Unearthed Secrets
AN: Thankyou all for yourreviews
also a huge thankyou to Kate for her help and support
The next morning saw Ducky arriving at the hospital early with a coffee for Gibbs and a bag with Jake's belongings. He hummed a tune to himself as he took the elevator to the third floor and headed for the room Jake had been transferred into. As he looked into the room, he smiled and briefly leant against the door as he watched Gibbs sleeping on the chair, still holding Jake's hand. Jake was also sleeping peacefully, his body sprawled across the bed. One of his arms under the pillow as the other, his injured arm, held tightly to Gibbs' hand. Ducky walked into the room and put the coffee on the bedside table
"Jethro," Ducky said softly, gently shaking Gibbs' shoulder
"Jake," Gibbs mumbled
Ducky smiled, "He's right here," he said, gesturing to the bed
Gibbs leant forward and kissed Jake's hand, sighing.
"I brought you some coffee and something to eat," Ducky responded, taking a small brown bag of food out of Jake's bag and giving it to Gibbs. Gibbs took the bag gratefully and started eating his burger, closing his eyes in contentment.
"How's our young man doing?" Ducky asked
"You're the doctor, Duck," Gibbs replied around his mouthful of food
"Indeed," Ducky agreed, walking to the end of the bed to read the chart. Ducky smiled back at Gibbs, "He's doing well,"
Gibbs finished the burger and scrunched up the bag, throwing it in the bin. He nodded, "When will he be able to come home?"
"Might be a few days yet. At the moment he just needs his rest…" Ducky replied
"And the drugs he's been given. What are the drugs he's on?" Gibbs interrupted
Ducky sighed, "A few strong ones. Jethro, he's going to be okay"
Gibbs gave a self-deprecating smile, "Suppose it could've been worse…a lot worse. And I could've prevented it"
"Jethro, you can't blame yourself for this" Ducky told him
"Yeah, well, I do" Gibbs responded
"We've been over this before…" Ducky insisted
"Dad, it's not your fault" Jake said softly from his bed
"Honey, you're awake," Gibbs said with a smile
"Ya think?" Jake said with a grin
Gibbs smiled and rubbed Jake's head, "Yeah,"
Jake's face turned serious, "Dad, you can't blame yourself for what he did. It's not your fault,"
Gibbs closed his eyes, "I could've stopped him though," he said when he opened his eyes
Jake grumbled, "He was a monster, there is nothing you could've done to stop him. Now, stop being a bastard, and forgive yourself,"
"Watch your language, Jake," Gibbs scolded
"Don't change the topic," Jake responded
Gibbs sighed and looked at Ducky, who shrugged, "He's right, Jethro"
"Yeah, dad, I'm right," Jake told him
Gibbs and Ducky turned to look at Jake, who stared back at them, "What? I am"
Gibbs sighed, "Fine,"
"Forgive yourself?" Jake asked
"Don't push it," Gibbs said, glaring at Jake, who grinned
At that moment, the doctor from the night before strode in, "Ah, Mr. Gibbs and Doctor Mallard," he greeted Ducky and Gibbs, "And of course, the young Mr. Gibbs." He said looking at Jake
Jake waved him off with a smirk, "Ah, call me Jake," he said, holding out his hand
The doctor chuckled and shook his hand, "I'm Doctor Daniels,"
"So, I'll call you Jack," Jake responded with a grin
The doctor laughed, "I wouldn't have thought you'd know about that at your age,"
"Dad drinks it," Jake replied, watching Gibbs frown at him
The doctor laughed again, "Well, you can call me 'Jack' if you want to, or 'Ben' as my first name is, whatever takes your fancy," Ben walked to the end of the bed and quickly read the chart, before putting it down again, "In any case, you seem to be improved quite rapidly, better than we expected,"
"I get that from my dad," Jake said, squeezing Gibbs' hand, "When can I get outta here?"
Ben smiled, "Well, if things continue as they're going, you can be discharged tomorrow,"
"Cool," Jake said eagerly, then narrowed his eyes at Ben, "So, Jack, are you open to bribes?"
"Matthew Jake," Gibbs said, glaring at him
Ben chuckled, "Unfortunately, your health comes first," he made a quick note on the chart, before putting his pen away. He looked at Gibbs and Ducky, "My shift finishes now, but I'll be back this afternoon to check on his progress,"
Ducky shook his hand, thanking him, Gibbs following suit. Ben smiled at Jake, "See ya later, squirt,"
"See ya, kiddo," Jake responded
Ben chuckled as he walked out. Gibbs and Ducky looked back at Jake, then exchanged glances.
