Tony woke to hear the most terrifying noise in his life, Ziva flat lining. He screamed blue murder while nurses and doctors flooded the room in a flurry of movement.
"Ziva! Don't leave me Zi!" He sobbed before he was taken by the waist and pulled out of the room by McGee, who had been sat in the waiting room, unable to leave his friends in the hospital.
"You have to let them do their jobs Tony. She's tough. She won't leave you. I promise." McGee soothed as Tony sobbed in his arms. "She'll be alright."
Meanwhile, just a few feet away, Ziva's doctors were working to make her heart pump again.
"One mg of epinephrine and start chest compressions." The doctor projected his voice over screaming machines. Almost a minute later there was still no response.
"I love her Tim. I love her and she's gonna die." Tony sobbed. McGee rubbed his back in a brotherly fashion.
"No she won't. She doesn't have permission to die. We're not ready to lose her." He soothed holding the man he considered to be his big brother.
"Clear!" Ziva jumped off the bed as electrical shocks swept her body. "No response, charge to two fifty. Clear!"
"What will I do without her Tim? How will I do it?"
"Charge to three sixty. Clear!"
"I can't live without you Ziva."
"She's back." The doctors all sighed in relief. The head nurse exited the room and met the two men outside.
"Miss David has had a lucky escape. We've managed to stabilise her. You can go back in now." Tony ran straight to her bedside and took her hand; McGee smiled at the nurse and lingered in the doorway.
"Don't scare us like that Ziva. Do you hear me? If you ever do that again I'll kill you myself." Tony laughed in sheer relief. Seeing that he wasn't needed, McGee went back to the waiting room to update their boss.
More than two hours later and Tony hadn't slept again. He was too worried about loosing her. So he simply stared at her beautiful sleeping face, ironically peaceful for the first time in her life. He studied every inch of her. By the second hour he could recite every part of her face from the gentle arch of her eyebrows to the delicate sweep of the bridge of her nose, down to her signature Mona Lisa smile and the slight rose tint to her golden skin on her elegant cheekbones. She was truly stunning, more beautiful than anyone had time to appreciate. It was through studying her that he noticed the very subtle flutter of her eyes about mid way through the second hour.
"Zi?" She groaned gently and her eyes finally, painstakingly slowly, flickered open. "Hey." He whispered emotionally.
"Hi." She whispered back although it seemed to take much more effort.
"How you feeling?"
"Sore." She admitted. "What happened?"
"You were shot, in the chest. It hit some major stuff, Ducky can explain it better." He babbled. She took his hand and stroked the back with her thumb, instantly calming him. "You died Zi. They brought you back, obviously, but you died. I thought I'd lost you." A small smile danced across her lips as she squeezed his hand.
"You will never lose me Tony." He took the hidden meaning exactly as she intended and very carefully placed a soft yet loving kiss on her lips.
