Chapter 12
Gone
A/n Thanks everyone for waiting for the next chapter. Your reward is a nice long chapter to get by till the next one. Also I wanted to give a great big shout out to crokettsgirl for going above and beyond the call with this chapter. I have to give her credit for co writing this chapter since she wrote most of the beginning and doing re writes of the whole chapter. So please remember to thank her. And as alays please read and review!! Sarah
GONE CHAPTER 12
BASE HOSPITAL IN IRAG
Jethro Gibbs was never a patient man, especially when it came to a case or his team. The patience he did have was only given when it was needed, right now wasn't that time. He held his fifth cup of coffee, if that's what you could call it, tightly in his hand. The huge clock in the small surgical waiting room ticked by slowly as he paced that same floor on and off for the past five hours. His senior field agent was in surgery and he needed to know how the hell Tony was. During those hours his other agents had processed the scene and joined him in his silent wait.
He finally sat down to think. He anxiously had made the call earlier to Abby, with Ducky by her side. Ducky had spoken to the doctor and explained everything to Gibbs so that he understood the situation better. The memories of earlier whirled through his mind and erased the room he currently sat in.
Gibbs could picture the gurney with a battered Tony being quickly moved down the hallway to the nearest treatment room. He didn't like that he had been told he couldn't go in. He was forced to wait, make his calls and get some coffee that tasted like mud.
After an hour a doctor came to talk to the lead agent about Tony's condition. Gibbs watched the man as he walked quickly towards him. Gibbs could see the man was about fifty, he wore the usual white coat and his hair was more gray than it was brown, his brown eyes furrowed with worry that made his brow crease.
The doctor reached Gibbs and held out his hand. "Agent Gibbs?"
Gibbs met the gaze and nodded as he shook the man's hand. "How is Tony?"
"I'm Doctor Myer. Why don't we have a seat and I'll explain what is going on with Mr. DiNozzo." The doctor headed for the uncomfortable seats and sat down at the same time that Gibbs had.
"Mr. DiNozzo has been through a lot. My main concern is that he is bleeding internally somewhere. We need to operate and find out where the bleed is in order to fix it. We are giving him blood right now since he's lost a lot. Also, we need to repair the bullet hole in his left arm, it's a through and through so it will be easier to close up. I won't lie to you, Agent Gibbs, the bullet did damage some muscles in the arm and Mr. DiNozzo will need physical therapy once he starts to feel better. He also has a pneumothrax, a puncture in his lung, that's what's causing him such trouble with breathing. He has two fractured ribs and one broke, that's the rib that punctured his lung. We had to put in a chest tube right away to rid the extra air and blood that was building up in his chest cavity. We will also fix the lung in surgery." Myer's explained and then waited for what he had said to sink in before he continued.
Gibbs nodded that he understood and for the doctor to go on. The doctor then turned more in his chair so he could face the lead agent more directly before he began again. "There was a gash from a nail, which will be sown up as well. Since he is a federal agent I would think he is up on his tetanus shots?" The doctor waited for the answer.
"Yes, his shots are all up to date. If you need any medical questions on DiNozzo I could give you the number of Doctor Mallard who takes care of Tony." He stated.
"That would be a good idea. This way I could give him a quick call and find out a few things before surgery." The doctor took out a pen and small note pad and then copied down the number.
Doctor Myer sighed before he started on. "Mr. DiNozzo has also suffered a medium to severe concussion. This will heal on its own, but needs to be watched. The concussion will cause headaches; can cause vision problems such as double vision and or blurriness. Also there will be nausea, dizziness, disorientation and possible confusion or memory loss. We'll do Nero checks on him when he wakes up from surgery. Now, remember this will all pass, but must be watched, I'd say it will calm down as the days go by. But, it will be at least a week, maybe longer before the concussion is gone and that's providing there are no complications. He also has severe bruising, contusions and lacerations all over his body, looks like he had several beatings." Again the doctor waited, but only a moment.
"So he has to have surgery to repair all of this, then what, those Nero checks and then if that's fine the physical therapy?" Gibbs gruffly asked the doctor.
