Finally, here it is, the next chapter of The Holiday Season!
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it weren't true, I am not affiliated with NCIS in any way, shape, or form. That all belongs to DPB, CBS, and Paramount.
Chapter 3- The Waking Nightmare
Bethesda Naval Hospital 1130 (11:30 AM)
Kate quickly paced around the perimeter of the small waiting room. McGee had generously offered to be the one that went back to NCIS to type up the incident report. She had been waiting for an hour to see how Tony and Gibbs were doing. It had been one hell of an explosion. McGee had nearly been hit by a soup can fireball.
It had been so horrible. Everything was on fire, burning away the evidence that may very well have been found in the alley. But what was even worse than the destroyed evidence was Gibbs and Tony. The scene kept replaying itself over and over in Kate's mind, unwillingly on her part. She tried in vain to hit stop and eject the tape, but the button in her mind was stuck firmly on play.
Kate and McGee were near the truck, breaking out all the gear. Kate heard Tony call Gibbs over, telling him that he heard something. She heard Gibbs yell, "It's a bomb!" She heard the furious pounding of their feet on the pot-holed tar of the alley, trying in vain to escape the earth-shattering explosion. She heard the explosion. It was horrible, a sound of angry air whooshing though the narrow alleyway, a sound of trash and everything else in the fire's path disintegrate. But what Kate heard then, what was worse than all of that, worse than hearing her own frantic voice shouting out for Gibbs and Tony, was the sound of them moaning in pain.
On the tape that was continuously playing, she saw the image of them lying sprawled in the middle of the alley. The tape was paused on that image of them. Kate wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to Gibbs or Tony. She could barely stand the anxiety that was overwhelming her as she paced around and around the lonely waiting room. Instead of the bright colors splashed on the walls cheering her up, as was their purpose, the vibrant red and yellows and oranges were a cruel reminder of the recent events. Kate needed to clear her head, to think clearly. She couldn't let her emotions cloud her thinking. Not now, not ever for that matter, or else he might discover her true feelings for him. Just as she was about to go grab a cup of coffee from the hospital cafeteria, the door of the waiting room opened.
Dr. Christopher Rouse walked in to the room. The tall thin, balding man with nervously flitting green eyes may not have looked like one of the best doctors in the D.C. area, but Kate knew that he was one hell of a surgeon, and he was committed to his work. The look on his face was blank, and Kate couldn't glean any information from it. "Special Agent Todd," he said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
TBC