Title: The Seven Year Itch
Author: MindyH
See chapter one for details.
She'd been there for nearly eleven hours, waiting for Gibbs to open his eyes. Everyone had told her to go home and get some rest, everyone had told her he was going to be fine. But Kate stubbornly refused to leave his side.
He'd asked for her when he'd woken the first time but she hadn't been there. She'd been facing an FBI panel hastily convened to investigate the siege at the holiday house. They seemed less concerned with how an NCIS agent got shot and more with how the lead FBI agent got captured in the first place.
She was in shock herself, worried and exhausted, the events seemingly a blur in her memory. She tried to emphasize the fact that no one in the end got hurt and that Lieutenant Smith had eventually been apprehended.
"Thanks to Agent Gibbs," one of the panelists had pointed out reproachfully.
"Yes," she'd confirmed composedly: "Thanks to Agent Gibbs."
When she finally arrived at the hospital, she'd been told that Gibbs' surgery had gone very well, but she was denied access to him. She flashed her badge at every doctor and nurse that came at her with a pathetic excuse, terrorizing the staff until she was granted entry.
Now he'd been moved to a private room in ICU, where he remained heavily drugged and non-responsive. Ducky had been in to see him, of course, and Abby had visited for a while. The two women had sat on the end of the hospital bed, exchanging Jethro Gibbs anecdotes and giggling over the infatuations they'd both harbored for their irritable boss at different times in their working history.
Abby was just as cheery and cheeky as she'd always been and had been happy to take Kate's relieved mind off blaming herself. They'd chatted easily, catching up on each other's lives and recalling the old days.
Abby had insisted on bringing her some dinner from the cafeteria before she left about an hour ago and one of the few nurses who was not scared of her had provided her with some weak, warm coffee.
The hospital room was cold and bleak, washed with the last, lingering light of the long day. Kate moved away from the window where she'd been watching the sun set. She dragged the single chair over to the bedside and wrapped a light blanket around her shoulders, as she curled up awkwardly in the seat.
Gibbs' heart monitor beeped beside her, his chest continued to rise and fall, his wounded arm bandaged tight and thick. She'd memorized the pattern of the hospital gown he wore and every crease of the sheets by now. Her eyes drooped wearily and her body began to unwind. But whenever she closed her eyes, images assailed her of the nightmare that they'd endured at the holiday home.
In fact, in the last few empty hours, she'd been rethinking and reliving her entire relationship with this enigmatic, unpredictable man.
Kate had tried with all her might to not think of her former boss when she'd left NCIS. It had been one of the hardest decisions she'd ever had to make in her life, and she'd told him that, when she handed him her resignation. She had been seeking a fresh new life for herself, devoid of his censure and his demands and his silence and his reserve.
But if she's honest with herself, she never really succeeded in forgetting him. Kate always felt that things were never fully settled between them, never completely finished. Some part of her still felt intrinsically and irrevocably connected to Jethro Gibbs through the years, despite his cold goodbye, despite his absence at her wedding, and despite his always temperamental character.
Kicking off her shoes, Kate shifted uncomfortably in the unyielding chair, trying halfheartedly to find some rest. In her mind's eye, she saw Gibbs' expression when he looked at her across that long, grey room; she saw his determination and his concern. She saw his blood when he suddenly went down.
She couldn't help but think that if Smith had simply taken two seconds to aim or if Gibbs had moved one second later, he might not have been breathing beside her as he now was. He may very well have been lost to her forever.
The idea was more than she could bare and she opened her eyes quickly to assure herself of his safety.
Moving closer in her chair, she reached out with one hand to lightly brush up and down his arm, the rhythmic gesture and the warmth of his skin comforting her somewhat. Her head bowed gradually, resting softly on the side of the bed by his elbow as her eyes slipped slowly shut again.
A soft grunt rose from the quiescent body beside her and her eyes snapped open once more to see Gibbs floating back to consciousness.
"Hey," she whispered softly, rising swiftly from the chair and drawing near.
She took a seat on the edge of the bed as his eyelids fluttered open and his throat crackled dryly. She poured him a drink from the jug at his bedside and held it to his lips.
"Here, drink this," she urged quietly as Gibbs' able hand came up to weakly grip the cup, covering hers as he drank thirstily. When he'd downed the water, she poured another in case he wanted more and left it by the bed.
"Kate..?" he gulped, following her movements with a groggy gaze: "You okay?" he sighed, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Yes," she smiled tearily, her voice unable to manage more than a whisper. Her brow crumpled as she fought the sudden lump of emotion in her throat: "Yeah, Gibbs, I'm fine."
He lifted his hand and it swayed in mid-air, trying to find her, eventually patting sloppily against her cheek. She covered it with her own, holding his palm in place and stroking soothingly with her other hand up and down the inside of his arm.
"He hurt you…" Gibbs mumbled, squinting at the red marks on her neck and chest.
"I'm fine," she assured him quietly: "I'll heal." One tear escaped, running down her cheek and catching in his palm: "So will you," she told him resolutely.
Gibbs' thumb swiped at the wet streak on her cheek and her eyes slipped shut, savoring his touch and rubbing her face affectionately into his large, rough palm. She had no words for the incredible strength and range of emotion she felt. This man – this beloved, amazing man – had saved her life. And he'd done it without a second thought for his own.
His eyes closed over as she held his hand in both of hers, tenderly kissing the knobly knuckles at the base of each of his fingers. Gibbs' mouth turned up slightly, as she turned over his hand and lingeringly placed a reverent kiss in the center of his palm.
His eyes were closed but his thumb grazed gently over her lips. She repeated the kiss, as his face relaxed into unconsciousness again and his hand became heavy in her own. His heart monitor beeped softly, as she sat for a long time, watching him rest, with his hand held in hers at her breast.
Finally, she moved back to her chair, never letting go of his big, bulky paw. The room was pitch black when her head dropped back to the edge of the bed and she slowly drifted off to sleep.