The masked orderly that made his way quietly into the sleeping patient's room checked to make sure that he wasn't being observed. He appeared to be like any other employed by the hospital and indeed, he had taken great pains to do so.
Slipping to the man's bedside, he examined the IV and smiled to himself under the mask that so conveniently kept him unidentifiable. Palming a slender syringe, the orderly deftly and quickly injected the IV port with a small amount of clear fluid. Then he stood back and watched as the man in the bed became agitated, rousing himself from sleep.
Unhooking the mask, and stepping just far enough back, the orderly waited until the blue eyes opened, fogged with sleep and confusion, and spotted him.
"Ari!" It was a whispered word, but one the now-unmasked man wanted to hear. He slipped the paper covering back on his lower face, but not before giving the restrained patient a wolfish grin, and made a fast and stealthy exit.
"Dammit, let me out of here! Stop that bastard!" Gibbs' agitation level was rising, as was his volume.
Standing at the nurses' station, Laurie was completing some paperwork on a new admission to the floor when she heard someone yelling. Recognizing the voice as her concussion patient, Gibbs, she ran to his room.
As she entered, she found the man alone, thrashing against his restraints, nearly hysterical over the need to chase after someone. She attempted to soothe the distraught man. "Mr. Gibbs, please, you have to calm yourself."
"But he was here! Didn't you see him? I have to go after him before he gets away!" Gibbs was shaking and straining at his bonds, his words tumbling from his lips almost incoherently.
"Mr. Gibbs, relax, please. If you don't calm down, we won't be able to take these restraints off you in the morning. I'm not sure who you saw, but I can look into it for you if you'd like." In a effort to calm her patient, she laid a hand on his forehead and found it hot to the touch. Laurie was privately worried. There was no reason for this man to have suddenly become feverish and agitated.
"I… I can't relax… I'm…" Gibbs trailed off, his words throttled by a sudden seizure.
What the hell? thought Laurie, immediately pressing two fingers to his neck. His pulse rate was plummeting, a bad sign for a concussion victim. She punched the call box on the wall, requested a cardiac team, and reached for the BP cuff. As she took his blood pressure, she noted the odd new symptoms. Recurring agitation. Fever. Slowing pulse -- and now a sluggish pressure.
His intermittent convulsions were increasing in intensity, even as he seemed to be slipping into unconsciousness. As the cardiac team entered the room, Laurie was horrified to watch her patient seize violently, his eyes rolling back in his head. She closed her eyes. Whatever happened here, there was going to be hell to pay.