AN: Enjoy Chapter twenty two. Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming, I love hearing what my readers think. Its always interesting to hear what you get out of the words. dark rolling sea.
Chapter Twenty Two
Jeb went in for the testing that morning with Kylie and Donovan as support. Gibbs paced around Ann's house like a caged tiger the entire time they were gone. Kate sat on the couch watching him, while Ann sat in the recliner. Hunter was watching television, announcing earlier that he was not going to go to school that day.
They waited hours for them to return and Gibbs grew more and more impatient. He wanted this to be over. He wanted this to be behind them. He wanted his son safe. Kate traced him with her eyes.
"Sit down, Jethro," she said softly. Gibbs just looked at her and continued to pace. Hunter was lying on his stomach with his upper body propped up on his elbows. He turned so he could watch Gibbs and he sighed. All three adults looked at him.
"Settle down, Papa, you're making me nervous," Hunter said sternly. Gibbs smiled. He then came up beside the boy and lowered himself to the ground. He sat next to Hunter and looked at the television.
"What are you watching?"
"Cartoons. It's the cartoon station. They have all the good shows on," Hunter said returning to his original position and reengaging his attention to the television. Gibbs smiled and let his attention be tuned into the mindless action unfolding on the screen before him.
Time passed and finally they heard a car pull into the driveway. Gibbs slowly got to his feet, with the help of the couch, and made his way to the door. He met Jeb and the other two as they came in. Jeb smiled and inched past him while Gibbs held the door for Kylie and Donovan. Donovan looked at Gibbs with a concerned look as he passed.
"So?" Ann asked her son when he didn't offer any explanation.
"I passed all the tests and they say that I can be put under the knife to remove the mass growing in my brain. Dr. Youngblood was a little worried about my prior accident and the damage I suffered in that but he is going to speak further with Dr. Nash to assure that it's not a problem. They want to schedule me for surgery as soon as possible, and by the end of the week is a possibility."
"That's good news," Gibbs said with a flat voice. Donovan glanced up at him briefly before averting his eyes again. Gibbs caught the gesture but let if slide for the moment. He would need to speak with the colonel before too long.
"Yeah it is. They said from what they can see it's completely removable by surgery and I shouldn't need any prolonged chemo or radiation therapy after surgery. Of course they'll have to monitor my progress in case of regression but they believe that they can clean it all up in one cut."
"Dr. Youngblood is going to do the surgery?" Ann asked.
"Yes. He said he will handle this personally as a favor to Dr. Nash."
Ann just nodded and then stared at her son. He felt the weight of her eyes and turned away. He knew this was still going to be difficult. This was far from over. He glanced at Kylie and saw her hiding the pain she was feeling. He looked at Donovan and saw he was trying to avoid bringing attention to himself. He wondered if they knew something he didn't. He didn't think the doctor had talked to either of them without him present but you never know with doctors.
Jeb threw a smile Hunter's way and the boy got up from the floor and walked up to him. He wrapped his arms around his uncle's hips and squeezed. Jeb bent down and Hunter moved his arms up around Jeb's neck. Jeb pulled him close and held on tight.
"It's going to be all right, Buddy," Jeb said quietly in Hunter's ear.
"They are going to cut your head open though," Hunter said in a harsh whisper. Jeb felt the boy's tears sliding down his neck and hugged him even tighter.
"Yeah, they are, but they're trained to do stuff like this, Buddy. They know what they are doing and how to fix things. I'm not worried."
"You're lying," Hunter said quietly and pulled back. Jeb reluctantly let him go. Hunter stood still, studying his uncle. He then took a step back from him. "You're lying to me. You are scared. You are worried."
"Yeah, I am," Jeb said with a cracked voice. The tears escaped his eyes and he brushed at them hurriedly. Hunter frowned and pursed his lips. He didn't know how to comfort his uncle.
"It's ok to be scared sometimes. Kate told me that," Hunter said softly to his uncle. Kate felt the tears hit her when she heard Hunter say that. She remembered telling him that when they were at her apartment a year ago just before they were taken hostage.
"That's why you have family," Gibbs said quietly as he walked up behind the two. He squatted down next to Jeb and looked his son in the eye. They held the contact for a moment before Jeb nodded and let the tears fall. He leaned into his father and Gibbs pulled him closer. Hunter tried hard to hold the fear in but it was over powering him. He looked up at his grandmother and started to shudder with the first wave of tears. She reached out for him and pulled him into her lap in the recliner.
