disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its characters...
Author's Note: Two things. 1. Why this story is so sappy, I really don't know. I didn't think I had a feeling part in me. 2. I have no clue where this is going. But I'll keep on going wherever it leads because at least a few of you enjoy this for some reason...and I could use the practice writing.
Kate entered the small once white now cream-colored hospital room. The smell made her instantly nauseous. How could they stick Tony in here? It smelled like thirty years of vomit covered up with thirty years of cleaning fluids, with the odd death thrown in, too. She instantly forgot about the smell when she saw him lying peacefully on the small hospital bed.
She made her way to his side as quickly as she could manage, which wasn't very quickly, her being overly large for only six and a half months pregnant. She stroked his cheek with her hand. She had never seen it so smooth, for it usually was wrinkled in a smile at her. She had never seen his face so still. He was always smiling at her or talking to her. Always talking. She often wished that he would just shut-up, that he'd just be peaceful for a moment. She regretted it now. It wasn't like he'd never smile at her again. She probably wouldn't be able to get him to shut up in another day or so. It wasn't like her was dead. He was alive. He was still breathing. She could feel his hot breath on her hand, slow and rhythmic. But he was so still. It frightened her how still he was. Even in his sleep, he wasn't this still. He thought she slept through it, but she felt it. She felt it when he tossed and turned, when he quietly slipped an arm around her in the middle of the night. She felt the tender kisses her tried to place stealthily on her while she slept. But now he slept without moving close to her, without cradling her in his arms. She wondered if he was dreaming of her while he lay so still, so still.
"Oh, Tony," she whispered, barely audible. She wiped a tear from her cheek. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to face Gibbs. She felt embarrassed. Tony was fine, and she was still having an emotional breakdown. She tried to blame it on hormones, but knew that it wasn't because she was pregnant. "Oh, I'm being silly," she said to Gibbs as another tear rolled down her cheek. "I-I just..."
"Shh," Gibbs said coaxingly, pulling her into a hug, As she sobbed silently into his shoulder, he thought about how this was the reason why he always said agents shouldn't get involved with one another. It may be callous but, in a situation like this, he'd rather be interrogating suspects than coddling an emotional mess of a woman. Plus, because they weren't careful, or maybe they did it on purpose to annoy him, he currently had two incapacitated agents. That was two less agents in the field getting things done. That meant more work, because he didn't want to waste time breaking in more agents who were only going to serve as temps. At least, this situation had better be temporary. He didn't really care if Tony and Kate's relationship continued, as long as it didn't affect him. In fact, he hadn't even noticed something had changed between them until she ended up pregnant. That had signs he couldn't miss, like the vomiting and Tony's overly protective and even polite manner towards her. But come to find out, they had been...whatever it was they ere doing, for several months prior to the whole...situation. Gibbs thought that he must be slipping, or they were finding better ways to get around him. No, he must be slipping. He'd have to work on that.
Kate broke off the hug and composed herself as best she could, breaking off Gibbs' line of thought in the process. He guided her to a chair and sat her down. She nodded her head in gratitude. He returned it. "I'm getting some more coffee," he told them, before leaving the room.
Kate looked over at her only other fully conscious companion. Abby was leaning over, whispering something into Tony's ear. She then proceeded to laugh. The fact that he was lying there as still as a corpse didn't seem to bother her. Kate didn't know if she despised it or was proud of her friend's strength of character. Maybe she was jealous. But maybe Abby wouldn't be this composed if it was the man she-someone that she was close to who was lying there. She didn't want to say it. They hadn't said it yet. She didn't even want to think it. She thought-they both thought that it would somehow weigh them down, that saying it would tie them together forever, that it would change things forever. Their situation was fine the way it was. She knew they could provide a good environment for their child without saying it. Besides, she knew it was down there somewhere deep inside, and that's where it really counted.
Abby plopped down in a chair beside Kate, having given up on her one-sided conversation with Tony. "I don't think I've ever seen him this quiet," she said smartly, having judged that Kate was feeling better. However, Kate's blank response led Abby to believe that maybe her mood wasn't quite ready to allow her to laugh.
Kate yawned. She looked wistfully at the man whom's body kept her warm at night, well, at least the nights when he wasn't dragged off to work by Gibbs. She wasn't sure what was worse, when she was dragged in with him, or when, since she'd been off field duty, she was forced to lie awake and alone at night. Right now, all she wanted to do was climb into that small little hospital bed and rest her head on his chest, falling asleep listening to his heartbeat. For a moment, she thoroughly regretted being pregnant. If she has been her regular size, instead of carrying around a beach ball full of water, she could've squeezed into that bed with him. Of course, if she hadn't been pregnant with his child, maybe she wouldn't have wanted to, or at least wouldn't have gotten away with it.
She yawned again. She was so exhausted. She figured that she only had gotten a few hours of sleep before Gibbs had woken her up. It seemed like an eternity had passed since then. Kate finally allowed herself to drift asleep, sitting in the chair a few feet away from her unconscious lover. Perhaps, they dreamed of each other.