A/N: I know, it's been a long time, what can I sway, RL has been crazy! I hope I've still got people with me on this ride..
To my guest reviewers: Syl: thanks so much, so glad you enjoy my stories! There's more to come, I promise you!
Momcat: it is nice to know the boys & Alex are being taken care of now, as for Nix's future.. only time will tell..
Guest: my facebook page, which I'm about bring a new update to has family trees so everyone can tell who belongs to who.. I am trying to update it though.. so glad you're enjoying this!..now let's see what's happening back in Naples
Jack could barely keep still, maybe he should have gone with his son because this unknowing was driving him crazy! Last he'd heard they'd found Patricia & had gone over to England where they'd gotten a trace from his grandson's GPS signal. That though had been a while ago, what was going on? Was his grandson ok? He prayed that he was! He wasn't sure he'd cope if he wasn't.
"Jackson" Tristan called quietly coming into Gibbs office.
"Is there news?" Jack asked instantly.
"Yes" Tristan smiled "they got the boys, Phoenix & Jacob, they're safe" and thank the stars!
Jack let a breath, the breath he'd been holding for who knows how long! "Thank heavens! Are they all ok?"
"They're on the way to the local hospital" Tristan responded, she took a moment to sit down on the couch next to him "Director Vance called, for the most part everyone's ok, but Phoenix has to be assessed for his injuries."
"Did Leon say how bad he was?" Jack asked hastily.
Tristan took a deep breath "he wasn't sure, Jethro basically got them ferreted away as soon as the situation had been resolved. From what he could see, he did look worse for wear I'm afraid, but we'll know more in a few more hours once they've had a chance to assess Phoenix at the hospital."
Jack nodded "ok, what about Jethro? The girls? Tony? Are the rest ok?"
"Jethro, and your family are all ok, for the most part only some minor scraps for our people, but I believe there are some injuried parties from the relatives that they found" Tristan answered, apparently things had been complete mess, but for the most part their group was ok, which she was glad for!
Jack breathed a sigh of relief, though he wouldn't truly relax until he knew how bad his grandson was, and they were all back in Naples. There was something he was curious about "Did they find Alexander? Shannon's father?"
"Yes" Tristan confirmed "he is one of the parties that's sustained injuries & is also being assessed."
Jack nodded, he wasn't sure how Shannon was coping with this development, he hoped she was ok. He hoped they were all ok!
"Jack, I can also tell you that they've apprehended Liam & Susan Fielding, along with numerous others, but Liam & Susan were the main players in everything. They're going to be brought back to Naples for processing." Tristian explained.
"Good" Jack was glad that they'd gotten people in custody "was anyone killed?"
"I don't believe so, there were a number of injured, some having sustained gunshot wounds, but I don't believe there was any loss of life" Tristan answered, it was something she was honestly surprised about, glad most definitely, but still surprised!
"That's good" Jack nodded.
Tristan smiled "I'll let you rest Jack, as soon as I get update on Phoenix I'll come let you know"
"Thank you" Jack nodded, he could finally relax a breath, and maybe have a rest.
Tristan headed out of her office & headed back for MTAC when she saw Lt Col Morris & Col Marks "gentlemen" she greeted.
"What's the latest?" Col Marks asked.
"We heard that it had ended? That they've found the boys?" Col Morris added.
"Yes, all over" Tristan breathed out "Director Vance called a few minutes ago, it got messy for a while, but it's now all over"
"Is everyone ok?" Marks enquired.
"For the most part, I believe so, although they're having to get Phoenix assessed at the nearest hospital" Tristan responded.
"What about Patricia & her son?" Morris enquired, he wondered how his 2nd & her son were doing.
"Patricia is with them, and they've already given him his medication, and he'll also be getting assessed at the hospital" Tristan responded. She took a breath, before looking to Marks "you'll want to check the brig capacity & have MP's on standby to guard some rooms at the hospital. They've arrested numerous people, including both Liam & Susan Fielding, all are being brought across as well, some are injured, so will need to be held at the hospital initially."
"Ok, then" Marks' eyes widened "I'll get Carter to get a squad of MP's on standby for the hospital & they'll meet the planes on arrival too. As for the brig, I know that we've only got 2 marines in there at the moment, so we can handle a fair group coming in"
"Good" Tristan nodded "I'm going to head over to the hospital & make sure they're doing ok & will be ready for whatever incoming is heading our way"
"Are you thinking we can relax the restrictions yet?" Morris queried
Tristan considered it "we're definitely heading that way, but.."