"Again, I'm not going to lie to you. Mr. DiNozzo is serious and has a long recovery ahead of him. After surgery we have to see how bad the concussion is affecting him and yes, we can tell partially by using the Nero exams. Also we have to start him on a broad band of anti-biotic to hopefully combat any infection or pneumonia which can develop. Do you understand all of these things I've explained to you? I really have to go. We have to get Mr. DiNozzo into surgery as quickly as possible." The doctor stood up, along with Gibbs.
"Anything I don't understand I'll ask Doctor Mallard, since you're going to call him. Just get Tony into surgery and patch him up." Gibbs voice was flat as he absorbed all that was told to him. He stood there and took a sip of the so called coffee as he watched the doctor vanish down the hallway in order to take Tony to surgery.
Gibbs suddenly heard Ziva's voice calling him out of his reverie. He looked over at her to see what she wanted.
"Gibbs, the doctor is coming." Ziva nodded her head towards doctor Myer.
They all stood up as the doctor came into the room.
"Well, Mr. DiNozzo made it through surgery just fine. We found the bleed; it was from a laceration to his liver which we've repaired. We are replacing the blood he's lost. We have placed a drain in his abdomen. We also fixed the bullet hole in his arm along with the muscle tears. The lung puncture was small so we repaired that as well. Doctor Mallard explain about the plague which surprised me. We will have Mr. DiNozzo on breathing treatments with a therapist and closely watch him for any distress to the lung. We will leave the drainage tube in his abdomen until the drainage is clear. He's in recovery now and will be for a few hours before we send him to ICU and then you all can visit him. Only one at a time and then visitation is only ten minutes every hour." The doctor looked at the three people in front of him to see if they had any questions.
Timothy McGee nodded as the doctor spoke. When the man was finished McGee asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Then Tony will be alright?"
"Well, it's too early to tell. Like I told agent Gibbs, we have to wait and hope he doesn't develop pneumonia or an infection. We also have to wait until he wakes to see how the concussion is affecting him. He isn't out of the woods yet. The next few days will tell us how things will go. I'll be monitoring him closely along with my colleagues on his case. If you have any further questions, just ask one of us." The doctor looked at them all, shook their hands and then left.
One by one they all got to see Tony. They were all taken back by how small, still and fragile he seemed. This wasn't their Tony DiNozzo. The wires that snaked out of him also shocked the three. Gibbs tried to stay his strong self in front of his other two agents. The only thing was that Gibbs noticed not just what the other's had, but that Tony seemed as pale as the crisp white sheets that wrapped around him.
The long day passed by slowly with each agent sitting in with Tony for a few minutes at a time. Gibbs dismissed them in order to go to the hotel and get some much needed rest. No one questioned that Gibbs stayed.
Gibbs had Ducky speak to the doctor to allow him longer access to his senior field agent. He needed to be there, he felt guilty for losing track of his agent and not finding Tony fast enough. He was also afraid that when Tony woke, he'd blame his boss for the same thing. Gibbs again didn't show his feelings to his team although he and Ducky had discussed them. Or maybe it was more Ducky who spoke to him about it. He couldn't remember as he took some aspirins before he stared through the window of Tony's ICU room.
He had been there a few times on the second day when Tony would become conscious for only a few minutes and mumble things that couldn't be understood. The doctor explained this was normal. He was also told that Tony had spiked a fever and they had increased his anti-biotic to combat it.
By the third day Tony was still suffering from the fever although it had gone from 103 to 102.5 degrees. The doctor explained the drop in temperature was a good sign that the drugs were working. He also told Gibbs that Tony was on Morphine for the pain. He explained that Tony was doing as well as he could under the circumstances with his Neurological exams. He made sure that the two agents and Gibbs understood that between the infection, pain medication and the disorientation, along with the other effects from the concussion, that when Tony woke he could become rather agitated. That they just wouldn't know what to expect until he woke. Doctor Myer's also made sure that all the agents understood to try and keep Tony calm if this were to happen. That they were to press the call button for the nurse to come and she'd sedate the young agent if it were necessary.
Gibbs once again entered the room. He listened to the noises that he had become accustom too and looked at the machines. He knew the monitor showed Tony's heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation level into the blood. He didn't understand it. All he knew was that as long as he heard the beeping that meant Tony was alive. He also was used to stepping over the wires from these machines. He saw the IV on the pole with a machine that gave Tony his anti-biotic, both at different drip rates and there was also a Foley bag. He was thankful that they finally had taken Tony off the morphine and would just administer pain medication every four hours. He also was relieved that the abdomen drain tube was taken out, which was one thing he had trouble with.
