Chapter 11

Ziva waited anxiously in the waiting room, pacing back and forth across the small room. An older man sat in the corner with his face covered, resting on his knees and containing his own anguish. She ignored him. There had been no news on McGee for over an hour. Ducky was back with him, making sure that he was getting adequate care. Tim had sounded so terrible on the phone and she felt him slipping away as she waited for the ambulance with him, trying to keep him alive. Ziva stopped for a moment and stared at the dark red blood staining her hands. She was shaking as she remembered McGee's blood flowing from his face and arms. Ziva hadn't had the time to wash up yet. The elevator opened and closed, admitting someone but she didn't look. Gibbs didn't say a word as he walked over to Ziva, seeing her gaze upon her own hands. Tim's blood was on her wet clothing and on her fingers. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ziva."

She turned at the sound of his voice. "Gibbs… where is Tony?"

"Abby is with him. Have you heard anything on McGee?"

"Nothing, Ducky is with him, but he has not returned yet. It has been over an hour! It should not take that long to assess the condition and come back," Ziva snapped.

"Ziva…"

"It is unnecessary to make us wait this long!"

Gibbs quickly wrapped his arms around her as she continued to ramble on. It took a moment before she went limp in his arms and he felt her crying softly. It was uncharacteristic for Ziva, but she was physically and emotionally spent. He kissed her hair, rubbing her back and holding her tight. He needed that hug just as much as she did. Gibbs gently broke the hug as he saw Ducky approaching them. He whispered to Ziva, giving her a moment to dry her eyes. If Ducky noticed her red eyes, he didn't say a word about it.

"How is McGee?" Ziva inquired.

"He's stable at the moment," Ducky answered. "He has a moderate concussion, bruising on his legs and upper torso. His left shoulder was severely dislocated in the accident; he's on his way into surgery to repair it. Other than that, young Timothy was extremely lucky."

"Can we see him?" Gibbs asked.

"We'll have to wait until he's in the recovery room."

Gibbs nodded and went to sit down to wait. Ducky took his place beside him, along with Ziva. Ziva was still looking at her hands and Gibbs gently whispered to her to go wash up, that he would keep watch. She silently slipped away.

"How's Anthony doing with the news?"

"Abby is with him. He was worried, but I wouldn't let him leave. He was falling asleep when I left and I hope he'll sleep until I get back. Duck, I hate seeing him like this. I can't do anything else to make him better. And now with McGee in the hospital…"

"Jethro, I know you are doing your best to take care of Anthony and he trusts you, as do I. You should try to get some rest while you're waiting for news. You are exhausted from taking care of Anthony. We cannot afford to have you or Ziva get ill."

"Can't Duck. I gotta make sure that Ziva's okay."

Gibbs started to stand up, but the older man put a hand on his shoulder, gently coaxing him back into the chair.

"I'll keep an eye on Ziva and make sure that she gets something to eat to calm her down. You take care of yourself."

He knew he couldn't argue with Ducky without making himself angry and he hated to admit that he was exhausted from the sleepless nights taking care of Tony and helping him through his coughing fits. Gibbs closed his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest and dozed lightly. Even a cup of coffee wouldn't have kept him awake. He woke two hours later with a start to find that Ziva was sitting beside him, wide awake and staring into a styrofoam cup of some steaming liquid that didn't smell like coffee. He stretched, sitting up and feeling the knots in his back pull. Ziva didn't move. Gibbs was grateful to see that she had cleaned all of the blood from her hands, though there were still dark dried smears on her sleeves.

"Any news?" Gibbs asked.

"Nothing yet, but Abby did call. She was upset that you did not answer your cell phone, but calmed down when I told her you were sleeping," Ziva answered.

"Is something wrong with Tony?"

Seeing the worried expression on his face, Ziva quickly apologized and clarified the reason for Abby's call. "Tony was not cooperating for her. He was uneasy and refusing to sleep until he heard news about McGee. It was not helping his breathing for him to be so upset. I managed to calm him down and convince him to sleep."

Gibbs nodded once, pulling his phone from his pocket and seeing that it was on that silent thing again. He had missed three calls from Abby. Standing up and moving to the window, he called her back. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

"How's McGee?" Abby demanded, not even bothering to say hello. "I know that he's in surgery, my poor Timmy, but Ziva didn't know when he would get out. I need to know that he's okay. Tell me he's okay Gibbs. Why does all of this stuff keep happening to us?"

"Abs, he's still in surgery. We haven't had any updates. How's Tony?"

"He's asleep, but barely. I'm in the hallway so I don't wake him up. Tony was so worried about McGee and he wouldn't go to sleep. I almost wanted to slip him something to put him out, but I didn't think that it would help him in the long run and I couldn't intentionally hurt Tony. So Ziva, she just talked to him for a few minutes and the next thing I knew he was falling asleep and his breathing sounded better."

