"Daddy got hurt last day." Shyanne tells Gibbs sadly as soon as she and Tim join him for breakfast in the older man's kitchen. It's barely 0730 and already it feels as if the day's been a long one for the Team Leader who's just finished cooking up eggs and pancakes for them all, having left the other two alone when he heard them up moving around a short while ago.
"Last day? Do you mean yesterday, Shyanne?" Tim asks gently as he helps her into her chair noting with a small smile in her direction, the lack of a booster seat he'd expected her to need .
"Yes! Last. Day!" The little girl corrects him firmly, her eyes getting as wide as saucers at the sight of such a big breakfast being put in front of her.
"Okay. Yes, Daddy got hurt last day." Tim agrees with her quietly. "But the doctors are fixing him up. Remember?"
"Shyanne wants to go see Daddy now!" Shyanne declares with as much determination as a five year old can muster.
"It's not time yet." Gibbs firmly inserts, wanting the little girl to calm down as quickly as possible for her own sake. "We'll go after lunch. Daddy needs his rest."
"Okay. Can please Shyanne have some milk?" She asks with a lightening fast change of topic.
"Sure, Sweetie." Tim replies encouragingly with a smile as he fills the coffee mug in front of her plate half-full of milk for her and slides it closer to her so she can reach it. "Do you know how to say, 'good morning', Shyanne?" Tim asks his charge with genuine curiosity.
"Yes. Shyanne is sorry. Gammy always said it's not nice not to say that in the morning."
"It's okay, Honey. Sometimes we all have a rough start to the day and forget." Tim offers with genuine sympathy.
A smile finds its' way to the little girl's face even though she says nothing before she drinks every bit of her milk down, obviously thristy.
"What kinds of games do you like to play, Shyanne?" Tim asks as he slides her now empty mug away from her plate.
"Gammy used to let me and Kira play with the talking cats on her phone. She said the girl cat was mine and the boy cat was Kira's. We weren't supposed to hit them though. Gammy would take the phone away from us if we did that. Mommy didn't like that game but said it was okay if Gammy 'sup...r...ised us."
"Well, if you want, after we eat, you can help me find the game on my phone and you can play it once I get it downloaded. Would you like that?" Tim offers.
"Yes! Thank you! Shyanne LOVES to get the stickers and the make-up!"
"They'll be new, now. It will mean starting all over." Tim warns her.
"Gammy did that when she got a new phone - that's how I got to play with my own girl cat. She was a cute baby!"
"I'm sure she was. Okay. Let's eat first. Have to have a good breakfast before we can do anything." Tim firmly orders.
"Oh. Kay!" Shyanne firmly agrees as she digs into her pancakes that Gibbs has cut up for her and set in front of her with a little bit of syrup to go with them.
Retreating behind his cup of coffee, Tim mentally breathes a sigh of relief at how easy child care is coming back to him. The harder part he knows, will come later at the hospital.
From his own place across the table, Gibbs silently applauds his agent and relishes Shyanne's ability to change directions with her thoughts so fast. With an encouraging smile of his own for the little girl, he remains otherwise quiet, choosing to let Tim continue to carry this in his more than capable hands.
********NCIS*******
After a morning spent letting Shyanne play with Talking Tom and Talking Angela on Tim's ipad until she got bored and then letting her play one horse feeding game after another on it, Tim reminds her that they have to have a good lunch, promising that it will be time to visit Daddy after they eat. He's feeling a little frayed around the edges since Gibbs disappeared after breakfast, leaving Tim alone with the five year old for the rest of the morning.
Rather than be upset with him for it, Tim's grateful. He knows it's the boss' way of letting Tim do the heavy lifting on this, just like Tim needs and wants to do. In fact, very little has been said between them at all as morning shifted on into to mid-day and the time for lunch approached. By noon, Gibbs had resurfaced and silently set a meal of sandwiches on the table for them with another glass of milk for Shyanne and another cup of coffee for Tim and himself.
To reinforce good manners for the little girl, Tim and Gibbs deliberately thank each other for the little things they've done for each other up to this point in time. Neither of them miss the fact that the little girl is watching them like a hawk. With all of them looking forward to checking up on Andrew, it's not long before silence falls in the kitchen while they all eat heartily.
********NCIS*******
Vowing firmly that she no longer takes naps, Shyanne is more than ready to go when Tim and Gibbs tell her it's time to head out. Once she's safely buckled in the older man's car, she goes quiet, as if somehow aware that the adults need some peace and quiet in which to think.
It feels strange to Tim, to be so quiet around a child, but he's feeling a little wrung out and he gets the sense from Gibbs that the man has stepped back for a reason and intends to remain in the background as much as possible in this situation. He gets it. Shyanne bonded with Tim and the boss wants to stay out of the way of that. It's probably intensely painful for the man, too, to be around another little girl after the loss of his own. It keeps Tim feeling uncomfortable about this, himself. Tim hopes they can resolve things for both Shyanne and Gibbs soon.
********NCIS*******
"Hi, Daddy!" Shyanne's excited greeting for her father, currently sitting up in his hospital bed, is so bubbly and full of joy that it's impossible not to share in her good mood. With matching smiles of relief, Tim and Gibbs remain in the background as the little girl hugs her father carefully, with the man's own warning guiding her along the way.
"Careful, baby. Daddy's still real sore." The man looks remarkably better than he had just last night. In fact, only if you look twice, can you even tell he's recovering from a gun shot wound. His color is normal and his pain has obviously been medicated enough that he's comfortable. That's a relief to the adults who know what they're seeing means the little girl will get her sole parent back and nothing is more important than that.