"You want to keep it all air-tight until they get back" Marks commented, he could see it in her eyes "I think it's a good idea."
"I'd agree with that, keep it air-tight until they're all back safe & sound, then we can start to relax a little" Morris added.
Tristan was glad to have the support for what she wanted to do "agreed, let's keep everything locked down, when they get back we'll slowly ease it back once we know things are settled."
"We're keeping the marine unit from Frankfurt for at least another week, it'll allow us to rotate our security staff so everyone can rest." Marks commented, he was trying to shuffle his teams as best as possible to get all rest.
"Does that rest include Carter & Andrews?" Tristan asked, those two men were refusing to rest until they'd gotten everyone back safe & sound.
"No, like us, they're not taking a moments rest until Jethro and his family are back." Marks answered and continued "however, Lt Cook has just landed back from his leave, as soon as he's gotten family settled he'll be on deck, so that will help lighten their load." He was glad Lt Cook was finally back from his leave!
Tristan was glad for it return of one of the senior base operational security officers "glad to hear he's back, I'm going to the hospital now"
Morris watched as the women walked away "you tried suggesting Megan take a rest herself?" he asked Marks.
Marks laughed "yea right, I'm not risking my head on that one, but if you want to, be my guest!"
Tristan arrived at the hospital, as he approached the entrance she saw that they still had it heavily secured, holding her ID & badge up so the MP's could verify who she was, they nodded at her. She knew most MP's knew her by face, but she would always follow protocol.
"Megan" Brine greeted in shock "what are you doing here? What's wrong?"
"We've gotten a break, Jethro & the others have Phoenix, as well as Patricia & Jacob" Tristan remarked quickly, she saw instant relief on Harm's face before she continued "they've taken the boys to the local hospital for a check, as well as some of the injured personnel."
"Thank the stars!" Brine responded "how bad are the boys?" he hoped Phoenix was injured too badly!
"Well, Director Vance said Phoenix was pretty banged up, but we won't know anything until we get a further update from the group after their check-ups" Tristan responded "how are things here? How are the boys doing?"
"Jonas is recovering ok, he's stable, got a broken arm, some bruising on his rib cage, and a fracture in his left leg." Brine answered "Michael on the other hand, we've gotten him stable, he'll need more surgeries, but until he's recovered a bit more we can't risk operating again."
"Did that women end up coming, that relative who's apparently one of the best in Europe?" Tristan asked.
"Yes, Susan McLowry, she's actually Shannon's cousin, she was in Rome at a conference, she's one of the best trauma surgeons around." Brine answered "but she didn't come alone though.."
"What do you mean?" Tristan asked "she had security, but I sense that's not what you mean."
"No, a Dr James Doyle was at the same conference as Susan McLowry, he's a hip & knee specialist, and apparently, knows the Gibbs' family, his son was on the same College football team as Phoenix, so he's come too" Brine answered.
"Is he good?" Tristan.
"He's in the top 2 hip & knee specialists in America, and the top 10 in the world, so yea, he's good" Brine responded.
"That's a good thing then" Tristan remarked, this was a good thing!
"Yes" Brine agreed "the pair of them are currently reviewing Michael's scans to see how bad the damage is & what is the best course of action to take for his knees & hip."
"Whatever they need to get him right, we'll organise" Tristan remarked, she saw agreement in Brine's eyes.
"Harm!" Gail called as she approached her husband & Tristan, she only continued when she had their attention "I've got Doctor Mallard on the phone, he's at the English hospital that Nix & the others were taken too, the team there want to pass on information about the boys before they are sent back."
"Get all the doctors for me, including Symonds, McLowry & Doyle, we'll take the call in the conference room" Brine responded. He turned back to Tristan "as soon as I'm out, I'll let you know how bad the boys are"
"I'm going to check on Jonas, so come find me" Tristan responded, whilst she'd wanted to be in that meeting, so knew it wasn't protocol.
