Chapter 8 – Finally Home
Trisha turned her head to the right to see where they were as they passed a giant heap of rocks. They were only 5 minutes from the house, but it had begun to snow pretty heavily. Trisha had been thinking about how they were going to get Gibbs from the sled to the house – and she really had no idea. It wasn't like she could just pick up Gibbs and carry him, although she wished she could. She hoped Rochelle would come up with something, and quickly, too. She knew that Gibbs had to be hanging on by a thread.
Rochelle leaned hard to the right, guiding the sled down the path to Trisha's place. "Home stretch!" Rochelle yelled over her shoulder. She stopped at the door that led to the garage. "Hey, you think this is the best way, Trish?" she asked as she got up and walked to the back of the sled.
Trisha thought for a moment and, coming up with nothing better, nodded in agreement. "Can you take Gibbs for a minute? I'll go unlock the house and put the dog somewhere."
Rochelle got back on the sled and sat behind Gibbs, then gently pulled him backwards and off of Trisha, who bolted to the house and unlocked the door. Chelle's arms went under his and she held him against her. Gibbs' head rested on her shoulder. She gulped. "Trisha, hurry up!" she yelled. Chelle had at least expected him to say something, but Gibbs didn't even move. "Agent Gibbs! Wake up! Come on, we're home!"
Hearing Rochelle yelling, Trisha sprinted back outside to the sled. Chelle was gently rocking a motionless Gibbs and talking to him. She looked at Trisha with tears in her eyes. "He's not responding. He won't answer me. You woke him up before, try again…"
Trisha ripped both of her gloves off. She took Gibbs' face in her small hands and pressed her forehead against his, then began speaking softly to him. "Gibbs, we made it. You're so close, don't give up now. You're five feet from the house. Come on, wake up," she pleaded.
Gibbs' eyes fluttered and then opened. He tried to talk, but all that came out was a moan. He stared straight into Trisha's eyes, then simply nodded, giving Trisha the ok to move him into the house.
"Arms around me, Gibbs," Trisha commanded the agent. "Give me everything you've got, ok? Chelle, help me once he gets off of you."
Gibbs leaned into Trisha, then stood, bent over at the waist. Trisha struggled under his weight, but soon Rochelle was beside her. They slowly moved Gibbs into the house. The three made it to the middle of the living room before Gibbs collapsed and pulled the girls down with him.
"Alright then, I think here's good. Ain't no way we're getting him to go any further!" Rochelle said as she stood up. She looked at Gibbs and frowned. He was shaking worse than before. "Uhhh, ok, I'm gonna go grab every blanket and pillow I can find. Be right back," she said, again leaving Trish with Gibbs.
Gibbs opened his eyes and looked at Trisha, who was holding his hand. "…I'm…so…cold…tired…hurts…" he whispered as he shivered profusely.
Trisha nodded and resumed running her hand through his hair. "I know, I know. But you are one tough cookie, Agent Gibbs. I'm gonna get you warm, ok? You can have every blanket in this house. Try to relax, big guy," Trisha said soothingly. She hadn't noticed it until now, but Gibbs' clothes were soaked. 'Well duh,' she thought to herself, 'he's thawing out…' Trisha sighed. "And, uh, this is gonna seem a little weird, but you gotta take your clothes off," she said while she looked to the side and avoided Gibbs' eyes. "I can't let you lie here in soaking wet clothes."
Gibbs nodded as he closed his eyes. "Stay away from my pants, kid."
"Whoa guys, what's goin' on? All I heard was 'Stay away from my pants!'" Rochelle laughed as she came around the corner, carrying every blanket and pillow known to man. She dumped them next to Gibbs, then knelt down beside him. She was holding a pair of clean shorts and a white shirt. "Well, she's right, you know," she said as she gave her best look of innocence to the agent on the floor. "You're not gonna get any warmer in soaked clothing."
Trisha unlaced Gibbs' boots and removed his socks. "Don't worry, Gibbs. We won't look! In fact, here," she said as she threw a fuzzy blue blanket over Gibbs. "Think you can handle undoing your pants?"
Rochelle smirked at her friend. "That sounded really wrong. On so many levels." Trisha glared at her, but it only made Rochelle laugh more.
Gibbs smiled and closed his eyes; he didn't have the energy to argue with the kids. Besides, he knew they were right. Instead he undid his belt and zipper, then simply said, "Ok."
Trish grabbed his pant legs and pulled off his drenched pants as Chelle held the blanket in place. Trisha was about to put Gibbs' feet in the clean pair of shorts when Gibbsstopped her. He wiggled a little then said, "Hey…boxers."
"WHAT?" Trisha asked with big eyes. "Gibbs, I never said anything about that!" She was going to continue her protest, but she noticed Gibbs' shivering and decided to shut up. She figured that the boxers were probably soaked, too.
Rochelle got up and went to the kitchen, then came back with a plastic garbage bag and salad tongs. She tossed them to her friend and said, "Might as well wash his stuff, grab his underoos and put 'em in there with the tongs."
Trisha sighed with relief. "Good thinking, Chelle." With that she reached under the blanket and came out with Gibbs' flannel boxers firmly grasped in the salad tongs. Trisha wrinkled her nose as she quickly put them and his pants in the bag.
Rochelle had taken the shorts and had gotten them up to Gibbs' knees. Gibbs took over from there and pulled them up around his waist. Chelle had gotten a bunch more blankets and had put them on the bottom half of Gibbs.
"Ok, shirt time," Trisha said. "I need your help, Chelle." Trisha reached and carefully unzipped Gibbs' jacket. She knew his ribs hurt, and she didn't want to hurt him more if she didn't have to. "Ok Gibbs, bend your elbows so we can get your jacket off." She gingerly removed Gibbs' arm from his jacket sleeve. Rochelle did the same, then pulled the jacket out from underneath Gibbs' body. Trisha reached down and grabbed Gibbs' navy blue polo and white T-shirt at the same time. "Can you put your arms up, Gibbs?"
Gibbs nodded and put his arms up, but as soon as he did pain shot through his ribs, causing him to gasp. Trisha yanked his shirts off, and then, just as quickly, Rochelle had the fresh T-shirt over Gibbs' arms and head. Trisha took Gibbs' arms and put them back down at his sides and pulled the shirt down the rest of the way, but not before she saw the deep purple bruises on Gibbs' ribs.
Meanwhile, Rochelle had gotten a pillow and placed it beneath Gibbs' head, then went to the outlet in the wall and plugged in the electric blanket. Turning the blanket on high, she tucked it around Gibbs' body and placed more blankets on top of him.
Rochelle sat there for a few minutes, then sighed and looked at Trisha. "Ok, I think he'll be alright. I'm cold, and you look tired. You wanna shower first or should I?"
Trisha was about to say that she would shower, but a moan from Gibbs quickly changed her mind. "Nahh Chelle, you can go take one. I'll stay with Gibbs," she said as she got up and turned on the TV. Grabbing the remote, she came back and sat down on the floor next to the man.
Rochelle took the garbage bag with Gibbs' clothes in them to the laundry room. She threw everything in the washer, added some detergent, and turned on the cold water. After the washer started, Chelle headed for the shower.
Back in the living room, Gibbs opened his eyes again and looked at the little girl seated next to him. "Trish," he whispered.
She smiled at him. "Shhh Gibbs, it's ok now. You can sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up," she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Go ahead, close your eyes."
Gibbs closed his eyes and drifted to sleep as Trisha stroked his hair.
"Night, Gibbs," Trisha whispered to the sleeping agent.
A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews! I'll try and update again soon; you should expect the next chapter(s) sometime this weekend.