Tony was much more relaxed now that Brad was in the room with him. Emma hadn't left either, which only served to make him feel even more comfortable. Tony smiled at Brad, even though the oxygen mask on his face obscured it slightly.

"So, Tony, let's start by checking your lungs. If you have inhaled too much smoke, then we'll need to treat you as soon as possible," said Brad as he put his stethoscope on.

Tony didn't bother to answer. He knew that Brad was going to need to check on his lungs at some point, and it was just better to get it over with at the start. He sat up, using Emma for support. Tony began taking deep breaths, glad for the oxygen he was still breathing in as it lessened the strain he had been feeling earlier. The room was silent for a couple of minutes while Brad carefully listened to Tony's breathing.

"Okay, Tony. Your lungs are sounding good to me. I'll take off the mask and we'll see how you go without the oxygen for an hour or so. Is that alright?" asked Brad.

Tony nodded. He let Brad remove the oxygen mask and then said, "thanks. So, are we still on for football next weekend?"

Brad smiled. "We sure are. As long as you don't come back to me in a day or two with trouble breathing, that is."

Tony shook his head. "I won't be back, I promise."

Brad nodded. He helped Tony lay back down and then continued his examination.

Gibbs found Ducky waiting for him when he got to Autopsy. One of the metal tables was set up already, clearly waiting for Gibbs to sit on it. A rolling tray filled with Ducky's physician tools was standing next to the table.

"Jethro, it's good to see that you listened to our esteemed director," said Ducky, "come and take a seat."

Gibbs sat on the table. "I was always going to come down, Duck. I just wanted to put the dirtbag in jail first."

"Health must always be your first priority, Jethro. You know that."

"I do. That's why I sent Tony to the hospital."

"Anthony never would have argued going to the hospital in this situation. Even so, it is not him that we are discussing right now. It's you. If you ignore your health, Jethro, you won't be doing anything except staying home from now on."

Gibbs sighed, but he knew that Ducky was correct. His health was important, after all, and he did tend to ignore himself most times. He knew that he needed to stop doing that, but it was a habit far too ingrained for him to change.

That was the same thing Tony said to me before the plague, thought Gibbs suddenly, but now he takes care of himself. The plague was a life changing experience for everyone, but Tony is the only one that seems to have changed. Maybe I should be following his lead on this one?

"Jethro? Is something wrong?" Ducky was asking when Gibbs pulled himself out of his thoughts.

"I think I finally realised something, Duck," answered Gibbs as he allowed his friend to examine him.

"And what would that be?"

"Before Tony got the plague, he was exactly like me in regards to his health. After the plague, he learnt to take proper care of himself. Right?"

"That's correct. He had quite the life changing experience, Jethro. It helped him to put things into perspective."

"Okay. It was life changing to some degree for all of us. We love Tony, after all. Seeing him dying made us all rethink things. So, why is health still one of the things I refuse to change?"

"Watching Anthony in that situation was not life changing for you. It was heartbreaking, yes, and it probably made you rethink your own priorities, but you didn't feel what Anthony felt. You didn't feel death coming for you. I will say that after everything you have gone through recently, you should be thinking about yourself a lot more, but it is different for everyone. You didn't need a near death experience to realise that you aren't looking after yourself, you just needed to be given an explanation as to why you need to keep your health in check. Am I wrong to assume that you have realised now that your health is important?"

"You aren't wrong," admitted Gibbs.

"Well, in that case, Jethro, I think you can go back to work," said Ducky as he finished checking Gibbs over, "but call Timothy and see how Anthony is doing first."

"I will do just that." Gibbs got off the table and started to leave autopsy. "Thanks, Duck."

Tony had been resting for half an hour when Brad came in with a phone. Immediately, he knew that Gibbs was on the other end of the call, and he started to feel inexplicably angry at his boss.

"Tony, Gibbs wants to speak to you. Do you feel up to a conversation?" asked Brad carefully, sensing the anger coming from his friend.

"I don't want to speak to him until he tells me why he thought it fair that I have to come to a hospital to be checked and he can just return to work like nothing happened! He was in the damn room longer than I was!" Tony said angrily.

Brad nodded. "I'll tell him what you said. Try to calm down, otherwise you'll be staying a lot longer than the hour I said."

"Sorry," said Tony.

"Don't be. I don't blame you for being angry with him, Tony. I just want you to relax so that I can send you home. As your doctor, it's my job to make sure that you're okay, and I can't do that if you're angry."