James Doyle had originally planned to make a detour to Naples to see the Gibbs family on his way home from the conference in Rome, his son Jimmy had basically demanded it. What he wasn't expecting was to have been sitting next to Dr McLowry when she got the call about a matter that her father wanted her to attend to, but when he heard the words 'Naples' & 'Gibbs' mentioned he didn't know what to expect. He'd asked the lady to explain what she knew, and when she did that, he'd made the instant decision to head to Naples with her & help anyway he could. He'd always help Phoenix and his family!
Brine took a seat at the top end of the table in the conference room, he saw the team in England come online on their large screen "hello, I'm Commander Harmon Brine, head doctor of the NSA Naples base hospital. With me are Lt Commander Cherie Anderson, Lt Dean Francis, Jnr Lt Ilan Mendelsohn, all three are our ER doctors, We've also go Lt Commander Sharon Symonds, one of our Specialists, she deals with haematology, Dr James Doyle, a hip & knee Specialist from the US, and Dr Susan McLowry, a Trauma surgeon." Brine had pointed to each individual as he introduced them.
"Hello, I'm Dr Mabel Paddington" Mabel introduced herself "Shannon Gibbs, Patricia Kaplan & Susan McLowry who's with you are all my cousins."
Brine was surprised at this news, and saw he wasn't alone "nice to meet you"
"Mabel" Susan greeted her cousin, to her Mabel looked exhausted!
Mabel nodded at her cousin before she proceeded to introduce the people on her end "with me are Dr Jonathan Lawrence, our specialist currently watching over Jacob, our cousin Gail O'Day, a senior ER doctor, and your Dr Mallard."
"Hello" Brine greeted "I believe you have an update for us on Phoenix's & Jacob's condition?"
"Yes" Mabel answered before continuing "let me first say that they're due to head back to Naples within the hour, we're just finalising transportation arrangements & allowing both of them to finish some IV intakes first. Also, myself & Gail will both be on the flight to Naples with the boys, along with Dr Mallard."
"How bad are they?" Brine asked concerned, for 2 additional doctors to come on the flight couldn't be a good thing!
"Let's start with Jacob" Mabel suggested as she looked to her fellow doctor.
"Ok, so we compared his results from the blood we took today, to his most recent results from back in America, and his blood cells levels has decreased by 5%, whilst his platelets have gone down by 4%. I'll be honest, given the stress that Jacob's been through, the drop wasn't as low as I would have thought they would have been. His blood pressure was a little high, but that's already started to come back down. Dr Mallard had given him a 150% as soon as they retrieved Jacob, and I believe that this has already had an effect." Dr Lawrence explained, he directed his comments to Dr Symonds, the one he knew would taking over from him in Jacob's care.
"Thoughts on organising a transfusion?" Dr Symonds asked and continued "usually, drops of more than 3% would need a transfusion, no?"
"Normally yes, I'd agree with you" Dr Lawrence conceded. "However I spoke with Jacob's doctor back in America, a Dr Anthony Evans, and given Jacob's current results, and the timing of his last transfusion being only last week, we don't want to risk another one so soon. So rather than doing a transfusion again so soon, we believe giving him 150% dosage for the next week, will hopefully work just as well, and we can see what effects it has on his levels."
"Ok, I've got Evans' details, so I'll make contact too" Symonds conceded.
"That would be worthwhile, and I'm happy to sit on that call too" Lawrence agreed "the best thing that helped Jacob, was the timing was the best we could have hoped for, it helped him get through the past 5 days whilst he was down on his medication. We're sending over a package as we speak to your network so you can review all his results, as well as the comparison to his results last week after the transfusion."
"That sounds good moving forward" Symonds agreed.
"That's good, and just for the record, we've got ample supply for a transfusion if required" Brine added.
"That's good to hear" Lawrence remarked, and he really was.
"Now, can we discuss Phoenix please?" Brine asserted, he was getting worried about what they'd hear & knew they'd wrapped up Jacob's issues.
"It isn't good I'm afraid" Mabel answered, she took a deep breath "I understand that you saw the footage of what happened when he was first kidnapped."
"Yes we have" Brine responded, that had been hard to watch, but they'd done it to try to work out what had caused the injuries to better help them fix them. "We know that he sustained a few injuries, so please, just be straight with us, what are his injuries?"
"Ok" Mabel nodded "first off, we've basically scanned his entire body, I can confirm that there are no signs of internal bleeding or internal injuries. He has a gash to his forehead & some bruising, apart from that there are no further issues to his head or neck, and we've found no issues to his spine."