He looked Tony over and checked him out. He saw the bruises that had stood out, now they were larger and had turned to lighter shades of colors as they healed. The oxygen mask had also been removed and changed to a nose cannula. All these things showed that his agent was slowly getting better. He was glad, yet he couldn't stop the long hours he sat with the younger man. His back was now stiff and sore from the uncomfortable torturous chair that sat by Tony's bed, but he still couldn't leave for long. He'd do what he had to do and always found himself back with Tony after he'd worked.
The nurses were told to just allow Gibbs to stay as long as he wanted and to allow him the coffee from the nurse's lounge. They soon figured out that the coffee calmed the beast and would bring cups to him on occasion. This alone made Gibbs feel a little better, at least the coffee tasted like coffee. Still, Jethro Gibbs could not lose the feeling of guilt he held within him. Even with the many talks he'd had over the past three days with Ducky, the guilt still loomed over him. So he just sat and watched Tony, deep in thought and started to yet again re-cap what had happened along with what had been going on.
After learning of his agent's disappearance he'd been so worried. Then he thought they had finally found him only to have found his cell phone. Finally a lead came from the man who had betrayed Tony and given him up to Captain Reynolds. However, Gibbs would be eternally grateful to the man who had given up his life to save a friend.
He'd been wracking his brain to find a way to explain to the injured man that Agent Carlson had died trying to save his life. When Tony had briefly regained consciousness, he was glad that the younger man only mumbled and wasn't aware enough to ask about what had happened or how Agent Carlson was. Gibbs made sure that both McGee and Ziva had taken turns sitting with Tony so he could assist the FBI with the manhunt for Captain Reynolds. Gibbs personally wanted to be the one to take out Captain Reynolds for good. He wanted him to pay for what he did to DiNozzo and Carlson. Due to the recommendation of Agent Jensen, Gibbs and his team were allowed to continue to assist.
Gibbs had been hoping to stay with his agent until he was well enough to go back to D.C. The F.B.I. now believed that Reynolds would run and easily slip back in to the United States. The man was smart and the F.B.I. thought that the captain would know they would be searching for him in Iraq and the surrounding countries. That was why bolos were sent to all of the airports in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. They also sent out bolos to every local and international law enforcement agency along with sending them throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The FBI wasn't taking any chances with this man. They made sure to cover all their bases.
Going over the case in his head, Gibbs knew that there was a good chance that he, McGee, and Ziva would be sent back to the states. Gibbs just didn't know exactly when that would be. But, when they were sent back and if it was before Tony was ready for the trip, he'd push for Ducky to be sent over to stay with Tony. Then when Tony was well enough, both would come home.
The problem was that there had been no sign of Reynolds yet. When Gibbs had spoken to Agent Jensen, he was told that the F.B.I. was convinced that the captain had already left the Middle East and was headed to the United States. He sat there and wondered, no, dreaded the expected call from his director. This call would be the one that would say if or when they were going to be sent back. Gibbs sighed and took a sip of his coffee. Either way he knew that this conversation was not going to be a pleasant one. He'd disobeyed a direct order and was prepared to take whatever disciplinary action the director would give out. But that didn't mean he couldn't effectively plead his case, he thought with a smirk. He'd done it before with other directors and even with Vance, and had won.
Gibbs was startled out of his reverie when as if on cue, his phone started vibrating in his jacket pocket. He quickly looked at the caller id on his phone to see that it was Leon Vance. He would have liked to have avoided the phone call, but he needed to talk to Vance right away. So he quickly glanced back at Tony to make sure he was still asleep before slipping outside to take the call.
"Leon." Gibbs answered as he made his way out into the sunlight.
"Agent Gibbs" Vance answered "Sounds like you've been going around my back and doing things without my authorization or permission, again."
"What in the hell was I supposed to do Leon?" answered Gibbs "You weren't here and someone needed to take charge of the situation. You weren't here so I did what I had to do. And if I had waited for you there would be two dead agents on your hands. And if things would have been done the way they should have been, Carlson might still be alive." His voice was gruff, stern and with purpose as he tried to control his temper in order to answer the director.
