The sound of the beeping machinery signalled that the patient's heart rate was calm and in the range of normal for her age and weight - although slightly on the slow side. It was the only sound in the otherwise silent room. The walls were a soft pastel colour with generic, hospital issue white fittings.
To the left was a large window with a beautiful view of the Pontomac River, south west of the hospital. The Pontomac was the main river that travelled through Washington, D.C but merged with the Anacostia River to the east of it where the Navy Yard was based and consequently the headquarters of NCIS.
In the centre of the room was a standard issue hospital bed, the only bed in the room. She had been given a private room due to the fact that they still did not know who she was and whether or not she was in danger. They knew that with NCIS on their way they needed to keep a close eye on her and ensure that the agents would have the privacy they needed when they arrived. Especially because of the child's age, they had not yet determined her exact age but estimated it to be between the ages of 10 and 14 and could not gain a better estimation due to the obvious signs of malnutrition.
The young girl's skin was dry and had signs of wounds that had not healed properly which had caused scarring marks. Her hair, despite being a mass of dark curls was dull and seemed to be slightly brittle. Her nails plates were thin and soft with ridges on them. The slowness of her heart was yet another typical sign of malnutrition along. Although the low muscle tone usually seen in children who are suffering the effects of malnutrition was in fact not showing in the child, this was put down to a possibility that the young girl had in fact been exercising at an unusual rate - they did not know however that it was 'training'. Mossad training to be precise.
A young girl was on the floor, her breathing ragged and her heart rate at a rather increased level as she looked up through bright blue eyes at the man in front of her.
"Get up!", the man demanded in a harsh and unkind tone whilst speaking in solely Hebrew, "I said… GET UP!".
The little girl's body was shaking slightly with the exertion and fear, "Uncle Ari… please.. I… I just want a break", she said softly to him as she watched the anger in his face and realised that she would not get the break she wanted. She always responded to him in Hebrew and did not dare speak to him in English unless he spoke it first. She was worried that she would anger him.
Ari leant down and grabbed her roughly by the clothing she wore, his hand strong enough to tear the delicate fabric of her top and cause bruising to her upper arm, "You will take a break when I say so and not a minute sooner!"
Sarah nodded, and silently got up from her place on the floor before putting herself into the position that he had taught her. Today's lesson. Krav Maga. Again.
Her eight year old body was thin and covered in marks. She had cuts and bruises from falling and even more from 'practise' and 'training'. She had fresh red bruises (this showed the oxygen level in the blood at the sight of the bruise) that she had gotten that day but also darker red from that morning where the oxygen level in the blood at the sight of the wound had lowered. The older bruising she had included dark purple from a few days previously and the blood at the sight of the injury now had no oxygen contained within it and the level of iron had increased. She also had ones that were already healing as they had slightly green edges which showed the first sign of healing where the hemoglobin (protein that carries oxygen throughout the bloodstream). Some of the bruising was clearly much older as the edging of the wound had turned yellow where the bilirubin (which is the body's natural way to rid itself of aged red blood cells) had begun to break down - this was the final stage of it healing before it began to fade. She was learning already the art of Krav Maga, among other things such as shooting and the use of knives.
Nurses were very careful with the child and ensuring that nothing unclean went into the room as they knew the one of the major results of poor nutrition and effect of malnutrition was that of a low immune system. Those suffering malnutrition often had difficulty fighting off any diseases or illnesses that they caught. The body simply would not be strong enough to fight it as quickly as what a healthy person would.
The medical staff had also made sure to put an extra blanket over the small body of the female patient to make sure that she was warm. Her body temperature had been rather low not only due to the blood loss that she had suffered but also due to the lack of body fat that she had. Her body could not warm itself as effectively as it should have been able to which meant that they had to keep her warm with their own actions.
An intravenous line went into the child in order to deliver micronutrients along with fluids and she still had a line in that was replacing some of the blood that had been lost both before she arrived at the hospital and whilst she had been in surgery. On her finger was the clip that extended to the heart rate monitor and kept a consistent track of her heart beat whilst on her arm they had left the blood pressure cuff so that it would continuously record her blood pressure. The machine was a state of the art model that recorded the data and could be printed directly from the machine which enabled the medical staff to keep a better record of the improvement in her condition or the deterioration. They did hold out hope however that it would not be the latter and instead that she would improve.
Her head was propped up with pillows and the bed was angled at the optimum position whilst the door remained open along with the blinds in order for the nurses at the station opposite the room could keep a vigilant watch over the young girl.
Above her bed was a whiteboard with her nurses name 'Jeanne Benoit' and her doctor's name 'Maura Isles' and where it was supposed to have the patient's name, it instead simply stated 'Jane Doe'.
Sarah had not yet woken since being taken to the hospital and still had no knowledge of where she was. The medical staff had already taken a liking to the curly haired child and were found to be checking on her more than necessary. Due to her being an unaccompanied minor, they simply did not want her to wake to find herself alone in an empty hospital room and had decided that if she were to wake then it could scare her. If she was to become agitated or frightened then it was a possibility that she could do damage to herself if she pulled out any lines or if her heart rate increased too much.
The identity of the tanned child was a mystery and that had peaked the interest of many staff members within the hospital, especially when they heard about the strange letter addressed directly to an NCIS agent - although they did not know that the woman was in fact a Mossad Officer rather than a fully fledged NCIS agent.
Outside of the room was the nurses station where two nurses were sat in uniform, one of which was filling out the rota for the following day whilst the other was looking at the young girl through the open door with a look of curiosity on her face. She ran a hand through her dark hair and sighed softly, "When are NCIS due to arrive?", Jeanne asked her colleague.
The blonde nurse beside her looked up at the woman, "Dr Isles said they should be arriving soon", she said gently before glancing over at the young girl, "Do you think they'll have an answer as to who she is?".
Jeanne shrugged slightly and shook her head, "I'm not sure but I really hope they do", she said looking over at Nurse Cameron, "It's strange having to call her 'Jane Doe' all of the time… she deserves a real name".
Alison Cameron nodded, the woman was in training to become a doctor and still had nearly two years left of training to complete before she could officially go by the name 'Doctor Cameron'.
The intensive care unit was a busy ward with nurses and doctors going from patient to patient in order to check their stats and their progress as well as to check their lines and replace their drips.
Less than five minutes later, the buzzer went to indicate that a visitor was requesting access to the secure ward and Nurse Jeanne hit the button in order to speak.
"Intensive Care Unit", she said softly into the microphone
Jen and Ziva were the other side of the door, the red headed woman had pressed the buzzer for entry, "Director Shepard, N.C.I.S and Officer David, we are here to see Doctor Isles concerning a Jane Doe", she said gently into the speaker that was attached to the left side of the double doors.
The Israeli woman was stood two steps back from her boss, fiddling with her hands in a nervous manner as she was unsure as to who the young girl was but something inside her wanted it to be her baby girl and hoped for it.
A buzz and a click sounded and alerted them to the fact that the door had been unlocked for them and they had been granted access. Visiting hours were very strict on the ward and as was the allowance for visitors.
The red headed Director reached out and tugged open the wooden fire door before turning to Ziva and again giving a reassuring squeeze to her hand.
