Tropical Nightmare- Chapter 18: Waiting again (Tony´s POV)
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!
Summary: Tony and Kate are sent to Argentina for an undercover mission, but they have to take a detour.They are bound to find out that atropical island can be a real nightmare -at least if you´re on your own out there...
Additional note: I usually don´t write 1st-person narrator, but it seemed to fit rather well for this little story as the POV changes with each chapter.Also, the use of present-tense is wanted here, eventhough it may seem a bit odd. I hope it´s still readable.
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I don´t understand why he called us here all of the sudden. At first, I thought Kate had taken a turn for worse, but there´s no red light above her room, no sign for an emergency at all. It´s quiet in this ward, I guess that´s what an ICU has to be like. Ducky once told me that people in a coma are in some kind of very deep sleep. Nobody knows if they can hear what is going on around them, but there have been cases in which a mother reacts to her child´s voice or a child to the voice of his parents.
I´m looking around and meet Abby´s eyes. There are questions in them and I wonder if she can see the same in my eyes right now. McGee is staring at the lonely rose that is standing in a glass on the table. He gets up after a moment and takes the glass into his hand. "Needs more water." He just says and walks out of the waiting room. Sometimes he amazes me. I mean, I use to call him probie most of the time, eventhough he´s doing the work of a full agent. I use to tease him a lot eventhough he´s a good kid. And still, he doesn´t seem to take any offense from my actions. He´s still the same nice guy he was when he first walked into the bullpen.
There are steps coming towards us and I look up. It´s Gibbs. I look around for Ducky, but he´s probably still with Kate. I´m not sure what he´s thinking right now, his face is cleared of all emotions and I know he won´t give himself away by looking straight at me. Something has happened, but there´s no way of knowing what, as long as he doesn´t tell us. "Come on, let´s go." He tells us and casts a questioning look at McGee, who is just coming back with the rose. "Better not be for me, McGee." Gibbs tells him with a grin on his face and walks back towards Kate´s room.
Before I really know it, we´re standing around her bed. Nobody speaks, we just look around. I notice that one of the tubes is gone, the one that helped her breathing. I listen carefully and watch her chest rising softly. She´s breathing on her own again, without any help. That´s something good, I think, but why did Gibbs want us to come so quickly? "Anthony, why don´t you go ahead and sit with her for a moment." Ducky says and points at the chair next to her bed.
I don´t remember how many nights I spent on that chair, holding her hand and telling her how much I miss her. Before this happened, I never had the guts to tell her that she´s more than just a partner for me. We are friends, but my feelings for her are deeper than that. I take her hand, but I feel odd today because everyone is watching. I can feel Gibbs´ eyes burning a hole into my back, but when I feel the warmth of her skin against mine, I don´t care anymore. "Hey, Kate. It´s me again, the talking idiot." I tell her and see how Abby is fighting to keep her face straight. There are tears in her eyes. I know that they are close, but they seem to be closer than I thought.
While I´m distracted by Abby, I notice how her hand tightens around mine. She had some involuntary muscle movements before, but not like this. I turn my eyes back on her and for a moment, I think I´m dying here and now. I forget everything around me as I look into her dark eyes and see that smile on her lips. "You´re no idiot." Her voice is more a whisper than anything, but I can hear her clear as a bell. I´m not sure if the rest heard it, but they can see that she´s awake now.
My hand is shaking, but I don´t let her go. "I thought, I would never see another smile of yours." I tell her and the smile widens. It´s like a miracle to see her like that again. I had almost given up hoping for this moment, but now I can´t believe it´s finally there. Her eyes move a bit to the side and she´s focussing on somebody else. I turn a bit and see Abby standing behind me, tears running down her face, smearing the black eyeshadow. I realize that Gibbs is holding her from behind and I get up to let her sit down.
I walk back and let McGee get closer. I know that I will have more time to talk to her later. Right now, the others should get a chance to be with her. I don´t know if McGee has been here at all. He looks a bit nervous, but his eyes are sparkling as well. I back off a bit and bump into someone. When I turn around, I notice that it´s Gibbs. I want to apologize, but he motions me not to speak. There´s so much magic around in this moment, the magic of life.
I walk back towards the elevator with the others. Abby is still shaken, but smiling again. Ducky is walking next to her, his hand on her arm to make sure she´s okay. McGee is talking without a break now, he seems to be back to himself finally. Gibbs just nods everything off and then turns around towards me. "I´ve got some things to take care off. Do you mind staying with her for a while until one of us can come back?" He asks and I see a smile on his face. He seems to know that I need some time with her now.
I just nod. "Sure. See you later." I watch the doors of the elevator close and wait until they´re gone. When I walk back, I keep wondering if I just dreamed the whole thing, but looking at her in that bed tells me that everything really happened. I sit down and take her hand again. "I missed you. I almost thought, I lost you out there." I tell her silently and wait. It´s not the same kind of waiting now, it´s not waiting for her to wake up from the coma. It´s waiting for her to get stronger and recover. I don´t mind this kind of waiting at all, no matter how long it´s going to take.