Gibbs waited silently for Vance to answer him. He was tired and frustrated and though he tried, he still took out how he felt on the one person he blamed for this situation. Not just with Tony, but also with other responsibilities. Agent Jensen had been assigned to head the manhunt here. This left Gibbs with one of the responsibilities that no one liked to do. He had to talk to Agent Carlson's family. How the hell do you explain to a wife and two young children that their husband and father wouldn't be coming back home?
"Jethro" Vance barked out "I know that you are upset. And I do apologize for not being there. But when I give you a direct order I do expect you to follow it. Now, I need you and your team to stay there and assist Agent Jensen with the search in Iraq for now. I'll be sending your team back as soon as the search efforts there have been exhausted. I assume that it would be too much to ask for you to keep me apprised of the situation." Vance huffed out. So far Gibbs hadn't kept him fully apprised. This made the director look as if he had no control over the situation in front of Sec Nav. One thing Leon Vance hated was to appear a fool and not have the power he should with his command.
"I will Leon" Gibbs answered to appease his boss as he started to head inside, away from the glaring sunlight. "As long as you let me and my team do my job. I'll let you know as soon as I know anything."
Gibbs, how is Agent DiNozzo?" Vance inquired.
Gibbs was about ready to hang up his phone when Vance had asked this question about DiNozzo. He wondered if the director would ask for an update. He knew that Vance had been told by Ducky about Tony's injuries and what was being done. Before he could answer he saw one of the nurses running toward him. He knew it had to have something to do with Tony,
"I have to go. I think there's a problem with DiNozzo. I'll call you back as soon as I can." Gibbs said shortly before he snapped his cell shut and stuffed it in his pocket.
"Agent Gibbs" the nurse said "Agent DiNozzo just woke up and is asking for you. I'm sorry but he's really upset and is demanding to talk to you."
Gibbs didn't care about the consequences of his actions when he snapped his cell shut on Vance. His senior field agent was more important to him than Leon Vance. He quickly followed the nurse to Tony's room only to find a very upset agent. Tony was fighting for all he was worth with the staff who were trying to calm him down without having to give him a sedative. The doctor locked eyes with Gibbs and gave a warning look. The lead agent knew that the doctor didn't want to give Tony a sedative if he didn't have to, but would, to calm the young man down. He moved to the other side of the bed to try and quiet him down. Gibbs could feel the tension radiating throughout the man as he went to put his hand on his shoulder.
"DiNozzo" Gibbs whispered into the younger man's ear "You need to calm down. I'm here now and everything is okay, you're safe." he soothed with assurance.
Gibbs felt his agent relax under the soothing touch. Tony's eyes were still closed, his breathing slowly started to even out. A few seconds later those eyes opened to see Gibbs sitting next to him. There eyes locked, one with concern the other with confusion. The doctor motioned for the staff to leave since his patient had calmed down.
"Boss" Tony croaked out, his eyes still showed his confusion but suddenly they also filled with fear. "Thanks for coming to get me."
"No problem" Gibbs answered as he slipped from the bed into the chair next to it. "You are the only person I've ever known that needs to be rescued so much." Gibbs told Tony to lighten the tone.
"Yeah" Tony answered with a smirk "For some reason that seems to happen a lot to me."
He had noticed that the younger man had finally started to settle down a bit. But he could definitely tell that there was something still on his mind. Gibbs wracked his brain as he had been over the last few days.
Tony needs to know about Carlson's death and how it happened. How do I tell him in his condition? However I do it he will be upset and the doctor's said he can't be upset it won't help his recovery, it could hurt him. Damn, maybe I should just wait to see if Tony tells me what's bothering him or asks me about Carlson, for now. That sounded good to Gibbs, it seemed to be the right thing to do, at this point.
Tony closed his eyes. He didn't want to show how badly he hurt. His head pounded and his body ached with pain, fatigue made him want to drift away into much needed sleep. Only he was scared and that was something else he didn't want to show his boss. He drew a ragged breath, his ribs made it hard to breathe. He was glad that his lung had been fixed and re-inflated, which would have made it worse to breathe. Now that he knew about his surgery and what was wrong with him, he was still scared. But not as bad as before he understood what was wrong, that had brought out his own raw fear. He never liked hospitals. He always figured that came from when he was young, they had terrified him. But now he realized there was something more that bothered him and in his state, between the drugs, the fever and concussion, it was hard to figure it out. His mind would switch on him from being fairly clear to being very unclear. The doctor's had explained why this happened but he couldn't remember what they said about it. He thought that maybe the only way to find out what was bothering him would be to slowly talk and go over the fuzzy memories in his mind.
