Chapter 7

Ducky looked up as he heard the sound of sirens and smiled half heartedly at Abby.

"They are here my dear" he said gently, trying to reassure the young woman. "I will just go and direct them" he told her as he reached over the prone and unconscious Gibbs to squeeze her hand in a simple act of comfort.

Abby nodded, trying to keep her tears and fears at bay.

"We'll be ok" she whispered not sure if she was trying to reassure herself or Ducky. It had seemed like an eternity since she had called for help but it had only been ten minutes. In the time since she had called them Gibbs had slipped into unconsciousness, his body becoming limp and unresponsive. She and Ducky had kept a silent and fearful watch over Gibbs, unable to do more to help the man they both loved.

Abby sat and stroked Gibbs's sweat soaked hair from his head, and bent low over him before he was whisked away from her.

"I love you Jethro" she whispered against his skin "Don't die" she pleaded, her voice cracking on the last word. Not knowing what else to do or say, Abby clutched his hand and slowly moved his fingers into the ASL sign for I love you, linking her hand with his in mimicry of the sign. Abby looked up as two men in blue arrived with a pale Ducky. Abby slowly moved aside to let them work, her hand lingering before she finally let go of Gibbs. She took hope though from the fact that his limp hand remained in the sign she had made.

Abby watched in silence as the men worked on Gibbs, checking his vital signs and administering intravenous fluids. Ducky worked silently with the medics, talking in hushed tones that Abby struggled to catch. She hugged herself silently, cold gripping her body as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees. She watched as Gibbs, silent and unmoving was lifted onto a gurney, tubes and monitors attached to his body. Abby felt her tears fall, and wiped at them angrily. No way was she going to cry as if he were dead, she thought to herself angrily. Gibbs was going to be just fine, because he was her marine boss man and he was invincible. Abby just wished that it was true, but she knew in her heart that whilst he was amazing he was still just a man, a man desperately ill.

Abby watched silently as Ducky bent over Gibbs and seemed to stroke his hair back, before the medics began to wheel him away towards the waiting ambulance. Abby made to follow them but Ducky touched her arm to halt her.

"Abigail" he started hesitantly, his soft eyes troubled as he stared at her.

"I'm going with him Ducky" Abby said, thinking that he was trying to stop here from travelling to the hospital with Gibbs.

"You can't Abigail" Ducky said softly, his hand holding her arm firmly.

"I'm going Duck" Abby told him firmly, trying to shake his hand off her arm, shocked that he would try to stop her.

"I need you to do something far more important for Jethro" Ducky told her, his eyes showing how much it was hurting him to have to ask her. Abby started at him, her eyes swimming in unshed tears.

"No Ducky" she whispered, "I need to be with him" she said, knowing now what he had been doing.

"You need to help him" Ducky told her as he pulled her gently into his arms, knowing that what he was asking was unfair, but also knowing that it could save Gibbs's life.

"You need to analyse these for me" he said as he moved back and pulled out a vial of blood and a tissue in which lay several of Gibbs's hairs.

Abby looked at them silently, hating what they represented, knowing that they would keep her away from Gibbs.

Slowly and with shaking hands Abby reached out and took the vial and tissue, her head nodding slightly, as the tears she had been battling slowly began to fall.

Ducky pulled her closely into his arms and hugged Abby tightly

"I will look after him for you" he whispered, his own voice breaking slightly on the words.

Abby nodded and pulled away, her gaze turning to the ambulance, to watch the still silent Gibbs being loaded into the back of the vehicle.

"You'd better go" she whispered unable to say more, as her heart tore out of her chest and choked her.

"Abigail" Ducky started, not sure what he wanted to say, just wanting to reassure her in some way, needing to take her pain away somehow.

Abby silently shook her head, her dark eyes lost and so young and yet at the same time so incredibly old and knowing.

"It's ok" she whispered, her voice hoarse and tiny, as she stood there clasping the samples to her. "I know" she told Ducky, a shaky smile of understanding trying to reach her lips.

Abby watched as Ducky ran over to the waiting ambulance, disappearing into the interior. Abby watched, silent tears fell down her cheeks as the doors closed and the vehicle moved off, sirens blaring.

Abby whispered his name to the wind, taking strength as it gathered around her as his arms often had in the darkness of the night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A breathless and emotionally exhausted Abby reached her lab, not noticing the trio of people gathered around her computer station.

"Abby!" Liz called out, the first one to notice the pale lab rat enter the room. Abby looked up startled at her name being called, her footsteps halting but the momentum of her steps carrying her motion forward so that Abby stumbled. Tony reacted first and reached out a steadying hand to his friend and co-worker.

"Abby?" he asked in concern noticing the mascara tracks on her checks, the unusually pale pallor of her skin, and the dreadful haunted look in her eyes. "Is Gibbs..?" he began to ask, unable to continue the thought let alone the words.

"On his way to hospital" Abby whispered her voice horse from the tears she had struggled to control. "I have to…" she started to say, her words fading to nothing as she looked at the samples still clutched in her hand. She looked up at Tony, her eyes showing clearly her fears. She said nothing more as she stepped around Tony and headed to the equipment she needed. The professional in Abby took over, and she worked automatically trying desperately to shut out the fact that it was Gibbs's Blood she was holding, his hair she was splicing.

The others just stood there for a while watching her work, noticing the slight tremble in her hands, the way her shoulders were hunched over. But what they all noticed the most was the lack of energy from the normally lively and vivacious woman. The silence in the normally loud and bouncing lab was more deafening than any of her music could ever hope to be.

Liz looked at Tony, her eyes questioning him silently but Tony just shrugged, not sure what to do anymore than she did.

McGee stood slightly apart as he always did and watched his former girlfriend struggle with her fears, and without conscious thought he moved forward and gently pulled her into his arms.

"He'll be ok Abby" he whispered to the still woman in his arms, knowing just how much Abby loved Gibbs. He watched as she slowly raised her eyes to look at him, the look in them devastating him.

"He…" she started to say, the normally talkative Abby unable to articulate her fears, afraid that if she did, that if she re-lived them then her worst fears would be realised. "He wasn't moving" she finally whispered, a single tear rolling down her face, falling unheeded on to her top.

Abby pulled out of McGee's arms, feeling as if she was betraying Gibbs by allowing McGee to hold her, knowing that it was stupid but unable to stop her emotions. She turned back to the machine, watching it as if it would work faster if she just willed it to.

Some time later, a silent group all jumped at the sound of a persistent beep. Abby looked up from the chair she sat huddled on and all but flew across the room. She hadn't spoken a word to anyone since she had last spoken to McGee. They had all watched as she had huddled herself into a small ball on her chair, her arms wrapping tightly around her legs, her head resting on her upturned knees.

Abby read the results, her body stilling in fear as she read them.

"Damn it to hell" she muttered as she rushed to the phone, knowing that Ducky needed the information now, or Gibbs wouldn't live to see tomorrow.