Anderson wasn't liking the way she was starting, if this was the good news, there was bad news coming! She just hoped it wasn't that bad.
"His entire ribcage is extremely bruised & 3 of his ribs have cracks in them, 2 are minor whilst 1 is a little bit more substantial." Mabel explained & continued "we've secured his ribs to try to give him some relief, but he's having trouble breathing as a consequence."
Brine heard a ding from the laptop in front of him, signalling the information packet had come in "Francis, get the scan's up on the screen so we can see them as we talk through each of them" he ordered.
Mabel nodded, this would help the discussion "let's start with his right arm scans, followed by left leg."
Francis pulled up the relevant scans "ok"
"So, his right arm's flexor muscle has a possible strain, but there's no breaks or major tears from we could see." Mabel explained.
"Looks like a grade one strain" Anderson commented, it didn't look too bad.
"That's what we think too" Gail remarked "and we think he's also got a grade one strain in his left hamstring."
"That's what it looks like to me" Susan agreed with her cousins, as she looked at the scans.
"Bring up the scans for his left arm" Mabel requested, she waited until she saw the correct images on the screen, she took a breath, it was going to get worse now "ok, his triceps muscle has a large gash that we've already stitched up. His radius has a sever fracture, we've secured it for transport, but you will need to set it. There is also extensive bruising around his elbow joint, but we can't see any breaks or fractures thankfully."
Doyle enlarged the image in front of himself to get a better look at the radius, the fracture was only inches away from the wrist "we need to break & re-set, the bone is too narrow where it's fractured to let it heal as it is." Whilst his speciality was knees & hips, he knew a thing or two about radius's.
Brine had enlarged his screen as well, this wasn't good! "I'd say you're right, break & reset might be the best option on face value." Whilst he was ok with opinions on the first look at the scans, they had to really study them & maybe take a few more to make sure they were making the right decisions as to how to proceed.
"We might also need to look at that gash to his triceps, see how the stitching goes of course, but we might need to look another methods, given it's size." Susan added.
Brine simply nodded, they'd have to monitor it for sure "we'll also need to recheck that elbow given the amount of bruising." He was concerned there was a fracture underneath all that bruising.
"What about his right leg?" Anderson asked.
"He's suffered major injuries to his right leg" Mabel led in with "both his hamstring & calf muscles have been torn quite badly, we think they're solid grade 2 tears, and his calf muscle has a deep gash, and again we've stitched it up already."
James Doyle again enlarged the muscle scans "I think it's more than 2, but can't quite…. Bloody hell! They've both been ruptured, it's slight, but I'd bet anything that's a rupture." He commented as he motioned to a spot on the image.
Susan, who was sitting next to James, looked on "I'd say you're right, we'll need to take some more scans focused on these areas, but I'd agree, they're both ruptured." This poor boy! And all at the hands of those bloody Fielding's & Lancert's!
"I'm afraid there's more, both his tibia & fibula have fractures, and his patella.. is shattered, he's going to need a complete knee reconstruction" Mabel thought it best to get the rest out quickly.
Brine's eyes widened in horror as Francis showed the images of the scans "shit!" what the heck had happened to Nix? The poor kid!
Doyle's eyes widened as he looked at the image of Nix's right knee "my gosh!" this would need serious work!
"Who did this to him?" Susan more or less demanded, this was ridiculous! The poor boy!
"Loch Lancert" Gail answered "and they've got him in custody, he's being treated for a gunshot at our neighbouring hospital, shame" she finished with a smirk.
Mendelsohn, who'd be sitting in the meeting & just trying to absorb everything, the calibre of the doctors in this room was amazing! But he was sitting next to Susan and couldn't help but jump a little, she'd growled when she'd heard who did it, guess there was no love lost.
"Let's put aside who did this, we need to concentrate on what the injuries are & what we need to do to get Phoenix well again" Brine commented, though he couldn't deny that he was glad the man that had done this had sustained injuries himself.
"That entire area will need to be cleaned out before we can even consider the actual reconstruction. This isn't going be simple, but I've got some ideas, and I want to do some more scans/tests when Phoenix gets here." Doyle remarked, he wouldn't let anyone else take control of this one, he would do this!
Brine knew the man was the best person to take lead on this part of Phoenix's recovery plan "we'll do whatever tests you need, and if we need to send away for anything, we'll get it."