"Boss" Tony asked hesitantly "I was wondering if I could talk to Agent Carlson. I never had a chance to really thank him for saving my life. He's okay isn't he? He was carrying me out so he couldn't have been hurt too badly. We were just trying to get away, Boss. He just has to be okay." Tony could hear the desperation in his voice and knew Gibbs did too.
Gibbs recognized the panic that had started to grow again in the younger man's voice as well as in his eyes. Again, he debated whether to tell Tony the truth or not. What he had resolved before was asked and now he would have to answer truthfully. He couldn't lie and it was better that Tony heard it from him, even though the younger man was not in the best frame of mind to hear the heartbreaking news.
"Tony" Gibbs slowly answered "Agent Carlson got shot in the back when the two of you were trying to get out of the room. Carlson must have noticed that Reynolds had woken up because when we got there he was lying on top of you." Gibbs eyes watched for Tony's reaction to what he'd just been told.
Tony couldn't believe what he had just heard. Gibbs has to be lying to me, he has to be. I don't understand. No, Carlson can't be dead, I saw him alive and he was caring me out. Yet….oh God. Gibbs would never and has never lied to me. Why would he start now? I feel so confused, my memories are so jumbled and this damn pounding head isn't helping me! No, I don't believe it!
Gibbs saw the rush of emotions fly across Tony's face. There was a battle that was going on within the man along with the pain, both mental and physical, that could be clearly seen in his agent.
"Boss" Tony demanded. His breathing was becoming more rapid and ragged. Pain etched his face along with absolute fear that traveled from his face to his eyes, "Carlson is alive….. because there…..there is no way he could be dead. Stop…..stop lying to me. I don't believe you! I saw him……I ….saw ….him." He panted.
Tony's eyes had unshed tears in them. His voice was tight with emotion that made it hard to breathe along with his ribs. He gasped and pulled in as much air as his ribs would allow before he let out more of the thoughts that spun through his head, "No! Bring him in here now…..or….. or I'll…. go and find him…. myself," Tony started to shake his head, but thought better of it when the pain pounded out a hard rhythm. He lay back for a moment and in that moment, as the pain settled a bit, he felt confusion and guilt set in along side the fear.
"You……. should have…. gotten to him in time. Because if you didn't…. get to him in time,…. it makes it my fault." He said the last in a whispered voice as if Gibbs wasn't even there. He then began to tremble and raise his voice a few shaky notches with realization of what he had done, "Entirely my fault!"
The older man started to worry. He hoped that DiNozzo would take the news better than he was. But in his heart he knew that this news would be hard on the younger man, especially in his condition. He noticed that DiNozzo was weakly trying to get out of the bed. The chest pads to the monitor came off and caused an alarm. Gibbs had seen the nurses turn the alarm off over the past few days and hit the button to silence it. He knew that his senior agent was confused, in pain, unsteady and filled with mixed emotions that weren't sorted out. Especially, since not all his memories had returned. To make things worse, DiNozzo had been semi-conscious at times of his being held captive, so there were also holes in the memories he did have.
Gibbs understood this because he had been the same way when he woke up from the second coma after the explosion on that ship a few years back. He only was able to remember what he wanted to. It took Ziva's head slap to bring the memories back. Only he knew that a simple head slap wouldn't fix this.
"Tony" Gibbs called out at the man who was almost out of bed. He quietly moved to Tony to calm him down, "DiNozzo! I know that you really want to believe that he's alive. Carlson is gone because he wanted to save your life. It was not your fault that he is gone. I won't have you beat yourself up over this." Gibbs raised his voice and then lowered it a little, but the authority was still there.
