Chapter 8

The whole car ride to the hospital had gone down in silence, and it wasn't hard to guess why Gibbs wasn't in the mood to talk. All he could think about was: how bad had Kelly been injured in the accident, and would there be any long-term damage left behind? He didn't know if he would be able to handle really losing his daughter this time, because losing his wife on that one fateful day had sent him to a dark place he didn't want to return to any time soon because there might be no coming back from it this time. It took quite a while, but they were finally able to get a free parking space in front of the hospital building. Hollis softly took hold of Jethro's hand before they made their way into the inside of the hospital, and she would stay by his side the entire time to give him all the emotional support that she was able to give him at this difficult time.

Holding tightly onto each other's hands Hollis and Gibbs entered the lobby of the hospital, of course going straight to the information desk to get Kelly's room number from the blonde-haired woman receptionist. Gibbs took one deep breath before he said, "Hello, I'm Jethro Gibbs. My daughter Kelly Gibbs has been admitted here today; I need to know her room number."

"Of course, Mr Gibbs, your daughter is in room 203, and the elevator is at the end of the lobby on your right," the blonde haired receptionist that went by the name Lisa said after she quickly looked up the information she needed to know in her computer. In silence Hollis and Gibbs walked the whole way to the elevator at the end of the lobby, and the former Army CID investigator couldn't even begin to imagine through what kind of emotional pain he had to go through at this moment.

Even though she never had been the type of person who took comfort in praying to God, she just prayed that Kelly would be okay in the end, because it would truly devastate him if he would lose his daughter for real this time around.

The unexpected reunion with his daughter had changed Gibbs for the better, because he was definitely a lot more like an open book for her, and she had hated it so much that he had kept some parts of his life hidden from her, as he had chosen to lock away memories of his past that were too traumatic for him to talk about instead of facing some the drama in his life. The lift finally came to a stop on the second floor of the hospital and Hollis could sense that Jethro was getting more nervous by the minute as the moment got closer where they would enter the room of his daughter and he would finally be able to see first-hand how bad the car accident was.

Gibbs had to fight such a hard battle with himself right now to not get his anger towards the driver of the other car that had been involved in this accident get the better of him, as he just wanted to focus on one thing right now: being there for his daughter as much as he could, because he figured that she needed him the most at this difficult time.

He sat there by his daughter's bedside in total silence for a couple of minutes before he practically whispered into the direction of his daughter, "Please wake up soon, because I need you in my life, Kelly. I can't imagine it any more without you being in it. You have made me a better person again; before you returned into my life unexpectedly I didn't let too many get very close to me and soon drove them because they couldn't bear the fact any more that I kept so many secrets from them." Hollis just watched this whole scene unfold in front of her silently and she was so touched by his words that a single tear fell down her left cheek. But she wiped it away very quick with her right thumb.

Gibbs and Hollis stayed in the hospital at Kelly's bedside till the visiting hours were over, and it was pretty obvious how exhausted Jethro was because of everything that had happened today, even if he didn't want to admit that openly in front of her or anyone else that would notice that little detail. Hollis knew very well that it must have been hard for him to show his emotions that openly in front of her, because he always wanted to be the strong man that couldn't be broken by anything that easily. But that mask definitely had got some more cracks on this day.

Hollis gently grabbed his hand, softly stroked it for a moment and said after some hesitation, "I know it doesn't look good right now, and I don't know her as well as you do, but deep down I know that Kelly will fight through this, because as badly as you she really wants to make everything out of this second chance that you two have been given as a family." It took some minutes for him to let those words sink in, and as he finally faced her, he replied:

"Thank you so much for those kind words. I really can't describe it how much they mean to me right now, but I know for sure that I wouldn't be able to pull through this difficult time without you by my side."

The former Army CID member had to fight hard to keep a tear from flowing down her right cheek, so touched was she from those words, and instead she just kissed his left cheek and tightly hugged him for a couple of minutes. Looking at the watch on her right arm, Hollis softly nudged Jethro into his side and whispered into his ear, "We have to go home now, because visiting hours are already over. It is also getting late and we both need some sleep to recharge our batteries." Slowly but surely Gibbs opened his eyes. Hollis could see very well how much energy was drained out of him because of all the stress that he had today, and as he had to struggle to keep his eyes open he finally said, "You're right, even if I would prefer to stay here at my girl's bedside the whole time because I don't want her to wake up without her dad being there right by her bed." Gibbs then finally stood up from his chair, slowly followed Hollis to the door, and, before he left the room, took one last look at the sleeping form at his daughter. Even if he never had been the religious type of person, he prayed to God right now that his little would be able to pull through this, so that he would be finally able to talk to her again.

AN: Thanks to Genius 892050 for adding this story to her favorite stories list. When will Kelly wake up? How is McGee going to handle all this uncertainty considering Kelly's medical condition, as those two grew a lot closer? Please read and review.