"We'll get through this," Ann said. "This family is strong enough."
Kate felt the power of Ann's words. She knew that Kylie, Donovan, and herself were included in the family. This was her place to stay. She knew that now. They had accepted her with little effort, and she had become one with them, there was no turning away now. She looked up at Kylie and Donovan to see their reaction to the situation and knew they both felt as welcome as she did. Donovan had the strangled look of a brother in mourning and Kylie was desperate to hang onto the father of her child.
An hour later Gibbs found Donovan alone on the front porch. He quietly closed the door and walked up to the railing and stood next to the colonel. Even out of uniform Donovan carried the prestige of a marine officer. Gibbs leaned on the rail and waited a moment before speaking.
"Something on your mind, marine?" Gibbs asked.
"Worried s'all."
"About?"
"Jeb. You know he said Dr. Youngblood was worried about his past accident?"
"Yeah."
"From what I gathered he was more than worried. We know that Jeb is still not fully recovered from the accident and the doctor knows that there are some parts of Jeb that are weakened. He said that even though Jeb still runs like he does and he is in good health that the fact of being put under such heavy anesthesia and having surgery on his brain could…"
"It's a risk, R. J, but what else can he do?"
"I know. I'm just worried about losing a brother."
"More than a marine brother."
"Yes, sir. I've know Jeb going on eight years now and I can't imagine a world without him. We served together; I was there for the recovery. He was there when I went through my bad spell and…" Donovan didn't finish.
"Everyone is feeling this, R. J. You became one of the family. Once Jeb was separated from Colton and then Jake choosing the Army instead, that left him stranded with no one. He picked you or you picked him. Maybe a higher power picked the two of you, but it was meant to be. I've seen how he turns to you when he needs someone. I know that he can't turn to me. I don't know that I'd be able to help him the way you do.
"It's one of the things where if he needs a shoulder yours is there no matter what the situation, no matter what the time, no matter what you are doing."
"He's my brother. He…I don't know if you know my history, gunny, but I'm an only child. I didn't have a brother growing up. I came from a broken home life with drunken parents and an abusive father. My uncle pulled my out of hell when I was fifteen or else I would have ended up dead by sixteen. I was trouble. I didn't care. No one else cared either. My uncle knew he had to get me out of there so he got custody of me and tried to straighten me out. It didn't work so when I was about to turn eighteen I got into trouble with the law. My uncle made a deal with the court to send me to the marines to straighten me out. It worked. I got on the straight and narrow and never left. I got an education and became an officer.
"I didn't have a friend in the world beside my uncle when I first went into the core. Then after a few years here comes this tiny scrawny little kid that wasn't the normal cocky little shits that usually come through boot camp. Jeb was different. He was quiet and sure of himself. He never made a mistake and was the top of his class. I first requested him on his ability as a marine but after having him in my unit for a few weeks the friendship was bonded.
"He was of a different breed. Not the normal jarhead private that you get most times. He was cool, confident, and sure. He wasn't over cocky, and he wasn't a talker. He knew what needed to be done and what had to be done. He made sure it was. One night I was feeling the burden of my past when my mother passed away and sure enough Jeb materialized that night out of no where and asked if I needed to talk.
"I hadn't intended on ever bringing my past with me after I joined the core but here this seventeen year old kid pulled it out of me with no more effort than he would slicing bread. We formed something that I never had when I was a kid that night. I never knew what it was like to have a brother to confide in. To share the burden and pain with. He shouldered more than half that night and I was grateful for it. And now here he is needing me to return it."
Gibbs thought about what Donovan was saying. The marine finally fell silent as he stared off into the afternoon sunshine. Gibbs thought about how it would have been so easy for Jeb to take on that role, needing to fill the hole left by Jake not being by his side constantly. He thought about his own path and not having the brother to confide in as Donovan had been. Finally he spoke.
"You're doing just fine, son. Jeb knows why you are here. He knows what you stand for. He knows how much you can carry; he knows how much he can give you. He has distributed the grief and pain to all of us I think and he is stronger for it. Just stay close and he'll know where you stand."
No more words were needed. They both stood silently for a long time as they waited. Waited for the beginning, the end, for tomorrow. There was nothing worse than waiting. There was nothing else to do.
Neither knew how much time had passed before they heard the door slip open and someone join them on the porch. Gibbs felt Kate wrap her arms around his waist from behind and lean into him. Gibbs smiled as he felt her warmth envelope him.
TBC…………………………..