Gibbs started to worry even more when Tony hadn't reacted in the way he thought to what he had said and how he had said it. He looked into Tony's eyes and saw more fear building that quickly turned to panic and confusion. Gibbs knew there was no logical thought behind emotions of panic and confusion. Gibbs also knew that Tony was going to snap at any moment. He had his hand on the younger man's shoulders ready to push him back in bed. Suddenly, with strength that wasn't there before, Gibbs saw Tony pull out the IV with the piggy backed anti-biotic.
Tony didn't notice the blood that ran down his arm when he pulled the thing that was attached to his arm out. He felt strength from the overwhelming fear to get out of this place and run from what he was told. He pushed hard against the man that held him, but couldn't get away which only caused more panicked fear.
Gibbs felt the hard push and again couldn't believe it came from Tony. He figured it was from a build up of adrenalin but didn't know what to do. He reached for the cord, found the call button on it and pressed it and hoped someone came quickly.
The doctor and nurses were in the room within minutes of the alert. To Gibbs it seemed as if he just was pushed to the back of the room, helpless to watch the battle between the staff and Tony. The staff tried to push Tony back down on the bed, calm him and reestablish the IV. and pads to the monitor. Tony fought with all he had in him which was only pure adrenalin from all his emotions. Gibbs could see the wildness of too many of those emotions in his eyes, disorientation, fear, and a panicked need to get away. This was too hard to watch and he felt the anger rise within him as he did.
"Let Go…..of….ME! You ….bastards!" Tony fought hard and recited the same thing over and over again.The yell finally turned into a thunderous scream. He couldn't feel the pain through the adrenalin rush. "Reynolds we're gonna bring you down! Carlson!"
Gibbs anger grew as he heard what Tony yelled. He pushed through and around the staff so he was in the younger man's line of sight. He then put his hand down on his distressed agent's shoulder, "Tony I'm here, you're safe now." Gibbs tried to convey. He noticed Tony's breathing had started to slow down and his body start to relax at the sound of his boss' voice.
The doctor noticed the older agent by the bed, with all the confusion he hadn't realized that Gibbs had started to calm Tony down, "Agent Gibbs, "I need you to leave the room right now." The doctor demanded in his mind, his team had started to calm Tony down. He didn't want Gibbs to aggravate the situation and get Tony more upset. The young man still had fight left in him, but he had lain back down and was only reciting the words in a normal tone, out of breath as he turned from side to side.
Gibbs wasn't about leave Tony alone. The younger man was terrified and confused. Clearly with just one look into the expressive eyes of the younger agent the doctor could see that, he surely could. Tony was just collecting his strength before he would fight the staff just as hard, again. He wasn't about to let this moron tell him to get out. Gibbs would not let Tony hurt himself more than he had. The lead agent stood his ground. He had done it enough times with many others. He gave the doctor a nasty glare from his icy blue eyes that said do not even try me on this one.
"I'm not leaving my agent alone! "Gibbs demanded, determined to protect him, "Tony was finally starting to relax just by my being here. He's terrified and confused right now. I am staying right where I am doctor. He needs to know that he isn't alone so don't even try me on this one." He told the doctor in a protective growl.
Gibbs moved closer to his agent's side and could feel the confusion and terror radiating from his body. His eyes where widening with fear. He knew that in this confused state of mind that Tony would start to fight harder to try again to get away. Again he thought how he didn't want the young man to hurt himself and make things worse than they were.
The doctor was hesitant to say yes, but he finally started to see that the injured man had started to relax more under his boss' touch. Even though he could get security to escort the man out, against his better judgment he decided to allow Agent Gibbs to stay.
"Agent Gibbs" the doctor finally answered "Against my better judgment and against hospital policy I'll allow you to stay. I see now that Mr. DiNozzo has started to relax by you being near him. But, I need you stand back within his line of sight so that the nurses can do their job." Doctor Myer's relented.
"Thank you" Gibbs said as he moved back a little, but still in Tony's sight.
Gibbs watched as the doctor and nurses started back to their work. He locked his eyes with Tony and nodded to him to let him know he wasn't leaving. Tony's eyes were still very fearful but he was still able to nod back in understanding and trust. They reconnected all the pads for the monitor and then the IV with the piggy backed anti-biotic in his other arm and bandaged the old site. They then checked all his wounds before putting fresh bandages back on them. Just as they were done he pulled up and once again started to fight and scream. Gibbs was immediately up and by his side.