"Thank you" Doyle nodded "do you have photos of the outside of his knee?" though he wasn't sure he wanted to see it given the damage, but had to ask.
"Honestly, no, we were more concerned with getting him checked, and cleaned up, and getting him settled" Mabel conceded.
"Fair enough, I'll take a good look when he get here" Doyle remarked.
Brine nodded in agreement, they'll take further looks at everything that been sent & work out what else they needed, but first "is there anything else?" he prayed there wasn't!
"No, that's it" Mabel remarked relieved "we've cleaned all his wounds as much as we dare, we've stitched him up, again as much as we can & we've secured his various limbs that will need setting for the trip to Naples."
Anderson was glad to hear that there was no more injuries! "glad to hear it, when can we expect you?" they'd have to start prepping.
"We're just waiting for the transport to get here with the special beds to transport the 2 boys in, we'll then head to airport for immediate departure, I'd say we'll be in Naples in around 4 hours." Mabel answered.
"Ok, we'll go through all the data you've sent us for both boys, if anything arises on the flight that we need to know, please ask for a message to be sent through, we'll have 2 ambulances meet you at the airport here & get you back here." Brine remarked.
"Sounds good, we'll be in touch & see you in a few hours" Mabel.
"Dr Paddington, I am not going mince words, we all care a great deal for Phoenix, and Jacob by extension, so you take care of those boys, you get them here safely!" Brine asserted, he wouldn't be comfortable until the boys, but especially Nix was back in Naples, and under his care.
"I assure you Commander Brine, I will look after them as though they were my own, which they are, they are our cousins, and we will ensure they get home safe & sound" Mabel assured them.
Ducky had been a silent observer throughout the conversation, he wasn't there to impart any knowledge or anything, he'd sat in at Jethro's request. Really though he knew the doctors would have it well in hand, but here he could say something "the care these doctors have given the boys is first rate, I've seen that first hand. They're in safe hands for the trip home, both will go on onto Major Bond's Air Force plane, with their families, as well as myself and the doctors."
Brine had only met Dr Mallard briefly, when he picked up Jacob's medication, but knew the man held Gibbs's trust "ok, thank you"
"Ducky, can you tell Jethro & Shannon that I'm here, and that I'm already working on how to help Nix, as well as Michael, please" Doyle requested, he remembered the man from the few times they saw each other back in DC.
"Of course James, I will tell them, I'm sure that will comfort them, thank you" Ducky responded, he was sure it would bring them some comfort.
Brine waited until the call was finished before he spoke "ok, we've got 4 hours to prepare. Mendelsohn, organise 2 ambulances to meet the plane, I'm sure there will be security escorts too, so check in with base operations. Then I want you to handle any walk ins or other situations. Anderson, I want you to get 2 hours sleep, when you wake, Francis, you're going down for 2 hours. We need to go over everything that came through in the data packs for the boys. Symonds, before the boys arrive, I want you go down for a quick sleep too."
Brine waited for the rebuttals, and they came from all parties "this isn't a negotiation, we've all been awake for too long, everyone needs a quick sleep to recharge, and yes, I will go down too for a quick sleep at some point."
Doyle was impressed with Harm, he'd only been there a short while, but he really respected the way he managed his team. "I'd like to concentrate on Phoenix's right leg & knee, along with his left arm. I'm also still looking at Michael's scans, we'll need to get back into looking at the next steps for him too."
Brine nodded "over the next few hours between all of us, we'll digest the reports for Phoenix & Jacob, and work out the next steps for Michael too. We've got 3 young men counting on us to get them well again, we are going to pull out every single stop, we are going to turn over every rock, we'll get these boys right again, so let's get to it, we've got work to do!"
Brine watched as they all nodded & headed out, they all started talking amongst themselves about different things to work on. He was really concerned with how Jethro, Shannon & Kelly were coping, he knew they were a tight family, he'd have to speak to Ian & Megan, the family would need a heck of a lot of support! Then there was Anthony, he'd need support too. Right! They had family to prepare for, they had family to help, they had their mission & he'd be leading it!
A/N: So, looks like all the doctors are getting prepared for the boys arrival, and family friend Doc Doyle being there, so lucky! But how will the family go getting back to Naples, and how will the doc's go helping the boys & family through it all?
Let me know your thoughts, and that you're still with me, hope to get more up soon!