"Abby," Gibbs interrupted.

"Yes, Bossman."

"When Tony wakes up, I wanna talk to him. Can you do that?"

"I will if you promise to call me the minute that you hear anything about Timmy."

"I promise. Try to get some sleep."

He snapped the phone closed after turning it to vibrate incase Tony called or needed him. Now, they just had to wait again. Gibbs returned to his place beside Ziva, not surprised to see that she had brought him a cup of coffee while he was on the phone. About twenty minutes later, a young surgeon walked down the hallway and into the waiting area. Ducky was right behind the man and had an optimistic look on his face.

"Special Agent Timothy McGee?" he asked.

"Yes," Ziva answered, quickly standing up along with Gibbs.

"I'm his boss, Special Agent Gibbs and this is Agent David. How is he?"

"Agent McGee is stabilized and the surgery went well. We repaired the damage to his shoulder and he should regain full mobility though it will take several weeks and physical therapy. I'd like to keep him for at least a day due to his concussion, but he should be able to leave tomorrow. We're moving him into his room right now, and I'll have a nurse bring you to him. It'll be a few minutes before he's settled."

"Thank you Doctor," Ziva murmured.

The three waited patiently to be able to see him and Gibbs gave a quick call to Abby to inform her of the news. About ten minutes later, a young nurse entered the waiting area and escorted them down the hallway to McGee's room. She asked that he only have one visitor at a time. Ziva insisted that Gibbs go in first and he reluctantly agree. Tim was asleep in the hospital bed and at first glance he didn't seem to be in that bad of condition, but his skin was pale and there was thick gauze bandaged on his forehead, along with a thick lump under his blanket where his injured shoulder was. He could see a bruise forming on McGee's neck from the seat belt. The IV protruded from his hand, and Gibbs could see the cuts covering the length of his right arm. Tim's chest rose and fell in even rhythm, letting Gibbs know that he was still alive. He sat down beside the bed, gently taking McGee's hand in his and rubbing his cold fingers to give them some warmth. He didn't expect the young man to open his eyes and turn his head.

"Boss… what happened?" Tim started to panic, unsure of how he got to the hospital.

"Don't try to move. You were in an accident and your shoulder was pretty badly dislocated. They had to perform surgery to reset it."

"I can't feel it, but… my head… hurts."

"You've got quite a bad concussion."

McGee nodded once, fighting the nausea and trying to remember what happened. All he could remember was going off the road and vaguely calling Ziva for help. "Where's Tony?"

Gibbs smiled. Of course, Timothy would be more concerned about Tony instead of his own health. It was probably why he'd been taking a drive in the country, so far away from his apartment. He could see the tension in McGee's body dissipating at he began to lose consciousness again.

"He's fine. When you get out of here, you can see him. You'll be staying at my place until you can use that shoulder again."

"Boss," Tim started to protest, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Don't make me head slap you like DiNozzo."

Tim smiled at him. "Okay."

"Get some sleep. Ziva and Ducky will come see you in a little bit. I'll go relieve Abby so you can get your welcome back hug and your 'don't ever do that again' smack."

McGee tried to speak, but the world was slipping away and he simply muttered okay. Gibbs squeezed his hand once and exited the room. Ziva was waiting anxiously outside and tried to smile at him.

"He's alright," Gibbs comforted.

Ziva returned the smile and slipped into the room. Ducky started to say something to him, but Gibbs felt his cell phone vibrating in his coat pocket. It was Abby calling. He opened the phone, expecting to her hear rambling, but didn't. His ear was filled with the sound of Tony coughing and gasping while Abby whispered softly to him that he was gonna be okay. His stomach contracted at the sound and he waited until it passed, finding himself breathing with Tony as if he could hear him. Once it passed, Abby seemed to remember that she had called Gibbs and he heard the sound of her picking up the phone from the nightstand.

"Gibbs?" Abby asked, her voice shaking.

"What is it?"

"Tony needs you. He's not doing well."

"I'm on my way Abs. Tell Tony that he's not allowed to die. I'm coming."

Another cliff-hanger! I know. :) But I couldn't help it. At least we know that McGee is gonna be okay and Gibbs will take care of him and Tony. Well… we don't know that Tony is okay. (evil laughing) I did give you a little longer chapter for your troubles and hopefully the next chapter will be sooner because there's a huge football game tomorrow and I despise sports. :)

I don't remember who asked, but I wanted to say a little bit more about the frame that Gibbs built for the bed. It elevates the mattress to help Tony breathe easier. Like how in hospitals, the bed can come up and it helps the patient to not feel like they are choking. It keeps Tony from aspirating when he coughs up the mucus in his lungs or if he were to vomit. Hope that helps!

Thanks! Please review!

Emma