"What?" Jake asked. Gibbs lightly cuffed the back of Jake's head. "What was that for?"
"You've only just met Tony and you're already acting like him!" Gibbs replied
"I haven't just met him; I've known him since he started working with you. HEs only just met me. Besides, you know what they say about learning through watching somebody else" Jake responded
"Observational learning," Ducky supplied,
"Yeah, that one," Jake said
Gibbs raised his eyebrow, "I think you've spent too much time around Abby,"
Jake smiled, "Thank you for noticing,"
Later in the day, Tony and Kate stopped by to see how Jake was doing. When they walked into the room, they saw that Gibbs was asleep in the bedside chair, snoring softly, and Jake was lying in the bed, staring at the ceiling. He turned over and watched them standing in the doorway. He put his finger to his lips, "Don't wake dad, he's hardly slept,"
Tony and Kate walked into the room quietly. Kate put a cup of coffee in front of Gibbs, before grabbing a spare chair and sitting down.
Jake frowned, "You guys bring me anything?"
Tony raised his eyebrows, "Like? Coffee?"
"Well, yeah, coffee and chocolate, strong and hot" Jake replied
Kate rolled her eyes, "That doesn't really surprise me"
Jake studied Kate and Tony for a while, "So, when are you two gonna have kids?"
Kate raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth in shock whilst Tony wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at Kate, making Jake laugh.
"When are you gonna get married? Can I be the best man?" Jake asked
"We haven't really planned that far ahead yet," Kate replied
Jake didn't miss the look that Tony passed Kate's way.
"So, how do you know so much about us anyway?" Tony asked
"You mean, apart from Gibbs talking about you?" Jake asked
"Oooh, what does he say?" Tony asked eagerly
Jake grinned, "I can't tell you that, it's on a need-to-know basis. And of course, I spend a lot of time with Abby and Ducky, and if you haven't noticed already, they love to talk,"
"Well, you seem to know a lot about us, why don't you tell us about you?" Kate asked
"Okay," Jake said, taking a deep breath, "My name is Matthew Jake Gibbs, I'm eleven, my dad is Leroy Jethro and has a thing for red-heads"
Kate smirked as Tony chuckled.
"I play baseball and love boats; I love the boat dad's building. Once it's done, we're gonna go sailing everywhere," Jake continued
Tony frowned, "Have you thought about how you're gonna get it out of the basement?"
Jake raised his eyebrow, "Tony, my man, it's the process that counts, not the end product. Besides, we figure we can knock out one of the walls and put up a ramp"
"God, you love it as much as he does," Kate commented
Jake grinned, "Yeah. I love coffee and chocolate. I love Chinese and pizza. What else do ya wanna know?"
"Coffee?" Gibbs mumbled, waking up and taking in his surroundings
"Yeah, just there, Gibbs," Kate said, showing him the coffee
He grabbed it and downed half the cup. He blinked and looked around, "So, what's new?"
Jake grinned and leant forward to whisper in Gibbs' ear, "Tony wants to propose to Kate, she has no idea," then leant back against the pillows, grinning widely
"Yeah, I know," Gibbs commented, smirking at the looks on Kate and Tony's faces.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs said
"Yeah, boss?" Tony asked
"About what we were discussing last night. My answer is yes" Gibbs told him, looking into Tony's eyes
Tony frowned, then understanding dawned on him and he grinned, "Thanks, boss,"
"Would somebody mind filling me in here?" Kate asked
"Later, sweetie," Tony responded, Kate grumbled
Jake yawned, "You know what movie this reminds me of?"
Tony raised his eyebrows as Gibbs rolled his, "What?"
"Conspiracy Theory" Jake replied
"Why?" Tony asked
"The title. Never really understood the movie though," Jake responded, closing his eyes
"Go to sleep, Jake," Gibbs said softly
"I was planning to," Jake replied, getting comfortable on the bed, before falling asleep
"He's cute," Kate said to Gibbs,
"Thanks," Gibbs said, smiling widely
"Yeah, he's a great kid, boss," Tony agreed
Gibbs beamed at them, "Yeah, he is,"
Tony smiled and put his arm around Kate, "Wanna join us for lunch?"
Gibbs shook his head, "No, I'll stay here, incase he wakes. Have a good time,"
"Will do," Tony responded
As they walked out, Tony turned around to see Gibbs give him the thumbs up
That's it for chapter 28!...Hope you liked it! PLEASE review! Tell me what you think