"Tony" The older man called out as he hurried again to his side, "You need to let the doctor and nurses help you. I know you're scared and confused right now and in a world of pain. But you need to let them do what they need to. I promise that their almost done and it will be over soon." Gibbs reassured in a soothing tone once again.
Tony's eyes were unfocused, but he could hear his boss and gave a fearful nod. He wouldn't completely calm down, his hand twisted over to his other arm and tried to reach for the IV. The whole room started to spin. The room was like a merry-go-round and he wasn't sure where he was. I know I heard Gibbs, but is it them trying to make me think I hear him? What did Reynolds put in my arm? Why is everything spinning? I feel so nauseous.
The nurses had given the doctor the vitals he needed. Then Doctor Myer listened to Tony's heart and lungs and then put away his stethoscope. He turned and recognized the look on the man's face, "Hurry, Turn him over so he doesn't aspirate!"
Gibbs pulled back as the doctor and a nurse rolled Tony and let the other nurse use an emesis basin and hold his forehead as he vomited. After he was done they rolled him back and wiped his mouth.
He felt so sick and could feel cold hands all over him. His body was turned and he expelled what was in his stomach. Now he was left with a horrible headache, sweat running down his body, still not sure what was going on, but somehow he needed to leave this place. He needed to get to Carlson, so he again started to fight.
"Damn it Tony. You need to calm down." Gibbs pleaded as the doctor started to speak again.
"Agent Gibbs" the doctor stated "We need to sedate him so he doesn't hurt himself. He is still suffering from the concussion. We'll give him something for the nausea and pain. We also need a temperature on him. Can you talk to him, distract him?" The doctor explained as he asked.
Gibbs moved back to Tony's side as the others moved away. He took the younger man's hand and started to whisper softly to him.
"Tony" Gibbs whispered into his ear "I need you to listen to me. You're in a hospital and safe. The doctors are going to give you something to help with the pain, nausea and so you can sleep. I know you are still confused and scared. But someone will be here when you wake up. I promise. Do you understand son?" Gibbs explained with gentle compassion.
Tony gave a scared nod that almost broke the older man's heart. Gibbs motioned for them to come back. Gibbs watched as his senior agent used all of his control to stay completely still. The one nurse took his temperature while the other went and brought back the three medications that were ordered. She administered into the IV port something for the pain, along with Compazine for the nausea and also Adivan to relax and help him sleep. Slowly the younger man started to relax as Gibbs moved back to his side. As his eyes started to close he opened his mouth to start to talk.
"Boss" Tony whispered as sudden clarity hit him from the drugs taking affect, "I'm sorry about Agent Carlson." Before Gibbs could reply, he was fast asleep where he could feel nothing or know anything that was going on around him.
The nurse told the doctor that Tony's temperature was 102 degrees. The doctor charted everything about his patient as the nurses left. When he was done he glanced at his patient who now slept quietly and then nodded at Gibbs before he left.
Gibbs slumped back into his chair. He knew that there would be emotional issues that Tony would have to deal with. But he knew that what Tony was going through was much more severe than that. It sounded to the older man that as he healed from the concussion and his other injuries that he may start to suffer from PTSD if his agent didn't get some emotional help soon. He also knew that his time in Iraq would come to an end shortly and that DiNozzo would be left to recover on his own before being sent back to D.C. He was going to try and arrange for Ducky to come and stay with Tony until he could return home. He hoped that having someone that was easy to talk to and understood would help him to cope and deal with the events of the last couple of months.
Gibbs checked his watch and realized that McGee was due to show up for his shift. He trusted that his junior agent could handle things until he was able to get back to his senior agent's bed side. He'd been away from the case and the search for Reynolds for too long with what had happened with DiNozzo that morning and into the afternoon. He watched the gently but peaceful rise and fall of his agent's chest, listened to the monitors steady noise as he thought. He was hesitant about leaving the man in case he woke up the way he had that morning. He just had to have faith that McGee could take care of him. Gibbs molded to the chair, his mind slowed down, his last thought before he fell asleep was they had to catch that killer, Reynolds. He didn't know how long he had fallen asleep before he was awoken by a hand on his shoulder.
A/n Tony gets a visitor in the next chapter. Can anyone guess who it might be? And also the significance of Tony's good luck watch will come to play in the next chapters also