The wait time for news on Kelly seemed to drag on and on and Jethro's stress levels were skyrocketing the longer he had to wait.
She'd been in surgery for what felt like ages and his patience was wearing thin.
He had a lot of practice being under pressure though and tried to outwardly be as calm as possible for his wife's sake although inwardly Jethro was a complete mess. Shannon needed support; not to watch him fall apart. Moreover, he knew that crumbling was not going to help matters any.
Still, it was taking everything in Jethro to hold it together. His chest felt tight and it felt hard for him to breathe.
He'd done a lot of pacing initially out of anxiety but that just seemed to stress his wife out even more, which Jethro didn't want either.
"Having no news is driving me crazy," Shannon said so softly he could barely hear it.
"I know," Jethro said, "but it's Kelly. She's a fighter. She'll pull through this." He gave his wife a kiss on the top of her head. "Just breath, okay, Shan? She'll be okay." As he said the words, part of him knew he was equally trying to convince himself.
"I hope you're right," she said.
He gave her another kiss. "I am."
Shannon nodded, snuggling in closer to him as they sat there and waited.
They'd let their parents know what was going on with Kelly, of course, and his father was driving down from Stillwater at that very moment. Shannon's parents were both at home, waiting for further news. The team, although they wanted to be there, still had a case to work. They had a job to do.
His team hadn't updated him on the Bick case, likely at Vance's insistence, but Jethro, although he trusted his team to do their job and do it well, disliked leaving a job not finished and wanted something to take his mind momentarily off what was going on.
Based on the impression of the unique steam control valve Abby had managed to link Bick's place of death to a British Royal Ship berthed at Norfolk.
This complicated things as the crime scene officially took place on British soil. Peter Malloy of the British Royal Marines had apparently seemed apprehensive about letting NCIS onboard as they were gearing up to set sail soon.
DiNozzo also interviewed CIA Operations Officer Loretta Tennison, who had eventually revealed that Bick was involved in a CIA mission to deliver cash to Afghan warlords.
McGee and Ziva were finally cleared to check out the hull of the ship and found blood as well as traces of the CIA money powder that was found on our victim.
They were now just waiting to interview Officer Tennison again in the morning about what they had found and the case would go from there.
Unfortunately, he didn't have much luck with the Metro detectives working Kelly's case. They were still interviewing witnesses and had no new information for him, which did not sit well with Jethro whatsoever. He wanted whoever hurt Kelly to pay.
After what felt like ages, but was, in reality, a half-an-hour, one of the nurses handling Kelly's medical care finally walked up. "Family of Kelly Gibbs?"
Shannon shot out of her seat. "That's us."
"Your daughter's surgery went quite well," the brunette nurse informed them. "There were no unforeseen complications. She's currently stable. We've just moved Kelly to post-op and she should be moved to a room shortly."
A wave of relief washed over him at hearing that.
The tightness in his chest wouldn't completely go away until he saw his daughter with his own eyes, though. "When can we see her?"
The nurse turned slightly towards him. "Soon, Mr. Gibbs."
As the nurse walked away, Jethro pulled his wife into a one-armed hug. "See, Shan, I told you our girl would be okay."
She gave him a watery smile. "I love you."
"I love you too, Babe." Jethro gently kissed her on the forehead. "How about we go 'n get somethin' from the cafeteria? You haven't eaten and I could use some coffee." She really needs to eat and I need to update Maddie and the others.
"Okay," Shannon said. She then up from her seat, her hand firmly grasping his.
Giving his wife a small smile, he led her out of the waiting area and to the cafeteria.
They both needed a bit of a break and Jethro wanted to make sure that his wife had at least something small in her stomach. He had little doubt that Shannon hadn't eaten a thing since lunch and she really needed to get some food and water in her.
When they were both finally able to see Kelly a short while later, it was quite strange. Their daughter was laying down, looking peaceful. The monitor beside her hospital bed came with a monotone beeping sound, which Jethro found somewhat comforting. To him, it meant only one thing; her heartbeat. She was alive and that was good enough for him. They'd make it through all the rest.
"I'm here, Baby." Shannon spoke softly and gently touched Kelly's hand. "I'm here."
Their daughter didn't stir at all, still sound asleep from the drugs that they'd given her earlier, but the simple fact of being able to see Kelly breathing took a huge weight off of his chest. It actually felt like he could breathe somewhat again for the first time that evening. Judging by the look on his wife's face, she was feeling the exact same way.
They didn't leave Kelly's bedside the entire night, the both of them passing out in the chairs they'd been sitting on, only waking up when Shannon's parents and his father arrived, the Gibbs patriarch gently waking Jethro and Shannon with breakfast.
Jethro's father had then elected to stop by the house to grab both Jethro and Shannon a fresh change of clothes, promising to return to the hospital as quickly as he could.
After the second round of coffee, just before 0900, Kelly finally began to stir. Shannon, who just happened to look up from the magazine she was looking at, noticed it first. Tapping Jethro's leg, she pointed to Kelly, as if scared that moving or making a noise might jinx it or something.
With a groan, Kelly finally opened her eyes. The young woman's eyes darted around the room, scanning it, taking things in, and no doubt trying to figure out where she was and why she was there.
After a moment, her eyes land on her family. She noted her father looking at her with a complete look of relief, all three of her grandparents sharing looks of relief mixed with excitement, and her mother with tears running down her cheeks.
"What happened?" the young redhead croaked out, her voice very hoarse from what Jethro knew from experience was a mix of disuse and largely dryness.
Jethro got up and fetched her a cup of water, which Kelly accepted gratefully.
Composing herself, Shannon was the one to answer her. "You got hurt yesterday while on your way home from work. Do you remember what happened?"
Kelly brought her left arm up, finally noticing the bandaging there. "Yes," she replied, a slightly haunted tone filling the single syllable.
"You had surgery last night, and -" Jethro's words got caught in his throat, "and, well, the doctors say you're going to be just fine."
"We're so glad you're okay," Mac said.
"You had all of us worried," the Gibbs patriarch said, gently squeezing her hand.
Joann have Kelly a kiss on the forehead. "Don't scare us like that again, Sweetie."
The look that Kelly gave her maternal grandmother was beyond priceless, and, locking eyes with his father, Jethro couldn't help but be appreciative. They'd had their share of issues over the years, which was no secret, but his father had shown up in a big way.
"Do what you have to for family," his father had said when he thanked him.
He gave his father a wry smile. "What rule is that?"
"The unspoken one," his father said while clasping Jethro's shoulder firmly.
