Chapter 7
Muffled thumps from outside the room woke Ziva from her dozing.
"Tim! I think they're here!"
Tim did not stir.
"Tim!" Ziva suddenly noticed that Tim was no longer shaking. He was still. Too still. The noises from above forgotten. She lay Tim down on the floor and began to check him. His heart was beating. She almost broke down in tears when she felt his heart. His breathing was very shallow. "They are here, Tim. I will not let you die now. Do you hear me? You will not die in front of me, not when help is so close."
Ziva stood and walked to the door. She began pounding and shouting. She pulled out her gun and pounded on the door. She heard the muffled thumps, footsteps moving with more urgency now. They had heard her!
"Gibbs!" Ziva shouted. She belatedly considered the possibility that the man had returned to kill them both. At this point, she would prefer a shootout to sitting and waiting. Sitting and waiting for Tim to die.
The chain rattled against the door. Ziva backed up and aimed at the door, waiting for it to swing open.
"Ziva!" Before the door opened, she heard Tony's voice.
"Tony! Open the door! Get us out of here!"
"Sure thing!" The door opened; Ziva was so relieved to see Tony and Gibbs standing there, that she momentarily forgot Tim laying on the floor. Then, with the bloodstains on the door illuminated by the dimly lit foyer, her companion surged to the forefront of her mind.
"Call an ambulance. Tim was shot in the shoulder. I removed the bullet, but he is desperate need of medical assistance." She said it dispassionately, but some of the force of the emotion behind her words leaked out. Tony took one glance over her shoulder and ran upstairs to use his cell phone. Gibbs slid past her and went to Tim.
"What happened, Ziva?" he asked as he assessed Tim's state. His face was grave.
"We were checking out the address Tim and Abby found. Tim found the basement access and we came down to check it out. A man was down here and nearly shot me. Tim tried to push me out of the way. We managed to keep him from getting into the room, but then he must have decided to just lock us in and leave us to die. The bullet from his shoulder is over there," she pointed, "but Tim needs more than I could do."
"The ambulance is on the way," Tony said, breathless from his run up and down the stairs.
"How did you find us?"
"We came here about three times because Abby kept insisting that was where you had gone. Your car wasn't here, and we had an anonymous tip that you two had been seen being forced into a car yesterday evening. Obviously, a false clue."
"Obviously."
Tim stirred slightly and moaned. His eyelids fluttered and looked toward Ziva who was right next to him. "Did we make it?" he asked thickly.
"Yes, Tim. We did."
"Good."
The sirens could be heard faintly as the ambulance approached.
"I don't feel very good."
"I'm sure of that, McGee," Gibbs commented.
Tim's eyes shifted from Ziva to Gibbs. "Boss. Did you see the stuff in the crates?"
"Later, McGee."
"Okay. What day is it?"
"We've been here for nearly two days, Tim," Ziva said.
"No wonder I'm so thirsty." Tim reached out blindly with his hand. Ziva took it without hesitation. If Tony or Gibbs saw anything in the action, they didn't comment. When the EMTs arrived, they took Tim away quickly, but before they loaded Tim onto the ambulance, he reached out to Ziva again.
"What, Tim?"
"Remember what you said."
She smiled. "I remember."
"Talk to you later?"
"Yes." She let go of his hand and watched as the ambulance sped away. Tony touched her hesitantly on the shoulder. She turned and silently followed him to the car. Gibbs watched, equally silent, as she left. It looked as though Rule 12 was about to be broken again.