasped Tony's hand. She turned and looked back at Agent Summers. "Anything else you need?"
Agent Summers had also seen the look in Tony's eyes, and the change in Ziva's expression. "Well, I'll leave you two to it. Let me know if you need anything." She turned and slowly but respectfully walked away.
Ziva nodded at the departing figure, then slowly walked up next to Tony and sat on the bed next to him. She looked over Tony's shoulder at the drawing that Tony was holding. "A corner's been torn out of it," she whispered.
"Yeah, I noticed that," Tony whispered. "Look at this drawing, it's absolutely beautiful. Most beautiful one yet." Tony's fingers traced over some of the outlines Zara drew in the picture.
Ziva reached into her purse and pulled out the small shred of paper, realizing that the missing piece was very similar in size to the paper, and she held it up to the corner. It was a perfect match. "Look, the name came from this paper." She felt a cold chill rush through her body, as a premonition passed through her.
"Yeah." Tony nodded his head. A sudden thought came to his mind. "You know, Matt told us to look at the drawing. I couldn't figure out what he meant at the time," he whispered to himself.
"He said that?" Ziva looked up at Tony. "I must've missed what he said when he ran out of the house before we left and stopped us."
"Yeah, he hollered out at us, and for a moment I swore I heard a little bit of Toby's voice in him but brushed it off." Tony let out a sigh. "I should have known."
Ziva sighed as a tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at the drawing. "I think she's giving us a message in this drawing. That she knows her time's near. Look, she's holding Toby's hand in the picture." She pointed to the two figures walking in the picture.
Tony took in all the details of the picture this time, with the bright sun shining over them, the tall gates opening before them, the bright shafts of light beaming down in the picture. "So beautiful, yet so sad," he breathed, as tears started to fall from his eyes.
Ziva slowly put her head on his shoulder and held him close as she looked at the picture. "We need to be strong for Zara, for the baby. For the family, too," she said. "I think she'd like that at least, don't you?"
Tony clenched his lips together and held back his emotions as much as he could, holding Ziva close to him. "Yeah, I think Toby'd want that, too. I think he's trying to help Zara keep the baby going long enough," he said, pointing to the drawing. "You notice that she's not... pregnant... in the drawing, don't you?"
Ziva took a closer look at Zara's picture. "That's right. I didn't notice that at first," she said. "Nonetheless, let's hope this doesn't come true." She tapped the picture a couple of times as she looked Tony in the eye.
Tony cleared his throat slightly; his voice was thick with emotion. "Let's take it one day at a time. I think that's the best course of action right now."
Ziva nodded as she held Tony close to her. After a moment, she looked up at Tony. "You're right. One day at a time." She stood up from the bed and let out a sigh. "Shall we head back home now? I think I've seen enough, for now."
Tony nodded as he pushed himself up off the bed. "Yeah. Gonna have to figure out how to break the news to the family," he said as he reached out and took hold of Ziva's hand and started walking toward the door and opened the door and held it open for Ziva.
Ziva nodded as she walked alongside Tony. "One thing at a time. We'll get through this together, as a family. Like we always do," she said as she stepped through the doorway.
"That's right. Like we always do," Tony muttered as he closed the door behind him and walked out alongside Ziva.