"Sorry, Daddy." Shyanne murmurs as she nestles into her father's arm as it settles around her little shoulders once she's planted herself next to him on the bed.
Andrew draws his daughter closer and kisses her on the top of her head. "It's okay, baby." Looking over at the agents, the patient whispers his thanks for all they've done for him.
Countless moments later, when Shyanne seems just about to fall asleep beside Andrew in the bed, her little voice pipes up with a question. "When can you come home, Daddy?"
"Not today, little lady." The doctor walking into the room tells her. "Maybe tomorrow and only if Daddy has someone there to help take care of his boo-boo."
Shyanne nods firmly. "Shyanne will take care of Daddy!" She looks up at her father, waiting for his answer. But the doctor answers her first.
"I know my dear. But Daddy needs an adult to help you. Someone strong enough to help Daddy move around so he doesn't fall down and hurt himself worse. Okay?"
With tears in her eyes, Shyanne nods. "Okay."
"Hey, sweetie. Look at me." Andrew encourages his daughter. "You'll take great care of me. I know you will. Okay? But we're gonna need some help."
"Okay, Daddy." She looks at Tim and Gibbs and then back to her father. "Agent Tim can help you! He helped me!"
"Well, now, honey, we have to ask Agent Tim if he wants to." The patient reminds his daughter.
"While you're doing that, young lady - out in the hall - I need to check Daddy over - make sure his boo-boo's healing nicely. Okay?"
Shyanne nods solemnly as Tim takes her hand and steps out of the room with her tucked up in his arms, Gibbs right behind him.
**************NCIS************
Out in the hall, Tim is quick to promise Shyanne that he'll help take care of her father. Mentally, he's calling on Ducky the minute he can make the call.
Obviously reading his mind, Gibbs nods in agreement but says nothing.
To relieve the tension building both in his limbs and in the air surrounding them, Tim walks with Shyanne up and down the hallway while they wait for the doctor to finish checking the patient over. He pointedly stops here and there along the way, encouraging her to tell him what she sees. Distantly, he hears the boss get back to business in a phone call
"DiNozzo. You two get backup from the Office down there – keep checkin' in with that office...just don't go off grid!" ***Click**
**************NCIS************
As the doctor finally comes out into the hallway after what seems like hours, quietly closing the patient's door behind him, Tim has already sequestered Shyanne off into the corner of the room with several magazines that should hold her attention while they talk to the doctor.
Before either Tim or Gibbs can pepper him with questions, the man is speaking to Gibbs. "He's asking for you. You'll need to wear the mask and gloves that are on the table at the of his bed now "
With a nod, Gibbs is gone heading into Andrew's room without a backwards glance.
Watching his mentor move quickly to see what the patient needs, Tim is surprised to feel the doctor's hand on his elbow, urging him to walk further away from Shyanne. The red flag is up where the little girl is concerned. Whatever this is, can't be good. Tim jumps right to the point. "What aren't you telling me?
**********NCIS********
"How you feelin?" Gibbs, suited up against possible germs, quietly asks Andrew as he steps up to the bed and looks him in the eye.
Exhausted and nearly asleep, Andrew's eyes slide open at the sound of the agent's voice close by. "Thank you...looking after my little girl."
"No thanks needed."
"If...if anything happens to me... please don't let my family get her...the good ones... died ... car accident."
Without missing a beat, Gibbs tells him what he needs to hear. "You don't have permission to die, son."
Andrew's eyes pop open in shock.
**************NCIS************
"Mr. Edwards has the beginning of a serious infection." The doctor's words hit Tim like a punch to the gut. "Now we've caught it early and got him on a strong antibiotic and hopefully that will take care of the problem. However..."
"It's just extended his stay here." Tim reasons out. "10 day course?" He's been through it himself and helped his sister through it a time or two through the years so he's pretty sure he knows what's coming next.
"Well, no. So long as the next 24 hours show significant improvement and he continues his regiment at home, we should be able to discharge him day after tomorrow." The doctor looks towards Shyanne in the corner of the room. "However,..."
Tim nods. One more day in the hospital isn't too bad. Then it hits him. If Andrew is now fighting an infection the chances of Shyanne getting to see her father again have just dropped to none. Time to get creative with his explanations. Looking at the doctor once more, he steps up. "I'll tell her. Thank you for the update Doctor."
Walking towards the little girl with a heavy heart, he barely notices Gibbs return to the hallway at the edge of his vision.
**************NCIS************
It's almost nine that night and while Gibbs calls the hospital for an update on Andrew, Tim reads a story to Shyanne to help her fall asleep. He's three pages from the end and her eyes have already closed, her breathing evened out and steady. It's clear she's out for the count, yet he can't seem to stop reading to her. His gut is clenched, convinced something's wrong. he just hopes with all his heart that he's wrong this time.
Feeling his mentor's presence in the room behind him, Tim stops reading and sets the book down. Refusing to meet the man's eyes just yet, he stands to his feet and joins the man out in the hallway, closing the door securely behind himself. Now he forces himself to look at the older man directly, his gut already telling him something's wrong. "What happened?" He asks without wasting time or words.
Gibbs sighs as he answers just as directly. "Allergic reaction to the antibiotic. He's in ICU. No visitors."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Tim asks with worry.
"They're not sure, Tim."
"Oh, God!"
"They're not. But I am."
"You're sure he's gonna be okay." Tim repeats with a credible amount of uncertainty in his tone.
"Yup."
"How's that, Boss?" Tim needs to know.
"Easy." Gibbs responds with all seriousness. "I told him he doesn't have permission not to be."
